A Search for the Father of Claude Guedry

Grandson of Claude Guedry and Marguerite Petitpas

by Marty Guidry

Uncertainty looms as to the parents of Claude Guedry, grandson of Claude Guedry and Marguerite Petitpas and husband first of Anne LeJeune and second of Anne Moyse.

The “Census of Ile Royale and Ile St-Jean in 1752” lists his age as 38 years (born about 1714) ^{1 , 2} while all later records indicate that he was born about 1726. If he were born about 1726, any of the nine sons of Claude Guedry and Marguerite Petitpas were old enough to be his father. They include Claude Guedry, born about 1682; Jean-Baptiste Guedry, born about 1684; Charles Guedry, born about 1686; Alexis Guedry, born about 1688; Augustin Guedry, born about 1690; Claude Guedry, born in 1694, Joseph Guedry, born in 1695, Pierre Guedry, born in 1698 and Paul Guedry, born in 1701. ³

Of these only Jean-Baptiste Guedry, Augustin Guedry, Pierre Guedry and Paul Guedry are known to have married. Several researchers believe that Charles Guedry married an Amerindienne; however, no record of their marriage has been found. A brief reference in one source indicates that one of the two Claude Guedry's married before 1723. ⁴ Jean-Baptiste married Madeleine Mius d'Azy about 1708. Augustin married Jeanne Hebert about 1722. Pierre married Marguerite Brasseau about 1721 and Paul married Anne-Marie Mius d'Azy about 1720. At this time documents have not been located that would confirm who the father of Claude Guedry was.

Mr. Stephen A. White, genealogist at the Centre d'Etudes Acadienne at the University of Moncton in Moncton, New Brunswick and one of the foremost authorities on early Acadian genealogy, believes Jean-Baptiste Guedry was probably the father of Claude Guedry. In making this determination, he assumes Claude was born about 1714. ⁵ Other Acadian researchers believe that Charles Guedry was likely the father of Claude and they often cite his birth year as about 1726. The first record that we have of Claude Guedry is the “Census of Ile Royale and Ile St-Jean in 1752” when Claude Guedry and his family were enumerated at Anse au Matelost, Ile St-Jean (today near Alexandra, Prince Edward Island) between May and July 1752. ^{1 , 2} In this census Claude was listed as 38 years of age (i. e., born about 1714) and his wife Anne Terriaud (actually should be Anne LeJeune) was also 38 years of age (i.e., born about 1714). Their children were: Jean Baptiste, age 5 years (born about 1747), Joseph Marie, age 2 years (born about 1750) and Pierre Janvier, age 2 months (born in 1752).

In November 1758 Claude Guedry and his family were deported to France from Ile St-Jean. On 23 January 1759 they arrived at St. Malo, France on one of the Five Ships. At this time a “Roll of the Inhabitants of Ile Royale, Ile St-Jean, Gaspee and other places near the English whom the King granted the subsistence calculated to the day of disembarking” was taken as the Acadians disembarked from their ship onto French soil. ^{6 , 7} Claude Guedry was listed as 33 years of age (i.e., born about 1725), his wife Anne LeJeune is 34 years of age (i.e., born about 1724) and their children were: Jean Baptiste, age 9 years (born about 1749), Joseph, age 7 years (born about 1751), Pierre, age 5 years (born about 1753), Charles, age 3 years (born about 1755) and Augustin, age 10 months (born in 1758).

In 1762 the French took a “General Roll of the Inhabitants of Ile Royale and Ile St-Jean Distributed by Parish for the Year 1762”. ^{8 , 9} At Chateauneuf, France were Claude Guedry, age 36 years (i.e., born about 1726), his wife Anne Moise and their children: Jean Baptiste, age 12 years (born about 1750), Joseph, age 10 years (born about 1752) and Pierre, age 8 years (born about 1754). Over the next two decades a number of censuses, for various reasons, were taken of the Acadians by the French. In September 1772 the “Role of the Truly Acadian Families” was taken. ^{10 , 11} In the St. Malo area were Claude Guedry, age 43 years (i.e., born about 1729), his wife Anne Moise, age 39 years (i.e., born about 1733) and their children of which the oldest were: Jean Baptiste, age 22 years (born about 1750), Joseph, age 20 years (born about 1752) and Pierre, age 19 years (born about 1753).

