The first Acadians began arriving on the island of Nova Scotia in eastern maritime Canada in 1604, settling in 1605 near to what is today Annapolis Royal.
By Mikmaq – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1351882
Today, the original location of Port Royal is a national historic site known as the Habitation at Port-Royal. After it’s destruction in 1613, Port Royal was re-established about 6 miles away as Annapolis Royal (Fort Anne), shown below, but was still called Port Royal at that time.
By paulhami – http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulhami/3455802235/in/photostream/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7920932
This drawing shows Port Royal in 1753. Even half a century after Radegonde Lambert’s death, this village is still very small.
The first decade in “New France” was difficult, at best, with many false starts. Most of the men that settled in this region were interested in fishing and fur trading, not farming. Politically, the land in Canada was subject to the political winds in Europe, so the “ownership” of the region was not only disputed, but changed hands, being ruled by the French, the Scots and the British.
Ships came and went. Many settlers died. Those settlers that lived, male or mostly male, intermarried with the Micmac Indians.
Beginning in about 1610, some French women may have arrived with their husbands, but the dates are uncertain, as are the number of woman.
Because of this, most of the early births are presumed to be a result of a marriage, “legal,” meaning Catholic and blessed by the church, or not. I’m guessing that young men with no available European women, not to mention no priests for many years, didn’t much care about the sacraments nearly as much as they cared about female company.
Radegonde’s Birth
Radegonde Lambert was probably born between 1621 and 1629.
It’s believed by some that she was born in Cap-du-Sable, according to the compiled records of professional genealogist, Karen Theroit Reader, assuming Radegonde is the daughter of Jean Lambert, which may not be a safe assumption at all.
However, Jean Lambert is the only Lambert male in Acadia at that time, so if Radegonde was born in Acadia, it would have been to Jean.
Cap-du-Sable, meaning Sandy Cape, is an island off the far southern tip of Nova Scotia that was settled by Acadians who migrated from Port Royal in 1620. The men who lived on this island specialized in the fur trade.
Radegonde in the Records
The first actual peek we get of Radegonde Lambert is in the 1671 Census, in Port Royal. Thankfully, the women are listed by their birth surnames. Thank you, Acadians! Without this information, we would surely be lost.
You can see the original script of the entire 1671 census at this link.
In case you can’t read the entry for Radegonde’s husband, Jean Blanchard, it says that he is a laborer, living in Port Royal, Acadia, age 60. His name is spelled Jehan and his wife is Radegonde Lambert, age 42. They have 6 children and 3 are married. They have 5 arpens of land under cultivation, 12 cattle and 9 sheep. An arpent of land is about .84 acres.
From this census, we see that Radegonde is born in 1629.
However, and in genealogy, it seems like there is always a “however,” in the 1686 census, Radegonde’s age is given as 65, which would put her birth year as 1621.
In the 1693 census, she no longer appears, so she died sometime between 1686 and 1693, between the ages of 57 and 72, depending on what year she was actually born and in which year she died.
Radegonde’s Mother
Many of researchers believe that Radegonde Lambert’s mother was Micmak (Mi’kmaq). Why?
Primarily because if she was the daughter of Jean Lambert, one of the earliest settlers, it was believed that his wife had to be Indian because there were no French women in Acadia at that time.
Several researchers have reported variations on the story for many years, causing significant controversy.
Adding fuel to the fire for Radegonde to be Native, genealogist Alexandre Alemann, the ex-director of the Drouin Institut, assembled a list of those he believed to be Native – and Radegonde was on that list.
A second story about the origins of Radegonde Lambert claims that she was French, and came to Acadia with her husband, Jean Blanchard.
