Alexandre Broussard (abt. 1699 - 1765)

Born about 1699 in Port-Royal, Acadie, Nouvelle-France

Ancestors

Husband of Marguerite Thibodeau — married 7 Feb 1724 in Annapolis Royal, Acadie, Colony of Nova Scotia

Descendants

Died 18 Sep 1765 at about age 66 in Camp Beausoleil, Attakapas, Louisiane, Nouvelle-Espagne

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Biography

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Alexandre Broussard and his spouse, Marguerite Thibodeau, are on the Wall of Names at the Acadian Memorial in St. Martinville, Louisiana, Plaque 2 Left. Listed with them are their children, Sylvain, Anne, Simon and Pierre.^[1]

Alexandre Brossard was born around 1699 in Port-Royal, Acadie and was a brother of Joseph, dit Beausoleil Broussard. He was listed in the 1700 census of Port-Royal at age 1 with his parents Jean Brossard and Catherine Richard, ^[2] and again in 1701 as Francois Brossart.^[3]

Alexandre Brossard married Margueritte Thibaudault, daughter of Michel Thibaudault and Agnes Dugas 7 February 1724 at Port Royal, Acadia. The bride and groom made their marks as did Rene Doucet. Charle Landry, Michel Tibeaudeaux and Pierre Tibeaudeau signed.^[4][5] They had eleven children over the years before Le Grand Derangement in 1755.^[6]

In 1755 Alexandre and Marguerite were living with their 3 boys and 4 girls, as well as their extended family, in Petitkoudiac, as shown on the 1755 Acadian Census.^[7]

His story, researched and written by Edsel Broussard:

Alexandre Broussard and his brother Joseph, dit Beausoleil founded Boundary Creek, Acadia around 1740. He'd settled in Chipoudy (now Hopewell in New Brunswick, Canada). He later moved to a place called Stoney Creek on the Petitcoudiac River near Moncton where he was still living in 1752 with his wife, five boys and two girls. In 1753 to 1757 three of Alexandre's sons were among the families in Petitcoudiac, namely Joseph Broussard and his wife Ursule Trahan, Jean Baptiste Broussard, and Anselme Broussard.

On August 12, 1763, Alexandre Broussard, his wife and four children were being held prisoner of the English at Halifax.^[8] Alexandre Broussard, dit Beausoleil was 42 years old at the time of deportation of the Acadians from their home to various ports and states along the eastern [now-] United States in one of the most sorrowful, heartbreaking events of history. Alexandre and his brother Joseph, dit Beausoleil and their families escaped deportation by hiding in the woods. It was not until the fall of 1758, three years after the deportation, that Acadian refugees were discovered by the English in the woods of the Petitcodiac River. The English soldiers burned their homes but only took 24 women and 4 men as prisoners. Many Acadians remained in the woods in the areas of Le Coude (Moncton), Silvabreau (Dieppe), Jagersom (Lewisville) as far as Beausoleil (Boundary Creek) where Alexandre and Joseph Broussard and their families lived.

Joseph Broussard was Captain of the French Acadian Resistance Militia of Sharpshooters. His marksmanship with a musket became legendary.

In 1759, four years after the forced deportation of the Acadians, Alexandre Broussard, dit Beausoleil and his brother Joseph, along with their families and other refugee Acadians (near Boundary Creek) were still resisting the many attempts of the English soldiers to capture them. These Acadians had lived in the upper Petitcodiac area for nearly 30 years. By September of 1759 the Acadian refugees had lost hope, for they had no food and essentials to carry them through the harsh winter fast approaching. After giving much thought to their survival, Joseph Broussard, his brother Alexandre, Jean Basque and Simon Martin went to Fort Cumberland (the old Beausejour) on November 16, 1759 as representatives of several hundred Acadian refugees who were facing famine. They delivered a petition to the Commanding officer, Major Frye. All were made prisoners with their families and were sent to Halifax where they were held until after the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Pierre Gauthier (born 1728), a brother to Nicolas Gauthier (born in 1731) owned and navigated a schooner. He bought dried fish and lumber from the Acadians of Nova Scotia and delivered it to the French West Indies and New Orleans. Nicolas Gauthier was a prisoner of the English at Halifax with Alexandre and Joseph Broussard. It is the belief of Alexander's grandson, Edsel J. Broussard (born 15 July 1935) that Pierre Gauthier who had managed to hide his schooner from the English brought Alexandre from Canada to St. Domingo. Their departure from Santo Domingo of the French West Indies was in 1765. Stricken by the plague and unable to bear the tropical climate, they left for the Attakapas and arrived in New Orleans by way of the Mississippi. Many of the deported Acadians of Nova Scotia who had been unloaded at various ports along the Eastern United States had found their way to Louisiana by whatever means they could use. Alexandre arrived in Louisiana during the early part of 1765 from Santo Domingo. As early as May 14, 1763 Acadians began arriving from Santo Domingo, wrote Charles Aubry, a military commander in Louisiana.

