Catherine Savoie or Savoye was born about 1661 in Acadia to Francois Savoie (also Savoy and Savoye) and Catherine LeJeune, the fifth of their nine children.

The Savoie family lived at BelleIsle, behind today’s BelleIsle Hall Acadian Cultural Center where Catherine’s older brother, Germain Savoie, later lived.

If you’re a Savoie descendant, Charlie Thibodeau at the Cultural Center can walk you through those swamps, show you the Savoie dykes and where the homestead stood. I’m climbing one of the Savoie homestead dykes, above, on the way to their settlement.

Charlie can and will tell you about the days, 350 years ago, of old Acadia. This is literally a hike back through time.

What would Catherine think of her descendants visiting her childhood home? She would have so many stories to tell us.

The first Acadian census was taken in 1671 when Catherine was living in a home that stood here, literally right here, listed with her parents as 9 years old, which puts her birth in 1662.

The family has four cows and is living on six arpents of cultivated land.

In the next census, taken in 1678, Catherine’s parents are not listed, so it appears that they have both died, or the entire family was missed in the census. However, they are not listed in any future census either. Two of Catherine’s older siblings have married, but it’s unclear where Catherine’s other siblings are living. Two of her siblings, like her parents, simply disappear after the 1671 census. Perhaps the same malady swept them all away. That’s a lot of grief to bear for a young woman between the ages of 9 and 16.

Catherine is shown in the 1678 census having married Francois Levron about 1676. The couple has been blessed with their first child, a boy, age 1. The parents’ ages are not given in this census. Francois and Catherine are living with the Widow Pesselet, who has one cow and five sheep, but no land under cultivation.

The age of their child suggests that Catherine married Francois Levron when she was between 14 and 16 years old. That sounds very young to us today, but Acadian girls tended to marry early. Plus, if Catherine’s parents died, an expedited marriage would have been a good solution.

Andre Carl Vachon has suggested that Francois Levron, born about 1651, was a soldier who was transferred from Fort Pentagouet in Maine to Port Royal during the winter of 1672.

By 1686, the next census, Catherine and Francois have four children. Catherine is listed as age 20, with her oldest child as age 9. That is clearly incorrect, as Catherine would have been born in 1666 and had her first child at age 11. Catherine would have been about 25.

In 1693, Catherine is listed as age 34, which puts her birth year at 1659.

In 1698, Catharine was 38, which suggests her birth in 1660.

In 1700, she is 41, which correlates with her birth in 1659.

Based on the various census dates, minus 1686 which is clearly in error, Catherine was probably born between 1660 and 1662. If she was born in 1661 and married in 1676, she would have been about 15 or maybe 16 – which is about right for an Acadian bride. She would have been very excited to marry and start her own family.

The Sieur de Diereville, a surgeon from France who spent a year in Port Royal beginning in 1699, wrote:

A Father and a Mother do not keep
A nubile daughter long at home, although
She causes them no care, and to their will
Submits in registering her vows. If when
Some tender Suitor comes, to urge his love
His Sweetheart favours him, wedlock
Unites them both and they are free
To populate the World; which is,
Moreover, that which they do best,
And, as their tenderness is never shared,
Between the first transports of ardent Youth
And old age, many a Child’s begot.

He also commented that class differences didn’t seem to matter when marrying, as opposed to back in France.

Motherhood

Motherhood began early for Catherine, around16 or so, which was younger than the average of about 20 for Acadian girls. Still, 15 or 16 was not uncommon.

Catherine had 10 known children, and probably at least 14, based on those empty spaces which whisper about the children who were born and died between censuses. She also had more than 66 grandchildren, but we really don’t know how many more – and she didn’t know them all. Some died at birth. Some were born after Catherine’s death. Some of her children moved away.

Child	Birth	Death	Spouse	Children
Jacques Levron	C 1677	Before 1746	Marie Doucet married Jan. 8, 1710	13
?	1679	Before 1686 census
?	1680	Before 1686 census
Magdelaine Levron	C 1682	Before May 8, 1752	Clement Vincent married c 1698	12
Anne Levron	C 1684	Jan. 5, 1733	Pierre Benoit married c 1713	2
Marie Levron	C 1686	Aug. 1, 1727	Jean Garceau married in 1703	10
Census	1686
?	C 1688
Elisabeth (Isabelle) Levron	C 1690	After Aug. 14, 1763	Michel (Etienne) Picot married Nov. 3, 1705, then Yves Maucaer Feb. 9, 1712	5
Joseph Levron	C 1691	After 1750 in Quebec	Rose Denise Veronneau married Sept. 13, 1722 Boucherville, Quebec, then Catherine Brunet in 1750 in Fort Frontenac	3
Jean-Baptiste Levron	C 1692	Before March 2, 1756	Francoise Labauve married Jan 13, 1716	9
Census	1693
Jeanne Levron dit Nantais	C 1694	Jan 19, 1751	Augustin Comeau married Feb. 12, 1714	11
Pierre Levron	C 1696	Jan. 20, 1725	Never married
Census	1698
?	C 1698	1698-1700
Madeleine Levron	C 1700	After 1723	Jean Labauve married Aug. 11, 1722	1
Census	1700

This chart shows Catherine’s known children, plus those we can infer based on those loudly silent gaps in the census.

The four “gap” children would have been buried either in the cemetery at Port Royal, now known as the Garrison Cemetery, or in the little cemetery behind the St. Laurent Church or Chapel, referred to as the Mass House, just east of BelleIsle, very near where Catherine’s parents lived. Depending where Catherine and Francois lived and what was going on when those children died, some may have been, and probably were, buried in both cemeteries.

St. Laurents, and its cemetery, is lost to us today.

We know the church existed, as it is listed as the “Mass House” on two early maps. This 1757 map shows two “things” at the Mass House. One would have been the church, of course, and the other is probably the adjacent cemetery.

This 1733/1753 map version is less specific.

We know that the parish church at Port Royal was destroyed in 1690 and probably in 1708 as well, given that the rest of the town was burned. After Port Royal fell to the English in 1710, the Garrison Cemetery, as it was renamed, began to be used for English burials. It wasn’t entirely abandoned by Acadians, but based on some parish records before 1710, we know the Mass House at BelleIsle was in use by 1707. I’d wager that it had been in use since at least 1690, if not much earlier.

Unfortunately, parish records are incomplete, and none exist before 1702. Those after 1702 are spotty, and few record the location of burials, even though we know at least three early cemeteries existed. FindaGrave lists 17 known burials at St. Laurent, including Catherine’s close family members. I know of one more not listed in the cemetery – Catherine’s own son who died in 1725. This tells us that this cemetery was in use for at least two decades and probably significantly longer.

Even though the cemetery no longer exists today, it’s unlikely that the English settlers who arrived beginning around 1759, four years after the Acadians were deported in 1755, would have summarily destroyed a known cemetery. The church would have either deteriorated, been used for something else, or eventually been removed, but the graves likely simply remained undisturbed until, with the passage of time, the cemetery became overgrown, then forgotten, and now lost.

Based on the two earlier maps, and today’s Google Maps, I’ve noted the two approximate locations of the cemetery.

This is the approximate location of the 1757 map Mass House.

This is the approximate location of the Mass House on the map drawn based on the 1707 census, another map in 1733, and refined by 1753 information.

It’s someplace in this area. Maybe Charlie can find it one day!

We may not know exactly where, but it’s certain that the upriver residents worshipped here and buried their family members in the consecrated land adjacent the church. It was a lot closer than Port Royal, which often didn’t have a functioning church, and after 1710, it was a lot safer upriver than in Port Royal, given the shifting sands of the English and Acadian political status.