The following excerpt is from “The Origins of the Pioneers of Acadia” by Stephen A. White in relation to depositions taken in France after the deportment of the Acadians from Canada in 1755:
It is well known that there is very little original documentation that provides data regarding the places of origin of the earliest settlers of the French colony of Acadia. None of the colony’s parish registers for the seventeenth century survive, except one slim record book containing the sacramental entries for Beaubassin from 1679 to 1686. Additionally, there are but a couple of extant notarial records from the same period. And, unfortunately, the various Acadian censuses, beginning in 1671, make no mention of places of origin, unlike the detailed enumeration made in the small neighbouring colony of Plaisance in Newfoundland in 1698. (For more information about the early records of Acadia and Plaisance, see the bibliography of the present writer’s Dictionnaire généalogique des familles acadiennes, Première partie, 1636 à 1714 [hereinafter DGFA-1] [Moncton: Centre d’études acadiennes, 1999], Vol. I, pp. xvii-xxv, xxxix-xl, xlv-l.)
On the level of racial origins, there is a source that provides a considerable amount of information. This is the series of fifty-eight depositions of the heads of the Acadian families that were taken down on Belle-Île-en-Mer between February 15th and March 12th, 1767, pursuant to an order from the parliament of Brittany at Vannes. The deponents were required to provide under oath, in the presence of witnesses including other Acadians, the local parish priests, and the Abbé Jean-Louis LeLoutre, former Vicar General of the diocese of Québec and “director” of the Acadian families settled on Belle-Île, all the details they could regarding their own civil status and that of their immediate families, plus their direct-line genealogies back to their first ancestors who came from Europe, “with indication of the places and dates as much as they can remember.” The depositions were intended to take the place of the registers of the parishes in Acadia that had been lost “during the persecution by the British.” In practical terms, they would also furnish the French authorities a means of identifying those who, as refugees from said persecution, were entitled to the King’s bounty and protection.
Two sets of the depositions were made up in 1767. One set of copies was left on Belle-Île, and the other was sent to the district court at Auray. Both sets have been carefully preserved, the latter of the two being now housed in the departmental archives at Rennes.
LAMBERT, Radegonde, came from France with her husband Jean Blanchard, according to Jean LeBlanc, husband of her great-granddaughter Françoise Blanchard (Doc. inéd., Vol. III, p. 43). The deposition of Françoise’s nephews Joseph and Simon-Pierre Trahan is to the same effect (ibid., p. 123). Both depositions mistakenly give Guillaume as the ancestor’s given name. Jean LeBlanc’s makes an additional error regarding the name of Jean Blanchard’s wife, calling her Huguette Poirier. The censuses of 1671 and 1686 meanwhile clearly show that she was named Radegonde Lambert (see DGFA-1, pp. 143-144). The source of these errors is probably a simple confusion arising from the fact that Jean LeBlanc’s wife’s grandfather Martin Blanchard had a brother Guillaume who was married to a woman named Huguette, as this writer explained in an article published in 1984 (SHA, Vol. XV, pp. 116-117). This Huguette was not named Poirier, however, but Gougeon, although her mother, Jeanne Chebrat, had married a man named Jean Poirier before she wed Huguette’s father Antoine Gougeon, and all her male-line descendants in Acadia were Poiriers. Unfortunately, we do not know just what questions Jean LeBlanc asked in trying to establish the Blanchard lineage, but he might certainly have had the impression that Huguette was a Poirier from the fact that so many of her relatives were Poiriers, including her grandnephew Joseph, who was also on Belle-Île in 1767 (see Doc. inéd., Vol. III, pp. 13-15).
It’s not surprising that the husband and nephews of Radegonde Lambert’s great-granddaughter were confused, three generations by marriage (the husband) and 4 generations by birth (nephews) later. Most people today who aren’t genealogists can’t tell you their grandmothers’ maiden names. Did they perhaps have at least part of that story correct? Did Radegonde come to Acadia with her husband instead of being born there to Jean Lambert and his wife, either Micmac or European?
The quick answer is that we don’t know the exact circumstances of when or how Radegonde arrived, and probably never will. But we do have a very important clue about where she was born.
