Joseph Arbeau Bellande (1868-1961)

     Joseph Arbeau Bellande was born March 16, 1868 in North Biloxi.  He was known as Joe and later Arbo.  Joseph ran a schooner on the Mississippi Sound before becoming a saloon operator.  He also dealt in cypress shingles.  In late July 1892, he received a shipment of 100,000, 1^st and 2^nd class shingles, which he was vending at bargain prices.(The Biloxi Herald, July 30, 1892, p. 4)

    An advertisement in The Biloxi Herald of April 1891, stated that Joseph Bellande was the proprietor of the L&N Exchange at the depot.  On April 6, 1892, Joseph Bellande opened a beer saloon in Biloxi.  The announcement was made in The Biloxi Herald of April 9, 1892.  His business was called the Depot Saloon and it was situated opposite the L&N Depot in a two-story building erected in January 1892, by Captain A.V. Bellande.(The Biloxi Herald, January 9, 1894, p. 4)

     In about 1895, a book was published by the L&N Railroad called Along The Gulf.  It features an article on Joseph Bellande.  I quote from the book:

     Another prominent saloon man in Biloxi is Mr. Joseph A. Bellande whose place of business is situated at the corner of Reynoir Street and Railroad Avenue, just across the street from the railroad station of the Louisville and Nashville.  Mr. Bellande carries a fine stock of barrel and case goods and does a first class business the year round.  This is partly owing to the fact that he keeps good goods and partly to the fact that he has a large, airy, well ventilated and well furnished bar room, and that he caters only to the better class of customers.  Mr. Bellande's place by the way is the only one in town which is illuminated with arch lights.  There has been a saloon on this corner for many years, but the present large building has only been erected for three years.  Previous to Mr. Bellande's time the name of the place was the "First and Last Chance", he however, has changed it to the "Railroad Saloon".  Mr. Bellande who built the present edifice, owing to the high license ran only a beer saloon for the first year he was there.  Since then he has had a first class saloon, finding that much more profitable than the simple handling of beer.  Previous to embarking in his present business Mr. Bellande was engaged in running a schooner on the Sound, taking contracts to unload larger vessels, and also in the freight carrying trade.

Baseball

(see The Biloxi Herald, The Biloxi Blues, June 18, 1892, p. 4)

     It appears that Joe Bellande sponsored a baseball team as The Biloxi Herald of November 5, 1892, p. 4, c. 3. related that:

The ball game last Sunday, between a team from New Orleans and the Bellande's, was another easy thing for the local players, they winning the game by a score of 13 to 7.  This is the third straight game the Biloxi team has won from the visitors.

Marriage and Divorce

     On July 11, 1888, Arbo married Rosa Armentine (Emma) Ramos (1875-1910+) in New Orleans.  She was a Biloxi native born of immigrant Spanish parents, Don Armond Ramos (1833-1913) and Virginia Ramos (1835-1899).  They were both born in Madrid, Spain and resided at 315 Bohn Street in Biloxi.  Arbo and Rosa had a child, Mary Alice Rose Bellande (1888-1967), who was born December 4, 1888, at Biloxi.  As the result of Harrison County Court Case No. 463, Joseph A. Bellande vs Rosa Bellande, heard on February 11, 1891, the marriage ended in divorce.  The following information was taken from the Minutes of the Harrison County Chancery Court A.D. 1891, p. 273:

This cause coming to be heard on bill, proof of publication and testimony taken in open court, and the Court being satisfied that the charge of adultery in said bill is sustained by the proof, it is ordered by the Court that the bonds of matrimony heretofore subsisting between complaintant and defendant be and they are hereby dissolved at to complaintant but not as to defendant.

     In August 1892, Rosa Bellande sued Arbo in the Harrison County Chancery Court.  The suit was quiet "messy" in that it involved Arbo's claim of adultery against Rosa, and the alleged pressure from her family to have him marry her.  She in the defense of her honor alleged Arbo had induced a witness to swear falsely against her.  Also Rosa never received her summons to appear in the first divorce case, Harrison County, Mississippi, Cause No. 463, as it was sent to the residence of Marcellus Bellande at No. 92 Ninth Street in New Orleans.  Coincidentally, his wife's name was Rosa Bellande also.  In a deposition filed on June 30, 1892, Marcellus Bellande stated:

     "I opened the letter and found it did not concern her (Rosa, his wife), it being about a divorce suit.  I mailed it to my father, Joseph Bellande, at Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  I don't know what became of it."

     Regardless, it was decreed by the Harrison County Chancery Court on August 5, 1892, that the decree entered on February 11, 1891, be reversed and the bonds of matrimony existing between Rosa Bellande and J.A. Bellande be dissolved and both parties freed from the obligations of marriage.  Rosa Bellande was awarded custody of the child, Mary Alice Rose Bellande.

     Rosa Ramos Bellande married Thomas P. Costello (1870-1910+) who was also known as Tom McGinty on May 8, 1900.  In 1910, they and Alice Bellande were residing with Armand Ramos on Main Street.  Mr. Costello worked as a street laborer while Mr. Ramos was a house painter.

Mary Rose Alice Bellande

            Mary Rose Alice Bellande was born on December 3 or December 4, 1888, to Joseph A. Bellande and Rosa A. Ramos and previously mentioned.  She was known as Alice Bellande.  She made her livelihood as a secretary.  Miss Bellande expired on August 20, 1967, at the St. Joseph Rest Home in the Crescent City.  Her listed survivors were two cousins, Marie Lloyd Watkins (1894-1980), the daughter of Dr. Charles Lloyd and Antoninette Ramos, and the wife of Norvell Edwin Watkins (1895-1961) of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Marion Ruth Watkins (1926-1971).  Alice Bellande’s corporal remains were interred in the Oaklawn Cemetery at Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  The Moore Funeral Home at Hattiesburg handled the funeral services, which were held at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Hattiesburg.(The Hattiesburg American, August 21, 1967, p. 14)