The two Melanson brothers, PIERRE, dit LAVERDURE born in 1632 and CHARLES LAVERDURE born in 1643 were the sons of Pierre Laverdure (1600-1676) of French origin and Priscilla Melanson (1600-1691) of English origin. They came to Port Royal with their parents in 1657 aboard the ship "Satisfaction" along with Sir Thomas Temple, the new English governor of Acadia. They settled in what is now St. John, New Brunswick.

Their parents:

Pierre Laverdure (abt 1583-1676) was a Huguenot who moved to England from France before 1632., It is believed that he left France during the siege of La Rochelle in 1627 against the protestants.

Priscilla Melanson (1600-1691) was an English woman. The Melanson family in England lived in the Yorkshires.

Pierre and Priscilla also had another son named Jean (John). Then after the treaty of Breda in 1667 when Acadia was ceded back to France Pierre Priscilla and Jean took refuge under te Protestant goverment at Boston.

Their sons Pierre and Charles stayed in Acadia. They took their mothers maiden nameto conceal their identity. Today the acadian family name Melanson, Melancon or other variations all can be traced back to the descendents of Pierre and Charles.

The majority of Charles descendents returned to the former Acdadia, resettling in Nova Scotia, Southern New Brunswick and in the states of Main and Massachusetts in the US. They spell their name MELANSON.

The Majority of Pierre's descendents did not return to Acacia, instead they settled in Louisiana, Quebec and Northern New Brunswich. It is this branch of the family that spells their name MELANCON.

Jean (John) Melanson was later in trouble with the law for helping sell seventeen Indians. In his defense Major Richard Waldron of Dover New Hampshire had given a mandate to seize all the Indians of the east. Unfortunately their acctivity was not taken lightly in New England. When they got back to New England his comrads were jailed. John was left at liberty in return for 100 pounds bail which his mother, Priscilla borrowed from her landlord and posted for her son. However when the trail started John had jumped bail. His mother sent a petition to the Governor of Massachusetts pleading that the 100 pounds not be forfeited. She also told the origin of the French Acadian Melanson family. Johns father, Pierre Laverdure, searched for John going back to Port Royal but his search was in vain. Heartbroken at not finding his son Pierre died sometime between 1676 and 1677. In the end Priscillas plea was refused by decision of the magistrates dated the May 29, 1677 and she lived on charity until she remarried an innkeeper by the name Captain William Wright. A footnote to the tale is that The other men that had taken part in the sale of the Indians in the Azores were aquitted meaning that John would not have had to go into hiding. It is believed that he too took the Melanson name and there is a John Melanson that married Sarah in that time frame.

However it is the documentation that Priscilla gave to the courts that gives the Melanson / Melancon family information about the name origin. However even though the Melancon family name is English --The French bloodline was passed down the line from Pierre Laverdure.