Survival of a Family: The Family of Marie-Joseph Guedry and Phillipe Dorion

A Continuing Series of Articles on the Children of Claude Guedry and Marguerite Petitpas

by Marty Guidry

Marie-Josephe Guedry , born in 1692, was one of only two daughters born to Claude Guedry and Marguerite Petitpas. ¹ She first appears in the records during the Census of Port Royal in 1698 ^{2 , 3} as a six year old girl living in the family home near Port Royal with her parents, eight brothers and stepbrother Abraham. The family had ten cattle, two sheep, eight hogs, eight arpents of land, no fruit trees and one gun. The Claude Guedry family does not appear in the Acadian censuses of 1693, 1700, 1701, 1703 or 1707. By 1708 ⁴ Claude has moved his family to Merligueche (today Lunenburg) in the La Heve region. Marie -Josephe , now fourteen years old, was still living in the family home with her parents, six brothers and baby sister Francoise.

The extant records provide little about the life of Marie-Josephe Guedry although it appears that she lived most of her life in the Pisiguit area of Acadia (today Falmouth, Nova Scotia) and probably had her children there. About 1715 she married at Port-Toulouse, Ile Royale (today St. Peters, Cape Breton) Philippe Doiron, the 33-year old son of Jean Doiron and Marie-Anne de Canol. ^{5 , 6} Philippe and Marie-Josephe had five children: Philippe (born in 1718) ¹⁶ , Marie-Josephe (born in 1723), Paul (born in 1724), Jean (born in 1729) and Madeleine (born in 1732). Marie- Josephe Guedry died before 2 February 1752 as noted in the marriage record of her youngest son Jean Doiron. ^{7 , 8 , 9}

Philippe Doiron , the eldest son of Philippe Dorion and Marie-Josephe Guedry, married Marie-Ursule Lejeune about 1741. ^{6 , 16} Almost certainly Philippe was born near Pisiguit, Acadia in 1718 and married Marie-Ursule Lejeune there. Escaping the harsh treatment of the British in Acadia, by 1750 the couple had settled at Anse au Matelost, Ile Saint-Jean (today near Alexandra, Prince Edward Island). In early summer 1752 they had two cows, three pigs and one horse and had cleared an arpent of land. Living with them at this time were their son Firmin Joseph (age 6 years) and four daughters - Marie Josephe (10 years old), Gertrude (8 years old), Magdelaine (4 years old) and M arguerite (15 months old) ¹⁰ . Their eldest daughter Ann, born in 1741, was not censused with her family in 1752 ¹¹ . Other children of Philippe and Marie-Ursule were Pierre Doiron , born in 1753 and Marguerite Doiron , born in 1755. ⁶

Philippe and his family lived at Ile Saint-Jean at least until 1755 as he appears in several church records at Port LaJoye, Ile Saint-Jean (today Port LaJoye, Prince Edward Island) during the 1750’s. Having arrived on Ile Saint-Jean just before the birth of their daughter Marguerite in November 1750, Philippe and Marie-Ursule waited until summer before baptizing her. On 26 June 1751 Marguerite was baptized at Port LaJoye with Nicolas de Longrain Escrivain aux Magazin, probably a soldier serving on Ile Saint-Jean, and Margerite Serrie sponsoring her. ^{8 , 12} On the 14th of April 1753 Philippe Doiron’s 3-month old nephew Joseph Doiron, son of Jean Doiron and Anne-Marguerite Cellier, was baptized at Port LaJoye and Philippe served as his godfather. ^{8 , 13} Shortly afterwards on 2 June 1753 Pierre Doiron, the second son of Philippe Doiron and Marie-Ursule Lejeune, was baptized at Port La- Joye. Pierre Aucoin and Marguerite Lejeune sponsored young Pierre. ^{8 , 14} A month later on 15 July 1753 Philippe again served as the godfather at a baptism at Port LaJoye - this time for Jean Baptiste Vincent, son of Joseph Vincent and Marguerite Hebert. ^{8 , 15} The youngest child of Philippe Doiron and Marie-Ursule Lejeune, Marguerite, was born in April 1755 and was baptized at Port LaJoye on 18 May 1755. Francois Landry and Brigitte Foret sponsored the young Marguerite. ^{8 , 16}

Philippe and Marie-Ursule surely had mixed feelings in the coming months while nurturing their young daughter and raising their family at Ile Saint- Jean. The British were cruelly deporting many friends and relatives from their homes on mainland Acadia, yet they had seemingly escaped this inhumane treatment by fleeing to Ile Saint-Jean a mere five years ago. The British, however, would come to Ile Saint-Jean - shortly at the capture of Fortress Louisbourg on Ile Royale in July 1758.

