Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Port Royal, that is where I will be going very soon on a trip. Today I went to the library and looked for Acadian or genealogy related books. I found some. One am reading at the moment is The Acadians of Nova Scotia by Sally Ross and Alphonse Deveau. I came across the following entry . After Champlain dismantled the habitation on St.Croix Island, he decided to resettle on the opposite side of the Bay of Fundy. Champlain and Dumont chose a sheltered location on the north shore of the Riviere dauphin,later renamed the Annapolis River. Champlain named the settlement Port Royal. He describes the site and the reconstruction of the buildings.
"Continuing two leagues on the same course, we entered one of the finest harbours I have ever seen on all these coasts, where a couple of thousand vessels could lie in safety. The entrance is 800 paces wide, which I named Port Royal.Into it, falls three rivers one of which is called Equille.
From the mouth of the river to the point we reached are many meadows, but these are flooded at high tide,there being numbers of little creeks leading here and there, up which shallops and boats may pass at high tide.
Having searched well in all directions, we found no place more suitable and better situated than a somewhat elevated spot,about which are some marshes and good springs.Having seen that the site for the settlement was a good one, we began to clear the ground which was full of trees,and to build the houses as soon as possible."
Now wasn't that interesting? This is something that was said in the 1600's.
Port Royal was home to many of our ancestors, Jacques dit La Rosette Leger, Barthelemy Bergeron,Guillaume Trahan, Pierre Melanson,Daniel LeBlanc and many others.
So I think it would be very fitting to add this little article among our genealogy notes.
Thank you for the visit, hope you enjoyed today's blog.
Have a great day
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