OUR ACADIAN ANCESTRY

The Londrys in North America are descendants of Alexis Landry and Sara Marie Leblanc from Carleton Quebec, where they were married on February 2, 1796. Alexis and Sara moved to Kingston, Ontario between 1805 and 1809 where Alexis worked as a shipwright. When the war of 1812 broke out he joined the Canadian, English forces and served on the Earl Moira and then the Lady Murray, from which he was taken prisoner by the Americans on June 5, 1813. He was released from prison on July 4, 1814.

Alexis and Sara were Acadians. Their ancestors came to North America from France around 1630 to 1640, settled in Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia) and then spread throughout Acadia, what is now Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The settlement of Port Royal was established by Samual Champlain in 1605 after a failed attempt to settle on Ile St, Croix in 1604. A 2004 Canadian quarter commemorates the 400th birthday of this event.

The treaty of Utrecht in 1713 gave the French colonies of Acadia, in what is now Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland to the English. France held onto Ile Royale (Cape Breton), Ile Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island) and the area to the north of Beaubassin, which is now New Brunswick (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Acadia between 1713 and 1758

THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR

The Seven Years’ War was fought between Britain and France from 1754 to 1763 in North America. Some of the significant battles were the English attack on Fort Beausejour, Acadia, on June 16, 1755; the British siege of Louisbourg, Acadia, from June 8 to July 26, 1758; the Battle of Fort Frontenac, Upper Canada, on July 25, 1758; and, the one we are most faniliar with, the defeat of Montcalm by James Wolfe at the battle of the Plaines d’Abraham in Quebec, Lower Canada, on September 13, 1759.

Fort Beausejour is located near the border between present day New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, to the east of Sackville on the Isthmus of Chignecto. On June 4, 1755 the British attacked Beausejour from Fort Lawrence which the English had constructed in the village of Beaubassin and took control of the French fort on June 16. This action started the British campaign to take over all of France’s North American territory.

Figure 2: Location of Fort Beausejour and Fort Lawrence (Library and Archives Canada, Acadian Historic Atlas)

On October 13, 1755 the deportation of the Acadians to English settlements along the eastern sea board, from Boston, Massachusetts to South Carolina, was started with seven ship loads from the Isthmus of Chignecto. This was followed on October 27 by fourteen ships transporting Acadians from the Minas Basin area (Grand Pre and Pisiguit). A lot of the Acadians who were living in English Acadia (Nova Scotia) avoided the deportations from that area by migrating to French held territory on Ile Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island) and what is now New Brunswick in the late 1740’s and early 1750’s.

Fort Frontenac was a French trading post which was built in 1673 at the mouth of the Cataraqui River in what is now Kingston, Ontario. It was named after Louis de Buade de Frontenac, the governor of New France at the time. The British took over the fort in July 1758, because of its strategic location at the foot of the Great Lakes. The fort was rebuilt in 1783 to accommodate a military garrison to protect a growing population of United Empire Loyalists settling in the Kingston area. During the War of 1812, the Lady Murray was sailing from Kingston to York (Toronto) when it was captured by the Americans close to Presque Isle. The schooner, with its 1 ensign, 15 soldiers and 6 sailors, including Alexis Landry, was taken to the American port of Sackett Harbour in New York state.

Louisbourg, on Ile Royal (Cape Breton), was established by the French after the treaty of 1713, to replace fishing ports in Newfoundland which were lost to the English in the treaty of Utrecht. In 1758, the town was under siege by the British for seven weeks from June 8 until its capture on July 26. The capture of Louisbourg also left Ile Saint Jean (Prince Edward Island) unprotected and led to the deportation of the Acadians there, which began on August 31, 1758. Since this was French territory and the Acadians were French subjects, they were deported back to France or to Prison in England.

Three of the ships heading for France sank. The Duke William, Violet and Ruby, along with at least four other ships with deportees from Ile Saint-Jean, left Chedabouctou Bay on November 25, 1758. The Violet sank on December 12, 1758 with the loss of 300 lives, the Duke William on December 13, 1758 with the loss of 350 lives and the Ruby on December 16, 1758 with the loss of 190 lives. Many of the Acadians also died on the way to France or in hospitals shortly after they arrived, because of the conditions on the transport ships.

