Chezzetcook Nova Scotia

The Halifax-Dartmouth area constitutes the largest urban center in the Atlantic region.

Because of not having much work over the years many of the people including Acadians, have been been forced to leave and go elsewhere to find work. Acadians form the majority of the estimated 7000 francophones scattered around Halifax Dartmouth area. In the vast majority of cases English has by necessity became the main or dominant language of these Acadians for both school and jobs. Apart from the many individuals who migrated to the city in the 20^th century, there is a small Acadian population in Halifax county that dates back to 1760 or earlier. They live in the neighbouring villages of West Chezzetcook and Grand Desert about 30 kilometre from Dartmouth. Although few of the people under the age of 60 speak their ancestral language today the villagers kept many of their Acadian traditions and customs till the 1950s.

Several 100 Acadians had been brought to Halifax as prisoners between 1758 and 1762 Some were deported, some were permitted to resettle in various parts of the province. A certain number of these ex prisoners made their way across Halifax harbour to Chezzetcook maybe because of the marshlands or because it was a Micmac settlement known to French missionaries for many years. Family names still common today in West Chezzetcook and Grand Desert can be traced back to these prisoners, such as Bellefontaine ,Boudreau ,Lapierre and Wolfe.(Wolfe was a French name, Augustin Wolfe was born in Alsace France in 1721). In addition to these former prisoners, there was another group of Acadians, all of whom had been living in Cape Breton, who were granted permission by Governor Lawrence to settle in Chezzetcook with names like Petitpas ,Roma, Boni ,Mayet and Manet. Chezzetcook also became home to the Breau and Bonnevie families and of Simon Julien a deserter in the Napoleonic Wars.

The Nova Scotia Museum posseses the oldest traditional Acadian costumes. All of the items originates from Chezzetcook and dates from 1850 and earlier. Many of the pieces including a bridal cap ,large black kerchief, a cotton print jacket and a striped home spun skirt were worn by Marguerite Bellefontaine who got married in 1843 and died in 1910. The long black and white skirt was worn by Mrs Bellefontaine on Sundays and holidays. On an ordinary day the women wore a black kerchief on the head and a plain grey skirt. The museum also has the white waistcoat worn on special occasions by her husband Charles Bellefontaine 1816-1902. The men wore a grey homespun coat and trousers and a home knitted white sweater with blue spots. It is always interesting to learn about our ancestors and what they wore back then. I have a photo of my great grandmother who died in 1929 she wore a long skirt and jacket with a big apron on top of her skirt. I found most of this information in a book by Sally Ross and Alphonse Deveau called The Acadians of Nova Scotia (A very interesting book). I do hope you have enjoyed my blog.

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Chow for now.

Acadians and Britons

At sunrise on October 1710 was raised for the last time in Port Royal Nova Scotia. Later that morning Francis Nicholson’s men fell into ranks to watch Daniel Subercase formerly surrender. Then the French marched out and the British and Americans marched in, to hoist the Union Jack, drink to Queen Anne’s health and to give the town the queen’s name to be known as Annapolis Royal. The French officials, and the garrison and their families total of 258 boarded ships and sailed home. Nicholson sailed at the end of October leaving Vetch in command of 200 royal marines and 250 New Englanders. They were a big force but not big enough for the job they had to do. By 1710 there were almost 2000 Acadians. They were a well settled, widely scattered independent minded and surpassingly stubborn people. They had seen Britons come and they had seen them go. Vetch had urged an expulsion for the French inhabitants in Canada. In a letter sent to Queen Anne, Nicholson and Vetch proposed that in order to bring the native Indians under her majesty’s subjection and to convert them to the protestant religion it would be necessary to transport all the French from the country except those who wanted to convert to protestant . Again the next January Vetch recommended expulsion. He would have sent the Acadians to Newfoundland or the Caribbeans. But no one in London was willing to take responsibility and later when it seemed they might leave of their own free will, Vetch had second thoughts” the departure would leave emptiness where now there were men and women, farms and cattle. Without them ,Britain’s new province would be nothing but trees. Someone had to raise crop, care for the cattle and chop the wood. They might not be the most trustworthy population he thought but they were better than no population at all. And so began a half century of coexistence. The Acadians coped by interacting as little as possible with the Britons who governed them, the Britons would also keep to themselves in forts or enclaves and the Indians would not admit to being anyone’s subjects.

The Micmacs who were freedom loving had gone their separate way, trying to maintain their way of life in the face of alien intrusion. They got along well with the French. But things were different now, Nicholson and Vetch brought a new set of rules and the Indians knew they had to fight them. They knew that the Britons were not like the French, they grabbed their lands, had no respect for their customs and rights. The micmacs were never strong enough to throw the Britons out but when their Acadian friends marched to reconquer Acadie ,they marched at their side.

So as you can see, the expulsion or deportation of 1755 was already being mentioned in the ealier part of the 1700s. For more on this story I would suggest you read A Land of Discord Always by Charles D Mahafee Jr. It is very interesting and goes into a lot of details. Thanks for reading my blog and I would now just like to change the subject and invite you to check out my Acadian items and genealogy items at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor* and check out what I have done at http://www.zazzle.com/boot_eek*

　

Have you ever wondered?

