Some Massachusetts Town Records

Some Massachusetts Town Records

This is just a small number of Acadians 

exiled to Massachusetts that 

I have been able to extract 

from town records.

·  OLD ABBINGTON

The family of John White, French Neutral was given refuge during the French & Indian War period. The house still stands at 351 High Street and it was built by David Porter, a bachelor, about 1730. It is thought to be the oldest original house still standing in Whitman.

·  LANCASTER

Of the thousand Acadians apportioned to the Province of Massachusetts, the committee appointed by the General Court for the duty of distributing them among the several towns, sent three Acadian families, consisting of twenty persons to Lancaster.

These were:

Benoni Melanson
Mary Melanson, his wife
Children:
Mary Melanson
Joseph Melanson
Simeon Melanson
John Melanson
Bezaleel Melanson, (Carrie)
A daughter not named

Geoffrey Benway (Benoit)
Abigail Benway, his wife.
Children:
John Benway
Peter Benway
Joseph Benway
Mary Benway

Theal Forre [Forest]
Abigail Forre, his wife
Children:
Mary Forre
Abigail Forre
Margaret Forre

The Forre family was soon transferred to Harvard, Mass. They arrived February 1756 and the accounts of the town selectmen for their support were regularly rendered until February, 1761. They were destitute, sickly and apparently utterly unable to support themselves and were billeted now here and now there, among the farmers at a fixed price of two shillings and eight pence each per week for their board. Sometimes a house was hired for them. 

·  WORCESTER

In 1755, eleven Catholic French "neutrals" were assigned to Worcester after the "shameful rape of Acadia". These Acadians arrived in Worcester suffering from wounds to the body, soul and spirit after enduring a winter on the deck of a military ship traveling from Acadia to Boston. Not much detail is given on this piece of history, but it states that these Acadians were warmly received by Worcester residents and some stayed here "broken-hearted" while others left for Canada in 1767. 

·  MENDON

Selectmen 1764, March 5th: Selectmen Census taken in response to an order given by Colonial Governor Bernard. The Selectmen of Mendon conducted a census of the town in the fall of 1764.

The census revealed that the town contained 336 families living in 284 houses. The population consisted of 2,339 persons of which 1,441 were adults and 898 were children under the age of 16. Contained within the counts included 9 persons of color listed as Negroes and Molattoes and **5 persons listed as French Neutrals**. Interesting that there were no Indians counted in the 8 square mile area of Mendon. The census was submitted on December 17, 1764 signed by Joseph Daniels and 4 other selectmen.

·  WALPOLE 

THE OLD HOUSE IN WALPOLE -Where Lived and Died in Exile Jacques D'Entremont (The Walpole Times - May 1966) 

The following article, dealing with the early history of Walpole, was written by Rev. Clarence J. d'Entremont on 71 Center Street. Fairhaven. It is hoped that the people of Walpole will take interest in this article which tells them of a phase of their history of which they may not know too much. By Rev. Clarence J. d'Entremont.

The student of American literature knows through the study of Longfellow's poem Evangeline of the Expulsion of the Acadians. These people, of French origin, lived in Nova Scotia, then called "Acadie", where "the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance." By the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, their land passed into the hands of England. Summoned by their conquerors to pledge allegiance to the crown of England, they asked to remain neutral in case of war so that they would not have to fight against their mother country. For this reason the whole population, about 18,000 of them, less some 2000 fugitives, were boarded on ships and vessels, between 1755 and 1759, even up to the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, and "scattered like dust and leaves" all along the American Atlantic coasts and the shores of England. Massachusetts received about two thousand of them and placed them, under its care, in its different towns.

There is in Walpole the remains of a cellar on which stood the house where lived in exile, with his family, one of these Acadians, Jacques d'Entremont (1680-1759), some of Jacques Mius d'Entremont and of Anne de Saint-Etienne de la Tour, and where he died July 28, 1759 (1). This house belonged at the time to Jeremiah Dexter. Isaac N. Lewis, in his history of Walpole (2), calls this house "the old house", although at the time of Jacques d'Entremont it must not have been so old, as Jeremiah Dexter, who probably built it, is mentioned for the first time in 1748 in the history of Walpole. 

Jacques d'Entremont was, with the members of his family, among the 70 Acadians from Baccareau Passage, Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, whom Colonel Prebble, after burning all their buildings, 44 in all, brought to Boston on a Friday, the last day of April, 1756. They were destined to North Carolina; a vessel under the command of Thomas Hancock, was to take them there. But after embarkation, they came back on shore and refused to re-embark. May 11th, Jacques Amirault and Joseph d'Entremont addressed a letter to the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts and his Council stating the reasons why the group refused to go to North Carolina, begging that they be allowed to stay in Massachusetts.

Three days later, May 14th, Thomas Hancock, who it would seem had written of his own hand the petition of May 11th, to which Jacques Amirault and Joseph d'Entremont affixed their marks, appeared before the lieutenant governor and his council to discuss this matter. It was decided to give to these Acadians a delay of 14 days, during which they would be under the care of Thomas Hancock. The 14 days having elapsed, it was decided to distribute these families in the several seaports of the "Province". 

August 20th, 1756, we find in Marblehead, Jacques d'Entremont with his family, that is, his wife, nee Marguerite Amirault, and his children, Ann, (b. 1732), Marguerite, (b. 1734), Joseph, (b. 1739), Paul, (b.1742), and Benoni, (b. 1745). Jacques d'Entremont and Marguerite Amirault had had at least two other children, namely, Jacques, the oldest, married in 1753 to Marguerite Landry, exiled with his family to England and then to Cherbourg, France, where he died in or before 1767; and Marie, married to Rene Landry, brother of Marguerite.

In the summer of 1756, Anne d'Entremont married in Marblehead Abel Duon who had been among the 70 Acadians who arrived from Cape Sable to Boston April 39th and who was quartered at Marblehead with the d'Entremont family. The following year, that is June 1st, 1757, we find this family in Medfield, along with Paul and Benoni, sons of Jacques d'Entremont. March 1st, 1758, Jacques d'Entremont, his wife, his daughter Marguerite and his son Joseph are found in Walpole, where they had been transferred.

A few months later, on November 8th, 1758, Joseph d'Entremont sent a petition to the lieutenant governor, stating that being in Walpole with his aged father and mother, a brother and a sister, while another brother, a brother-in-law, a sister and her child were in Medfield, asking, for different reasons, if it would be possible for the family to be all united together at the same place.

January 2nd, 1759, this petition was sent to a committee who, January 13th, decided that the members of the family who were in Medfield would be removed to Walpole. It would seem that this decision was not carried out, not immediately at least, because June 1st of that year, Benoni, Abel and his wife are still in Medfield; these two last are still there August 22nd, 1760.

After the death of Jacques d'Entremont, July 28th, 1759 (13), his son Joseph and his daughter Marguerite are transferred August 22nd, 1760, to Chelsea (14), at which date Paul and Benoni are said to be "retained" in Walpole with their ......

