PIERRE2 ARSENEAU 1646-1710
I. ORIGINS IN FRANCE
Our pioneer ancestor, Pierre2 Arseneau came to the New World in 1670 or 1671, about 330 years ago, and became the "founding father" of our large “Acadian Arsenault Family”. This story is an attempt to help us to better understand our roots. Because of my interjection throughout of personal opinions and conclusions, one might say that this is a fictional tale. However, I suggest that this story is more nonfictional than not, because it blends the known existing facts of Pierre's life within the context of the history his time. This is a historical nonfiction story!
Pierre2 Arseneau, son of Pierre1 Arsonneau and Jeanne Goizin, was baptized on the 25th of September in 1646 at the Church of Saint Benoît in the diocese of Saint Jean d'Angély in the town of Migré, located in the heart of the old region of Saintonge (now Charente-Maritime), France. He was born in La Flamancherie, a small farming hamlet near Migré. The salt-water marsh-land of La Flamancherie is located about 50-70 km from La Rochelle. Most of the Arsonneaus of this region were Ox Ploughmen, which means tillers with oxen rather than with horses. These Ox Ploughmen were richer than most because they were often hired to plow fields for other farmers, not quite rich enough to buy their own oxen. Pierre2 Arseneau's father and grandfather were Ox Ploughmen and would therefore have been fairly affluent for those times. (Paraphrased from postings by {Gerald Arseneault} - the "Arsenault Family Genealogy Forum).
During the time that Pierre2 Arseneau lived in La Flamancherie, he would have heard many exciting tales from Frenchmen in and near the town of Migré who told of relatives living in Acadia. By the time that Pierre2 Arseneau was born Frenchmen had already lived in Port Royal for forty-two years. Pierre began to dream of making his home in Acadia, an exotic land of Nouvelle France across the Atlantic.
As a young man and with financial backing from his father, it is believed that Pierre2 Arseneau moved to the shipping area of La Rochelle where he procured an apprenticeship to acquire the skills needed to navigate schooners. This propelled the development of his trade as a Coastal Pilot making it possible for him to fulfill his dream of adventure and his desire to make a home in New France.
II. ACADIA – (BEFORE PIERRE2 ARSENEAU’S ARRIVAL)
Acadia included the areas of present-day Nova Scotia (peninsular Acadia), New Brunswick, parts of Maine as far as the Kennebec River, Cape Breton Island and Prince Edward Island. It was one of five colonies established by France in the New World. The other four colonies were: Canada, Hudson Bay, Newfoundland and Louisiana. Together, these five colonies became known as Nouvelle France (New France). Acadia was the first of these colonies to be settled. The purpose of these colonies was primarily an economic one. France was protecting its interests in both its fur trade with the Native Americans and its fisheries along the Grand Banks. Britain was extremely jealous of France's control of the valuable fur-trade and the Cod-fishing industries in New France. These two Great Powers were embroiled in constant struggles to gain dominance in the New World throughout the period of Acadia's history.
The first attempt to establish a settlement in Acadia occurred in 1603 on the Island of Saint Croix (also know by locals as Dochet Island) located at the mouth of the Saint Croix River off the coast of Maine. This all male French settlement failed. Many of the men were lost to scurvy in the winter following their arrival. In 1604 the survivors crossed the "Bay of Fundy" and constructed a new second settlement called "The Habitation" at Port Royal which became the first capital of Acadia in 1605. "The Habitation" was destroyed in 1613 by Samuel Argall and his militia from Virginia marking the beginning of 150 years of war in the New World between England and France. It is important to understand that the early raids into Acadian settlements were carried out by militias of the English colonies to the south rather than by the British military. England encouraged and supported these raids into Acadian settlements, however, because successful raids automatically placed Acadia under British rule.
Reinforced by new settlers from France, Acadian survivors of the destroyed settlement of “The Habitation” constructed a third settlement a few years later in a safer location further upriver which they named "Port Royal, Acadia." This remained an all male settlement until 1632. Until that time many of the first French settlers took Indian women as wives. A few French women are believed to have arrived in Port Royal in 1632, but the first large influx of French women arrived with their husbands and children on the St. Jehan in 1636 marking the first serious attempt at permanent settlement of families in Acadia.
