Acadians Who Found Refuge in Louisiana, February 1764-early 1800s
[AR-seh-no]
ACADIA
Pierre Arsonneau, Arseneau or Arsenault, a coastal pilot born perhaps in the hamlet of La Flamancherie, Saintonge, France, in September 1646, may have come to Acadia from La Rochelle aboard L'Oranger in 1671. He married Marguerite, daughter of Abraham Dugas and Marguerite Doucet, in c1675. They had two sons, both of whom created families of their own. After Marguerite died, Pierre remarried to Marie, daughter of Francois Guérin and Anne Blanchard, in c1686. They had seven children, including five more sons who added substantially to the Arseneau clan. Pierre was a pioneer of the Acadian settlement at Chignecto, where all of his sons were born:
Oldest son Pierre, fils, by his father's first wife, born in c1676, married Marie-Anne, daughter of Jean Boudrot and Marguerite Bourgeois, probably at Chignecto in c1697. They had 10 children, including six sons who married into the Cormier, Breau, Hébert, Bourgeois, Boudrot, and Nuirat families. Their daughters married into the Daigre, Desroches, and Delaunay families. The family moved from Chignecto to Île St.-Jean, today's Prince Edward Island, in the early 1700s.
Abraham, by his father's first wife, born in c1678, married twice, first to Jeanne, daughter of Pierre Gaudet l'aîné and Anne Blanchard, probably at Chignecto in c1701, and then to Marie-Thérèse, daughter of Emmanuel Mirande and Marguerite Bourgeois and widow of Pierre Caissie, in c1752. She gave him no more children. Abraham fathered 18 children by his first wife, including five sons who married into the Hébert, Poirier, and Cyr families. His daughters married into the Chiasson, Poirier, Vigneau dit Maurice, Hébert dit Boudiche, Bourel, Dugas, Hébert dit Canadien, and Boudrot dit Miquetau families. They remained at Chignecto.
Charles, by his father's second wife, born in c1690, married Françoise, another daughter of Emmanuel Mirande and Marguerite Bourgeois, probably at Chignecto in c1712. They had 10 children, including six sons who married into the Poirier, Cyr, Gaudet, and Bugeaud families. Their daughters married into the Girouard, Poirier, Bernard, Derayer, and Vigneau dit Maurice families. According to Acadian genealogist Bona Arsenault, one of Charles's sons, Vincent, was at Port-Toulouse on Île Royale, today's Cape Breton Island, in the early 1750s.
Jacques, by his father's second wife, born in c1692, married Marie, daughter of Michel Poirier and Madeleine Bourgeois, at Chignecto in c1720. They also moved from Chignecto to Île St.-Jean in the early 1700s.
François, by his father's second wife, born in c1694, married Marguerite, daughter of René Bernard and Madeleine Doucet, at Chignecto in c1719. They remained at Chignecto.
Claude dit Ambroise, by his father's second wife, born in c1699, married Marguerite dite Magitte, daughter of Martin Richard and Marguerite Bourg, probably at Chignecto in c1725. They moved from Chignecto to Île St.-Jean in the early 1700s.
Youngest son Abraham dit le Petit Abraham, by his father's second wife, born in c1702 married Marie-Josèphe, daughter of François Savoie and Marie Richard, probably at Chignecto in c1731. They also moved from Chignecto to Île St.-Jean in the early 1700s.
[For more of this family in pre- and post-dispersal Acadia and Canada, see Book Three]
By 1755, descendants of Pierre Arseneau the coastal pilot could be found at the family's home base in the Chignecto area and in the French Maritimes, especially at Malpèque on Île St.-Jean.
LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT
[For the family's travails during the Great Upheaval, see Book Six]
LOUISIANA: WESTERN SETTLEMENTS
Arseneaus were among the earliest Acadians to seek refuge in Louisiana. The first of them--three families led by two brothers and a cousin, as well as an Arseneau wife and her family--reached New Orleans in February 1765 with the Broussard dit Beausoleil party from Halifax via St.-Domingue. After a short respite in the city, where they exchanged the Canadian card money they had brought to the colony, they followed the Broussards to the Attakapas District, where they helped created La Nouvelle-Acadie on the banks of Bayou Teche:
Jean Arseneau, age 37, of Pointe Beauséjour, Chignecto, came with wife Judith Bergeron, age 31, and four sons--Jean-Charles, age 13; Joseph, age 8; Guillaume, age 5; and Paul, age 3.
Joseph Arseneau, age 25, Jean's younger brother, came with wife Marie Bergeron, age 20, and no children.
Pierre Arseneau, age 34, Jean and Joseph's cousin, came with his wife Anne Bergeron, age 24, infant daughter Marie-Catherine, called Rosalie, and his 39-year-old sister, widow of ____ Bernard. He was one of the eight signers of the Dauterive agreement of April 1765.
Anne Arseneau, age 20, Pierre's sister, came with husband Barthélémy Bergeron, age 25, and their infant son Charles.
When an epidemic struck the Teche valley Acadians that summer, Arseneaus or their family members were among the victims. Infant François Arseneau, an orphan, died in September. Anne Arseneau's husband Barthélémy Bergeron and their infant son Charles died in late October. Later that fall, all of the Arseneaus on the Teche re-crossed the Atchafalaya Basin and settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river, where other Acadians from Halifax were settling in large numbers.
~
Not until the late 1780s did an Arceneaux return to Bayou Teche, creating a western branch of the family that came to rival in numbers their kinsmen who remained on the river:
Descendants of Pierre ARCENEAUX l'aîné (c1731-1790s; Pierre, Pierre, fils)
Pierre, son of Jean Arseneau and Marie-Jeanne Hébert of Pointe-Beauséjour, Chignecto, born there in c1731, escaped the British roundup at Chignecto in the fall of 1755 and married Anne, daughter of Barthélemy Bergeron dit d'Amboise and Marguerite Dugas of Rivière St.-Jean, in c1757 during exile. They were counted as prisoners at Halifax in August 1763 and came to Louisiana with the Broussard party in February 1765. With Pierre was his wife and infant daughter as well as an older, widowed sister. Pierre was one of the signers of the Dauterive agreement. That spring, he and his family followed the Broussards to lower Bayou Teche but retreated to Cabahannocer on the river that autumn to escape an epidemic that struck the Teche community. Between 1763 and 1787, Anne gave Pierre eight children, three daughters and five sons, seven of them born at Cabahannocer: Marie-Catherine, called Rosalie, at Halifax in c1763; Françoise; Marie-Jeanne; Louis in c1768; Pierre, fils, baptized at St.-Jacques de Cabahannocer, age unrecorded, in January 1773; Alexandre, baptized there, age unrecorded, in June 1774; François, baptized there, age unrecorded, in April 1779; and Pierre Cyprien, called Cyprien, born there in c1787. Pierre did better than most Acadians at Cabahannocer; in March 1779, Spanish officials counted a dozen slaves on his farm along the river. Nevertheless, during the late 1780s, in violation of Spanish policy, he and his family returned to the western prairies. In April 1786, Pierre "obtained title, through an order of survey, to a tract of land measuring 40 x 40 arpents between present-day Carencro and Beaubassin," on upper Bayou Vermilion. Pierre became a successful rancher in the area; he owned 400 head of cattle at the time of his death. His succession was filed at what would become the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in 1793; he would have been in his early 60s that year. His daughters married into the Breaux, Carmouche, and Guilbeau families. All of his sons also married. His many descendants settled in a number of places west of the Atchafalaya Basin--on the prairies southwest of Opelousas, on lower Bayou Teche as far down as Charenton, and especially in the Carencro-Grand Coteau area of Lafayette and St. Landry parishes.
1
Oldest son Louis married Marie Anne, called Anne, daughter of fellow Acadians Athanase Breaux and Marie LeBlanc, at St.-Jacques in May 1788; Anne's brother was one of Louis's sister's husband. They followed his parents to the western prairies, though Louis retained ownership of land at St.-Jacques. Their children included: Louis Joachim, called Joachim, born at Opelousas in March 1791; Marie-Cidalise baptized at Attakapas, age 4 months, in May 1795; Marguerite born Attakapas in March 1797; and Alexandre Toussaint, called Laissin and Toussaint, in December 1798. Louis inherited from his father a 6 x 80-arpent holding on upper Bayou Vermilion in the early 1790s; he named his home after the settlement in Acadia where his father was born. Louis died at "Beau Bassin," his home near Carencro, in March 1812, age 44; his succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in 1814. His daughters married into the Mouton and Sonnier families. Only one of this two sons seems to have married, and that son may have fathered no children. This line of the family, then, except for its blood, may not have survived in the Bayou State. One wonders if this was the Louis Arceneaux whom Judge Felix Voorhies insisted was the "real" Evangeline's (Émeline Labiche's) Gabriel; if so, the judge was wrong on two counts--Labiche is not an Acadian name, and Louis was not an Acadian immigrant!
1a
Toussaint died in Lafayette Parish in January 1834, age 35. He probably did not marry. His succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in December 1834.
1b
Joachim married Marie Aspasie, called Aspasie, daughter of fellow Acadians François Bernard and Madeleine Broussard of La Pointe, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1811. Joachim died in Lafayette Parish in August 1834; the priest who recorded the burial said that Joachim died "at age 37 yrs.," but he was 43; his succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in December 1844. He and his wife may have been that rare Acadian couple who had no children, at least none who appear in local church records, so his family line may have died with him.
2
Pierre, fils married Clémence, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Cormier and his second wife Anne Michel, at Opelousas in April 1792. Their children included: Pierre Cyprien, le jeune, called Cyprien, born at Opelousas in November 1793; and Marie-Louise died at Attakapas, age 11 days, in September 1795. Pierre remarried to Marie-Josèphe, called Josèphe and Josette, daughter of French Creole Pierre Nezat of Layrac, France, and Madeleine Provost of Fort de Chartres, Illinois, at Attakapas in February 1802. Their son Pierre Émile, called Émile, was born at Atakapas in November 1802, Louis Sosthène, called Sosthène, in March 1804, Pierre Joseph in February 1810, Pierre Bienvenu in December 1811, and Pierre Sosthène in April 1813. Their daughters married into the Bernard, Theriot, and Vavasseur families. One of them settled on the river. Pierre died at his home near Carencro in August 1814, age 41.
2a
Pierre Cyprien le jeune, by his father's first wife, married cousin Marie Brigitte Aglae, called Brigitte and Aglae, daughter of François Carmouche and his Acadian wife Françoise Arceneaux, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in April 1816. They also settled near Carencro. Their son Pierre le jeune, called Saintdoux, was baptized at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 2, in May 1832 but died at age 10 in October 1840, and François Ovignac, called Ovignac, was baptized at age 11 months in February 1835. Their daughters married into the Delhomme and Prejean families.
Ovignac married cousin Eméranthe, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Rosémond Breaux and Calixte Arceneaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in April 1857. They settled at Carencro. Their child, perhaps a son, name and gender unrecorded, died at birth in April 1859, François Ambroise was born in July 1860, Pierre Ovide, called Ovide, in January 1862, Sosthène Alexandre in September 1863, and Joseph Ganidos in March 1870. During the War of 1861-65, Ovignac served in Company C of the Consolidated Crescent Regiment Louisiana Infantry, which fought in Louisiana. Ovignac died at Carencro in February 1894, age 60.
2b
Pierre Émile, by his father's second wife, married Marie Azélie, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Breaux and Mathide Broussard, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in December 1821. Their son Pierre Émile, fils, called Émile, was born near Carencro in July 1824, and Louis Joseph was baptized at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, 6 days after his birth in November 1829. Their daughter married into the Valière family. Émile died in Lafayette Parish in July 1847; he was only 44 years old; his succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in January 1848.
Pierre Émile, fils married Marie Alzina or Alzire, also called Alzina and Alezinore, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Fabien Richard and Eugènie Savoie, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1849. Their son Louis Sosthène le jeune was born in St. Landry Parish in September 1851, and Pierre Émile III, called Émile, in March 1857 but died at age 9 in September 1866. Their daughter married into the Joubert family. Azelia's succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse, Lafayette Parish, in July 1870.
Louis Joseph married double cousin Marie Amelie, called Amelie and Amelia, daughter of fellow Acadians Émilien Arceneaux and Céleste Breaux, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1852. Their son François Alexandre was born in Lafayette Parish in July 1855, Louis Adalbert in April 1858, a child, name unrecorded, perhaps a son, died "at age a few weeks" in February 1860, Bibian Émilien was born in December 1860, Pierre Joseph le jeune in June 1864, Pierre Clément in November 1866, and Louis Barthélémy in August 1868.
2c
Louis Sosthène, by his father's second wife, married cousin Marie Euphanie, called Fannie, daughter of Solastie Roy and Marie Nezat, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in November 1830. Louis Sosthène died in Lafayette Parish in September 1839; the priest who recorded his burial said that Louis was age 33 when he died, but he was 35; his succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in February 1840. One wonders if he fathered any sons.
2d
Pierre Joseph, by his father's second wife, married Marie Josephine, called Josephine, daughter of James Blaire or Blaise and his Acadian wife Marie Céleste Breaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in May 1837; Marie's mother was a Breaux. Their daughter married into the Latiolais family. Pierre Joseph's succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse, Lafayette Parish, in March 1852; he would have been age 42 that year. He and his wife may have had no sons.
2e
Pierre Bienvenu, by his father's second wife, married first cousin Marie Adéle or Azélie, also called Azelia, daughter of fellow Acadians François Arceneaux and Marie Mouton, his uncle and aunt, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in June 1838. Marie Azélie died in January 1841 probably from complications of childbirth; her succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse the following June and again in July 1870. Pierre Bienvenu evidently did not remarry. He died in Lafayette Parish in July 1855; he only 43 years old; his succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse later that month. One wonders if he and Azélie had any children who survived childhood.
2f
Pierre Sosthène, by his father's second wife, married first cousin Geneviève Désirée, daughter of his uncle Alexandre Arceneaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in December 1838.
3
Alexandre married Hélène, daughter of Pierre Carmouche of Pensacola and Pointe Coupée and Geneviève Rousseau, at Ascension, just upriver from St.-Jacques, in March 1802. They settled at Beaubassin, on upper Bayou Vermilion, east of Carencro. Their son Alexandre, fils was born probably at Beaubassin in June 1803, a newborn son, name unrecorded, died in November 1806, Paulin, a twin, was born at home in October 1807, and Lazare Terssy, Belcy, or Bercy in September 1812. Their daughters married into the Arceneaux, Breaux, Carmouche, and Eastin families. Alexandre adopted Mary Arceneaux, whose son Alexandre le jeune was baptized at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, age 2 1/2, in July 1839. Meanwhile, Alexandre l'aîné died probably at Carencro in September 1833, age 59; his successions were filed at the Opelousas and Vermilionville courthouses the following March.
3a
Paulin married Céleste Armillionne or Erminionne, daughter of French Creole André Martin and his Acadian wife Gertrude Sonnier, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in December 1828. Their son André Destival was baptized at the Vermilionville church at age 8 months in June 1830, Alexandre Sevigne, called Sevigne, was baptized at age 13 months in May 1832, Demas at age 6 months in October 1835, Luma at age 15 months in August 1839, Estras was born in 1840 and baptized at the Vermilionville church in December 1841, and a child, name and age unrecorded, perhaps a son, died in January 1852. Their daughter married into the Dominguez family.