We can recapitulate these events in the following chronological order: - April 30th, 1756, arrival in Boston of the family of Jacques d'Entremont;

- August 20th, 1756, this family is in Marblehead, along with Abel Duon;

- Summer of 1756, marriage in Marblehead of Abel Duon and Anne d'Entremont;

- June 1st, 1757, Abel Duon, his wife, Paul and Benoni are in Medfield;

- March 1st, 1758, Jacques d'Entremont, his wife, Marguerite and Joseph are in Walpole;

Between the preceding and the following dates, Paul is transferred to Walpole;

- November 8th, 1758, petition of Joseph so that all the family would be united;

- January 13th, 1759, it is decided that the family would be united in Walpole;

- July 28th, 1759, Jacques d'Entremont dies in Walpole;

- August 22nd, 1760: Paul and Benoni are "retained" in Walpole with their mother; Joseph and Marguerite are sent to Chelsea; Abel and Anne are retained in Medfield.

On August 23rd, 1766, "Captain Amiro" received a permit to clear his vessel from Boston for Quebec. Undoubtedly this captain was Ange Amirault, who, ten years earlier, in the month of February of 1756, being not yet 20 years of age, sailed in his small vessel from Cape Sable to the shores of Massachusetts to ask of his future father-in-law and mother-in-law, already in exile, the hand of their daughter, Natalie Belliveau, who, like himself, was still in liberty at Cape Sable. The fact is that the Amiraults, the Belliveaux, the d'Entremonts and the Duons arrived by sea to Nova Scotia, on their way to Quebec, at the end of the summer of 1766, 200 years ago, this very year. Having received from the civil authorities of Halifax the permission to stay in Nova Scotia and the promise of the service of priest, they settled the following year, in 1767, in Pubnico, the land of their ancestors. 

While in Walpole, the d'Entremont family lived in "the old house" of Jeremiah Dexter. Lewis tells us that this house was near the old cemetery, corner of Main and Kendall streets. A couple of old people, well in their 80's, now deceased, maybe of the Everett family, whom we met in Walpole in 1957, residing across from the old cemetery where they had lived practically all their lives, told us that the old house of Jeremiah Dexter, which they had seen in their young days, was located west of the cemetery, of Main street and of Neponset River, about 100 feet north of the dam.

How long did this family occupy this house? Surely between March 1, 1758, and August 22, 1760, that is at least 2 1/2 years. Probably they had been there before, and surely after. But we have no documents to tell us precisely how long.

A fact worthy to be mentioned here, which is surely by a coincidence, is that at about 75 feet south of the cellar there is the distinctive marks of the Acadians: an apple tree. 

·  DEDHAM

Dedham Town Records [1743-1773]. Vol 7. 382 pages.

Among data included are selectmen’s records, town meetings, town payments, etc. Note, on page 138, that French Neutrals (Acadians deported from Nova Scotia) were received 28 Nov 1755 "for the Selectmen of this Town to Dispose of them in Such Method as they think best for this Government."

·  Marshfield, Massachusetts 

Province of the Massachusetts Bay
To his Excellency William Shirley Esq; Captain-General

& Governour in chief in & over his Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England The Hon ble the Council & House of Representative in Genl Court assembled March the 30 th A.D. 175[6] 

Humbly shews Joseph Mitchel One of the Neutral French Inhabitants late belonging to Nova Scotia now residing at Marshfield in the County of Plymouth That your Petitioner was a Dweller near the Garrison at Annapolis & had a good Farm there & above thirty Head of Cattle & always Lived in a friendly Manner with the English & used to supply the Garrison with Wood & a considerable Quantity of Provision which he had to spare annually - That by Reason of the Late Misconduct of the French who Lived near Minas your Petr was a great sharer with them in their Misfortunes tho not in their Crimes, and thereby Lost his whole Estate both real & personal, & in this distress'd condition was brought to Marshfield aforesd with his wife & Family of Children the Last Fall where He has ever Since resided & has been provided for so as that He, his Wife & Children have been upheld in Life to this Time - 

That his Eldest Son Francis, being Twenty Three Years old, Labored this Spring with one Caleb Tilden a near Neighbour to your Petitioner, To whom ^ he Your Petr hired Himself out for a Pistarene a Day till the first Day of May next, after which he was to have more, and both He & his Master Tilden were well contented - 

That the Last Week John Little Esqr & Seth Bryant Two of the Select Men of the Town of Marshfield Came & by Force, utterly against the Will of your Petr & his Said Son, took away your

[1]

your Petrs sd Son & put him out to Anthony Winslow of sd Marshfield, When at the same Time sd Tilden offered to bind his Estate to Save sd Town & the Province free from any charge on his Account - 

That sd Select Men at the same Time bound out another of your Petrs Sons named Paul about Fifteen Years of Age, to Nathaniel Clift of sd Marshfield Mariner, whom by force they dragged away & sent to Sea, notwithstanding diverse persons would gladly have taken Him to work on Shore at Farming Business to which He was used, & tho at the same Time he begged he might work on Shore because the Sea did not agree with Him - In short all your Petrs and his Wife's Intreaties were in vain, the sd Paul was by Force taken from them & Sent to Sea - And the sd Select Men took Security for Thirty Pounds as the Price ^ of sd Lad -

Your Petr being a Stranger in a Strange Land has no where to go for Relief but to your Excell. & Honrs - Tho He has Lost all his Estate he do[es] not desire his ^ children should be chargeable to any Body while they are able to work, but that such Places may be found for those under age as may be agreeable to 'em, & That those, who are of full Age, may provide for Themselves, at such places as the Lik[e] best - 

Wherefore you Petr prays That the Indenture of your Petrs Said Sons may be declared null & void, & That They may be allowed to maintain Themselves, or, That such other Relief may be granted as you Excy & Honrs shall think fit And your Petr as in Duty bound shall pray & c

Joseph Michelle 

[2]

[Petition submitted to the General Court of Massachusetts by Joseph Michel, 30 March 1756. SC1, Series 45X, Massachusetts Archives Collection, 1603-1799, vol. 23, page 51. Massachusetts Archives.] 

The Committee appointed to take under consideration the Petition of Joseph Mitchell are unable to make enquiry into the truth of the facts mentioned before the dissolution of the Court by reason of the distance of Place where they are alledged to have been done and therefore ^ thus are of opinion that the consideration of the Petition be referred until the next session of the Court. The Committee are further humbly of opinion that it would be acting very different from the intention of the Legislature if any Selectmen in the Province should cause any of the children of the French from Nova Scotia to be disposed of for any sum of mony or other consideration except for the immediate use & benefit of such child or children and that where any child or children are able & willing to support themselves, or ^ where their parents or friends will undertake for their support

[1] 

such child or children ought not to be separated from their parents or friends and that the Selectmen should as far as may be consult the inclination of the Parent & children in the service for which ^ any children they may be disposed of

T Hutchinson p order

In Council 20 April 1756 Read & accepted & Ordered that the Selectmen of the several Towns where any French are placed govern themselves accordingly

Sent down for concurrence

Thos Clarke Dpty Secry

In the House of Reps April 20. 1756

Read and Concurred

T Hubbard Spkr

Consented to W Shirley 

[2]

With the exception of the two eldest sons, who were relocated to Plymouth in 1760, the majority of the family remained in Marshfield, Joseph Michel dying there in 1763. The rest of the family continued on and it is likely that they integrated themselves into town life. The Meuse Family

Hailing from Cape Sable, the Meuse family arrived in Massachusetts sometime between the summer and fall of 1756. Residing in Plymouth, the Meuses provided for their own support, yet when this became difficult they petitioned the General court, complaining that they were not being provided for by the town as were other Acadians.