Radegonde’s DNA
Several descendants of Radegonde Lambert through all females have had their mitochondrial DNA tested. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from the mother to both genders of their children, but only females pass it on.
In Radegonde’s case, her DNA, for several years, also proved as puzzling as the records regarding her birth and mother’s ethnicity. No one but Radegonde’s descendants seems to match her DNA. It’s like Radegonde wanted to play a joke on all of her descendants. And a fine job she did too!
Fortunately, that question has now been resolved, and Radegonde’s DNA, haplogroup X2b4, which is exceedingly rare – as in chicken’s teeth rare – is found only in Europeans, to date, and not in any Native people.
Haplogroup X2b4 was born sometime around 5,500 years ago, in Europe, and given that the Native people migrated to the Americas sometime between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago across the land bridge from Asia into what is now Alaska, it would be impossible for X2b4, born in Europe, to be found among the Micmac women in 1621-1629. There were no European women in Canada in the early 1600s, early enough to be considered Micmac and be bearing children with French men by 1621.
I wrote an article recently about the evidence supporting the fact that Radegonde was indeed European, based on her mitochondrial DNA.
However, the question of whether Jean Lambert is her father, or if she came to Acadia with her husband still remains.
Radegonde’s Children
Karen Theroit Reader provides Radegonde’s children, as shown below. In two census records, in both 1671 and 1678, Radegonde and her husband, Jean Blanchard, are living next door to their son, Guilliame Blanchard who was age 35 in 1686.
- Madeleine Blanchard born about 1643, probably in Port Royal, died 1678-1684 and married Michel Richard. She had 10 children.
- Anne Blanchard was born about 1645, probably in Port Royal, died after 1714 in Beaubassin and married first to Francois Guerin, having 5 children, then to Pierre l’aine Gaudet, having 9 children.
- Martin Blanchard was born about 1647, probably in Port Royal and died after July 4, 1718 in Cobeguit. He married first to Marie Francoise Le Blanc having 3 children, then to Marguerite Guilbeau having 8 children.
The three children, above, would have been the three that were married by 1671. The three below would have been the children still at home.
- Guillaume Blanchard, born about 1650, probably in Port Royal, died before October 18, 1717 and married Huguette Gougeon, having 12 children.
- Bernard Blanchard born about 1653, probably in Port Royal and died after the 1671 census but before the 1686 census.
- Marie Blanchard born about 1656, probably in Port Royal, died after 1701, married to Pierre le jeune Gaudet, having 10 children.
Sadly, at least one and probably two of Radegonde’s children died before her, but as adults. She probably stood in the Garrison Cemetery overlooking the bay and buried these adult children, just as she buried the babies that had probably died decades earlier.
The youngest child of Radegonde was born in 1656, according to the 1671 census, in which Radegonde was shown to be age 42. This certainly makes me wonder why Radegonde had no children in her last 15 years of fertility.
The most likely explanation is twofold. First, this suggests that perhaps she was born closer to the 1621 date, which would make her 50 in 1671. If that was the case, then that would only leave 7 or 8 years of infertility to explain, not 15.
Jean Blanchard was age 60 in 1671. It’s possible that Radegonde was actually 60 instead of 42, although that’s a stretch in terms of the census taker not realizing that her age was in error. There’s a pretty big difference between 42 and 60. After all, there were only 392 people in total in that census, in all locations, including children, so about 65 families. Clearly, the census taker knew Radegonde and was unlikely to make an 18 year error.
More likely Radegonde had several children that died, some of which were probably born after Marie.
If Radegonde’s first child actually was Madeleine, and her first child did not die, then Radegonde’s marriage date would have been roughly 1642 which would suggest her birth year was closer to the earlier 1621 as opposed to 1629.
If Radegonde lost any children before Madeleine’s birth, that would push her marriage year back further, and possibly her birth year as well.
