Louisville Courier-Journal,
August 9, 2000,
page B-1
by Byron Crawford:
(excerpt)
Stan Lemaster of Louisville saw my column about a shoe box that contains
all that is left of a former Louisville woman's life.
Years ago, when he was writing features for The Messenger-Inquirer in
Owensboro, he heard rumors among local historians that one of Napoleon's
former bodyguards had spent the last 30 years of his life in Owensboro. The
man was a recluse named Juste Vairin.
One day on a city bus, Lemaster said, he overheard someone speak to a "Mr.
Vairin," and asked the man if he was related to Juste Vairin.
"He said that he didn't know for sure but his grandma left a shoebox in the
attic where he lived . . . and neither he nor anyone else had ever opened
the box to see what was in it," Lemaster recalled. "He brought the shoe box
down from the attic and . . . eureka, the box contained a very thorough
biography of Juste Nicola Vairin, with bullet-proof information of his
experiences in guarding Napoleon during a war."
- ------------------------------------
Justin Vairin married Victory Helvetica Gex on December 9, 1817. She was
the daughter of David Louis Gex, a.k.a. "Louis Gex Oboussier" who owned a
house outside of Vevay that is being preserved because of its rare style of
architecture.
Victory died after a few years and a couple of children, and he remarried
to a Sarah Wright and had more sons. Vairin's sons lived in Owensboro,
and no doubt the Juste Vairin mentioned in the column was one was his
descendants.
Bill Davis wmadavis(a)kih.net
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