[Massachusetts General Court Committee report on the petition of Joseph Michel, 26 April 1756. SC1, Series 45X, Massachusetts Archives Collection, 1603-1799, vol. 23, pages 56-57. Massachusetts Archives.] 

The General court responded by assigning them to Wareham. Meanwhile, the Meuses had contacted Nathaniel Ray Thomas of Marshfield in order to provide for their support. He agreed and permission was given for them to remain in said place. Later they complained of mistreatment by Thomas, so the family's indenture was cancelled and the family moved to Easton. Again unable to support themselves, several of thesons left town to find work elsewhere.

Paul Clement, Charles Meuse son-in-law signed the petition along with his father-in-law addressed to the General Court.

Massachusetts Archives and Commonwealth Museum, September 2005 Exhibit opened June 21, 2005 at Massachusetts Archives/Commonwealth Museum and is scheduled to be open until June 2006.

CHELMSFORD

Chelmsford Oct 24, 1757.
In obedience & pursuant to an Order of the Great and General Court of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, made & passed the 21st Day of January A. D. 1757

© Lucie LeBlanc Consentino
Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home

Web site and Blog
2004 - Present

Acadians Exiled to Philadelphia in 1755

A rarity in exile, the Acadians exiled to Pennsylvania were allowed to practice their religion.  William Penn founded Pennsylvania with a land grant that was owed his deceased father. His goal was to create a colony that allowed for freedom of religion due to his desire to protect himself and fellow Quakers from persecution.

In other colonies the word went out that priests were forbidden to go near the Acadians - if they did, they would be imprisoned or put to death.  The same fate awaited the Acadians.  To assure there would be no priests available, the priest in Acadia when the deportation began were all deported to France.

In Philadelphia the Acadians worshiped at St. Joseph's Church where Father Farmer was pastor.  I visited the church several times when doing research in Philadelphia.  Today it is known as Old St. Joseph National Shrine - The oldest Catholic Church in Philadelphia founded in 1733 by the Jesuits.

Father Farmer's marriage registers have been transcribed and I received permission to post to my web site. There are Acadian marriages in these registers.  The registers are now located in the archdiocesan archives and elsewhere.

The transcribed registers can be found on the Acadian & French-Canadian Ancestral Home web site.

© Lucie LeBlanc Consentino

Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home

Web site & Blog 2005 - Present

1755 Deportation from Grand-Pré

The photograph of the list of names was taken at Grand-Pré Historic site in 1999.  

This framed list of names is no longer on display.

INDIVIDUAL NAMES OF MEN AND BOYS DEPORTED FROM GRAND-PRÉ IN 1755
As Ordered Written By Colonel Winslow

The names of the Acadians imprisoned in the Church were written by Colonel Winslow and/or his soldiers. This is the list of names contained in the framed lists in the photograph above. The British did not speak French so the names were written by sound. The spellings are mostly incorrect. For the most part, this list does allow us to know the names of those imprisoned in the church of St. Charles for one month as they awaited the arrival of the ships that would deport and scatter them in the colonies.

Pierre ALIN Jean APIGNE Olivier AUCOINE Claud AUCOINE Charles AUCOINE Jean AUCOINE Renez AUCOINE Joseph AUCOINE Alexandre AUCOINE Jean Bapiste AUCOINE Charles AUCOINE Pierre AUCOINE Simon AUCOINE Abraham AUCOINE Simon AUCOINE Charles AUCOINE Martin AUCOINE Olivier AUCOINE Jean AUCOINE Charles AUCOINE Aman BABIN Simon BABIN Johanes BABIN Joseph BABIN Joseph BABIN Simon BABIN Jos. BABIN Rener BABIN Feler BABIN Battistes BABIN Charles BABIN Joseph BABIN Paul BABIN Pierre BABIN Simon BABIN Jos. BABIN Feler BABIN Rener BABIN Simon BABIN Jean BABIN Pierre BABIN Jacques BELMERE Joseph BELMERE Renez BELMERE Oliver BELFONTAINE Oliver BELFONTAINE Francois BENOIS Joseph BENOIS Joseph BLANCHARD Pierre ilias BLANA Pierre BOBIN Joseph BOUDRO sits Joseph BOUDRO Pierre BOUDRO Michel BOUDRO Michel BOUDRO fils Etimme BOUDRO Charles BOUDRO Marin BOUDRO Paul BOUDRO Abraham BOUDRO Jean BOUDRO > Jesepah BOUDRO Pierre BOUDRO Joseph BOUDRO Norez Michel BOUDRO Benois BOURG leVieux René BOURG Michel BOURG Francis BOURG Joseph BRASSIN Cherussin BRAUX Commo BRASSEAUX Charles BRAUX Pierre BRAUX Vicar Francis BRAUX Paul BRUNE Joseph BRUNE Pierre BRUNE Aman BRUNE Joseph BRUNE Paul CAPIERE Pierre CARETTER Antoine CELESTAIN Paul CELESTINE Norez CELESTINE Battistes BABIN Pierre BABIN Joseph BABIN Jean BABIN Paul BABIN Joseph BABIN Rener BABIN Feler BABIN Charles BABIN Joseph BABIN Simon BABIN Jos. BABIN Rener BABIN Feler BABIN Charles BABIN Joseph BABIN Jean Robs CHOC Clotis...... Finmi CHELLE Pierre COMMO "le Vieuc COMMO" Joseph COMO Jean Louis BOUDRO Jean Battiste BOUDRO Charle BOUDRO Pierre BOUDRO

