Survival of a Family: The Family of Paul Guidry dit Jovial and Anne Mius d'Entremont d'Azit de Pobomcoup

by Marty Guidry

Survival of a Family Series
  1. The Migration of the Guédry Family during the 18th Century
  2. The Family of Jean-Baptiste Guédry and Madeleine Mius d'Azy
  3. The Family of Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hebert
  4. Update - The Family of Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hebert
  5. The Family of Marie-Joseph Guedry and Phillipe Dorion
  6. The Family of Pierre Guidry and Marguerite Brasseau
  7. Update - The Family of Pierre Guidry dit Labine and Marguerite Brasseau
  8. The Family of Paul Guidry dit Jovial and Anne Mius d'Entremont d'Azit de Pobomcoup Current
  9. The Family of Francoise Guedry & Jean LeJeune
  10. The Remaining Sons of Claude Guedry and Marguerite Petitpas

The Acadian deportations began in October 1755 and continued for eight years until the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763.

Our ancestors suffered not only during these eight years as they struggled to keep their families together and their culture intact, but for the next 30 years while seeking a homeland and reviving the Acadian nation.

The children of Paul Guedry dit Jovial and Anne Mius d'Entremont d'Azit de Pobomcoup participated in this difficult struggle and survived.

Paul Guedry dit Jovial , son of Claude Guedry and Marguerite Petitpas, married Anne Mius d'Entremont d'Azit de Pobomcoup , daughter of Philippe Mius, fils and Marie, an Amerindian, about 1720 in Acadia.

Paul Guedry, born in January 1701 at Merligueche, Acadia (present-day Lunenburg), and his wife do not appear to have been deported. Paul Guedry was a superb coasting pilot - plying the waters between Merligueche and Baie des Espagnols, Ile Royale (today Spanish Bay near Sydney, Cape Breton Island).

Paul Guedry and Anne Mius d'Entremont fled to Baie des Espagnols about August 1750 to escape the increasing repression of the English. 1  It is here that we find the last known record of Paul Guedry - the 17 February 1755 annulment of the marriage of his daughter Marguerite to Toussaint-Marie de Lanoue, Sieur de Bogard, a French officer at Fortress Louisbourg. 2

At the time it was illegal for a French officer to wed a lady with Amerindian blood. Because of her mother's heritage, Marguerite Guedry was one-quarter Amerindian; therefore, the commander of Fortress Louisbourg annulled the marriage and sent the offending officer back to France.

Apparently during his coasting trips Paul Guedry returned to Merligueche frequently and was well known in the area. On 24 August 1754 William Cotterell at Halifax wrote to Colonel Sutherland, Commanding at Lunenburg, that 25 Acadians from Louisbourg escaped that country to avoid starvation and were temporarily at Halifax. 3   Several of them were former inhabitants of Merligueche including the families of Pierre Guedry, Paul Boutin, Charles Boutin, Julien Bourneuf and others.

Mr. Cotterell mentions in the letter that they are 'nearly related to Old Labrador' and should be treated with kindness and helped to resettle at Lunenburg. It is strongly felt that 'Old Labrador' was actually Paul Guedry. Could 'Labrador' be an anglicized spelling of La Verdure - a 'dit' name of the Guedry family?

Paul Guedry and Ann Mius d'Entremont had eight children - six boys and two girls. All, but two of them, disappear from the record after 1752 and thus we do not know if they were deported. Since they resided on either Ile St. Jean (Prince Edward Island) or Ile Royale (Cape Breton Island) in 1752, if deported by the English, they would have left Acadia in 1758 after the fall of Louisbourg.

Judith Guedry , the oldest child of the family, was born in late 1722 under very unusual circumstances. In the early summer of 1722 the Indians of Maine waged a war against the English in New England to retaliate against the English seizing their highest chief Joseph d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin and destroying their village Nanrantsouak - even burning the church and rectory.

Governor Shute of Massachusetts issued a declaration of war on 25 July 1722 - a war known by several names including The Three Years War, Rale's War. Lovewell's War, and Governor Dummer's Indian War.

The English Governor of Acadia, Richard Phillips, was at Canso when Governor Shute declared war. He immediately sent troops along the East Coast of Acadia including Merligueche where he recovered English vessels and imprisoned Indians and Acadians. Among those captured by the English were four sons of Claude Guedry and Marguerite Petitpas - Claude, Philippe, Augustin and Paul. Perhaps the Acadians were imprisoned because of their strong ties to the Micmacs - both through intermarriage and through friendships.

The Guedry families first were taken to New Hampshire and then to Boston where they remained in captivity until 1723. Judith Guedry was born in Boston during the latter part of 1722 and returned to Acadia when the English set her parents free in 1723. 4

On 12 November 1737 Judith married Jean Cousin, captain of a merchant-ship and pilot for the king at Louisbourg. He was the son of Guy Cousin and Charlotte M. Although the marriage was recorded at Grand-Pre, the document states that Judith Guedry lived at Merligueche. 5

In 1750, attempting to escape the English persecution, they left Merligueche and settled on Ile Royale, a French colony. On 3 Apr 1752 Jean Cousin, his wife, and their four young children (Benomy age 9, Marie la Branche age 7, Jean Baptiste age 5 and Marie Madeleine age 2) were living near Judith's parents at Baye des Espagnols where they had grown a large quantity of beans and turnips and owned five to six arpents of fallow land. They had one ox, two pigs and six fowl as well as a boat. 6 We find no further mention of this family in the records.

Jacque Guedry dit Grivois , born in 1724, married Brigitte Lejeune about 1745. She was the daughter of Pierre Lejeune and Jeanne Benoit. In June 1751 Jacque Guedry departed Merligueche with his wife and three daughters (Marie Joseph age 5, Victoire age 3 and Marie age 1) for the French colony of Ile Saint-Jean. He settled at Bedec (today Bedeque, Prince Edward Island) where we find this young family on 29 August 1752.

They owned one cow, one heifer and four pigs and had a large garden. 7 This is the last record that we can find of this family.

Born in 1730, Jean Anselme Guedry dit Grivois left Merligueche ith his family in August 1750 and on 3 April 1752 was living with his parents and siblings at Baie des Espagnols. 1  In 1755 at Ile Saint-Jean he married Marie LeBlanc, daughter of Joseph LeBlanc and Marie-Madeleine Lalande. 8  With the fall of Louisbourg in 1758 and the expulsion of Acadians living on Ile Royale and Ile Saint-Jean, Jean Anselme Guedry and his family escaped to New Brunswick - possibly Ristigouche on Baie des Chaleurs. 9 Subsequently they were captured by the English and imprisoned. The list of Acadian prisoners at Fort Cumberland (today's Fort Beausejour near Amherst, Nova Scotia) on 24 August 1763 contains the names of Jean Guedry, his wife Marie and their two sons Jean and Alexandre. 10 They had been imprisoned for three years. 11 After their release from prison, Jean Guedry and his family settled at Iles St. Pierre et Miquelon where on 15 May 1767 we find Jean, his wife Marie, their two sons Jean (age 10) and Joseph (age 5) and their daughter Marie (age 3). 12  In this census they are listed as having come from Halifax.

The family's stay at Iles St. Pierre et Miquelon was brief as later in 1767 they sailed on the snow La Petite Fortune to Martin de Re on Ile de Re near Rochefort, France. With Jean and his wife Marie LeBlanc were three sons - Jean, Joseph and Pierre (also called Jacques) - and a daughter - Marie. 13 The census taken on 8 January 1770 lists Jean Guedry, Marie LeBlanc and their children Jean (age 12), Marie (age 7) and Jacques (age 3) among the families sent from Iles St. Pierre et Miquelon and currently living at Rochefort, France. Their son Joseph is absent from this roster and may have died since the family landed in France in 1767. The census notes that Jean Guedry was a prisoner for three years after the last siege of Louisbourg by the English.

At Rochefort, Jean was a shipwright and caulker and was employed at the old dock in town where he broke his back and remained crippled. 14 Jean Guedry, Marie LeBlanc and their sons Jean and Jacques were living at Rochefort on 15 September 1772 where he was a carpenter, his wife spun cotton and his eldest son Jean was a carpenter's helper. 15 On 20 July 1774 Marie LeBlanc, wife of Jean Guedry, became the godmother of young Marguerite-Adelaide Gautrot, daughter of Pierre Gautrot and Marie-Louise Duplessis, at St. Jean L'Evangeliste in Chatellerault, France. 16 On the Second Convoy leaving Chatellerault for Nantes on 15 November 1775 were Marie LeBlanc and her 11-year old son Jacques. Listed as absent were Jean Guedry, her husband, and their 17- year old son Jean. 17