The Seven Years’ War ended on February 10, 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, leaving the islands of St Pierre and Miquelon the only territory held by France, north of the Caribbean. At the end of the war, there were almost 3,000 Acadians still in Acadia, nearly 2,000 in Lower Canada, more than 5,000 in the American colonies, 1100 prisoners in England and 2000, of the 3000 who were deported from Ile-Saint-Jean, from Ile-Royale and from Halifax, in France. (Paul Delaney, Chronology of Deportations & Migrations of the Acadians, acadian-home.org)

THE LANDRYS

There were two Rene Landrys who arrived in Acadia from France in about 1640. There is a debate as to whether Rene “la jeune” was the son of the older Rene who was born in Loudun, France in 1618. He was married to Perrine Bourg with whom he had four sons including, possibly, Rene la Jeune. Rene la jeune was born in France in 1634 and died at Port Royal in 1692. He married Marie Bernard and had eight children, seven sons and one daughter. Marie Bernard, who was born in France in 1645, died at Port Royal in 1719.

Figure 3: Rene Landry's descendants

Germain Landry was born at Port Royal in 1674, one of seven sons of Rene Landry, la jeune and Marie Bernard. Germain married Marie Melanson, the daughter of Pierre dit La Verdue Melanson and Ann Marie Marguerite Muis-d’Entremont, at Port Royal in 1694 and they

Figure 4: Pisiguit, Acadia showing the location of the farms of Germain, Pierre and Abraham Landry (Library and Archives Canada, Acadian Historic Atlas)

had ten children, seven sons and three daughters. Germain and Marie, along with brothers Pierre and Abraham, moved to Piziguit (now Windsor, Nova Scotia) in 1699 or 1700; they are in the 1698 Census of Port Royal and in the 1701 Census of Riviere de Lacension (Piziquit). It is not known where and when Marie and Germain died.

Abraham Landry, one of five sons of Germain and Marie, was born in Piziguit in 1697. He married Marie Isabelle Blanchard, daughter of Martin Blanchard and Marguerite Guilbault, in 1720 and they had seven children, 3 daughters and four sons. In 1747, Abraham was a deputy for Piziguit. He and his two eldest sons, Charles and Joseph, went to the French territory of Ile Saint-Jean in about 1748. This move was likely in response to the English’s attempt to get the Acadians to sign an allegiance to England amidst increased tensions between France and England. Abraham is listed in the1752 Sieur de la Roque census of the Riviere-de-Peugiguit area, Ile Saint-Jean. It states that he is 52 years old and has two sons with him, Charles, aged 22 years and Joseph, aged 18 years. It also states in the census that he has been in the country for four years.

Figure 5: Ancestors of Alexis Landry and Sara Leblanc

The deportation of the Acadians from English Acadia (Nova Scotia) began in 1755, and

from Ile Saint-Jean and Ile Royal in 1758. Abraham and his family were deported from Ile Saint-Jean and ended up in the parish of Pleudihen, St. Malo, Brittany, France. The people along the north shore of the island were saved from deportation because of a lack of ships, and many of these Acadians fled to the Baie de Chaleur and Lower Canada.

Charles Landry, one of Abraham’s sons, was born in Piziguit, in 1730. He was married to Marie Girouard in St. Malo, France, on January 25, 1763. Charles and Marie had six children, 5 boys and one girl, all born in France. The family returned to North America between 1774 and 1777; their youngest child, Charles, was born in France in 1774 and Charles and Marie are listed in the 1777 census of Carleton. Alexis Landry was born in 1770. Charles died in Carleton, Quebec, on May 30, 1824.

THE LeBLANCS

Daniel LeBlanc was born in France around 1626 and came to North America before 1650. He married Francoise Gaudet, daughter of Jean Gaudet and Francoisse Daussy. They had seven children, six sons and 1 daughter. Daniel died at Port Royal in1693.

Daniel and Francoise’s eldest son, Jacques LeBlanc, was born in Port Royal around 1651. He married Catherine Hebert, daughter of Antoine Hebert and Genevieve Lefranc, in about 1673, and they had thirteen children. They moved to the Minas Basin in 1686/87; Jacques and his wife Catherine are listed in the 1686 census of Port Royal and the 1693 census of Les Mines (Grand Pre, Pisiguit). Their daughter, Madeleine, was born in Port Royal in 1687 and their son, Francois was born in Grand Pre in 1688. It is not known when Jacques or Catherine passed away.

Francois LeBlanc married Marguerite Boudrot, daughter of Claude Boudrot and Anne-Marie Thibodeau, in Grand-Pré, September 19, 1712. Francois and Marguerite were sent to Massachusetts during the deportation of the Acadians and Francois died there in 1761. Francois’ widow, Marguerite Boudrot, went to Miquelon in 1763 with four of her sons and one daughter. Four years later she returned to Nova Scotia.