Catherine’s four children who were born and died between censuses may have been buried here, especially the child born after 1690 when we know the church in Port Royal was destroyed. This child born about 1698, died between the 1698 and the 1700 censuses, where Catherine’s daughter Madeleine was recorded.

The only thing remaining of these children is simply an empty gap on the census page, the ache in Catherine’s heart, and perhaps an unmarked grave here – their original small wooden cross long gone.

I surely wish we could locate the church and cemetery site today.

Unusual Circumstances

Do you ever get a funny gut feeling that something just isn’t right, or that there’s another piece to a story that you don’t, and probably never will, know?

That’s how I feel about Catherine’s family. Of course, many, if not most Acadian records no longer exist, so we’re working with only a sliver of information.

Here’s the very short list of available records that we are able to reference, combined with historical episodes that affected the Acadians in Port Royal dramatically:

• Sporadic Acadian census records
• Some birth, marriage, and death records after 1702
• English attacks and surrounding historical events

What was happening in Catherine’s life following her 1676 marriage, which would probably have taken place in the Catholic church in Port Royal?

In the 1678 census, Catherine is a newlywed, with a one-year-old baby. The family is living with the Widow Pesselet. I’d like to know the rest of that story!

Between Catherine’s marriage and the 1686 census a decade later, she gave birth to six children, two of whom had died, and four who were living.

In the 1686 census, Francois Levron and Catherine Savoie are listed between the Melanson and Brun families, which strongly suggests that they are living across the river from Port Royal, where they are later found.

In 1690, the English attacked and burned all of the homes in Port Royal and probably the homes across the river as well, which would have included the Levron home.

They literally lived directly across the river from Fort Anne in Port Royal. In this photo, taken within the fort, the Levron home would have been to the right of the church.

The upriver homesteads were spared, but it’s very unlikely that these homes within clear sight would have been.

Between the 1686 and the 1693 censuses, four children were born to Catherine, but only the last three were living in 1693.

In the 1693 census, they are found in the same location as 1686, beside Laurens Grange and Pierre Doucet, who lived across from Port Royal and Fort Anne. So they apparently rebuilt after being burned out, as did the other Acadians at and near Port Royal.

In 1693, the English attacked and burned a dozen or so homes, plus three barns full of grain.

Between the 1693 and 1698 censuses, two more children joined the family, and their eldest daughter had married.

But in 1698, there was an unexpected census change. Francois and Catherine appear to be living in a different area.

In 1698, Francois Levron and Catherine Savoie are listed as neighbors of Emanuel Hebert on one side, and Rene Forest on the other. Their daughter, Madelaine, and her new husband, Clement Vincent are living next door.

Shown on this Mapannapolis map, this places Francois and Catherine fairly far upriver, about 12 miles East of Port Royal at Bloody Creek, which at one time was called Forest Creek. Rene Forest lives on one side, and the Hebert family on the other.

Another child or two were born in 1698 or 1699, both of whom perished.

In the 1700 census, the family has roughly the same neighbors as they did in 1686 and 1693, across the river from Fort Anne at Port Royal. So either they moved back downriver, or the 1698 census was out of order.

Their last child was born about that time as well. Catherine is now about 40 years old, so this makes sense, although it’s possible that she had another child or even two.

In 1701, the entire family is missing from the census, but their married daughter, Madelaine, and Clement Vincent are living upriver.

Something is going on, but what?

Know what else is strange in 1701? Daughter, Marie Levron, age 15, was working as a servant in the home of Emanuel Hebert. Why is that? Servants are exceedingly rare in Acadia, and are generally confined to the governors and upper-class, wealthy residents of Port Royal. Not Acadian farmers farming reclaimed marshlands upriver. Furthermore, Marie’s not there to help with young children, as she is three years younger than their youngest child.

Francois and Catherine are listed again in the 1703 census. I can’t tell for sure where the family is living, but they are two doors from their daughter and Clement Vincent – and it looks like they may still be upriver. The census may not have been recorded in house-to-house order, and the census taker also may have canoed back and forth across the river. Francois and Catherine have two boys and four girls, which means that daughter Marie is living at home again. Marie would marry Jean Garceau later that year, a soldier, on November 20, 1703. Several Acadian young women married the French garrison soldiers.

Looking at witnesses at various church events, it’s clear that Catherine and her family are interwoven in the tapestry of the upriver families as well as those living directly across from Port Royal.

The English struck again in 1704, burning homes, destroying crops, killing cattle and tearing down dykes.

Daughter Elizabeth Levron, also recorded in some records as Isabelle, married Michel (Etienne) Picot, also a soldier, on Nov. 3, 1705.

The English returned in 1707, burning nearly everything in the town – probably including the Levron homestead and that of their two married daughters, who were likely living on the same land.

We know for a fact that in both 1707 and 1710, the Levron family was living right across the river from Hogg Island at Port Royal, because we have two different maps that confirm the location.

On both the 1708 and 1710 maps, Francois Levron is noted by his dit name, Nantois, and he’s listed as “Le bonhomme Nantois” on the 1707 census.

The 1707 census also confirms that location. Clement Vincent is living next door, with Rene Doucet and the Grange/Granger family as neighbors.

Catherine’s eldest son, Jacques Levron, married Marie Doucet on January 8, 1710.

1710 was the year that Acadia was permanently lost to England following a wicked battle in which Catherine may well have had to shelter in the subterranian black hole in Fort Anne with her children and grandchildren.

It was safe there, but it would have been brutal if they had to stay for the entire 19 days.

In addition to the capitulation of the fort, one of the terms of surrender was that residents within three nautical miles, “within cannon shot,” were to be protected and allowed to stay, and those beyond the three-mile perimeter would be allowed to stay on sufferance.

The Priest attempted to gather and unite the Acadians beyond the three-mile marker, at Pre Ronde, or Round Hill, across from BelleIsle where Catherine’s family lived. This act of rebellion got him kidnapped by the English and shipped off to Boston. He was gone from mid-January through mid-December of 1711. There was a lot of death in Acadia that year.

After the surrender, the Acadians were told by the English that they would have to leave for other French colonies, meaning places like Beaubassin, for example. While the Acadians didn’t want to leave at first, by 1720, they had all planned to leave, but the English, realizing that they could not support themselves, now prohibited it. This back and forth tug-of-war lasted for years.

It was a very rough decade, with a great deal of uncertainty, acrimony and turmoil. What should they do, and who was going to do what – and when? Many of the young people left as soon as they married, while they could, and before they accumulated any belongings to lose.

In June of 1711, the Battle of Bloody Creek, took place on the Annapolis River above the mouth of Bloody Creek – formerly Forest Creek. If, indeed, Catherine and her family had relocated upriver in this area, they would have had front and center seats for the battle with the British. Someplace between 50 and 150 Acadians and their Native allies ambushed around 70 English troops in the river. They ultimately hoped to retake the fort, but without artillery, were unsuccessful. It’s possible that some Acadian men either died in the ambush, or were wounded and died later.

Daughter Marie’s husband, Jean Garceau, a French soldier, died sometime in 1711, leaving her with young children, including a year-old baby. Marie remarried to Alexander Richard the day after Christmas – just a week or so after the priest returned from Boston.

Daughter Elizabeth’s husband, Michel Picot, also a soldier, died sometime in 1711, leaving her with two infants, the youngest born in November, 1711. Elizabeth remarried to Yves Maucaer on Feb. 9, 1712, three weeks before baby Michel was officially baptized. Marriage was a matter of survival. Everyone already knew everyone in the close-knit community – so it wasn’t like you had to meet and get acquainted.

