The First Known Record of the Guédry Family in North America
There is very little evidence to help us discern the origins of Claude Guédry, husband of Marguerite Petitpas and the ancestral father of the Guédry family in North America. Some evidence points to an origin in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. Other possibilities include the Normandy region of France as well as England and Scotland.
Another question challenging genealogists today is when did Claude Guédry arrive in Acadia. Some suggest that he was born in Acadia - his father having arrived in the 1630s or 1640s as a contract laborer and had at least one child with either a European or Mi'kmaq wife. No record of his father or mother has been discovered to date. We do know from census records that Claude was born about 1648-1651. Other researchers suggest that Claude arrived in Acadia between 1671 and 1686 since he does not appear on the 1671 Acadian Census, but is found on the 1686 Acadian Census. Of course, being missing from a census is not definitive evidence of one's absence from the area.
The first documented evidence of Claude Guédry found to date is the baptismal record of his daughter Jeanne Guédry. Father Claude Moireau, a Recollect priest, baptized Jeanne, daughter of Claude Guédry and Kesk8a (a Mi'kmaq), at Menagoneck on 2 June 1681. Jeanne's parrain (godfather) was Claude Petitpas, very likely the son of Claude Petitpas and Catherine Bugaret and the brother of Claude Guédry's future wife Marguerite Petitpas. Her marraine (godmother) was Jeanne de la Tour, wife of Martin d'Aprendestiguy de Martignon, Sieur de Jemseg and daughter of Charles de Saint-Etienne de la Tour and his first wife - a Mi'kmaq.
Menagoneck was on the mouth of the St. John River (north coast of the Bay of Fundy) very near to Martin d'Aprendestiguy's fur trading seigneury and Fort Martignon - the home of Martin d'Aprendestiguy and his wife Jeanne de la Tour. Later called Parr Town, Menagoneck today is part of St. John, New Brunswick.
Apparently Claude Guédry and Kesk8a were not married - at least in the Catholic Church - as Father Moireau does not use the term "en légitime marriage de" (from the legitimate marriage of) to describe their relationship. Where parents were both Acadians and apparently married in the Catholic Church, Father Moireau consistently described their relationship as "en légitime marriage de".
This baptismal certificate captures the beginnings of a lifelong relationship between the Guédry and Petitpas families. Claude also seems to have had close ties either with Martin d'Aprendestiguy or with the de la Tour family. Could Claude have been a fur trapper for Martin d'Aprendestiguy? Perhaps Jeanne de la Tour knew Kesk8a since both had Mi'kmaq origins.
Below are a transcription and a translation of Jeanne Guédry's baptismal record.
Transcription:
A Menagoned
Léan de grace 1681 ce 2 d Juin ai baptisé selon les formes de la Ste Eglise -- Jeanne Guédry née de Claude Guédry dit La verdure et de Kesk8a sauvage et a esté tenue sur les fonds par Claude petitpas et Jeanne de la tour femme de Martin Ses parein et mareine qui Léont nommé Jeanne.fr. CL. Moireau, Ind. Recolet
(Registre A, Cahier No. 1, Acadie, 1679-1686, p. 3 (Actes du P. Claude Moireau, récollet.
Archives de Archdiocese de Québec))
Translation:
At Menagoned
The year of Grace 1681 this 2nd of June I have baptized according to the rituals of the Holy Church - Jeanne Guédry born of Claude Guédry dit La verdure and of Kesk8a Indian and has been bound in the obligations through Claude petitpas and Jeanne de la tour wife of Martin Her godfather and godmother whom they have named Jeanne.Fr. CL. Moireau, Ind. Recollect
[Note: The figure "8" was used by French priests to indicate a sound in the Indian language, sometimes translated as "ou."]