Radegonde’s Burial
The early burials in Port Royal took place in Fort Anne where an Acadian and English garrison cemetery are located. You can visit both on St. George Street at the Fort Anne National Historic Site, today.
Garrison Graveyard location courtesy of FindAGrave.
Radegonde’s daughter-in-law, Huguete Gougeon Blanchard, wife of Guilliame Blanchard is shown at FindAGrave as being buried in this Garrison cemetery which was established in 1632. She died in 1717. Guilliame Blanchard is reportedly buried at Amherst, but this makes little sense since he and his wife died the same year and presumably lived together in the same place prior to death. Amherst is not close to Port Royal, located just south of Moncton on the connecting peninsula to the mainland. Therefore, it’s more likely that the family is buried in the Garrison Cemetery known then as the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Cemetery.
Before the cemetery in Port Royal became the British garrison graveyard in 1710, it was the Saint-Jean-Baptiste parish cemetery and was used by the Acadian community of Port Royal and by the French Garrison.
When the British took the fort in 1710, they destroyed all of the headstones, except for 2, which are still standing today. Unfortunately, neither is for Radegonde.
I hope to visit Radegonde in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Parish Cemetery, aka the Garrison cemetery, someday soon. I know she is there, even though her grave is no longer marked, and was probably originally only marked with a wooden cross.
Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank cousin Paul LeBlanc for pointing me in the right direction with my Acadian research, for hosting the Acadian Rootsweb list, and for telling me that, “If you’re related to one Acadian, you’re related to all Acadians.”
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Roberta, thank you for your thorough research and writing on Radegonde who is my 10th great grandmother. You have done the best possible based on the available information about her and her family. I just want to know Radegonde’s real story and I feel this is as close as we can get to it. Thank you!
Me too, unless new information comes to light someplace. Let’s hope!
Roberta, I found a name for her mother.
Jeanne Marie Kagigoniac. Is it not possible that Jean Lambert took her to France, where she had Radegonde before returning to Acadia? Where did the dna come from, were their bodies exhumed?
DNA comes from multiple descendants. Beware of many many unsourced and undocumented trees.
Thank you cousin Roberta & I agree with what cousin Joan said! Radegonde is my 10th great grandmother x 3 on my fathers side & my aunt is her mtDNA descendant.
First though when I saw the title: “It is Sunday already?” Looking at the calendar, indeed, it is Sunday. Then “Wait, when was last time we had a 52 ancestors story on Sunday?” I’m taking it that the tragedies of August are slowly fading into a new normal routine already.
We share an ancestor for once! Radegonde Lambert is my 9x great-grand-mother and my 10x great-grand-mother.
Denis Savard, co-admin at French Heritage DNA, wrote a summary of the info we have on the couple last June, he doesn’t have more info than you. (the article is in French, but Google Translate will do the job for you)
http://www.acadienouvelle.com/etc/gensdici/2016/06/19/jean-blanchard-radegonde-lambert/
About her age, since her eldest daughter was born in 1743, we could guess she married around 1742. On the 1671 census she would be 13 years old at her marriage with a 32 years old husband. Not unheard of, but still quite young. Was she an orphan looking for someone to provide for her (I have seen that kind of scenario in my tree, although the girl was 16)? In the 1686 census, she is said to be 65, which would mean she was born in 1621, so she would be 21 at her wedding with a 32 husband.
My theory is the 1671 census taker had a brain fart. He’s still using Jehan, how old fashioned can he be? Radegonde was probably 52 and his old fashioned brain though both quarante-douze (40-12) and cinquante-deux (52) so he wrote half way in between as quarante-deux (42). Or maybe it was Jean Blanchard who said his wife was 40-12. With that scenario, Radegonde would be born in 1619 and be 25 at her wedding. If the 1671 census was taken before her birthday and the 1686 on after, everything fit and she would be born in 1620, probably 24 when she married.