Catherine would have been doing her best to comfort and help her two newly-widowed daughters.

Catherine’s sister, Francoise Savoie, who was married to Jean Corporon died around Christmas in 1711, and was buried on the 27th.

Good Heavens, how much more can this family take?

Catherine’s sister, Marie Savoie, had married Gabriel Chiasson, and they had moved to Beaubassin where she died sometime after her youngest child was born in 1711, and the 1714 census. There seemed to be regular travel between the Acadian colonies, so I’m sure Catherine eventually heard the sad news and grieved her sister’s passing.

Daughter Anne Levron married Pierre Benoit about 1713.

Daughter Jeanne Levron married Augustin Comeau on Feb. 12, 1714.

Then, the unthinkable happened. Catherine’s husband, Francois Levron, died at midsummer, on June 23, 1714. I wonder if his death was sudden or if he had been ill. He was about 53, so not elderly by any means.

In the 1714 census, obviously taken after his death, Catherine is found living in the middle of six Girouard family members who live in the Girouard Village, just down the road from both Emmanuel Hebert and Rene Forest. This is the upriver location where they are found in the 1698 census, where Marie is living in 1701, and where her son was living in 1725. Why is this family found here or near here repeatedly.

However, Catherine’s son-in-law, Clement Vincent is still living “near the fort” on the census, near Rene Doucet and the Grange families again. Probably on Francois Levron’s land. Why is Catherine Savoie not living with them, or with her other married children?

Why is Catherine living in the midst of the Girouard family, near but not in the midst of the Hebert and Forest families, with her three unmarried children consisting of two sons and a daughter? In 1714, those three children would have been 22, 18, and 14. Catherine is about 53 years old and has no livestock and no land. How is she living? What is she eating? Who is feeding her children? Her two sons are old enough to work on the neighbors’ farms. Is that why they are living there? Why are they not living on and farming their own land?

So many questions!

In January of 1716, Catherine’s son, Jean-Baptiste Levron married Francoise La Bauve. Whose family lives almost directly across the river. Francois Levron is listed as deceased, of course, but Catherine is not.

On the thirteenth day of January, in the year 1716, we, the undersigned, declare to whom it may concern that we, Jean Baptiste Levron and Françoise Labaume
of this parish, and François Labauve, father of the said Labauve, and her mother, Marie Rimbaud, raise no objection to the proposed future marriage of our aforementioned children, Jean Baptiste Levron, son of the late François Levron and Catherine Savoye, residents of this parish, and Françoise La Bauve, daughter of Noël La Bauve and Marie Rimbaut, currently also residing in this parish.

On August 11, 1722, in the marriage entry of Magdelaine Levron and Jean de La Bauve, Francois Levron and Catherine Savoye are both described in exactly the same way. Francois is noted as deceased, and Catherine is simply listed as the mother. This leads me to believe that Catherine is probably still living, given that Francois is described as deceased. Little is known about the newlywed couple other than one child was born on December 11, 1723 in Grand Pre, which means they probably settled there immediately after they married. Catherine would not have known this grandchild, although she may have received word that the baby was born.

At some point, Joseph Levron left home and married Rose Denise Veronneau on Sept. 13, 1722 in Boucherville, Quebec. Catherine may never have known of this marriage, or whatever happened to her son. I’m guessing that Joseph was gone by the 1714 census, because he’s not accounted for. Was he one of the crew members of Pierre Baptiste, the friendly local privateer who recruited Acadian boys?

I was hoping to be able to narrow the dates of Catherine’s death based on her serving as Godmother to some of her grandchildren, but she is not listed for any grandchild. She might be listed for other children in the community, but Godparents and witnesses to events are not indexed in the Nova Scotia archive records. Perhaps having siblings or younger people as Godparents was the tradition, since they were more likely to be able to step in and raise a child should something happen to the parents.

Catherine’s Death

What we know about Catherine’s death is held in her son’s death record.

His death record continues on the next page.

Catherine’s youngest son, Pierre Levron never married and died in the home of Pierre Gaudet (Godet) on January 21, 1725, where he was listed as a domestic. Witnesses were his uncle Germain Savoye and Pierre Godet. His father is listed as Francois Levron, deceased, and Catherine Savoye, who is not listed as deceased by the archives translation.

However, based on an independent translation, both of Pierre’s parents are listed as deceased, and there’s more.

On the twenty-first of the month of January, 1725, was buried in the cemetery of Haut-de-Rivière, in my absence, the body of Pierre Levron, about thirty years old, son of Sieur François Levron, resident of Port Royal in Acadia, and of Catherine Savoye, his father and mother (both) deceased, (he died) the previous day after having confessed, in the house of Pierre Godet also…

(page 2)

…resident of Port Royal, in whose service he had been a servant. In witness of which I have signed, René Charles de Breslay, missionary priest, curate of the parish of St. Jean Baptiste and grand vicar of Monseigneur the Bishop of Québec, after having held a service for the repose of his soul and performed the burial ceremonies of his body at Port Royal on the 26th of the said month, in the presence of the said Pierre Godet and Germain Savoye, also residents of Port Royal and his uncle, who declared they did not know how to sign when requested to do so according to ordinance. R. C. De Breslay, missionary.

Note that the cemetery of Haut-de-Rivière would translate to “upper river cemetery,” meaning he was buried at St. Laurent. I feel good about that, becuase I know he had family nearby, maybe even his parents – or at least Catherine.

There were two Pierre Godets (Gaudet), two years apart, both named the same and born to the same parents. They also married Blanchard sisters, whose parents lived at BelleIsle. Pierre Godet the older, known as Pierre the elder, lived in Beaubassin in 1714 and signed a document there in August of 1722, so the Pierre in the 1725 record would have been Pierre the younger.

His father, Denis Godet, had established the Village des Gaudet in what is now the town of Bridgetown, even further upriver, amassing significant land across the river from Rene Forest and the Heberts.

In 1693, Denis Godet still owned his 20 arpents of land, but by 1698, Denis is still living, but the land was listed in Pierre’s name.

This 1733 map, drawn just a few years after Pierre Levron died, shows Gaudet Village where he would have lived. The houses were scattered aong the ridge of what is today Bridgetown.

Given his holdings, at age 71, Pierre Godet could probably have used a domestic servant, and as a respected community member, he would also have stood in for the priest, hearing Pierre Levron’s death-bed confession.

It’s possible that Pierre Godet was Pierre Levron’s godfather, although we will never know because the early parish records were destroyed by the English. However, that could be one reason why Pierre Levron was living with Pierre Godet. Pierre probably went to live in the Godet home when his mother died.

Please note that the designation of “Sieur” for Francois Levron, which translates to “Sir,” doesn’t necessarily mean royalty or nobility, but is an indication of respect equivalent to the English “Sir,” indicating someone that is well-respected within the community, and perhaps of social standing with a particularly respected trade such as a merchant or professional of some type.

As a final confirmation that Catherine was deceased, her daughter Elizabeth Levron remarried to Etienne Comeau in 1730, and both of Elizabeth’s parents are referenced as deceased.

Lack of Records

Why is Catherine’s death and burial record missing from the parish records? Wouldn’t I love to know that answer!!

For some reason, many deaths and burials were not recorded, or were recorded and are lost today. Was there a second register someplace – may be a book traditionally used for the St. Laurent Chapel?.

In a chart from page 73 in a pdf file from La Society historique acadienne, published in French, we find a tally of the total burials recorded in the existing parish registers.