Claude BOUDRO Anseleme BOUDRO Pierrs BOUDRO Paul BOUDRO Joseph BOUDRO Pierrs BOUDRO Paul BOUDRO Joseph BOUDRO Pierrs BOUDRO Paul BOUDRO Joseph BOUDRO Alexandre DUON Joseph DUPUIS Fabien DUPUIS Silven DUPUIS Simon DUPUIS Germain DUPUIS Jean Batiste DUPUIS Aman DUPUIS Charle CELESTINE Pierre CELESTINE Jacques CLELAND Pierre CLEMENSON Lewis Pierre CLOATRE George CLOATRE George CLOATRE Pierre GRANGER Jean Battis GRANGER Jean GRANGER Sorans GRANGER Simon GRANGER Charles GRANGER Joseph GRANGER Rener GRANGER Charle GRANGER Francois GRANGER Jean GRANGER Joseph GRANGER Ansemine GRANGER Joseph GRANGER Francis GRANGER Charle GRANGER Aman GRANGER Joseph GRANGER Vestache COMMO Jean Battiste COMMO Jean Battiste COMMO Esteeme COMMO Alexis COMMO Oliver COMMO Pierre COMMO Simon COMMO Norez COMMO Bassil COMMO Dominque COTE Jean Beautiste DAIGREE Jean Baxirles DAIGREE Charle DAIGREE Norez DAIGRE Oliver DAIGRE Fils Oliver DAIGRE Brener DAIGRE Joseph DAIGRE Astaches DAIGRE Battistes DAIGRE Alin DAIGRE Charles DAIGRE Pierrs DAIGRE Norez DAIGRE jean Battiste DAVID Joseph BOULET Pierre BOULET Jean DUPUIS Antoine DUPUIS Francois DUPUIS Jean DUPUIS Alexandre DUPUIS Michelle DUPUIS Suprian DUPUIS Charle DUPUIS Germain DUPUIS Antoine DOUCET Tunuislaps FORREST Oliver FOREST Josses inferms habitant in formis Charles Jean SONNE Joseph GOTRO Alexxis GOTRO Jean GOTRO Pierrs GAUTRO Paul GOTRO Charle GOTRO Jean GOTRO Joseph GOTRO Paul GOTRO Alexis GOTRO Aman GOTRO Joseph HEBERT Aman GRANGER Pierre HEBERT Joseph HEBERT Manuel HEBERT Pierre HEBERT Oliver HEBERT Jean HEBERT Joseph HEBERT Norez HEBERT Etimme HEBERT Pierre HEBERT Augustin HEBERT Renez HEBERT

Aman HEBERT Jacques HEBERT Oliver HEBERT Augustin HEBERT Joseph HEBERT Joseph HEBERT Charles HEBERT Simon LEBLANC Paul LEBLANC Jean LEBLANC Francois LEBLANC Francois LEBLANC Jean DOUCET Jean DOULET Antaine HEBERT Igneiff HEBERT Simon Pierre HEBERT Jean Battistes HEBEAR Paul HEBERR Francois HEBERT Paul HEBERT Pierre HEBERT Francois HEBERT Alexandre HEBERT Aman HEBERT Jos. HEBERT Bonnos HEBERT Guilljaums HEBERT Benonis HEBERT Joseph HEBERT Simon HEBERT Alexis HEBERT Charle HEBERT Charle Jean SONNE Alexandre LANDRY Pierre LANDRY Jean a Pierre LANDRY Charle LANDRY Antoine LANDRY Pierrs a GOUITIN Aman LANDRY Jean LANDRY Fromer LANDRY Francois LANDRY Jos. LANDRY Charle LANDRY Pierre LANDRY Jose LANDRY Charle LANDRY Germain LANDRY Battiste LANDRY Etimme LANDRY Etair LANDRY Simon LANDRY Jean LANDRY Michelle LANDRY Michelle LANDRY Martin LANDRY Jean LANDRY Germain LANDRY Rener LANDRY Charles LANDRY Rener LANDRY Pierrs LANDRY le petis Clauds LANDRY Etim LANDRY Pierre LEBLANC Pierre LEBLANC Jean Battiste LEBLANC Benois LEBLANC Charle LEBLANC Jacques LEBLANC Simon LEBLANC Pierre LEBLANC Joseph LEBLANC Oliver LEBLANC Charle LEBLANC Joseph LEBLANC Jean Charle LEBLANC Michelle LEBLANC Belsse LEBLANC Simon LEBLANC Bonaumturs LEBLANC Jean LEBLANC Francois LEBLANC Battistes LEBLANC Daniell LEBLANC Alin LEBLANC Joseph LEBLANC Simon LEBLANC Jeanmer LANDRY Alexis LANDRY Charle LANDRY Germain LANDRY Jean LANDRY Renez LANDRY Jean LANDRY fil Paul LANDRY Jos. LANDRY Jean pos LEBLANC Bernard LEBLANC Jacques LEBLANC Pieurs LEBLANC Jean Pauque LEBLANC Oliver LEBLANC Allin LEBLANC Joseph LEBLANC Felix LAURENT Paul LEBAR Jean LEBARE Norez LEBARE Margaret LAPIERRE

Delene LEURON Jean LePrince Joseph LEBOUS Brounos LE GRANGER Pierre LE CLANE Pierre LEBLANC Pierre Jean LEBLANC Norez LEBLANC Jean Baptiste LEBLANC Michelle LEBLANC Pierre LEBLANC Charle LABLUN Pinions LEBLANC Auguste LEBLANC Baptiste LEBLANC Pierre NOALIS Antoine PITREE Dominque PITRE Simon PITRE Simon PITRE Bour QUETTE Michelle QUETTE Basil RICHARD Renez RICHARD Germain RICHARD Joseph RICHARD Joseph RICHARD Jean RICHARD Jean RICHARD Jacque RICHARD Joseph LEBLANC dit du Sour Maturin LEBLANC Pierrs LEBLANC Charle LEBLANC Cems Paul LEBLANC Jean Pierrs LEBLANC Germain TERRIOT Pierre TERRIOTE Oliver TERRIOT Pierre TERRIOTE Jean TERRIOT Charles TERRIOT Jacwue TERRIOT Brunois TERRIOTE Charls TIBODO Joseph TIBODO Paul TIBODO Germain TIBODO Joseph TRAHANE Pierre TRAHAN Claude TRAHAN Michelle TRAHAN Charle TRAHAN Pierre TRAHAN Jean TRAHAN Renez TRAHAN Francis ROUS Jean (dit) le Sour Antoine MAJET Jean Baptiste MASIER Battis MASSIER Amans MASSIER Battistes MASSIER Paul MELANSON Baptistes MELANSON Alexandre MELANSON Pierre Jane MELANSON Battistes MELANSON Jean Battis MELANSON Joseph MELANSON Pierre MELANSON James MELANSON Pierre Jean MELANSON Aman MELANSON Pierre MELANSON Jacques MELANSON Joseph MUNIER Anselmer ales MANGEAN Pierre RICHARD Jos. RICHARD Charles RICHARD Paul RICHARD Paul RICHARD Joseph ROBICHAUD Charles ROBICHOCT Francis ROUS Baptiste SAPIN James SAPIN Joseph SEMER Charle SONIER Pierre SOSONIER Renez SOSONIER Machalle SORERE Marcelle SONER Pierre TERRIOT Janis TERRIOT Charle a Claude TERRIOT Suprien TERRIOT Charle TERRIOT Pierre TRAHAN Joseph TRAHAN Joseph TRAHAN Jean TRAHAN Charles TRAHAN Jean Batistes TRAHAN Pierre TRAHAN Joseph TRAHAN Charle TUNOUR Joseph VINCENT Antoine VINCENT

Bibliography:  Collection of the Nova Scotia Historical Society 1870-1884 ~ Journal of John Winslow volumes 1-4.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Acadian Ancestral Home Website
Acadian Ancestral Home Blog February
Lucie LeBlanc Consentino
1999 - Present

Acadians Deported from Beaubassin Acadia in 1755

In 1755, the Deportation began from the Chignecto region of Acadia (Nova Scotia). On July 31, Colonel Monckton was at Chignecto and had been advised that the plan devised to remove the Acadians from Nova Scotia should be kept top secret.