Have you ever wondered about what kind of lives your ancestors had? Take for instance long ago, how did they get around? They had to travel from place to place. We all know that many of our ancestors came to their new countries by ships or some kind of vessel. They could not cross the oceans by cars, there were no planes back then either. Imagine that you are back in the time of your ancestors who came to the new country. You are boarding some kind of ship or boat. You have a few personnel belongings with you. You are either leaving your homeland with your parents or with some friends. What is going through your mind at this time? Could they have thought to themselves hurray I am getting out of here? Or I wonder if there are any wild beasts there? They had to have been thinking about their new homes. Remember some of our ancestors were very young when they came to this country. Arriving at their destinations, it would have been all new to them, the people, the climate, the sceneries. Were they afraid? Or were they curious? If we think about these things, we have to also appreciate their courage in leaving their homeland to make new homes in mostly uncivilized lands. Once they arrived most of their travelling would have been by water and through beaten down paths in the woods. There were no paved highways trains back then. They also would have had to rely on horses, oxen, mules to use in their travels. And can you imagine an ancestor coming over from a warmer climate into some harsh winters? Can you imagine then surviving in blizzards? Many of them did not survive but those who did, learned ways to survive. They also learned to survive by using plants, and hunting and fishing for their food and growing gardens was a must. They raised animals for both work and for food. Back then Pork was their main meal,, and fish and shellfish . Now we cannot just go to the ocean or beaches and dig for clams or oysters or quahawgs, but back them can you imagine all the shellfish they would gather for their families and I am certain there were plenty of fish and shell fish around. Now many shellfish areas are polluted or contaminated it is such a shame. I remember when I was young, my family would all go to the beach and dig for clams, and it was so much fun, we would look for a hole like a pin hole and then we would dig and be careful not to break the shell of the clam and fill our pails. Then my Mom would steam the clams, mmm they sure were good. As the population grew our ancestors were learning survival, they helped each other build houses ,barns ,fences. Togetherness was very important back then, and sometimes I imagine the neighbors were quite far from each other. I wonder what they did when they first saw a bear or a coyote ? Can you imagine them seeing a big moose for the first time? They may have said “ Boy things grow big around here!” grin. Getting back to travelling during the winter many of our ancestors travelled on the frozen rivers and when the rivers thawed they travelled by boats. The native americans (once called Indians) were there way before our ancestors and they survived very well in the winters and summers. They taught a lot of their methods to many of our ancestors who then probably passed them down. Now the summer time, think about the summer time, the heat ,the black flies ,the mosquitoes? And our ancestors were surrounded by woods and water. Can you imagine the bites? I am itchy just thinking about it. I read somewhere that they used to put cold ashes all over their faces and hands and that protected them from the flies, mosquitoes etc. Can you imagine with our ancestors met their first red man? What was going on in their minds?I wonder. And can you imagine how happy our ancestors were when they were shown the many uses for plants, and trees and easy ways to fish? If you have never wondered about these things, then think about it, I have always wondered and like the saying goes " Enquiring minds want to know". I hope you enjoyed todays blog. I would like to end this blog by changing the subject, I am not adding any photos just two urls I would like you to stop by and see, they are two stores of mine, my regular store is at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*  and my newest store which I am working on as often as I can is called Boot _EEK, you can view it at http://www.zazzle.com/boot_eek*   Have a great day and if you are on Facebook you can join my new site Aline I Cormier. chow for now.

Who were the Acadians.

Acadians are descendants of French Colonist who settled in Acadia which at first was Nova Scotia in the seventeenth century, later they settled in parts of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. I say they were French Colonist but there were also Melanson who were English marrying into the Acadians and thus they were Acadians and an Irish man called Roger Kuessy who married an Acadian girl thus their children would become Acadians too. Later on we had the 1755 Deportation of the Acadians, (French and Indian War) . Around 11500 Acadians were deported to different parts of the world. About one third of these Acadians died from diseases ,starvation and drowning. It sure must have been some tragic during this event. We saw the movie Titanic seeing all those people panicking, jumping overboard ,the Acadians on these over crowded vessels must have been so afraid , it makes me sad just thinking about it.

Some of the Acadians were deported to Massachussetts ,Carolina, Virginia ,Hawaii, ,France etc. Later on some Acadians who were deported were offered land in Louisiana and they accepted, these Acadians were later known as Cajuns. Now think about the Acadians later known as Cajuns, they went to a place they had never been, and many of them lived in the Bayous, they had to deal with the alligators and snakes and whatever else they came across. I think it must have been scary especially their encounters with the alligators. But they had to learn to survive any way they could. Of course that can be said for the Acadians who escaped the Deportation by fleeing in the woods. Just take a walk in the woods today when the little black flies or horse flies are in full force, we can’t stand it. It sure must have been miserable for the Acadians. They were survivors or at least fought to survive as many died in the woods of starvation and cold. The cold can you imagine staying out all night in the really cold weather? Now the Acadians were not all perfect I am sure, just like any other culture, there are some bad ones and some good ones. There were some unsung heros that we never heard about, there are so many stories that we will never know about the Acadian people . We read about their hardships and tragedies, but what about their good times? Wouldn’t it be nice to hear how something made them laugh, or sad? How did the Acadians really get along with their neighbours? Were the women mad at one another? Was their husband making eyes at the neighbours wife? Did they play jokes on one another? What about the children? We have read that they helped with the chores around the house and barn but what else did they do to pass the time? I sure would love to know.

Alex Haley wrote a story about his Roots and he spanned many generations, it would be nice to write a story about the Acadian families or about a certain one. We have lots of love stories, besides Evangeline it would be nice to write a love story about an Acadian couple. I believe I told you my Mom was only fourteen when she married my Dad. And she told me that he never proposed to her but asked her aunt to ask her if she would marry him. Can you imagine? Then my father sold his bike for two dollars then went to the city to get a marriage license which he was refused because she was too young and someone had to sign for her. Her father was away at the time, (It was a good thing because when he found out he was fit to be tied) so my grandmother signed for Mom. Mom took the train , met my father in the city and went to get married in the Catholic Church, of course the priest didn’t want to marry them, Mom was too young, but that didn’t stop my father he said to my Mom, then we’ll get married at the justice of the peace but instead they went to the Baptist Church and the minister married them. Such is what we call determination. But their marriage was short lived because the parish priest went to their door told Mom to go home, and he wrote to the bishop for permission to marry them Catholic. Permission was granted and the got married. My Dad often told Mom you are lucky I married you twice. Grin. See what I mean about stories? I sure wish I could have heard stories from the time of my ancestors. I am pretty sure they had some interesting tales to tell.