Sensing the impending crisis, Philippe and Marie-Ursule gathered their family and escaped yet again from the hated British and the harsh famine, fleeing to Saint-Charles-de-Bellechasse at Quebec with a few hundred other Acadians between 1756 and 1758 - just ahead of the British forces. ⁶ They probably arrived in Quebec in 1756 and were sent almost immediately to Ile d’Orleans where, after a brief stay, they resettled at Bellechasse near the Riviere Boyer and the Riviere du Sud on the south shore. The family was at Saint- Charles-de-Bellechasse in 1758 when Philippe Doiron died there on 6 January 1758. ¹⁶ Later in 1763 Marie-Ursule Lejeune moved the family yet again - this time to Becancour a short distance southwest of Quebec. ⁶

The family of Philippe Doiron and Marie-Ursule Lejeune remained in the Quebec area according to the extant records. Their eldest child Anne Doiron wed Etienne Roy, son of Michel Roy and Marguerite Emond, at Saint-Charles-de-Bellechasse on 2 February 1761. At Beaumont near Quebec on 30 January 1764 Marie-Josephe Doiron married Joseph Houde dit Gervais, son of Francois Houde dit Gervais and Marguerite Faucher. Shortly thereafter, Madeleine Doiron wed Jean-Baptiste Houle, widower of Ursule Baril, at Becancour on 15 June 1767. The younger son of the family Pierre Doiron dit Dudevoir married Genevieve Phaneuf, daughter of Claude Phaneuf and Marguerite Tellier, at Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu near Quebec on 9 February 1778. ¹⁷

Marie-Josephe Doiron , daughter of Philippe Dorion and Marie-Josephe Guedry, married Francois Vincent dit Clement, born about 1720 and the son of Clement Vincent and Madeleine Levron, about 1747 at Pisiguit, Acadia. ^{18 , 19}

The young couple moved to Petit Marais, Anse au Matelost on Ile Saint-Jean in 1750. A farmer, Francois Clement had three fowl and a pig and had cleared sufficient land for a garden by the summer of 1752. At this time Francois and Marie-Josephe had a son Amant-Georges (age 4 years) and a daughter Marie-Francoise (age 18 months) ¹⁰ . Other children of Francois and Marie-Josephe included Anne- Genevieve in 1752, Brigitte-Barbe in 1754, Marie- Angelique about 1759 and the twins Marguerite and Joseph in 1760. ^{18 , 19}

Francois Vincent and Marie-Josephe remained with their growing family at Ile Saint-Jean until at least 1754 and probably two or three years longer. On 4 April 1751 their first daughter Marie-Francoise Vincent was baptized at Port LaJoye at the age of two weeks. Her godparents were Francois Gourvale and Marguerite Sonier. ^{8 , 20} Sponsored by her uncle Philippe Doiron and Marie-Josephe Gautro, Anne- Genevieve Vincent was baptized at age three weeks at Port LaJoye on 17 November 1752. ^{8 , 21} Francois and Marie-Josephe baptized their three-week old daughter Brigitte-Barbe Vincent at Port LaJoye on 2 June 1754 with Baptiste Marquis and Brigitte Forest being her godparents. ^{8 , 22}

With the famine on Ile Saint-Jean and the impending deportation by the British following the fall of Fortress Louisbourg in July 1758, Francois Vincent abandoned his home at Anse au Matelost and resettled his family close to Quebec at Beaumont. It is here that we find the family in 1759. Shortly afterwards, Francois Clement died on 1 May 1760 at Beaumont. ^{18 , 19} A widow with several young children, Marie-Josephe Doiron wed Claude Nolet (born in 1733) at Beaumont on 22 September 1760. ^{18 , 19}

As with the family of her brother Philippe, the family of Marie-Josephe Doiron remained in the Quebec region. Her oldest daughter Marie- Francoise Vincent married Anselme Levesque, son of Louis-Charles Levesque and Marie-Josephe Hudon, on 3 October 1774 at Kamouraska northeast of Quebec near the base of the Gaspesie peninsula. ^{19 , 23}

Marie-Angelique Vincent first wed Charles Gentil, son of Jacques Gentil and Barbe Fauvel, on 8 March 1784 at Trois-Pistoles, near Kamouraska also near the base of the Gaspesie peninsula. ^{19 , 23} On 11 July 1811 she married a second time at Trois-Pistoles to Paul Landais, widower of Marie Carette. ²³

Paul Doiron , born about 1724, wed Rose Bourgeois about 1747 probably at Pisiguit. In late 1755 Paul and Rose along with their seven-year old son Pierre and four-year old daughter Rose were forced aboard a ship and were exiled to South Carolina. ⁴⁴ They boarded either the Endeavor, Dolphin, Cornwallis or Two Brothers, all of which sailed from Chignecto on 13 October 1755 with Acadian exiles aboard. The small fleet arrived at Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina (near Charleston) on 19 November 1755. Here the Acadians disembarked and remained in quarantine for a short while. Later they were able to settle in Charleston a short distance from the waterfront. Some of the Acadians were dispersed to nearby towns.

On 23 August 1763 Paul Doiron, Rose Bourgeois and their children Pierre (age 15), Rose (age 12) and Anne Marie (age four months) were still in South Carolina ^{44 , 45} . Further information on Paul Doiron and his family is lacking.