Ah Acadians, so much info for people of the 17th and early 18th century. In contrast with the late 18th and early 19th century Scots on the very same lands. I have been struggling the last few weeks, to make anything out of a new (to me) local history and early genealogy book about Scots of Antigonish and Pictou, Nova Scotia…
Hi Roberta, thank you for all the great work, research and the great articles. We are related through Radegonde.
I have some questions and hope you may have some answers. The early Mi’kmaq/Acadian history is so intriguing and not so clear cut because of the lack of documentation.
Would you know if the YDNA of Jehan Lambert is known? Would you know if there has been any attempt to research a connection to actual living Mi’kmaq DNA/genealogy matching the Y and MTDNA of Jehan and Radegonde Lambert? I understand for the First Nation and for good reasons and in all respect, DNA is not viewed in the same way as non Natives.
There is also an unproven theory or possibility that intermixing occurred between the Mi’kmaq, Basque, Portuguese fishermen, and earlier the Vikings.. Sometime Membertou is brought up as an example that he may of had Portuguse/Mi’kmaq mix, but no one really knows. It would be nice to research and try to prove theses possibilities. So many of the early Acadian mothers have European MTDNA that are so rare. How can this be and what could be the cause this. It seems like an anomaly for that time period.
Would it be possible for you to write an article on how a science can determine for example how Haplogroup X2b4 and others Haplogroup where born sometime around a certain year. example 5,500 years ago for Radegonde or have been in North America for the last 500 years.
X2b4 or other MTDNA for example have yet to be found in the First Nation. If the Mi’kmaq community or other nation oral history claims that someone with a European DNA is of Amerindian descent. How can oral history and modern science merge. Humm so many questions bouncing in my head and so much to learn.
Thanks you.
Paul
I have never seen such claim by First Nations. Can you point to it? That usually comes from associations claiming «Metis» titles, while using old myths as proof. The concept of Eastern Metis emerged in the late 1990, not the 1600s.
I too am a descendant of Radegonde Lambert through my Mother’s line. My Mother was an orphan who never learned anything about her family. So learning about Radegonde was a wonderful thing for me. Regarding the possible Native American connection, I’ve had three different DNA tests and they all say that I am from 2 to 3% Native American.
This is all from my Mother’s side. Since Radegonde’s DNA shows to be European and not Amerindian, I’m left wondering where this comes from.
Still searching!
Leo
Busted my little Acadian bubble. I had “MawMaw Raddy” as my 10th GGrandmother, but my recent 23andMe test identifies my maternal haplogroup as H13a1a. Oh well, back to the genealogical drawing board! It’s really nice having a fellow Acadian to help us through this tangled jungle we call our ancestry. Thank you!
Mike Hebert
Just found this great article. Radegonde Lambert is my husband’s 8th great grandmother. He provided his DNA results to Denis Savard (whom I met last year at his book signing). I knew for a long time that Radegonde was not native thanks to Stephen White (whom I meet a few times) who had provided this information. Seeing it written like this is great as I have one of my husband’s cousin in Louisianna that just asked about it. I will refer him to your article.
Thanks for all the hard work.
Thank you, Roberta, for sharing the results of your research. Being new to this, I’m reading everything that anyone shares. I’m finding it exciting and interesting! I appreciate you including the 1671 census. There at the bottom is my ancestor Phillipe Mius! Thank you again!
He’s my ancestor too!!
There is an Acadian Recorder at Souh Shore Genealogy in Lunenburg, I have worked from it on researching my Benoit ancestors but is in French. Also there is history on the Lambert family at Fort Point museum in Lahave. I used to be a member on their board and a Mi’Kmaw Representative there. I have seen the name Raymonde Lambert written on a scroll there. It’s history dates back to Samuel Champlain in 1604. The Acadian settlement there was under Isaac De’ Rallize in 1632. There was a Catholic Church and an Acadian headquarters. I have books on Acadian history and Mi’kmaq history in their library. Also near Sperry’s Beach in Green Bay, there is a large monument in the old Mi’kmaq. Acadian burial ground that has a list of surnames on it. Of our ancestors who are buried there.
