Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Acadians, not Cajuns, in our Families

FrancoAmerican Gravy Family,
Now that I have posted entries about the Acadian people and their expulsion from the lands now called  Nova Scotia, I hope you are starting to get the picture that you have some Acadian ancestors.  The story of our Acadian forefathers and foremothers is  important.  Although the Acadian Expulsion occurred over 250 years ago, the story is repeated in today's headline news in every corner of the world.  The Acadians in the Mylott, Wills and Rivet families remained in the northeast - Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Brunswick until they could safely make their way into Québec.  They did not end up in Louisiana.





When my mom read the poem Evangeline  to me when I was in grammar school, she told me was a love story about a woman who lost her true love and found him in the last moments of his life.  Although many times their life paths almost crossed, they never touched again until the last lines of the poem.  In some ways just like the poem,  I am writing these stories now so you will know them before it is too late!  The love story of Evangeline and Gabriel takes second seat to the greater story in the poem - the expulsions of the Acadian people and their  suffering.  They endured and because they did, we are here today. The families in this blog came form Québec and upstate New York.  If circumstances were slightly different I would be writing from Louisiana  as a Cajun descendant instead of as an Acadian descendant in the northeast!





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Acadians in the Wills-Beauvais Family - The exiles Geoffrey Benoit and Madeleine Babin

There were nine Wills children whose mother was
   Elizabeth Bissonnette (1880 - 1936) whose mother was
      Celene Beauvais, (1850-1942) whose father was
         Solyme Beauvais (1821- 1902) whose mother was
            Marie Genvieve Benoit (1799 - 1832) whose father was
               Paul Benoit (about 1759 - 1831) whose father was
                  Geoffrey Benoit (about 1720-1769).  It was Geoffrey who suffered through the Grand Derangement with his wife, Madeleine Babin (1720-1801).

There is conflicting information about exactly when and where Paul Benoit was born. Some information place his birth in Grand Pré before the exile; other information suggest he may have been born while the family was in exile.  We do know Paul's parents, Geoffrey and Madeleine, and his siblings were thrown out from Grand Pré by British soldiers.  Although there is no information listing the name of the boat the family was put on-board, sources suggest they were  placed in Lancaster, Massachusetts with two other Acadian families - a Melanson family and a Forrest family. According to the Lancaster MA Census of 1757, Geoffrey is listed as 46 years old.

      
It is believed, the family of Geoffrey Benoit and Madeline Babin eventually made their way into Quebec - first to Yamachie on the northern shore of the St. Lawrence but finally to St Charles sur le Richelieu. Geoffrey died at St. Charles sur Richelieu on July 2nd, 1769 when he was about 50 years old.  His wife, Madeleine Babin lived until she was eighty years old and died in the Acadian exile community called L'Acadie to the west of St Jean sur Richelieu in Québec. Their son Paul Benoit died in Pointe Olivier (St Matthias), Rouville, Quebec in 1831. He was the father of thirteen children.

Location of Pointe Olivier, St Matthias in the Richelieu Valley, Québec
CLICK TO ENLARGE THIS MAP

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Location: Rue de la Pointe Olivier, Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, QC J3L 6T9, Canada
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