Alexandre and Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil must have arrived in New Orleans on or about February 28, 1765. The vessel would have docked at New Orleans to receive information and permission from the Spanish government there as to where they could settle. Commissioner Nicolas Foucault of New Orleans wrote to the Government of France that 193 Acadians had arrived from Santo Domingo on February 28, 1765. Louis Billouard, Chevalier de Kerlerec, Governor of Louisiana had allowed the French Canadian Acadians to choose land in the Opelousas region. Knowledge of the land between the Mississippi and that region would have revealed that passage to the Attakapas region would have been possible further up the Mississippi at Pointe Coupee (New Roads, Louisiana). From this point overland passage by wagon and on foot was not only possible but shorter. A good map would reveal that it was the shortest distance and quickest way to get there. An overland trip from New Orleans to the Attakapas region was impossible due to the vast area of swamp (the Atchafalaya Basin) between the two places. It is estimated that the vessel carrying Alexandre and Joseph Broussard to Pointe Coupee, north of New Orleans, would have arrived one day after departure or about March 3, 1765 (considering a two or three day stop-over in New Orleans.)

At Pointe Coupee (New Roads) they would have unloaded their belongings off the vessel until such time as they could purchase wagons and horses to pull them. Their loaded wagons could have included several canoes to cross rivers and perhaps tools to cut trees down for firewood and to build rafts to cross their wagons over the Atchafalaya River.

Further evidence to support the theory of their route taken can be found in the Church Records of Pointe Coupee (New Roads) Louisiana. Alexandre Broussard and Marguerite Thibodeaux's son, Joseph Broussard (born in 1725) married Marguerite Savioe (second marriage) in 1763. From the second marriage 9 children were born of which Marguerite was born 4 April 1765 and baptized on 24 April 1765 at Pointe Coupee (New Roads) Louisiana on the Mississippi River above Baton Rouge. The Church Register reads as follows, in French: Nee le 3 avril et baptisee, le 24 avril 1765, lors du passage de cette famille a Pointe-Coupee en route pour se fonder un noveau foyer aux Attakapas (English: Born 3 April and baptised on 24 April 1765, while the family was passing through Pointe-Coupee en route to live in the new settlement of Attakapas).

It is possible that their departure by wagon could have ended upon arrival at the Atchafalaya River. A schooner or rafts down the river could have brought the Acadian refugees (the family of the Broussards) to a point near St. Martinville. Such a trip could have the family near St. Martinville within a week of departure. An overland trip from Pointe Coupee would have taken from seven to ten days. Their arrival in the Attakapas region of Lafayette or St. Martinville would have been on or about March 15, 1765.

The above arrival date of March 15, 1765 would be a close calculated date, for Alexandre Broussard, Jean-Baptiste Broussard (Alexandre's brother), Victor Broussard (son of Joseph Broussard and Agnes Thibodeau), Joseph Broussard, dit Beausoleil, Jean Dugas, Joseph Guillebeau, Oliver Tibaudau and Pierre Arcenaud had their signatures on a contract dated April 4, 1765. A retired French army captain, Antoine Bernard d'Hauterive agreed to supply them with cattle. They received 8 cows and 1 bull each, and repayment was to be made of the same number and quality of cattle at the end of six years, plus 50% of their profits from livestock-raising.

