Migrations of Acadians

The Migrations

Unhappy in their new surroundings, the Acadians began a determined quest to return to Nova Scotia or else find new homelands. The governments of Georgia and South Carolina, anxious to be rid of the expense of supporting the Acadians, encouraged their departure by issuing them passes. In 1756, about 250 Acadians from the two colonies set out in small vessels to make their way up the coast to Nova Scotia. This prompted a circular from Lawrence urging his fellow governors to prevent the return of the Acadians. Most were captured in New York and Massachusetts, but 50 managed to reach the Saint John River in June. Many Acadians returned after the war when the British government eased the restrictions on Acadians settlement in Nova Scotia. Since their former property was occupied, they settled instead in the Saint John River valley and St. Mary’s Bay. Those who settled at Saint Anne (Fredericton) were later forced to move to the Madawaska River and Chaleur Bay after the arrival of the Loyalists.

Nova Scotia was only one of several destinations of Acadians in the American Colonies. A group of 90 exiles sailed from Massachusetts to Quebec in 1766, joining forces with the Acadians who had fled there from Nova Scotia after 1755. They settled near Quebec City and along the Nicolet and Richelieu Rivers. Another group of 116 Massachusetts Acadians sailed to St. Pierre and Miquelon in 1763. Many left via New York; 129 to Martinique in 1764, and 500 to Santo Domingo in 1765. Acadian exiles in the middle and southern colonies gravitated towards the former French colony of Louisiana, whose new Spanish rulers were sympathetic to Roman Catholics.

Next to the American Colonies, France itself received the largest number of exiles. The nearly 3500 there in 1763 included the deportees from Isle Royale, Isle Saint Jean, Cape Sable, and the Saint John River, as well as 750 who arrived from England that same year. One hundred of France’s Acadians moved to Saint Pierre and Miquelon in 1763, and in 1774 another group of over a hundred emigrated to Chaleur Bay. Over the course of 20 years, the French government made unsuccessful attempts to establish Acadians colonies in Brittany, Belle-Isle-en-Mer, Poitou, Corsica, French Guiana, Santo Domingo, and the Falkland Islands. Ordinary Frenchmen resented the Acadians because of their government pensions and land allotments. The Spanish government finally came to the rescue with an offer of land in Louisiana, and in 1785 nearly 1600 Acadians left for the Spanish colony.

Ironically, while some Acadians struggled to return to Nova Scotia, many who were still there decided to leave, preferring not to live any longer under British rule. In 1764, about 600 sailed for the French West Indies, eventually finding their way to Louisiana. Another group of over 200 settled in Louisiana in 1766. In 1765, 183 left Nova Scotia for Saint Pierre and Miquelon, joining their fellow exiles who had come earlier from Massachusetts and France.

The wanderings of Acadians of Saint Pierre and Miquelon had only just begun. The resources of the tiny archipelago could not support them all, and in 1767, at the insistence of the French government, 163 returned to Nova Scotia and 586 to France. The French government reversed its decision in 1768, and 322 Acadians from France went back to Saint Pierre and Miquelon. The entire population was deported to France in 1778 after France allied itself with the United States during the American Revolution. About 600 returned after 1783, to be deported to France yet again in 1794 because of the Napoleonic Wars. Over 600 exiles returned for the final time in 1815 and 1816, some having experienced five or six deportations during their lifetime.

By 1816, the Acadian migrations were over. Acadians did move after that date, but not because of forceful deportation. Rather, individuals and families moved in hopes of improving their economic conditions. Although the migrations left the Acadians scattered around the Atlantic rim, their sense of their own identity remained intact. Today, the five main concentrations of Acadian descendants are found in the Canadian maritime provinces, Quebec, Louisiana, New England, and France.

The above-noted is reproduced from “The Deportation of Acadians”, published by Parks Canada, 1986 and appears on the “Acadian-Cajun Family Trees” CD-ROM produced in 1999

Acadian Family Names of the 18th Century

Reproduced from “Acadian Family Names of the 18th Century” wall poster, published by Parks Canada and La Société du Monument Lefebvre inc.

Little physical evidence remains of pre-expulsion Acadia. However, most of the family names of the Acadian settlers are known from historical documents. Many of these names continue in today’s Maritime Acadian communities, dramatically illustrating a people’s survival. Acadian names also survive in areas such as Louisiana, France, and Quebec, a legacy of the Acadian Deportation and subsequent migrations.

