In July 1712, James, son of Andrew Gainier
and Margaret Benard of Dublin, Ireland, was serving as a soldier with
the British
army
when he married Cécile, daughter of Pierre Cellier and
Marie-Josèphe-Aimée Lejeune of Minas, at
Beaubassin. James later called himself Jacques Guénard
dit Gaudereau, signifying his entrance into Acadian society.
Between 1716 and 1734, Cécile gave Jacques three children, a son and two daughters:
Timothée in Maryland in October 1716 and baptized at Annapolis Royal in
November 1718; Marie-Rose dit Gaudereau, date unrecorded; and
Cécile-Marguerite in c1734 and baptized at Minas in June 1744, age 10.
Older daughter Marie-Rose married into the Bastien
family at Chignecto, so the family evidently was peripatetic. Jacques and Cécile died before 13 July 1742, the date of
their daughter's wedding at Beaubassin.
Son Timothée married Anne-Marie, daughter of
Pierre Thibodeau le jeune and Anne-Marie Aucoin,
probably at Annapolis Royal in c1744.
[See also
Book Three]
LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT
[For the family's travails
during the Great Upheaval, see
Book
Six]
LOUISIANA: WESTERN
SETTLEMENTS
Timothée Guénard, age 49,
wife Anne-Josèphe Thibodeau, age 42, and their two children--Joseph,
age 19, and Anastasie, age 14--reached New Orleans sometime in the spring of
1765. After a brief stay in the city, they moved on to the
western prairies and settled in the Opelousas
District, where Timothée soon died.
Anne-Marie remarried twice at Opelousas, first to French
Creole François-Marie Rivard in c1767, and then to French Canadian Joseph,
son of Jean-Baptiste Loiseau dit
Francoeur and Marie-Ursule Jutras of Montréal, in November
1786. Her Guénard daughter, Anastasie, married Amable dit
Beaulieu, son of Giles
Bertrand and Thérèse
La Jeunesse, a French Canadian, not an Acadian, at Opelousas in
February 1766 and died there in March 1789, age 38. Anastasie's succession
was filed at what became the Opelousas courthouse in February 1791.
Anne-Marie's Guénard
son, Joseph, also married.
Descendants of Joseph
GUÉNARD (c1746-?; James/Jacques)
Joseph, son of Timothée Guénard
and Anne-Marie Thibodeau, born probably at Annapolis Royal in c1746,
accompanied his parents into exile in Massachusetts in 1755, to Halifax in
1763, and on to Louisiana in 1764-65. He followed his parents to the
Opelousas District, where he married Véronique, daughter of French Creoles
Philippe Duplechin and his first wife Renée Boff of
New Orleans and Pointe Coupée, in November
1772--the first recorded exogamous marriage by an Acadian male in Louisiana.
Wife Véronique was a resident of Opelousas at the time of their marriage.
They
settled in the Opelousas District. Véronique died at Opelousas
in November 1787. Evidently Joseph did not remarry. Their
daughter married into the Braconier and Dauzat
families. Neither of their sons created families of their own, so
this line of the family, except for its blood, did not survive in the Bayou
State.
1
Older son Benoît, born at
Opelousas in c1772, probably died young.
2
Younger son Dominique, born
at Opelousas in c1776, also probably died young.
NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in
LOUISIANA
Guénard is a fairly common
surname in France, so it should be no surprise that a Guénard family
settled in colonial Louisiana at least a decade before their Acadian
namesakes arrived. Joseph Guénard had many sons, one of whom
settled not far from his Acadian namesakes during the late colonial period:
Descendants of Joseph GUÉNARD
(?-?)
Joseph Guénard of Rennes,
Brittany, France, a master glazier, married Marie Menard, Meran,
Merand, Merandson, Merant, Merante, or Meron
of New Orleans in the early 1750s. Their daughter married into the
Fleitas family. Joseph and Marie had at least sons, many of whom
probably died young. One of their sons settled in the Attakapas
District, south of Opelousas, but, except for its blood, the line did not survive:
1
Oldest son Pierre was born
at New Orleans in February 1754.
2
Nicolas in September 1755,
married Julie, daughter of Pierre Nezat of the Garonne region of
France, at Attakapas in June 1788. Their daughters
married into the Duplechin and Roy (French Canadian, not
Acadian) families. Nicolas died at Attakapas in November 1797; the
priest who recorded his burial said that Nicolas was age 40 when he
died, but he was 42. His line of the family, except for its blood,
died with him.
3
Claude was born at New
Orleans n July 1757.
4
François-Joseph was born at
New Orleans in July 1759.
5
Jacques-Honoré was born at
New Orleans in May 1761.
6
Joseph-Laurent, called
Laurent, baptized at New Orleans, age unrecorded, in August 1765,
married Marie-Louise, daughter of Paul Ducrois of New Orleans, at New
Orleans in February 1792, and remarried to Jeanne, daughter of Jacques
Nivet of New Orleans, at New Orleans in June 1797. Their son
Nicolas le jeune was born at New Orleans in December 1796, and
Joseph-Julien in April 1798. Joseph-Laurent died at New Orleans in
August 1798, age 33.
7
Jean-Louis was born at New
Orleans in June 1767.
8
André was born at New
Orleans in June 1770.
9
Youngest son Charles-Joseph
was baptized at New Orleans, age unrecorded, in April 1774.
.
Maximilien, son of Bave Guénard,
was baptized at San Bernardo, an Isleños community south of New
Orleans, age 11 months, in April 1796. One wonders if Maximilien
and his family were, like the majority of the residents of their community,
also Canary Islanders.
~
A French-Creole Guénard,
perhaps a descendant of Joseph of New Orleans, settled in West Baton Rouge
Parish during the late antebellum period:
Joseph Hortaire, son of Joseph
Guénard and Zenolie Joly of New Orleans, married Apolline Doralie,
daughter of Acadian Pierre Moïse Foret, at the Brusly church, West
Baton Rouge Parish, in July 1851.
CONCLUSION
Guénards settled fairly
late in Acadia, but they were among the earliest Acadians to find refuge in
Louisiana. One family came to the colony from Halifax via
Cap-Français, St.-Domingue, in 1765 and settled in the Opelousas District.
The father, Timothée, died soon after coming to the colony, if he made it
there at all, so it was up to his only son, Joseph, and Joseph's
French-Creole wife, to carry on the line. They had at least two sons,
but neither son produced a family of his own. Joseph's daughter married twice, however, to a French Canadian and a French
Creole, and Joseph's sister had married a French Canadian, so the blood of the Acadian Guénards
survived in the Bayou State. However, the Guénards of South Louisiana
today are descendants of French Creoles or Foreign French, not Acadians.
The family's name also is spelled Gaignaire,
Genar. [See also
Book Ten]
Sources: BRDR, vols. 2, 7; De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1777,
20; Harper, Mississippi Valley Mélange, 9:52-54; Hébert, D., Southwest
LA Records, vols. 1-A, 1-B, 2-A, 3, 4; NOAR, vols. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; White, DGFA-1, 775.