In September 1784 Jean Guedry and Marie LeBlanc confirmed to the Spanish government that they wished to establish themselves in Louisiana. 18   Finally, on 11 June 1785 Jean Guedry, a caulker, his wife Marie LeBlanc and their sons Jean and Jacques Guedry, both carpenters, departed Nantes, France on Le Beaumont for Louisiana. On 19 August 1785 they arrived in New Orleans, LA. 19 Shortly after arriving in Louisiana Jean Guedry and his family resettled in St. James Parish, LA where they remained until at least 1788. 20 Here their son Jean married Celeste Boudreau and they transferred land among their family. In the spring of 1788 flooding of their lands by the Mississippi River resulted in Jean Guedry and his son Jean each receiving 7 1/2 barrels of corn for subsistence. By 1791 Jean Guedry and Marie LeBlanc moved to Ascension Parish, LA where they initially settled on the east bank of the Mississippi River. Here they had 6 arpents of land, 150 quarts of corn, 2 head of cattle and 8 pigs. 21  In 1795 they moved to the west bank of the river - settling near Valenzuela (south of present-day Donaldsonville, LA). 22 Jean Guedry died about 1807 in Lafourche Parish, LA. 23

Marguerite Guedry briefly appears in the records when she married Toussaint-Marie de Lanoue, son of Toussaint de Lanoue and Marie-Madeleine Pressac on 11 Feb 1754. Toussaint-Marie de Lanoue was a French officer at Louisbourg and was in charge of the area around the Baie des Espagnols. At the time it was illegal for a French officer to marry a woman of mixed blood. Because Marguerite's maternal grandmother was Amerindian, Marguerite Guedry was one-quarter Amerindian; therefore, the commander of Fortress Louisbourg annulled the marriage on 17 February 1755 and sent Toussaint Marie de Lanoue back to France. 2  Marguerite Guedry disappears from the record after this incident.

We first encounter Joseph Guedry , born in 1733, on 3 April 1752 when he appears as a 19- year old young man in the census of Ile Royale living at Baie des Espagnols with his parents and siblings. 1 Joseph Guedry was in one of the first groups of Acadians to reach Louisiana - arriving about 1765. We do not know exactly how or when he got to Louisiana; however, on 25 April 1766 he appears as single and a militiaman on the "Census and List of the Militiamen and Acadian Householders Recently Established at the Atakapas" and was living at "La Pointe". 24 There is speculation that he came to Louisiana with the group of Acadians led by Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil since he settled with them at "La Pointe". The "Atakapas" area is the region currently comprising St. Martin Parish and Lafayette Parish and "La Pointe" is near Cecilia, LA.

Joseph's stay in the Attakapas region was short as on 19 May 1767 he married Elizabeth Comeaux in St. James Parish, LA. 25 Here he would raise a large family and remain the rest of his life. Joseph Guedry settled on the east bank of the Mississippi River - probably near present-day Convent, LA. The list of militiamen serving in the First Company, Acadian Coast on 23 January 1770 includes 37- year old Joseph Guidry as a fusileer (i.e., rifleman). 26 From 1773 through 1787 Joseph Guedry appears at the baptism of five of his children, a witness at the marriage of his nephew Jean Guedry to Celeste Boudreau and in the selling of six arpents of land to his brother Jean. 27 All of these occurred in St. James Parish, LA. On 2 November 1815 Joseph Guedry was buried at St. Michael Catholic Cemetery in Convent, LA - having lived to the age of 82 years. 28   Joseph Guedry was the first Guedry to arrive in Louisiana. An article about him appeared in the Winter, 2004 (Vol. 2 #1) edition of "Generations" . It also can be found on the Guedry-Labine website under "Family History" articles.

Two other sons of Paul Guedry and Anne Mius d'Entremenot only briefly appear in the records. Petit-Jean Guedry , born in 1743, and Francois Guedry , born in 1749, are with their family at Baie des Espagnols, Ile Royale on 3 April 17521; however, after that date they disappear from the records. The baptism of Francois Guedry is registered at Port Lajoie, Ile St. Jean on 19 November 1749. 29

