Dedication - Old French Cemetery of Lunenburg
Presented at the Guedry-Labine & Petitpas Reunion
August 7, 2004
As we gather in this ancient cemetery of our ancestors, let us remember and learn from its history. It has many stories to tell.
The Guédry, Petitpas and other Acadian families lived on this bay and on the surrounding hills in old Merligueche. Their neighbors were the Micmac from who they learned a great deal about living in this wilderness - how to forage from the nearby woodlands, how to harvest fish and shellfish from the sea, how to grow crops in these soils, how to survive the winters, how to shelter themselves and their families.
Being close to the eastern seaboard of the American colonies, Merligueche and its lovely bay attracted many English captains who needed provisions - especially fresh water. The Acadians of Merligueche treated these English sailors kindly and aided them when they could. The Acadians and Bostonians traded goods during these days. Often the Acadians warned English sailors of danger posed by the Micmacs who at times attacked English ships anchored in the bay.
Jean-Baptiste Augustin Guédry dit Labine (the founder of today's Labine family) suffered numerous gunshot wounds to his body from angry Micmacs because he warned an English captain not to stay in the Merligueche harbor or else he risked almost certain attack from the Micmacs. Several of the bullets remained in him throughout his exile in Boston and eventual resettlement in the Quebec area.
As these Merligueche Acadians aged and eventually died, they were buried in this hallowed ground.
Gradually Merligueche, never a large community, lost its population. The young folks of the community moved to other areas - perhaps because these new communities offered hope of a better life. By the early 1750's only a handful of Acadians remained in the Merligueche area - among them "Old Labrador" (likely a son of Claude Guedry; perhaps Paul Guédry), whose farm was just a stone's throw from us.
On May 28, 1753 a new people came to old Merligueche. At this time Merligueche was under the British authority; however, the new settlers came from Germany, Switzerland and even France. They settled on the cleared land adjoining the town. And they renamed the town Lunenburg after Luneburg in Germany from where many of the settlers came. It was a difficult life, but they persevered and their descendents live here yet today.
They were a good people as had been the Acadians who preceded them in this place. Like the Acadians before them, they learned to live from the land and sea around them. And as the Acadians aided the English sailors years before, the new settlers of Lunenburg aided the Acadians shortly after the founding of their new town.
In August of 1754 a group of 25 Acadians on Ile Royale were starving and desired to come to Merligueche. Among them were Paul Boutin and his wife Eustache Guédry, Julian Bourneuf and his wife Jeanne Guédry with their family, Charles Boutin and his wife Marie-Josephe Guédry with their family, Joseph Guédry and Pierre Guédry.
On August 24, 1754 William Cotterell wrote to Colonel Sutherland, Commanding Officer at Lunenburg:
"Dear Sir - . . . The bearers hereof, being in all twenty-five persons, are just arrived here from Louisbourg, from whence they made their escape to avoid starving. Some of them were formerly inhabitants of this country and are nearly related to old Labrador; they have all taken the oaths; the Colonel desires you would treat them kindly, order them to be victualled, to have tools given them, and land laid out for them where you shall see most convenient. I am Dear Sir, Yours, Wm. Cotterell."
As the settlers of Lunenburg eventually died - either from the dangers of their rustic life or from old age, they too were buried in this old cemetery - among the Acadians of old Merligueche.
So - As we dedicate this French Cemetery in memory of our ancestors, let us not forget the bond between the Acadians of Merligueche and the other peoples that used this harbor and settled these lands and eventually also were buried in this hallowed ground.
R. Martin Guidry
Baton Rouge, LA
7 August 2004