Who Were the Parents of Marie-Josephe Guédry, Wife of Charles Boutin

Two sons of Claude Guédry and Marguerite Petitpas had daughters with the names of Marie-Josephe and Hélène. This has caused confusion in determining who the parents of these women are when they married.

Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hébert had twin daughters Marie-Josephe and Hélène born on 9 January 1723 when the family was being held captive in Boston, Massachusetts . They were baptized formally by Father Félix Pain on 26 September 1723 which was registered in Grand-Pré, Acadia. The baptismal register states that they were the daughters of Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hébert ^{1 , 2} .

Pierre Guédry dit Labine and Marguerite Brasseau had a daughter Marie-Josephe about 1722 ³ . No birth or baptismal record has been found for her thus her approximate birth year is based on ages given in later records during her life. Another daughter Hélène was born to Pierre and Marguerite on 28 September 1729 and baptized by Father Noel Alexandre de Noinville 8 December 1729 at St-Jean Baptiste de Port-Royal Catholic Church in Annapolis-Royal, Acadia. Her baptismal record states that she was the daughter of Pierre Guaidri and Marguerite Brosso ^{4 , 5}

Both sets of sisters are absent by name and age from any censuses and other records until 1752. With everincreasing tension between the English authorities and the Acadians over the Oath of Allegiance and other issues, many Acadian families sought refuge in the late 1740's and very early 1750's on Île Royale (today Cape Breton Island) and Île Saint-Jean (today Prince Edward Island) - both French territories.

In early April, 1752 at Baye des Espagnols (today North Sydney) on Île Royale were:

Charles Boutin, ploughman, native of la Cadie, aged 29 years.
Married to Joseph Guedry, native of la Cadie, aged 28 years.
They have three children, two sons and one daughter.
Jean Charles, aged 5 years.
Olive, aged 3 years;
Marie Françoise, aged 3 months;
Eleine Guédry, her sister, native of l'Acadie, aged 29 years. ^{6 , 7}

Settled at Baye des Espagnols adjacent to them was Paul Boutin (aged 25 years), the brother of Charles Boutin, his wife Eustache (aged 21 years; also called Ursule) Guédry and Ursule's brother Pierre Guédry, aged 11 years. Nearby in the same village were several Guédry relatives: Jean Cousin and Judith Guédry, Germain Lejeune and Marie Guédry, Paul Guédry and Anne Mius, Joseph Guédry and Josette Benoit and Jean Lejeune and Françoise Guédry ^{6 , 7} . Although no record of their marriage has been located, Charles Boutin and Marie-Josephe Guédry likely married about 1746 based on the age of their eldest child.

Note that Joseph Guédry (i.e., Marie-Josephe Guédry) and her sister Eleine (i.e., Hélène) Guédry are almost the same age (28 years and 29 years) and thus born about 1723. They almost certainly are the twin daughters of Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hébert born at Boston on 9 January 1723. Also, living with or adjacent to Marie-Josephe are three children of Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hébert - Hélène, Pierre and Ursule Guédry.

A second document that provides additional evidence that Marie-Josephe Guédry, husband of Charles Boutin, was the daughter of Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hébert is A List of Foreign & Other Settlers Victualled at Lunenburg Between 16 & 29 June 1755, Both Days Included ⁸ . In August 1754 a group of twenty-five Acadians appeared at Halifax and requested that they be allowed to return to their former home at Merliguèche (near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia founded in 1753). They had come by boat from Louisbourg, Île Royale because they were starving due to the poor soil quality and the drought. Twenty-two of the group either were a Guédry or a spouse or child in one of the Guédry families. All of the Guédry's represented are children of Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hébert. They actually had come from Baye des Espagnols (about 35 miles above Louisbourg) and nearby Rivière de Miré, but probably departed by boat from Louisbourg. The British granted them permission to settle at Merliguèche and in June 1755 victualled them along with the many foreign Protestants at Lunenburg ^{9 .}

Represented on the Victual List of over 1500 persons were Paul Boutin, his wife Ursula (Guédry), their three children and her brother Pierre (Guédry) (called Pierre Boutin in the list as he was still living with his sister) [Person Nos. 1419-1424], Joseph Guedry [Person No. 1425], Julian Bournevue (Bourneuf), his wife Jeanne (Guédry) and their five children [Person Nos. 1411-1417], Francois Loucas (Lucas), his wife Helena (Guédry) and their daughter [Person Nos. 1402-1404] and Charles Boutin, his wife Maria (Guédry) and their three children [Person Nos. 1405-1409] ⁸ . Knowing that all the other Guédry's on this list were children of Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hébert, it would seem reasonable that Maria, wife of Charles Boutin was also the daughter of Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hébert and that all of Augustin Guédry's family at Île Royale had left together to come to Merliguèche.