It’s apparent that many deaths are omitted. For example, the years between 1706 and 1712, inclusive, have 16, 11, 14, 24, 16, 3, and 10, respectively. The priest had been kidnapped and taken to Boston in 1711, which shows 3 burials. The priest’s absence explains that drop. He did attempt to catch up when he returned.

Relative to Catherine, 1722 has 5 burials, 1723 has 1, 1724 has 5, and 1725 has 9. The numbers spike in 1727, with 23.

Based on this information, combined with the other records telling us that Catherine was alive in mid-August 1722, but deceased in January 1725 when her son died, I’d say Catherine probably died in 1723. It looks like the “least normal” year in terms of burials.

What we can say with certainty is that Catherine’s death occurred sometime between August 11, 1722 and January 20, 1725 when she was about 60 years old, or maybe a few years older. For all we know, Catherine may have also gone to live with the Godet family as a domestic after Francois’s death in 1714, and before her own death.

Catherine’s Children’s Lives

I was hoping to further narrow Catherine’s death by her grandchildren’s baptisms. Sometimes grandparents serve as a Godmother. Catherine was never found as Godmother for any of her grandchildren. Several were born prior to her death, between 1722 and 1725, so she would have been present at the baptisms in Port Royal.

How many grandchildren did Catherine know? Surely, as she aged and her own children established their adult lives, she would have taken solace and found joy in her grandchildren. She probably enjoyed watching them as their parents worked on the farms and in the fields.

Perhaps Catherine prepared food and baked bread in the Acadian ovens that were located outside every home as her grandchildren played nearby while their parents shored up dykes, planted and harvested grains, and worked with the livestock.

Where were Catherine’s children, and what was going on in their lives?

• Catherine’s oldest son, Jacques Levron, was born about 1677 and married Marie Doucet in January of 1710.

In total, they had about 12 children, 8 of whom are known, meaning 2 died young, within Catherine’s lifetime.

In 1714, Jacques traveled on the vessel La Marie Joseph to Île Royale, today’s Cape Breton Island, to look at land. The land is very different there – not sandy or tidal marsh, but rocky. Farming techniques from Port Royal and the Annapolis River Valley wouldn’t work on Cape Breton Island. Jacques chose not to settle there and returned to Annapolis Royal, where he died before 1746. His daughter, born in March of 1716 died three months later, which would have brought Catherine immense grief. It appears that they lost a child in 1728 and 1735, but Catherine was gone by then, embracing them on the other side of the veil.

• Daughter Madeleine or Magdelaine Levron, born about 1682, married Clement Vincent about 1698.

In total, they had 14 children, of which 7 died young, within Catherine’s lifetime.

Madeleine lost at least her first three children, Catherine’s first three grandchildren. Both women would have been devastated. Given that they lived next door, Catherine would assuredly have been present and probably assisting at their births. There are no parish records before 1702. Madeleine’s first child who lived was born in 1704.

Catherine and Madeleine must both have heaved a huge sigh of relief, assuming the earlier babies died near birth. Of course, without modern medicine and treatments, death was never far away, always skulking for a soul to capture.

Madeleine lost other babies in about 1711 and 1717. Given that there is no baptism or burial record, they may have been stillborn. Another died in 1719, just days old, and in 1722, 13 months old. Children baptized in both 1709 and 1719 listed Abraham Bourg as having provisionally baptized the babies in lieu of the priest, so that confirms that they lived across from Port Royal. It may also suggest that the babies were weak or sick, and they couldn’t wait for the priest.

Madeleine died in 1752 in Pisiquid, today’s Truro, where they apparently settled between 1726 and 1727, probably after Catherine died.

• Daughter Anne Levron was born about 1684 and married Pierre Benoit, a soldier, about 1713. He became an officer, merchant and innkeeper in Louisbourg, where they lived. It may have been Anne and Pierre that her brother, Jacque Levron, visited in 1714.

We only have records of two children, although Anne almost assuredly had more.

Given that Anne’s first known child, Anne, was born in 1718, she must have lost either two or three earlier children. Anne, the child, died at age 15 in 1733 in Louisbourg, just two weeks after her mother. The second living child, Marie Anne, was born in May of 1725, which infers that either several children are unknown, or died between 1718 and 1725.

Anne and Pierre would have left Port Royal not long after their marriage, given that the fort at Louisbourg was founded in 1713, which probably broke Catherine’s heart. Catherine would not have been able to share in her daughter’s joys or grief. She would have been unable to comfort Anne, even if word did eventually trickle back to Port Royal about the residents of Louisbourg.

Catherine’s daughter, Anne, died on January 5, 1733, in the midst of a smallpox outbreak that took the lives of 200 people in Louisbourg, including Anne and her namesake daughter.

They would have been laid to rest in the cemetery which is unmarked today, but located in this field by the bay.

• Daughter Marie Levron was born about 1686 and married Jean Garceau in 1703, a soldier at the garrison who may well have fought with her father.

Marie’s life was shaped by tragedy. In total, she had about 15 children, of which 6 died young, and 7 died within Catherine’s lifetime.

Based on a gap in the records, Marie lost a child in about 1705 or 1706, and another in 1709. Her husband, Jean, died in 1711, and Marie remarried to Alexandre Richard at Christmas that year. Unfortunately, Marie lost more children in 1714, 1716, 1722, and 1725. Additionally, we have nothing after their births for Claude born in 1715 and Isabelle, born in 1723, who may have passed about the same time their grandmother, Catherine.

Less than half, only 7 of Marie’s children grew to adulthood.

Catherine never stood as Godmother, but would have attended their baptisms, praying for a good future for them, then stood beside the graves to bury all but one or two of those grandchildren.

• Daughter Elizabeth (Isabelle) Levron was born about 1690, the same year that all of the homes in Port Royal were burned by the English. We don’t know if her birth was before, during, or after the terrifying incursion. She married Michel Picot in 1705, then Yves Yvon Maucaire in 1712, followed by Etienne Comeau in 1730.

Elizabeth survived the Acadian’s worst nightmare – the expulsion in 1755 where they were forced to walk down the snow-cover wharf, leaving everythign behind, and board  overcrowded ships for God-knows-where.

The same wharf within view of her childhood home across the river.

Many did not survive, but Elizabeth wound up in Massachusetts where she was last found in the census on August 14, 1763. She would have been 73 years old and died sometime thereafter. 

In total, Elizabeth had only 5 known children, but she clearly would have given birth to more. Based on what we do know, she probably brought about 14 babies into the world.

Her first child’s birth wasn’t recorded until two years after her wedding, so I’d wager that her first child died in 1704, a year after she married. It wasn’t uncommon to lose the first baby, especially with a difficult birth.

Elizabeth probably lost her third baby in 1706, and another in 1709. We know that Port Royal experienced a “pestilence” in 1709, following a severe winter and the burned homes the year before, but it was reportedly confined mostly to the fort and surrounding area.

Elizabeth’s husband, Michel, died between February and November of 1711, when Elizabeth’s son, Michael was born on November 13^th, 1711. At his baptism in February of 1712, his mother had remarried three weeks earlier, and of course, his father was listed as deceased. I suspect his father was already deceased when Michel was born.

Some kind of Hell was going on in Acadia in 1711.

This makes me wonder if both Elizabeth’s and Marie’s husbands met the same fate – possibly as a result of the 1710 battle when the French lost Acadia to the English. An even more likely possibility is that they perished in June, 1711, in or as a result of the Battle of Bloody Creek.

Catherine would have comforted Elizabeth after the deaths of her babies and first husband, Michel.

Elizabeth had three known children by Yves, but she probably lost one, if not two children before her next child was baptized in 1715. Elizabeth apparently lost another child in 1717, and three more before her next child’s birth in 1726.