Now getting back to Acadians, through the generations the Acadians married into other cultures, such as the Iriish, Scotts, English, Native Americans and perhaps many other cultures. Nevertheless , most of us have a mixture but we should always remember we are part Acadians and should never be ashamed of it.

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Chow for now.

Stories plus Genealogy

Today I would like to talk about things I think is important for anyone who is interested in their family tree. As you know family trees is the in thing today, genealogy is the in thing today. You see advertising about it on television. Ancestry.ca is advertising it. They have a show called “Who do you think you are”. They have a similar show in Britain too. They have a movie on TV way back about Alex Haley’s “Roots”. How many of you watched it night after night? Remember there was Kinto or Kinta, and there was Chicken Little I think. Anyway it was long ago and I remember being glued to the TV enjoying it so very much.

It wasn’t just about born a certain date, married a certain date, and died a certain date. There was the in between time which was important. So this is why I believe in getting all the stories and information down about each ancestor of mine that I am able too. If I could go back in time and speak to my ancestors ,what a tale they would have to tell me. But that is impossible, all I can do is read what is written about them, and I am sure there would have been lots more stories they would have been able to share. What they did for entertainment for example or how and where they met their spouse and how they felt when their first child was born and did they come in contact with a wild animal and how did they handle the situation. I know they killed the animals but could there have been a bear for example that they came in contact with ?

We read in the newspaper about bear encounters, and crocodiles and alligators ,it is sad to read but it is the truth so how many of our ancestors had similar stories? We will never know unless we find some old newspapers well preserved hidden somewhere. So how can we make it better for the people coming after we are gone? Well gather stories for them. If your parents or grandparents are living I bet they would love to share some of their stories with you. Aunts and Uncles sometimes know more than we think. Stop by the nursing homes, or hospitals ,spend a day with your relatives, ask them questions, once they start talking you might get a lot of information about their parents or grandparents. Start looking through older newspapers in your area or where your grandparents lived, you can find these newspapers at your local library or archives. I have done this, I spent hours looking though newspapers, sometimes I found nothing, other times I hit pay dirt. I even found my birth announcement in the local paper. Sort of neat to see. So if you are thinking of doing your family tree, make it into a story, make it enjoyable for others to read, make it into a book, but most of all Just Make It.

Now changing the subject as I usually do, I have been creating new items in my store at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor* such as calendars, iPhone Cases, iPod Touch Cases, Mugs, and much more I do hope you will stop by. Have a great day

The best part of Genealogy

What could I tell you that would interest you in starting your family tree? Some of you will say ,why should I? Or what's so important about names ,and dates? Or who cares? 
First of all as you know genealogy is another word meaning tracing your family back until you can go back no further. And who cares? Well maybe you don't care, maybe your parents don't care either but did you ever stop and think that maybe somewhere in the future your grandkids or great grandkids might want to know about who they are and where they came from? A person can make their family tree something exciting, something interesting, something that anybody would love to read.  As you know, I started my family tree back in 1976 and I cannot thank my son enough for encouraging me to do so. It has been a long journey, I hit some brick walls, I tumbled some of them down, I looked for days even years and WOW! found what I was looking for, and the feeling I get when I stumble upon a new piece of the puzzle is unbelievable. My idea of a family tree is not just they were born,married and died, my idea is what did they do?  What did they wear? Where did they live? Where can I find some little stories about them? The obituaries sometimes gives a lot of information so I look for the obits if I can find them. The 1861 census of Canada gives a lot of information, such as did they have a farm? What did they have on the farm, animals, crops, who was living with them at the time?  I also found with the help of  the historian Regis Brun  a bill that my great grandfather had made, he used to go to the city from the country once a month and buy his groceries . Can you imagine a can of lobster for fifteen cents? Wish I were there back then. grin. This was in 1873  or around  there.  I searched for 30 years for the death of my great grandfather before finally finding him, can you imagine how excited I was? And one day I went to the funeral home with someone and I asked if they could find my grandfather's death record and they did a lookup and I found out my grandfather had Lupus. Now that is another reason doing a family tree is good because sometimes medical issues comes up and we wonder if anyone else had the same thing. Yes family trees can be very benificial.  Where do you begin? Well I would say, get a pen and scribblers, or a tape recorder, start asking your parents a lot of questions, where they were born, who their parents were,what did their parents do for a living, places they lived, were the men ever in the armed forces, were there any heros or crooks in there somewhere? All these are facts and should be recorded. Now for example, my Mom married my Dad when she was barely 14, my grandfather was away, she was his oldest daughter ,his little princess and my father proposed to her, would you believe on a little bridge in the country and my Mom said yes and they first went to the city and eloped, and later they married catholic but my grandfather was away at the time,and when he returned and found out his daughter got married to a man older than her to begin with and who lived next door to them that one day or night he went over to my other grandparent's home and burned the house and barn while they were away.  Had my mother not told me the story I would never have known and the true was true because my grandfather went to court and I found the article in the newspaper. So I have this information written down in my book, for my descendants to read one day. I would phone Mom and she would start talking about long ago and my memory is not as good or even as close to being as good as Moms, so as soon as I would hang up the phone , out came my pen and paper and I would jot the information down. Today there are lots of  information online that can help you search ,just as long as you remember there are also lots of mistakes or errors online so if and when you find something, always, always verify it to see for yourself if it is correct. By reading this blog ,by now you must know that genealogy is in my blood, and it is something that will never go away. Right now I am searching for my English line from England who I recently found an item saying it is possible they were originally French Hugonots who fled to England. Hmmmmm interesting huh?  So when are you going to start doing your family tree?  
Changing the subject here are a few things I have created for Halloween ,you can find them in my Halloween folder at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*

