Family Group Sheet for Pierre Lejeune dit Briard / Marie (2) Thibodeau (F866) m. Before 1678

Notes

Lejeune Mi?kmaq connection

Father Clarence-Joseph D'Entremont, in his book, ``Le Canada-Francais Documents sur l'Acadie,'' asserts that the Pierre II who arrived in Acadia as a child married a Micmac woman. The census of 1686 listed Pierre Lejeune III as being married to Marie Thibodeau and Martin Lejeune as being married to Marie-Jeanne Kagijonias, a member of the Micmac tribe. After Marie-Jeanne's death, Martin married Marie Gaudet, the daughter of Jehan (Jean) Gaudet and Marie-Jeanne Henry. A 1693 census lists a sister to Pierre III and Martin named Jeanne, who was married to Francois Joseph, a member of the Micmac tribe.
Lejeunne family history for the 1998, The Times-Picayune. Used with permission.

Lejeunes immigrated via interesting path

By Damon Veach
Genealogy columnist/The Times-Picayune
April 12, 1998
The first Lejeune to arrive in Acadia from France was Pierre LeJeune, along with his wife, whose name is not known, and their three children, Edmee or Aimee, Pierre II and Catherine. This LeJeune family was from the Poitou region of France.

By the census of 1671, Edmee was married to Francois Gautrot (Gautreaux), and Catherine was married to Francois Scavois (Savoie). Pierre II is not mentioned in the census of 1671. However, in the census of 1686, two LeJeune men are listed, Pierre III (age 28) and Martin Lejeune dit Briard (age 25). They are listed as brothers, and because of their young ages, the Pierre III of this census could not be the same Pierre II listed as having arrived in Acadia in the 1630s. (Were these two LeJeune men the sons of the young Pierre Lejeune II who arrived with his sisters, Edmee and Catherine?)

Father Clarence-Joseph D'Entremont, in his book, ``Le Canada-Francais Documents sur l'Acadie,'' asserts that the Pierre II who arrived in Acadia as a child married a MicMac woman. The census of 1686 listed Pierre Lejeune III as being married to Marie Thibodeau and Martin LeJeune as being married to Marie-Jeanne Kagijonias, a member of the MicMac tribe. After Marie-Jeanne's death, Martin married Marie Gaudet, the daughter of Jehan (Jean) Gaudet and Marie-Jeanne Henry. A 1693 census lists a sister to Pierre III and Martin named Jeanne, who was married to Francois Joseph, a member of the MicMac tribe.

Pierre III and Marie Thibodeau had nine children, four boys and five girls.

The five girls were: Marie-Marguerite, who was born in 1686 and married in 1708 to Jean-Joseph Boutin; Jeanne, born about 1690, who was married in 1712 to Jean Roy II; Marguerite, who was born in 1695 and married in 1714 to Alexandre Trahan; Anne LeJeune, who was born in 1696; Catherine LeJeune, who was born in 1698 and married first Antoine LaBauve dit LaNoue, later Claude-Antoine Duplessis.

The boys were: Pierre IV, who was born in 1689 and was married in 1712 to Jeanne Benoit; Germain, who was born in 1693 and married Anne-Marie Trahan; Jean, born in 1697, who married Francoise Guedry or Guidry; and Joseph, who was born in 1704 and married to Cecile Pitre in about 1724.

Martin LeJeune dit Briard had four children with his first wife, Marie-Jeanne Kagijonias, and eight children with his second wife, Marie Gaudet. The three sons born of his first marriage were: Claude, who was born about 1685 and was married in 1705 to Anne-Marie Gaudet; Germain, born in 1689, who married Marie Guedry or Guidry in about 1729; and Bernard, who was born in 1693 and married to Isabelle Saulnier or Sonnier in about 1720. Their only daughter was Anne Lejeune, who was born in 1686 and married in 1702 to Rene LaBouve.

Following the death of his first wife, Martin Lejeune dit Briard married Marie Gaudet in 1700. It is interesting to note that Martin's son, Claude, married his stepmother's sister two years later.

