François
ORIGIN
Until today, we have no clue as to the place of origin of the first
Gaudreau of the Acadian line except that he took a boat from Auray
harbour in France, on the 14th of july in 1632. We also know that he
bears a surname witch comes from old Poitou in France.
PLACE
François Gautreau disembarked probably from overseas, at La Hève in
Nova Scotia on September the 8th, in 1632, with Isaac de Razilly and
300 first class soldiers. In 1634, he took for a wife a Indien woman "Micmac"
with a given name of Marie with whom they had two children, Marie and
Charles. He later (1645) married Edmée Lejeune from whom nine children
were born. They are Marie, Jean, François, Renée, Marguerite, Claude,
Charles, Jeanne and Germain. We know that they later moved to
Port-Royal because we find them on the first Acadian census in 1671.
On the following census in 1686, François and his wife are living with
their son Claude. François died therefore, between 1686 and the
following census in 1693 where Edmée Lejeune is declared as a widow.
She was not living anymore on the 1698 census.
THE GREAT DISPLACEMENT
The family of François Gautreau was scattered by the great
displacement of 1755. We found some of François's descendants in New
England, Maryland and Lousiana in the States. Others went back to
France, at either St-Malo or Belle-Isle-En-Mer. Finaly, others managed
to escape elsewhere in Canada, like the two brothers P'Tit Pierre and
P'Tit Jean who founded the Gautreau village near Memramcook, just
south of Moncton, NB. Another, Jean, reached Québec city after a halt
in Monmagny. Finaly, others went east to the island of
St-Pierre-et-Miquelon.