On July 15, 1755, Governor Charles Lawrence called for a meeting of the Council to which he invited Admirals Boscawen and Mostyn. There were Twenty-one ships anchored in the harbour at Halifax. It was at this meeting that Lawrence's plan to rid the province of these "Neutrals" as they were called by the British, would become more specific in intent. The Council, under Lawrence's advice, decided to obtain a decision from the Acadians as to whether or not they would take the oath to the King of England. This oath meant that they could no longer be neutral but that in time of war, they would have to take up arms as the King's subject. This was why the Acadians had always remained neutral: because England and France were always at war one with the other, if the Acadians took this oath, it would mean that they would be taking up arms against their own countrymen, relatives and friends. The oaths they had taken thus far also allowed them freedom to practice their Catholic faith.


On July 25, 1755, a petition was presented from the Acadians of the Annapolis River area. These Acadians offered to forfeit their guns but would not swear a new oath citing the oath taken under Governor Philipps. The petition was rejection by the Council. The Acadians now had until 10:00 a.m. on July 28 to decide what they would do. Unfortunately, the Deputies decided that no matter what the Acadians decided, they would not change the decision that had been long-standing: to rid themselves of the Acadians.


While the Acadian Deputies were held as prisoners on George's Island along with the Pisiquid Deputies, the Council's resolution was to remove the Acadians from Nova Scotia. This would end the many years of indecision on the part of both sides of the issue.


Prior to this, there had been no such consideration to the Lord of Trades remove the Acadians from their lands. However, on this date of July 28, 1755, Governor Lawrence sent off a message of the imprisonment of these Deputies and that his plan was the best course to resolve this issue once and for all. Here is the message he sent to the Lord of Trades:

...They were ordered to be kept prisoners at George's Island, where they were immediately conducted. They have since earnestly desired to be admitted to take the oath, but have not been admitted, nor will my answer be given them until we see how the rest of the inhabitants are disposed. I have ordered new deputies to be elected and sent hither immediately, and am determined to bring the inhabitants to compliance, or rid the Province of such perfidious subject.


Lawrence was obviously already decided to obtain a decision in his favor that would expel the Acadians from Minas, Cobequid, Annapolis, Pisiquid and the Chignecto region. Here is the decision rendered by the Council:


After mature consideration, it was unanimously agreed that, to prevent as much as possible their attempting to return and molest the settlers that may be set down on their lands, it would be most proper to send them to be distributed amongst the several colonies on the continent, and that a sufficient number of vessels be hired with all possible expedition for that purpose.


In the Chignecto region, Acadians were held at both Fort Lawrence and Fort Beauséjour (renamed Fort Cumberland when it fell to the British). Meanwhile, Colonel Monckton and his troops were busy trying to keep the Acadians close to the forts. Because of the undeveloped country north of this area, it would be quite easy for anyone to escape and not be captured again so a decision was made that these Acadians would be the first to experience exile.


So after four generations of pioneering and making a life in this place called Acadie the grandchildren and great grandchildren of the first settlers would be removed from the only home they had ever known for by 1755 those first pioneers were the only ones who knew their roots in France and they had all passed on by now.


On August 13, 1755, ten ships under the command of Captain John Rous carried off 960 Acadians headed for South Carolina and Georgia. Behind where one could no longer see, were the homes of the Acadians who had lived at River Hébert and Menoudie. Though the Acadians were relegated to the bowels of the ships, these ships sailed by the burning villages of other Acadian homes as they slid past Cap Maringouin and Chipoudy Bay eventually making their way to the Bay of Fundy.


The ships that would deport the Acadians from this region: Boscawen ran aground; Boscawen from Chignecto to Pennsylvania; Cornwallis to South Carolina; Dolphin to South Carolina; Jolly Phillip to Virginia; Endeavor to South Carolina; Prince Frederick to Georgia; Two Brothers to South Carolina.


The Beaubassin area would be made up of Weskak (today Westcock), Pré des Bourgs (Sackville), Pré des Richards (Middle Sackville), La Butte, Le Coupe and Le Lac at the confluence of the Missiguash, Menouie and Eleysian Fields, Maccan (Makon), Nappan (Nepane) and Rivière Hébert.


Acadians on a list of eleven men in 1686: Pierre Morin, Guyon Chiasson, Michel Poirier, Roger Kessy, Claude Du Gast, Germain Bourque, Guillaume Bourgeois the latter both sons of Jacques Bourgeois, Germain Girouard, Jean Aubin Migneau, Jacques Blou and Thomas Cormier.


In 1698, there were twenty-eight families living in Beaubassin. Some of families: Arseneau, Bernard, Blou, Boudrot, Bourg/Bourque, Bourgeois, Chiasson, Chastillon, Cormier, Devau, Doucet, Girouard, Godin, Godet, Guercy, Haché, Mercier, Mirande, Poirier and Richard. Men from these families had married into the families of Cyr, Dugas, Guerin, LeBlanc, Martin, Melanson, Pellerin and Trahan.

A monument was erected commemorating the last known Acadian residents of Beaubassin in 1750. They were:


Pierre Deraier & Francoise Arsenau,
Jaques Mouton & Marguerite Kessy,
Francois Arsenau & Anne Bourgeois,
Abraham Arsenau & Agnes Sire,
Marie Sire,
Pierre Gravois & Marie Rose Bourgeois,
Francoise Sire,
Jaques Bourgeois & Marie Bourque,
Pierre Arsenau & Jeanne Marie Heon,
Marie Chiasson,
Claude Bourgeois & Anne Blanchard,
Michel Bourgeois & Marie Doucet,
Charles Heon & Marie Jeanne Bourgeois,
Jean Kessy & Marie Richard,
Paul Sire,
Oliver Bourgeois,
Pierre Cottard & Agnes Bourgeois,
Jean Mouton & Marguerite Poirier,
Baptiste Bourgeois & Anne Bernard,
Claude Bourgeois,
Michel Poirier & Madeline Bourgeois,
Francois Bourel & Marguerite Doucet,
Claude Tendon & Francoise Kessy,
Claude Poirier & Marguerite Sire,
Marie Kessy,
Paul Devau & Marguerite Buote,
Vincent Devau & Marie Buote,
Claude Kessy & Anne Chiasson,
Jaques Kessy & Marie Olivier,
Joseph Arsenau,
Anne Buote,
Jean Arseneau,
Brele & Anne Sire

©All Rights Reserved

Lucie LeBlanc Consentino

Acadian & French-Canadian Ancestral Home

Blog & Website

Acadians Overtake The Pembroke 

Escape Deportation and Exile

But Die From An Epidemic in Quebec.