Sadly, there is nothing more known about the child born in 1715 or 1726, so it’s likely that they died as well, meaning that Elizabeth only had three children who lived. Of those, one was deported with Elizabeth to Massachusetts, one died before the deportation, and the death of her son was after 1735 but when is uncertain.

Yves died on June 16, 1727, and she remarried again in November of 1730 to Etienne Comeau, but no children were born to that marriage.

Of Elizabeth’s children who perished, Catherine would have been right there, standing with her sobbing daughter, burying 10 children and Elisabeth’s first husband.

The 17-teens were so filled with tragedy and grief for this family.

• Son Joseph “dit Letayer” Levron was born about 1691 and married Rose Denise Veronneau in September 1722 in Quebec, so Catherine, would not have known his wife or children. We know Catherine was still alive in August of 1722, but gone by January 1725, and she may or may not have been aware of Joseph’s marriage.

In total, Joseph had three known children, two of whom may have been born before Catherine died, but there were assuredly more.

• Son Jean-Baptiste Levron was born about 1692, married Francoise LaBauve in 1716, and died before March 2, 1756. He would have been one of the three children living with Catherine in the 1714 census after Francois died.

In total, Jean-Baptiste had about 14 children, of which 6 died young, and one or two probably died within Catherine’s lifetime.

Jean-Baptiste and his wife lost a child in both 1721 and 1723. There is nothing more known about the child baptized in 1721, so she may have died before Catherine.

Jean-Baptiste and his family relocated to the settlement at Grand Pre between 1730 and 1737.

At least two children would have been born between those years, and another in 1741 – but we don’t know if the records are complete.

• Daughter Jeanne Levron dit Nantais was born about 1694 and married Augustin Comeau in February 1714. She died on January 19, 1751.

In total, Jeanne had about 15 children, of whom 5 died young.

Jeanne’s first child, Marie Josephe, was born three days after Christmas the same year that her parents married, but sadly, died when she was just 6, in July 1721.

Catherine would have known this child well and stood by her small grave, weeping, that hot July day. It’s gut-wrenching to lose any child, but the longer you know them, the more there is to grieve. Not just their future, but your shared memories and bonding moments as well.

Four more children were born to Jeanne before Catherine died, so she would have celebrated their baptisms and enjoyed watching them blossom in the Acadian sun.

Jeanne probably lost two more children between 1733 and 1734, and at least two more between 1735 and 1741. Three of her 11 children born in the 1720s and 1730s have no information beyond their birth, which could be because they were scooped up in the 1755 expulsion and survived elsewhere. Let’s hope.

• Son Pierre Levron was born about 1696 and died on January 20, 1725, in the middle of the winter, which is how we bracketed Catherine’s death. He would have been one of the three children living with Catherine in the 1714 census.
• Catherine’s youngest child, Madeleine or Magdelaine Levron was born in 1700 and married Jeane La Bauve on August 11^th, 1722, which is the last date we know for certain that Catherine was living. Madeleine was the daughter living with Catherine in the 1714 census, and the La Bauve family lived across the river, just above BelleIsle. Madeleine and Jeane La Bauve left shortly after their marriage for Grand Pre where their first child, a son, was born on December 11, 1723.

If Catherine was still living, she wouldn’t have known about Madeleine’s first baby until word filtered down to Port Royal.

We know this child was baptized in this church and survived to marry, but we don’t know anything more about Madeleine, her husband, or any additional children.

Did they die in Grand Pre, and rest in unmarked graves in the cemetery there?

Or were they deported from these shores, now marked with this iconic cross?

Part of me wonders if Catherine packed up and went with them to Grand Pre, and that’s why we don’t have a death record for her. Having considered that possibility, I doubt it because it seems unlikely that she would have left her unmarried son, Pierre, along with the rest of her family, behind.

I wonder if Pierre was disabled in some way, which is why, after Catherine’s death, he was living with neighbors as a domestic when he died.

Actual Timeline

There are two lenses with which to view these events. One way is through their individual stories, and another is via an actual timeline.

Stories are a lot more personal, and the timeline is starkly black-and-white. We need both perspectives.

The stories relate to individual people, but the timeline shows Catherine’s life, in order – or sometimes, disorder. It’s much easier to see, by year, what was actually happening.

We can’t do this well for our Acadian ancestors who lived before the census and parish records existed, but Catherine’s life spanned those years. Her early life was before parish records, but her children’s lives and grandchildren’s births are often found in the church books.

I know I’m just a glutton for punishment, but I had to create a spreadsheet timeline for Catherine.

This helps me “visit” with her during her life as she lived it. It also helps illuminate possible cause and effect. Without parish records, we don’t have a lot of information before 1702, although we can infer a lot by the various censuses and associated history.

Even so, we have a total of about 290 known “events” – most of which Catherine would have made a trip to church, or to the cemetery, or both.

Of course, that was in addition to “normal” church services, whatever that would have meant in an Acadia that was often either unstable or engaged in warfare. Not to mention that few people lived IN Port Royal. Catherine grew up on the North side of the river at or near BelleIsle, moved downriver across from the fort when she married, lived there through being burned out at least four times, if not five, then spent (at least) her sunset years back upriver, but on the south side.

The Girouard marsh and dykes overlook the Savoie lands and those of other BelleIsle families. Depending on which way you look, you could probably also see the St. Laurent Mass House. It’s no wonder Catherine’s family was buried here.

There’s still a lot that we don’t know, but viewing this timeline helps us piece together and understand more about what was happening in Catherine’s life day-to-day, month-to-month and year-to-year.

Our timeline begins with Catherine’s birth and ends around the time of her death.

I’ve color coded groups of people and events:

• Catherine’s parents, aunts, uncles and siblings are in bold black
• Catherine’s children are in bold blue
• Catherine’s grandchildren are purple
• Births are green
• Mrriages are magenta
• Deaths are teal

Although the births of nieces and nephews involve Catherine’s siblings, I have not color coded those.

Some events are told directly. For example, females birth surnames are given in the census, with ages in many cases. Later, we can match the names of children with marriages and the births of their own children. Families can be reliably reconstructed in this manner. Other events are revealed indirectly, like the gaps in the census that reveals that a child, or maybe two, were born and died. This could have been one event, with a stillbirth or even multiple miscarriages, or it could have been separate events, with a birth, joyful baptism, and later, a death – all happening with no evidence other than that telltale gap.