Acadian Slang or Chiaque

For the ones who do not know what Acadian Slang is ,well the Acadians had their own language. Many kept their language from their old homeland, but as time went by and other languages came along, many words were mixed together with their own. Another word for the slang was Chiaque , this language was spoken a lot in New Brunswick, especially the Moncton area and Shediac. I came across the following letter written in Chiaque in 1897 by a Dr Philippe Leblanc . Regis Brun the historian had this letter in one of the SHA books at the genealogy center in Moncton. I tried to find who this Doctor Philippe LeBlanc was, apparently he went to the St Joseph College in Memramcook then studied medecin in Detroit Michigan, went to the Klondike Gold Rush ,stayed a few years and returned home. I found two Philippe Leblanc born in St Anselme, one was baptized as Philip White, the other as Philippe LeBlanc. I am not sure if he was one of these two. Anyway he wrote a letter from Alaska dated 9 march 1897 to his parents, I am going to add it as he wrote it then I shall translate it into English.

Chers parents;

Ah! Ah! Me voila enfin rendu parmi les Indians. Je suis dans notre tente et on est tres confortable. Mom compagnon avec notre homme sont aller avec un voyage a 10 milles d’ici et je suis chef du camp ,cuisinier ent tete. Mon bill fare pour souper ce soir est bacon, beans, rice, rice bread and coffee. Je suis tres bien et je mandate tres bien a nos conditions en tente. Les choses sot tres encourage ante. Maintenant il nous faux hauler notre stuff 55 milles avec nos chiens et chevaux. On a 15 tonnes de stuff. Ne soyez pas en peine de moi. J’ecrirai a chaque fois que jaurer chance. Le pays est tres interessant et picturesque. Notre tente est dans une bocage pres de la route. On a un pied d’branche et notre poele de cuisine. Nos lits sont des sacs 7 pieds de long avec material de canvas waterproof. Ces sacs sont doubler avec fur peltrie de sorte qu’on porrait coucher dehors sans avoir froid. On est habilles en vrai Alaska way. C’est moi qui a soin des chevaux, forgeron, etc. On a notre foin et avoine ,unstrument,fers pour les ferres. Deux chevaux que j’ai acheter a Seattle qui me coute rendu ici, $50.00 chaque un. On a refuser $100.00 pour un. On mettait bien 3 toiles sur 6 traines et un cheval menait cela sur la glace. J’ai pour table a ecrire une boite qui nous fait aussi pour table a manger. On s’ammuse bien. On est happy. Mes amities a la famille et amis. Philippe

Translation:

Ah, ah, here I am among the Indians. I am in a tent where we are quite comfortable. My partner along with another man have gone on a trip about ten miles from here. I am the head chef at the camp. My menu for supper is bacon, beans, rice, rice bread and coffee. I am quite well and I am growing accustom to our tenting conditions. Things are very encouraging. Now we have to haul our stuff 55 miles with our dogs and horses. We have 15 tons of stuff. Don’t worry about me. I shall write as often as I can. The coutry is very interesting and picturesque. Our tente is in a wooded terrain near the road. We have a foot of branches and our kitchen stove. Our beds are bags 7 feet long with waterproof canvas material. These bags are doubled with   some kind  feathers, that we could even sleep outdoors without being cold. We are dressed in true Alaska way. It is I that tends the horses, blacksmith. We have our hay and oats,tools, horse shoes etc. Two horses that I bought in Seattle cost me fifty dollars each, we refused one hundred dollars for one. We would put three toiles (canvas?) on six sleds and one horse hauled that on the ice. I have a box for a writing desk that also serves as a kitchen table. We amuse ourselves well. We are happy. Best wishes to the family and friends. Philippe.

Now this was translated by me so it may not be exact word for word but you get the idea what the letter said. Think about it, this was written in 1897 when Dr Philippe Leblanc went to the Yukon during the Gold Rush. Have a great day ,thanks for stopping by, now here are some of my latest creations you can find at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor

Last will of Firmin Cyre

A few days ago I went to the genealogy center and while I was there, I searched for something that I thought may be interesting for my readers. Lo and behold I found the last will and testament for a Firmin Cyre. Let me first tell you that he was the son of Joseph Cyre and Marguerite Thibodeau. Joseph Cyre was the son of Jean Baptiste Cyre and Marguerite Cormier. So my story starts with Jean Baptiste Cyr and Marguerite Cormier. I found the following article on line and want to share
From the English translation of Thomas
Albert's l'Histoire du Madawaska, by Doucette and Doucette,
Madawaska Historical Society, 1990. (The original French
version was printed in 1920)