Alexandre Sevigne married Marie Azéoline, called Zéoline, Azadine, Claline, and perhaps also Azélina, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Brasseaux and Valiene Dugas, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in April 1852. Their son Joseph Ebeard was born in Lafayette Parish in March 1856, Paul Duplessis in May 1859, Adam in June 1861, Joseph Israel in May 1863, and Jean Jacques in November 1865. Their daughter married into the LeBlanc family. Alexandre Sevigne may have remarried to Marguerite Valérie, called Valérie, daughter of fellow Acadians André Prejean and and widow of Joachim Richard, at the Vermilionville church in July 1870.
Demas married Azélie, also called Celia, Isilia, and Zelia, another daughter of Joseph Brasseaux and Valiene Dugas, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in October 1855. Their son Albert was born in Lafayette Parish in August 1858, Edgard near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in September 1868, and Amédé in Lafayette Parish in March 1870.
Luma, called Numa by the parish clerk, may have married fellow Acadian Valentine Richard, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in January 1870.
3b
Lazare married Hortense, daughter of fellow Acadian Simon Bourgeois and his Creole wife Marcellite Judice, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in March 1837. Their son Alexandre le jeune was born in Lafayette Parish in January 1840, and Simon Bercy in May 1841. Their daughter married into the Broussard and Dufay or Duffay families. Lazare, called Lazard by the recording priest, died in Lafayette Parish in September 1847; the priest said that Lazard was age 30 when he died, but he was 35.
3c
Alexandre, fils may have married Mary Balqué in St. Landry Parish in the late 1830s. Their daughter married into the Fuselier family.
4
François, at age 34, married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Frédéric Mouton and Anastasie Cormier of the lower Vermilion, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in July 1813. Their son François Émilien or Émilien François, called Émilien and Milien, was born near Carencro in October 1815, and François, fils in September 1824. Their daughter married an Arceneaux cousin, and another may have married into the Comeaux family. François, père filed a succession record at the Vermilionville courthouse in October 1832 and remarried to Scholastique, daughter of fellow Acadians Firmin Breaux and Marguerite Breaux and widow of Cyrille Breaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in March 1834. François, père died in Lafayette Parish in May 1838; the priest who recorded his burial said that François was age 58 when he died; his post-mortem succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in June and another one in April 1842.
4a
Émilien married Céleste, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Breaux and his Creole wife Marcellite Carmouche, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in February 1833. They settled near Carencro. Their child, name and age unrecorded, perhaps a son, died in November 1833. Their daughters married into the Arceneaux and Dupuis families. Émilien died "at Carencro" in May 1842, age 26. He and his wife may have had no sons who survived childhood, so his line of the family, except for its blood, probably died with him.
4b
François, fils married Marie Amelia, called Amelia, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Thibodeaux and Marie Cléonise Savoie, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in October 1850. Francois, fils died in Lafayette Parish in January 1860; the priest who recorded his burial said that Francois died "at age 40 yrs.," but he was only 35; his succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse the following September. One wonders if he and his wife had any sons. His line of the family probably died with him.
5
Youngest son Pierre Cyprien, called Cyprien, married Adélaïde, another daughter of Jean Frédéric Mouton, at Atakapas in May 1805. They also settled at Beaubassin near Carencro. Their son Cyprien, fils was born at Cyprien's brother Louis's home near Carencro in July 1806, François Aurelien, called Aurelien, near Carencro in February 1808, Simon Ursin, called Ursin, in July 1811 but died at age 8 in January 1819, Joseph Joachim, called Joachim, was born in March 1813 but died at age 2 in September 1815, Agerin was born in December 1816, Jean Pierre in May 1822, and Louis Lucien in March 1826. Their daughters married into the Bin and Ynogass or Inogoso families. Cyprien died in Lafayette Parish in May 1832, age 45; his successions were filed at the Opelousas courthouse in June 1832 and the Vermilionville courthouse in April 1833.
5a
Cyprien, fils married Marie Bonne or Labonne, daughter of Joseph Breaux and Marcellite Carmouche, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in June 1829. Their child, name unrecorded, perhaps a son, died in Lafayette Parish 5 days after its birth in April 1830, son Joseph Romaire was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 7 months, in September 1831, Cyprien Maismain was born in December 1832, Hippolyte Nicolas was baptized at age 4 months in April 1835, Pierre Edmond at age 1 month in December 1836, Eusèbe was born in August 1849, and Tercie was born in c1850 but died at age 7 in November 1857. Their daughters married into the Baquet, Cazaudebat, Johnson, Stemmam, and Tatman families, one of them at Ville Platte in what became Evangeline Parish. Cyprien, fils died in Lafayette Parish in January 1852; the priests who recorded his burial said that Cyprien died "at age over 40 yrs."; he was 45; his estate record had been filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in May 1847.
Cyprien Maismain married Marie Azénaïde, called Azénaïde, daughter of fellow Acadians Cyprien Mouton and Eliza Dugas, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in February 1854. Their son Lucien was born in Lafayette Parish in March 1856, Stanislaus Albert near New Iberia, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in May 1858, Eustache Romain in Lafayette Parish in September 1860, and Dominique in November 1862. Azénaïde died a little over two weeks after Dominique was born, probably of complications from giving him birth. Cyprien remarried to fellow Acadian Marie Aphanelie, called Fanelie, Dugas, widow of Aurelien Chiasson, at the Vermilionville church in September 1864. Their son Cyprien Adam was born in Lafayette Parish in May 1870.
Hippolyte Nicolas married Azelima, also called Adelina, daughter of fellow Acadians Augustin Benoit and Anastasie Babineaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in May 1854. They settled near Carencro. Their son Joseph was born in January 1856, Louis Pancrase in May 1860, and Edmond in December 1867. During the War of 1861-65, Hippolyte served as an officer's cook in Company K of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Landry Parish, which fought in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Pierre Edmond married Justine, daughter of Juste Bertinot or Bertinos and Brigitte Stelly, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1867. Their son Juste Cyprien was born near Grand Coteau in September 1868.
5b
Aurelien married Anglo Creole Mary Andrews or Andrus in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in May 1835. Their son François Connas was born near Grand Coteau in December 1846, Louis Bellanger in June 1848, John Sidney near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in January 1851, Charles Hiram in October 1853, Omer in December 1855, and Moïse in March 1858. Their daughters married into the Andrus, Broussard, and Lyons families.
Louis Bellanger, called Louis B. by the recording clerk, married Anglo American Mary Wingate in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in October 1869.
5c
Jean Pierre married French Creole Félicia Félicité, daughter of Honoré Buquois and his wife Eugènie, at the New Iberia church, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in September 1842. Their son Ambroise was born near New Iberia in February 1848, Jean Pierre, fils in Lafayette Parish in June 1855, and Zitus near New Iberia in October 1857.
5d
Agerin married fellow Acadian Rose Labauve probably at New Iberia in the early 1840s. Their son Alderie Félix was born near Charenton, St. Mary Parish, in May 1847. Their daughter married into the Lyons family.
~
Another, much younger, Pierre Arceneaux moved to the Attakapas District in the 1790s, not long after the older Pierre Arceneaux settled there, and added substantially to the number of Acadian Arceneauxs living west of the Atchafalaya Basin:
Descendants of Pierre ARCENEAUX, fils (c1765-1799; Pierre, Abraham?, Jean-Baptiste?)
Pierre, fils, son of Pierre Arseneau of Chignecto and Marie-Josèphe Godin dit Lincour of Rivière St.-Jean and brother of Eusèbe, was born either aboard ship or at New Orleans in c1765, the year his parents reached Louisiana from Halifax. His parents did not follow the Broussards to the Bayou Teche valley but settled, instead, at Cabahannocer on the river above New Orleans, where Pierre, fils's father died in the late 1760s. Pierre, fils married at St.-Jacques de Cabahannocer first to Pélagie, daughter of Jacques Bebe and his Acadian wife Marguerite Landry of Lafourche, in April 1786, and then to Angélique, daughter of fellow Acadians Michel Bourgeois and Anne-Osite Landry, in April 1787. Angélique's parents had come to Louisiana in February 1765 with the Broussard party but had retreated to Cabahannocer that fall to escape an epidemic; Angélique had been born there in the early 1770s. By the mid-1790s, Pierre, fils and Angélique had moved from the river to upper Bayou Lafourche, where they were still being counted in January 1798. Probably later that year they moved again, this time to the Attakapas District, where they settled near the Attakapas Post, now St. Martinville. Their children included: Nicolas, also called Paul, baptized at Attakapas, age 5 months, in March 1799. Their daughter married into the Robichaux family. Pierre, fils died at Attakapas in January 1799, age 34. One of his sons and a daughter remained on Bayou Lafourche, but his other sons settled on Bayou Teche, at Breaux Bridge, New Iberia, and Charenton. At least one of his grandsons moved west into Calcasieu Parish.
1
Oldest son Pierre III, by his father's second wife, born at St.-Jacques on the river in June 1788, married Marie Aspasie, called Aspasie, daughter of fellow Acadians Josaphat Broussard and Marie Françoise Trahan of Fausse Pointe, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in July 1817. They settled at Fausse Pointe before moving to the Bayou Lafourche valley in the late 1820s Their son Pierre IV was born probably at Fausse Pointe in March 1822, a son, name unrecorded, died at age 2 months in July 1824, Joseph Rosémond was born in September 1825, and Nicolas Adrien in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1828. They returned to the Teche valley by the early 1830s. Their daughters married into the Boulet, Leleux, Robichaux, and Sellers families on Bayou Teche.
1a
Pierre IV married Oliva or Olivia, daughter of Louis Sellers and his Acadian wife Aspasie Boudreaux, at the New Iberia church, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in May 1843. Their son Pierre V was born near New Iberia in August 1847, and Valérien in c1852 but died at age 4 in October 1856.
1b
Joseph Rosémond married Marie Célesie, another daughter of Louis Sellers and Aspasie Boudreaux, at the New Iberia church, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in October 1848, and remarried to Émilie or Amelie, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Labauve and Élise Hébert, at the New Iberia church in September 1851. Their son Joseph was born near New Iberia in July 1852 but died at age 6 months the following February, and Eugène was born in November 1855.
2
Valentin dit Durville or Surville, by his father's second wife, born at Ascension on the river in November 1792, married Anne dite Annette, another daughter of Josaphat Broussard and Marie Françoise Trahan of Fausse Pointe, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in May 1817. They also settled at Fausse Pointe. Their son Valentin Valière, called Valière, was born at Fausse Pointe in November 1821. Their daughters married into the Amy, Blanchard, Brown, and Dartes families. Valentin died at his father-in-law's home at Fausse Pointe, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in September 1825, age 32.
Valentin Valière married Eugénie, daughter of Joseph Patin and his Acadian wife Julienne Robichaux, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in October 1852. Their son Nicolas Valière was born near Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, in December 1856. Valentin Valière may have remarried to cousin Zéolide Arceneaux and settled near New Iberia by the late 1860s.
3
Alexandre, by his father's second wife, baptized at St.-Jacques, age 1, in April 1795, married Marie Marguerite, called Marguerite, yet another daughter of Josaphat Broussard and Marie Françoise Trahan of Fausse Pointe, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in July 1820. They also settled at Fausse Pointe. Their son, name unrecorded, died 8 days after his birth in May 1827, Étienne was born in St. Martin Parish in March 1828, Rosémond in September 1830, Alexandre, fils in December 1831, and Alexis Perin in July 1834. Their daughters married into the Hardy and Verret families. Alexandre died in St. Mary Parish in January 1838; the priest who recorded his burial noted in French that "trouvé mort dans le grand marais du dft. Claud." and said that Alexandre was 40 years old when he died, but he was closer to 44; his succession record was filed at the Franklin courthouse the following July. Most of his sons remained in St. Mary Parish, but one of them moved out to the Calcasieu prairie by the early 1860s.
3a
Étienne married Célestine or Ernestine, daughter of Jean Jacques Dartes and Julienne Loignon, at the Charenton church, St. Mary Parish, in February 1852. Their son Louis was born near Charenton in January 1861.
3b
Rosémond married Domitille Justine, daughter of fellow Acadians Simonet Robichaux and Domitille Louvière, at the Charenton church, St. Mary Parish, in February 1852. Their son François Alexandre was born near Charenton in February 1853. They moved to Calcasieu Parish later in the decade.
3c
Alexandre, fils married cousin Onesima Broussard. Their son Alexandre III, born in February 1862, was baptized by a priest from Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, but the family probably was living in Calcasieu Parish at the time. During the War of 1861-65, Alexandre, fils served in Company F of the Consolidated 18th Regiment and Yellow Jackets Battalion Louisiana Infantry, created in November 1863, which fought in Louisiana and Arkansas. In April 1864, however, Alexandre, fils enlisted in the second Company A of Daly's Battalion Texas Volunteer Cavalry, which was recruited heavily in southwestern Louisiana. According to his enrollment papers, Alexandre, fils was 35 years old (he actually was 32), stood five feet seven inches, and was a farmer living in Calcasieu Parish when he enlisted in Daly's Battalion in Calcasieu in April 1864. He evidently did not care much for the Texas cavalry. Five months after his enlistment, Alexandre, fils was arrested as a deserter in late September 1864 and was sent to the provost marshal's office in Houston (probably a jail) before being returned to his old unit, the Consolidated 18th Louisiana Infantry, then serving in southern Arkansas. The next month, however, company rolls show him back on duty with Daly's Battalion at Sabine Pass, Texas, where he died of disease in November 1864. Again, the Confederate rolls got his age wrong; the military clerk noted that he died at age 35, but he was 32.
4
Jean-Baptiste-Valéry, by his father's second wife, born at St.-Jacques in January 1797, may have died young.
5
Youngest son Nicolas, also called Paul, from his father's second wife, baptized at Attakapas two months after his father died, married Marie Carmelite, called Carmelite, daughter of fellow Acadians Louis Breaux and Marie Anne Bourgeois of St. Michel, St. James Parish, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in August 1818. They settled in Lafourche Interior Parish.
~
Other ARCENEAUXs on the Western Prairies
Area church and civil records make it difficult to link some Arceneauxs in the western parishes with known Acadian lines of the family there:
Margaret Arceneaux married Valéry, son of Acadian Joseph Bourgeois, in a civil ceremony in St. Mary Parish in April 1840. The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couples' parents' names. One wonders if Marguerite was Acadian or French Canadian.
Pierre Mérande Arceneaux died in St. Landry Parish in November 1841 "at a few months old." The Opelousas priest who recorded the boy's burial did not give the parents' names.
Joseph Compere or Conipere Arceneaux had a child, name and age unrecorded, who died in Lafayette Parish in December 1847. Joseph Conipere died near New Iberia, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in August 1851, age 40. The priest who recorded the burial did not give Joseph's parents' names or mention a wife, so one wonders who he was.
An unnamed child of Marie Lazare Arceneaux died at age 10 in Lafayette Parish in September 1853. Who was Marie Lazare's parents and the child's father?
Louis Laurent Arceneaux was baptized at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 9, in May 1863. The priest who recorded the baptism did not give the boy's parents' names.
Dermas Arceneaux married fellow Acadian Marie Guidry in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in February 1866. The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.
Valérie Arceneaux married Zéolid Arceneaux, place and date unrecorded. Daughter Marie Valérie was born near New Iberia, Iberia Parish, in June 1868.
Marie Delphine, daughter of Sylvestre Arceneaux, died in Lafayette Parish, age 1, in January 1869. The Vermilionville priest who recorded the burial did not give the girl's mother's name.
Pierre Arceneaux died near Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, in November 1869. The priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Pierre died "at age 38 yrs." So who was his father?