Martin Lejeune and Marie Gaudet's eight children were: Theodore; Paul, who was born in 1702 and married in 1727 to Marie Benoit; Martin, Paul's twin, who was married in 1729 to Marie Renaud; Eustache, who was born in 1714 and married in 1747 to Marie-Anne Barriot or Barrilleaux; and Pierre. The three remaining children were girls named Claire, who was born in 1706 and married Francois Viger; Marguerite I; and Marguerite II.

In order to escape the encroaching and increasingly hostile British, a number of the LeJeune families left for Ile-Royale, present day Cape Breton Island, which was protected by the French fort at Louisbourg. For example, Paul Lejeune and Marie Benoit are shown on the 1752 census at Baie-des-Espagnols, Ile-Royale. The Acadians living on Ile-Royale were not affected by the Acadian deportations of 1755. However, after the fall of Fort Louisbourg to the English during the summer of 1758, there was another round of deportations from Ile-Royale and Ile St-Jean.

One of the sons of Paul Lejeune and Marie Benoit was named Jean-Baptiste. He was born in 1728 and was married in about 1748 to Marguerite Trahan, the daughter of Etienne Trahan and Francoise Roy. They were listed in the 1752 census as living at Baie-des-Espagnols. The census showed that they lived between the homesteads of Jean-Baptiste's parents and Marguerite's parents. In 1752, they had three children - Jean-Baptiste II, Blaise and Marguerite.

A mystery surrounds the eventual deportation of Jean-Baptiste Lejeune and his family. The 1763 census of Port Tobacco, Md., shows that the children of Jean-Baptiste and Marguerite were living there at that time. Jean-Baptiste and Marguerite were deceased. However, the census showed that they had two children between 1752 and 1763, both probably born in exile after the deportation. These two children were named Joseph and Nanette. The children were all listed as orphans and living with relatives or friends.

The mystery is that the Acadians deported from Ile-Royale were all sent to England or France. For example, Jean-Baptiste's mother, Marie Benoit, and at least one of his sisters were deported to France. It is not known why Jean-Baptiste and Marguerite were deported to Maryland. Perhaps they had moved back to the Nova Scotia mainland between 1752 and 1755 and were caught up in the initial round of deportations. Most of the initial deportees of 1755 were scattered among the American colonies.

In any event, Jean-Baptiste, Blaise, Joseph, Marguerite, and Nanette all eventually left Maryland en route to Louisiana with their uncle, Honore Trahan and his wife, aboard the English schooner Britain. This ship, ill-equipped and barely seaworthy, eventually ran aground near present-day Goliad, Texas. Eventually, the Acadians and the Germans were given Spanish passports for an overland journey to Louisiana. They traveled by land from Goliad to Natchitoches. Somewhere along the way, Nanette Lejeune left the travel party, although it is not known why.

The Lejeune family data will be continued in next week's column.

St. Tammany meeting: The next regular meeting of the St. Tammany Genealogical Society will be April 14 at 1:30 p.m. at the Covington Branch Library, located at 310 W. 21st Avenue in Covington. The public is invited. For more information, contact Martha Dutsch, 504-892-6561.

The next general meeting of the La Famille Gravois Corporation will be held at the St. James Parish Courthouse Annex and Library, located on Highway 20, Vacherie, on Saturday at 10 a.m. For more information, call Ronnie Gravois (in Mandeville) at 504-626-3023, Roland Gravois (in New Orleans) at 504-393-1264, or Richard Brazan (in Vacherie) at 504-265-3955.

Correspondence to this column should be addressed to Damon Veach, Louisiana Ancestors, care of Living Section, The Times-Picayune, 3800 Howard Ave., New Orleans, La. 70140. Queries are printed free and can be any length but should have a Louisiana connection by heritage or residence of researchers working on lines in other states. Books and other publications are reviewed only if a sample copy is submitted with each request. Dated notices should be sent several weeks prior to the scheduled event. Otherwise mail is filed by date of postmark and used as space permits. Damon Veach is also the editor of the quarterly ``Cajuns, Creoles, Pirates and Planters.''

Family: Pierre Lejeune dit Briard / Marie (2) Thibodeau (F866)