Converting a person's age to his/her year of birth in a census record has a minimum uncertainty of one year due to the timing of the enumeration within the year compared to the actual birth date of the person. The above timeframes for Claude's and his sons' birth years, therefore, have a quite narrow range. It thus seems that the Census of 1752 assigned an age for Claude and his wife that was approximately twelve years too old. This error may have occurred because Claude provided incorrect ages to the enumerator, the enumerator may have erred in recording the ages provided or a transcriber may have misread the ages as written.

There are instances in the “Census of Ile Royale and Ile St-Jean in 1752” where the ages of persons are incorrect by several years and occasionally by as much as ten years or more. Furthermore, other errors are found in this census. For example, the spouses of Joseph Trahan and Claude Guedry are both given as Anne Terriaud. Interestingly, in the Census the family of Joseph Trahan ¹⁵ immediately precedes that of Claude Guedry. We know that the spouse of Claude Guedry was Anne LeJeune - not Anne Terriaud.

Other, less direct evidence, that supports Claude Guedry being born about 1726 is that, according to the Census of 1752, Claude Guedry and Anne LeJeune would each have been about 33 years old when their first child Jean Baptiste was born. The other enumerations place their ages in 1752 at approximately 21 years. Most Acadian women were in their teen years or early twenties when their first child was born. The men were about the same age or a few years older at most. It would have been very unusual for an Acadian woman of the 1700's to have had her first child when she was more than thirty years old.

The available evidence as discussed above supports that Claude Guedry was born about 1725-1726. Who then fathered Claude Guedry?

Jean-Baptiste Guedry and Madeleine Mius d'Azy married about 1708 and had children from about 1710 (the approximate year that Jean-Baptiste Guedry fils was born) until 1716 when Joseph Guedry was born. Chateauneuf, France Nantes, France in late 1700's If Claude Guedry were their son, they would have gone childless almost a decade before having Claude about 1726. For an Acadian couple in the 1700's this would have been quite rare.

Charles Guedry does not appear in the records after 1698 although some researchers believe he had an Amerindienne wife. Bona Arsenault ¹⁶ states that he had a son Jacques in 1724; however, it appears that this may be an error and that the parents of Jacques Guedry were Paul Guedry and Anne-Marie Mius d'Azy.

Augustin Guedry and Jeanne Hebert married about 1722 and had children from 1723 with the twin girls Helene and Marie- osephe until Pierre was born about 1741. Although they had Jeanne about 1725, there was a gap from 1726 through 1730 when they had no children. It is, therefore, possible that Claude Guedry could be the child of Augustin Guedry and Jeanne Hebert.

Pierre Guedry dit Labine and Marguerite Brasseau married about 1721 and had children from 1722 when Marie-Joseph was born until about 1742 when Agnes was born. During the timeframe in question Pierre Guedry and Marguerite Brasseau had Pierre about 1723, Jean-Baptiste Augustin about 1725, Charles about 1726 and Marguerite about 1727. Thus it appears very unlikely that Pierre Guedry and Marguerite Brasseau were the parents of Claude Guedry.

Paul Guedry and Anne-Marie Mius d'Azy married about 1720. Their first child Judith was born in 1722 and their last child Francois was born about 1749. About 1724 they had Jacques and around 1730 Jean Anselme was born. They appear not to have had any children between these two sons. Thus it is possible that Claude Guedry, born about 1726, could have been the son of Paul Guedry and Anne-Marie Mius d'Azy.

The records at this time are mute as to whether the other sons of Claude Guedry and Marguerite Petitpas had any children during their lives. These sons are: Claude (born in 1682), Alexis, Claude (born in 1694) and Joseph.

Either Augustin Guedry, husband of Jeanne Hebert, or Paul Guedry, husband of Anne-Marie Mius d'Azy, seem most probable to have fathered Claude Guedry, born about 1726. It appears unlikely that either Jean- Baptiste Guedry or Pierre Guedry fathered Claude Guedry. We cannot eliminate one of the other sons of Claude Guedry and Marguerite Petitpas (Claude born in 1682, Charles, Alexis, Claude born in 1694 or Joseph) as being Claude Guedry's father although it seems unlikely that any of them were as we have found no other children in the records for any of them.

