Many interesting observations can be made from this census. Since it was dated April 9, 1766, it lists the first Acadians who came to the Cabahannocer section of the Acadian coast…St. James and Ascension Parishes, eleven years after the exile. There were many broken families. They had been separated in the expulsion and many were unable to survive the hardships of their wanderings. There were many widows and orphans. Several very young boys are listed… Some as young as thirteen…with no family, but with a land grant and a gun.
Almost all the grants were for six arpents fronting the river, but extending forty arpents back.
It is particularly interesting to note the newly arrivals in this territory from the census taken three years later.
I am grateful to Joe Crochet who provided the above-noted information for the… “In Search of Our Acadian Roots” CD-ROM ©1994 (now available in Windows Version).
* with corrections by Yvon Cyr