This list of approximately 300 family names was drawn from parish records, census records and other documents from Acadia/Nova Scotia in the first half of the 18th century. All Acadian civilian families known to have lived in the colony at any time between 1700 and 1755 are included. This list does not include the families of the French garrison which served in Acadia.

Click here for details on the “Acadian-Cajun Family Genealogy” CD

A

Abbadie, de Saint Castin d’
Allain
Amirault dit Tourangeau
Angou dit Choisy
Apart
Arcement
Arosteguy
Arseneau
Arnaud
Aubois
Aucoin
Ayot

B

Babin
Babineau dit Deslauriers
Barillot
Barolet
Bastarache dit (Le) Basque
Bastien
Belliveau dit Bideau
Belliveau dit Blondin
Belou
Benoit dit Labrière
Bergereau
Bergeron d’Ambroise
Bergeron dit Nantes
Bergeron dit Machefer
Benard
Bertaud dit Montaury
Bertrand
Bézier dit Touin dit Larivère
Blanchard
Blanchard dit Gentilhomme
Bodard
Boisseau dit Blondin
Bonnevie dit Beaumont
Bonnière
Borel
Boucher dit Desroches
Boudrot
Bourg
Bourgeois
Boutin
Brassaud
Brasseur dit Mathieu
Breau
Broussard
Brun
Bugaret
Buisson
Bugeaud
Buote
Buteau

C
Cahouet
Caissy dit Roger
Calvè dit Laforge
Carré
Caylan
Célestin dit Bellemère
Cellier dit Normand
Chauvet
Chênet dit Dubreuil
Chesnay dit Lagarenne
Chiasson dit La Valée
Chouteau dit Manseau
Clémenceau
Cloistre
Coignac
Comeau
Cormier dit Rossignol
Cormier dit Thierry
Corne
Corporon
Cosset
Coste
Cottard
Cousin
Crépaux
Creysac dit Toulouse
Cyr

D
Daigre
D’Amours de Chauffours
D’Amours de Clignancour
D’Amours de Freneuse
D’Amours de Louvière
D’Amours de Plaine
Daniel
Darois
David dit Pontif
Delisle
Denis
Denys de Fronsac
Derayer
Deschamps dit Cloche
Desgoutins
Desmoillons
Deprés
Deveau dit Dauphiné
Dingle
Doiron
Dominé dit Saint-Sauveur
Doucet dit Laverdure
Doucet dit Lirlandois
Doucet dit Mayard
Druce
Dubois
Dubois dit Dumont
Dufaut
Dugas
Duguay
Duon dit Lyonnais
Duplessis
Dupuis

E
Egan

F
Flan
Fontaine dit Beaulieu
Forest
Forton
Fougère
Fournier
Froiquingont

G
Gadrau
Galerne
Gallé
Garceau dit Boutin
Garceau dit Richard
Garceau dit Tranchemontagne
Gareau
Gaudet
Gauterot
Gauthier
Gentil
Giboire Duvergé dit Lamotte
Girouard
Gisé dit Desrosiers
Godin dit Beauséjour
Godin dit Bellefeuille
Godin dit Bellefontaine
Godin dit Boisjoli
Godin dit Catalogne
Godin dit Châtillon
Godin dit Lincour
Godin dit Préville
Godin dit Valcour
Gosselin
Gourdeau
Gousman
Gouzille
Grandmaison (Terriot dit Guillot dit)
Granger
Gravois
Grosvalet
Guédry dit Grivois
Guédry dit Labine
Guédry dit Labrador
Guédry dit Laverdure
Guéguen
Guénard
Guérin
Guérin dit Laforge
Guilbeau
Guillot dit Langevin
Guy dit Tintamarre
Guyon

Click here for details on the “Acadian-Cajun Family Genealogy” CD

H
Haché dit Gallant
Hamel
Hamet
Hamon
Hébert dit Manuel
Hélys dit Nouvelle
Henry dit Robert
Hensaule
Héon
Heusé
Hugon