Date	Who	Relationship	Event	Comment
1661	Catherine Savoie	Self	Birth
1663	Francois Savoie	brother	Birth
1665	Barnabe Savoie	brother	Birth
1667	Andree Savoie	sister	Birth
1670	Marie Savoie	sister	Birth
1670	Francoise Savoie	sister	Marriage	Jean Corporon
1671-1686	Francois Savoie	brother	Death	Died between the census dates
1671-1686	Francois Savoie	father	Death	Died between the census dates
1671-1686	Catherine LeJeune	mother	Death	Died between the census dates
1671-1686	Barnabe Savoie	brother	Death	Died between the census dates
1671	Census – age 9 with her parents at BelleIsle
1671	Marie Corporon	niece	Birth
1672	Madeleine Corporon	niece	Birth
1673	Jeanne Corporon	niece	Birth
1675	Jeanne Savoie	sister	Marriage	Etienne Pellerin
1675	Jacques Corporon	nephew	Birth
1676	Madeleine/Magelaine Pellerin	niece	Birth	Charles Calve dit la Forge
1676	Catherine Savoie	self	Marriage	Francois Levron
1676	Marie Savoie	sister	Marriage	Jacques Triel dit Laperriere, a soldier who probably served with Francois Levron
1677	Jacques Levron	son	Birth
1677	Jean Corporon	nephew	Birth
1677	Pierre Triel	nephew	Birth
1678	Marie Pellerin	niece	Birth
1678	Germain Savoie	brother	Marriage	Marie Breau
1678	Marie Corporon	niece	Birth
1678	Census – living near Port Royal with the Widow Pesselet
1679	Catherine Savoie’s unknown child	child	Birth & Death	Gap in children
1679	unknown Savoie	brother Germain’s child	Birth	Gap in children
1679	Marie Madelaine Triel die LaPerriere	niece	Birth
1680	Catherine Savoie’s unknown child	child	Birth & Death	Gap in children
1680	unknown Pellerin	sister’s child	Birth
1680	unknown Corporon	sister’s child	Birth & Death	Gap in children
1680	unknown Savoie	brother Germain’s child	Birth	Gap in children
1681	unknown Triel	sister’s child	Birth & Death
1681	Isabelle (Elizabeth) Corporon	niece	Birth
1682	Madeleine Levron	daughter	Birth	Died before May 1752 in Pisiquid when her son married.
1699	unknown Vincent	daughter’s child	Birth & Death
1682	Pierre Pellerin	nephew	Birth
1682	Germain Savoie	nephew	Birth
1682	Nicolas Triel	nephew	Birth
1683	Cecile Corporon	niece	Birth
1684	Anne Levron	daughter	Birth	Died in 1733 in Louisbourg.
1684	Alexis Triel	nephew	Birth
1684	Francois Xavier Savoie	nephew	Birth
1684	Anne Pellerin	niece	Birth
1685	Jean-Baptiste Pellerin	nephew	Birth
1685	Marguerite Corporon	niece	Birth
1686	Marie Levron	daughter	Birth	Died in 1727 Annapolis Royal
1686	Map with homesteads but no names
1686	Census – living across the river from Port Royal
1686	unknown Triel	sister’s child	Birth & Death
1686-1693	Francois Goutrot	aunt’s husband	Death	Died between the census dates
1686-1693	Marie Corporon	niece	Death	Died between the census dates
1687	Marie Corporon	niece	Marriage	Charles Boudrot – moved to Pisiguit
1687	Martin Corporon	nephew	Birth
1688	Catherine Savoie’s unknown child	child	Birth & Death	Gap in children
1688	unknown Triel	sister’s child	Birth & Death
1688	unknown Savoie	brother Germain’s child	Birth	Gap in children
1688	Marie Savoie	sister	Marriage	Gabriel Chiasson, was in Minas in 1693, Beaubassin in 1697
1688	Francois Corporon	nephew	Birth
1688	Jeanne Pellerin	niece	Birth
1689	Michel Chiasson	nephew	Birth	In Les Mines by 1693 but Catherine may have been at his baptism
1689	New fort begun, left unfinished
5-9-1690	English attacked and burned homes
June 1690	English reinforcements arrived
1690	English pirates burned homes
1690	Acadia falls under English control
1690	Madeleine Corporon	niece	Marriage	Bernard Doucet
1690	Marie Triel	niece	Birth
1690	Pierre Savoie	nephew	Birth
1690	Charles Pellerin	nephew	Birth
1690	Elizabeth Levron	daughter	Birth	1763 census in Massachusetts
1691	Pierre Chiasson	nephew	Birth	In Les Mines by 1693 but Catherine may have been at his baptism
1691	Jeanne Corporon	niece	Marriage	Antoine Hebert
1691	Charles Corporon	nephew	Birth
1691	Bernard Pellerin	nephew	Birth
1691	Joseph Levron	son	Birth	Died 1750 Canada
1692	Jean Baptiste Chiasson	nephew	Birth	In Les Mines by 1693 but Catherine may have been at his baptism
1692	Jean-Baptiste Levron	son	Birth	Grand Pre in 1737, died between 1741 and 1756
1692	unknown Triel	sister’s child	Birth & Death
1692	Jean Corporon	nephew	Birth
1692	Jean Savoie	nephew	Birth
1696	Census – lives across the river from the fort
1693	English attack Port Royal burning homes and barns
1693	Madeleine/Magelaine Pellerin	niece	Marriage	Charles Calve dit la Forge
1693	unknownn Pellerin	sister’s child	Birth & Death
1693	Marie Savoie	sister	Relocated	Beaubassin by 1693
1694	Alexandre Pellerin	nephew	Birth
1694	unknown Triel	sister’s child	Birth & Death
1694	Marie-Madeleine Corporon	niece	Birth
1694	Jeanne Levron	daughter	Birth	Died 1751 Annapolis Royal
1694	Marie Madeleine Savoie	niece	Birth
1695	Marie Pellerin	niece	Marriage	Jacques Doucet
1696	Pierre Levron	son	Birth
1696	unknown Pellerin	sister’s child	Birth & Death
1696	Paul Savoie	nephew	Birth
1696	unknown Triel	sister’s child	Birth & Death
1696	Ambrose Corporon	nephew	Birth
1696	Marie Savoie	niece	Birth
1697	Acadia returned to French
1693-1698	Edmee LeJeune	aunt	Death	Mother’s sister
1693-1698	Charles Corporon	nephew	Death	Died between the census dates
1698	Census – listed with upriver families
1698	Catherine Savoie’s unknown child	Child	Birth & Death	Gap in children
1698	unknown Triel	sister’s child	Birth & Death
1698	unknown Pellerin	sister’s child	Birth & Death
1698	Claude Savoie	nephew	Birth
1699	Marguerite Pellerin	niece	Birth
1699	Fort Anne returned to French
1698-1700	Marie Savoie	sister	Spouse Death	Died between the census dates
1698-1700	Ambrose Corporon	nephew	Death	Died between the census dates
1698-1700	Francois Corporon	nephew	Death	Died between the census dates
1698-1700	Nicolas Triel	nephew	Death	Died between the census dates
1700	Census – lives across the river from the fort
1700	Madeleine Levron	daughter	Birth	Chipoudie 1752, 1755, Camp L’Esperance winter 1756/57.
1700	unknown Savoie	brother Germain’s child	Birth	Gap in children
1700-1701	Marie Savoie	niece	Death	Died between the census dates
1701	Census – family missing except two children living upriver
1701	unknown Savoie	brother Germain’s child	Birth	Gap in children
1701	Anne Pellerin	niece	Marriage	Abraham Brun
11-27-1702	Marie Madelaine Triel die LaPerriere	niece	Marriage	Louis La Chaume dit Loumeray, a soldier, moved to Louisbourg between 1710-1713
1702	Work on Fort Anne resumes
1702	Cecile Corporon	niece	Marriage	Jean Boudrot – moved to Pisiquid
1700-1703	Jacques Corporon	nephew	Death	Died between the census dates
1701-1703	Pierre Pellerin	nephew	Death	Died between the census dates
1703	Census – location uncertain
1703	unknown Vincent	grandchild	Birth & Death
5-25-1703	Charles Savoie	nephew	Birth
11-20-1703	Marie Levron	daughter	Marriage	Daniel Garceau
3-17-1704	Pierre Vincent	grandson	Birth
June 1704	English attacked and burned homes, Port Royal under siege 17 days
10-22-1704	Pierre Jean Garceau	grandson	Birth
1706	unknown Vincent	grandchild	Birth & Death
1704-1707	Pierre Vincent	grandson	Death	Before 1707 census
Spring 1705	English attack Acadian settlements
1705	unknown Savoie	brother Germain’s child	Birth	Gap in children
9-29-1705	Madeleine/Magelaine Pellerin	niece	Spouse Death	Charles Calve dit La Forge who lives as Beausoleil at the river heights
11-3-1705	Elisabeth Levron	daughter	Marriage	Michel Picot
1706	Privateers defending Port Royal
1705	Jean Corporon	nephew	Marriage	Marie Pinet – moved to Grand Pre
1706	unknown Garceau	grandchild	Birth & Death
10-5-1706	Marie Josephe Savoie	niece	Birth
1707	Census – lives across the river from the fort
1707	Labat map – lives across the river from the fort
1-2-1707	Marie Josephe Vincent	granddaughter	Birth	died on Ile St. John 1756
1-17-1707	Madeleine/Magelaine Pellerin	niece	Marriage	Pierre Gaudet – couple is unknown after this date but may be present in 1714
1-18-1707	Marie Savoie	niece	Marriage	Rene Blanchard
4-8-1707	Daniel Garceau	grandson	Birth	died 1772 Yamachiche, Quebec
6-6-1707	Attack on Port Royal – 11 days – homes burned
6-17-1707	English attack ends
8-19-1707	Isabelle (Elizabeth) Corporon	niece	Birth	Illegitimate child born with Rene Fontaine as father
8-21-1707	Attack on Port Royal – 11 days
9-2-1707	English attack ends
11-23-1707	Francois Savoie	nephew	Marriage	Marie Richard
11-28-1707	Marie Jeanne Picot	grandson	Birth	Died 1751 Port Royal
1-1-1708	Madeleine Vincent	granddaughter	Birth	died in Quebec in 1768
2-3-1708	Alexis Triel	nephew	Death	Buried in cemetery of St. Jean Parish, Port Royal
1708	Fort Anne defenses shored up
1708	unknown Savoie	brother Germain’s child	Birth	Gap in children
1708	Martin Corporon	nephew	Marriage	Cecile Joseph – moved to Les Mines, Pisiguit
10-1-1708	Marie Triel	niece	Marriage	Pierre Le Blanc die Jassemin, sergeant of a company, native of Ozan in the Auvergne
1709	unknown Garceau	grandchild	Birth & Death
1709	unknown Picot	grandchild	Birth & Death
1-16-1709	Germain Savoie	nephew	Marriage	Genevieve Babineau
2-4-1709	Jeanne Pellerin	niece	Marriage	Pierre Surette
5-3-1709	Marguerite Corporon	niece	Birth	Illegitimate child Francois Lecul born, son of Jean Lecul
5-7-1709	Marguerite Savoie	niece	Birth
1710	unknown Vincent	grandchild	Birth & Death
1710	Labat map – lives across the river from the fort
1-8-1710	Jacques Levron	son	Marriage	Marie Doucet
2-11-1710	Jean Baptiste Pellerin	nephew	Marriage	Marie Martin
3-20-1710	Joseph Garceau	grandson	Birth	died 1789 Quebec
9-4-1710	British warships begin arriving in the harbour
9-24-1710	British attack on Port Royal begins – homes burned
10-5-1710	British have blockaded harbour at Goat Island
10-12-1710	Port Royal falls to England
10-16-1710	Keys of fort handed to English, French soldiers leave
October 1710	Acadians told they have two years to move to French territory
11-14-1710	Madeleine Corporon	niece	Marriage	Francois Leclerc, a soldier
11-24-1710	Pierre Savoie	nephew	Death	Buried at St. Laurent Chapel
4-15-1711	Marie Joseph Levron	granddaughter	Birth	reportedly died at sea in 1758
1-17-1711	Marguerite Savoie	niece	Death	Buried at St. Laurent Chapel
4-26-1711	Marie Madeleine Savoie	niece	Marriage	Rene Babineau, deported and wound up in Quebec
June 1711	Battle of Bloody Creek – French attempt to retake fort
7-17-1711	Anne Vincent	granddaughter	Birth	Married in 1727 in Grand Pre and died in 1768 in Louisiana
1711	Marie Triel	niece	Death	Died during father Durand’s captivity in Boston
1711	Elizabeth Levron	daughter	Spouse Death	Michel Picot
1711	Marie Levron	daughter	Spouse Death	Jean Garceau
11-13-1711	Michel Picot	grandson	Birth	Died after 1735
12-26-1711	Marie Levron	daughter	Marriage	Alexandre Richard
12-27-1711	Francoise Savoie	sister	Death
1711-1724	Marie Savoie	sister	Relocated	In Louisbourg by 1724
1-8-1712	Elizabeth Levron	daughter	Marriage	Yves Yvon Maucaire
2-2-1712	Michel Picot	grandson	Baptized	Three weeks after Catherine’s daughter remarried
1712	Isabelle (Elizabeth) Corporon	sister	Marriage	William Johnson – Scotsman in service with English Garrison when Port Royal fell
3-16-1712	Marguerite Corporon	niece	Birth	Jean Pierre Clemenceau, illegitimate son born with Jean Clemenceau while he was married to Anne Roy who also had a baby a month later
5-20-1712	Joseph Levron	grandson	Birth	died c 1755 before deportation
10-1-1712	Pierre Toussaint Richard	grandson	Birth	Died 1751 Port LaJoye, Isle St. Jean
3-13-1713	France ceded all of Acadia to England
1713	unknown Maucaire	grandchild	Birth & Death
1713	Anne Levron	daughter	Marriage	Pierre Benoit, soldier
6-9-1713	Jean Vincent	grandson	Birth	died 1758 at sea
7-9-1713	Anne Pellerin	nephew	Spouse Death	Abraham Pellerin
11-27-1713	Bernard Pellerin	nephew	Marriage	Marguerite Gaudet
1711-1714	Marie Savoie	sister	Death	in Beaubassin
1714	Census – living among upriver families			Widow
1714	Acadians ready to leave for Minas, but now the English prohibit the move
2-12-1714	Jeanne Levron	daughter	Marriage	Augustin Comeau
1714	unknown Richard	grandchild	Birth & Death
1714	Unknown Benoit	grandchild	Birth & Death
4-14-1714	Brigitte Levron	granddaughter	Birth	died 6 months after wedding in 1737 in Grand Pre
12-28-1714	Marie Joseph Comeau	granddaughter	Birth	born in a transport ship and baptized by a woman on the ship during the crossing
2-22-1715	Marguerite Corporon	niece	Birth	Birgitte born, father listed as Jacques Amireault, says “legitimate marriage” but the child died on June 7th, 3 months later with no surname and no father listed.
1715	Marie-Madeleine Corporon	niece	Marriage	Jean Seigneur, a wealthy innkeeper in Louisbourg
1715	Joseph Vincent	nephew	Birth	Died in 1778 in Morlaix, Bretagne, France.
1715	Fort Gates shut to trading with Acadians
6-27-1715	Claude Richard	grandson	Birth & Death	Nothing after his birth
8-22-1715	Charles Maucaire	grandson	Birth & Death	Nothing after his birth
1716	Unknown Benoit	grandchild	Birth & Death
1-7-1716	Marguerite Pellerin	niece	Marriage	Bernard Gaudet
1-13-1716	Jean Baptiste Levron	son	Marriage	Francoise LaBauve
1-13-1716	Alexandre Pellerin	nephew	Marriage	Jeanne Gaudet
3-22-1716	Anne Levron	granddaughter	Birth
6-10-1716	Anne Levron	granddaughter	Death
8-10-1716	Madeleine Comeau	granddaughter	Birth	NY during the expulsion
1717	Acadians have decided to stay on peaceful terms
4-1-1717	Paul Vincent	grandson	Birth
4-8-1717	Jacques Levron	grandson	Birth	Married in 1754, decd by 1758 when son died in Quebec.
4-30-1717	Marie Josephe Levron	granddaughter	Birth	Died 1765 Cayenne, French Guiana with her husband and all 5 of her children
1717	unknown Maucaire	grandchild	Birth & Death
1717	unknown Richard	grandchild	Birth & Death
10-8-1717	Paul Vincent	grandson	Death
6-17-1718	Marie Richard	granddaughter	Birth	Died in 1796 in Canada
7-22-1718	Marguerite Comeau	granddaughter	Birth	Massachusetts during deportation, died in 1767 in Quebec
11-14-1718	Jean Savoie	nephew	Marriage	Marie Dugas
1718	Anne Benoit	granddaughter	Birth	Died 15 days after her mother in 1733 in smallpox epidemic in Louisbourg.
1718	Martin Corporon	nephew	Marriage	First wife died between 1714 and 1718 when he married Marie Josephe Viger.
2-25-1719	Jean Baptiste Joseph Levron	grandson	Birth	In Beaubassin by 1743, Chipoudie 1755, Camp L’Esperance, died 1767 Quebec.
3-18-1719	Marguerite Vincent	granddaughter	Birth
3-19-1719	Marguerite Maucaire	granddaughter	Birth	Massachusetts in 1763 with 6 unknown children
4-6-1719	Marguerite Vincent	granddaughter	Death
1720	New Governor mandates loyalty oath or Acadians must leave in 3 months taking nothing
1720	Acadians refuse and make preparations to leave
1720	Governor prohibits Acadians from leaving, says they are ungovernable
1-20-1720	Anne Levron	granddaughter	Birth	Probably died young, nothing more
3-21-1720	Jeanne Comeau	granddaughter	Birth	Married in Pubnico in 1753
5-1-1720	Marguerite Richard	granddaughter	Birth	Died in 1757 in Quebec
1720	Unknown Benoit	grandchild	Birth & Death
1720	Pierre Triel	nephew	Marriage	Catherine Bourg
7-28-1721	Marie Joseph Comeau	granddaughter	Death
8-25-1721	Claude Vincent	grandson	Birth
8-13-1721	Elisabeth Levron	granddaughter	Birth & Death	Nothing more
1721	unknown Maucaire	grandchild	Birth & Death
1722	Simon Levron	grandson	Birth	Les Mines in 1746, died in Quebec in 1757
1722	Unknown Benoit	grandchild	Birth & Death
1722	unknown Richard	grandchild	Birth & Death
1722	Francois Savoie	nephew	Relocated	Grand Pre
1-12-1722	Anne Pellerin	niece	Marriage	Laurents Doucet
1-17-1722	Marie Joseph Comeau	granddaughter	Birth	Died 1756 probably New York
Mar-May 1722	Siege of Annapolis Royal by Mi’kmaq and Maliseet
8-11-1722	Madeleine/Magdelaine Levron	daughter	Marriage	Jean La Bauve and in Grand Pre by Dec 1723, probably as Camp L’Esperance, nothing more known
9-8-1722	Claude Vincent	grandson	Death
9-13-1722	Joseph Levron	son	Marriage	Rose Denise Veronneau
11-17-1722	Jeanne Savoie	sister	Spouse Death	Etienne Pellerin
11-23-1722	Paul Savoie	nephew	Marriage	Judith Michel
4-6-1723	Marie Jeanne Picot	granddaughter	Marriage	Louis Thibault
5-14-1723	Isabelle Richard	granddaughter	Birth	1760 census in Newbury, Mass, but nothing more
10-22-1723	Pierre Vincent	grandson	Birth	In Port La Joye in 1752, died 1787 in Quebec
12-11-1723	Jean Baptiste La Bauve	grandson	Birth	in Grand Pre
1723	unknown Levron	grandson	Birth & Death
1723	unknown Maucaire	grandchild	Birth & Death
1724	Unknown Benoit	grandchild	Birth & Death
2-1-1724	Marguerite Pellerin	niece	Death
2-21-1724	Jean Baptiste Comeau	grandson	Birth	Died 1797 Quebec
3-26-1724	Louis Levron	grandson	Birth	Died in Louisiana
July 1724	Raid on Annapolis Royal by Mikmaq and Maliseet – burned houses and took prisoners
7-24-1724	Yves Thibault	great-grandson	Birth	CT during deportation, died 1801 Church Point, Clare, Digby
1-30-1725	Charles Pellerin	nephew	Marriage	Madeleine Robichaud
2-20-1725	Marguerite Corporon	niece	Marriage	to Henry Samuel
1725	unknown Richard	grandchild	Birth & Death
1725	unknown Maucaire	grandchild	Birth & Death
1725	unknown Vincent	grandchild	Birth & Death
1722-1725	Catherine Savoie	self	Death	Between August 11, 1722 and January 20, 1725
1-20-1725	Pierre Levron	son	Death	His mother Catherine is listed as deceased.