I am of the Benoit line also!
Hi I am a decedent of Jean Lambert and what I thought was Marie radegonde Membertau mic mac I have halo group H1c3 I also have 3.2 percent native blood . Al though I did find another link through Grace Membertau mic mac..I thought they were both Henry Membertaus daughters
Radegonde is not Native. Her mitochondrial DNA is European.
Thank you! I am also related to Radegonde & had hoped to have Mi’kmaq ancestry.
Membertou’s descendants are not known or recorded. (Not in the Acadian settlement context anyway). There’s a lot of imaginary genealogies on the web. Radegonde was born circa 1621 (before the first permanent settlers) and Membertou died in 1611 at over 100.
Hi Roberta, I resist from leaving a comment but in the spirit of learning about our ancestors and in a good way, I want to express the following food for thought, also the possibility of getting answers, I hope some day.
We, know through science that Radegonde, thus, her mother MTDNA was in time came from Europe. We know nothing of her grandfather. We, do not know when that MTDNA migrated to North America and how long her ancestors may have been on these shores. Alexandre Alemann, and other researchers had her as Metis. Not a full blood First Nation. Base on oral history, the way they lived in Metis villages etc.
If ,I recall correctly, he had 115 women on that Metis list, most MTDNA are European. This is a most interesting clue. To this day, we have no definite idea where they came from and the time period they reached these shores. Its also possible that the women listed who had First Nation MTDA , were also Metis, therefore most likely not full blood. We also know that the science, at present cannot reveal by using just MTDNA. Oral history is a major lead indicating that some other historical event may have happened.We have the tendency to overlook this in happening. We loose the aspect of First Nation tradition and oral history as a whole, which to me I find is a very important consideration we tend to put aside.
We know that the Basque, Portuguese (slave trade) and many other nations came to the shores much earlier then the Acadians. There was much activity and I suspect women were on those early voyages. There is the potential that they may have mix with the First Nation very easily and that the daughters over generations form unions with the Acadian men in the early 1600. Radegonde along with other females may have been a result of these early unions with the First Nation.The Basque and to this day, still have a good relation with the Mi’kmaq and still meet on both shores.
By chance if, we get a YDNA for Membertou or other men, and if their YDNA comes back as European, In due respect, according to First nation world view, culture, community, spirituality and way of life, very different from the European world view, that we can say that they where not Mi’kmaq or Metis base on DNA alone.
In Wiki; quote “He is described by the Jesuit Pierre Biard as having maintained a beard, unlike other Mi’kmaq males”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Membertou
Miigwech
Paul
« Base on oral history, the way they lived in Metis villages etc» …. You do realize Radegonde and her family live in Port-Royal their whole life after they settled there likely in 1640? Not sure what Metis village you are meaning. We know of all the early families, and the Native Mothers were few and most are now supported by DNA. Radegonde was born before the first wave of settler (1632) so clearly in France. None of her children marry into Native families. If there was earlier mixing from fishermen or vikings, it would be Men mixing in Native population, so the X2b4 signature would not transfer here pre-settlement. We can imagine a million scenarios, but we must stick to the facts please.
As soon as Richelieu rose to power at court, he stopped mixed marriages so there was only a short window where it was even «allowed». Outside the lawless Gaspé in the 1700-1750s which brought a new wave of mixed mariages with fishermen wintering.
I looked at the census and there are 4 Radegonde’s of different ages living in different adjacent wigwams. Exactly which Radegonde are each of us related to? My MtDNA Haplogroup is HV4a which means one of these is from the Middle East. Also Lescarbot writes a beautiful story (from his time there in 1603) where the quartermaster brought his 18 year old daughter along. She made very delicious chutney and was wooed by a young Mi’Kmaw man who showed up with all kinds of furs and provisions for the fort in exchange for permission to marry her. We can’t make assumptions such as just one Radegonde, when there are 4, nor can we assume that none of the sailors brought women with them. They sometimes did!