"Jean Baptiste Cyr "dit" Crock, and Marguerite Cormier, are the
ancestors of the most prolific family of Madawaska. Jean was
born at Beaubassin in 1710. From there he migrated to
Beausejour around 1750
where other Cyrs were numerous. At Beausejour he became involved
with the energetic and shrewd Father Joseph Laloutre who saw in
Jean Baptiste the characteristics of a soldier. He participated
in the weak and sloppy defense of Fort Beausejour. ... In 1763
he, along with his wife and eleven children were political
prisoners ... This Jean-Baptiste is also known as Jean-Baptiste
"Crock". He earned this nickname either for his habit of always
carrying a pitch fork or for saying that he would chew his
enemies. (trans. note: from "croc" meaning a hook or a from of
pitch fork and "croquer" meaning to crunch or devour). Whatever
the origin of this nickname, it is very widespread in Madawaska
... Jean
Baptiste had settled near the settlement of Ste-Anne when
evicted by loyalists who arrived after the American Revolution.
By that time, he was an old man who had suffered through all
the Acadian misfortunes. He is reported to have walked through
his farm one last time. There, bowed with age and discouraged
with grief, he is reported to have cried out: "My God! can it
be true that there is no place left on earth for a
"cayan"(Acadian)? He died shortly thereafter. ... Not far from
the stream at Ecoupag, near the St. John River, the location of
the first church can still be seen. A hundred feet from that
location, on a hill opposite a ravine is the ancient cemetery.
There are no markers, no crosses, no names, not even a fence to
identify it from the other fields. ...There, in this unknown
and isolated corner of the world lie the ashes of many
ancestors of Madawaska. Freed from the turbulent past and lost
in oblivion they are now united in glory as they were once in
hardship. In isolation with only the songs of the birds and the
murmur of the river, the hardy pioneers who never harvested the
fields they sowed for others now rest. In this quiet valley,
they are silent sentinels guarding the land from which they can
no longer be evicted ... Beneath the sacred soil trampled by
their tired, exiled feet, a soil on which they lived only a
short time before entering the only haven left to them - the
grave - they sleep their final sleep. Here rest the sons of
Acadia whose names are as unknown as their grave but whose
virtue has been rewarded. On this mound, bare as calvary,
appearing like a long scar, fugitive Acadia landed on January
29, 1759 ... The pain is now gone but the wound remains.
Memories of the heart are indelible. To this place Acadians
from the New World and Ancient France, from the shores of the
Atlantic ... from the St. River ... from the confines of
Louisiana, from Belle-Isle-en-Mer and Poitou ... today's
Acadians should come with laurels, kneel piously and with
trembling lips recite a few prayers. Indeed, if Port Royal was
the cradle of Acadia, Grand Pre the exile, then Ste-Anne was
the catacomb. Madawaskans, product of this catacomb, should
make pilgrimages to this holy place ... and amid the desolate
but highly cherished graves, offer
a prayer to Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs".
it with you before I add the will.
Now Jean Baptiste Cyr and Marguerite Cormier had nine sons, one of them was Joseph Cyr married to Marguerite Blanche  Thibodeau. Here is what I found on Marguerite Blanche Thibodeau, again this was found online:
Many Acadian pioneer families who arrived in the Madawaska region between 1785 and 1820 suffered from famine since resources were very limited. The year of the "misère noire", 1797, was particularly difficult for the Madawaska region's inhabitants, early snow having buried their harvests. Oral accounts relate the exploits of an exceptional Acadian woman, Marguerite-Blanche Thibodeau, wife of Joseph Cyr. Reputed for her courage and physical strength, she went from door to door asking those who could afford it to give to the poor. She also saved the lives of numerous sick individuals by seeing to their essential needs. The people of the Madawaska nicknamed her "Tante Blanche", as she became a source of moral support in the community with her numerous acts of kindness. When she died, her body was interred inside the church of Saint-Basile, cradle of Madawaska, which, at the time, was a great honour.
Now Joseph and Marguerite Thibodeau had children, one of them was Firmin Cyre who married his cousin Euphrosine Cyr ,(consangnity second degree). Firmin died in 1803 and the following is his last will and testament:
Cier Firmin Jr (Madawaska 1803)
In the name of God, Amen,I Firmin Cier junior of the parish of Madawaska in the county of York, and province of New Brunswick,Yeoman, being very sick and weak in body, bot of sound mind, memory and understanding (blessed be God for the same) but considering the uncertainty of this transitory life do make and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form following to wit:
Principally and first of all  I commend my immortal soul into the hands of God, who gave it, and my body to the earth to be buried in a decent and christian like manner, at the discretion of my Executors herein after named, and as to such worldly estate, wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me in this life, I give and dispose of the same in the following manner to wit.
First I hearby nominate and appoint my wife Mary (Frosinne) and my dear brother Loriant (Hiloarion) Cier of the aforesaid parish,county and province to be the executors of this my last will and testament and trustees for my children>
Secondly I the said Firmin Cier give to my dearly beloved wife, her heirs and assigns for ever, the full third of my lands and tenements, lying and being in the aforesaid parish,county and province consisting of lands, with buildings, improvements and all the other appurtenances their unto belonging, and the full third of all the rest of my furniture, goods and chattels and personal estate whatesoever; the remained of my estate give and divise the same unto my five children Henry (Thomas) Soloma and Margaret the fifth is yet in its mother's womb; or the survivor or survivors of them and their heirs of such survivor or survivors, equally to be divided between them except one black horse reserved for  the purpose of being sold after my death for to have prayers said for the benefit of my soul, the stove is to be  my beloved wife's as long as she shall live, a bed and its bedding is and shall be my said wifes her heirs or assigns forever. And lastly I nominate, constitute and appoint my said wife and my dear brother Lorient Cier of the aforesaid parish, county and province to be the executors of this my last will and testament, and trustees of my children hereby revoking all other wills, legacies and bequests by me heretofore made, and declaring this, and on other, to be my last will and testament. In Witness whoreof, I have signed, sealed, published ,pronounced and declared by the said testator as his last will and testament, in the presence of us, who in his presence and at his request have subscribed as witnesses, this twenty second day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and two and in the forty second year of his Majesty's Reign George the Third. Fimin Cir Jun
Witnesses P Duperrie, Pierre Lizotte and Simon Balleu.
Hope you have enjoyed todays blog, a note I found the information on Marguerite Thibodeau on the University of Moncton site. Now I would like to share a few of my products which you can find at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*