The photocopied page below is one of many listing the names of the Acadians who died in 1757 in Quebec.  These Acadians had managed to escape the deportation in 1755 when the British set out to exile all of the Acadians from their lands.  Some of those Acadians who died in 1757 were among those who were about to be deported on the ship Pembroke when it was overtaken by the Acadians.  They then set sail for the St John River/Rivière St-Jean where they remained until they heard the British were coming to capture them.  They set fire to the Pembroke and headed up to Miramichi.  Food was scarce at Miramichi and some were dying of starvation so many of those Pembroke Acadians decided to continue on to Quebec only to be decimated during the epidemic that ensued.  They had been through so much and in the end when their freedom was assured so many of them died.

Here are few:

On the twelfth of December seventeen hundred and fifty-seven was buried Rosalie Girouer (Girouard), Acadian, who died the previous day, having received the sacraments, approximately fifteen years of age, daughter of Germain Girouer and Marie Arseneau, his spouse; present Jean Vallée, Guihaume Taphorin and many others.

On the twelfth of December seventeen hundred fifty-seven was buried Suzanne Bussièere, Acadian, widow of Pierre Comeau, who died theprevious day, having received the sacrements, eighty years of age.

On the twelfth of December seventeen hundred fifty-seven was buried Jean Baptiste Forais (Forest), acadian, who died theprevious day at the age of six years, son of Jean Forais and deceased Marie Josephte Pitre, his spouse.

On the twelfth of December seventeen hundred fifty-seven was buried Pierre Cormier, Acadian, deceased the previous night sixteen years of age, having received the sacrements, son of deceased Pierre Cormier and Marguerite Cyre, his spouse.

This information comes from  "Recherche Historiques" published by Pierre-Georges Roy, Volume Thirty-Six published in 1930.

These Acadians remnants of an unjust war have no tombstones but the lack of such should not allow us to remember them any less even though they lay in unmarked graves.

All rights reserved.

Acadian Ancestral Home

Lucie LeBlanc Consentino

Acadian History by Placide Gaudet

Acadian History by Placide Gaudet

Bridgetown, Nova Scotia

July 18th, 1922

The homestead of Antoine Belliveau, born in France in 1621, and married about 1651 to Andrée Guyon, was about one mile below the Allen river. Jean his only son, born at Port-Royal about 1652, married Jeanne Bourque about 1673 by whom he had three sons and two daughters. Jean Jr., his eldest son married in 1696 Madeleine Melanson and died September 13, 1707 of a wound he received in fighting the English, at the second attack of Colonel March against Port-Royal. He left three sons, of whom two settled at or near Carleton Corner opposite Bridgetown. Of these two I will speak, after I have related an episode relating to Charles, the eldest of the sons who was born in 1697, and married at Grand-Pré, November 3, 1717, Marguerite Granger, by whom he had ten children, of whom two where sons. Charles inherited his father's farm, and besides being a farmer, he was a ship carpenter and a good mariner. What I am going to say about Charles Belliveau, related to the year 1755, at the time of the Expulsion of the Acadians.

Writing on board his flagship the Torbay, then at St-Helen's, November 15 1755, to John Cleveland, Esq. Secretary to the Admiralty, Vice-Admiral Edward Boscawen, speaking of the removal of the Acadians, says: I appointed the following ships to convoy the transports that were to carry them: the Syren, captain Proby, from Chignecto to Georgia and the two Carolinas; the Nightlingale, captain Diggs, from Mines to Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, and then proceed to his station at New Yhork; the Baltimore, captain Owen, from Annapolis Royal to Newe York; the Hornet, captain Salt, from Annapolis Royal to Boston, and then the Spithead; the Mermaid, captain Shirley, to Connecticut. Captain Rous, of the Success, to assis in embarking them and to look into the St. John River.

Being short of provisions and the transports expected from Halifax not having yet arrived at Annapolis, captain Washington Shirley, commander of H.M.S., the Mermaid, sailed from Annapolis for Boston, with Sloop Hornet, captain Salk, November 10, and left T. Owen, captain of the Sloop Baltimore, in charge of the transports, five of which arrived at Annapolis Royal, between the 14th and the 17th of November. But the Pembroke Snow, with the provisions, having lost her main mast in a storm only reached Annapolis Royal between November 25, and December 1st.Her disabled mast had to be replaced, and Charles Belliveau was ordered to make a new one which he did. When it was finished he asked to be paid but on the refusal of the captain to do so, he at once lifted up his carpenter's axe and threatened to cut the new mast, and the captain had to pay him the price asked. But irony of fate he was embarked on board the Pembroke to be deported.

The Pembroke was of 42 tons, victualled for 139 days; she had on board 33 men, 37 women, 70 sons and 92 daughters forming a total of 232 persons. She sailed from Goat Island, December 8, 1755, bound for North Caroline. The other transports were the Helena, 3323 persons, for Boston; the Edwards, 278 persons, for Connecticut; the Two Sisters, 280, for Connecticut; the Experiment, 200 persons, for New York; the Hopson 342 persons, for South Carolina, and a Schooner, for South Carolina, with 9 persons. The grant total on the seven vessels was 1664 Acadian prisoners. With the exception of the Pembroke the transports reached their destination and landed their human cargo. The Baltimore convoyed them as far as New York, and Captain Owen approaching the Pembroke said to her captain: Be on your guard; on board your vessel you have some very able men and some good mariners, and so saying the captain of the Baltimore took another direction, whilst the Pembroke, which was only manned by eight persons went on her course towards North Carolina.

The 232 Acadian prisoners were kept in the hole of the Pembroke.

Just think of it, 232 persons packed in that part of the vessel where there was no ventilation of any kind! Was that an act of humanity, or of barbarity? I will not dwell on that subject; it is too heart rending. In order to prevent the unfortunate prisoners dying of suffocation, six at a time were allowed to come on deck every half hour alternatively. At last Charles Belliveau chose five of the strongest men among them, and told them what thy were to do, when the hatch-way would be opened, and instructions were also given to others to act promptly, at the proper moment. As soon as the half hour was over, and the six on deck ordered to go down in the hole, and six others called on deck, Belliveau and his five chosen companions came out quickly, and before the hatchway was closed they had mastered the captain and crew by stunning them with strong blows from their fists, and as the hatchway was left open many others came on deck to help their companions, if need be. At once Charles Belliveau took charge of the vessel, and as he was an expert mariner, he soon turned the direction of the Pembroke. The wind was very strong and the captain cried out: Stop! you are going to break the main-mast! To this Belliveau answered promptly: You lie; I made this mast and I know it will not break. Alternatively Captain Fontaine called Beaulieu and Belliveau, and some others were at the wheel. The Pembroke had sailed from Goat Island, December 8, 1755, and on February 8, 1756, she entered the port of St. John, New Brunswick where its human cargo was landed.