References

  1. Gaudet, Placide, Report Concerning Canadian Archives for the Year 1905 in Three Volumes - "Journal and Census of Ile Royale, prepared by le Sieur de la Roque under the Direction of M. le Comte de Raymond, in the Year 1752, with Plan and Index:, (S. E. Dawson, Printer, Ottawa, Canada; 1906). Volume II, Appendix A, Part I, p. 46.
  2. (a) Rameau de Saint-Père, François-Edme, Une Colonie Féodale en Amérique - L'Acadie (1604-1881) , (Librairie Plon-E. Plon, Nourrit et Cie, Imprimeurs-Editeurs [Also Granger Frères, Libraires-Editeurs], Paris, Ile-de-France, France [Montréal, CANADA]; 1889). Volume 2, p. 376.
    (b) Labine, Mark, La Verdure de Mirliguéche. The Story of the Guidry dit Labine Family in North America , (Mark Labine, St. Paul, MN; 2002), pp. 37, D-79.
  3. (a) d'Entremont, Rev.Clarence-Joseph; Historic du Cap-Sable de l'An Mil au Traite de Paris, 1763 (Hebert Publications; Eunice, LA, 1981), p. 1854.
    (b) Roth, D. Luther, Acadie and the Acadians , (Press of L. C. Childs & Son; Utica, NY; 1891), pp. 204-205.
  4. d'Entremont, Rev.Clarence-Joseph; op. cit.; pp. 1595-1597, 1615-1616, 1622-1623, 1625.
  5. (a) Ibid., p. 1016.
    (b) Pollard, Nora Lee; Diocese of Baton Rouge Church Records (Diocese of Baton Rouge-Department of Archives; Baton Rouge, LA, 1978, 1999), v. 1 p. 33, 59; v. 1A pp. 52, 88.
    (c) Register of St. Charles aux Mines Catholic Parish, Grand-Pre, Acadia, v. 2 pp. 186-187. (Located at the Diocese of Baton Rouge Archives in Baton Rouge, LA).
  6. (a) d'Entremont, Rev.Clarence-Joseph; op. cit.; pp. 1016.
    (b) Gaudet, Placide, op. cit.; Volume II, Appendix A, Part I, pp. 45-46.
  7. Gaudet, Placide, op. cit.; Volume II, Appendix A, Part I, p. 160.
  8. (a) Bernard, Florian; "Heritage Acadian - Revue d'Histoire de Genealogie", (Florian Bernard; Magog, Quebec, Canada). No. 15 p. 25.
    (b) Rieder, Milton P. Jr. and Rieder, Norma Gaudet; The Acadians in France - Volume II "Belle Isle en Mer Registers & La Rochette Papers" (Milton P. Rieder, Jr. and Norma Gaudet Rieder; Metairie, LA, 1972), p. 45.
    (c) Casgrain, L'Abbe H. R.; Collection de Documents Inedtis sur le Canada et l'Amerique Publies Par le Canada-Francais (L.-J. Demers & Frere; Quebec, Canada, 1890), Volume 3 p. 45.
  9. Arsenault, Bona; Histoire et Genealogie des Acadiens (Editions Lemeac, Inc.; Ottawa, Canada, 1978) pp. 590-591, 2236.
  10. (a) LeBlanc, Dudley J.; The Acadian Miracle (Evangeline Publishing Company; Lafayette, LA, 1966). pp. 333-337.
    (b) Poirier, Michel; Les Acadiens aux Iles Saint-Pierre et Miquelon 1758-1828 (Les Editions d'Acadie; Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, 1984). p. 181.
    (c) Baudry, R. P.; "Cahiers de La Societe Historique Acadienne" (La Societe Historique Acadienne; Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, 1965), Cahier 7.
    (d) Archives Nationales (France), Fonds des Colonies, C12 (Correspondance generale, Saint Pierre et Miquelon) - Volume 1, Folios 22-26.
  11. (a) Poirier, Michel; op. cit.; pp. 247-251.
    (b) Archives Nationales (France), Colonies, S.O.M. - G1 458.
  12. (a) Poirier, Michel; op. cit.; p. 216.
    (b) Archives Nationales (France), Colonies, S.O.M. - G1 458 folios 27-39.
  13. (a) Poirier, Michel; op. cit.; pp. 222-224.
    (b) Archives Nationales (France), Colonies, S.O.M. - G1 518.
  14. (a) Poirier, Michel; op. cit.; pp. 247-249.
    (b) Archives Nationales (France), Colonies, S.O.M. - G1 458 folios 71 and following.
