ACADIAN-CAJUN-L Archives
Archiver > ACADIAN-CAJUN > 1998-12 > 0913570810
From: <>
Subject: THE LANDRYS PISIQUID (PISIQUIT, PESSAQUITH) - by Dr. Don Landry Part 2
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 12:40:10 EST
THE LANDRYS PISIQUID (PISIQUIT, PESSAQUITH)
By Dr. Don Landry
Part 2
Although the Acadians were suspicious of all of the military build-up in the
area they were assured that they had nothing to fear and they continued with
their harvest and other preparations for the winter.
On Thursday September 4th, 1755, the day after the summons was issued, Colonel
John Winslow writes in his journal that September 4th is a good day and the
Acadians are busy with the harvest.
On Friday September 5, 1755 at 3:00 p.m., as the crisp cold autum wind chilled
the country side and stirred the dry grass of the meadows of the Minas area,
the leading citizens, farmers, blacksmiths, priests and notaries, millers and
other craftsmen, including all boys over 10 years of age who resided in "la
parriosse de Sainte Famille de Pisiquid", had been summoned to gather at Fort
Edward . Some 183 men and boys from Pisiquid appeared at Fort Edward in answer
to the summons.
When all of the men and boys had gathered at Fort Edward in Pisiquid, Captain
Alexander Murray, commander of Fort Edward, dressed in full uniform and
wearing a wig, approached the gathering inside the fort. He was surrounded by
his officers and armed militia when he read them their cruel fate. His orders,
written by Colonel Winslow, on orders from Governor Lawrence, had been
translated into French by Isaac Deschamps, a Hugenot collaborationist
merchant.
___________________
"GENTLEMEN,- I have received from His Excellency Governor Lawrence, the
King's instructions, which I have in my hand. By his orders you are called
together to hear His Majesty's final resolution concernming the French
inhabitants of this Province of Nova Scotia, who for more than half a century
have had more indulgence granted them than any of his subjects in any part of
his dominions. What use you have made of it, you yourselves best know."
"The duty I am now upon, though necessary, is very disagreeable to my natural
make and temper, as I know it must be grevous to you, who are of the same
species. But it is not my business to animadvert on the orders I have
received, but to obey them; and therefore, without hesitation, I shall deliver
to you His Majesty's instructions and commands, which are, that your lands and
tenements and cattle and live stock of all kinds are forfeited to the crown,
with all your other effects, except money and household goods, and that you
yourselves are to be removed from this his Province."
"The premptory orders of His Majesty are, that all the French inhabitants of
these districts be removed, and through His Majesty's goodness, I am directed
to allow you your money and household goods, and all of your money and as
many of your household goods as you can take without overloading the vessels
you go in. I shall do everything in my poweer that all these goods be secured
to you, and thast you be not molested in carrying them away, and also that
whole families shall go in the same vessel: so that this removal, which I am
sensible must give you a great deal of trouble, may be made as easy as His
Majesty's service will admit; and I hope that in whatever part of the world
your lot may fall, you may be faithful subjects and a peaceable and happy
people. "
"I must also inform you, that it His Majesty's pleasure that you remain in
security under the inspection and direction of troops that I have the honor to
command" (see p. 86 - Edourd Richard, vol II - "Acadia")
_______________________-
The actual deportation appears to have been delayed in so far as Pisiquid area
was concerned, due to a shortage of transport vessels. It is believed that
"the Acadians from Pisiquid were allowed to remain in their homes until
sufficient transportation arrived to carry them away.
Earlier on August 9, 1755 at Fort Cumberland (Fort Beausejour) Col. Robert
Moncton captured 250 to 400 Acadians that had been tricked by being summoned
to the Fort ostensibly for an important gubernatorial decree regarding their
lands and then arrested.
At Grand Pre a similar subterfuge and element of surprise permitted the
British military to arrest and detain 418 Acadian men and boys at the Grand
Pre church to await deportation. (Carl A. Brasseaux - Scatered to the Wind -
The Dispersal and Wanderings of the Acadians - p. 6)
The Acadian homes and other buildings, in the Pisiquid area, were not burned
after the families left as was the case in some of the other Acadian
settlements. This is confirmed by the fact that the New Englanders who
replaced the Acadians in 1760-1761 distributed the boards from the Acadian
buildings to construct new homes. (John V. Duncanson - Newport, Nova Scotia -
A Rhode Island Township , p. 2) also (John V. Duncanson, - FALMOUTH - A NEW
ENGLAND TOWNSHIP IN NOVA SCOTIA - p. 7) (John Wilson, president of Windsor,
West Hants Historical Society on videotape)
John Duncanson, in a letter to me states that he is aware that most historical
accounts on the Acadian Deportation state that the Acadians' homes and
buildings were burned. But we know that in the New England Planter
settlements of Falmouth and Newport, the lumber and timbers from the Acadian
homes and buildings were distributed to the New Englanders after their arrival
in 1760.
He further states that the system of lot distribution used by the New England
Planters was different than that of the Acadians, who built their homes near
their dike-lands. This would explain why the Acadian buildings and homes were
broken up and distributed.
The probability that the Acadians at Pisiquid were allowed to live in their
homes until the deportation, makes it impossible to establish an accurate list
of the persons who were deported from Pisiquid. This explains why I have been
unable to find my ancestor Firmin Landry listed as a prisoner at Fort Edward
or anywhere else in the Pisiquid district. Yet he is mentioned, by name, as
being at Oxford Maryland and appears in the Oxford census of 1763, along with
other former residents of Pisiquid.