In 1654 English Colonial Militias led another surprise raid on Port Royal. The settlement was easily taken and Port Royal ceded to the English. Port Royal, Acadia was placed under British rule for 13 years, until France regained it in 1667 by the “Treaty of Breda”.
III. PIERRE'S LIFE IN ACADIA
The general belief is that 25 year old Pierre2 Arseneau arrived in Port Royal, Acadia in 1671 aboard the ship L'Oranger at a time of "uneasy peace" under French rule. Before he arrived the little French settlement of Port Royal had already passed back and forth a number of times between French and English rule.
Some believe that Pierre2 piloted the L'Oranger, but there is no evidence to support this. In spite of the fact that he was skilled in the navigation of schooners and eventually accumulated enough wealth in Acadia to purchase his own, he probably wasn’t sufficiently skilled to pilot a large seagoing Clippership like the L'Oranger.
A. IMPORTANCE OF JACQUES BOURGEOIS
To do justice to Pierre2 Arseneau's story we must consider his connection to Jacques Bourgeois, a prominent Acadian of Port Royal, who would play a pivotal role in his destiny. Jacques Bourgeois was an entrepreneur of sorts. In addition to maintaining the family farm he was a surgeon and owner of a coastal trade enterprise dealing in the fur trade. It has been suggested that he had a connection with someone in La Rochelle who referred Pierre2 Arseneau to him to operate his coastal fur trading business. Regardless of when Pierre2 Arseneau arrived in Port Royal or what the circumstances of his arrival were, documentation indicates that Jacques Bourgeois hired Pierre2 Arseneau by 1672 as the ship's pilot for his coastal trade enterprise. During Pierre’s period of employment for Jacques, he circumnavigated the coastal areas of the Bay of Fundy and sailed along the Atlantic coastal side of current day Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island trading with: Acadian farmers for surplus produce; with Native Americans for fur and with English merchants who came to trade from Boston in times of peace.
B. FOUNDING OF A SETTLEMENT
In addition to the fur trade, Jacques Bourgeois sent Pierre2 Arseneau to explore and to map out a vast tract of land at the head of the Bay of Fundy in the Chignecto region to determine its suitability for settlement. Jacques Bourgeois was mainly interested in this land for two reasons: #1. To place the safety of distance between his family and Port Royal in the event that it should fall again into British hands; #2. The farm land in Port Royal could no longer support the growing numbers of families.
Proving suitable for farming, parcels of this land in Chignecto were set aside for Jacques Bourgeois’ children and Pierre2 Arseneau selected a parcel for himself. Jacques Bourgeois’ children and their families began to settle on their selected parcels sometime after the census of 1671. Other families from Port Royal also established settlements in this general region at about the same time. The settlement established by Jacques Bourgeois and Pierre2 Arsenault was originally called “Bourgeois Colony”.
In 1684 the land at the Isthmus of Chignecto, including the Bourgeois Colony and other nearby settlements, was granted to a French Naval officer named Michel Leneuf for his success in the capture of three English vessels from Boston that were taking on coal at Cape Breton. The Chignecto settlements, including the Bourgeois Colony, were renamed Beaubassin (located near current-day Amherst, New Brunswick). The first census of Beaubassin was recorded in 1686. At this time Jacques Bourgeois’ son Germain and his daughters Marguerite and Marie are found residing there with their families along with 14 other families from Port Royal.
Jacques Bourgeois and Pierre2 Arseneau were not among these first migrants out of Port Royal. Jacques did not feel an urgency to relocate. Even if the British did retake Port Royal, Jacques Bourgeois’ family would not be in imminent danger. Surgeons were not plentiful and even British soldiers might have need of his professional services at times. Jacques Bourgeois did not join his family in Beaubassin until he was well advanced in years. Pierre2 Arseneau, being a loyal employee, remained behind to operate Jacques’ trade enterprise until 1687/90, about the time that he married his second wife. Jacques Bourgeois’ daughter Marguerite and her first husband, Jehan Boudrot, settled on Pierre2 Arseneau's parcel of land about 1678 and Jehan died shortly after. Marguerite Bourgeois married Emanuel Mirande about 1679 and they remained on Pierre2 Arseneau’s property until 1687.