Marie Arceneaux was born near Arnaudville, St. Landry Parish, in June 1870. The priest who recorded the baptism did not give the girl's parents' names.
William Arceneaux married Mathilde Robertson, place and date unrecorded. Their son Léopold was born near Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, in September 1870.
LOUISIANA: RIVER SETTLEMENTS
Arseneaus, including a family, three wives, and a young orphan, came to Louisiana from Halifax in 1765 but did not follow the Broussards to the Attakapas District. They went, instead, to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river above New Orleans where 20 Acadians from Georgia had settled the year before:
Pierre Arseneau, age 30, also of Chignecto and a cousin of the Arseneaus who had gone to Bayou Teche, came to the colony with wife Marie-Josèphe Godin dit Lincour, age 21, two sons--Eusèbe, age 3, and infant Pierre, fils--and orphan Firmin Arseneau, age 12, a nephew or cousin. Pierre, père died at Cabanocé in the late 1760s, still in his 30s. In the 1790s, Eusèbe moved to Bayou Lafourche, and Pierre, fils went to Attakapas to join his cousins already there. Firmin remained at Cabanocé.
Marguerite Arseneau, age 30, Pierre's sister, came with husband Pierre Bernard, age 34, and three children, ages 11 to 5.
Isabelle Arseneau, age 32, came with husband Charles Bergeron, age 37, and three children, ages 12 to 3. She died in c1766, along with her husband and her older son.
Judith Arseneau, age 29, came with husband Charles Savoie, age 43, their 2-year-old son Jean-Baptiste Savoie, and 11-year-old orphan Basile Deroche.
Firmin ARCENEAUX (c1753-1776; Pierre, Abraham?)
Firmin Arseneau, born in c1753, came to Louisiana from Halifax as a young orphan probably with the family of Pierre Arseneau. Spanish officials counted Firmin at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques in April 1766 with the family of Pierre Arceneaux on the left, or east, bank of the river. Although he was only 13 years old in 1766, the Spanish census taker said that Firmin possessed four arpents of land on the river. The Spanish counted him again at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques in 1769, this time on the right, or west, bank of the river, and still living with the Pierre Arceneaux family. Firmin died at St.-Jacques in October 1776, age 23. Evidently he did not marry.
~
During the autumn of 1765, all of the Arseneaus who had gone to Attakapas fled to Cabanocé to escape an epidemic that killed dozens of their fellow Teche valley Acadians, including Anne Arseneau's husband and son. It was these Arseneaus who created lasting family lines on what became known as the Acadian Coast:
Anne Arseneau remarried to Simon, son of fellow Acadian Désiré LeBlanc, at Cabanocé in November 1767. She and her new family remained on the river, where she died in St. James Parish in August 1811, age 75.
Descendants of Jean ARCENEAUX (c1728-1800; Pierre, Abraham)
Jean, elder son of Pierre Arseneau and Marguerite Hébert and brother of Joseph and Pierre, was born at Pointe Beauséjour, Chignecto, in c1728. He married Judith Bergeron probably at Chignecto perhaps before Le Grand Dérangement of 1755 They were counted as prisoners at Halifax in August 1763. Jean came to Louisiana with the Broussard dit Beausoleil party in February1765. With him were his wife and four sons. They followed the Broussards to the Bayou Teche valley that spring but retreated to Cabanocé that autumn to escape an epidemic that devastated the Teche valley community. They remained on the river, where they had more children, including two more sons. Their daughter married into the Clouâtre and Tomlette families. Jean did fairly well at St.-Jacques; in March 1779, Spanish officials counted three slaves on his farm along the river. Jean died at St.-Jacques in January 1800; the priest who recorded his burial said that Jean was age 75 when he died, but he was closer to 72.
1
Oldest son Jean-Charles, born probably at Chignecto in c1752, married Marie-Josèphe, 14-year-old daughter of fellow Acadian Basile Babin and Anne Saulnier and stepdaughter of Michel Cormier of Opelousas, at St.-Jacques in January 1777. Their son Abraham was baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in January 1782. Their daughters married into the Bernard, Melançon, Picou, and Sonnier families. Jean died in St. James Parish in April 1813, in his early 60s.
Abraham married Marie Éloise, Héloise, or Louise, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph LeBlanc and Marguerite Landry of San Gabriel, at St.-Jacques in August 1802. Their son Jean Abraham was born in St. James Parish in November 1806. Their daughters married into the Arceneaux, Estevan, Landry, and Menier or Munier families. Abraham remarried to Marie Carmelise or Carmelite, daughter of Salvador Comil, Coneille, Conille, Connille, or Counille and Marianne Peleret of New Orleans and widow of François Huguet, at the Donaldson church, Ascension Parish, in March 1815. Their son Abraham Amédée, called Amédée, was born in St. James Parish in October 1818, and Evariste in October 1819. Their daughters married into the Bourgeois, Cornet, and Duhon families. Abraham, père died near Convent, St. James Parish, in September 1830; the priest who recorded his burial said that Abraham was age 46 when he died, but he was closer to 48.
Evariste, by his father's second wife, married Marie Victorine, daughter of fellow Acadians Bernard Allain and Apollonie Blanchard, at the St. Gabriel church, Iberville Parish, in February 1840. Their son Joseph Elphége was born near St. Gabriel in August 1841, and Martial in October 1842. His older son settled in Texas.
During the War of 1861-65, Joseph Elphége served in Company A of the 1st Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, raised in Iberville Parish, which fought in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Joseph E. was present on all of the rolls of his company from his enlistment in New Orleans in August 1861 until June 1863. He was captured along with many of his fellow troopers at Big Hill, Kentucky, in late July 1863. The Federals sent him to the Military Prison at Louisville, Kentucky, in early August, transferred him to Fort Delaware, Delaware, in February 1864, and then to Camp Chase, Ohio, in March. He was exchanged at City Point, Virginia, in March 1865, but he may not have returned home to Iberville Parish. He married Amanda Susan, daughter of Anglo American John C. Darby, at Logan, Kentucky, in December 1866; she was a year older than Joseph Elphége; one wonders if he met her during his Confederate service. They did not settle in South Louisiana but remained in Kentucky before moving to Texas by the mid-1870s. Joseph Elphége died in Texas in between 1910 and 1919, in his 60s.
Martial, called Martialis by the priest who recorded his burial, died near Gonzales, St. James Parish, in April 1864. He was only 21 years old and probably did not marry. He probably was the M. Arceneaux who, during the War of 1861-65, served in Company A of the 3rd Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Iberville Parish, which fought in Arkansas, Missouri, and Mississippi. M. was captured at Corinth, Mississippi, in September 1862, was released by the Federals soon afterward, and went home on sick furlough in November. His wartime service probably contributed to his early death.
Amédée, by her father's second wife, died near Convent, St. James Parish, in December 1850, age 32, and probably did not marry.
2
Joseph, born in Acadia in c1756, married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadian Michel Dupuis and Anne Gaudet and widow of Joseph Blanchard, at St.-Jacques in September 1780. Their son Joseph, fils, was born at St.-Jacques in June 1786. Their daughters married into the Aucoin, Braud, and Mire families. Joseph, père died in St. James Parish in January 1811, age 56. His only son had many sons of his own.
Joseph, fils married Marie Constance, called Constance, daughter of fellow Acadian Mathurin Bergeron and Marie Godin, at the St.-Jacques church in June 1805. Their son Joseph Léon or Léonard Joseph, called Léon and sometimes Jacques, was born in St. James Parish in April 1806, Félix in May 1808, Vital in November 1812, and Théodule in April 1815. Their daughter married into the Blouin family. Joseph, fils died in St. James Parish in June 1818; the priest who recorded his burial said that Joseph was age 35 when he died, but he was 32.
Joseph Léon married cousin Marie Arthémise, called Arthémise, daughter of fellow Acadians Michel Bergeron and Marine Landry, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in November 1824. Their son Joseph Michel Léonard was born in St. James Parish in October 1825. Their daughters married into the Chevet and Simoneaux families. Joseph Léon may have died in St. James Parish in October 1847; if so, he would have been age 41.
Joseph Michel Léonard married cousin Marie, daughter of French Creole Joseph Daniel Blouin and his Acadian wife Marguerite Constance Arceneaux, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in 1859; they had to secure a dispensation for third degree of consanguinity in order to marry.
Félix married cousin Domitille, daughter of fellow Acadians Abraham Arceneaux and Marie Éloise LeBlanc, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in October 1830. Their daughter married into the Barthélemy family. Félix died near Convent in August 1840, age 32. His line of the family, except for its blood, may have died with him.
Vital married Marie Euphrasie, called Euphrasie, daughter of fellow Acadians Michel Poirier and Marie Landry, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in February 1834. Their son Michel Nicolas Vtimen, called Euthymese, was born in St. James Parish in November 1834, and Vital, fils in c1837 but died at age 12 in June 1849. They lived in New Orleans during the early 1850s.
Euthymese married French Creole Élodie Picard, and remarried to Louison, daughter of fellow Acadian Michel Guilbeau and Clémence Potier and widow of Jérome Étie Valéry Arthur Bulliard, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in September 1866.
3
Guillaume, born perhaps at Halifax in c1761, married Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadian Louis Gaudet and Marie Hébert, at St.-Jacques in March 1786. Their son Charles-Guillaume was born at St.-Jacques in January 1787, Joseph-Louis in March 1788, Jean-Baptiste in c1796, Joseph-Zenon in March 1799, and twins Raymond and Rosémond in March 1801. Their daughters married into the Cox, Pahud, and Tassin families. Guillaume died in St. James Parish in December 1818, age 56. Did only one of his six sons create a family of his own?
Jean Baptiste married Alexandrine, daughter of Antoine Maxent and Marguerite Mollere, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in April 1817. Their daughter married into the Engeron family. Jean Baptiste died in Ascension Parish in September 1820, age 24. He may have fathered no sons.
4
Pierre-Paul, called Paul and also Hippolyte, born probably at Halifax in c1762, married French Creole Élisabeth or Isabelle Fontenot, probably at St.-Jacques in the 1780s. Their son René, called Zenon, was born at St.-Jacques in January 1792, Simon in June 1794, and a son, name unrecorded, died at age 1 in January 1797. Their daughters married into the Gaudin, Mire, and Poirier families. Pierre Paul died in St. James Parish in September 1804, age 42.
Zenon married Marie Louise, daughter of fellow Acadians Paul Melançon and Osite Barbe LeBlanc, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in January 1813. Their son Théogène was born in St. James Parish in January 1817 but died at age 6 in September 1823, and Zenon, fils was born in January 1819. Zenon, père died in St. James Parish in October 1819, age 27.
Zenon, fils married cousin Euphémie, daughter of fellow Acadians Paul LeBlanc and Adélaïde Melançon, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in January 1837; they had to secure a dispensation for second degree of relationship in order to marry. Their daughters married into the Gravois, Matherne, and Melançon families. Zenon, fils died near Convent in April 1852; the priest who recorded his burial said that Zenon died at "age 34 years," but he was 32. His line of the family, except for its blood, may have died with him.
5
François, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in August 1771, married Ludivine, sometimes called Luce, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean-Charles Braud and and Marie Benoit, at St.-Jacques in January 1789. Their son Charles-Simon or Simon-Charles was born at St.-Jacques in February 1792, and François-Benjamin, called Benjamin, in December 1794 but died at age 5 in November 1799. François died in St. James Parish in April 1810, age 37.
Simon Charles married Françoise or Marie Mélanie, called Mélanie, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Dugas and Marguerite LeBlanc, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in May 1811. Their son François Faustin or Forestin was born in St. James Parish in February 1815 but died at age 3 in January 1819, Simon Léon was born in September 1816, Charles Félix, called Félix, in December 1818, and Jacques Jules, called Jules, in November 1821. Simon died in St. James Parish in October 1822, age 30.
Charles Félix married Marie Virginie, called Virginie, daughter of Jacques Mainville, Mainvielle, or Mienvielle and Delphine Mayer, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in April 1837. Their son Louis Félix, called Félix, was born near Convent in August 1842 but died at age 2 in August 1844, and François Simon was born in January 1848. Their daughter married into the Babin family.
Simon Léon died near Convent, St. James Parish, in April 1845. The priest who recorded his burial said that Simon died at "age 30 yrs.," but he was 28. He probably did not marry.
Jacques Jules married Stephanie, daughter of fellow Acadian Michel Gaudin and Scholastique Hébert, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in April 1847. Their son Joseph Léon was born near Convent in January 1852, François Elphége in February 1853, and Michel Oscar in February 1857.
6
Youngest son Laurent, born at St.-Jacques in August 1773, married Félicité, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Bourgeois and Ludivine Granger, at St.-Jacques de Cabahannocer in January 1792. Their son Dionis was born at Cabahannocer in December 1796; Désiré in November 1804; and Evariste in April 1813. Their daughters married into the Blouin, Dicharry, Michel, Mire, Richard, and Savoie families. Laurent died in St. James Parish in February 1824, age 52.
6a
Désiré married Marie Céleste, called Céleste, Enger or Hinger probably in St. James Parish in the early 1820s. Their daughter married into the LeBlanc family. Désiré remarried to Anne Gracieuse or Gratieuse, daughter of French Creole Jacques Dicharry and his Acadian wife Clémence Dugas, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in June 1831. Their son Laurent Désiré, called L. Désiré, was born near Convent in November 1838. Their daughters married into the Mollere and Poirier families. Désiré, père may have died near Convent in October 1841; the priest who recorded his burial said that Désiré was age 30 when he died, but if this was him, he would have been 36.
During the War of 1861-65, Laurent Désiré served in the Donaldsonville Artillery, raised in Ascension Parish, which fought in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania--one of General R. E. Lee's Louisiana Tigers. Laurent Désiré was present with his company from his enlistment in September 1861 until early 1864, when he was reported absent without leave. He probably did not return to his battery. The Federals paroled him at Natchitoches in June 1865, so he may have joined another Confederate unit when he came home without leave. Laurent Désiré married cousin Estelle, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Baptiste Theriot and his Creole wife Elize Comes, at the Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish, in January 1866; they had to secure a dispensation for fourth degree of consanguinity in order to marry. Their son Laurent Désiré was born in Ascension Parish in October 1868.
6b
Evariste married Marie Belzire, called Belzire, daughter of fellow Acadians Urbin Braud and Anne Marcellite Braud, at the St. Gabriel church, Iberville Parish, in June 1834. Their son Evariste Désiré was born near St. Gabriel in February 1848. Their daughters married into the Cannon and Keller families. Evariste died near Baton Rouge in October 1853; the priest who recorded his burial said that Evariste died "at age 41 years."
Descendants of Joseph ARCENEAUX (c1740-1790s; Pierre, Abraham)
Joseph, second son of Pierre Arseneau and Marguerite Hébert and brother of Jean and Pierre, born at Pointe Beauséjour, Chignecto, in c1740, married Marie, daughter of Barthélémy Bergeron dit d'Ambroise and Marguerite Dugas of Rivière St.-Jean, in the early 1760s during Le Grand Dérangement. They were counted as prisoners at Halifax in August 1763 and came to Louisiana with the Broussard dit Beausoleil party in February 1765. They followed the Broussards to Bayou Teche that spring but retreated to Cabanocé on the river that autumn to escape an epidemic that struck the Teche valley community. They remained on the river, where all of their children were born. They may have lived in New Orleans from 1767-69 (two daughters were baptized at St.-Louis Church in May 1767 and April 1769); if so, they were back at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques by September 1769, where Spanish officials counted them on the left, or east, bank of the river. Their daughters married into the Bourgeois, LeBlanc, and Mire families. Joseph died by February 1798, when he was listed as deceased in a daughter's marriage record; he would have been in his late 50s that year.
