This portion of my web site and accompanying links, is dedicated to my very special friend, Peggy Hall, who died on April 13, 2002 and is reproduced with the permission of her daughter Tiffany Graham. Peggy was the first to “believe” in my proposed (early 1990’s) project to produced the historical “In Search of Our Acadian Roots” CD-ROM. For added details, connect to https://acadian.org/project.html
Click here for details on the “Acadian-Cajun Family Genealogy” CD-ROMs
Mathurin JOUSSET m. Antoinette PAYER, Paris, France. Their son, Mathurin JOUSSET dit LALOIRE b. c1635 in Clermont-Creans, FR near La Fleche, FR m. Catherine LOTHIER (d/o Adrien LOTHIER m. Anne DES DAMES ) Mathurin JOUSSET dit LALOIRE, named so probably because he came from the La Loire Valley near La Fleche, FR, was a recruit of Maisonneuve to settle Montreal.
The following is paraphrased from: “Boudreau or Beaudreau” by Rev. Dennis W. Boudreau in AGE.
In 1652 the Governor-General of Ville-Marie (later known as Montreal) returned to France to recruit additional colonists for the region. Attacks from Iroquois had diminished settlers to less than 100. In a meeting with M. Jerome le Royer de la Dauversiere at La Fleche, 153 men were recruited to return to Canada. In May 1653 contracts were signed. Settlers had to agree to serve the colony for five years, defend against the Indians and help clear the area for farmland. On May 30, 1653 the group boarded the St. Nazaire and sailed toward Canada. When at sea for only a few days the ship began to take on water and had to return to port. The ship set sail again on July 20, 1653. Only 111 of the 153 recruits showed up for the departure, apparently fearful of being lost at sea. The ocean crossing was rough as attested to by Sister Marguerite Bourgeois, who noted in her own records that the crossing was difficult. The ship encountered several storms at sea; eight died from sickness on board. When the ship finally reached the harbor at Quebec on September 22, 1653 it hit a submerged object and began to sink. The passengers and cargo were saved, but the St. Nazaire had to be burned to clear the harbor. The Governor of Quebec wanted to keep the recruits but Maisonneuve contacted authorities in Paris and 2 months later on November 16, 1653 the men were finally sent to Ville-Marie (Montreal).
One of the children of Mathurin JOUSSET dit LA LOIRE and Catherine LOTHIER, Jean Baptiste JOUSSET dit LA LOIRE, b. c1667 in Montreal, was a recruit of d’Iberville for the Gulf Coast Expedition of 1699. He married Marie Anne NADEAU (b c1699).
Their son, Claude JOUSSET dit LA LOIRE, was the first “official” French male child born in the Colony of Louisiana in 1705. Another child, Jean LE CAMP, was born prior to Claude, according to Bienville’s journals, but he died before the age of 2.
Claude married Marianne L. LE BLANC ( b. St. Laurent, Diocese St.Malo, Brittany, FR, daughter of Marquis, Henry LE BLANC and Servanne LE MARIE. Marianne’s sister, Francoise Laurent LE BLANC married Joseph CHAUVIN de LERY)
Claude filed a suit in New Orleans in 1726 claiming that he was the first male child born in the colony. He was after a stipend offered by the King of France. In 1731 the Superior Council, based on “first-hand” testimony, awarded the stipend to Claude’s father, posthumously. In the mid-1700’s Claude was brought to court for stealing a widow’s chickens in New Orleans.
Claude’s daughter, Marianne Anne JOUSSET-LALOIRE married Gabriel Adrian TIXERAND