Acadian Prisoners in England

Today I would like to share a list of some Acadians who were prisoners in  England, I found this information in the Societe Historique Acadien (SHA), I quote "This is the results published in 1889 and 1890 in the Canada Francais (Quebec):
Marriages Saint Mary Wootton Liverpool May 9 1759 Petri Trahan (Pierre) and Marguerite Duhon.
Deaths in Saint Gluvias-Penryn  Falmouth 1756
Charles Granger oct 12
Alexis Trahan Sept 13
Charles Teriot Oct 23
Francois Granger Nov 3
Claude Granger Nov 28
Oliver Daigle Dec 9
Germain Thibodeau Nov 2
Jean Baptiste Granger Oct 23
Cyprien Theriot  Dec 8
Joseph Granger Jan 2 1757
Jean Baptiste Daigre Nov 12 1757.
If the declarations of the deaths at Saint Giuvias Penryn had given more details such as the names of the spouses we would be able to  prove who they were.
Other deaths of Acadians in England: according to the genealogy declarations in Belle Isle en Mer:
Anne Landry died July 15 1756 in Falmouth
Alexis Trahan died  July 1756 Liverpool
Pierre Trahan died Aug 10 1756 Liverpool
Jean Theriot died Aug 12 1756 Falmouth
Marguerite LeBlanc died Aug ? 1756 Liverpool
Fr? Trahan died Aug 1756 Liverpool
M Trahan and all her kids died Aug 1756 in Bristol
A Boudrot died Aug 1756 in Bristol
Anne Boudrot died Aug 1756 in Southampton
Marguerite Theriot died Aug 1756 Southampton (wife of Jean Babin)
M Leblanc died Aug 1756 Southampton
Francois Granger died Sept 1756 Falmouth
Anastasie Landry died Sept 1756 Falmouth
Joseph Trahan died Sept 1756 Falmouth
Joseph Vincent died Sept 1756 Liverpool
Marguerite Bourg died Oct 16 1756 Falmouth
Agnes Aucoin died Oct 1756 Falmouth
Judith LeBlanc died  Oct 1756 Falmouth
Charles Vincent died Oct 1756 Plymouth and also his wife
Francoise Ozide died Nov 22 1756 Falmouth
Marie Landry died Dec 5 1756 Falmouth
Jean Granger died 1756 Falmouth
Madeleine Landry died 1756 Falmouth
Marie Blanchard died 1756 Falmouth
Marguerite Theriot died 1756 Falmouth
Marguerite Babin and all her kids died 1756 Southampton
Pierre Daigre died 1756  Southampton
Joseph Daigre died 1756 Southampton
Marguerite Melanson died 1756 Southampton
J LeBlanc died 1756 Liverpool
Sylv LeBlanc died 1756 Liverpool
Joseph Trahan died April 1757 Liverpool
Joseph Trahan died June 1757 Liverpool
Ang. Melanson died June 1757 Liverpool
Jeanne Daigre died  June 1757 Liverpool
Marguerite Trahan died July 1757 Liverpool
M.Trahan died Dec 13 1757 Liverpool
Marguerite Landry died 1757 Liverpool
M. Trahan died 1757 Bristol and all her kids
M Trahan died Aug 39 1759 Liverpool
Elizabeth  Darois died 1759 Liverpool
Marguerite Landry died Jan 1917 61 Liverpool
Marguerite Landry died Feb 10 1761 Falmouth
Marie Joseph LeBlanc wife of ? Richard died April 12 1761 Liverpool
Charles Trahan died 1761 Falmouth
Marie Trahan died June 1763 Liverpool
Antoine Landry died (no date) Southampton
Marie Melanson died Southampton
Jean Leblanc died Southampton
Madeleine Theriot died Southampton
Anne Marie Hebert died Falmouth
Wife of Jean Melanson died in Bristol
FR Trahan died Bristol
Francois Thibodeau husband of A. Theriot died  died in Liverpool age 48
? Bonniere died in Plymouth
Marguerite Vincent  died in Plymouth
Jean Theriot died in England no name of place
Marie Daigre died England no name place
Marie Blanchard died in England no name place.
There was also a note saying that during these years the Catholic Irish were also in Liverpool because it is exactly in Liverpool that Madeleine Pelagie Hebert married Tiernay.
I hope this helps some of you readers out there. Now I want to add a few of my products from my store at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*, Please stop by and have a look when you have time.

Who's interested in Genealogy?

That is a good question. I wonder how many readers don't know what genealogy is all about? There are so many words that sound similar. Well genealogy is another word for tracing your ancestors, or doing your family tree. Everyone should get interested in genealogy. Why? Well one day we will be no longer here, and when we leave our memories and stories go with us. Now is the time to sit down, and write about ourselves, and our ancestors. So that means we have to find our ancestors. Do you know anything about your grandparents? Did they ever tell you how they met one another? Did your grandmother ever tell you something about her youth that she was proud of? Did your grandparents ever talk to you about their growing up and their parents?  I love digging for new stories, now another thing I want to mention is you have to write down the truth, no lies ,don't butter up the story. Did your grandmother get pregnant before she got married? Back then it was hush hush, and shhhhhhhhhhhh don't say anything and many times the girl got pregnant and kept indoors till she had the baby then her mother all of a sudden adopts a baby or has a baby? hmmm. Did your great grandfather  commit a crime that you are not so very proud of? It is the truth, don't hide it. No matter how terrible the crime was ,you have to remember that without that great grandfather you would not be here. He is part of your legacy ,he is your ancestor and you are part of him. What I would give if I could go back in time and interview my ancestors, I recently am tracing my English line, and it is very interesting, I found that one of my gggggrandfather fathered a child and never married the girl now this was way back in the 1600s, and I also read that in England  it was the custom that a man could bring his wife to market and sell her.Yes sell her if she didn't please him. If my late husband would be alive and he would hear what I just said he would say Too bad I didn't know that . haha. So today this is what I wanted to talk about, genealogy and how important it is. Even if you have no children, this information can be passed on to nieces ,nephew,cousins. I hope you enjoyed today's blog, now get interested in doing your family tree and you will be so proud of yourself. I am adding a few products I recently made that you can find at  http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*   I also have so much more there including genealogy products.

Chow for now

What are Ancestors ? This word is heard all the time. Well for the ones who haven’t got a clue about Ancestors, I will tell you what I know. For as long as I have been doing genealogy or family trees, that word Ancestors has been mentioned over and over again. I found out that Ancestors were people, just like you and I. They lived, they loved, they laughed and they cried. And if it were not for Ancestors you and I would not be around . Ancestors are our grandparents ,their grandparents and great grandparents and it goes on and on. Many of us want to go back and find out as much as we can and as many Ancestors as we can. The more we find ,the further we want to continue going. I am such a person. At the moment I am concentrating on another one of my lines, my English line. Many of you remember I told you I was doing my Chate dit Chase line . Well I am still at it, I have since found three more siblings of my first Chate to come to Canada. And I found that the three new ones were born where the parents married in St Giles Camberwell England. Can you imagine the excitement when I came across these ? I am not hoping to find out what happened to them. Now I keep looking for all that I can find and I have a Chate who married a Jackson and I was curious to find out more, well I found they married in Balcombe Sussex England and I even saw an image of the church they married in, but the church has since been renovated. Then I found the Jackson lady’s father and grandfather and they came from Ardingly Sussex England. I saw a photo of the village back in 1905 but these folks lived there in the 1700s so the village must have changed somewhat. But it is exciting to have a story and not just names ,dates,and places. I want to know more about my English Roots. I am reading about the Poor Laws in England, and hope to find some kind of document mentioning the names of some of my ancestors. I also have some French Canadian Roots , and there are still branches of my tree to fill in. I would suggest to you readers ,if you are bored and want to tackle a new adventure, start tracing your family tree, find your Ancestors, then you will be contented knowing who you really are.


On another note, I hope you will check out my store
http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*   I have lots of new products in case you have been there before. My latest are a couple of cute posters, iPhone cases,and postcards. Be sure to check out my genealogy folder and also my Acadian/Cajun folder. Thanks for the visit

Allicor

Who do you think you are

Well hello everyone. Who do you think you are is a weekly show by Ancestry.com. It traces some of the ancestors of famous people. The last show was about Rosie O'Donell, it was quite interesting, it took her to various locations. I was surprised when one of her ancestors showed up in Quebec Canada, and then she found  a clue as to what part of Ireland they came from and she went to Ireland, found some baptisms in Ireland . This reminds me of Roots. I enjoyed Roots so much since at the time I was just starting to do my own family tree, and at the time I wondered what I would find while tracing my tree. Well since then I have found tons of information. If you google Barthelemy Bergeron dit Damboise you will come up with a fascinating story about him and his children, some of them ended in Louisiana ,some of his family were massacred in Fredericton , one of his grandsons led a group of Acadians through the woods ,up the St Lawrence River to St Gregoire Quebec.We had a Bergeron-Damboise reunion in Fredericton in 2009, we had nearly 100 who attended , and they were from all over, Louisiana,Virginia,Massachussetts,Maine,Quebec,Ontario ,New Brunswick,and elsewhere, what a great feeling to all be together and we walked from the Lieutenant Governor's house on a path leading to the cemetery where Barthelemy and his wife are buried. I was thinking during the walk, "if Barthelemy and Genevieve were looking down at us they sure would have been proud of all of their family." If you have never done your family tree and would like to find out where you come from, there is always help out there ,ask questions and get started ,you will have a good feeling knowing who you are, no matter what your ancestors were or did ,remember without them you would not exist.
So getting back to my story ,after watching Who do you think you are, I went on Ancestry and for the fun of it, typed in my Abraham Chate from England, I was surprised because I found three more children that I didn't know about. See Abraham married Ann Bennett in Camberwell England, they had two daughters born there (new to me) then they moved to Deptford and two sons were born there, then they must have went back to Camberwll another son was born there, (new to me again) and then back to Deptford where another son and daughter were born. So now I have three more children, I didn't have before but one of the daughters died in Camberwell as a baby. So there are two children,Ann Chate and John Chate that I must try and find, also need to find who Charles Chate and Thomas Chate married. Abraham Chate's son Abraham is the one who came to Canada ,he was known as Abraham Chase who married Marie Rose Girouard , how I came to connect Chase to Chates I found Abraham listed in the land grants as Abraham Chate.
One must remember when doing our family tree, names changed over time, the spellings for example, the priest or whoever took census sometimes wrote as the name sounded  thus making it harder in our research.  So make sure you check names that sounds like your surnames while searching for your roots.

Now I want to finish this blog by letting you know if you are looking for genealogy related products for gifts or for yourself, I have lots on Acadians,Cajuns,Irish,Scottish, and just Genealogy at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*

Genealogy has good days and bad days

Well  hello everyone, it has been a while since I blogged genealogy: Well I have not given up my genealogy, on the contrary I am always searching either for me or for others. Right now I am at a standstill maybe for a little while maybe for a long while. I am looking for a Olivier Robichaud born around 1803 married to a Marie Louise Mazerolle. Now I have searched many places with no luck, I found the death of Olivier in Escuminac New Brunswick in 1853 he was age fifty that is where I got to my 1803 theory. Now I could not find him in the census of 1851 after that he had died. I found some of his children, not one godparent with the surname Robichaud to be found.

