Pierre Guédry - The Sojourns of an Early Louisiana Acadian
Born in Acadia about 1741, Pierre Guédry was the son of Augustin Guédry and Jeanne Hébert and the grandson of Claude Guédry dit LaVerdure and Marguerite Petitpas. Claude Guédry dit LaVerdure was the first Guédry known in North America - having arrived in Acadia before 1681.
Spending his childhood in the lush Merliguèche, Acadia area (near today’s Lunenburg), Pierre Guédry grew up among his Guédry, Petitpas and Mius relatives and about 300 Mi’kmaq Indians. About 1750 Pierre Guédry along with most of his brothers and sisters left Merliguèche and resettled on Île Royale near Baie des Espagnols to escape the intimidation and threats of the English and of Father Le Loutre. Pierre was living at Baie des Espagnols with his sister Ursule and her husband Paul Boutin in 1752. The land at Baie des Espagnols was rocky and very poor in quality - totally unsuitable for farming. By 1754 the new arrivals were starving and decided to return to their old homes despite the earlier English threats. Twenty-five members of the Guédry family including Pierre arrived by boat at Halifax in August 1754 and requested permission to return to their old homes. William Cotterell, the Provincial Secretary, granted their request; however, during their absence German Protestants had settled near their old homes and the area was renamed Lunenburg. They took the Oath of Allegiance to the British King and resettled near the Lunenburg community. Along with their German Protestant neighbors the newly-arrived Acadians received victuals from the English in June 1755.
Suddenly their fate changed dramatically. In mid-September 1755 the English arrested the Acadians at Lunenburg, loaded them onto the tender “Jolly Bacchus” and transported them to Halifax where they arrived on 22 September 1755. Here they were imprisoned on George’s Island within the harbor of Halifax. Conditions on George’s Island were almost unbearable with meager rations, little clothing, shabby huts and a very cold winter.
After surviving three months on George’s Island, Pierre and 49 other Acadians were shuffled onto the transport sloop “Providence” under Captain Samuel Brown. Sailing on 30 December 1755 Captain Brown had one pound beef, 2 pounds bread and 5 pounds flour for each Acadian per week. Fortunately, the weather cooperated during their voyage and their trip was short. In early January 1756 they landed at Edenton, North Carolina on the shores of Albemarle Sound. Here they disembarked and settled along the Sound in Chowan County. Pierre was a young man of fourteen and probably lived with one of his sisters.
Pierre Guédry and his family remained only briefly in North Carolina - leaving in late 1760 after the surrender of Montréal on 8 September 1760 that ended the French and Indian War. Some of the family departed for Maryland while Pierre and several of relatives went to Pennsylvania. In January 1761 Pierre’s brother Joseph married Magdalen Melançon at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Philadelphia. Shortly afterwards on 24 June 1762 at St. Joseph’s Church Pierre Guédry was the sponsor at the baptism of Susan Boutin, daughter of Paul Boutin and Ursule Guédry, sister of Pierre. Most of the Acadians in Philadelphia at this time lived on the north side of Pine Street between 5 th Street and 6 th Street - only a few blocks from St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.
By July 1763 Pierre’s brother Jean-Baptist Guédry had settled near Port Tobacco, Maryland. Shortly afterwards he died leaving his widow Anne Dupuy and their five children. Between late 1763 and December 1767 Pierre Guédry left Pennsylvania for Port Tobacco. About 1764 he married Marguerite Dupuy and had a daughter Marie. On 17 December 1767 Pierre and his family along with his widowed sister-in-law Anne Dupuy and her children embarked on the ship “Jane” at Port Tobacco and sailed for Louisiana. They arrived in New Orleans on 7 February 1768 and were lodged temporarily in the habitation constructed by the King.
To their dismay and protests, in May 1768 the Spanish transported them far up the Mississippi River to Poste San Luis de Natchez (near present-day Vidalia, Louisiana). This area was inhospitable with infectious insects, poisonous snakes, hostile Indians and swampy land. Additionally, it was far from New Orleans where they would need to sell their crops to make their work profitable. The Acadians continually petitioned the Spanish to let them move downriver among their Acadian relatives near present-day St. James, Louisiana.
Shortly after arriving at Poste San Luis de Natchez Pierre and Marguerite had a young son. That was to be the last happy day in their lives at this place. Not long afterwards Marguerite became ill and died as did both their young children. Within 18 months of arrival almost half of the Acadians at Poste San Luis de Natchez died. After Marguerite’s death Pierre Guédry married Marie Claire Babin, daughter of Antoine Babin and Catherine Landry, at Pointe Coupée - just downriver from Poste San Luis de Natchez.
Finally, in December 1769 the Spanish permitted the Acadians to move from Poste San Luis de Natchez downriver to St. Gabriel in present-day Ascension Parish. Pierre and Claire settled in the St. Gabriel area for about a year and then resettled south of Opelousas, Louisiana where they had six sons. Again tragedy struck Pierre when his wife Claire died during childbirth in June 1780.
With a family to raise and work to be done, Pierre Guédry married Marguerite Miller, daughter of William Miller and Anne Keven, about 1781. While living near Opelousas, Pierre and Marguerite had four sons and two daughters. They then moved to St. Martin Parish about 1794 - settling at La Grande Pointe (present-day Cecilia). Here Pierre began raising cattle and became quite prosperous. He and Marguerite had another three sons and five daughters. Pierre and Marguerite acquired considerable property and land in St. Martin Parish before she died in 1823. Shortly afterward on 13 November 1825 Pierre Guédry died at his home - an old patriarch of 74 years. He was buried at the cemetery of St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church in St. Martinville, Louisiana. At his death Pierre left an estate valued at over $200,000 that included several thousand acres of land, several hundred head of cattle and numerous other assets.
Pierre Guédry’s life is a story of survival - of repeated tragedies, struggles to recover and success. During his life he had three wives that predeceased him and twenty children. He traveled from Merliguèche, Acadia to Louisiana with stops at Ile Royale, Halifax, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Maryland. In Louisiana he lived at New Orleans, Poste San Luis de Natchez, St. Gabriel, Opelousas and La Grande Pointe. It must have been a difficult, sad life - yet he persevered, raised his children, worked hard and became quite wealthy.