1
Oldest son Jean-Charles, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in July 1774, married Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Part and Marguerite Melançon, at the St.-Jacques church in February 1799. Their son Édouard was born at St.-Jacques in November 1799, a son, name unrecorded, died 8 days after his birth in August 1801, Joseph-Simon, called Simon, was born in September 1802, Jean Amédée, called Amédée, in March 1806, a son, name and age unrecorded, died in April 1808, Joseph le jeune was born in December 1810, and Pierre Joachim, called Joachim, in February 1815. Their daughter married into the LeBlanc family. Jean Charles died in St. James Parish in January 1816; the priest who recorded his burial said that Jean was age 45 when he died, but he was 41. Two of his sons married sisters. Two others lived well into their middle age but do not seem to have married.
1a
Simon married Jane Marguerite, called Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadians Michel David and his Creole wife Marie Louise Denis, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in May 1836. Their son Augustin was born near Convent in June 1843. Their daughters married into the Cantrelle and Decarraux families. Simon died near Convent in October 1861; the priest who recorded his burial said that Simon died at "age 48 years." He was 59 and also a widower.
1b
Amédée married Carmelite, another daughter of Michel David and Marie Louise Denis, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in October 1837. One wonders if they had any children who survived childhood.
1c
Édouard died near Convent, St. James Parish, in January 1846, age 46, and may not have married.
1d
Joachim died near Convent, St. James Parish, in August 1870, age 55, and probably did not marry.
2
Joseph, fils, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in August 1777, may have died young, unless he and Augustin were the same person.
3
Youngest son Auguste or Augustin, born probably at St.-Jacques in the late 1770s, married Marcelline or Marcellite, daughter of fellow Acadians Bonaventure Gaudin and Marie Broussard, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in September 1810. Their son Auguste or Augustin, fils was born near Convent in November 1814, and Lucien in August 1825. Their daughter married into the Bourgeois family. Augustin died near Convent in November 1842; the priest who recorded his burial said that Augustin died at "age 65 yrs."
3a
Augustin, fils died near Convent, St. James Parish, in May 1838, age 23, and did not marry.
3b
Lucien married Célina, daughter of Francois Boze or Folse, at the Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish, in June 1852. Lucien died in Ascension Parish in June 1853, age 27. One wonders if he and his wife any children.
~
A brother of the two Arseneaus who came to Louisiana in February 1765, followed the Broussards to Bayou Teche, and then retreated to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river, appeared at Cabanocé in the late 1770s, but his arrival date in the colony is anyone's guess. He settled near his older brothers on the Acadian Coast:
Descendants of Pierre ARCENEAUX (c1749-?; Pierre, Abraham)
Pierre, youngest son of Pierre Arseneau and Marguerite Hébert of Pointe Beauséjour, Chignecto, and brother of Jean and Joseph, was, according to Acadian genealogist Bona Arsenault, born at Chignecto in c1749. He may have come to Louisiana from Halifax with his older brothers and a sister in 1765 and settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques. He married Marie, daughter of probably Jean-Baptiste Bergeron dit d'Amboise and Marguerite Bernard of Rivière St.-Jean, probably at Cabanocé in the late 1760s. He does not appear in the records of the Louisiana colony until January 1777, when Spanish officials counted him on the right, or west, bank of the river at St.-Jacques with his wife, two sons--Pierre, age 7, and Joseph, age 5--and two daughters of fellow Acadian Pierre Bourgeois. Although this and other records give him and his wife at least three sons, none of them seem to have created families of their own, so this line of the family may not have survived in the Bayou State.
1
Oldest son Pierre, fils, born probably at St.-Jacques in c1770, may have died young.
2
Jean le jeune, born probably at St.-Jacques in c1772, also may have died young.
3
Youngest son Alexandre, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in April 1777, also may have died young.
~
Other ARCENEAUXs on the River
Area church and civil records make it difficult to link some Arceneauxs on the river with known Acadian lines of the family there:
Henriette Arceneaux bore a son, Pierre Admon, in St. James Parish in May 1820. The priest who recorded the boy's baptism did not identity the boy's father or give the mother's parents' names.
Élie Arceneaux married Acadian Poulone Gautreaux, place and date unrecorded. Their son Edmon, age unrecorded, died near Convent, St. James Parish, in March 1823.
Désiré Arceneaux married Isabelle Martin, place and date unrecorded. Their son Émile was born near Convent, St. James Parish, in February 1831. Was he the Désiré Arceneaux who died near Convent at age 30 in October 1841?
Céleste Arceneaux married Jean Martin in a "previous civil marriage" and sanctified the union at the Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish, in October 1836. The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the parents' names. Céleste was buried in Ascension Parish 4 days after her church wedding. Again, the priest who recorded her burial did not give her parents' names.
Eliza or Élisabeth Arceneaux died in St. James Parish in September 1840, age 22. The two parish priests--one at St. James church, the other at the Convent church--mentioned no husband nor gave the young woman's parents' names.
Rosalie Arceneaux, a "sister at Convent of Sacred Heart," died near Convent, St. James Parish, in November 1843, age 25. The priest who recorded her burial did not give her parents' names.
Marie Louise Arceneaux died in Ascension Parish, age 80, in September 1850. The Donaldsonville priest who recorded the burial did not give her parents' names or mention a husband. Was she Acadian?
Mathilde Arceneaux died near Convent, age 10 months, in November 1851. The priest who recorded the burial did not give the girl's parents' names.
Estell Arceneaux died in St. James Parish in 1852. The St. James priest who recorded the burial said that she died at "age 26 (sic)" at "her father and mother" but did not give the parents' names or mention a husband. Was she an Acadian?
Marie Félicie Arceneaux died near Baton Rouge in December 1853. The priest who recorded her burial did not give her age, her parents' names, or mention a husband.
Joseph Arceneaux, "age 45 yrs., spouse of Silvestre[sic] Bourque, died near Convent, St. James Parish, in February 1856. One wonders if Joseph was actually Josèphe.
Victorine Arceneaux "died at her mother['s home] in St. James Parish "following a long illness" in November 1856. The St. James priest who recorded the burial did not give the parents' names, mention a husband, or give her age at the time of her passing. Was Victorine's father an Acadian?
Robert Francis, son of Alexis Arceneaux and Pleasant Arceneaux, born "at Mrs. Belizaire Arceneaux's," was baptized at the Baton Rouge church, East Baton Rouge Parish, age 2 months, in October 1859.
Gratieuse Arceneaux died in Ascension Parish, age 29, in June 1863. The Donaldsonville priest who recorded the burial gave no parents' names or mentioned a husband.
Felicis or Feluis Arceneaux married Élisabeth or Isabella Sanchez, place and date unrecorded. Their son Josephus Vincentium, called Vincent, was born near Gonzales, St. James Parish, in January 1864 but died the following August.
Marcelli Arceneaux died near Convent, St. James Parish, in April 1864. The priest who recorded Marcelli's burial, true to form, did not give his/her parents' names, mention a spouse, or even give Marcelli's age at the time of his/her death.
Noémi Arceneaux, "spouse" of François Bourgeois, died in St. James Parish, age 40, in May 1865. The Convent priest who recorded the burial did not give her parents' names.
Emma Arceneaux died near Baton Rouge, "age omitted," in March 1866. The priest who recorded the burial did not give her parents' names or mention a husband.
Marie Euphelia, daughter of Ophelia Arceneaux, was born in Ascension Parish in December 1869. The priest who recorded the baptism did not give the father's name or the mother's parents' names.
LOUISIANA: LAFOURCHE VALLEY SETTLEMENTS
By the mid-1790s, Arceneauxs from the Acadian Coast had moved to upper Bayou Lafourche, establishing a third center of family settlement there:
Descendants of Eusèbe ARCENEAUX (c1762-1825; Pierre, Abraham?, Jean-Baptiste?)
Eusèbe, elder son of Pierre Arseneau of Chignecto and Marie-Josèphe Godin dit Lincour of Rivière St.-Jean and brother of Pierre, fils, was born at Halifax in c1762, when the British were holding his parents as prisoners there. His parents came to Louisiana in 1765 but did not follow the Broussards to Bayou Teche. They settled, instead, at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques, where Eusèbe's father died in the late 1760s. Still a teenager, Eusèbe was living with his stepfather, mother, and siblings on the right, or west, bank of the river at Ascension in 1777. Eusèbe married Rosalie, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean-Baptiste Bergeron dit d'Amboise and Marguerite Bernard, at St.-Jacques in August 1788. They settled on upper Bayou Lafourche, where more children were born to them. Their daughters married into the Blanchard, Daigle, Gautreaux, and Theriot families. Eusèbe died in Assumption Parish in October 1825; he was 62 years old. Most of his descendants remained on upper Bayou Lafourche, but some of them settled as far down as Lockport in Lafourche Parish, and a grandson moved to the Gonzales area of Ascension Parish after the War of 1861-65.
1
Oldest son Eusèbe-Alexandre, called Alexandre, born at St.-Jacques in July 1789, married Marie Aimée, daughter of fellow Acadian Suliac Blanchard and Marie Hébert, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1810. Their son Angel died at age 4 months in July 1811, Eusèbe Théodule, called Théodule, was born in April 1812, Siméon Suliac in February 1814, twins Jean Baptiste and Hubert in May 1818, and a newborn son, name unrecorded, died in March 1825. Their daughters married into the Aucoin, Hébert, and Landry families.
1a
Siméon died in Assumption Parish in July 1831. The priest who recorded his burial said that Siméon was 10 years old when he died, but he was 17.
1b
Théodule married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Grégoire Aucoin and Marguerite Aucoin, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in December 1833. Their son Cyprien Justinien was born in Assumption Parish in July 1835, a child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died at age 7 months in April 1836, and Joseph Pierre was born in March 1837. Théodule remarried to Azélie, daughter of fellow Acadians Isidore Aucoin and Marguerite Daigle, at the Plattenville church in January 1843; they had to secure a dispensation for third degree of affinity in order to marry. Their son Maximilien or Marcellin Justilien was born in Assumption Parish in October 1846, Joseph died at infant in November 1848, Clairville was born in February 1849, Valsin Aristide in May 1852, and Émile Alcide Gustave, called Alcide, near Labadieville in August 1856 but died at age 5 months the following January. Their daughters married into the Aucoin and Blanchard families.
Joseph, by his father's first wife, married cousin Élisabeth, called Elisa, daughter of fellow Acadians Florentin Blanchard and Émilie Arceneaux, at the Labadieville church, Assumption Parish, in February 1861. Their son Joseph Alcide was born near Labadieville in March 1866.
Marcellin, by his father's second wife, married Élizabeth, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Delaune and Azélie Boudreaux, at the Labadieville church, Assumption Parish, in February 1870.
1c
Hubert married Hirma or Irma, daughter of Zenon Rodrigue and Céleste Laguaman of St. John the Baptist Parish, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1840. Their son Numa was born in Assumption Parish in c1845 but died at age 7 in December 1852, Philippe was born in April 1846, Joseph Arsema, called Arsema, in July 1848 but died at age 1 1/2 in March 1852, Jean Baptiste Aima was born in November 1851, Rosémond was born in c1852 or 1853 but died at age 5 in January 1858, and Louis Leoma, called Leomas, was born near Labadieville in August 1864. Their daughters married into the Aucoin, Blanchard, and Landry families.
2
Louis-Narcisse, sometimes called Narcisse, born at St.-Jacques in November 1790, died in Assumption Parish in April 1816, age 25, and probably did not marry.
3
Michel, born at Ascension, above St.-Jacques, in June 1792, probably died young.
4
Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, born at Assumption in April 1798, married Marie Mélanie, called Mélanie, daughter of fellow Acadians François Marie Gautreaux and Félicité Hébert, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in July 1818. Their son Jean Baptiste Pantaléon, called Léon, was born in Assumption Parish in July 1819, Jean Baptiste Apollinaire in February 1829 but died at age 8 1/2 in August 1837, and Marcellin or Marcellus was born in December 1831 but died at age 5 1/2 in September 1837. Their daughters married into the Blanchard and Delaune families.
Léon married Azélie, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Antoine Dubois and Marie Aucoin, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in October 1844. Their son Guillmar Joseph Auzémé was born in Assumption Parish in August 1854, a son, name and age unrecorded, after a private baptism, died in November 1857, and Joseph Alcée was born in January 1859. Their daughters married into the Fonseca, Richard, and Roger families.
5
Valéry-Joseph, born at St.-Jacques in February 1800, married Basilise, daughter of fellow Acadian Michel Aucoin and Marguerite Bourg, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in January 1826. Their son Joseph Drosin died 15 days after his birth in November 1826, Marcellus Eusèbe in June 1828, Alexandre le jeune in April 1834 but died at age 3 1/2 in October 1837, Octave Joseph, called Joseph, was born in February 1836 but died at age 9 1/2 in August 1845, Jules Lucien was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1844, and Olésiphore died in Assumption Parish at age 15 months in January 1848. Their daughters married into the Barrilleaux, Prudhomme, Thibodeaux, and Trahan families.
Marcellus married Angèle, daughter of Joseph Friou and his Acadian wife Azélie Trahan, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1854; Angèle's mother was a Trahan. Their son Joseph Jules was born near Pierre Part, Assumption Parish, in October 1861, and Cyprien Joseph in September 1866.
During the War of 1861-65, Jules served in Company F of the Lafourche Parish Regiment Militia. The Federals captured him in Lafourche Parish in early December 1862 and released him soon afterwards. Jules married cousin Julie, daughter of Rosémond Lagrange and his Acadian wife Léocade Aucoin, at the Labadieville church, Assumption Parish, in April 1866.
6
Alexandre le jeune, also called Merville, born at Assumption in May 1803, married Eulalie, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Templet and Marie Crochet, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1832. Their son Charles Honoré, called Honoré, was born in Assumption Parish in March 1833. Alexandre le jeune died in Assumption Parish in May 1833; he was only 30 years old. His son resettled near Gonzales in Ascension Parish.
Honoré married cousin Angèle, daughter of fellow Acadians François Crochet and Eulalie Landry, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1854. Their son Joseph Eugène was born in Assumption Parish in June 1855. Honoré remarried to Helena, daughter of fellow Acadian Zenon Bourgeois and his Creole wife Eurasie Lessard, at the Gonzales church, Ascension Parish, in January 1867. Their son Zenon Audressy was born near Gonzales in February 1870.
7
Michel, the second son with that name, a twin, was born at Assumption in February 1805 but died at age 2 in September 1807.
8
Youngest son Pierre Lucien, called Lucien, born in Assumption Parish in October 1809, married Élise, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Theriot and Anne Hébert, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in July 1847. Their son Jean Lucien was born in Assumption Parish in August 1849.