  15. Rieder, Milton P. Jr. and Rieder, Norma Gaudet; The Acadians in France - Volume I "Rolls of the Acadians Living in France Distributed by Towns for the Years 1762-1776" (Milton P. Rieder, Jr. and Norma Gaudet Rieder; Metairie, LA, 1967), p. 62.
  16. Robichaux, Albert J., Jr.; The Acadian Exiles in Chatellerault 1773-1785 (Hebert Publications; Eunice, LA, 1983), p. 44
  17. Rieder, Milton P. Jr. and Rieder, Norma Gaudet; op.cit.; p. 104.
  18. (a) Voohries, Jacqueline K.; Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians - Census Records of the Colony, 1758-1796 (The USL History Series, University of Southwestern Louisiana; Lafayette, LA, 1973), p. 497.
    (b) Archivo General de Indias "Audiencia de Santo Domingo" (A.D.S.) (Seville, Spain), Legajo 2575.
  19. (a) Hebert, Rev. Donald J.; Acadian Families in Exile - 1785 and (Part Two) Exiled Acadians - An Index (Hebert Publications; Rayne, LA, 1995), pp. 36-37.
    (b) Rieder, Milton P. Jr. and Rieder, Norma Gaudet; The Crew and Passenger Registration Lists of the Seven Acadian Expeditions of 1785 (Milton P. Rieder, Jr. and Norma Gaudet Rieder; Metairie, LA, 1965), p. 30.
    (c) Archivo General de Indias, "Papeles Procedentes de Cuba" (Seville, Spain) (P.P.C.), Legajo 626 A.
  20. (a) Behrman, Eileen Larre; St. James Parish, Louisiana Colonial Records 1782-1787 (The Clan MacBean Press; Cut and Shoot, TX, 1981), pp. 39, 49, 53.
    (b) Voohries, Jacqueline K.; op. cit., p. 528.
    (c) Archivo General de Indias "Audiencia de Santo Domingo" (A.D.S.) (Seville, Spain), Legajo 2575.
  21. (a) Robichaux, Albert J., Jr.; Colonial Settlers Along Bayou Lafourche 1770-1798 (Albert J. Robichaux, Jr.; Harvey, LA, 1974), p. 179.
    (b) Archivo General de Indias, "Papeles Procedentes de Cuba" (Seville, Spain) (P.P.C.), Legajo 2362.
  22. Robichaux, Albert J., Jr.; op. cit.; v. 1 p. 248.
  23. Lafourche Parish Courthouse (Thibodaux, LA); Successions, Year 1807.
  24. (a) Voohries, Jacqueline K.; op. cit., p. 124.
    (b) Rees, Grover; A Narrative History of Breaux Bridge, Once Called "La Pointe" (Attakapas Historical Association; St. Martinville, LA, 1976), pp. 16-17.
    (c) West, Robert C.; An Atlas of Louisiana Surnames of French and Spanish Origin (Louisiana State University - Geoscience Publications; Baton Rouge, LA, 1986), p. 79.
    (d) Pourciau, Betty (Editor); St. Martin Parish History (Le Comite des Archives de la Louisiane; Baton Rouge, LA, 1985), p. 17.
  25. (a) Voohries, Jacqueline K.; op. cit.; p. 424.
    (b) Bourgeois, Lillian C.; Cabanocey: The History, Customs and Folklore of St. James Parish (Pelican Publishing Company; New Orleans, LA, 1957), pp. 171-172.
    (c) Archivo General de Indias, "Papeles Procedentes de Cuba" (Seville, Spain) (P.P.C.), Legajo 187-I-A.
  26. (a) DeVille, Winston; Louisiana Soldiers in the American Revolution (Smith Books; Ville Platte, LA, 1991), pp. 90-93.
    (b) Churchill, C. Robert; S.A.R. Spanish Records - Spanish-English War 1779-1783 (Men Under Gen. Don Bernardo de Galvez and other records from Archives of the Indies, Seville, Spain (Unpublished - Louisiana Society, Sons of the American Revolution; 1925), p. 299.
    (c) LeBlanc, Dudley J.; The Acadian Miracle (Evangeline Publishing Company; Lafayette, LA, 1966), pp. 407-408.
    (d) Archivo General de Indias, "Papeles Procedentes de Cuba" (Seville, Spain) (P.P.C.), Legajo 161.
  27. (a) Pollard, Nora Lee; op. cit.; v. 2 pp. 337, 339, 342.
    (b) Behrman, Eileen Larre; op. cit., pp. 39, 53.
  28. Pollard, Nora Lee; op. cit.; v. 3 p. 387.
  29. d'Entremont, Rev. Clarence-Joseph; op. cit.; p. 1018.