Several villages distant from Baye des Espagnols - at Pointe à la Jeunesse on Île Royale in 1752 were:

Benjamin Mieux, ploughman, native of la Cadie, aged 24 years.
Married to Josephe Guedry, native of la Cadie, aged 30 years.
They have two daughters: -
Marie Joseph, aged 2 years;
Nastay, aged 1 year;
Marguerite Pelagie Brau, aged 6 years;
And one ox. ^{6 , 10}

At Port Toulouse (today St. Peter's) on Île Royale were:

Charles Pinet, Jr. coaster, native of the place, aged 25 years.
Married to Hélène Guedry, native of la Cadie, aged 22 years.
They have neither live stock nor dwelling place. ^{6 , 11}

Marie-Josephe Guédry, spouse of Benjamin Mieux (Mius) would have been born about 1722 and thus appears to be the daughter of Pierre Guédry dit Labine and Marguerite Brasseau. Hélène Guédry would have been born about 1730 and also appears to be the daughter of Pierre Guédry dit Labine and Marguerite Brasseau. Again no marriage records have been located for either the marriage of Benjamin Mieux (Charles-Benjamin Mius d'Azy) and Marie-Josephe Guédry nor Charles Pinet, Jr. and Hélène Guédry. From the age of their older child it appears that Benjamin and Marie-Josephe married about 1749. Since Charles and Hélène have no children, it seems that they were married recently.

Based on an analysis of the 1752 Census and the 1755 Victual List, the parents of Marie-Josephe Guédry, wife of Charles Boutin, almost certainly were Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hébert while the parents of Marie-Josephe Guédry, wife of Charles-Benjamin Mius d'Azy, were Pierre Guédry dit Labine and Marguerite Brasseau.

Marie-Josephe Guédry, daughter of Pierre Guédry dit Labine and Marguerite Brasseau was married three times: (1) Amand Breau ¹² , son of Antoine Breau and Marguerite Dugas, about 1745; (2) Charles-Benjamin Mius d'Azy ^{6 , 10} , son of Joseph Mius d'Azy and Marie Amireau, about 1749 and (3) Claude LeBlanc ^{13 , 14} , son of Jean LeBlanc and Jeanne Bourgeois, on 31 August 1767.

Over the years researchers have attributed the parents of Marie-Josephe Guédry, wife of Charles-Benjamin Mius d'Azy, to other couples including Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hébert ^{12 , 15} as well as Augustin Guédry and Anne Lejeune ^{13 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 18} . Most of these sources seem to derive the parents from the marriage record of MarieJosephe Guédry with her third husband Claude LeBlanc ^{13 , 14} .

In that record the parents of Marie-Josephe Guédry are listed as Augustin Guedry and Anne Lejeune and Marie-Josephe Guédry is cited as the widow of Benjamin Mius. We know of no Augustin Guédry who married an Anne Lejeune prior to 1767.

Anne Lejeune did marry Claude Guédry in Acadia about 1746. She later died on 18 April 1759 in Châteauneuf, France. Anne Lejeune was born about 1725 and she and Claude Guédry had five children between about 1747 and 1758. Since Marie-Josephe Guédry was born about 1722, Anne Lejeune could not have been her mother. Another error on this marriage document is that one witness to the marriage was Marie-Josephe's brother Charles Guédry; however, he is listed as a cousin of hers. The only person that signed the document was the priest - strongly indicating that the other parties at the marriage could not write. It is not known who provided the information on the family of Marie-Josephe Guédry to the scribe recording this marriage ^{13 , 14} , but the information on the family of Marie-Josephe Guédry was not correct.

The parents of Marie-Josephe Guédry, wife of Charles Boutin, were Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hébert.

The parents of Marie-Josephe Guédry, wife of Amand Breau, Charles-Benjamin Mius d'Azy and Claude LeBlanc, were Pierre Guédry dit Labine and Marguerite Brasseau.