~
During the early antebellum period, two Arceneaux brothers, Pierre and Nicolas, nephews of Eusèbe, moved from Bayou Teche to Bayou Lafourche. Pierre returned to the Teche, but Nicolas remained with his cousins on the middle Lafourche, adding another line to that center of family settlement:
Descendants of Nicolas ARCENEAUX (1799-; Pierre, Abraham?, Jean-Baptiste?, Pierre)
Nicolas, also called Paul, youngest son of Pierre Arceneaux, fils and Angélique Bourgeois, baptized at Attakapas, age 5 months, in March 1799, three months after his father died, grew up at Fausse Pointe on lower Bayou Teche, but he did not remain there. He married cousin Marie Carmelite, called Carmelite, daughter of fellow Acadians Louis Breaux and Marie Anne Bourgeois of St. Michel, St. James Parish, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in August 1818. Oldest brother Pierre and his family joined Nicolas and Carmelite along the Lafourche in the 1820s but returned to Bayou Teche. Nicolas and Carmelite may have followed. If so, they did not remain there long. By the middle 1820s they had settled in Lafourche Interior Parish. Their daughters married into the Barrios and Roger families. Three of Nicolas's fives sons created families of their own and settled in the Thibodaux-Raceland area.
1
Oldest son Jean Honoré, born in Lafourche Interior Parish in May 1826, married Marie Césaire, called Césaire, daughter of Jacques Matherne and Marie Sevin, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in April 1852. Their son Zéphirin was born near Lockport in August 1866, and Joseph in March 1870.
2
Nicolas, fils, born in Lafourche Interior Parish in January 1831, married Eugènie, daughter of Jean Adam Lasseigne and Marie Poché, at the Raceland church, Lafourche Parish, in February 1855.
3
Leufroi died in Lafourche Interior Parish 15 days after his birth in December 1833.
4
Louis Désiré, born in Lafourche Interior Parish in April 1842, married Zéolide, 16-year-old daughter of fellow Acadians Victor Melançon and Farelie Savoie, in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Parish in January 1860. Their son Louis, fils was born near Raceland in January 1863.
5
Onésippe or Onésime, born probably in Lafourche Interior Parish in the early 1840s, married Edesie, called Desie, daughter of fellow Acadians Alexandre Giroir and Anne dite Nanette Moïse, at the Lockport church, Lafourche Parish, in September 1863. Their son Joachim Elphége was born near Lockport in August 1864. They were living up bayou in Assumption Parish later in the decade.
~
Other ARCENEAUXs in the Lafourche/Terrebonne Valley
Area church and civil records make it difficult to link some Arceneauxs in the Bayou Lafourche/Bayou Terrebonne valley with known Acadian lines of the family there:
Marie Arceneaux married Joseph Dufrene during the early antebellum period, place and date unrecorded, and settled on Bayou Lafourche. Was she an Acadian, and, if so, who were her parents?
Joséphine Arceneaux married Joseph Sovarez in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in February 1826. One wonders if she was an Acadian.
Artémise Arceneaux married G. Washington Bergeron in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in December 1863. The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couples' parents' names.
Julienne Arceneaux gave birth to son Jean Pierre in Terrebonne Parish in February 1864. The Houma priest who recorded the boy's baptism the following October did not give the mother's parents' names or the boy's father name.
Pierre Arceneaux married Marie Josèphe Pitre in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Interior Parish in January 1869. The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couples' parents' names.
Manette Arceneaux, wife of ____ Hock, died near Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish, age 68, in July 1870. The priest who recorded the burial did not give her parents' names.
NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in LOUISIANA
A French Canadian named Arcenot came to Louisiana over a decade before his Acadian namesakes reached the colony. He married in New Orleans and settled on the Upper German Coast before moving upriver to the Acadian Coast. During the early antebellum period, some of his descendants moved to upper Bayou Lafourche, settling near their Acadian namesakes there:
Descendants of Michel ARCENOT, fils (?-1798)
Michel, fils, son of Michel Arcenot, père and Marie-Madeleine La Fleure of Cap-de-Madeleine, Québec, married Marie-Anne-Arcène, daughter of Antoine-Joseph André of St.-Charles des Allemands on the Lower German Coast, at New Orleans in July 1752. Michel, fils and Marie-Anne were living at St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands on the Upper German Coast over a decade before the Acadian Arseneaus reached Louisiana in 1764. Their daughter married into the Rome family. In 1754, Michel, fils owned a small 2x40-arpent farm on the Mississippi River at Bonnet Carré Point. He and his family left the German Coast and moved upriver to the Acadian Coast probably in the late 1770s. They settled at St.-Jacques and also at Ascension. One of Michel, fils's sons moved on to Bayou Terrebonne in the early 1800s. Meanwhile, Michel, fils died at Ascension in March 1798, age unrecorded. Most of his descendants remained in St. James Parish, but some of them settled in the Lafourche valley as far down as Terrebonne Parish. And some married Acadians.
1
Oldest son Michel III, born at St.-Jean-Baptiste in c1755, married Marie-Louise, called Louise, daughter of French Creole David Rome, at St.-Jacques in June 1786. Their son Alex or Alexis was born at St.-Jacques in April 1787, Louis le jeune in November 1797, and Césaire in c1801. Their daughters married into the LeBoeuf family. Michel III died in St. James Parish in January 1821, age 66.
1a
Alexis married Marie Eméranthe, called Eméranthe, daughter of French Creole Pierre Sionneau of St. John the Baptist Parish, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in February 1812. Their son Alexis, fils was born in St. James Parish in December 1814 but died at age 18 months in May 1816, Michel le jeune was born in February 1820, and Pierre Amédée, called Amédée, near Convent, St. James Parish, in September 1829. Their daughters married into the Falgoust, Sionneau, Simon, and Tircuit families. Alexis died "at his home [in St. James Parish] where [he] left his wife and several children" in March 1853; the priest who recorded his burial said that Alexis died at "age 67 or 68 years"; he was a month shy of 67.
Michel le jeune married Maria Louise, daughter of French Creole Michel Simon, at the St. James church in June 1846. Their daughter Marie Louisa was baptized, age unrecorded, in St. James Parish in February 1848[sic], son Michel, fils was born in December 1848[sic], Norbert in March 1850 but died at age 4 in March 1854, Alexis le jeune was born in December 1855, Jules near Vacherie in December 1862, and Joseph Noe in September 1867.
Pierre Amédée, called Amédée, married Geneviève, daughter of French Creole Michel Falgoust, at the St. James church in July 1850. Their son Paul Alexis was born in St. James Parish in December 1853, Amédée Horace in August 1857, Michel Agricole in August 1859, and George Adam near Vacherie in August 1864. Their daughter married into the Hymel family.
1b
Louis le jeune married Susanne, daughter of French Creole François LeBoeuf and widow of Jean Baptiste Cantrelle, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in January 1818; Susanne's brother was the husband of Louis le jeune's sister. Their son Louis, fils was born in St. James Parish in November [1819], Joseph Armogène or Hermogène Louis in March 1822, and Charles Justin in April 1824. They also had a son named Charles Gustave, unless he was Charles Justin. Louis le jeune remarried to Acadian Anne Rosalie Robichaux probably in St. James Parish in the mid- or late1820s. Louis le jeune died in St. James Parish in June 1831, age 33.
Louis, fils, by his father's first wife, may have married Marie Azélie Judienne in St. James Parish, date unrecorded. Did Louis, fils father any sons?
Joseph Hermogène Louis, by his father's first wife, married Louise Ernestine, called Ernestine, daughter of French Creole Jean Sionneau, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in February 1849. Their son Adam died in St. James Parish a day after his birth in January 1850, Joseph Charles was born in March 1851, Louis Ernes in December 1852, Mathurin Auguste in November 1854, Floreant in July 1856, Jean Baptiste in February 1862, and Jules near Baton Rouge in June 1869.
Charles Gustave, by his father's first wife, married Marie Adèle, daughter of Christophe Barbier, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in October 1866.
Daughter Marie Louise, by her father's first wife, likely was the Marie Louise Arceneaux who gave birth to Marie Augustine, probably a "natural" daughter, in St. James Parish in September 1847. The St. James church priest who recorded the girl's baptism did not give the father's name, if he knew it, nor the name of the mother's parents.
1c
Césaire died in St. James Parish in February 1841, age 40. He probably did not marry.
2
Louis, born probably at St.-Jean-Baptiste in c1765, married Césaire, another daughter of Pierre Sionneau, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in February 1807. Their daughters married into the Cantrelle, Scheider, and Schexnayder families. Louis died in St. James Parish in September 1814; he was only 49 years old. One wonders if he and his wife had any sons.
3
Urbain, born at St.-Jean-Baptiste in June 1774, married cousin Madeleine, daughter of French Creole Guillaume André and widow of Joachim Porche, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in September 1811. Their daughter married into the Ratcliff family. Urbain remarried to Euphémie Arceneaux, perhaps a cousin, widow of E. L. Ratcliff. They had a son named James. Wife Euphémie died in Terrebonne Parish in January 1841.
4
Gabriel, born probably at St.-Jean-Baptiste in the 1770s, married cousin Catherine, daughter of French Creole François LeBoeuf, at St.-Jacques in April 1796; they had to secure a dispensation for second degree of consanguinity in order to marry. Their son Joseph was born at St.-Jacques in July 1798, Hubert Ville or Huberville in July 1808, and Norbert in October 1810. Their daughters married into the Bergeron and Bernan or Bernon families. Gabriel and Catherine moved to Bayou Lafourche probably in the 1810s.
4a
Huberville married Constance, daughter of Acadian Jean Marie Trahan, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in July 1828. Their son Hubert was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in November 1832, Lucien Zéphirin in October 1835, Jean Baptiste in December 1836, and Wilfred in January 1846. They also had a son named Sosthène. Their daughters married into the Lagrange and Lançon families. Huberville, at age 57, remarried to Marie, daughter of François Bonnardot, at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in May 1866.
Hubert, by his father's first wife, married, at age 18, Marie Esther, called Esther, 19-year-old daughter of Acadians Marcellin Thibodeaux and Mélanie Trahan, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in February 1851, and sanctified the marriage at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in June 1854. Their son César Adam was born in Terrebonne Parish in January 1853, Hubert Elfége in May 1857, Jean Baptiste Prospère in November 1859, Washington Leufroi in April 1864, and John Andry near Chacahoula in December 1868.
Jean Baptiste, by his father's first wife, married Marie Rose, daughter of Acadians Auguste Giroir and Rosalie Comeaux, at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in April 1858. Their son Atus Holden was born in Terrebonne Parish in November 1859, and Lucian Alcide in October 1861. Jean Baptiste died by June 1864, when his wife remarried to his brother Sosthène.
Lucien, by his father's first wife, married Émilie Edmée, daughter of French Creole Evariste Poche or Porche and his Acadian wife Marie Elmire Thibodeaux, at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in August 1858. Their son Henri Mitchell was born in Terrebonne Parish in August 1862, Sydney Wilfred in July 1867, and Émile Emite in December 1869.
During the War of 1861-65, Sosthène, by his father's first wife, served in Company H of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Terrebonne Parish, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi. According to his Confederate service record, Sosthène was "left at home on sick furlough" in the fall of 1862, so he may not have fought with his unit in Mississippi. His brother Wilfred served in another company of the same regiment. Sosthène married Marie Rose Giroir, his brother Jean-Baptiste's widow, at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in June 1864, and may have remarried to Acadian Caroline E. Guidry in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in July 1869.
During the War of 1861-65, despite his youth, Wilfred, by his father's first wife, served as a fourth sergeant in Company K of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, also raised in Terrebonne Parish. His brother Sosthène served in another company of the same regiment. Wilfred married Célina, daughter of Acadian Charles Trahan, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in July 1866, and sanctified the marriage at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in August 1867.
4b
Norbert married Esther, 23-year-old daughter of German Creole Nicolas Malbrough, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in November 1843, and sanctified the marriage at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in April 1850. Their son Hubert le jeune was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1847, François in August 1851, Clairville in October 1853, and Nicolas Israël in May 1856. Their daughter married into the Lesco family.
5
François, born probably at St.-Jean-Baptiste in c1771, married Marguerite, daughter of French Creole Jean or Adam Rome, at St.-Jean-Baptiste in February 1799. François died in St. James Parish in January 1816, age 45. One wonders if he and his wife had any sons.
6
Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, born probably at St.-Jean-Baptiste in c1775, married Isabelle, daughter of Acadian Paul David dit St. Michel, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in September 1811. Their son Jean Baptiste, fils had been born in St. James Parish in April 1811, was baptized at the St. James church the day his parents were married there, but died at age 14 in July 1824, and Arsène, a twin, was born in April 1821. Jean Baptiste, père died in St. James Parish in February 1826, age 51.
7
Abraham, perhaps the youngest son, born at either St.-Jean-Baptiste or St.-Jacques in c1779, died in St. James Parish in January 1844. The priest who recorded his burial said that Abraham was "age 65" when he died and was "single," but the priest did not give Abraham's parents' names.
.
Area church records make it difficult to link other non-Acadian Arceneaus on the river with Michel Arcenot of Canada:
Jean-Marie Arseneau married Acadian Catalina, also called Nanette, Guilbeau, probably at St.-Jacques in the late 1780s or early 1790s. A son, name unrecorded, died at St.-Jacques at age 4 in May 1795, Jean-Marie, fils died at age 2 1/2 in December 1794, and Joseph died at age 16 months in November 1795. Their daughter married into the Foulcher family. Was Jean-Marie Acadian or Canadian?
Pierre Arseneau married Catherine Hoffman probably at St.-Charles des Allemands on the lower German Coast. Their daughter Véronique married first to Jean-Baptiste LaChapelle and then to Gabriel, son of Joseph Circe of Montréal, at St. James in May 1806. Pierre may have been another son of Michel Arcenot of Canada.
Jean, son of Louis Arceno and Isabelle Piso, born probably at St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands on the upper German Coast in the 1760s, served as an engagé, or indentured worker, on the lower German Coast in the mid-1780s. He married Charlotte, daughter of Jacques Quenler, at St.-Jean-Baptiste in January 1786. He may have been a kinsman of Michel Arcenot.
Félix Arseno married Elizabeth Sanch, place and date unrecorded. Son Charles Clovis was born in Ascension Parish in November 1859, and Winfred Cléophas in October 1861.
~
As a result of the family's participation in the South's peculiar institution, Arseneauxs who lived on the western prairies during the immediate post-war period were neither Acadian nor French Canadian:
Pierre R. Arceneaux, freedman, married Marguerite Batiste Bigeot, freedwoman, in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in January 1868. The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.
Édouard, son of Séraphine Arceneaux, married Philomène, daughter of Marie Dugas, at the Vermilion church, Lafayette Parish, in May 1868. Were Édouard and Philomène and their parents freed persons?
Joseph Arceneaux, freedman, married Marie Eve, freedwoman, no surname given, in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in January 1869. The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.
Bélisaire or Bélizaire Arceneaux, "aff.," or affranci, that is, a freedman, son of Victoire Bonhome, married Marie, affranchie, daughter of Marie dite Nanette Pichon or Pickon, also called Charles, at the Breaux Bridge church, St. Martin Parish, in May 1869. Daughter Rose had been born near Breaux Bridge in January 1869, and son Valmond was born there in October 1870.
Zénon Arceneaux married Juliette, no surname given, place and date unrecorded. Daughter Eugénie was born near Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, in June 1869. Were they freed persons?
CONCLUSION
Arseneaus settled early in Acadia and were some of the earliest Acadians to seek refuge in Louisiana. The first of them came to the colony from Halifax via Cap-Française, St.-Domingue, with the Broussard dit Beausoleil party in February 1765. They followed the Broussards to Bayou Teche, but they did not remain there. When an epidemic struck the Teche valley settlements later that year, all of the Arseneaus fled to Cabanocé on the river, and most of them stayed there, creating the first center of family settlement. Not until the late colonial period did Arceneauxs return to the prairies, creating a western branch of the family that rivaled in numbers their kinsmen on the river. Meanwhile, an Arceneaux from the river moved to upper Bayou Lafourche, creating a third center of family settlement. In the 1820s, two brothers from St. Martin Parish joined their cousins along Bayou Lafourche. One of the brothers returned to Bayou Teche, but the other one remained on the Lafourche.