There are several documents relating to the capture of the Pembroke but the following extract of a letter from Governor Lawrence to Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts Bay, bearing date, February 18, 1756 is here appropriate. Here is what Lawrence says:

I lately sent a part of Rangers in a schooner to St. John River, as the men were cloathed like french soldiers and the schooner under french colours, I had hopes by such a deceit, not only to discover what was going there but to bring off some of the St. John Indians. The officer found there an English ship, one of our transports that sailed from Annapolis Royal with French inhabitants aboard bound for the Continent, but the inhabitants had risen upon the master & crew and carried the ship into that harbour, our people would have brought her off but by an accident they discovered themselved too soon, upon which the French set fire to the ship.

Amongst the Acadian prisoners onboard the Pembroke, besides Charles Belliveau and Captain Beaulieu, there were families of Boudreau, Dugas, Guilbeau, Granger, St-Seine, etc. There was also Prudent Robichaud, born in 1669 at Port-Royal, son of Etienne Robichaud and Françoise Boudreau, both natives of France. Prudent Robichaud married in 1691, Henriette Petitpas, and they had a family of twelve children, of whom five were sons. He was one of the prominent inhabitants of Annapolis Royal and rendered services to the English garrison, and yet notwhithstanding his old age - he was then eighty-six years old - he was embarked in December 1755 on board the Pembroke. In the summer of 1756, some of the 32 families left St-John River for Quebec. Robichaud was with them and died on the St-John River on his way to Quebec. On April 16 (N.S.) 1727, Lieutenant Governor Lawrence Armstrong had appointed him a Justice of the Peace for Annapolis, and on December 12 (N.S.) 1733, the same Lieutenant-Governor had given him the commission for collecting his Majesty's rents, etc., within the Banlieue of Annapolis Royal.

As to Charles Belliveau he succeded in reaching Quebec where he died in January 1758. His wife had predeceased him eight years and was buried at Annapolis Royal May 2, 1750.

Charles Jr. the eldest of the two sons, was born October 12, 1731, and on January 10, 1755, he married Osithe Dugas. He was deported in 1755 to Massachusetts Bay, and in 1767, he was permitted with his family to go to the province of Quebec, settled at St-Jacqaues de l'Achigan, where he died August 10, 1796, leaving several children, whose descendants are today numerous. As to Pierre, the youngest of the sons of Charles, the ship carpenter and mariner, he was born May 16, 1734, and therefore he was twenty one years old, at the time of the deportation which he escaped by taking to the woods, and succeeded in reaching, with others, an Acadian settlement at Coverdale, a few miles from Moncton. Amongst his companions in flight from Annapolis river, were three brothers, namely: Joseph, Charlitte and Bonaventure LeBlanc. They were all unmarried. They are, with Pierre Belliveau at their head, connected with the capture of the schooner in the summer of 1756, at Sackville, Westmorland County, New Brunswick. The Acadian families who had taken refuge, at the Acadian Village at Coverdale, about five or six miles from Moncton, being short of provisions Pierre Belliveau and the three LeBlanc brothers offered to go in search of cattle in the Chignictou district if a guide was given them. Cyprien Gautreau, a native of that district, offered his services which were acepted.

Pierre Belliveau and his four companions on arriving at Tintamarre River, at or near the town of Sackville, noticed at the bottom of the river, it was low tide, a schooner which Pierre Belliveau recognized at once, as belonging t his father, the hero of the Pembroke, and resolved to capture her. Having explained his plan to his companions, the five of them boarded the schooner on the pretext to buy some tobacco. The captain with a crea of four men had been sent from Annapolis, in search of Acadian fugitives, and to capture those he would meet. He therefore was delighted when those five young men went onboard of his schooner, and gave them free plenty of tobacco. But as the tide began to rise, Pierre Belliveau who could speak English well enough to make himself understood, thanked the captain and pretended to leave the vessel, but the captain told him that he and his companions were his prisoners, and then ordered three men of the cre to throw them into the hole. But this was not to be effected. Charlitte LeBlanc, on eof the three brothers and who had the strength of four ordinary men, had been told to keep himself close to windlass, and to make us of the windlass bar when ordered, consequently before the order of the captain could be obeyed, the cry of Strike, Charlitte, was heard, and the heavy bar of the windlass fell alternatively on the heads of the three sailors, who were killed outright. Then the captain called his first mate - a mighty strong man - who at the time was in the cabin, and ordered him to throw in the hole these Acadians whom he qualified with epithets unproper to be repeated here. Again was heard Strike, Charlitte! and the first mate fell overboard, holding Pierre Belliveau. The latter was promptly rescued, and the mate received another blow which finished him. Then came the turn of the captain who begged of them on his knees not to kill him but without avail. Having been told to recommend his soul to his Maker, he received a fatal blow from the hands of Charlitte LeBlanc. The schooner was taken up the Petcoudiac River, and hidden in a creek at Coverdale.

It was in the seventies of the last century that at Memramcook, I learned this last episode from the lips of some of the descendants of those who captured that schooner. Some twelve years later, Pierre Belliveau and the three LeBlanc brothers settled on the west side of the Memramcook River, where they died leaving large families. The descendants of Gautreau are at Barachois, near the town of Shediac.
Pierre Bellieveau was born 16 May 1734 and married Abt. 1760, Anne Girouard, and died at Memramcook, Febraury 16, 1820, and his wife on April 5th, 1823. They had a family of seven children whose descendants are today very numerous.

As I have said, two sons, of Jean Belliveau (who died in 1707, from the wounds he received at one of the sieges of Port-Royal by Colonel March) and brothers of Charles Belliveau of the Pembroke fame, settled at Carleton Corner after their marriage. Jean, the eldest of the two, born in 1699, married November 13, 1730, Marie-Madeleine Gaudet, and died at Belliveau's Cove, Digby County, Nova Scotia. He was the great-grandfather of Julie Vitaline Belliveau, wife of the late Luc LeBlanc and mother of the Right Reverend Dr. Edouard A. LeBlanc, Bishop of St-John, New Brunswick.
Pierre Belliveau, brother of Jean, who died at Belliveau's Cove, was born August 4, 1706, and on January 21, 1723, he married Jeanne Gaudet, sister of Marie-Madeleine, wife of his brother Jean. These two sisters were the daughters of Bernard Gaudet and Jeanne Terriot.

Pierre Belliveau had the surname Piau (pronounced Peeo) and was the uncle of the Pierre Belliveau who with four others made the capture of his father's schooner at Sackville, New Brunswick. This Pierre Belliveau surnamed Piau was the grandfather of my father's mother. Like his brother harles and Pierre, his nephew, his adventures at the time of the Expulsion deserve to be related.

Towards the end of August 1755, on the arrival of the first vessels ordered from Halifax to Annapolis Royal to transport the Acadians, all the French inhabitants residing above the fort fled to the wood. A few days later many returned to their dwelling houses, and there remained until they were embarked, on December 4, onboard the transports, but not on those which had arrived from Boston in the month of August. These had to be sent to Minas Basin where vessels were waiting to deport the population of that district.