C. MARRIAGE TO MARGUERITE DUGAS - 1675
Several years into his employment with Jacques Bourgeois, Pierre2 Arseneau married his first wife Marguerite Dugas; born in 1657 in Port Royal; daughter of Abraham Dugas and Marguerite Doucet. Although documentation of the marriage has not been recovered, it is believed that the event took place about 1675 based upon the age of their oldest child who was 10 years old in the 1686 Census of Port Royal. Pierre2 Arseneau was 29 years old and Marguerite Dugas was 18 years old when this marriage took place.
Being a romantic, I believe that this first marriage was a love-match! At the age of 29 years (old for a first marriage), Pierre2 Arseneau was well on his way to bachelorhood. Until the young 18 year old Marguerite caught his eye and captivated his heart, Pierre2 was wedded to the profession he loved best, that of Coastal Pilot! This would all change in 1676 upon the arrival of Pierre3, their firstborn. It was now necessary for Pierre2 Arseneau to make some adjustments in his life. He would no longer have the freedom to go on coastal-trade runs whenever he wanted. Dividing his time between managing the family farm and his employment with Jacques Bourgeois would become increasingly difficult. My assumption is that while Pierre2 Arseneau lived in Port Royal with Marguerite Dugas and their sons, he continued to operate the trade business but in a more limited way. Out of necessity, the family farm would become his first priority.
Although documentation of Marguerite Dugas’ death has not surfaced, her absence in the 1686 Census of Port Royal indicates that she is deceased. The 1686 census also indicates that Abraham was 8 years old and was, therefore, born in 1678. These facts place Marguerite's death between the years 1678-1686. My guess is that she died in the springtime of her life in 1678 at the age of 21 from complications of Abraham’s birth. Her death left the widowed Pierre2 Arseneau with two young boys to raise. Still operating as ship’s pilot for Jacques Bourgeois’ coastal trade business, his young boys would have to be cared for while he was away. I believe that he hired Marie Guérin in 1678 as a live-in-caretaker for his young sons, explaining her residency with the family in the 1686 Census of Port Royal.
CHILDREN OF PIERRE2 ARSENEAU AND MARGUERITE DUGAS:
1. Pierre3, born 1676 in Port Royal, Acadia
2. Abraham “dit le Grand”, born 1678 in Port Royal, Acadia
D. MARRIAGE TO MARIE GUERIN – 1688/89
Marie Guérin, born 1662 in Port Royal, Acadia; first appears in the 1671 Census of Port Royal, Acadia as the daughter of the deceased François Guérin and the widowed Anne Blanchard. Marie Guérin’s absence in the 1678 Census of Port Royal tells me that she was already under the employ of Pierre2 Arseneau and that Marguerite Dugas died in 1678.
The marriage of Pierre2 Arseneau and Marie Guérin is another case of missing documentation but based upon the birth in 1690 of Charles Arseneau, their firstborn, this second marriage most likely took place in 1688 or 1689. Pierre would have been 42 years old and Marie 22 years old. My presumption is that this marriage was based upon practicality and mutual respect which grew into a loving partnership over time. The marriage satisfied Marie Guérin’s need for security in those troubling times and satisfied Pierre2 Arseneau’s need for a partner and a mother for Pierre3 and Abraham who, by now, were bonded with this woman who had so long served them as a mother figure. Marie Guérin had certainly proved herself to be both a capable mother and a capable partner.
The actual year of Pierre2 Arseneau and Marie Guérin’s relocation to Beaubassin is uncertain. However, based upon the 1686 census record, we know that they were residing in Port Royal. We also know that in 1687 Emmanuel Mirande and Marguerite Bourgeois vacated Pierre2’s land in Beaubassin moving to another locality in the vicinity. With the freeing of his land, Pierre2 Arseneau would have relocated his family to Beaubassin between the years of 1687-1690. After all, this parcel of land was already a workable farm due to the efforts of Emmanuel Mirande and Marguerite Bourgeois. There was no longer anything to prevent the move to the much safer settlement of Beaubassin.
The marriage of Pierre2 Arseneau and Marie Guérin produced six sons and one daughter, Anne, who died in infancy. Both Marguerite Dugas and Marie Guérin had a son named Abraham. To minimize confusion, these two half brothers are distinguished by "dit names". The older Abraham is known as Abraham "dit le Grand" and the younger Abraham as Abrahan "dit le Petit".