The plague (contracted by the Acadians at Santo Domingo) took a heavy toll on the newly-arrived Acadians during 1765. Alexandre and his wife Marguerite died within about two weeks of one another -- Alexandre died September 22, 1765, and Marguerite died on September 7, 1765.^[9][10]

Sources

1. ↑ The Wall of Names at the Acadian Memorial, compiled by Jane G. Bulliard and the Wall of Names Committee (Opelousas, LA: Bodemuller, 2015) p. 13
2. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1700 Acadian Census, at Port-Royal, Acadie 1700 Census Transcribed. The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the National Archives of Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752”, Images 151-173 (Image 153).

   at Port Royal: Jean BROSSARD [Broussard] 46; Catherine RICHARD (wife) 36; Pierre 16, François 6; Claude 5, Allexandre l, Marie 18; Marie-Anne 14; Catherine 10; Isabelle 4; Françoise 3; 24 cattle, 26 sheep, 15 arpents, 1 gun.

3. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1701 Acadian Census, at Port-Royal, Acadie 1701 Census Transcription. The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the National Archives of Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752”, Images 174-211.

   Francois BROSSART 53, Catherine RICHARD (wife) 38; Pierre 18, Francois 5, Claude 3, Alexandre 2, Magdeleine 20, Marion 16, Catherine 10, Isabelle 7; 5 guns, 10 cattle, 18 sheep, 17 hogs, 10 arpents.

4. ↑ Library and Archives Canada, Fonds de la paroisse catholique Saint-Jean-Baptiste (Port-Royal, N.-É.)-1870 C-1870 (image 184) https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c1870/184?r=0&s=5
5. ↑ "An Acadian Parish Remembered - The Registers of St. Jean-Baptiste, Annapolis Royal, 1702-1755," Alexandre Brossard and Margueritte Thibaudault marriage RG 1 volume 26 page 335 https://novascotia.ca/archives/acadian/archives.asp?ID=1376
6. ↑ Stephen A. White, Patrice Gallant, Hector-J. Hébert, Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Acadiennes (Moncton, N.-B.: Centre D'études Acadiennes, Université De Moncton, 1999) p. 285
7. ↑ Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home"; 2005 – Present, hosted by Lucie LeBlanc Consentino;1755 Census p. 7 of 32

   Pekoudiac

   legend: hommes, femmes, garcons, filles

   Victor Broussard (Beausoleil) epoux d' Isabelle LeBlanc, 1,1,1,-

   Alexandre Broussard, epoux de Marguerite Thibodeau, 1,1,3,4

   Joseph Broussard epoux de Ursule Trahan, 1,1,-,-.

8. ↑ Ronnie-Gilles LeBlanc, « Acadians in Halifax and on Georges Island, 1755-1764 », Originally published in French: LeBlanc, Ronnie-Gilles. 2013. “Les Acadiens à Halifax et dans l’île Georges, 1755–1764.” Port Acadie : revue interdisciplinaire en études acadiennes / Port Acadie: An Interdisciplinary Review in Acadian Studies, No 22-23 (automne 2012-printemps 2013 / fall 2012-spring 2013): 43-76. Translated by John Estano deRoche, Halifax, and corrected by R.-G. LeBlanc, August 2013, accessed at http://sites.rootsweb.com/~nsgrdpre/documents/dossiers/Ronnie-Gilles/Acadians-Halifax-Georges-Island-1755-1764-(English).pdf Appendix
9. ↑ Rev. Donald J. Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records 1740-1900 ("SWLR"), CD #101 (Baton Rouge, LA: Claitor's Publications Division, 2001)

   (SM CH.:V.4, #194).

   (SM Ch.:V.1, p.12).

10. ↑ Edsel Broussard, charter member of "Famille Beausoleil," a Broussard Family Association dedicated to researching and connecting the descendants and families of the "Beausoleil Brothers" - Alexandre and Joseph Broussard.

See Also:

• Janet Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies (Covington, KY: Author, 1977) pp. 243, 249 & 253.
• St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church

Acknowledgments

Frank Nolan

Karen Theriot Reader

Jacqueline Girouard