But Pierre Belliveau surnamed Piau and several of his neighbors and a few families,from both sides of the river, below the fort, who had fled to Gaudet Village, thought it more prudent to abandon their homes and seek a temporary place of refuge, where they would be in in safety from the pursuit of the soldiery. Acordingly they took with them as much of their effects as they could conveniently carry, crossed to the North Mountain, and went to New Hampton, then called Anse de la Croix (Cross Cove). Here were several large fishing boats hidden there by the heads of the families living below the fort who fled to Gaudet Village. It must be remembered that Major John Handfield, commanding officer at Annapolis Royal, had ordered by a proclamation, dated July 12, 1755, that all fire arms, boats of all kinds belonging to the Acadians should be delivered at the fort, without delay. Fortunately for Belliveau and his companions this order was not unanimously carried out, and this is the explanation why fishing boats were hidden at Cross Point. These boats were used by Belliveau's caravan to ascend the bay, some twenty-four miles, till they reached a little port which afterwards was called French Cross on account of a cross erected there by Bellieveau and his Acadian companions but is now known as Morden. It is situated on the Bay of Fundy shore, and lies about seven miles from Hampton station, in a direct line. Here they remained until about the 9th dy of December, awaiting with great anxiety to learn what would be the fate of their compatriots who had returned to their homes in the beginning of September.

From their hiding place they noticed one day, about the middle of October, a fleet of ten ships, convoyed by an armed vessel, going down the bay. did they dream that onboard of these there was a human cargo of 1,045 Acadian prisoners from Chignictou district? There is no record to tell us. This fleet had sailed from Cumberland Basin, on the 13th of October, bound for Georgia, North and South Carolina, and put in the Basin of Annapolis, whence it sailed again on the 27th, which day, another fleet composed of thirteen vessels, convoyed by the frigate Nightengale, also sailed from Minas Basin, with 1,505 prisoners from that locality, and 1,100 from Pisiguit. These also, as they went down the bay, were noticed by Bellieveau and his companions.

At last they got information through some Indians met by their watching party, that the people of Annapolis had been shipped off on a fleet which sailed from Goat Island on Monday the 8th of December at five o'clock in the morning. this human cargo consisted of 1,664 Acadian prisoners.
Had Belliveau and his companions remained a few weeks longer in their hiding place, they would have seen other transports going down the bay with human cargoes, one on the 6th of same month with 150 prisoners, two on the 13th with 350 Acadians, and on the 20th December, two other vessels left Minas Basin with 230 prisoners.

Summing up the above figures, we have a total of 6,080 Acadians of Annapolis, Kings, Hants, Colchester and Cumberland counties, who were shipped off in thirty-four vessels. Minor deportations took place from time to time for several years.

What a terrible catastrophe had fallen on the Acadian people. Pastors and flocks were being tossed at the same time on the rolling waves of an angry sea. The members of families were separated and embarked on different transports. Their houses and churches were given to flames. The inhabitants of the peninsula who had escaped deportation were wandering in the forest and shivering with cold and exposure, whilst the perpetrators of these misfortunes and miseries were rejoicing over the result of their inhuman and cruel work. The heart-rending sufferings of the unfortunate Acadians were nothing to Lawrence and his associates. They thought the Acadian race was forever banished from Acadie. How great mistaken they were!

About the 9th of December, 1755, after having erected a cross as a momento of their sojourn at Morden, Belliveau and his companions left their hiding place at French Cross to seek a safer one. Fortunately, they had the few fishing boats which I have already mentioned, and having embarked onboard, they coasted the shore of the Bay of Fundy as far as Digby Neck, and then enterred by Petit Passage, nearly opposite Ste-Anne College, at Church Point, into St-Mary's Bay, which they ascended as far as the entrace of Belliveau's Cove, five miles from Petit Passage. Here there was then a small island, and they decided to land and encamp on it for the rest of the winter. When I first visited that locality, in February 1885, that island was called Ile-à-Piau (Piau's Island) by the old people of the neighbourhood. that name is now in oblivion, and the island itself is no more, it has since joined the mainland and forms a part of the picturesque landscape now called Major Doucet's Point. With Church Point this is the most historic spot in the whole municipality of Clare or French Town, as the Acadian settlements on the estern shore of St. Mary's Bay were formerly known to their English-speaking neighbors. As several deaths occurred among Pierre Belliveau's caravan, soon after their arrival and during the winter 1755-6, they were buried here. This spot was in September, 1768, the cradle of Clare Settlement by Acadians. For twenty years, from 1771 to 1791, the first Acadian settlers of Clare buried their dead alongside of those interred there during the winter of 1755-6, and thus Piau's Island became the first Acadian burial ground in Digby County.
I will not endeavor to portray the sufferings and miseries the Acadian fugitives endured during that winter. They are more easy to be conveived than to be described. One of their cares was to build rough huts. This I know by family tradition. These unfortunate one, poorly clad, sleeping on bed of fir twigs spread on bare ground for pillows, often covered with snow after stormy nights, destitute of proper food and starving, were often visited by the angel of death, which mercifully ended the sufferings of many. Thus passed the bleak winter of 1755-6.

Spring came at last and Pierre Belliveau and his companions bade adieu to the small island which had given them shelter, and embarked in their fishing boats to seek another place of refuge. Having crossed to the other side of the Bay of Fundy they followed its shores to Chignictou Bay which they ascended, entered Shipody Bay then Petcoudiac River went to its bend, now Moncton, and proceeded to the Acadian Village at Coverdale. Here they found every one in complete misery and that decided them to seek another refuge. They went through the woods to Cocagne, and on foot reached Boishebert's camp, at Nelson, on the Miramichi River, a distance of nearly one hundred miles. The caravan found here as much miseries if not more than at Coverdael. The Acadian refugees there were daily dying of starvation, and many of Belliveau's caravan were buried at Nelson. Belliveau and his companions soon left the place and went to Ristigouche where they remained a few years and then returned to Coverdale. Thjis was before Captain McKenzie's raid at Ristigouche in 1761.

About the year 1768, Pierre Belliveau surnamed Piau, with his son Joseph, settled on the western side of the Memramcook River, nearly opposite where is now the University St-Joseph (today in 1999 a museum exists here). For many years that locality was called Le Village-des-Piaux, (Piaus' Village) but now it is St-Joseph. A few years later, Joseph Belliveau became one of the first settlers of Belliveau's Village on the eastern side of the Petcoudiac river, and it is there that his father died in 1800, and himself in 1840, both of them approaching one hundred years of age. Their descendatns are very numerous

Placide Gaudet ended this presentation by saying: Dear Denis Gaudet, first settler of this locality, may you rest in peace. Your race shall never become extinct, since your numerous descendants are to be found in nearly every province in the Dominion and even in the United States. Placide Gaudet
SOURCE: La Société Historique Acadienne, le 30ième Cahier, Vol. III no. 10, January, February, March 1971.

© Lucie LeBlanc Consentino
Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home
1998 - Present