Now it could be possible that Olivier was baptized with a another name plus Olivier for example Jean-Olivier or Pierre_Olivier etc. So this search goes on. I even spoke to Stephen White and he has nothing on Olivier except the names of his in laws, but Stephen may not have gotten that far in his research yet. So what am I to do? Maybe look on the family of Marie Louise Mazerolle to see if there are some Robichauds listed .  The search goes on.
Now on another note I am in the process of  transcribing more records but they are not complete yet, when I am finished I shall add them to my website and let everyone know.
I am sure you have noticed my two tee shirts here, these are some that I created, you change the name ,age and location to suit yourself. These can both be found in my genealogy folder at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*    They would make great reunion shirts or gifts for anyone into genealogy . This is it for now, thanks for stopping by
Chow for now
Allicor

How an Acadian helped

If any of you are familiar with Moncton New Brunswick then you probably heard about the German families who first arrived from Philadelphia to settle in Moncton. These were the Lutz, Somers ,Ricker ,Jones ,Steeves ,Copple ,Wortman and the Trites. Now the Jones and Trites stayed on Moncton land and the rest moved to the Hillsborough area. I was reading the book “The first hundred year “about how Moncton got its start and mainly about the family of Jacob Trites who was a Dutchman from Amsterdam and he came to Moncton by way of Philadelphia. It is an interesting book. A family coming to a strange land ,not knowing what to expect when they arrived. I kept reading the book and got to a chapter on an Acadian, well that really interested me because I have Acadian blood ,plus French Canadian ,plus English and even Native American way way back. Anyway I wanted to share that chapter with you. Remember the Trites were coming to an unknown area, so there were lots of things they had to learn. Here is part of the chapter:

An occasional visitor to the Moncton township settlers was an Acadian named Belliveau (am wondering if it would have been Pierre Belliveau) who with his large family was successfully engaged in working a large tract of upland on the Moncton side of the river almost opposite the Hillsborough township. It was from Belliveau who had first visited the Trites family in early spring of 1767 that the new settlers had learned to tap the maple trees, and from their sap to create a delicious sweet syrup and to make from the same type sap a form of sugar which served as a delicious sweetener. Belliveau had told the Trites family how after the British captured For Cumberland in 1755 ,he had his family had fled overland to New England to avoid the British raiding parties which operated from the fort ,had sacked and burned the farms of the Acadian settlers along the Memramcook River. These parties had also carried out raids against the Acadians at Shepody seizing all their property and carrying their livestock back to the fort. On learning that the Moncton settlers were not British and that German was their native tongue, Belliveau had no fear of them and offered them the benefit of his experience in using the natural resources of the land. He showed them how to snare rabbits, how to identify edible and nourishing samphire and goose tongue greens which grew on the marshes in the early summer.

He showed them how to make snowshoes so they could travel in winter and provided them with their first seed potatoes. From the potatoes came the delicacy poutine rapee. These are very popular to this day, (I love them). If we could go back just to observe I am certain that this Acadian Belliveau taught these families many things and I am sure a friendship must have grown between this Acadian family and the German families who settled nearby. I hope you have enjoyed this blog, and if you are interested in genealogy , and would like to see my genealogy products go to my store at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*  click on my genealogy folder and enjoy.

Have a great day, thank you for the visit do stop by again.

Fort Beausejour Poster by allicor
Large format printing from zazzle

Great Saint John Fire

Saint John New Brunswick in Canada suffered many times from fires. But the Great Fire occurred on June 20th 1877. It started at 2 o’clock in the afternoon in a building known as York Point. Fanned by a northwest gale ,it spread quickly to the business portion of the city and soon was out of control. People were driven by the flames from street to street. Some ran in the streets, some sought refuge in boats and crossed over to Carleton. The Reed Wharf was a place for refuge for from 1500 to 2000 persons, who were imprisoned there by the flames from 3pm to 4 am the next morning, when the fire had died down enough for it to be safe enough for them to leave. People standing at the head of King Street saw the schooners in harbour catch fire , flames climbed up the mast, leaped to the masts of schooner after schooner until there was a complete bridge of fire across the harbour. When the flames spread to Trinity Church, Captain Hazen rescued the Old Arms. These were the Royal Arms that originally adorned the walls of the counsel chamber of the Old Town House in Boston. And later they were placed on the wall of the New Trinity Church in 1880 and may still be seen today. The old one story wooden school on Germain St was destroyed. It had been a school since 1805 for boys .The new Victoria School was also destroyed. Meanwhile in the homes, people were saving what they could, like kitchen things and leaving their valuable furniture behind.


One woman told her husband to save the bag containing valuable silverware that had been in the family for hundreds of years ,later it was discovered that he grabbed the rag bag instead. King Square stopped the progress of the fire, and became a camp ground. There were soldiers, hospital beds for the wounded. It was also crowded with furniture, books and household utensils. The fire raged for 9 hours and burned two fifth of the city, the heart of the business section, the homes of the wealthy, nearly every public building. Altogether it destroyed 16 12 buildings, and made 2700 families homeless ,13000 people. Eighteen people perished in the fire or from accidents during the fire while others died from wounds, exhaustion and exposure. Many valuables were lost , pictures, books, heirlooms. Assistance came from near and far, and insurances helped repair their losses. And Saint John carried on.

Can you imagine if this happened to our city or town? It sure must have been scary and heartbreaking for these people. This makes me think about Beaubassin which was an Acadian Village near Amherst of today and when the villagers were told to burn down their village before the English got there, imagine being there and seeing these families saving what little they could save, and having to leave things behind.

Sure must have been lots of sadness in both fires among all these Loyalists and Acadians. But they were strong and they survived.

I hope you have enjoyed this story that I found in the book Our New Brunswick Story . Now I would like to change the subject and share with you a few things I have created in my store at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor* When you have time do stop by, check out my invitations, in my greeting card folder, my tee shirts, valentines and much much more.

Chow for now

Allicor