Though some of them moved to Île St.-Jean soon after Acadians began settling that island in the early 1700s, the Arseneaus of Acadia had tended to concentrate at Chignecto, which the progenitor of their family helped pioneer. The Arceneauxs of Louisiana, however, exhibited a very different settlement pattern than that of their Acadian forebears before Le Grand Dérangement. From the late colonial into the antebellum period, beginning at their base in what became St. James Parish, they spread out to nearly every corner of today's Acadiana--up the Mississippi as far as Baton Rouge; on Bayou Lafourche from Assumption down to Thibodaux and Lockport; on Bayou Teche from Breaux Bridge down to Charenton, and out into the prairies north and west of present-day Lafayette. During the immediate post-war period, another Arceneaux moved from St. James Parish to the Bayou Teche valley.
Most Arceneauxs of South Louisiana are descendants of Pierre of Rochefort and Chignecto, but a family of French Canadians with a similar-sounding surname also settled in today's Acadiana. Michel Arcenot of Cap-de-Madeleine, Canada, came to Louisiana over a decade before his Acadian namesakes arrived. He and his family settled first on the German Coast before moving upriver to the Acadian Coast, where they lived among Acadian Arceneauxs who had already settled there. One of Michel's sons moved to Bayou Lafourche, where his descendants settled near their Acadian namesakes and as far down as the Terrebonne country. Some of Michel's descendants married Acadians. ...
In Louisiana, the Acadian family's name evolved from Arseneau and Arsenault to Arceneaux. The family's name also is spelled Arcellon, Arcenaux, Arcenos, Arcenot, Arsenaud, Arseneau, Arseneault, Arseno, Arzenaud. Sometimes in local church and civil records, the much smaller Arcement or Arsement family of Acadia is confused with the more numerous Arceneauxs. [See Book Ten for the Acadian family's Louisiana "begats"]
Sources: Arsenault, Généalogie, 393, 827-41, 1653, 2055-63, 2203-06; 2263-64; 2314-15; 2402-05; Brasseaux, In Search of Evangeline, 30-31, 53-56, quote on pp. 30-31; BRDR, vols. 2, 3, 4, 5(rev.), 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; De La Roque, "Tour of Inspection," Canadian Archives 1905, 2A:154; <genforum.genealogy.com/arsenault/messages/2418.html>; Hébert, D., Acadians in Exile, 13-14, 49; Hébert, D., South LA Records, vols. 1, 2, 3, 4; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, vols. 1-A, 1-B, 2-A, 2-B, 2-C, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; NOAR, vols. 2, 3, 4, 6; <islandregister.com/1752.html>; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/Duc_Guillaume.htm>, Family No. 40; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 4, 297, 776-77; West, Atlas of LA Surnames, 17-8, 148; White, DGFA-1, 23-31, 576-77; White, DGFA-1 English, 6-8; Gayle Campbell, descendant.
Settlement Abbreviations
(present-day civil parishes that existed in 1861 are in parentheses; hyperlinks on the
abbreviations take you to brief histories of each settlement):
|
Ascension |
Lafourche (Lafourche, Terrebonne) |
Pointe Coupée |
|||
|
Assumption |
Natchitoches (Natchitoches) |
SB | San Bernardo (St. Bernard) | ||
|
Attakapas (St. Martin, St. Mary, Lafayette, Vermilion) |
San Luìs de Natchez (Concordia) |
St.-Gabriel d'Iberville (Iberville) |
|||
|
Bayou des Écores (East Baton Rouge, West Feliciana) |
New Orleans (Orleans) |
St.-Jacques de Cabanocé (St. James) |
|||
|
Baton Rouge (East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge) |
Opelousas (St. Landry, Calcasieu) |
For a chronology of Acadian Arrivals in Louisiana, 1764-early 1800s, see Appendix.
The hyperlink attached to an individual's name is connected to a list of Acadian immigrants for a particular settlement and provides a different perspective on the refugee's place in family and community.
| Name | Arrived | Settled | Profile |
| Anne ARCENEAUX 01 | Feb 1765 | Atk, StJ | born c1745, probably Pointe-à-Beauséjour, Chignecto; daughter of Jean ARCENEAUX & Marie-Jeanne HÉBERT; sister of Isabelle, Marguerite, & Pierre; married, age 16, (1)Barthélemy, fils, son of Barthélemy BERGERON dit D'Amboise & Marguerite DUGAS of Rivière St.-Jean, & brother of her brother Pierre's wife, c1762, probably Halifax; arrived LA 1765, age 19, with party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil; moved to Cabanocé fall 1765 probably to escape the epidemic that killed her husband & infant son Charles 2 days apart; married, age 21, (2)Simon, son of Désiré LEBLANC & Marie-Madeleine LANDRY, 6 Nov 1767, Cabanocé; in Cabanocé census, 1769, right [west] bank, called Anne ARSENEAUX, age 25, with husband, 1 daughter, & orphan Marguerite BERGERON; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, right [west] bank, called Anne BERGERON, age 31, with husband, 2 sons, & 1 daughter; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, unnamed, with husband & 13 unnamed others; died [buried] St. James Parish 21 Aug 1811, age 75[sic] |
| Charles ARCENEAUX 02 | 17?? | StJ | born c1758; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, right [west] bank, called Charles ARSENEAUX, orphan, age 19, with family of Pierre ARCENEAUX; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, unnamed, with family of Pierre ARSENEAUX? |
| Eusèbe ARCENEAUX 03 | 1765 | StJ, Asc, Asp | born c1762, Halifax; son of Pierre ARCENEAUX & Marie-Josèphe GODIN dit Lincour; brother of Pierre, fils; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Aug 1763, unnamed, with parents; arrived LA 1765, age 3; in Cabanocé census, 1766, right [west] bank, called Usèbe, age 4, with parents & brother; in Cabanocé census, 1769, right [west] bank, called Usèbe ARSENEAUX, age 7, with stepfather Bazille PRÉJEAN, mother, & brother; in Ascension census, 1777, right [west] bank, called Uzèbe ARSENEAUX, age 15, with stepfather, mother, 1 full brother, & 3 half-siblings; married, age 26, Rosalie, daughter of Jean-Baptiste BERGERON dit d'Amboise & Marguerite BERNARD of St.-Jacques, 6 Aug 1788, St.-Jacques; moved to Lafourche valley; in Valenzuela census, 1795, called Eusèbio ARSENAUX, age 33, with wife Rosalia age 27, sons Alexandro age 7, Narciso age 6, & Miguel age 4; in Valenzuela census, 1797, called Usèbe ARCENEAUX, age 34, with wife Rosalie age 23, sons Alexandre age 8, Narcisse age 7, & Angel age 5, 0 slaves; in Valenzuela census, 1798, called Usèbe ARCENEAUX, age 36, with wife Rosalie age 29, sons Usèbe age 8, Louis age 7, Michel age 5, daughters Constance age 3, & Marie age 1, 6/60 arpents, 0 slaves; died [buried] Assumption 11 Oct 1825, age 62 |
| Firmin ARCENEAUX 04 | 1765 | StJ | born c1753; arrived LA 1765, age 12; in Cabanocé census, 1766, right [west] bank, called Firmin ARSENAUD, orphan, age 13, with family of Pierre ARCENAUX, also left [east] bank, JUDICE's Company, Cabanocé Militia, called Fermin & Firmin ARSENAUD, age 13, listed singly, with 4 arpents of land; in Cabanocé census, 1769, right [west] bank, still an orphan, age 15, with family of Pierre ARCENEAUX; probably never married; died [buried] St.-Jacques 1 Oct 1776, age 23 |
| François ARCENEAUX 05 | Feb 1765 | Atk | born c1764, probably Halifax; arrived LA Feb 1765, an infant, probably an orphan, with party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil; died [buried] Attakapas 19 Sep 1765, age 1 |
| Guillaume ARCENEAUX 06 | Feb 1765 | Atk, StJ | born c1761; son of Jean ARCENEAUX & Judith BERGERON; brother of Jean-Charles, Joseph, & Pierre-Paul; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Aug 1763, unnamed, with parents & siblings; arrived LA Feb 1765, age 5, with party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil; moved to Cabanocé fall 1765 probably to escape an epidemic; in Cabanocé census, 1766, left [east] bank, age 8[sic], with parents & brothers; in Cabanocé census, 1769, left [east] bank, age 8, with parents & siblings; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, left [east] bank, age 18, with parents & siblings; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, unnamed with parents & others; married, age 26, Marguerite, daughter of Louis GAUDET & Marie HÉBERT of Nantes, France, & Ascension, 5 Mar 1786, St.-Jacques; died [buried] St. James Parish 20 Dec 1818, age 56 |
| Isabelle ARCENEAUX 07 | 1765 | StJ | born c1733, probably Pointe-à-Beauséjour, Chignecto; daughter of Jean ARCENEAUX & Marie-Jeanne HÉBERT; sister of Anne, Marguerite, & Pierre; married Charles BERGERON; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Jul 1763, unnamed, with husband & 3 children; arrived LA 1765; in Cabanocé census, Apr 1766, right [west] bank, age 3[sic, actually 33], with husband 2 sons, & 1 daughter; died probably Cabanocé c1766, age 33 |
| Jean ARCENEAUX 08 | Feb 1765 | Atk, StJ | born c1728, Chigecto; son of probably Pierre ARCENEAUX & Marguerite HÉBERT; brother of Joseph & Pierre; married Judith BERGERON; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Aug 1763, called Jean ARCENOS, with unnamed wife & 4 unnamed children; arrived LA Feb 1765, age 37, with party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil; on list of Acadians who exchanged card money in New Orleans Apr 1765, called Jean ARCENEAU; moved to Cabanocé fall 1765 probably to escape an epidemic; in Cabanocé census, 1766, left [east] bank, JUDICE's Company, Cabanocé Militia, called Juan ARSENAUD, age 38, with wife Judithe age 32, sons Jean-Charles age 14, Joseph age 12, Guillaume age 8, & Paul age 4, 0 slaves, 3 arpents, 0 cattle, 0 sheep, 1 hog, 1 gun; in Cabanocé census, 1769, occupying lot number 112, left [east] bank, age 40, with wife Judique age 34, sons Jean-Charles age 16, Joseph age 12, Guillaume age 8, & daughter Anne age 7 mos.; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, left [east] bank, age 47, with wife Judic age 44, sons Joseph age 20, Guillaume age 18, Paul age 15, François age 6, Laurent age 4, & daughter Manon age 8; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, called Jean ARSENEAUX, with 8 unnamed whites, 3 slaves, 60 qts. rice, 100 qts. corn; died [buried] St.-Jacques 15 Jan 1800, age 75[sic] |
| Jean-Charles ARCENEAUX 09 | Feb 1765 | Atk, StJ | born c1752, probably Chignecto; called Charles; son of Jean ARCENEAUX & Judith BERGERON; brother of Guillaume, Joseph, & Pierre-Paul; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Aug 1763, unnamed, with parents & siblings; arrived LA Feb 1765, age 13, with party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil; moved to Cabanocé fall 1765 probably to escape an epidemic; in Cabanocé census, 1766, left [east] bank, called Jean-Charles, age 14, with parents & brothers; in Cabanocé census, 1769, left [east] bank, called Jean-Charles, age 16, with parents & siblings; married, age 25, Marie-Josèphe, daughter of Basile BABIN & Anne SONNIER, & stepdaughter of Michel CORMIER of Opelousas, 17 Jan 1777, St.-Jacques; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, right [west] bank, called Charles ARSENEAUX, age 22, with wife Marie-Josèphe age 15[sic, actually 13!], & no children; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, called Charles ARSENEAUX, with 2 unnamed whites, 0 slaves, 6 qts. rice, 10 qts. corn; died [buried] St. James Parish 2 Apr 1813, age 61 |
| Joseph ARCENEAUX 10 | Feb 1765 | Atk, StJ, NO? | born c1740, Chignecto; son of probably Pierre ARCENEAUX & Marguerite HÉBERT; brother of Jean & Pierre; married Marie, daughter of Barthélémy BERGERON dit d'Amboise & Marguerite DUGAS of Rivière St.-Jean, probably Halifax, early 1760s; on list of Acadian prisoners, Halifax, Aug 1763, called Joseph ARCENOS, with unnamed wife & no children; arrived LA Feb 1765, age 25, with party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil; on list of Acadians who exchanged card money in New Orleans Apr 1765, called Joseph ARCENEAU; moved to Cabanocé fall 1765 probably to escape an epidemic; in Cabanocé census, 1766, left [east] bank, JUDICE's Company, Cabanocé Militia, called Joseph ARSENAUD, age 26, with wife Marie age 21, no children, 0 slaves, 4 arpents, 0 cattle, 0 sheep, 0 hogs, 1 gun; in Cabanocé census, 1769, occupying lot number 108, left [east] bank, called Joseph ARSENEAUX, age 29, with wife Marie age 25, daughters [Marie] Françoise age 3, Margueritte age 7 mos., & orphaned nephew [Jean-]Théodore BERGERON age 7; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, left [east] bank, called Joseph ARSENEAUX, age 35[sic], with wife Marie age 31, son Jean-Charles age 3, daughters [Marie] Françoise age 10, Marianne [Marguerite?] age 8, Collastie age 5, & orphaned nephew [Jean-]Théodore BERGERON age 14; in St-Jacques census, 1779, called Joseph ARSENEAUX, with 8 unnamed whites, 2 slaves, 6 qts. rice, 30 qts. corn; died probably St.-Jacques by Feb 1798, when he was listed as deceased in a daughter's marriage record |
| Joseph ARCENEAUX 11 | Feb 1765 | Atk, StJ | born c1756; son of Jean ARCENEAUX & Judith BERGERON; brother of Guillaume, Jean-Charles, & Pierre-Paul; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Aug 1763, unnamed, with parents & siblings; arrived LA Feb 1765, age 8, with party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil; moved to Cabanocé fall 1765 probably to escape an epidemic; in Cabanocé census, 1766, left [east] bank, age 12[sic], with parents & brothers; in Cabanocé census, 1769, left [east] bank, age 12, with parents & siblings; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, left [east] bank, age 20, with parents & siblings; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, unnamed, with parents & others; married, age 24, Marie, daughter of Michel DUPUIS & Anne GAUDET, & widow of Joseph BLANCHARD, 10 Sep 1780, St.-Jacques; died [buried] St. James Parish 10 Jan 1811, age 56 |
| Judith ARCENEAUX 12 | 1765 | StJ, Asp, Asc | born c1736, Chignecto or Malpèque, Île St.-Jean; daughter of Claude ARCENEAUX & Marguerite dite Magitte RICHARD; at Malpèque Aug 1752, called Judich, age 16, with widowed mother & 8 siblings; married, age 24, Charles, son of François SAVOIE & Marie RICHARD of Port-Royal, & widower of ______ & Marie-Madeleine RICHARD, 7 Jan 1761, Restigouche; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Aug 1763, unnamed, with husband & 3 children, including orphaned nephew Basile DES ROCHES, who she raised from infancy; arrived LA 1765, age 29; in Cabanocé census, 1766, left [east] bank, called Judith ARSENAUD, age 30, with husband, 1 son, & nephew Basile DES ROCHES; in Cabanocé census, 1769, left [east] bank, called Judique ARSENAUX, age 32, with husband, 3 sons, & nephew Bazille DEROCHE; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, left [east] bank, called Judicq ARSENEAUX, age 40, with husband & 3 sons; in St.-Jacques, 1779, unnamed, with husband & 5 unnamed others; moved to Lafourche valley; in Valenzuela census, 1795, called Judith ARSENAUX, age 60, with no husband so probably a widow, sons Juan Bautista [SAVOIE] age 32, Simon [SAVOIE] age 18, & daughter Isabel [SAVOIE] age 16; in Valenzuela census, 1797, called Judit ARSENEAUX, Widow, age 61, with son Simon [SAVOIE] age 19, & daughter Isabelle [SAVOIE] age 17, 0 slaves, next to son Jean-Baptiste SAVOIE; in Valenzuela census, 1798, called Judit ARCENAUX, Widow, age 63, with daughter Isabelle [SAVOIE] age 18, [engagé?] Jean-Baptiste USÉ age 27, & [engagé?] Louis STEVEN age 18, no arpents listed, 0 slaves; died [buried] Ascension Parish 30 Oct 1819, age 85[sic] |
| Marguerite ARCENEAUX 13 | 1765 | StJ | born c1735, probably Pointe-à-Beauséjour, Chignecto; daughter of Jean ARCENEAUX & Marie-Jeanne HÉBERT; sister of Anne, Isabelle, & Pierre; married, age 17, Pierre, son of Jean-Baptiste BERNARD & Cécile GAUDET of Chignecto, probably Beaubassin, c1752; perhaps on list of surrendered Acadians at Restigouche, 24 Oct 1760, with husband Pre. BERNARD & 6 unnamed others; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Aug 1763, unnamed, with husband & 4 children; arrived LA 1765, age 30; in Cabanocé census, 1766, left [east] bank, called Marguerite ARSENAUD, age 31, with husband, 2 sons, & 1 daughter; died probably Cabanocé before Sep 1769, when her husband was listed in the Cabanocé census without a wife |
| Marie ARCENEAUX 14 | 17?? | ? | no information ... yet |
| Marie-Catherine dite Rosalie ARCENEAUX 20 | Feb 1765 | Atk, StJ, Atk | born c1763, probably Halifax; daughter of Pierre ARCENEAUX & Anne BERGERON; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Aug 1763, unnamed, with parents?; arrived LA Feb 1765, age 2, with party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil; moved to Cabanocé fall 1765 probably to escape an epidemic; in Cabanocé census, 1766, right [west] bank, called Rosalie, age 2, with parents, maternal grandmother, maternal aunt, & an orphaned cousin; in Cabanocé census, 1769, right [west] bank, called Rozalie, age 5, with parents, sisters, & 2 orphans; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, right [west] bank, called Rosalie, age 13, with parents, siblings, & 1 orphan; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, unnamed, with parents & unnamed others; returned to Attakapas District; married Joseph-Athanase, son of Athanase BREAUX & Marie LEBLANC of St.-Jacques, probably St. Martinville in the 1780s; died Lafayette Parish 10 PM, 21 Nov 1825, age 60[sic], buried "in the church parish cemetery" next day; succession dated 29 Dec 1825, Lafayette Parish courthouse |
| Pierre ARCENEAUX 16 | Feb 1765 | Atk, StJ, Atk | born c1731, Pointe-à-Beauséjour, Chignecto; son of Jean ARCENEAUX & Marie-Jeanne HÉBERT; brother of Anne, Isabelle, & Marguerite; married, age 26, Marie-Anne, called Anne, daughter of Barthélémy BERGERON dit d'Amboise & Marguerite DUGAS of Rivière St.-Jean, & sister of his sister Anne's husband, c1757; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Aug 1763, called Pier ARSENOS, with unnamed wife & 1 unnamed child?; arrived LA Feb 1765, age 34, with party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil; "he signed 'DAUTERIVE pact' in New Orleans on April 4, 1765" with 7 other leaders of the BROUSSARD party; on list of Acadians who exchanged card money in New Orleans Apr 1765, called Pierre ARCENEAU; moved to Cabanocé fall 1765 probably to escape an epidemic; in Cabanocé census, 1766, right [west] bank, JUDICE's Company, Cabanocé Militia, called Pedro ARZENAUD & Pierre ARSENAUX, age 36, with wife Anne age 26, daughter Rosalie age 2, widowed mother-in-law age 63, sister-in-law widow BERGERON age 23, sister widow BERNARD age 40, & orphaned cousin Firmin ARCENEAUX age 13; in Cabanocé census, 1769, occupying lot number 6, right [west] bank, called Pierre ARCENAUX; age 37, with wife Anne age 28, daughters Rozalie age 5, Marie-Jeanne age 3, Françoise age 10 mos., orphan Firmin ARCENAUX age 15, orphan Charles BERGERON age 11, 6 arpents, 0 slaves, 9 cattle, 3 horses, 12 pigs, 0 sheep, 1 musket; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, right [west] bank, called Pierre ARCENEAUX, Acadian resident, age 45, with wife Anne age 34, sons Louis age 7, Pierre age 5, daughters Rosalie age 13, Marie[-Jeanne] age 10, Françoise age 4, & orphan Charles ARCENEAUX age 19, 0 slaves, 4 arpents, 0 cattle, 0 sheep, 0 hogs, 1 gun; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, called Pierre ARSENEAUX, with 8 unnamed whites, 12 slaves, 30 qts. rice, 130 qts. corn; returned to Attakapas District, late 1780s, settled at ARCENEAUX Settlement near Carencro; owned 400 cattle at the time of his death; succession dated 1793 Attakapas; depicted in Dafford Mural, Acadian Memorial, St. Martinville |
| Pierre ARCENEAUX, père 17 | 1765 | StJ | born c1735, Chignecto; son of perhaps Jean-Baptiste ARCENEAUX & Anne CYR; married, age 25, Marie-Josèphe, daughter of Jean-Baptiste GODIN dit Lincour and Anastasie BOURG of Rivière St.-Jean, c1760; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Aug 1763, called Pier ARSENOS, with unnamed wife & 1 unnamed child?; arrived LA 1765, age 30; in Cabanocé census, 1766, right [west] bank, JUDICE's Company, Cabanocé Militia, called Pedro ARZENAUD & Pierre ARSENAUD, age 31, with wife Marie LICOUR age 22, son Usèbe age 4, & son Pierre age 1, 0 slaves, 6 arpents, 0 cattle, 0 sheep, 5 hogs, 1 gun; died Cabanocé by Sep 1769, when his wife was listed in the census there already remarried to Basile PRÉJEAN |
| Pierre ARCENEAUX, fils 18 | 1765 | StJ, Asc, Asp, Atk | born c1765, aboard ship, in St.-Domingue, or in New Orleans; son of Pierre ARCENEAUX & Marie-Josèphe GODIN dit Lincour; brother of Eusèbe; arrived LA 1765, an infant; in Cabanocé census, 1766, right [west] bank, age 1, with parents & brother; in Cabanocé census, 1769, right [west] bank, age 5, with mother, stepfather Basile PRÉJEAN, & brother Usèbe; in Ascension census, 1777, right [west] bank, age 13, with mother, stepfather, 1 full brother, & 3 half-siblings; married, age 21, (1)Pélagie, daughter of Jacques BEBE & Marguerite LANDRY, 6 Apr 1786, St.-Jacques; married, age 22, (2)Angélique, daughter of Michel BOURGEOIS & his second wife Anne LANDRY, 24 Apr 1787, St.-Jacques; moved to Lafourche valley; in Valenzuela census, 1795, called Pedro ARSENAUX, age 33[sic], with wife Angéla age 26, sons Valentin age 4, Alexandro age 2, daughter Enrrieta age 6, & Josef PERON age 52[sic], next to father-in-law; in Valenzuela census, 1797, called Pierre ARCENEAUX, age 34[sic], with wife Angélique age 27, sons Valantin age 4[months?], Alexandre age 3, & orphan Joseph PERON age 12, 0 slaves, next to father-in-law; in Valenzuela census, 1798, called Pierre ARCENEAUX, age 35[sic], with wife Angélique age 26, sons Pierre age 8, Alexandre age 6, Pierre age 2, & daughter Henriette age 10, 40/3 arpents, 4 slaves, next to brother-in-law Jean-Baptiste FOREST; moved to Attakapas District, late 1790s, settled on the Teche near Attakapas Post, now St. Martinville; died [buried] Atakapas 5 Jan 1799, age 34 |
| *Pierre ARCENEAUX 19 | 17?? | StJ | born c1749; son of probably Pierre ARCENEAUX & Marguerite HÉBERT; brother of Jean & Joseph; married Marie, daughter of Jean-Baptiste BERGERON dit d'Amboise & Marguerite BERNARD?; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, right [west] bank, age 28, with wife Marie age 22, sons Pierre age 7 & Joseph age 5, also 2 daughters of Pierre BOURGEOIS, Marie Anne age 3 & Louise age 2 |
| Pierre-Paul ARCENEAUX 15 | Feb 1765 | Atk, StJ | born c1762, probably Halifax; called Paul and Hippolyte; son of Jean ARCENEAUX & Judith BERGERON; brother of Guillaume, Jean-Charles, & Joseph; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Aug 1763, unnamed, with parents & siblings; arrived LA Feb 1765, age 3, with party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil; moved to Cabanocé fall 1765 probably to escape an epidemic; in Cabanocé census, 1766, left [east] bank, age 4, with parents & brothers; not in Cabanocé census, 1769, left [east] bank, with the rest of his family; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, left [east] bank, age 15, with parents & siblings; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, unnamed, with parents & others?; married Élisabeth/Isabelle FONTENOT, 1780s, St.-Jacques; died [buried] St. James Parish 11 Sep 1804, age 40[sic] |
| ________ ARCENEAUX 21 | Feb 1765 | Atk, StJ | born c1726, probably Pointe-à-Beauséjour, Chignecto; daughter of Jean ARCENEAUX & Marie-Anne HÉBERT; sister of Pierre; married _____ BERNARD; arrived LA Feb 1765, age 39, with party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil, probably a widow; moved to Cabanocé fall 1765 probably to escape an epidemic; in Cabanocé census, 1766, right [west] bank, called widow BERNARD, age 40, with brother Pierre, sister-in-law Anne, niece Rosalie, brother's widowed mother-in-law, Anne's widowed sister or sister-in-law, & orphaned cousin |
NOTES
01. Wall of Names, 11, calls her Anne ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 834, 2419, 2541, calls her Anne ARCENEAUX, says she was born in 1742, & on p. 2541, says that she married Simon LEBLANC on 9 Nov 1767; BRDR, 3:23 (SJA-4, 34), her death/burial record, calls her Anne ARCENEAUX, "age about 75 yrs., nat. of Acadia, wid. of Simon LEBLANC," but does not give her parents' names. See also Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 171, 173; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 424, 443; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777; De Ville, Acadian Coast, 1779, 12.
Her estimated birth year is taken not from Arsenault or her burial record but from the ages given in the Cabanocé/St.-Jacques censuses of 1769 & 1777. Note how much her burial record exaggerates her age at the time of her death. Using the ages given in the 2 censuses just cited, she was closer to 66 when she died.
The marriage record of daughter Henriette LEBLANC, dated 13 Jun 1796, in BRDR, 2:466 (SJA-2, 35), calls her Maria Anna ARCENAUX. Every other record calls her simply Anne.
02. Wall of Names, 9, calls him Charles ARSENEAU. His birth year is from the age given for him in the St.-Jacques census of 1777 in De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 9. See also De Ville, Acadian Coast, 1779, 11.
03. Wall of Names, 9, calls him Eusèbe ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2402, calls him Eusèbe ARCENEAUX & says he was born in 1761 but gives no birthplace; BRDR, 2:23, 81 (SJA-2, 5), his marriage record, calls him Eusèbio ARSENO, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Narciso CARMUS & Leonor PRESAN [PREJEAN] of Lafourche [his stepsister]; BRDR, 4:15 (ASM-3, 187), his death/burial record, calls him Eusèbe ARSENEAUX, age 62 yrs., husband of Rosalie BERGERON, & gives his parents' names. See also Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 252; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 162, 174; Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98, 9, 56, 85, 138.
The baptismal record of son Alex, dated 18 Dec 1803, in BRDR 2:21 (ASM-6, 13), calls him Eusebio of Halifax.
04. The Cabanocé census & militia list of 1766 shows an impressive arrangement for a 13-year-old! See Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 162, 169. Were there two Firmin ARCENEAUXs at Cabanocé in 1766? I have found no other one. Wall of Names, 9, lists only a single fellow with the name Firmin ARSENEAU. Arsenault, Généalogie, 2402-05, fails to do even that. The death/burial record for Firmain ARCENEAUX in BRDR, 2:23, must be his; too bad it does not include his parent's names. Evidently he died a young bachelor.
05. Wall of Names, 9, calls him François ARSENEAU; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:18 (SM Ch.: Slave Funeral Register v.1, #21-A), one of his his death/burial records, calls him François ARCENEAUX, says he died "at age about 1 year," says his burial was recorded on 22 Sep 1765, but gives no parents' names; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:18 (SM Ch.: v.1, p.12), another of his death/burial records, calls him François ARCENEAUX, says he died "at age 1 year," but does not give his parents' names; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:5 (SM Ch.: Slave Register: 1765-1881: v.1, p.364), yet another of his death/burial records, calls him François ALLEMAND, says he & Jean DUGAST were "both buried 19 Sept. 1765 at about 1 year old," that their burial was recorded on 22 Sep 1765, but gives no parents' names.
So was his name François ALLEMAND & not François ARCENEAUX?
06. Wall of Names, 9, calls him Guillaume ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2404, calls him Guillaume ARCENEAUX & says he was born in 1758, which conforms to the Cabanocé census of 1766, but not the Cabanocé census of 1769 & the St.-Jacques census of 1777. The birth year used here is an average of the ages given in these censuses. See Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 168, 177; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 11. See also Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 249; De Ville, Acadian Coast, 1779, 16; BRDR, 2:24, 308, his marriage record, calls him Guiyon ARSENO, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Miguel GODEN & Maria Juana ARSENO; BRDR, 3:25 (SJA-4, 46), his death/burial record, calls him Guillaume ARCENEAUX, age about 56 yrs. nat. of Acadia, but does not give his parents' names nor mentions a wife.
07. Wall of Names, 11, calls her Isabelle ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 834, 2419, calls her Isabellle ARCENEAUX, gives her birth year & her parents' names, & notes her marriage to Charles BERGERON; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 163, calls her Isabelle ARSENAUD & messes up her age badly. See also Bourgeois, p. 173.
For her death, see the footnote to her husband's profile. He & her older son also died soon after they reached the colony.
08. Wall of Names, 9, calls him Jean ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2404, the LA section, calls him Jean ARCENEAUX, says he was born in 1728, probablement son of Pierre [ARCENEAUX] & Marguerite HÉBERT of Beaubassin, says he married Judith BERGERON but no date or place of marriage nor his wife's parents' names, lists his children as Jean-Charles, born in 1752, Joseph in 1754, Guillaume in 1758, Paul in 1762, Anne in 1768, Manon in 1769, François in 1771, Laurent in 1773, & Alexandre in 1777, but gives no places of birth, says he was at St.-Jacques in 1766, age 38, that his spouse was age 32, & that he occupied lot number 112 at St.-Jacques in 1769; BRDR, 2:25 (SJA-4, 15), his burial record, calls him Juan ARCENEAUX, age 75 years, widower, native of Acadia, but does not give his parents' names or the name of his wife. See also Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 168, 177; <thecajuns.com/cardmoney.htm>; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 11; De Ville, Acadian Coast, 1779, 16; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 249.
09. Wall of Names, 9, calls him Jean-Charles ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2404, 2405, calls him Jean-Charles ARCENEAUX, says he was born in 1752 but gives no birthplace, & says he married Marie-Josèphe BABIN on 17 Jun 1777 at St.-Jacques; BRDR, 2:24, 52 (SJA-1, 38a), his marriage record, calls him Jean-Chs. ARCENEAUX, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Joseph SOGNY [SONNIER] [her uncle], Étienne MELANZON, Charles BERGERAU, & Pierre BERNARD, "all Acadians"; BRDR, 3:26 (SMI-1, 15; SMI-8, 13), his death/burial record, calls him Jean Charles ARCENEAUX, nat. Acadia, does not give his parents' names or mention a wife, & says he died or was buried in the presence of Joseph LANDRY [probably his younger brother] & Baptiste CHIASSON. See also Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 249; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 168, 177; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 7; De Ville, Acadian Coast, 1779, 12.
Wife Marie-Josèphe was only 14 years old when they married!
10. Wall of Names, 9, calls him Joseph ARSENEAU, & lists him singly; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2404, the LA section, provides the names of Joseph's possible parents, agrees that Joseph married Marie BERGERON, gives her birth year, but does not give a date of marriage or her parents' names. See also Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 168, 177; <thecajuns.com/cardmoney.htm>; De Ville, Acadian Coast, 1779, 17; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 12; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 249; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 118.
Wall of Names, 11, lists his wife with her parents. However, the British record at Halifax in Aug 1763 is clear that Joseph ARCENOS, as he was called, had a wife then. Was there another Joseph ARCENEAUX at Halifax? Was Marie his second wife? Is this what the separate listings in Wall of Names are saying? Until I find evidence to the contrary, I will assume that this was the couple counted at Halifax in 1763 & that they were already married when they reached LA in Feb 1765.
Daughter Marie-Françoise, born on 1 Nov 1766, was baptized at New Orleans on 4 May 1767, & daughter Françoise-Julienne, born on 15 Nov 1768, was baptized in the city on 14 Apr 1769. See NOAR, 2:5 (SLC, B5, 164; SLC, B6, 46). The New Orleans priest(s) called the family ARCELLON & ARCENAUX. The girls' godfathers, respectively, were Pierre-Nicolas PERCHERON & Julien VERNE, both described as merchants. Does this imply that Joseph & Marie were residing in the city during the late 1760s or just there on business?
11. Wall of Names, 9, calls him Joseph ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2404, calls him Joseph ARCENEAUX & says he was born in 1754; BRDR, 2:25, 98 (SJA-1, 50s), his marriage record, calls him Josephe ARCENEAU of Acadia, calls his wife Marie BLANCHARD, widow of Joseph BLANCHARD, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Joseph LEBLANC, Simon BODEREAU, Pierre ARCENEAU, & Jean ROSAIRE; BRDR, 3:26 (SJA-4, 33), his death/burial record, calls him Joseph ARCENEAUX, age about 56 yrs., nat. of Acadia, but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife. See also Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 168, 177; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 11; De Ville, Acadian Coast, 1779, 16.
Arsenault's birth year conforms to the age given in the Cabanoce census of 1766, but the Cabanoce census of 1769 & the St.-Jacques census of 1777 disagree.
His wife's actual surname can be found in the birth/baptismal records of their children in BRDR, vol. 2.
12. Wall of Names, 25, calls her Judith ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2588, calls her Judith ARSENAULT, gives her parents' names, her marriage date & place, her husband's parents' names, & her husband's first wife's name; BRDR, 3:26 (ASC-4, 148), her death/burial record, calls her Judtih ARCENEAUX, age 85 yrs., wid. Charles SAVOIE, but does not give her parents' names. See also Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 167, 176; De La Roque, "Tour of Inspection," Canadian Archives, 2A:154; De Ville, Acadian Coast, 1779, 19; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 13; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 252; Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98, 51, 77, 123; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 467.
She is the only member of her large immediated family to make it to LA. One wonders why.
Note how the many census takers in her long life got her age just right. This is amazing consistency for LA colonial censuses, especially over a span of 35 years. Even the priest at Ascension who recorded her burial in 1819 missed her age by only a couple of years.
She never remarried.
13. Wall of Names, 11, calls her Marguerite ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 834, 2421, calls her Marguerite ARCENEAUX, & gives her birth year & the names of her parents. See also Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 252; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 167, 177; "Ristigouche, 24 Oct 1760"; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 118.
14. Wall of Names, 9, calls her Marie ARSENEAU, & lists her singly.
I have found her in no other source, unless the editors of Wall of Names think she is the Marie/Marie-Anne, daughter of Joseph ARCENEAUX & Maria BERGERON, who married Isaac LEBLANC at St.-Jacques on 16 Nov 1789. See BRDR, 2:25, 467 (SJA-2, 8). The problem is, first, Wall of Names, 9, 11, list her parents separately, as if to say they were not married when they came to LA in 1765, something with which I disagree. Second, when Joseph ARCENEAUX & Marie BERGERON were counted in the Cabanocé census of Apr 1766 as a married couple, they had no children, so one may assume that all of their children were born in LA. See Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 168; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth Century Louisianians, 118. Third, when they were counted again at Cabanocé in Sep 1769, there was no daughter Marie in their household, unless 7-month-old Margueritte was Marie/Marie-Anne, as the St.-Jacques census of 1777 hints. See Bourgeois, p. 177; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 12. Even if Margueritte was Marie/Marie-Anne, she was not an Acadian immigrant to LA because she was born in c1769, after her parents had come to the colony.
So who was Marie ARSENEAU, the Acadian immigrant? I'll await Stephen White's DGFA-2 to see what he makes of this.
15. Wall of Names, 9, calls him Paul ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2404, calls him Paul ARCENEAUX, & says he was born in 1762 but give no birthplace; BRDR, 3:29 (SJA-4, 24), his death/burial record, calls him Pierre Paul ARCENEAUX, age about 40 yrs., husband of Élizabeth FONTENAU, & gives his parents' names. See also Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 168; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 11; De Ville, Acadian Coast, 1779, 16; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 249.
Where was he in 1769? See Bourgeois, p. 177.
His marriage to Élisabeth/Isabelle is extensively recorded in the birth/baptismal & marriage records of their children in BRDR, vols. 2 & 3, as well as his burial record.
16. Wall of Names, 9, calls him Pierre ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 834, 2402, the Beaubassin & LA sections, call him Pierre ARCENEAUX, gives his birth year, his parents' names & settlement in Acadia, his wife's name, his wife's parents' names & their settlement in Acadia, the approximate year of their marriage but not the place, & cites Dr. Thomas J. ARCENEAUX of the Agriculture Dept., USL now ULL), Lafayette, for assistance in identifying the 1793 succession in St. Martin Parish as belonging to this Pierre ARCENEAUX. Is Dr. ARCENEAUX a direct descendant of this Pierre ARCENEAUX? There is a "?" here after the reference to the British report at Halifax in Aug 1763 because there would have been 2 Pierre ARCENEAUXs at Halifax then with a wife & 1 child. See Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 252. West, Atlas of LA Surnames, 17, 148, hints that, although he signed the DAUTERIVE agreement & received land at Carencro in the Atakapas District, he did not go to the district and claim his land until the late 1780s. I contend that he went to the Atakapas with the rest of the BROUSSARD party & retreated to Cabanocé that fall to escape the epidemic that ravaged the Acadians along the Teche. West, p. 17, is the source for the number of cattle Pierre owned at the time of his death. West goes on to say that Pierre & his five sons (Louis, Cyprien, Alexandre, Pierre, fils, & Francois) "were among the leading stockmen-farmers of the Attakapas at the end of the eighteenth century," & that his sons "obtained land for cattle also in the prairies adjacent to the lower Bayou Plaquemine Brulée near present Crowley." Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:19, his succession record, calls him Pierre ARCENEAUX "of La Pointe de Beausejour, de l'Acadie," names his wife, & lists his children: Louis, Pierre, Alexandre, Francois, Cyprien, Rosalie, Marie, & Francoise. See also brochure accompanying Robert Dafford Mural, Acadian Memorial, St. Martinville, which calls him Pierre ARSENEAU, says he is figure 31 in the mural, & is the source of the quote about the DAUTERIVE agreement; <thecajuns.com/cardmoney.htm>; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 162, 173; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 7; De Ville, Acadian Coast, 1779, 11-12; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 116, 441.
I must pick on Bona Arsenault again. On pp. 2402, 2403 of his Généalogie, he insists that not 1 but 3 of Pierre ARCENEAUX's children were born before 1765, when Pierre & Anne came to LA with the BROUSSARD party. Arsenault would have us believe that son Louis was born in 1761 & son Cyprien in 1762. A close look at the various censuses in which this family is found will reveal that Bona is incorrect. In 1766 at Cabanoce/St.-Jacques, only daughter Rosalie is listed as a child of this couple. At Cabanoce in 1769, Rosalie has been joined by sisters Marie-Jeanne & Francoise, but no brothers. Finally, at St.-Jacques in 1777 appear Louis, age 7, & younger brother Pierre. Cyprien does not appear in any of the censuses at Cabanoce/St.-Jacques in which the names & ages of the children are listed. His death/burial record in Hébert, D., 3:12, says that he died in Lafayette Parish 20 May 1832, age 45. This gives him a birth year of 1787, not 1762! Who knows where Arsenault got his information.
17. Wall of Names, 9 (pl. 1L), calls him Pierre ARSENEAU 2, & lists him with his wife & 2 sons; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2402, the LA section, calls him Pierre ARCENEAUX, says he was born in 1735, probablement son of Jean-Baptiste [ARCENEAUX] & Anne CYR of Beaubassin, says he married Marie GODIN dit Lincour in c1760 but gives no place of marriage [Retigouche would be my guess], says she was born in 1744 but does not give her parents' names or her birthplace, says their children were Eusèbe, born in 1761 & Pierre in 1765, but gives no birthplaces, says that Pierre was deceased by 1769, when she occupied lot number 31 on the west side of the river at St.-Jacques with her second husband Basile PREJEAN & her 2 ARCENEAUX sons. See also Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 252; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 162, 174; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 116.
His estimated birth year, unfortunately, is taken from Arsenault, cited above. And there is a problem with his parents' identity, hence the "perhaps." Arsenault, p. 830, the Beaubassin section, says that Jean-Baptiste ARSENAULT, born in 1703, son of Abraham [ARSENAULT] & Jeanne GAUDET, married Anne CYR in c1728, but does not give her parents' names & lists only one child for Jean-Baptiste & Anne: daughter Marie-Blanche, born in 1748. Why does Arsenault not list Pierre as one of their children? Hence Arsenault's probablement on p. 2402. More telling, White, DGFA-1, 27, says that Jean-Baptiste, son of Abraham ARSENEAU & Jeanne GAUDET, born in c1707, married in c1730 but épse non identifée. White, p. 434, shows an Anne, daughter of Jean CYR & Françoise MELANSON & widow of François CORMIER, remarrying to François ARSENEAU dit Brélé, son of Abraham [ARSENEAU] & Jeanne GAUDET, at Beaubassin in Feb 1746 (the couple, in fact, needed a "disp 3-3 cons" in order to marry), but the marriage is too late to have produced a son born in c1735.
There is a ? after the reference to the British report at Halifax in Aug 1763 because there were 2 Pierre ARCENEAUXs at Halifax then with a wife & 1 child. See Jehn.
This Pierre died between Apr 1766 & Sep 1769 probably at Cabanocé, between the censuses there.
18. Wall of Names, 9, calls him Pierre ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2402, 2404, the LA section, calls him Pierre ARCENEAUX, says he was born in 1765, gives his parents' names, his wife's name, her parents' names, their marriage date & place, his death date & place, who his widow remarried, when & where; BRDR, 2:27, (SJA-2, 2), the record of his first marriage, calls him Pedro [ARCENEAUX], gives his parents' names, calls his wife Pelagie BABE, gives her parents' names, & says the witnessed to the marriage were Josef BURSUA & Francisca SABA; BRDR, 2:27, 131 (SJA-2, 3), the record of his second marriage, calls him Pedro ARSENO, calls his wife Angela BURSUA, gives neither of their parents' names, & says the witnesses to the marriage were Miguel GODE & Eleonor PRESAN [PREJEAN]; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:19, his burial record, calls him Pierre ARCENEAUX of the Mississippi, gives his parents' names, calls his wife Angelique BOURGEOIS, & says he died age 34. See also Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 162, 174; Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98; 9, 50, 74, 123. If he was born in New Orleans soon after his parents' arrival, he still belongs on this list because he was in utero when his mother stepped off the ship at New Orleans. Arsenault, 2404, says his only child was son Nicolas, born 1799, but the Assumption & Lafourche censuses, previously cited, say otherwise. Nicolas was indeed Pierre's son, born in late 1798, not long before his father died, & baptized 17 Mar 1799 at Attakapas, 2 1/2 months after his father had passed. See Hébert, D., 1-A:19. West, Atlas of LA Surnames, 17, 148, gives the date of his removal to the Attakapas District & where he settled there.
19. Not in Wall of Names. Arsenault, Généalogie, 2404, the LA section, calls him Pierre ARCENEAUX, says he was born in 1749, gives his probable parents' names, their home in Acadia, the name of his wife & her birth year of 1755, but not her parents' names, says that in 1777 he was at St.-Jacques on the Mississipi[sic] with the 2 young daughters of Pierre BOURGEOIS, Marie-Anne, born in 1774, & Lousie in 1775, and lists his children as Pierre, born in 1770, & Joseph in 1772, but gives no birthplaces. See also De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 7.
When did he reach LA? Which Marie BERGERON did he marry? When? Where? Was she the daughter of Jean-Baptiste BERGERON dit d'Amboise & Marguerite BERNARD who was age 14 in 1766, which would give her a birth year of 1752? What happened to him in LA?
20. Wall of Names, 9, calls her Rosalie ARSENEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2402, 2403, 2441, calls her Rosalie ARCENEAUX & Marie-Catherine dit Rosalie ARCENEAUX, says she was born in 1764 but gives no birthplace, gives her parents' names, her husband's name, his parents' names, & their place of marriage but no date of marriage; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-B:21 (Laf. Ch.: v.2, p.15, #42), her death/burial record, calls her Marie Catherine ARCENEAUX, widow of dec. Joseph Athanase BRAU, but does not give her parents' names; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-B:21 (Laf.Ct.Hse.: Succ. #79), her succession record, calls her Marie Catherine ARCENEAUX wid. of Joseph Athanase BRAUX, but does not give her parents' names. See also Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 162, 173; De Ville, Acadian Coast, 1779, 11; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 7; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 252; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 116, 441.
Why was she called Rosalie? Was that the third part of her given name?
I place a ? after the reference to the British report at Halifax in Aug 1763 because there would have been 2 Pierre ARCENEAUXs at Halifax then with a wife & 1 child, & Rosalie could have been that child.
Why is her marriage not in Hebert, D., Southwest LA Records?
21. Wall of Names, 9, calls her veuve BERNARD soeur [of Pierre ARSENEAU]. See also Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 162; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 116.
What was her first name? What happened to her in LA?
Copyright (c) 2006-24 Steven A. Cormier