CHILDREN OF PIERRE2 ARSENEAU AND MARIE GUERIN (all born in Beaubassin)
1. Charles, born in 1690
2. JACQUES, born in 1691
3. François, born in 1694
4. Anne, born in 1697-1699
5. Claude, born in 1699
6. Augustin, born in 1700
7. Abraham “dit le Petie”, born in 1702
The two sons of Marguerite Dugas and the six sons of Marie Guérin provided the foundation for today’s formidable Acadian Arsenault Family.
IV. CRITICAL EVENTS OF PIERRE2 ARSENEAU IN ACADIA
1. THE BATTLE OF PORT ROYAL – 1690
The Acadians at Port Royal had been living peacefully under a period of french rule for 23 years (since 1667) when New Englanders again launched an attack on the settlement in 1690. Following is a description of that unfortunate battle.
The Battle of Port Royal (1690) began on May 9.[17] Sir William Phips of New England arrived with 736 men in seven English ships. Governor de Meneval [of Port Royal] fought for two days and then capitulated. The garrison was imprisoned in the church and Governor de Meneval was confined to his house. The New Englanders leveled what was begun of the new fort.[18] The residents of Port Royal were imprisoned in the church and administered an oath of allegiance to the King.[19]
Phips left, but war ships from New York arrived in June which resulted in more destruction.[20] The seamen burned and looted the settlement, including the parish church.[21] NOTE: The burning of the church at Port Royal, following the attack by war ships from New York, probably explains the large number of missing Acadian baptismal and marriage records.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Royal,_Nova_Scotia#Battle_of_Port_Royal_.281690.29
If Pierre2 Arseneau was in Port Royal in 1690 when these incidents took place, he would have had first-hand experience of the depredations. This could have been "the straw that broke the camel's back"! Although this particular battle did not result in Port Royal's loss to British rule, continued harassment and incursions into Port Royal by the British and the New Englanders was ominously predictive that it was destined to fall into British hands once again. Rather than chance the very real possibility of living under British rule, Pierre2 Arseneau would most certainly have removed his family to Beaubassin in 1690 if he had not done so already.
During the early years in the pristine, tidal-marshlands of Beaubassin, Pierre2 Arseneau's family, removed from the unrest in Port Royal, was relatively secure and stable. The farm was located inland along the upper reaches of the Tantramar River in current day Sackville, New Brunswick. The land was productive; the nearby virgin forests were bountiful with game; forest streams and the Bay of Fundy were teeming with fish; and bartering and trade with the neighboring Acadian families and Mi'kmaq was good.
Pierre3 and Abraham, now old enough to share in the laborious work of maintaining and running the family farm, would have provided Pierre2 Arseneau with a little extra free-time to share his knowledge, skills and love for adventure with all of his boys! He would have taught those approaching manhood to navigate his schooner, to hunt, trap and fish. He would, most probably, have introduced them to the seasonal trade with the Mi'kmaq. There would have been many fun-filled days of adventure and many nights to share “tall tales” of their exploits with the family. The skills that Pierre2 Arseneau taught his sons would become invaluable to them in the deportation years ahead.
The early years of stability in the region did not last. The New England militias were now attacking settlements throughout Acadia, including Beaubassin. No longer was the safety of distance from Port Royal true.
2. RAID ON CHIGNECTO (1696)
During King William's War - the first of the four French and Indian Wars - French and Native Indians raided Pemaquid, Maine (present day Bristol, Maine) earlier that year. In response, the English colonial militia leader Benjamin Church led a devastating raid on the Chignecto at Beaubassin in 1696.[1]
Church and four hundred men (50 to 150 of whom were Indians, likely Iroquois) arrived offshore of Beaubassin on September 20, 1696. They managed to get ashore and surprise the Acadians. Many fled while one confronted Church with papers showing that they had signed an oath of allegiance in 1690 to the English king. Church was unconvinced. He burned a number of buildings, killed inhabitants, looted their household goods, and slaughtered their livestock. Governor Villebon [of Acadia] reported that "the English stayed at Beaubassin nine whole days without drawing any supplies from their vessels, and even those settlers to whom they had shown a pretence of mercy were left with empty houses and barns and nothing else except the clothes on their backs."