Claude Guedry's Life of Tragedy and Hope

Born about 1726 in Acadia, Claude Guedry does notappear in the records until early summer 1752 when he and his family were censused by Sieur de la Roque at Anse au Matelost, Ile St-Jean (today Alexandra, Prince Edward Island). Claude had been at Anse au Matelost since 1750 when he brought his family there to avoid the oppression of the English in Acadia. At Anse au Matelost in 1752 he was a farmer living with his wife Anne LeJeune, daughter of Germain LeJeune and Marie-Anne Trahan, and their three sons Jean Baptiste Guedry (5 years old), Joseph Marie Guedry (2 years old) and Pierre Janvier Guedry (2 months old). [Note: In the Census of 1752 Anne LeJeune is incorrectly called Anne Terriaud.] At this time they had one cow, one calf, one bull, one sow and five pigs and they had made a small clearing on their land to sow three bushels of wheat. ^{1 , 2 , 16 , 17 , 18} Claude Guedry and Anne LeJeune married about 1746 and lived at Pisiguit, Acadia (today Windsor, Nova Scotia) until 1750 when they left for Ile St-Jean. Both Jean Baptiste and Joseph Marie were born at Pisiguit. ^{19 , 20}

After the second fall of the Fortress Louisbourg, Ile Royale on 27 July 1758 and the subsequent seizure of Ile St-Jean by the English on 8 August 1758, Claude Guedry and his family no longer could remain under France's protection. Over the next few months the British began deporting the Acadians on Ile St-Jean to France. In late November 1758 Claude Guedry, Anne LeJeune and their five sons Jean-Baptiste, Joseph Marie, Pierre Janvier, Charles Olivier and Claude Augustin boarded one of the Five Ships and began their difficult journey to France. [Note: The Five Ships were the Yarmouth , Patience , Mathias , Restoration and John Samuel . These ships sailed together from Ile St-Jean. The Acadians were not listed separately by ship on the combined passengermanifest.] Suffering through  a major storm at sea, Claude Guedry and his family arrived at St. Malo, Ile-et-Vilaine, France on 23 January 1759. ^{6 , 7 , 21}

Tragedy struck this young family soon after their arrival. On 28 February 1759 their baby of ten months Claude Augustin died at St. Malo. ^{6 , 7 , 21} Shortly afterwards Claude moved his family to Chateauneuf, Ile-et-Vilaine, France. On 15 April 1759 four-year-old Charles Olivier died at Chateauneuf and then on 18 April 1759 Claude's wife Anne LeJeune passed away at Chateauneuf. ^{6 , 7 , 21} Claude Guedry and his three sons Jean Baptiste, Joseph Marie and Pierre Janvier continued to live at Chateauneuf until 1762.

Certainly Claude Guedry, as a single parent, struggled during the ensuing years to earn a living and raise his three young boys. On 3 February 1762 he married Anne Moyse, daughter of Francoise Moyse and Marie Brun and the widow of Joseph LeBlanc, at St. Suliac, Ille-et-Vilaine, France. ^{8 , 9 , 19 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24} Prior to her marriage Anne resided in St. Suliac; therefore, Claude and the three boys resettled in St. Suliac. From 30 April to 14 May 1762 Anne Moyse was hospitalized. ^{8 , 9} After their marriage Claude and Anne had seven children - two daughters and five sons: Marie Cecile Guedry, born 5 May 1763; Francois Xavier Guedry, born 17 September 1764; Sulia Charles Guedry, born 16 November 1765; Malo Benonie Guedry, born 28 January 1767 , Pierre Olivier Guedry, born 3 March 1768 and died just ten days later on 13 March 1768; Anne Joseph Guedry, born 20 August 1769 and died 4 October 1769, and Pierre Claude Guedry, born 20 June 1771. ²¹

On 15 September 1772 Claude Guedry and his family were still living in the St. Malo area where he and his son Jean Baptiste were laborers and his wife Anne spun and cut cloth. ^{10 , 11 , 19} Soon, however, his eldest sons began to marry and move away from the family home. On 18 November 1772 Joseph Marie Guedry married at St. Suliac Madeleine Commaux, daughter of Joseph Commaux and Marguerite Hebert. ²⁵ Shortly afterwards his brothers Jean Baptiste and Pierre Janvier married sisters, the daughters of Paul LeBert and Madeleine LaPierre, at Plouer, Cotes-du-Nord, France - the home of their brides. On 9 February 1773 Pierre Janvier Guedry and Marie-Josephe LeBert shared their nuptial vows. ²⁶ A year later on 25 January 1774 Jean Baptiste Guedry and Marguerite LeBert wed. ²⁶

