Joseph Arseneau (abt. 1740 - 1785)

Born about 1740 in Beaubassin, Acadie, Colony of Nova Scotia

Ancestors

Husband of Marie Bergeron — married before 12 Aug 1763 in Acadie, Colony of Nova Scotia

Descendants

Died 15 Mar 1785 at about age 45 in St. James, Louisiana, New Spain

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Biography

Joseph Arseneau is on the Wall of Names at the Acadian Memorial in St. Martinville, Louisiana, on Plaque 1 Left. He is listed alone with other Acadians who had been imprisoned in Halifax and made their way to Louisiana in 1765.^[1]

Joseph Arseneau was born in Acadie about 1740. He was the son of Jean Arseneau and Marie Jeanne Hebert.^[2][3]

He was counted at the end of the Seven Years War as a released prisoner, married to Marie Bergeron, at Halifax on 12 August 1763.^[4] He was among the freed Acadians who waited there a year for Joseph Broussard, dit Beausoleil to be released from his extended sentence, and then sailed to Louisiana after a stop in Haiti.

By 9 April 1766 he was 26, and with Marie was settled at the Acadian Coast in Louisiana.^[5] They were counted there again in 1769 with two young daughters and a nephew;^[6] and again in 1777.^[7]

He died in 1785, leaving a widow and six minor children, in St. James Parish, Louisiana.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ The Wall of Names at the Acadian Memorial, Wall of Names Committee, Jane G. Bulliard, Chair, eds. (Opelousas, LA: Bodemuller, 2015) p. 9
2. ↑ Karen Theriot Reader, Geneanet.org, updated: 2019; Accessed on 22 November 2019; citing Stephen A. White, Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Acadiennes 1714 à 1780, (Moncton, NB : Centre d’Etudes Acadiennes, draft version) ARSENEAU #10 f & #44

   Birth: No place given. - Joseph ARSENEAU, born around 1740, son of Jean (10) ARSENEAU & Marie-Jeanne HÉBERT.

   Marriage: Marie Bergeron, they were 2nd cousins once removed. No place given. They were married before the census of 12 Aug 1763.

   Census: 12 August 1763. He was married to Marie BERGERON on this census.

3. ↑ NOTE: Some researchers name his parents Pierre [Arsenault] & Marguerite HEBERT following what Bona Arsenault published; however, that has been disproven. See Karen Theriot Reader, geneanet.org, citing: Bona Arsenault, HISTOIRE ET GENEALOGIE DES ACADIENS; 1625-1810, (Ottawa: Editions Lemeac, 1978) p. 2404

   (Louisiana]. Born in 1740, "probably" the son of Pierre & Marguerite HEBERT [sic] of Beaubassin. Joseph married Marie BERGERON (no parents listed), born in 1745; five children. In 1769, he occupied lot number 108 on the east bank of the Mississippi; a nephew, Theodore, born 1762, lived with him. Joseph Arseneau

4. ↑ Census - Halifax, Acadia: Ronnie-Gilles LeBlanc, "List of Acadian Families & Individuals at Halifax between 1759 & 1764," Appendix to Acadians in Halifax and on Geroge Island 1755 & 1764, English trans. by John Estano DeRoche - Sept 2013; [www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nsgrdpre/documents/dossiers/Ronnie-Gilles/Halifax-Families-1759-1764-rev-Sept-2013-(English).pdf Halifax prisoners.
5. ↑ 1766 Census - Cabahannocer (Lower), LA: Lillian C. Bourgeois, Cabanocey: the History, Customs and Folklore of St. James Parish, (New Orleans: Pelican Publishing, 1998) p. 168

   Joseph ARSENAUD, 26, on 4 arpents of land, with one gun;

   Marie BERGERON [sic], wife 21.
6. ↑ 14 September 1769 Census - Cabahannocer (Lower), LA: Bourgeois, Cabanocey, p. 177

   (Original in Archivo General de Indias, Papeles procedentes de Cuba, legajo 187A, folio 220-231.) - On the Left Bank, Mississippi River:

   1. 108: Joseph ARSENEAUX, 29;
   Marie BERGERON, wife, 25; Françoise, daughter, 3; Margueritte, daughter, 7 months; Theodore [BERGERON], nephew [of Joseph ARSENEAU; also 1st cousin once removed of Marie BERGERON] , 7.
7. ↑ 1777 Census - Cabahannocer (Lower), LA: Stephen A. White, Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Acadiennes: 1715 à 1780, (Moncton, NB: Centre d'Études Acadiennes, draft version)

   ARSENEAU #10 f - Age 35 years.

8. ↑ Karen Theriot Reader, Geneanet.org, citing: Eileen Larré Behrman, St. James Parish, Louisiana Colonial Records, 1782-1787, (Cut and Shoot, TX: Mac Bean Press, 1980) pp. 62-63 -

   Dated 6 Sep 1787, abstract #235, pp. 601-620, #371 in original document:

   • Joseph ARCENEAUX died 15 Mar 1785, leaving a widow and six minor children. Sale and inventory of the estate, for sake of his six minor children, at the request of their mother Dame Marie BERGERON, named as tutor of her children, with Jean ARCENEAUX, their uncle as sub-tutor. The sale amounted to 2,486 piastres, 2 reaux (not including the habitation).
   • The sale of his goods, tools, animals, slaves, amounted to 2,486 piastres, 2 reaux. The property was sold, amounting to 2,486 piastres, 2 reaux (not including the habitation). Minor children were named:
   1. Jean, age 13 years;
   2. Auguste, 7;
   3. Francoise, 20;
   4. Marianne, 18;
   5. Colastie, 15; and
   6. Modesta, 8 years.

Ronnie-Gilles LeBlanc, "List of Acadian Families & Individuals at Halifax between 1759 and 1764", Appendix to "Acadians in Halifax and on Georges Island, 1755-1764 with English translation and glossary of place names by John Estano DeRoche. List of Families & Individuals at Halifax, 1759-1764. Originally published in French: Ronnie-Gilles LeBlanc, “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, No22-23 (automne 2012-printemps 2013 / fall 2012-spring2013):43-76. Translated by John Estano DeRoche, Halifax, and corrected by R.-G. LeBlanc, August 2013.