J
Jeanson
Joseph

K
Kimine
L
La Barre
Labat, dit Le Marquis, de
La Bauve
La Chaume
la Croix
La Lande dit Bonappetit
Lambert
Lambourt
Landron
Landry
Langlois
Lanoue
La Pierre dit La Roche
La Vache
Lavergne
La Vigne
Lebert dit Jolycoeur
Le Blanc
Le Blanc dit Jasmin
Le Borgne de Belisle
Le Clerc dit Laverdure
Lecul
Léger dit La Rozette
Le Jeune dit Briard
Le Juge
Le Marquis dit Clermont
Le Mire
Le Neuf de Beaubassin
Le Neuf de Boisneuf
Le Neuf de La Vallière L’Enfant
Le Poupet de Saint-Aubin
Le Prieur dit Dubois
Le Prince
Leroy
L’Eschevin dit Billy
Le Vanier dit Langevin
Lavasseur dit Chamberlange
Levron dit Nantois
Loiseau
Long
Longuepée
Loppinot
Lord dit La Montagne
Lucas

M
Maffier
Maillet
Maisonnat dit Baptiste
Malboeuf
***Manet
Mangeant dit Saint-Germain
Marcadet
Marchand dit Poitiers
Marres dit La Sonde
Martel
Martin
Martin dit Barnabé
Massé
Massié
Mathieu
Maucaire
Mazerolle dit Saint-Louis
Melanson dit Laverdure
Melanson dit La Ramée
Mercier dit Caudebec
Messaguay
Meunier
Michel dit La Ruine
Migneau dit Aubin
Mignier dit Lagassé
Mirande
Mius d’Azit Mius d’entremont de Plemarais
Mius d’entremont de Pobomcoup
Monmellian dit Saint Germain
Mordant
Morin dit Boucher
Morpain
Moulaison dit Rencontre
Mouton
Moyse dit Latreille

N
Naquin dit L’Etoile
Nogues
Nuirat

O
Olivier
Onel(O’Neale)
Orillon dit Champagne Oudy
Ozelet

P
Part dit Laforest
Pellerin
Petitot dit Saint-Sceine
Petitpas
Pichot
Picot
Pincer Pinet
Pitre dit Marc
Poirier
Poitevin dit Cadieux
Poitevin dit Parisien
Poitier Porlier
Poujet dit Lapierre
Poupart
Préjean dit Le Breton
Prétieux
Pugnant dit Destouches

Click here for details on the “Acadian-Cajun Family Genealogy” CD

R
Racois dit Desrosiers
Raymond
Renaud dit Provençal
Richard
Richard dit Sansoucy
Richard dit Beaupré Richard dit Boutin
Richard dit Lafont
Rimbeau
Rivet
Robichaud dit Cadet
Robichaud dit Niganne Robichaud dit Prudent
Rodohan
Rodrique dit de Fonds
Rousse dit Languedoc
Roy dit La Liberté
Rullier

S
Saindon
Saint-Etienne de la Tour, de
Saint-Julien de La Chaussée, de
Samson
Saulnier dit Lacouline
Sauvage dit Forgeron
Sauvage dit Chrystophe
Savary
Savoie
Semer Serreau de Saint-Aubin
Sicot
Simon dit Boucher
Soulard
Soulevant
Surette

T
Tandau
Terriot
Testard dit Paris
Thébeau
Thibault Thibodeau
Tillard
Tourneur
Toussaint dit La jeunesse
Trahan
Triel dit La Perrière
Turcot
Turpin dit La Giroflée

V
Vallois
Vescot
Viger Vigneau dit Maurice
Villatte
Vincent dit Clément
Voyer

Click here for details on the “Acadian-Cajun Family Genealogy” CD

*** I am grateful to Orin Manitt for having provided source information to support his opinion that the surname “Manet” belongs on this list! HOWEVER, as Robert Blackman outlined in his email of September 13, 2009… “Manetis not an Acadian name. Augustin Manet came from France to Louisbourg sometime in the 1720s/30s. He was not an Acadian as he never lived or settled in Acadia. He was a Frenchman who settled in Louisbourg in the first half of the 18th century.” And frankly, I’m inclined to go along with Mr. Blackman’s opinion!

The above-noted is reproduced from “Acadian Family Names of the 18th Century” wall poster, published by Parks Canada and La Société du Monument Lefebvre inc., and appears on the “Acadian-Cajun Family Trees” CD-ROM.