By the end of 1774 the three brothers and their wives resettled in Chatellerault, Vienne, France. ²⁷ Here the young men hoped to become successful farmers, own land and escape the struggles of poverty. The Marquis de Perusse des Cars had developed a plan called “La Colonie Acadienne du Poitou” in which 1500 Acadians would clear, settle and farm nearly 5,000 acres of his land in Poitou, Vienne, France. In exchange the Marquis wanted to be freed of taxation of his lands and receive a $90,000 loan. Initially, until their villages could be completed, most of the Acadians would stay at Chatellereault and Poitiers - towns some distance from the Marquis' lands.

Unfortunately the Marquis' lands were barren and totally unsuitable for farming. The Acadians tried desperately to achieve success; however, after two devastating years of no harvest in 1774 and 1775 because of the arid climate, the Acadians abandoned the project and returned to the coast in four convoys between October 1775 and March 1776. ^{28 , 29 , 30} Today this area of Poitou is known as the “La Ligne Acadienne” and several of the original Acadian houses still exist.

The three young Guedry families left Chatellereault in the Third Convoy and arrived at Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, France on 7 December 1775. ²⁷ This must have been a difficult time for these young families - their dreams of a better life for themselves and their children shattered once again.

With the promise of their own land and a new start in life, Claude Guedry and his family made the difficult decision to resettle once again - this time across the Atlantic Ocean in Louisiana. In September 1784 Claude's three sons Jean- Baptiste, Joseph Marie and Pierre Janvier along with their families signed a list to come to Louisiana. ^{31 , 32}

Jean-Baptiste Guedry (carpenter), Marguerite LeBert and their children Pierre, Francois and Marguerite Felicite boarded La Bon Papa at Nantes on 10 May 1785 for their voyage to Louisiana. Arriving at New Orleans, LA on 29 July 1785 they stepped off the ship to begin their new lives in this strange land. The next month Joseph Guedry (calker), Magdelaine Comeaux and their children Joseph, Marie, Marguerite and Reine Elizabeth as well as Pierre Guedry (workman), Marie Josephe LeBert and their children Pierre Joseph, Jean Pierre, Joseph Firmin and Marie Rose stepped aboard Le Beaumont at Nantes harbor excited, yet apprehensive about this new adventure.

In only two months on 19 August 1785 they landed at New Orleans and set foot in their new homeland. Just as the Le Beaumont was winding its way up the Mississippi River, Claude Guedry, Anne Moyse and their unmarried children Marie, Francois, Suliac, Malo, Pierre and Olivier (born in 1777) were boarding La Ville d'Archangel in Nantes on 12 August 1785 for the long voyage to their new life. Almost 5 months later on 3 December 1785 they debarked in New Orleans. Shortly after arriving Claude received from the Spanish government two knives, two hatchets, three axes, a shovel and a hoe. ^{12 , 13 , 14 , 33 , 34 , 35}

After arriving in Louisiana, the Acadians spent approximately a month in New Orleans resting from the voyage and selecting the lands being granted by the Spanish government that they would settle and farm. In 1788 Claude Guedry and his family as well as his son Pierre Guedry with his family settled near Fort Bute at Manchac on the Mississippi River (near today's St. Gabriel, LA). Due to flooding of the Mississippi River during the last growing season, they along with all the Acadians at Fort Bute lost their crops. ^{36 , 37} After initially settling in the Manchac area, Pierre Janvier Guedry and his brother Jean-Baptiste Guedry along with their families migrated southeast shortly after 1800 and settled along Bayou Lafourche. Both Claude Guedry and his son Joseph with their families and descendants continued to live near Manchac into the 1800's. With the influx of wealthy Anglo planters to the Manchac area in the mid-1800's, many of the Guedry families of this area moved to the Lafourche country, the Teche country or inland into Ascension Parish. ³⁸