At Port LaJoye, Ile Saint-Jean on 2 February 1752 Jean Doiron , son of Philippe Doiron and Marie- Josephe Guedry, married Anne-Marguerite Cellier, daughter of Pierre Cellier and Marie-Josephe Lejeune ^{7 , 8 , 9 , 24} . Shortly after their marriage the young couple settled across Hillsborough Bay from Port LaJoye at Anse au Matelost. In the early summer of 1752 they were censused there by Sieur de la Roque. As young newlyweds, they had one pig and one hen. Jean, beginning his life as a farmer, had recently completed a clearing for his garden. Jean and Anne-Marguerite were living next to Philippe Doiron and his wife Marie-Ursule Lejeune and near Francois Clement and his wife Marie-Josephe Doiron - Jean Doiron’s brother and sister. ¹⁰

Jean Doiron and Anne-Marguerite Cellier had at least two children. As godparents to their nephew, Philippe Doiron and Marie-Josephe Lejeune, sponsored three-month old Joseph Doiron , son of Jean Doiron and Anne-Marguerite Cellier, at his baptism on 14 April 1753 at Port LaJoye ^{25 , 26} . Two years later on 18 May 1755 at Port LaJoye Jean and Anne- Marguerite baptized a second son Paul Olivier Doiron . His godparents were Jean Benoit and Anne Lejeune ^{25 , 27} .

The youngest daughter of Philippe Doiron and Marie-Josephe Guedry, Madeleine Doiron married Joseph Landry, son of Jean Landry and Madeleine Melancon, about 1755 ^{28 , 29 , 43} . Joseph and Madeleine married in Acadia (probably at Pisiguit) shortly before being deported to Boston, MA. In late 1755 Joseph Landry and Madeleine Doiron were herded aboard one of the ships waiting in the Minas Basin that sailed for an English port along the Eastern seaboard. Three ships in the Minas Basin (Seaflower, Swallow and Race Horse) were bound for Boston; however, five other ships (Dolphin, Neptune, Ranger, Sarah and Molly and Endeavor) destined for Maryland and Virginia stopped temporarily at Boston because of a violent storm they encountered. Massachusetts authorities disembarked several Acadians from each of these ships due to illness and severe overcrowding. Whether Joseph and Madeleine were on a ship bound for Boston or on a ship destined further south is not known; however, they were disembarked at Boston in late 1755 or early 1756.

Exiled with Joseph Landry and Madeleine Doiron were Joseph’s parents Jean Landry and Madeleine Melancon as well as his younger brothers Paul, Charles, Simon-Pierre and Anselme. After disembarking in Boston, Jean Landry and his family and Joseph Landry and Madeleine Doiron were assigned to be quartered in Chemlsford, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts. On 24 October 1757 Jean Landry (62 years old), his wife Madeleine Melancon (60 years old, weak with a broken arm) and their sons Paul (22 years old, able to work), Charles (20 years old, unable to work) and Simon (18 years old, able to work) were at Chelmsford. Also, there were Joseph Landry (26 years old, healthy and able to work), his wife Madeleine Doiron (26 years old, healthy and able to work) and their children Jean (2 years old, sickly and weak) and Marie Madeleine (5 months old). ^{30 , 31}

The next year on 4 December 1758 the two families still resided at Chelmsford. Madeleine Melancon was still sickly and suffering from a broken arm. With Jean Landry and Madeleine were their sons Paul, Charles, Simon and Anselme - all four able to work. Joseph Landry was still healthy and able to work; however, Madeleine Doiron was now ailing and unable to work. Their children were Jean (3 years old), Madeleine (one and one-half years old) and the twins Joseph and Paul (6 weeks old and sickly) ^{32 , 33} . Within the next eighteen months Joseph Landry and his family moved from Chelmsford to nearby Billerica, still in the County of Middlesex. On 6 June 1760 he and Madeleine along with their children Jean, Madeleine and Joseph were living there. Apparently Joseph's twin brother Paul had died ^{34 , 35 , 36} . By mid-1764 Joseph Landry and his family had moved to Boston although they were still assigned to Billerica ^{37 , 38} .

In 1763 after the Treaty of Paris ended the conflict between Britain and France, Joseph Landry along with many other Acadians in Massachusetts petitioned the government for his family to be sent to Old France; however, they were never allowed to resettle there ^{39 , 40} . Later in the summer of 1767 they were able to immigrate to Yamachiche near Quebec - arriving by schooner at Lake Saint- Pierre where the seigneur offered Joseph Landry and the other 42 Acadian families arriving a wooded tract of land. Father Chefdeville was there to welcome them from twelve years of exile.

On 9 August 1767 he baptized their children into the Catholic Church ^{41 , 46} . Despite the challenges for survival that they faced during their exile, Joseph Landry and Madeleine Doiron had eight sons and five daughters: Joseph (born in 1755), Jean-Baptiste (born about 1756), Marie-Madeleine (born in 1757), Joseph and Paul (twins born in 1758), Pierre (born about 1759), Marguerite (born about 1760), Marie (born about 1761), Paul (born in 1766), Marie-Josephe (born in 1769), Antoine-Louis-Isaac (born in 1772), Simon-Pierre (born in 1773) and Marguerite (born in 1775). With the family stable after so much turmoil, they remained in the Yamachiche area the rest of their lives. Here on 22 March 1787 Joseph Landry, who had led his growing family through the devastating exile, died ⁴² .