This exercise revealed, among other things, that Catherine’s older sister, Marie’s husband, Jacques Triel, died fairly young. Marie, never remarried, lived to age 84, and outlived all but one of her children. Only one child grew to adulthood.

Catherine’s niece, Marguerite Corporon, is extremely interesting. Every family has a wild child – in some way or other. In fact, we may have been that person in our family. But we need to be careful about rushing to judgement about Marguerite who had at least two and possibly three illegitimate children, meaning children born outside of a marriage between the parents. Illegitimate births were extremely rare in Acadia – let alone three times with the same female.

According to Gisa Hynes, writing Some Aspects of the Demography of Port Royal, 1650-1755  for the University of New Brunswick Journal, after analyzing the parish registers, 0.6 percent, or about one in 200 births, was illegitimate between 1702 and 1755, and almost no babies were born in the 9 months after the parents married. The influence of the Catholic church is reflected in the extremely low pre-marital conception rate.

Even more unusual in Marguerite’s case, the father of one of those children was a man who was married to a different woman whose also had a baby a month later.

I can only imagine the drama.

I feel incredibly badly for both women, truthfully. The wife clearly had no choice in the situation, and divorce simply didn’t exist. She went on to have more children with her husband.

We don’t know any of the circumstances surrounding Marguerite and how she became pregnant either the first, or succeeding, times. The event(s) may not have been consentual. And once a woman’s reputation is “ruined,” it’s extremely difficult for a female to dig herself out of that hole – one she may not have willingly put herself in.

Regardless, the situation was unfortunate – and was assuredly grapevile and gossip fodder for years, if not generations. Marguerite did marry an Englishman when she was about 40, a decade after her third child was born. I hope she lived her best life in whatever way possible. It’s not like she had the option of moving away or visiting an “Auntie” someplace else, and starting over.

Marguerite’s challenges were interwoven with the larger issues taking place in Acadia at the same time.

Acadia Changed

Life changed dramatically in Acadia in 1710, meaning the English seizure of Port Royal, protection of Acadians only within three miles, the Battle of Bloody Creek in 1711, combined with the edict that Acadians had to leave. I’d wager that two of Catherine’s sons-in-law, both former soldiers, were involved in the resistance that followed.

Now, considering this additional information, finding the family upriver, beyond that 3-mile line, in 1714 and later makes a LOT of sense.

Catherine may have lived long enough to welcome her first great-grandchild in July of 1724, Yves Thibault. The next generation, all of whom were deported if they didn’t join Catherine in the graveyard first, had begun.

We don’t know where Catherine rests for eternity, but it could well be here in an undocumented cemetery on her family’s land.

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