Can you please provide a reference or link to the census in question. Also, I’m curious how you know they are wigwams?
What is the origination of her first name? Thanks~ Apparently she is also in my husband’s line. We know he has Huron lineage on his mother’s side but on his father’s we were told he should have Abenaki, however she had shown up. We believe that one of his great grandfathers was baptized and his native name lost forever too. 🙁
Here is an example of how the indian origins were and disappeared from a family line. Article in the excellent newspaper ‘Le Devoir’ in 2006 following a publication in ‘Recherche Amérindiennes du Québec’ entitled : Algonquins of Three-Rivers, Back to Petite-Mission.
https://www.ledevoir.com/societe/110615/algonquins-de-trois-rivieres-retour-a-petite-mission
https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/raq/2010-v40-n1-2-raq5005322/1007500ar/
… In 1701 comes the «Grande Paix». The establishment of the colony is organized then and, consequently, the parishes. «It is accompanied by a sort of attempt to eradicate all traces of Indian by the clergy and local elites. » Around 1755-62, the ranks of the Algonquins present are enlarged by the arrival of Acadians, many of which are metised. They are fleeing deportation. Indians live on the margins of colonial society in places that would become more and more like shantytowns. Frequently known as “Little Canada”, they were seen as “remnants of tribes” and socially excluded …
… a law states that anyone whose name is on the Indian Register will be considered a minor, with the federal government setting up their guardian for all. However, it is possible for people to emancipate themselves by showing assimilation. Their name is then deleted from the register, as well as those of their immediate family members.
The registry manipulations are legion. Complete years are suppressed, especially when it comes to “baptisms of the savages”. But there are rebellious priests who do not abide by these guidelines. Some writings stand the test of time and men. … The basic idea was not to name people, to deny their existence. …
“LAMBERT, Radegonde, came from France with her husband Jean Blanchard, according to Jean LeBlanc, husband of her great-granddaughter Françoise Blanchard”.
Jean LeBlanc said no such thing! He actually said (translated from French) that he married Francoise Blanchard in 1726, She was born in 1705 of Rene Blanchard and Anne Landry; Rene was the issue of Martin Blanchard and Marie LeBlanc; Martin descended from Guillaume Blanchard, who came from France with his wife Huguette Poirier, established himself at Port Royal and died at said place.
Source: https://archive.org/details/lecanadafranai01univuoft/page/42/mode/2up/search/guillaume+blanchard?q=belle+isle+en+mer
Jean LeBlanc probably included Jean Blanchard and Radegonde Lamberts names (Martins parents), but they were omitted from the declaration. Whenever I have seen names omitted in documents it’s because of Native American ancestry. Mr White has also said that there was confusion because Guillaume Blanchard was married to Huguette Gougeon and that particular Guillaume Blanchard was Martin’s brother and not his grandfather so that argument also doesn’t wash. Mr white also says that the older Guillaume didn’t exist because his name is not found in any documents. Well it does appear in the BIM declaration documents so this is also a falsehood.
Claudette I agree with you especially that Jean LeBlanc could neither read nor write. He could not verify what was written in the notes of the officials responsible for the statements.
Jean Blanchard came from France with his father, Guillaume.
There is a Jehan Lambert present in Acadia from the start of the colony. He was a carpenter and paid by the shipowners, so he was not a settler and did not travel with a wife as Louis Hébert did. He was certainly single like the sons of Messire Biencourt and Latour who stayed in Acadia. One of these, Charles de Latour, who became governor of Acadia, married a Mi’Kmaq and had two daughters of this union.
He is mentioned in Acadia with Louis Hébert in 1612 and in 1615 on the ship Le Loyal.
