Frédéric Henri Duperier, a native of Philadelphia whose family refugeed from Haiti, settled here in 1816. In 1825 he married Hortense Bérard and purchased land here. A merchant and planter, he and his wife donated in 1837 the land upon which the Catholic church was built. That year he laid out land between Julia and Iberia streets in town lots. Under his leadership the town was incorporated on March 13, 1839, two days before his death. The village of "Iberia" embraced the area between Bank Ave. and French St., Bayou Teche and Pershing St. In 1847 the town's name was changed to New Iberia.