The raid came so unexpectedly that Pierre2 Arseneau and his Acadian neighbors had just enough time to gather their families and flee to the safety of the forest. When Church and his militia finally left; the Acadian families returned to find their farms ravaged; much of their livestock slaughtered and their crops burned. Many Acadian farmers had to make temporary shelters while facing the long road of rebuilding and in some cases Mi’kmaq Indians gave them refuge in their villages. Marie Guérin’s mother, Anne Blanchard, was the daughter of a Mi’kmaq woman. Pierre2 Arseneau and Marie Guérin would have been well received by the natives.
3. MAJOR CHURCH RETURNS TO CHIGNECTO - 1704
Major Church returned to Acadia on July 17, 1704 and raided the Chignecto settlers again. The Acadian settlers returned some gun fire but again quickly sought shelter in the woods. Church burned 40 empty houses and killed over 200 cattle and other livestock. Although devastating, the 1690, 1696 and 1704 raids into Beaubassin did not result in the loss of Acadia to the British.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isthmus_of_Chignecto
4.THE SEIGE OF PORT ROYAL 1710
The Siege of Port Royal (5 – 13 October 1710),[4] also known as the Conquest of Acadia, was conducted by British regular and provincial forces under the command of Francis Nicholson against a French Acadian garrison under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase, at the Acadian capital, Port Royal. The successful British siege marked the beginning of permanent British control over the peninsular portion of Acadia, which they renamed Nova Scotia, and it was the first time the British took and held a French colonial possession.[5] After the French surrender, the British occupied the fort in the capital with all the pomp and ceremony of having captured one of the great fortresses of Europe,[6] and renamed it Annapolis Royal.
The loss of the peninsular portion of Acadia was sealed by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Under this treaty France still retained other portions of Acadia: New Brunswick, Île Royale (Cape Breton Island); and Île-Saint-Jean(Prince Edward Island). Also under the treaty, King Louis XIV, the elderly reining monarch of France, secured the following conditional guarantees for his Acadian subjects: #1. They would be allowed to move within one year to any other place still under French rule with all their movable belongings; #2. Those who could not bring themselves to leave their homes would become British subjects and would be guaranteed the right to exercise their Roman Catholic faith. We know for sure that Pierre2 Arseneau’s extended family was residing in Beaubassin during the 1710 Siege of Port Royal and the abundance of their grief must have been overwhelming.
Pierre2 Arseneau disappears from the Acadian Census records after 1707. Although undocumented, the year 1710 is most commonly referenced as the year of his death. Pierre2 Arseneau may have crossed the Bay of Fundy in his schooner with his sons Pierre3, Abraham “dit le Grand”, Charles and Jacques to assist his Acadian friends in Port Royal against the British Siege of 1710. If he was present during this Siege of Port Royal he may have suffered a fatal injury during the conflict. Regardless of when or where he died, Marie Guérin is entered in the 1714 Acadian Census of Beaubassin as a widow.
The French families who remained in peninsular Acadia were required to sign an "Unconditional Oath of Allegiance" to Great Britain confirming their willing status as British subjects. The majority of Acadians, steadfastly, refused to sign. Although the Treaty of Utrecht guaranteed the Acadians freedom of religion, neutrality in war and a right to emigrate to French controlled territory, they did not trust the British. The Acadians demanded that the provisions be included in a "Conditional Oath of Allegiance" to which the British reluctantly agreed. For the next forty-five years the Acadians who became British subjects lived under this qualified "Conditional Oath of Allegiance".
Although the Acadians were guaranteed the right to move within a year of the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht and were further guaranteed this right under the “Conditional Oath of Allegiance”, the British garrisoned at Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal) made every effort to relocate impossible. They accomplished this by refusing to transport Acadians on British ships and they forbade them from building their own boats in order to relocate. The British needed these French farmers to stay because: The soldiers lacked the knowledge to operate and maintain the unique dyke works engineered by the Acadians; the farmers would be a necessary source of provisions for the newly installed British garrison. To prevent reprisals by the Acadians and their Mi'kmac friends, their guns were also confiscated. These were indeed sad times for our Acadian ancestors who were constantly harassed and intimidated by the British now garrisoned at the fort in Annapolis Royal..
Paraphrased from Canadian Genealogy Resources - Chronicles of Canada
http://www.canadiangenealogy.net/chronicles/oath_allegiance.htp
Other sources: Acadian/Cajun Genealogy & History - Acadian Census Records
http://www.acadian-cajun.com/genac1.htm
By: Corrine (Arsenault) Prendergast