Book : Samuel de Champlain – Histoire de sa vie et de ses voyages, N. E. Dionne (1891) P. 364
And
Book: Document relatifs à la Marine Normande et ses armements aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles (1889) P.125 & 126
https://archive.org/details/cihm_00256/mode/2up
(1615) … Jean Lambert ship carpenters; all bourgeois living in Honfleur … pay Lambert £ 138 …
And
Book : L’Acadie des Origines 1603-1771 (1988) P. 23
… Biencourt then sends Louis Hébert to summon the Jesuits to leave the ship :
“ We, Louis Hébert, by the command of Charles de Biencourt, squire, lieutenant of Messire Jean de Biencourt, knight, Sieur de Poutrincourt, owner of the lands under the obedience of the King, I transported myself in the ship of captain L’ABBÉ where Father Biard of the Society of Jesus was, to whom I commanded by the King and my Lord to come and speak to him on the ground where he was. Who replied that he only recognized the Lord of Biencourt as a thief, and that he would do nothing, and that rather he would be dismembered piece by piece and that he would excommunicate all who touched him. …
In presence of Michel Morel, master of the ship … Jehan Lambert … witness. … “
Fait à Port-Royale, Nouvelle-France le 13 Mars 1612
Signed by Louis Hébert
“Jean Blanchard came from France with his father, Guillaume”
I have seen that statement before but have never seen any documentation to confirm that. Have you? I was curious as to why both names were excluded from the declaration. Further to this two other declarations mention Guillaume came from France with his wife but don’t include her name. Could it be that Guillaume was among the first settlers that established Port Royal in 1604? I’m thinking that this may be the case. When the trade monopoly was lost in 1607, the king called for the settlers to return to France. Some refused as with another of my ancestors, Jean Vincent D’Abbadie who married Madockawando’s daughter and some returned to France with their families. There were no French women in Acadia at that time so their wives would have to have been Native Americans. Since Huguette Poirier’s name was only mentioned once in three declarations, I would assume that she was Native American and that Jean was Metis. If not why all the deceptions regarding Jean’s parents?
The origins of many of the early Acadian families are poorly documented by a lack of official records. But what is known for Blanchard :
Louis Blanchard, winemaker, came to Acadia in 1636 for a five-year work contract. He was on the Saint-Jean ship whose the shipowner was Charles de Menou d’Aulnay. (Historians and genealogists designate him as Louis-Guillaume Blanchard).
http://www.acadian-home.org/St-JehanShip1636.html
https://www.naviresnouvellefrance.net/html/pages16351636.html
At the end of his contract, Louis-Guillaume Blanchard was said to have returned to Acadia with his family (Huguette Poirier, his son Jean and his daughter Marie) during the second wave of immigration, around 1642, organized by Charles de Menou d’Aulnay
According to the author Geneviève Massignon in her book, Les parlers français en Acadie (1962), there is a correlation between Acadian family names and names living on the seigneury of Aulnay in France at that time :
… It was therefore in the space of a few years that Charles d’Aulnay would have established at Port-Royal some of the Belliveau, Bertrand, Blanchard, Bour, Brault, Brun, Dupuy, Gaudet, Giroires, Guérins, Joffriau, Landry, Leblanc, Morin, Poirier, Raimbaut, Robichau, Terriot, Thibodeau and Vincent whose names frequently appear in the acts concerning the parishes where extended the seigneury of Aulnay (France) before 1650 …
The problem with that is that Louis and Guillaume are different names and are probably different people as well. Also if you look at the ship manifest, he travelled alone. There was only one line of Blanchard in Acadia, but how many in France? Worthy of making note of but not really proof of anything.
Je suis moi aussi un descendant de Radegonde Lambert par la lignée de ma Mère,
mon ancetre direct Michel Richard dit sansoucy as marier Madeleine Blanchard fille de
Radegonde Lambert. Ma famille est acadienne d’origne et un peut i’kmaq aussi.