The New England militia troops, under the command of Winslow destroyed the
scattered Acadian villages throughout the other part of the Minas district,
with the possible exception of Grand PrT, where Winslow had his headquarters.
(Brenda Dunn "The Acadians of Minas" p. 25)
On September 21, 1756 the "Mass House" and 2 other houses and a barn were
burned at the village Trahan at St. Croi, and on September 23, 1756 the "Mass
House", the priest's house and another dwelling were burned at Village Forest
(Foret) in Falmouth. (John V. Duncanson - Newport, Nova Scotia - A Rhode
Island Township, p.3) The foundation of the "Mass House" is apparently the
stone foundation that was found on the Sainte Famille Winery property in
Falmouth.
After the deportation, there were about 1500 Acadians quartered or stationed
at Fort Edward between 1760 and 1768. By special arrangement, these Acadians
were hired as cheap skilled labor to repair and maintain the dikes in the area
in return for their rations. After 1764, when the Acadians were again
permitted to own land in Nova Scotia, the Planters wanted the government to
continue to supply them with provisions in an attempt to encourage them to
stay in the area to work on the Planters' farms.
The cellars of the original Acadian homes may still be located today at a
number of sites along the edges of these marshlands. The Acadian apple
orchards are no longer in existance, but older residents of Falmouth can
recall that there were apple trees located at Castle Fredrick, on the Lawrence
farm and in an area of Aline ridge which were probably planted by the Acadian
residents of Falmouth. There was an Acadian road leading from Grand-Pre which
ran through the lower section of Falmouth to a ford which crossed the Pisiquid
river. (John V. Duncanson, FALMOUTH - A NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP IN NOVA SCOTIA -
pp. 4-5)
The Acadian church records for the Pisiquid district were lost and have not
been recovered. This has made it difficult to collect authentic information on
the Acadians who lived in this area between the years 1685 and 1755.
Florence Anslow on page 3 states, in her book, "HISTORIC WINDSOR" - "A Town
and County Abounding in Interesting Events" - "ANCIENT PESSAQUITH - It was
near the end of the 17th century that men of the white race first settled in
the fertile district of Pezaquith, which is now the town of Windsor. The
neighborhood of Les Mines, now Horton, had long been occupied by French
colonists; but the meadows of Minas became all too narrow for these prolific
Acadians. As their youth grew up they married and sought new lands at
Pisaquid. About the time when the treaty of Utrecht was signed, and Nova
Scotia was yielded by France to Britain, fifty-three families, numbering over
300 persons, had taken homesteads here, and before seventeen years had passed,
the number of families had grown to 150."
"These sturdy Acadians were good settlers. The men hewed timbers in the
forests for their houses, raised endless dikes to keep out the salt water and
turned brown marshes into fields of golden grain." ..." On the edge of the
wilderness, these new settlers at Pizaquid waxed prosperous and extended their
borders. Their small villages dotted the country over a wide area and these
have so completely disappeared that the very sites of them are unknown. But
the grass grown ruins of the cellars may be seen in the vicinity of Windsor.
There were more Acadians at Pizaquid than in the older settlements of Grand
Pre and Cunard" (pages 3-5 - HISTORIC WINDSOR - A Town and County Abounding in
Interesting Events - ANCIENT PESSAQUITH , by Florence Anslow)
In November, 1759, one of the worst gales in history of the Province raised
the level of the water in the Bay of Funday 6 to 8 feet higher than normal and
piled the already high tides against the levees which overflowed the dikes,
rendering great areas of the low lying areas unfit for farming for three
years. (pages 3-5 - HISTORIC WINDSOR - A Town and County Abounding in
Interesting Events - ANCIENT PESSAQUITH , by Florence Anslow)
In the spring of 1760 ships were dispatched to Boston and returned with 35
settlers from Rhode Island to settle in Pizaquid. (pages 3-5 - "HISTORIC
WINDSOR" - "A Town and County Abounding in Interesting Events" by Florence
Anslow)
In 1760, the first settlers from New England began to arrive. It was
interesting to note that only 35 persons were carried on one sloop and 23 on
another. This is in sharp contrast to the 300 or more Acadians (2 per ton)
that were packed aboard ships of similar size during the Expulsion of 1755.
However, it has been brought to my attention that this is not a fair
comparison, since the Planter vessels carried the Planter's livestock as well
as the New England Planters.
In Pisiquid (Falmouth), the Acadian buildings and materials which had been
left by the Acadians were distributed to the newly arrived New England
settlers on July 17, 1760.(John V. Duncanson, - FALMOUTH - A NEW ENGLAND
TOWNSHIP IN NOVA SCOTIA - p. 19 )
******************************************************************************
Note: On page 102 of LE CANADA FRAN¦AIS - DOCUMENTS SUR L'ACADIE Chapter
LXXXV - entitled: "Quit Rents Paid By The Acadians In 1754" - Pesequid or
villages: Trahan, Breaux and Landry, registers that from the village of
Landry, Abraham Landry, Germain Landry and Pierre Landry paid their annual
Quit Rent through the person of Pierrot a Pr Landry. - (British Museum. - Add.
MSS, 19,071, f. 143. - No. 26.)
This thread: