Martin Benoit or Benoist dit Labrière, born
probably at Rochefort, France, in c1643, may have come to Acadia aboard L'Oranger
in 1671. The following year he married Marie Chaussegros at
Port-Royal.
Martin dit Labrière and his family were first counted at Port-Royal in
1678, when they already had four children, two daughters and two sons--the
oldest, a daughter, born soon after their marriage. In c1708, Martin
took his family to Pigiguit in the Minas Basin. He and Marie eventually
had 10 children, including five sons, all born at Port-Royal, who produced
families of their own. Four of Labrière and Marie's daughters
married into the Forest, Trahan, LePrince, Lejeune,
and Thibodeau families. He died at
Port-Royal, date and age unrecorded.
Oldest son Pierre,
called Pierre l'aîné, born in c1675, married Marie,
daughter of Michel Forest and Marie Hébert, at Port-Royal in c1695. They had five children, including two sons who
married into the Lejeune and Gaudet families. One of
Pierre l'aîné's daughters married into the Hamet family.
His younger son Pierre, fils settled at Ste.-Famille, Pigiguit,
before moving on to Île St.-Jean, today's Prince Edward Island, in c1749,
probably to escape British rule. He moved again to Baie-des-Espangnols on Île Royale, today's Cape Breton Island, in the early
1750s. Pierre l'aîné's
older son, Martin le jeune, remained at Pigiguit.
Clément, born in c1677, married
Anne, daughter of Antoine Babin and Marie Mercier and widow of Abraham Doiron,
probably at Port-Royal in c1705 and settled at Pigiguit.
They had seven children, including two sons who married into the Comeau
family. Two of Clément and Anne's daughters married into the Labauve and Rivet
families. Clément died probably at Pigiguit after June
1748.
Jean, born in c1681, married first to Marie-Anne,
daughter of Antoine Breau and Marguerite Babin, probably at Port-Royal in c1704, and then
to Marie, daughter of François Amireau dit Tourangeau and
Marie Pitre and widow of Joseph Mius d'Azy
of Cap-Sable, at Port-Royal in May 1731. Jean moved on to Cobeguit.
He and his first wife had 14 children, including four
sons who married into the Thériot, Comeau, Part, Thibodeau,
and Girouard families. Eight of Jean and Marie-Anne's daughters married into the
Dugas, Marcadet, LeBlanc, Thériot, Hébert,
Bourg, and Henry families. Jean had no children by his
second wife. In late 1751, Jean took his family from Cobeguit to Île
Royale and settled at Pointe-à-la-Jeunesse, today's Grand Narrows, before
moving on to Baie-de-Mordienne on the island's Atlantic coast.
Pierre, called Pierre le jeune, born
in c1683,
married Élisabeth or Isabelle, daughter of Guillaume LeJuge and Marie
Mercier, at
Port-Royal in c1703. They had 12 children, including six sons who
married into the Trahan, Viger, Gautrot, Vincent,
Lejeune, and Thériot families. Pierre le jeune
and Élisabeth's six daughters
married into the Lejeune dit Briard, Doiron, LeBlanc,
Guédry dit Labrador dit Labine, and Hébert families.
Pierre le jeune's
sons outdid their cousins in escaping British rule. One moved his family to Grande-Ascension on Île St.-Jean in
c1750.
Another moved to Île Royale in
the early 1750s, where he built a windmill at Petit-Bras d'Or on an island in
Rivière-aux-Habitants. Another of Pierre le jeune's
sons settled on Rivière du Moulin-à-Scie and at Port-Lajoie on Île St.-Jean.
Two other sons took their families to L'Anse-aux-Matelot on Île St.-Jean in
the early 1750s. Another son moved to Louisbourg on Île Royale in
c1751. None of Pierre le jeune's sons remained at Pigiguit.
Youngest son, Claude, born in c1686, married Jeanne, daughter of
Etienne Hébert, fils and Jeanne Comeau, at Grand-Pré in January 1711. They settled on Rivière-des-Habitants
and Rivière-aux-Canards at Minas and had 12 children, including six sons
who married into the LeBlanc, Girouard, Bourgeois, Savoie,
Babin, Daigle, and Thibodeau families. Claude and
Jeanne's
six daughter married into the Melanson, Landry, Vincent, LeBlanc,
and Hébert dit Manuel families.
[For more of this family in pre- and post-disperal Acadia and Canada, see
Book Three]
Thus, in only three generations,
descendants of Martin Benoit dit Labrière had established roots in
nearly a dozen settlements in greater Acadia: at Annapolis Royal; in the Minas
Basin at Rivière-aux-Canards, Pigiguit, and Cobeguit; at Memramcook in the
trois rivières area; and on Île St.-Jean and Île Royale in the French
Maritimes.
~
Other Benoit families lived
in greater Acadia, but none of their descendants emigrated to Louisiana:
Pierre, son
of master apothecary François Benoit and Marie-Anne Tibierge,
was born at St.-Médard-de-Verteuil, Poitiers, France, in
c1695. He came to Acadian as a young soldier and married Anne, daughter
of François Levron, at Port-Royal in c1713. They had two
daughters and no sons. Pierre became an officer, which was unusual for
the son of an apothecary. In May 1723, he
was a second ensign. By 1730, he was serving as an ensign of foot.
In April 1738, he was promoted to lieutenant. In April 1750, he became a
captain. A decade later, in February 1760, he became a Chevalier de
St.-Louis, one of the most prestigious awards in the French army, so his
service must have been exceptional.
While Pierre was serving in the French fortress at Louisbourg on Île Royale,
Anne died in January 1733. He remarried to Marie-Anne, daughter of
Thomas Jacau de Fiedmont and Anne Melanson, in January
1734. Marie-Anne gave him six more children, including two sons.
The family resided at Port Lajoie, Île St.-Jean, in 1738, was back at Louisbourg in 1739, and lived at Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, in the early
1740s. Pierre's oldest daughter married into the Dupleix dit
Sylvain family at Louisbourg in the early 1750s. His other children may
not have married, so, except for its blood, this Acadian line of the Benoit
family may not have survived. Pierre died at Tonnay-Charente, France, in
August 1763; he was 68 years old.
~
Pierre, son of François Benoit
and Marie-Anne Tibierge of Verteuil, St.-Medard, Poitier, France,
widower of Mae-Anne Levron, married Anne, daughter of Thomas
Jacaud of Port-Dauphin, Québec, at Louisbourg in January 1734.
Their daughter Geneviève married Silvain, son of Claude Dupleix, at
Louisbourg in February 1753.
~
Martin, son of master surgeon
Étienne Benoit and Jeanne Peyrelongue of Barsac, Guyenne,
France, became a capitaine de navire marchand, or ship's captain, and
married Jeanne, daughter of Antoine Perre of Louisbourg, at
Louisbourg in December 1734.
~
In 1752, Jean Benoist, age
42, native of La Rochelle, was a fisherman at Lorembec on Île Royale.
LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT
[For the family's travails
during the Great Upheaval, see
Book
Six]
LOUISIANA: WESTERN
SETTLEMENTS
Descendants of Martin dit
Labrière Benoit came early to Louisiana. The first of
them to reach the colony were residents of Pigiguit whom the British had deported to Maryland in the autumn of
1755. They reached New Orleans in February 1768 with the large extended
family led by the Breau brothers of Pigiguit.
The previous contingents of Maryland exiles who had reached Louisiana in 1766
and 1767 had gone first to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques, now St. James Parish (the
original Acadian community on the river above New Orleans) and to St.-Gabriel
d'Iberville, also called Manchac, not far above Cabanocé--both settlements
known collectively as the Acadian Coast. Spanish
Governor Ulloa insisted that the Breau party--which numbered nearly 150
individuals in 29 families--go to the new Spanish outpost, San Luìs de
Natchez, far upriver from the other Acadian settlements. The Breau
brothers refused and went into hiding to avoid deportation at the hands of the
angry governor. The members of the Breau party reluctantly
moved to the new settlement. This dispute was one reason why Acadians
joined the French Creoles in a revolt against Ulloa in October 1768. The
next year, after he suppressed the rebellion, Ulloa's successor, General
Alejandro O'Reilly, allowed the Natchez Acadians to leave Fort San Luìs and move to
other settlements closer to their relatives:
Marie Benoit,
age 30, followed husband Jean-Charles Breau of Minas, age
35, and four of their children to Natchez. After they were allowed
to leave, they moved down to St.-Gabriel on the Acadian Coast, where
Jean-Charles's kin also settled.
Étienne Benoit came as an 18-year-old orphan with the Breau clan.
After the
Spanish authorities gave the Natchez Acadians permission to leave the
settlement, Étienne moved to St.-Jacques on the Acadian Coast, where he married a Breau.
Soon after his marriage, he crossed the Atchafalaya Basin to the Attakapas District,
where he created a family of his own.
Descendants of Étienne BENOIT
(c1751-1787; Martin dit Labrière, Jean)
Étienne, son of Claude Benoit
and Anne Comeau, born probably at Pigiguit in c1751, came to Louisiana
from Maryland as a teenaged orphan. After leaving Fort San Luìs de
Natchez, he
married Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadians Charles Breau and Claire
Trahan of
l'Assomption, Pigiguit, at
St.-Jacques in January 1771. Madeleine also had come to
Louisiana from Maryland in 1768 and had lived at Natchez. After their
wedding, they lived for a time at
St.-Gabriel de Manchac and Ascension, upriver from St.-Jacques. Later in the
1770s, they crossed the Atchafalaya Basin and settled at Carencro, at the northern edge of the Attakapas
District. Their daughters married into the Huval family and
perhaps into the Cormier family as well.
They had seven sons, but only the younger ones perpetuated this
line of the family. Étienne died at Carencro in December
1787, age 36. His widow became the third wife of
Michel
Cormier
of Opelousas in February 1789,
but a year and a half later she was a widow again.
1
Oldest son Joseph-Simon,
called Simon, born on the river in c1771, married Élisabeth or Isabelle-Josèphe,
daughter of fellow Acadian Alexandre Aucoin and Isabelle Duon of Belle-Île-en-Mer,
France, at Attakapas in January 1793. Simon died in Lafayette Parish in
August 1834, age 64; his succession was filed at the
Vermilionville courthouse the following January. He and his wife may
have been that rare Acadian couple who had no children.
2
Bénoni, born on the river in the early 1770s, died at St.-Gabriel in September 1779, age
unrecorded.
3
Étienne, fils, born at
Ascension on the river in June 1773, probably died
young.
4
Charles, baptized at the
St.-Jacques church in April 1777, age unrecorded, also may have died
young.
5
François-Xavier, called Xavier, born at Ascension in March 1779, married Marguerite,
daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Michel Trahan and his Creole wife
Marguerite Faustin of the lower Vermilion valley,
at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in September 1807.
Their son Michel was born at Carencro in August 1808, François
Rosémond died 8 days after his birth in July 1816, and François Octave,
called Octave, was born in November 1820 but died in August 1826 (the
priest who recorded his burial said that Octave was 10 1/2 years old when he
died, but he was 5 1/2). Their daughters married into the Granger,
Hébert,
and Lagrange families. Xavier's succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse
in July 1823; he would have
been age 44 that year.
Michel, living in the Calcasieu area at the
time, married Elise, Lise, or Elodie, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Granger
and Pélagie Broussard of Calcasieu, at the Grand
Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1829. Their son Michel,
fils was born at Calcasieu and baptized at the Vermilionville church,
Lafayette Parish, age 10 months, in
November 1834, Jean Baptiste was baptized at age 6 months in May 1837, Julien le jeune was born in February
1842, and Jacques in July 1850. In December 1850, the federal census taker in Calcasieu Parish
counted a single slave--a 30-year-old female mulatto--on Michel Benoit's
farm.
Michel, fils married Marie
Cléonise, daughter of
fellow Acadians
Alexandre Babineaux and Cléonise Dugas, probably in Calcasieu Parish in February 1854.
During the War of 1861-65, Michel,
fils served in Company A of Daly's/Ragdale's Battalion Texas
Cavalry, a unit that recruited heavily in Calcasieu Parish later in the war.
Jean Baptiste married Marie Onesia,
daughter of fellow Acadians Lucien Cormier and Célestine
Babineaux, at the Vermilionville church,
Lafayette Parish, in November
1858. Their son Clément Dupré was born in Lafayette Parish in
October 1859.
Julien "of Calcasieu" married Marie
Emeline or Emelina,
daughter of fellow Acadians Laisan Broussard and Mélasie
Richard, at the Grand
Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1861. They settled probably
at Carencro. Their son Jean Théophile was born in October 1863,
and Cleopha in March 1866 but died at age 1 in August 1867.
During the War of 1861-65,
Julien
served in Company K of the 2nd Regiment Louisiana Reserve Corps, a local unit
raised in Lafayette Parish that fought against prairie Jayhawkers during the final
months of the war.
6
Éloi, baptized at St.-Jacques
in June 1781, age unrecorded, married Marie-Eugénie, called Eugénie, daughter of fellows Acadian François Louvière
and Marie-Louise Thibodeau, at Attakapas in
May 1801. Their son François le jeune was born at Fausse Point on the
Teche in August 1802, and Éloi dit Désiré, also called Éloi,
fils, in January 1820. Their daughters married into the Bonin
and Melançon families. Éloi, père remarried to Christine, daughter of
fellow Acadian Jean-Baptiste Labauve
and Françoise Broussard and widow of Agricole Landry, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin
Parish, in September 1821. Their child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded,
died in August 1822, and another child, perhaps a son, name
unrecorded, died 12 days after its birth in October 1823. Éloi, père died in Lafayette Parish in October 1846; the priest who recorded his burial said
that Éloi was age 70 when he died, but he was 65; his
succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse the following
month. In August 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish
counted 5 slaves--1 male and 4 females, all black, ranging in age from 30 to
5--on the Widow Éloi Benoit's farm in the parish's western district.
In July 1860, the federal
census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 9 slaves--1 male and 8 females, 2
blacks and 7 mulattoes, ranging in age from 57 to 2, the 6-year-old female
mulatto "deaf & dumb," living in 2 houses--on the Widow Éloi Benoit's
farm.
6a
François le jeune, by his
father's first wife, married
French Creole Anne Cléonise, called Cléonise, Montet probably
in Lafayette Parish in the late 1820s. Their son Valsin was born
in Lafayette Parish in April 1830, Éloi le jeune was baptized at the
Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 7 days, in January 1835 but died 3 days later, Jean
Baptiste was born in February 1836, Désiré in July 1841, and Abraham
or Abram
in January 1847. Their daughter married into the Comeaux
family. In July 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted a single slave--a 20-year-old black
male--on François Benoit's farm next to Valsin Benoit.
Valsin married Adélaïde Idea, called Idea, daughter of
fellow Acadians Joseph Evariste Broussard and Scholastique
Girouard, at the St. Martinville church in April 1851. They settled probably near
Youngsville. Their son Numa was
born in June 1856, Joseph Albert, called Albert, in March
1859 but died at age 1 in June 1860, Gustave was born in
January 1866, and Filias, also called Filia, in
March 1870 but died 9 days after his birth. Their daughter married
into the Domingue family. In July 1860, the federal
census taker in Lafayette Parish counted a single slave--an 18-year-old black female--on
Valsin Benoit's farm next to François Benoit.
Désiré married Émelia, called
Melia, daughter
of fellow Acadians Édouard Isidore Broussard and Aspasie
Broussard, at the Vermilionville
church, Lafayette Parish, in September 1861. They settled probably
at Carencro. Their son Éloi
le jeune was born in August 1862, and William in November 1863.
During the War of 1861-65, Désiré
served in Company E of the 7th
Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, raised in Lafayette and St.
Martin parishes, which fought in Louisiana.
Abram married cousin Idea or
Edia,
daughter of fellow Acadians Julien Benoit and Marie Zéolide
Babineaux, at the Vermilionville church in April 1870.
6b
Éloi dit Désiré, by his
father's first wife, married Clémentine, daughter of
fellow Acadians Éloi Landry and Julien Trahan, at the
Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in February 1840, and remarried to
Celima, 18-year-old daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Chevalier Thibodeaux
and Marguerite Thibodeaux,, at the
Vermilionville church in January 1843. Their daughters married into the
Broussard and Comeaux
families. Did Éloi dit Désiré father any sons?
7
Youngest son Augustin, born at
Carencro in April 1786, married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians
Charles
Dominique Babineaux
and Marguerite Blandine
Thibodeaux, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish,
in February 1809. Their son Edmond or Emond was born at Carencro in
September 1809. Augustin remarried to Anastasie, daughter of fellow
Acadian Joseph Babineaux
and Félicité Cormier and his dead wife's first cousin, at the St. Martinville church in August
1815. Their son Julien was born at Carencro in February 1817, Émilien in July
1818, Rosémond in July 1823, Hippolyte was baptized at the
Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 2 months, in May 1826 but died at
age 9 in August 1835, Arvillien was born in October 1827 but died at age 14 in September 1842, Simon died age 3 weeks in December 1829, Augustin,
fils was born in January 1831, Emérant Lessaint in August 1832 but died
at age 10 in September 1842, and Aurelien
was born in March 1834 but died at age 5 months the following August. Their
daughters married into the Arceneaux, Babineaux, and Comeaux
families. In August 1850, the federal census taker in
Lafayette Parish counted 10 slaves--6 males and 4 females, all black, ranging
in age from 50 to 1--on Augustin Benoit's farm in the parish's western district. In June 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette
Parish counted 11 slaves--7 males and 4 females, all black except for 1
mulatto, ranging in age from 50 to 3, living in 2 houses--on Augustin Benoit's
farm next to Rosémond Benoit. Augustin died probably at
Carencro in August 1868; the Vermilionville priest who recorded the burial,
and who did not give any parents' names or even mention a wife,
said that Augustin died "at age 84 yrs.," but he was 82; his
succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse two weeks after
his death.
7a
Edmond, by his father's first wife, married cousin
Marie Eugénie, called Eugénie, daughter
of fellow Acadians Joseph dit Joson Babineaux and Céleste
Comeaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in October
1828. Their son Edmond, fils was baptized at the Vermilionville
church, age 2 months, in February 1840 but died at age 2 1/2 in August 1842,
and Augustin was born in August 1848. Their daughters married
into the Breaux and Prejean families. In June 1860, the
federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 15 slaves--8 males and 7 females, 9 blacks and 6
mulattoes, ages 40 years to 6 months, living in 3 houses--on Edmond Benoit's
farm.
Augustin married cousin Marie
Azelia or Azelida, daughter of fellow Acadians Gérard Babineaux
and Eugènie Bourg, at the
Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in January 1867. Their
son Théophile Joseph was born in Lafayette Parish in January
1869.
7b
Émilien, by his father's second
wife, married cousin Elisa, daughter of fellow Acadians Arvillien LeBlanc
and Julienne Babineaux, at the
Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in April 1839.
Émilien's succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in
September 1855, age 26. Did he father any sons?
7c
Julien, by his father's second wife, married cousin Marie Zéolide, called Joline, daughter of fellow
Acadians Charles Dominique Babineaux, fils and Marguerite
Melançon, in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in January
1843, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry
Parish, in April 1844. Their son Onésime was born in St. Landry
Parish in November 1845, and a child, name and age unrecorded,
perhaps a son, died in Lafayette Parish in September 1851. Their daughters married into
the Benoit and Leger families.
7d
Rosémond, by his father's second wife, married
Anastasie Eremise, called Eremise, daughter of fellow Acadian François Savoy
III and his French-Canadian wife Louise Emeranthe Morin, at the
Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in July 1849, and remarried to Estelle, daughter of
fellow Acadians Simon Eugène Breaux and Eugènie Sonnier, at the Vermilionville church in
May 1853. They settled probably near Carencro. Their
son Simon was born in October 1854 but died at age 15 1/2 in May 1870, Éloi
was born in September 1859 but died at age 1 1/2 in February 1861, Félix
was born in May 1864, Augustin le jeune in March 1866, and a child,
name unrecorded, perhaps a son, died at birth in June 1868. In June 1860, the federal census taker in
Lafayette Parish counted 2 slaves--a 24-year-old black male and an 11-year-old black
female--on Rosémond Benoit's farm next to Augustin Benoit.
~
In January 1769, two Benoit
families left Port Tobacco, Maryland, aboard the ill-starred English schooner Britannia:
Pierre-Olivier Benoit, called
Olivier, age 40, sailed with second wife Marie-Geneviève Brasseur, age 45, whom he had married in Maryland in
c1765, and three children by his first wife--Jean-Charles, age 10, Marie-Rose, age 8,
and Madeleine, age 6.
Also aboard were three of Olivier's nieces,
daughters of his brother Jean-Baptiste--Marie-Rose,
age 22, Marie-Anne, age 15, and Marguerite Benoit, age 9--who traveled with their mother, stepfather, and
three step-siblings.
No group of Acadians who came to
Louisiana suffered as much as these folks to get to
the promised land. The Britannia (sometimes spelled Britania)
left Port Tobacco, Maryland, for New Orleans on 5 January 1769 with seven Acadian families aboard.
Also on the ship were eight Catholic German families who, for reasons
of their own, no longer wanted to live in a British colony. The crew of
the Britannia sighted the coast of Louisiana on February 21, but the captain of the ship,
either through bad luck or incompetence, missed
the mouth of the Mississippi because of heavy fog. Strong winds drove
the ship westward, and a few days later the Britannia ran onto the
Texas coast at Espiritu Santo Bay. The crew went ashore and located a Spanish officer, who
suspected them of being spies or smugglers. Instead of giving them food
and fresh
water, he arrested them and ordered his men to escort everyone on the ship to
the interior post of La Bahía. The passengers and crew of the Britannia
remained at La Bahía for six long months,
waiting for the Spanish authorities to decide their fate. While at La
Bahía, they were forced to work as semi-slaves around the presidio and on
nearby ranches. Finally, in early September, a Spanish officer arrived
at the presidio with instructions for the
commandant there to send the captives overland to Natchitoches in central
Louisiana. They could not return to the abandoned Britannia because the coastal
Indians had stripped the vessel so thoroughly it was no longer seaworthy.
On September 11, the Acadians joined the other passengers and the English crew on
the 420-mile trek to Natchitoches, which they did not reach until late October.
Louisiana Governor O'Reilly, meanwhile, had decided that the Acadian families in
the group would settle at Natchitoches because of their familiarity with the growing of
rye and wheat. Natchitoches settlers welcomed the newcomers and supplied them with food, tools,
and animals. The German families were
told that they could continue on to New Orleans via the Red and Mississippi
rivers, pick up supplies, and then settle at St.-Gabriel d'Iberville on the
Mississippi. The Germans accompanied
the English crew to New Orleans and arrived there on November 9. Most of the
Acadians, meanwhile, refused to remain at Natchitoches, which was too far away
from their compatriots to the south. They, too, left the Red River valley
and, after Spanish authorities relented, joined their relatives in the established Acadian communities at St.-Gabriel
and Opelousas.
After their harrying
adventure in Spanish Texas, the Benoits lived at
St.-Gabriel for a while and then crossed the Atchafalaya Basin to the western
prairies:
Olivier and Marie-Geneviève had no
more children in Louisiana. Olivier died at Opelousas in December
1787; he was 58 years old. His daughter Marie-Rose married twice, first
to Marin, son of fellow Acadian Amand Prejean, probably at Attakapas in
the late 1770s, and to Daniel, son of Anglo American Jonathan Boone of
North Carolina and Kentucky, at Attakapas in July 1800. Olivier's
daughter Madeleine married three times, first to Amand, son of French Canadian Dol Martin, at Attakapas in September 1787, then to André-Guillaume,
son of Bernard Favron of St.-Malo, France, at Opelousas in October
1789, and finally to fellow Acadian Augustin-Rémi, called Rémi, son of
probably Pierre Boudreau of Pigiguit and widower of Judith-Philippe Martin,
in St. Landry Parish in July 1815. Son Jean-Charles followed his parents to the Opelousas District, where he married.
Two of Olivier's three Benoit nieces
also married and settled on the western prairies. Marie-Rose, called
Rose or Rosalie, married twice, first to Romain, son of French Creole Pierre Delafosse
of Natchitoches, at Natchitoches Post in December 1769. They
moved to the Opelousas District.
Marie-Rose remarried to Joseph, son of Spanish Creole Charles Campos,
at Opelousas in January 1796. She died at Opelousas in April 1801, in
her early 50s. Marguerite married Louis, son of fellow
Acadian Urbain Broussard of Pigiguit probably at Opelousas in
c1775. Marie-Anne may have remained at Natchitoches and settled there.
Descendants of Jean-Charles
BENOIT (c1759-1813; Martin dit Labrière, Pierre
l'aîné, Pierre, fils)
Jean-Charles, called
Charles, only son of Pierre-Olivier Benoit
of Ste.-Famille, Pigiguit,
and his first wife Susanne Boudreaux, was born in Maryland in c1759.
He came to Louisiana in 1769 aboard the ill-fated Britannia. After his adventure in
Texas and the long trek to Natchitoches, he followed his
father, stepmother, and sisters to the western prairies, where he married Anne, called
Nanette, daughter of fellow Acadian François Savoie of St.-Jacques and
Attakapas, at Attakapas in September 1785. They settled at first in the
Opelousas District. In the early 1800s, they moved to Le
Petite-Anse, now Avery Island, at the southern edge of the Attakapas District
near New Iberia, and then to Grand Bois, also in the old Attakapas
District. Their daughters married into the Stouts family.
Jean Charles died at Grand Bois in January 1813; the priest who recorded his
burial said that Jean-Charles was age about 50 when he died; he
was closer to his mid-50s. His sons created some of the most prolific
lines of the family.
1
Their oldest son, name unrecorded,
died at Opelousas at age 1 month in October 1786.
2
Jean-Baptiste, baptized at
Opelousas in October 1789, age unrecorded, married Hélène, daughter of
French Canadian Louis Roger dit Brisbois and his Acadian wife
Marie Landry of Carencro,
at the home of Sylvère Mouton of Carencro in March 1812.
They moved southwest to
Bayou Queue de Tortue on the prairie west of the Vermilion valley. Their son Jean
Baptiste, fils was born in March 1822.
They also had a son named Théodule. Their daughter
married into the Jagneau family. Jean Baptiste, père
died probably at Carencro in July 1858; the Grand Coteau priest who recorded
the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Jean
Baptiste died "at age 75 yrs.," so this probably was him.
2a
Jean Baptiste, fils
may have married Anglo American Rosalie Strickland, widow of Anare Meche,
in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in June 1840, and remarried to
Marcellite, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Lebert and his
Anglo-Creole wife Émelie Hayes, at the Opelousas church, St.
Landry Parish, in October 1842. Their son Adolphe died probably
at Carencro at age 2 months in October 1843, Jean was born in December
1849 but died at age 3 1/2 in March 1853, Charles was born in
October 1852, Joseph Doustan in July 1855, and Jules in April
1860. Their daughters married into the Boudreaux
and Bourgeois
families.
2b
Théodule married French Creole Emma, sometimes called Anne,
daughter of Foreign Frenchman Antoine Forestier
and his Acadian wife Anne Marguerite Blanchard,
in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in January 1854. Their son Joseph
Homere had been born probably at Carencro in March 1848, Jean
Baptiste Honoré in December 1849, Antoine Aurelien in November
1857, and Henri Auvignac in September 1862. Their daughters
married into the Bourque and Richard families.
3
Joseph, baptized at Opelousas,
age unrecorded, in June 1791, married Marcelline or Marcellite, daughter of
fellow Acadians Jean Bourque and Marguerite
Richard of Prairie Basse near Grand Coteau, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish,
in May 1816. Their son Joseph Durelle, called Joseph,
fils, was born at Carencro in March 1820, Agricole was baptized at the Grand Coteau
church, St. Landry Parish, age 10 months, in December 1822, Neuville was baptized at
the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 3 months, in October 1828, Jean
Rosiclair, called Rosiclair, was born in January 1831, Aurelien in August 1833, and François
Fedorin, called Fedorin, was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 1, in August 1837. Their
daughter Clementine married into the Clément, Royer, and Thibodeaux
families. Joseph, père's succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse
in December 1862; he
would have been in his early 70s that year.
3a
Joseph, fils
married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Julien Babineaux and
Christine Prejean, in a civil ceremony in
Lafayette Parish in May 1840, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau
church, St. Landry Parish, in July 1846. They settled probably near
Carencro. Their son Jean was born in
January 1846. Joseph, fils may have died at Carencro in June 1848,
age 28.
3b
Agricole married Julie, daughter of
fellow Acadian Jean Babineaux and his Creole wife Hortense Perry, in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in June 1841, and sanctified the
marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1847. Their son Fillio
died probably at Carencro at age 3 months in February 1843, Émilien
was born in November 1845, Jean De Theate in January 1849, François
Fedorin or Fridolin in January 1851, Pierre Philias was
baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 2, in October 1854, Omer was born in May
1866, and Dema near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in June 1869.
3c
Jean Rosiclair married fellow
Acadian Émilie Thibodeaux probably in St.
Landry Parish in the late 1850s. Their son Joseph le jeune was
born in St. Landry Parish in July 1857. Rosiclair's succession
was filed at the Abbeville church, Vermilion Parish, in 1866; he
would have been age 35 that year.
3d
François Fedorin married Belzire,
daughter of fellow Acadians Marcellin Thibodeaux and Louise
Broussard and widow of Joseph
Istre, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in August 1857.
They settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish. Their son Edval François was born in September
1862.
3e
Aurelien married fellow Acadian Zelmire Broussard
probably near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in the late 1850s, and remarried
to Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Béloni Broussard and Joséphine
Landry, at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but
now in Acadia Parish, in May 1866, unless Marie and Zelmire were the same
person and the Church Point wedding was a validation of a civil union.
4
Denis-Olivier, called Olivier,
born at Opelousas in October 1793, married Marguerite, daughter of fellow
Acadians Joseph Richard and Pélagie Babin of L'Anse, St. Martin Parish, at the St.
Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in January 1816. Their son Gustave
was born at La Pointe, on the upper Teche near present-day Breaux Bridge, in
March 1816 but died at L'île des Cypres, or Cypress Island, today's Lake
Martin, at age 4 in October 1820, François Azolin was born in St.
Martin Parish in April
1826, and Joseph near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in October 1829. Their daughters married into the
Trahan and Weekly families. Did any of Olivier's sons
marry?
5
François-Eufroi, born
probably at Petite-Anse in September 1801, married fellow Acadian Aspasie Guidry
probably in St. Martin Parish in the early 1820s. They settled near
Carencro. Their son Jean
was baptized at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 17 months, in
August 1826, Placide at age 11 months in December 1828, Joseph was born in July 1829, Alcide
was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 1, in May 1837, François
Oscar, called Oscar, was born in July 1838, and Cyprien in December 1843.
Their daughter married into the Breaux family.
5a
Placide married cousin Euphémie Guidry probably in St. Landry Parish in the early 1850s.
Their son Albert was baptized at the Opelousas church, St. Landry
Parish, age 1, in October 1856, and Zéphirin was born in July 1860.
During the War of 1861-65, Placide
served in Company K of the 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, raised in St. Landry Parish,
which fought in
Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
5b
During the War of 1861-65,
Cyprien
served in Company K of the Chalmette Regiment Louisiana Volunteer State
Troops Militia Infantry, which fought in Louisiana during the early part of the
war. Cyprien married Azélie, daughter of fellow Acadians Dosité Blanchard
and Marie Azélie Dupuis, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in
November 1865. They settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry
but now in Acadia Parish. Their son Jean Baptiste was born in
January 1869.
5c
François Oscar married Marie
Cléorine, called Cléorine, daughter of fellow Acadian Rosémond Richard
and Anastasie Poirier and widow of Firmin Breaux, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish
in March 1866, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point church, then
in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in January 1867. They settled
near Church Point, where a daughter was born two years before their civil
marriage.
6
Youngest son Charles-Cyprien,
sometimes called Cyprien, born
probably at Petite-Anse in August 1803, married Claire or Clarisse, daughter of fellow
Acadians Augustin Guidry and Scholastique Robichaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette
Parish, in April 1830. Their son Valsin was baptized at the
Vermilionville church, age 5 months, in May 1831, Laissaint at age 13
months in June 1835, and Jean
Dupré was born in August 1847. Their daughter married into the Teal
family.
Valsin married Eloise or Loise,
daughter of fellow Acadian Antoine Boudreaux, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry
Parish, in July 1850. They settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry
but now in Acadia Parish. Their son Gerasin was born in June 1851, Cyprien le jeune in October 1852, Laissaint
le jeune in December 1855, Valsin,
fils in August 1860, and Aladin Joseph in November
1862 but died at age 5 1/2 in July 1868.
Gerasin married Marie Elida,
daughter of French Creole Syphorien Meche, at the Grand Coteau
church, St. Landry Parish, in November 1870.
~
Two orphaned
sisters, daughters of Alexis Benoit and Hélène Comeau, came to Louisiana
by the mid-1770s probably from St.-Domingue, today's Haiti. The
sisters likely were born in Massachusetts, where their parents were exiled
in 1755, and followed other Acadians to St.-Domingue in the early 1760s,
from whence they came to Louisiana:
Élisabeth Benoit, remained on the river, where she
married at Ascension on the Acadian Coast.
Anne Benoit left the river and moved
to the Attakapas District, where she married Amand, son of fellow Acadian
Joseph
Broussard
dit Beausoleil and widower of Hélène Landry, in May
1775. Anne died in St. Martin Parish in September 1830, in her
early 70s.
~
Two Acadian Benoits who came to
Louisiana from France in 1785 settled on upper Bayou Lafourche before
crossing the Atchafalaya Basin during the 1790s. One of them failed to establish a
family line on the prairies, but the other, who had married a young widow soon after he reached the colony,
settled in the Opelousas District and created a family line of his own:
Descendants of Nicolas-Jean-Sébastien
BENOIT (1760-?; Martin dit Labrière, Jean, Claude)
Nicolas-Jean-Sébastien, called
Sébastien, son of Augustin Benoit and Françoise Thériot, was
born at St.-Servan, France, near St.-Malo, in November 1760. When he
was three years old, he followed his parents to the Falkland Islands and
lived in that forbidding place for five years. His family was back in France by 1768,
and Sébastien
came of age there. He evidently followed his family to either Île
St.-Pierre or Île Miquelon, off the southern coast of Newfoundland, in the
1770s. The British likely deported his family to La Rochelle, France, in
1778 during the American Revolution. It is not clear which, if any, of the Seven Ships he
took to Louisiana in 1785; he appears on neither the embarkation nor
debarkation rolls of any of the expeditions, so he may have gone to Louisiana after
1785. He first appears in Louisiana records in August 1789, when he
married Jeanne, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean De La Forestrie and
Marie-Madeleine Bonnière and widow of Joseph Hébert, at Lafourche. Jeanne had come to Louisiana with her husband and five young
children aboard Le St.-Rémi, the fourth of the Seven Ships, in
September 1785. Her husband died at Lafourche by January 1788, when
she was listed in the census there as a widow. She probably gave
Sébastien no children. Jeanne died on upper Bayou Lafourche by
December 1795, when Sébastien was listed as a widower in the Valenzuéla
census. Soon after her death, Sébastien crossed the Atchafalaya Basin
to the Opelousas District. His uncle Étienne Benoit, who had
come to Louisiana from Maryland in 1768, had settled at Carencro, near the
southern edge of the Opelousas District, in the late 1770s, so this probably
was Sébastien's motivation to go to the western prairies. Sébastien remarried to Hippolythe,
also called Pauline, daughter of Barthélemy Lebleu and Marie-Josèphe
Lamirande of Calcasieu,
probably at Opelousas in August 1800. He and his new wife settled near her family at the extreme western end of the Opelousas District
along the Calcasieu River near present-day Lake
Charles. Their daughters married into the Courvello or Courvelle,
Lacase, Servant, and Soileau families.
Augustin or Auguste le
jeune, by his father's second wife, born probably on the Calcasieu in the first decade of the 1800s, married Marie
Tarsile, called Tarsile,
daughter of fellow Acadians André Préjean and Marie Bernard, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette
Parish, in December 1828. Their son André, born probably at
Calcasieu, was baptized at the
Vermilionville church, age 6 months, in April 1830, and Lucien at age 16
days in November 1831 but died
2 days later. Auguste remarried to Marie Eusèide or Zèide, daughter of
fellow Acadian François Guidry and his Creole wife Célestine
Dartes and widow of François Gerbron,
at the Vermilionville church in March 1834. Their son Auguste,
fils was born near Carencro in October 1835, Sébastien le
jeune was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 9 1/2 months, in January
1839, François was born in May 1842, Alfred in Vermilion Parish
in June 1849, Étienne
in January 1854, and Éloi in August 1861. Their daughter married into the Cormier
family. In November 1850, the federal census taker in Vermilion Parish
counted a single slave--a 45-year-old black female--on Augustin Benoit's
farm in Ward 6 of the parish's Western District.
Auguste, fils, by his
father's second wife,
married fellow Acadian Émelie or Amelia Broussard probably in Vermilion Parish in the early
1850s. Their son Antoine was born in Vermilion Parish in
August 1853, Sébastien le jeune in April 1855, and Joseph in
November 1860.
André, by his father's first wife, married
French Creole Marthe, also called
Emma, Mallet
probably in Vermilion Parish in the early 1850s. Their son Alcide
was born in Vermilion Parish in April 1854, Albert in
March 1859, and Alcée in February 1870.
François, by his father's second wife, married Adèle Mallet
at the Abbeville church, Vermilion Parish, in August 1859. Their son Antoine
Cleopha was born in Vermilion Parish in May 1860, Numa
in February 1862, and Jules in November 1866.
Alfred, by father's second wife, likely married cousin Ozelia Benoit. Their son Auguste was born near
Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in December 1869.
Donatien BENOIT (c1777-1797;
Martin dit Labrière, Pierre le jeune, Claude)
Donatien, eldest son of Grégoire Benoit
and Marie-Rose Carret, born probably at Nantes, France, in c1777, came
to Louisiana with his parents and siblings aboard Le St.-Rémi, the
fourth of the Seven Ships, and followed them to upper Bayou Lafourche.
When he came of age, he crossed the Atchafalaya Basin to the Attakapas
District, where he died in August 1797. He was only 20 years old and
probably did not marry.
~
Other BENOITs on the Western
Prairies
Area church and civil records make
it difficult to link many Benoits in the western parishes with known
Acadian lines of the family there:
____ Benoit, "an Acadian
or Canadian," "hired or engaged" by Mr. Despaux, died
"at his home" in the Opelousas District in February 1797. The
priest who recorded the Acadian/Canadian's burial did not give his
first name or his parents' names.
Octave Benoit married Adèle
Racca
in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in January 1844. The parish
clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couples' parents' names. One
wonders if he was the third and youngest son of François Xavier Benoit,
who, according to church records, was called Francois Octave and Octave and
was born
in November 1820 but died at age "10 1/2," actually 5 1/2, in August 1826.
Oddly, daughters Émilie and Élodie were born to Octave Benoit
and Odile/Odille Raca in Lafayette Parish and near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in
March 1866 and October 1868, many years after their marriage.
François Théodore,
son of Charlotte Benoit, married Estelle, daughter of Narcisse Rochon,
in a civil ceremony in St. Martin Parish in June 1846. The parish clerk who
recorded the marriage did not give the groom's father's name.
Michel Benoit married
Adelina
Benoit, place and date unrecorded.
Their son Narcisse was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in
February 1848.
____ Benoit,
married to _____ Babineaux, died in Lafayette Parish in June 1848,
age 28. The Vermilionville priest who recorded the
burial, and who did not give the decedent or his wife's given names, only
their surnames, and said that ____ Benoit died "age 28-30
yrs."
Scholastique Benoit,
wife of Théon Broussard, died in Lafayette Parish in
February 1849, age unrecorded. Who were Scholastique's parents?
Marie Benoit
died near Grand Coteau "at age 3 days," date unrecorded. The priest
who recorded the newborn's burial did not give any parents' names, much
less her death date.
Carmélite Benoit married
Thomas Stout, place and date unrecorded. Their daughter married into the Guidry
family in 1850.
Louise Benoit
died in St. Martin Parish in August 1851, age 70. The St.
Martinville priest who recorded the burial did not give any parents' names
or mention a husband.
Louise Joséphine Godard
Benoit died in St. Martin Parish in October 1855, age 48.
The St. Martinville priest who recorded the burial did not give any
parents' names or mention a husband.
Jean, son of Jean Baptiste Benoit
and Hélène Royer, married Azélie, daughter of
Léandre Landry, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in July
1865. Was Jean Baptiste Acadian?
Victor Benoit married
Adelphine or Delphine Savoie, place and date unrecorded. Their son Victor
Adam was
born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in August 1861, Joseph in February
1863, and Félix in June 1867.
Jules Benoit married French
Creole Emma
Legros, place and date unrecorded. Daughter Émelina was born near Grand Coteau
in February 1864.
Joseph Benoit married Marie
Delphine ____, place and date unrecorded, and settled near Iota, then in St. Landry but now in
Acadia Parish, by the late 1860s.
A succession for Jules
Benoit, married to ____ Lege, probably Leger, was filed at the Abbeville
courthouse, Vermilion Parish, in 1866.
Jean Benoit married Ophelia
Blanchard, perhaps a fellow Acadian,
in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in July 1865. They settled
near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish. Their son
Jean, fils was born in June 1866, and Hilaire in February 1869.
A succession for Emmanuel
Benoit was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse, Lafayette Parish,
in April 1866. One wonders who were his parents and if he married.
Ulysse Benoit married
Acadian Élodie Jeansonne, place and date unrecorded. Their son Félix was born near
Ville Platte, then in St. Landry but now in Evangeline Parish, in March
1867.
Joséphine, daughter of Charles
Benoit and Joséphine Scott, married Joseph, son of French Creole
Joseph Landreneau or Landrieau, at the Arnaudville church, St.
Landry Parish, in May 1868.
Jean Baptiste Benoit
married Amelia Marcolli, place and date unrecorded. Their son Jean Sully was born
in Lafayette Parish in March 1869.
Marie Ozea/Ozia, daughter of
Sylven, probably Sylvain, Benoit and Joséphine
Belles, married Sylvain IV, son of Acadians Sylvain
Sonnier III and his Creole wife Joséphine dite Josette
Bello, at the Eunice church, St. Landry Parish, in
September 1869. One suspects that the printed record conflates the
names of the parents of the bride and groom.
Joseph Benoit married
Méranthe ____, place and date unrecorded. Daughter Marie Amélie
was born near New Iberia, Iberia Parish, in October 1869.
Sidonia, daughter of Eulalie
Benoit, was born in Lafayette Parish in December 1869.
The priest who recorded the girl's baptism did not give the father's name
nor the mother's parents' names.
Lick Benoit married Euzaie
Scipion at the New Iberia church, Iberia Parish, in December 1869.
The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's
parents' names.
Sosthènes Benoit married
Valentine ____, place and date unrecorded. Daughter Marie
Joséphine was born near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in March 1870.
Alsée, son of Ozia Benoit,
was born near Eunice, St. Landry Parish, in May 1870. Was Ozia the
boy's mother or father?
LOUISIANA: RIVER SETTLEMENTS
Also with the Breau party
from Maryland in 1768 was Marie Benoit, age 31, husband Jean-Charles Breau,
age 34, and their four children, ages 13 to
2. The Spanish governor forced them to live far up the river at San Luìs de
Natchez, but they were allowed to leave in 1769. Marie and Jean-Charles
moved from Natchez to St.-Gabriel, where Spanish officials counted them on the "right bank
ascending" in 1777, and then to St.-Jacques, a bit farther down the
river, where Marie died a widow in November 1795. The priest who
recorded her burial claimed that Marie was age 74 when she died, but she
was in her late 50s.
Élisabeth, daughter of Alexis Breau
of Pigiguit, born probably in Maryland, was counted with sister
Anne at Port Tobacco in the summer of 1763. It is not clear which of the
larger Maryland expeditions--1766, 1767, or 1768--took orphans Élisabeth and
Anne Benoit to Louisiana. Anne moved to the Attakapas District by
the 1770s, but Élisabeth remained on the river, where she married Jean-Baptiste,
son of fellow Acadian Antoine Dupuis, at Ascension in February
1775. In 1777, Spanish officials counted Jean-Baptiste and Élisabeth at St.-Gabriel, upriver
from Ascension on the Acadian Coast, along the "left bank ascending."
None of the Benoits who came
to Louisiana from Maryland via Texas in 1769 settled on the river.
~
The largest contingent of Acadian
Benoits
who emigrated to Louisiana came from France aboard five of the Seven Ships of
1785. Some of them settled on the river above New Orleans at Manchac, Baton Rouge,
and St.-Jacques, and one of them settled below New Orleans:
Daniel Benoit, age 36, crossed on
Le
Bon Papa, the first of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in July.
With him were his wife Henriette Legendre,
age 34, and daughter Henriette-Renée, age 7. They went to Manchac,
south of Baton Rouge. Henriette died there in the
late 1790s, and Daniel remarried to a much younger woman soon after Henriette's
death.
.
Anne Benoit, age 55, widow of
Pierre and Jean-Baptiste Hébert, crossed on Le
Beaumont, the third of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in
August. With her was 13-year-old son
Jean-Charles Hébert, who had been born at Belle-Île-en-Mer, France.
They followed the majority of the passengers from their ship to the Baton
Rouge area. Anne did not remarry.
.
Anne-Marie Haché, age 36,
wife of Jean-Charles Benoit, crossed on L'Amitié, the fifth of
the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in November. With her were four
Benoit
children--Jean-Marie, age 14, Paul-Frédéric, age 9, François-René, age 7,
and Sophie-Renée, age 2. Husband Jean-Charles Benoit, a sailor, age 39, crossed on
La Caroline, the last of the Seven
Ships, which reached New Orleans in December. Perhaps because of his
profession, he chose to take his family to
English Turn, on the river below New Orleans, near where a hand full of
other Acadian families settled.
Marie-Marthe Benoit, age 49,
also crossed on La Caroline,
with second husband Nicolas-Gabriel Albert, a Frenchman, age 45, and their 12-year-old son,
Nicolas-Gabriel, fils. They were among the hand full of Acadians
who chose to settle at St.-Jacques on the Acadian Coast, where
Acadians had first settled over two decades before.
.
Two of the Benoit family heads who
crossed from France--first cousins--remained on the river, one below New Orleans, the other at
Baton Rouge:
Descendants of Jean-Charles
BENOIT (c1746-?; Martin dit Labrière, Pierre le jeune)
Jean-Charles, son of Charles Benoit
and Marie-Madeleine Thériot, born probably at Pigiguit in c1746,
married Anne-Marie, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean-Baptiste Haché and
Anne Olivier, at
St.-Servan, near St.-Malo, France, in January 1770. Marie-Anne and their
four children crossed to Louisiana aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the
Seven Ships, and Jean-Charles followed on La Caroline, the last of the
Seven Ships. They chose to settle with a hand full of other Acadians at
English Turn, near the Isleño community of San Bernardo in present-day
St. Bernard Parish below New Orleans. Jean-Charles was a sailor by
profession, so his living near the port city, away from the majority of his
Acadian brethren, may have been dictated by his employment.
1
Oldest son Jean-Marie was born
at St.-Servan, France, in November 1770.
2
Paul-Frédéric was born at
Châtellerault, Poitou, France, in October 1775.
3
Youngest son François-René, born at
Nantes, France, in c1778, married Luisa, daughter of Francisco
Cobos
and Francisca Demourel
of Pensacola, Florida, at New Orleans in June 1803.
Descendants of Daniel BENOIT
(c1748-1825; Martin dit Labrière, Pierre le jeune)
Daniel, younger son of Claude Benoit
and Élisabeth Thériot, born probably at L'Assomption, Pigiguit,
in c1748, married Henriette, daughter of fellow Acadians Francois Legendre
and Marguerite Labauve, at St.-Servan, France, near St.-Malo, in February 1768. They crossed to
Louisiana with their daughter aboard Le Bon Papa, the first of the
Seven Ships, and followed the majority of the passengers of their ship to the
Manchac Coast, between Baton Rouge and St.-Gabriel, on the river above New
Orleans. Daniel and Henriette had no more children in Louisiana.
Their daughter married into the Labauve family. Henriette died at Baton Rouge in February 1798, age 46. Daniel remarried
to Madeleine-Ursule, daughter of fellow Acadians Alexandre Doiron and
Ursule Hébert, probably
at Baton Rouge in c1799. Madeleine, who was 17 years younger than
Daniel,
was a native of Pleslin, near St.-Malo, France, and also had come to Louisiana
aboard Le Bon Papa. Their
daughter married into the Hébert family. Daniel died at the home of one of his daughters in St. Martin Parish in
December 1825; the priest who recorded his burial said that Daniel was age 84
when he died, but he was closer to 77. None of his three
sons seems to have married, so this line of the family,
except for its blood, probably did not survive in the Bayou State.
1
An infant, perhaps their oldest son,
died at
age 1 month at Baton Rouge in August 1800.
2
Joseph, born at Baton Rouge
in June 1802, may have died young.
3
Youngest son Célestin, born
at Baton Rouge in April 1804, also may have died young.
~
Other BENOITs on the River
Area church and civil records make
it difficult to link at least one Benoit on the river with known
Acadian lines
of the family there:
Susanne Benoit gave birth to
daughter Marie Martine in Ascension Parish in October 1866. The
Donaldsonville priest who recorded the girl's baptism the following December
did not give the father's name or the mother's parents'
names. Susanne's son Prospère was born in Ascension Parish
in December 1869. Again, the Donaldsonville priest who recorded the baptism
did not give the boy's father's name or the mother's parents' names.
Was Susanne Acadian?
LOUISIANA: LAFOURCHE VALLEY
SETTLEMENTS
Most of the Benoits who came
to Louisiana from France in 1785 chose to go to upper Bayou Lafourche:
Grégoire Benoit,
age 40, crossed on Le St.-Rémi, the fourth of the Seven Ships, which
reached New Orleans in September. With
him were wife Marie-Rose Carret, age 31, five children--Jean-Marie, age 12,
Marie-Rose, age 10, Donatien, age 8, Françoise-Félicité, age 3, and Rémond-Grégoire,
age 2--and his unmarried sister-in-law Thérèse Carret, age 29.
Marie-Rose was pregnant when she made the crossing; daughter Martina, or
Martine, named after Louisiana intendant Martin Navarro, who treated
the Acadians with great respect, was born at Balize or New Orleans soon after
the family reached the colony.
Françoise Benoit, age 40,
crossed
on Le St.-Rémi with husband Honoré Carret, age 56, their
grown son Pierre Carret, age 24, Francoise's 72-year-old mother
Marie-Madeleine Thériot, widow of Charles Benoit, and cousin
Victoire-Marie Benoit, age 14. Victoire-Marie married
Charles, son of fellow Acadian Jean-Baptiste Bergeron and widow of
Marie Foret, at Assumption in January 1794, and remarried to Pierre, son of fellow Acadian Pierre
Lambert,
in Assumption Parish in December 1815; Victoire died in Terrebonne Parish in May 1816;
she was only 43 years old.
Marie Benoit, age 48,
Françoise's older sister, crossed on Le
St.-Rémi with second husband Joseph Hébert, age 50, a
stepson, a stepdaughter, and a daughter, ages 24, 22, and 15, and 8-year-old
niece Sophie Benoit. Marie
died at St.-Gabriel, just upriver from Ascension, in June 1806; the
priest who recorded her burial said that she was 80 years old when she died,
but she was "only" 70. Sophie married Francisco Antonio, son of Grégorio
Turreyra of Havana, Cuba,
at Assumption in October 1804 and died
by February 1813, when her husband remarried in Assumption Parish.
.
Pélagie Benoit, age 44, widow of Yves Crochet, crossed on L'Amitié, the fifth of the
Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in November. With her were five of her
Crochet children, ages 25 to 18.
Pélagie never remarried. She died in Lafourche Interior Parish in August
1824; the priest who recorded her burial said that she was 85 years old
when she died, but she was "only" 83.
Grégoire's
younger sister Marguerite Benoit, age 32, widow of Joseph Precieux,
crossed on L'Amitié alone. She remarried to Claude-Bernard, son of fellow Acadian Jean-Baptiste
Dugas,
at Lafourche in February 1786, not long after she reached the colony.
Marguerite died in Lafourche Interior Parish in September 1837, also in her
early 80s.
.
François-Jean-Baptiste Benoit,
age 20 in 1785, a native of St.-Servan, France, does not appear on any of the
passenger lists of the Seven Ships from France, but he
probably came to the colony with his cousins. He first appears in Louisiana
records in September 1789, when he married a fellow Acadian at Lafourche.
.
Two of the Benoits from
France--first cousins, one old enough to be the other's father--created
another center of family settlement that eventually stretched as far down
bayou as the Terrebonne country:
Descendants of Grégoire BENOIT
(c1744-1829; Martin dit Labrière, Pierre le jeune)
Grégoire, elder son of Claude Benoit
and Élisabeth Thériot, born probably at L'Assomption, Pigiguit,
in c1744, married Marie-Rose, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Carret
and Rose Trahan, at St.-Servan, France, near St.-Malo, in February 1770. They crossed to
Louisiana with six children and his sister-in-law aboard Le St.-Rémi,
the fourth of the Seven Ships, and followed the majority of the passengers
from their ship to upper Bayou Lafourche. They had
more children in Louisiana. Their daughters married into the Boudreaux and
Tauzin families.
Grégoire died in Lafourche Interior Parish in January 1829; the priest who
recorded his burial said that Grégoire was age 88 when he died. He
was 85. Only three of his seven sons married, but his second son's line, especially, was a vigorous
one.
1
Oldest son
Joseph-François, born probably at St.-Servan, France, in October
1771, died at St.-Servan, age 1, in September 1773.
2
Jean-Marie, born at St.-Servan, France, in September 1773, married Marie-Élisabeth
or Isabelle, daughter of fellow Acadians Étienne Darois and Madeleine
Trahan, at Assumption
in November 1799. Their son Donatien-Marie or Jean-Donatien,
called Donatien, le jeune, was born at Assumption
in November 1801, Alexis-Célestin in October 1803, Jean Baptiste in
June 1807, Célestin Séverin in February 1818, and Eugène Evariste,
called Evariste, in July 1822. They also had a son named Adrien.
Their daughters married into the Boudreaux, Clément,
and Navarre families. Jean Marie died in
Lafourche Interior Parish in July 1844, age 70; his succession
sale was recorded at the Thibodeaux courthouse in March 1846.
2a
Alexis Célestin married Marie Adélaïde,
18-year-old daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Hilaire Clément, père
and Geneviève Sophie Boudreaux, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in June 1824.
Their son Dufroi Félix, called Félix, was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in July
1827, Charles Amédée Cleopha, called Amédée, in November 1829,
Clairville Sylvain
Alexis, called Sylvain, in December 1831, Ursin Octave,
called Octave, in May 1836, Arsène Ulysse, called Ulysse,
in August 1838, Pierre Paulin, called Paulin, in February 1843, and
Joseph
Alfred in March 1846. Their daughters married into the Bergeron
and Tabor
families. In August 1860, the
federal census taker in Lafourche Parish counted 3 slaves--all female, all
mulattoes, ages 21, 3 and 3 months--on Alexis Benoit's
farm in the parish's Ward 1. Alexis Célestin died in Lafourche Parish in September 1869,
age 65.
Félix married Malvina, daughter of Nicolas
Sevin and his Acadian wife Marie Hébert, at the
Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in May 1848.
Their son Hexis Félix was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in March
1849, Jean Joseph in June 1851, Joseph died at age 2 months in
June 1853, Joachim Sylvain was born in June 1857, and Étienne
in December 1864.
Amédée married Evelina
or Melina, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre
Evariste Louvière and Nicolette dite Colette LeBlanc, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in September 1856.
Their son Pierre Nicolas was born in Lafourche Parish in July 1857, Paulin
Ernest in April 1861, Joseph in December 1862, and Joseph Volzi
in June 1866.
Octave married Odile, daughter of Onesime
Pontiff and Ozelia Morvant, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in February 1858. Their son
Jean Treville
was born in Lafourche Parish in February 1860, Émile Andreci in
March 1862, Jules Alexis was born in September 1865 but died at age 4
in August 1869, and Joseph Taylor was born in May 1868. During
the War of 1861-65,
Octave
served in the Lafourche Parish Regiment of Militia; he fought in the
Battle of Labadieville, in nearby Assumption Parish, in late October 1862,
fell into Federal hands, was paroled and returned
home.
Sylvain married Leontine, daughter of
fellow Acadian Jean Basile Naquin and his Creole wife Théotice
Ayo, at the
Chacahoula church, Terrebonne Parish, in May 1859. During the War of
1861-65,
Sylvain
served in the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised
in South Louisiana, which fought in Tennessee, Mississippi, and
Louisiana. Sylvain died in Terrebonne Parish in June 1868, age 36.
During the War of 1861-65,
Ulysse
served in Company G of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in
Lafourche Parish, which fought in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and
Louisiana. Ulysse
married cousin Adele or Odile, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Naquin
and Adele Noël Boudreaux, at the Thibodaux
church, Lafourche Parish, in February 1867. Their son Charly Joseph was born in
Lafourche Parish in November 1867.
During the War of 1861-65,
Paulin
also served in the Lafourche Parish Regiment of Militia, was captured at
Labadieville, paroled, and returned home. Paulin died in Lafourche Parish in February
1869, age 26, and did not marry.
2b
Donatien le jeune married Andrese Carmélite,
daughter of Spanish Creoles Francois Domingue and , at the Thibodauxville
church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in February 1825. They may have been
that rare Acadian couple who had no children. In August 1850, the federal census taker in
Lafourche Interior Parish counted 5 slaves--3 males and 2 females, 3 blacks
and 2 mulattoes, ranging in age from 35 to 1--on Donatien Benoit's farm
along Bayou Lafourche. In August 1860, the federal census taker in
Lafourche Parish counted 10 slaves--4
males and 6 females, 4 blacks and 6 mulattoes, ranging in age from 44 to 1--on
J. Donatien Benoit's farm in the parish's Ward 2. Donatien, at
age 61, remarried to
Mélissaire, daughter of fellow Acadians Charles Dantin and Claire
Guillot, at the Thibodaux church in
April 1863. He may have had no sons by either
of his wives.
2c
Jean Baptiste married Rosalie Marie or Marie
Rosalie, called Rosalie, daughter of Spanish Creole Jean Marie Navarre
and his Acadian wife Anne Jeanne Boudreaux, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in October 1835.
Their son Evariste Arsène was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in
September 1837, Jean Hilaire in November 1838, Joseph Demetruis in
February 1843, Jean Joseph in August 1849, and Arsène Paulin in
March 1852. They also had a son named Osémé. Their daughters
married into the Benoit and Hébert families.
Evariste
Arsène married Estelle, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Vincent Hébert
and Tarzille Clément, at the Thibodaux church,
Lafourche Parish,
in April 1864.
During the War of 1861-65,
Osémé
served in Company G of the 30th Regiment/Battalion Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. John the Baptist Parish
but included recruits
from other parishes; Osémé was captured at Nashville, Tennessee, in December
1864 and held prisoner at Camp Chase, Ohio, in the final months of the war.
Back from the war, Osémé married Clara, daughter of Eugène Morvant
and Delphine Adam, at the Thibodaux church in August 1866. Their son Joseph Valcour
was born in Lafourche Parish in February 1870.
2d
Célestin
Séverin married first cousin Émelie or Melite, daughter of fellow Acadian
François Sébastien dit Bastien Benoit,
his paternal uncle, and his Creole wife Marie Éloise Morvant, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in October 1846. Their son
Joseph
Dorville, called Dorville, was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in October 1849,
Justin
Honoré in January 1854, and Joseph Olivain in October 1861.
Dorville married Dozilia,
daughter of Léon Tauzin and Eugènie Miguez, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche
Parish, in April 1869. Their son Anry, probably
Henry, Joseph was born near Vacherie, St. James Parish,
in January 1870.
2e
Evariste married Marie Melite, called Melite, daughter of Bernard
Morvant and his Acadidan wife Marie Boudreaux, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in April 1848.
Their son Joseph Théophile was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in
August 1851, and Émile in May 1853. Their daughter married into the Trosclair family
at Vacherie, St. James Parish, though the marriage was recorded also in
Lafourche Parish.
3
Donatien, born probably at
Nantes, France, in c1777, moved to the Opelousas District in 1797 and died
there that August. He was 20 years old and probably did not marry.
4
Rémond-Grégoire, born at
St.-Martin de Chantenay, France, in July 1783, probably died young. He
may not even have survived the crossing from France.
5
Pierre-Marie, born at
Ascension in May 1788, married Eugènie, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph
Marie Boudreaux and Marie Élisabeth Darois, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in May
1817. Their
son Pierre Grégoire, called Grégoire le jeune, was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in July
1820, Jean Pierre died 2 days after his birth in December 1823, and Joseph
Émilien was born in July 1833. Their daughters married into the Panvil and
Tabor
families. Pierre Marie died in Lafourche Parish in
February 1854, age 65.
5a
Grégoire le jeune married Pauline, daughter
of fellow Acadians Martin Thibodeaux and Constance Hébert, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior
Parish, in February 1852. Their son Joseph was born in Lafourche
Interior Parish in December 1852, and Pierre Émile, called Émile,
in October 1855. Grégoire le jeune died in 1859, age 39.
5b
Joseph Émilien married Marie or Mary Radivine, daughter
of German Creole Gaspard Toups and his Acadian wife Marie Adele
Thibodeaux, in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Parish in February
1862. Their son Pierre was
born in Lafourche Parish in December 1862, Severe Gaspard in May 1864,
Joseph
Sylvère in December 1866, and Arthur Oleus in October 1868.
6
Jean-Marie le jeune, born at
Assumption in February 1792, may have died young.
7
Youngest son François-Sébastien,
called Bastien, born at
Assumption in May 1794, married Marie Éloise or Héloise, 22-year-old daughter of Joseph Morvant
and Marie Éloise Bernard, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior
Parish, in October 1822.
Their son Joseph Marcellus was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in
December 1827, Jean Baptiste, called Baptiste, in June 1838, and
Evariste in July
1843. Their daughters married into the Adam, Benoit, Caillouet,
Guidry, and Morvant families. Bastien died in Lafourche Parish in
June 1868; the priest who recorded his burial said that Bastien was age 71 when he died, but he was 74.
7a
Joseph married
Louise, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Vincent Hébert and Tarzille
Clément, at the Thibodaux church,
Lafourche Interior Parish, in May
1851. Their son Joseph Anatole was born in Lafourche Interior
Parish in July 1852, and Jean Joachim in September 1855.
7b
Baptiste
married cousin Mathilde, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Baptiste Benoit
and his Creole wife Rosalie Navarre, at the
Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in August 1861. Their son
Jean Émile Bonnefaith
was born in Lafourche Parish in February 1862, Vilfrid in October 1863,
Joseph in May 1866, and Joseph Clément in St. James Parish
in October 1867.
Descendants of François-Jean-Baptiste
BENOIT (1765-1831; Martin dit Labrière, Pierre le
jeune)
François-Jean-Baptiste, also called Jean-François, son of
Augustin Benoit and his second wife Marie-Madeleine Gautrot, born at St.-Servan, France, near St.-Malo, in October 1765, came to
Louisiana probably in 1785 as a young bachelor and married Marie-Modeste,
daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Pinet dit Pinel and
widow of Jean-Charles Achée, at Lafourche September 1789. They
settled on the upper bayou. Their daughters
married into the Augeron, Bedford, Bourque, Brosseart,
Elsworth, Lamir, and Pierron families. François died in Lafourche
Interior Parish in December 1831; the priest who recorded his burial called
him Joseph François and said that he was age 86 when he died, but he was
66. His sons and grandsons settled in what became
Lafourche Interior and Terrebonne parishes.
1
Older son Joseph-Marie, born
at Ascension in June 1790, married Justine Angélique, daughter of fellow
Acadians Jean Thibodeaux and Marie Dugas, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish,
in August 1815. Their son Carville Jacques, called Jacques,
was born in Lafourche
Interior Parish in October 1825, and Joseph Claiborne or Claiborne
Joseph, called Claiborne J., in December
1829. Their daughters married into the Kling, Marcel,
and Welsh
families, and perhaps into the Danion family as well.
1a
Jacques married Marie Emelia or Emelia Marie, 15-year-old daughter of
fellow Acadian Ursin Aucoin and his Anglo-American wife Rosalie
Comstock, at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in April 1850. Their son Amand
was born in Terrebonne Parish in April 1852, Maximilien Carville in
November 1857, Amédée in February 1860, and Jean Marie Octave
Laurent near Montegut in April 1865.
1b
During the War of 1861-65,
Claiborne
J. served in Company G of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafourche Parish,
which fought in Tennessee,
Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana.
2
Younger son Charles, baptized at
Assumption, age unrecorded, in November 1796, married Marie Farelia,
daughter of fellow Acadians Jacques Thibodeaux and Adélaïde
Vincent, at the Plattenville
church, Assumption Parish, in June 1814. Their son Augustin was
born in Assumption Parish in March 1816, Eugène in December 1817, and
Ursin
Victorin, in February 1820. Charles remarried to Marie Madeleine,
daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Guidry and Marguerite
Bergeron of Bayou Terrebonne, at the
Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in April 1825. Their
son Jean Baptiste was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in November
1827 but died at age 1 1/2 in October 1829. Charles died in Lafourche
Interior Parish in December 1832, in his mid-30s.
2a
Eugène, by father's first wife, married
fellow Acadian Marie Ludovine, called Ludivine, Thibodeaux probably in
Lafourche Interior Parish in the late 1830s or early 1840s. Their son Charles
Elesiphore was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in July 1844, Joseph
Augustin in March 1851, and Adam in Terrebonne Parish in January
1856.
Charles
married cousin Nathalie, daughter of fellow Acadians Louis Thibodeaux
and Tarsile Gautreaux, at the Houma church,
Terrebonne Parish, in June 1864. Their son Charles Augustin was
born near Montegut, Terrebonne Parish, in May 1869.
Daughter
Louisiana, at age 17, gave birth to son Jean Baptiste Prosper
Benoit
near Montegut in June 1870; the priest who recorded the boy's baptism did not
give the father's name.
2b
Ursin
Victorin, by father's first wife, married fellow Acadian Marie Cléonise Trahan probably
in Lafourche Interior Parish in the early 1840s.
Other BENOITs in the Lafourche/Terrebonne
Valley
Area church and civil records make
it difficult to link at least one Benoit in the Bayou Lafourche/Bayou
Terrebonne
valley to known Acadian lines of the family there:
Jean Filia, son of Locate Benoit,
was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1841. Was
"Locate" a he or a she?
Augustine, daughter of Baptiste
Benoit, died in Lafourche Interior Parish in September
1851. The Thibodaux priest who recorded the burial did not give
Augustine's mother's name or her age at the time of her death.
NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in LOUISIANA
Benoit or Benoist is a
common surname in France and French Canada, so it should not be surprising that a number
of non-Acadian families bearing the name settled in the colony, especially at
New Orleans:
A Benoit commanded Fort
Toulouse, at the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, then a part of French Louisiana, in the early 1730s,
while Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, sieur de Bienville, was governor of the colony.
Benoit did not remain long at Fort Toulouse. In late 1733,
he was sacked for becoming involved with an English trader and replaced by a
"Sieur Develle."
Élisabeth Benoit, widow Rochon,
died in New Orleans in May 1772, age 18. The priest
who recorded her burial did not list her parents' names or reveal
where she had been born.
Charles Benoit of Québec, a
former notary at Pointe Coupée, died at New Orleans in December
1772, age 60. The priest who recorded his burial said nothing of a wife and
children.
A Benoit, first name
unrecorded, native of the Duchy of Luxembourg and a master tailor/clothier,
died at New Orleans in November 1774, age 45. The priest who recorded
his burial said nothing of a wife and children.
Nicolas-Jean Benoit married
Laine Montanary, place and date unrecorded. Their daughter
Marguerite was born at New Orleans in August 1774.
Thérèse Benoit, "native of
the German Coast," widow of Louis Hardy, married Jacques, son of Jean
Moquien of Montréal, at New Orleans in January 1781. She died
at New Orleans in June 1789, age 40. The priests
who recorded her marriage and her burial did not give her parents' names.
Martha Benoi married Manuel
Toledano
at New Orleans in November 1787. The priest who recorded the marriage
did not give the bride's or the groom's parents' names.
A Benoit married a Frederique
at New Orleans in December 1788 or January 1789. The priest who recorded
the marriage must have been in a hurry to do something else.
Nicolas, son of Madeleine Benoit
and grandson of Jean Hardy Benoit and Thérèse Benoit, was born
at New Orleans in May 1791. The priest who recorded the boy's baptism
did not reveal the father's name.
Andrés, son of Andrés Benois
and Augustina Lanschevins of New Orleans and native of the city,
married Céleste, daughter of Jean-Pierre Buras, at New Orleans in
October 1800.
.
One French Creole family was, as its surname implies, of aristocratic origin.
The family lived in New Orleans during the middle and late colonial period
before moving to the western prairies, where they became one of the most
socially prominent families in the Attakapas District:
Descendants of Jean-Baptiste
BENOIST de SAINTE-CLAIRE (c1693-?)
Jean-Baptiste Benoist or Benoît de
Ste.-Claire, a French-Canadian officer in the French army, became a
chevalier of the prestigious Military Order of St.-Louis. He came to
Louisiana in 1717 in his mid-20s as an ensign of troupes de la marine
and was promoted to lieutanant in 1732. Still a lieutenant, he served
as commander of Fort Toulouse on the upper Alabama River from 1733-34 and
was not a favorite of Governor Bienville. He nevertheless was promoted
to captain in 1737, while Bienville was still governor of Louisiana.
In June 1740, Bienville noted that the 47-year-old captain "serves well
enough," was "a bit indolent," and was "de mince figure"--very
thin. Jean-Baptiste was serving as commandant of the
Illinois post when he married Marie-Louise or Rouise, daughter of Major
Antoine Bienvenu, at Kaskaskia in January 1750. He moved his
family to New Orleans in the 1750s. By the early 1780s, his family,
perhaps without him, moved to the Attakapas District, where, because of
Benoît de Sainte-Claire's aristocratic
background and military rank, the family enjoyed social prominence. But
the chevalier's sons produced few heirs, at least compared to their Acadian
namesakes in the district.
1
Oldest son Jean-Baptiste-Charles,
born either in Illinois or at New Orleans in the early 1750s, married
Marie-Louise-Hyacinthe, called Louise, daughter of Attakapas commandant
Alexandre-François-Joseph Chevalier DeClouet of Picardie, France, at Opelousas in February
1792; the marriage also was recorded at Attakapas in May 1793. Their son
Jean-François,
called François, was
baptized at Attakapas, age unrecorded, in 1794. Their daughter married into the
Nee family. Jean-Baptiste-Charles served as lieutenant of
militia on the lower Mississippi and died of dropsy at Attakapas in November
1796; the priest who recorded the burial said that
Jean-Baptiste was age 50 when he died, but he probably was in his mid-
to late 40s.
François married first cousin Marie Françoise
Arthémise, called Arthémise, daughter of Alexandre Joseph DeClouet, fils,
his maternal uncle, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in May
1816. Their son Jean Baptiste was born at La Pointe on the upper
Teche, near present-day Breaux Bridge, in November 1820, and François Louis
was born in August 1824 but died at age 10 months in June 1825.
François and Arthémise's daughter married a DeClouet cousin. François died in St.
Martin Parish in May 1832, age 38; his succession was
filed at the St. Martinville courthouse later that month.
Jean Baptiste
married Marie Henriette LeBreton probably in St. Martin Parish in the
1840s. Daughter Marie Henriette de St. Clair was born in St. Martin
Parish in September 1852. In October 1850, the federal census
taker in St. Martin Parish counted dozens of slaves on the Benoit St.
Clair plantation. The following month, the same census
taker counted 5 slaves--3 males and 2 females, all black,
ranging in age from 30 to 1--on Céleste Benoit's farm. The same census taker counted 2 slaves--a 20-year-old black male
and a 17-year-old black female--on Charlotte Benoit's farm. In June 1860, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish
counted a single slave--a 15-year-old black female--on Lalot Benoit's
farm. In October 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish
counted 34 slaves--17 males and 17 females, 27 blacks and 7 mulattoes, ranging
in age from 55 years to 8 months--on the St. Clair De Benoit
plantation.
2
Benjamin, born probably at
New Orleans in c1771, died at Attakapas "of some accident of lightning or
thunderbolt," which also killed his mother, in June 1788. He was
age 17 when he died.
3
Youngest son Clair, born at New
Orleans in February 1774, married Charlotte-Caroline, called Caroline, another daughter of the
Chevalier Alexandre DeClouet, at Attakapas in September 1801.
Clair died in St. Martin Parish in May 1833; the St. Martinville priest who
recorded his burial said that Clair was age 62 when he died, but he was
59; his succession, dated 28 January 1832, was filed
at the St. Martinville courthouse two weeks after he died.
~
During the antebellum period,
non-Acadian Benoits could be found not only at New Orleans but also
in the river and prairie parishes, where Acadian Benoits had settled.
Benoits, called Foreign French by native Louisianians, emigrated to New Orleans
from France and the Caribbean Basin; most of them remained in the city:
Marie Louise and Meretine Benoit,
ages 23 and 3, from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Salem
out of Le Havre, France, in May 1835.
Louisa Elisa, daughter of Élisée
Bennoit
and Aurora Fonteneau, married Joseph, son of Thomas Key, at the
Pointe Coupee church, Pointe Coupee Parish, in May 1836.
David Benoit, a 44-year-old
carpenter from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Luisiana out
of Tampico, Mexico, in November 1836.
Aloys Benoist, a 19-year-old
farmer from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Republican out
of Le Havre in October 1838.
Émile Benoit, a 30-year-old
merchant from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Salem out of
Le Havre in November 1838.
A Mr. Benois, a 45-year-old
gardener from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Creole out of
St.-Pierre, Martinique, in July 1841.
_____ Benoit, a 25-year-old
professor from France, and his wife, age 24, reached New Orleans aboard the
ship Tippicanoe out of Le Havre in June 1843. One wonders what he
was a professor of at such an age.
David Benoit, age 35, and
Joseph Benoit, age 26, both farmers from France, reached New Orleans
aboard the ship Mozart out of Le Havre in August 1840. They
probably were brothers.
J. C. Benoit, age not given,
Mme. Benoit, age 31, Servente Benoit, age 18, Ernestine Benoit,
age 16, Jules Benoit, age 3, and Emelie Benoit, age 3 months,
all from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship South Carolina out
of an unnamed port in October 1843.
Alfred, son of Jean-Baptiste Benoit
and Anne-Véronique Chamit or Chanut of Melun, Department of
Seine-et-Marne, France, married Annette Eugènie, daughter of Joshua Veazey,
at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in September
1845.
T. Benoit, a 36-year-old
farmer from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Vesta out of Le
Havre in November 1846.
Charles Benoit, an
18-year-old farmer from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Moselle
out of Le Havre in July 1848.
Jean-Joseph Benoit, a
27-year-old farmer from France, and Augustine Benoit, age 22, probably
his wife, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Oregon in April
1849.
Charles Benoit, a 23-year-old
farmer from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Callender out
of Le Havre in April 1850.
In July 1850, the federal census
taker in Orleans Parish counted 3
slaves--all female, all black, ages 25, 23, and 9--in Thos. E. Benoit's
household in the First Ward of the parish's First Municipality.
Jean Benoit, a 43-year-old
clerk, and Annette Benoit, a 40-year-old clerk, also from France and
probably his wife, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Caroline & Mary
Clark out of Liverpool, England, in November 1850.
______ Benoit, a 46-year-old
native of France, occupation unrecorded, Anton Bernard, age 8,
Élisabeth Benoit, age 10, another Élisabeth Benoit, age 5,
Jacob Benoit, age 5, and Louise Benoit, age 5, perhaps his
children, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Belle Anaise out of Le
Havre in May 1852.
George Benoit, a 29-year-old
native of France, occupation unrecorded, reached New Orleans aboard the ship
Rouennais
out of Le Havre in January 1852.
In October 1853, 18-year-old
Hippolyte, son of Jean Baptise Benoist and Marie Bringole of
Louisville, Kentucky, died of "cholera morbus" at the home of Mr.
Louis Berlier, "a local merchant" living near St. Gabriel,
Iberville Parish, who had adopted Hippolyte "7 or 8 years ago, when he
was orphaned." Evidently Hippolyte did not marry.
.
A family of Foreign-French Benoits who
favored Acadian brides settled on Bayou Lafourche in the 1830s:
Descendants of Victor- or
Victorin-Simon BENOIT (c1810?-1853)
Victor- or Victorin-Simon,
21-year-old son of Jean Baptiste Benoit and Jeanne or Susanne Marcourt
of Bordeaux, France, married Césaire Julienne, 18-year-old daughter of
Acadian Jean Charles Broussard and his Creole wife Anne Stieven, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche
Interior Parish, in October 1829. Victor died near Raceland, Lafourche Parish, in
September 1853; the priest who recorded his burial said that Victor was age 34
when he died, but he had to be older than that; perhaps the
priest, or the transcriber, meant 43; Victor's succession, calling him
Victor L. and listing his remaining children--Victorine, Louis Victorin, and
Émile--was filed at
the Thibodaux courthouse in April 1854. Only one of his four sons
married, but he, too, may have died young and ended
this line of the family.
1
Oldest son Césaire Victorin,
born in Lafourche Interior Parish in September 1830, probably died young.
2
Louis Victorin, called Victorin,
born in Lafourche Interior Parish in September 1833, married Hermance, daughter of Acadian Pierre
Thibodeaux and his Creole wife Emérante Chauvin, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Parish, in June 1855. Their son Jean
Victorin was born near Raceland, Lafourche Parish, in December 1860.
Victorin died in Lafourche Parish in January 1866, age 32.
3
Théodule died in Lafourche
Interior Parish only 8 days
after his birth in February 1838.
4
Youngest son Joseph Émile,
called Émile, born in Lafourche Interior Parish in June 1839, died in Lafourche Parish in June
1862, age 23, and did not marry.
.
Some non-Acadian Benoits on
the western prairies were
free persons of color or slaves who retained the names of their French-Creole or Acadian
owners or whose progenitor was named Benoît, a given name:
Hortense Benoit's son François
Villeneuve, born probably in St. Martin Parish in c1832, was baptized at
the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, at age 8 in May 1840. The
priest who recorded the boy's baptism did not give the father's
name or the mother's parents' names. Marie Louise,
mulatresse, daughter of
Hortense Amand[sic] Benoit, also called Hortance Jeanneau,
a former slave, married Paul Hippolyte, called Hippolyte, son of Jean
Pierre Martinet and Scholastique Desjardins of
Hamme-Mille, Belgium, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in
December 1869. The marriage legitimized eight children. One wonders who was Marie Louise's father.
Pierre Benoit, described as a
homme de couleur libre, or a free man of color, son of Pierre Benoit
and Annette à Dubulet, died in St. Martin Parish at age 17 in March
1837.
Marie Benoit, a "mulatto
libre," was born to Célestie, slave of Céleste Benoit, in St.
Martin Parish in July 1839.
Pierre Benoit, a free man of
color, died in St. Martin Parish at age 46 in March 1844. His succession
was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse that month.
Édouard Benoit, a free man of
color, son of Charlotte DeClouet, married Elvina, daughter of Alexandre
Lemelle or Lemesle, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February
1854. Their son Édouard, fils was born in St. Martin Parish in
November 1854, and Jean Baptiste in December 1865. Édouard,
père's succession, naming his wife, was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in
July 1866.
Charlotte Benoit, a free
woman of color, daughter of Palmire Rivière, married Isidore Olivier, a free man of color, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin
Parish, in October 1854.
Julie Benoit's
daughter Marie Eusèïde, "c.l.," or couleur libre, was baptized at
the St. Martinville church, age unrecorded, in November 1862.
Julie's daughter Joséphine Emetide, also a "c.l.," or couleur libre,
was baptized at the St. Martinville church, age unrecorded, in October
1864. The priest or priests who recorded the baptisms did not name
the father or fathers of the girls.
Baptiste Benoit, a free man
of color, married Marguerite LeBlanc, a free woman of color, in a civil
ceremony in St. Landry Parish in November 1865.
Céleste Benoit,
a free woman of color, died in St. Martin Parish, age 75, in December
1865. The priest who recorded the burial did not give any parents'
names nor mention a husband. Her succession was filed at the St.
Martinville courthouse five days after her burial, again with no mention
of a husband.
Paul Élie, son of Élie Benoit,
free man of color, and Zai ____, free woman of color, died near New
Iberia, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in April 1867, age 20. Did he marry?
Cécile Benoit, a freed
woman, married Thom Simon, a freedman, in a civil ceremony in
Lafayette Parish in April 1869. The parish clerk who recorded the
marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.
CONCLUSION
Benoits were among the early
settlers of Acadia, but they came to Louisiana a bit later than other Acadian
families. The first of
them, all from Pigiguit, arrived from Port Tobacco, Maryland, in 1768 with the
large extended family led by the Breau brothers of Pigiguit. Spanish
Governor Ulloa forced them to settle far upriver at Fort San Luis de Natchez,
but after Ulloa's ouster in a colonial uprising later that year, his successor
allowed the Breau clan to move downriver to the Acadian Coast.
The Benoits from Natchez went to St.-Gabriel and Ascension, but one of them,
Étienne, after he married, moved on to the Attakapas District west of the
Atchafalaya Basin, where he created a western branch of the family. In 1769, another
Benoit
family came to Louisiana from Port Tobacco, Maryland, aboard the ill-fated
British vessel Britannia. After harrowing adventures in Texas and
a long overland trek to Natchitoches, Pierre-Olivier Benoit took his
family to St.-Gabriel on the river and then to the Opelousas District west of
the Atchafalaya, where his son Jean-Charles established a large
family. More Acadian Benoits came from France in 1785. One
of them, Sébastien, settled on upper Bayou Lafourche but, like his cousins from
Maryland, he moved to the prairies, in this case to the western edge of
the Calcasieu country near present-day Lake Charles. Meanwhile, his
other cousins from France settled on the river below New Orleans or at Manchac
south of Baton Rouge. Most of the Benoits from France, however,
settled on upper Bayou Lafourche, creating a third center of family settlement.
In Louisiana, then, the Benoits exhibited the same settlement
pattern their ancestors had followed in Acadie--they did not cluster in a
single settlement but scattered all over the region. The family that
settled near Baton Rouge in the late 1780s disappears from local church
records by the early 1800s, but by then their Benoit cousins could be
found on the fringes of South Louisiana from the river below New Orleans,
along the shore of Vermilion Bay, and in the Calcasieu River valley near the
border of Spanish Texas. They were especially numerous along the banks
of Bayou Lafourche as far down as the Terrebonne country, on the prairie at
Carencro north of present-day Lafayette, on upper Bayou Teche near
present-day Breaux Bridge, and on the prairies of what became Vermilion
Parish.
Benoit is a common surname in
France and French Canada, so non-Acadian members of the family also lived in
South Louisiana during the colonial period, most of them at New Orleans.
The most significant non-Acadian family was that of Jean-Baptiste Benoist
or Benoît de Sainte-Claire, a French-Canadian officer in the King's
army who became a chevalier of the prestigious Order of St.-Louis. As
a lieutenant, he served as commander of Fort Toulouse on the Alabama River
from 1733-34 and was a captain serving in Illinois during the late 1740s
when he married the daughter of a superior officer. He moved his family
to New Orleans in the 1750s. By the early 1780s, they had moved on to
the Attakapas District, where they became socially prominent members of that
community. Few, if any, of them married Acadians. During the antebellum period, quite a few Foreign-French Benoits came
to New Orleans, and most remained there. One Foreign-Frenchman, Victor-
or Victorin-Simon Benoit of Bordeaux, settled on upper Bayou Lafourche
in the 1820s. He married an Acadian, and his only married son took an
Acadian bride. A number of Benoits who were free persons of color
established families on the western prairies during the antebellum period. But these non-Acadian
Benoits, including the Benoist de Sainte-Claires, never came close in numbers to their Acadian namesakes who lived
nearby. ...
The family's name also is spelled
Bennoit, Benois, Benoist, Benua, Venua. [See
Book Ten
for the Acadian family's Louisiana "begats"]
Sources: 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Slave
Schedules, Calcasieu, Lafayette, Lafourche Interior, St. Martin, &
Vermilion parishes; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Lafayette,
Lafourche, & St. Martin parishes; Arsenault, Généalogie, 427,
1101-04, 1330-35, 1470, 2185, 2415-18; "Benoits of Bay St.
George," AGE, May 2008, 42-44; Brasseaux, Founding of New
Acadia, 105; Brasseaux, Foreign French,
1:42, 2:27, 3:23-24; BRDR, vols. 1a(rev.), 2, 3,
4, 5(rev.), 6, 8, 10, 11; De La Roque, "Tour of Inspection," Canadian
Archives 1905, 2A:35, 48-50, 56, 112-13, 118, 121; De Ville, Mississippi Valley Mélange, 2:14,
source of quotation; Michel J. Foret, "War or Peace? Louisiana, the
Choctaws, and the Chickasaws, 1733-1735," 299, 300, in Conrad, ed.,
The French Experience in LA; Hébert, D., Acadians in Exile, 25-27,
153, 313, 378, 383, 436; 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; Hodson,
Acadian Diaspora, 138-40; NOAR, vols. 3, 4, 5, 7;
<islandregister.com/1752.html>;
Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 15-16, 57, 65, 67, 109, 119, 152,
175, 177-78, 217-18, 267-68, 274, 279-80, 289, 291; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/Duc_Guillaume.htm>,
Family Nos. 31, 32, 42; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/Supply.htm>,
Family Nos. 19, 22, 30; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/Tamerlan.htm>,
Family Nos. 2, 9, 10; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/5bateaux.htm>,
Family Nos. 70, 120; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 7-9;
Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 10-11; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo,
47-55;
Gregory A. Waselkov, Introduction to Thomas, D. H., Fort Toulouse, xxxii;
White, DGFA-1, 105-19; White, DGFA-1 English, 20-26; West,
Atlas of LA Surnames,
24-25, 150-51; Wood, Acadians in Maryland, 29, 36, 84-85.