Joseph Leblanc, son of Francois, was born in Grand Pre on November 7, 1718. He married Madeleine Girouard, the daughter of Pierre Girouard, born in Port Royal in 1672 and Marie Doiron, born in Pisiguit in 1694. Madeleine was born in Grand Pre on May 5, 1719 and married Joseph in Grand Pre in 1740. Joseph and Madeleine had eight children, four sons and four daughters. They resettled on Ile Saint-Jean in about 1750; their daughter, Marguerite Leblanc, was born in Grand Pre in 1749 and their son Jean was born in Malpeque, Ile Saint-Jean in 1756. The family is listed as residents of Malpeque in the 1752 census of Ile Saint-Jean. They most likely evaded the deportations from Ile Saint-Jean in 1758 by going to the Baie de Chaleur area. Both Joseph and Madeleine died at Carleton, Lower Canada, Madeleine on December 13, 1803 and Joseph on March 28, 1818.

Joseph and Madeleine’s son Joseph Leblanc was born in Carleton in 1743. He married

Francoise Dugas (born in Grand Pre in 1753), the daughter of Charles Dugas (born in Grand Pre in 1711) and Marie-Ann Leblanc (born in Grand Pre in 1718). Joseph and Francoise had 10 children between 1773 and 1790, all born in Carleton. They are listed in the 1777 census of Carleton with 2 sons and 2 daughters below the age of 16. Joseph died in Carleton on February 6, 1813 and Francoise died in Carleton on April 5, 1834.

Joseph and Francoise’s daughter, Sara Leblanc, was born 1778 in Carleton. She married Alexis Landry in Carleton on February 2, 1796. It is not known where Sara died but it was most likely in the United States.

THE DUGAS

Sara Leblanc’s mother, Francoise, was a Dugas. The first Dugas in Acadia was Abraham Dugas who was born in France in 1616. He married Marguerite Doucet , born 1625 in France, in Port Royal in about 1647. They had at least eight children, 3 boys and five girls. Abraham and Marguerite are in the 1686 census of Port Royal when Abraham is 70 years old. They are not listed in the 1698 census, however, Marguerite is in the 1700 census.

Abraham Dugas, a son of Abraham and Marguerite, was born in Port Royal in 1661. He married Jeanne Guillebaud in about 1680 and Madeleine Landry sometime after 1690. They had seven children in all. Abraham died in Port Royal on May 3, 1720.

Joseph Dugas, a son of Abraham and Jeanne, was born in Port Royal in 1690 and married Marguerite Richard on June 12, 1711 in Grand Pre. Marguerite was born in Grand Pre in 1690 to parents Pierre Richard, born 1661 in Port Royal and Marguerite Landry, born 1672 in Port Royal. Marguerite Landry was the daughter of Rene Landry and Marie Bernard.

Joseph and Marguerite had at least 11 children, 4 boys and 7 girls, all born in Grand Pre between 1711 and 1732. At some point, they moved to Louisbourg where Joseph died on September 5, 1733. Marguerite remarried, to a Charles De Latour, in Louisbourg on January 16, 1736.

Charles Dugas, the oldest child of Joseph and Marguerite was born in Grand Pre on December 10, 1711. He married Anne Leblanc in Grand Pre on January 7, 1739. Ann was born in Grand Pre on March 16, 1718 to Pierre Leblanc and Francoise Landry; Anne’ s parents, were deported to Massachusetts in 1755 but both died in the late 1760’s in Lower Canada (Quebec). Ann Leblanc’s mother, Francoise Landry, was the daughter of Antoine Landry who was the son of Rene Landry and Marie Bernard.

Charles and Anne had 12 children, five boys and seven girls, all born in Grand Pre, the last in about 1755. Both Charles and Ann died in Carleton, Ann in 1776 and Charles in 1801. It is not known when and how they went to Carleton. They may have evaded the 1758 deportations from Ile Saint Jean, like the Leblancs (they are not listed in the 1752 census of Ile Saint-Jean), or they may have gone overland to the Baie de Chaleur area from Grand Pre. Charles is in the 1760 census of Restigouche. He is listed with 4 sons and 5 daughters in the 1761 census of Nipisiquit (Bathurst) and with 1 son older than 15, 4 sons younger than 15 and 3 females in the 1765 census of Bonaventure. He is also listed as an enseign in the 1777 census of Carleton.