Daniel Garceau was baptized on Friday, April 8, 1707 in Port Royal, Acadia, which means he was probably born that same day or perhaps the day before. Babies were baptized as soon as possible, just in case something went wrong.

His parents were Jean Garceau dit Tranchemontagne and Marie Levron or Leveron.

Daniel’s godmother was Dame Marie Mius, the daughter of Jacques Mius. She married a French military man, subordinate to Acadian Governor Subercase.

Daniel Subercase, beloved leader and Governor of Acadia, was Daniel Garceau’s Godfather. According to the marriage record of Jean Garsseaux dit Tranchemontagne to Marie Levron, he was a “soldier of the garrison,” which meant that Daniel’s father, Jean, was a soldier under Subercase’s command.

Just days later, from June 6-17^th, the English laid Port Royal under siege, or tried, but Subercase successfully ousted the English, breaking the siege.

Of course, infant Daniel knew nothing of this.

Two months later, on August 22^nd, the English tried again, meeting with no more success than the first time. On September 1^st, Subercase, with the assistance of the French soldiers and Acadian men, successfully thwarted that attempt as well.

The firing of guns and cannons might well have awakened Daniel. His mother was probably frightened, and his father was assuredly at the fort.

The warfare in Acadia in 1707 and 1708 was nearly incessant. The English landed, burned the homesteads, farms and villages, departed, and then returned to do it all over again.

In 1710, the Acadians lost the battle.

On September 4^th, 1710, the English once again arrived, but this time, in full force. They outnumbered the Acadians 3400 soldiers to a total of 1250 people, many of whom lived in Beaubassin, not Port Royal. About 450 residents lived in or near Port Royal, of which only about 100 were men.

A month later, by October 5^th, the ships had blockaded the harbour near Goat Island.

A week later, Subercase knew the Acadians were doomed, but tried to arrange the best surrender terms possible.

The terms included a provision that the, “”inhabitants of the cannon firing range of the fort” may remain on their properties for up to two years if they wish, provided they are prepared to take the oath to the British Crown.” If nothing else, he bought them time.

On October 16^th, the keys to the fort were surrendered to the British, along with the rest of Acadia. The French soldiers and Acadian men were allowed to march out with dignity, drummers drumming and flags flying.

Cannon-firing range was about 3 English miles. That meant the Acadians had two years to relocate their “moveable items” to a French territory which at that time was any of the rest of French-held Canada. 481 Acadians pledged allegiance to the Queen of England, and the French troops left Port Royal, renamed by the English to Annapolis Royal in 1713.

We don’t know where Daniel Garceau’s parents were living, but if the family was living at the Levron homeplace, across the river from the fort, they were within sight and clearly within two miles. If that was the case, Daniel’s father would have been extremely concerned, because the family was clearly in danger. While the upriver residents were in a “tolerable” position, anyone that lived closer was not.

The parish priest, Justinien Durand, tried to gather and rally Acadians upstream at Pre Ronde, or Round Hill, where they might not be required to take the dreaded oath of allegiance to the English crown. Due to his efforts, he was kidnapped by the English in January 1711 and taken to Boston, as were 35 Acadians whose names we don’t know.

Does this signal that Daniel’s father, Jean Garceau, and the other Acadians were rabble-rousers, complicit in defying the required oath? Most likely. If there were 100 adult Acadian men, about one-third were kidnapped along with the priest.

Father Durand and the unfortunate Acadians were transported to Boston in January 1711 as captives, fully expecting to be exchanged for English hostages.

There were no parish records recorded between January 17^h and December 20^th when Justinien Durand returned and resumed his duties by “catching up” on baptisms he had missed and had taken place provisionally while he was absent.

In December 1711, the exchange was made, and Father Durand returned.

Indeed, the good Father noted in the book of burials Acadians that had died in his absence. Some people interpret this to mean that these four people died with Father Durand in Boston:

Died in 1711: Angélique Comeau, wife of Jacques Laure, Germain Bourgeois, Joseph Garcot, Pierre Teriot died in 1711 during their captivity in Boston; Justinien Durand, Rec. Miss.

The translations on the Nova Scotia Archives site omits Joseph Garcot altogether, but for the rest, interprets this as “died during Durand’s captivity at Boston.” It does not say whether or not these people were in Boston with Durand, or died in Acadia, but we know for sure that Germain Bourgeois was not in Boston. In fact, he was involved with the June 1711 Bloody Creek Massacre and is believed to have died in the Black Hole in Fort Anne.

The archives also translates some of the names differently. Joseph Teriot instead of Pierre Teriot, and adds Marie La Perrier, wife of Pierre Le Blanc dit Jasmin.

My French is not good enough to decipher this passage definitively.

The bottom line is that we don’t know for sure whether Daniel’s father, Jean Garceau, died in Boston, on the way to or the way back from Boston, or in Port Royal during this time. What we do know is that his death occurred while the priest was in Boston, sometime between January 27^th and December 20^th.

Frankly, I’d bet that Jean was not in Boston, or his widow would not have remarried just six days after the priest returned, carrying news of Jean’s death.

However, given the fact that his widow had three young children, one never knows.

There was no Joseph Garceau, so this death had to be Jean Garceau. You would think if Jean Garceau was with Father Durand, the good Father would have unquestionably known his name.

Adding to this evidence, Daniel’s mother, Marie, remarried to Alexander Richard on December 26, 1711, right after the priest returned, where she is listed as the widow of Jean Garceau.

Daniel probably had no memory of his father. He would only have been about three-and-a-half when his father engaged in battle with the English. He might have had a few hazy memories, or he may have had none at all.

Regardless, Daniel’s stepfather, Alexander Richard dit Boutin raised him as his own.

Daniel’s younger brother, Joseph Garceau, born in March of 1710, was buried under the Richard surname, even though he was the child of Jean Garceau. During his lifetime, Joseph used both surnames interchangeably.

Daniel was raised with his own two full brothers and six half-siblings, 3 brothers and 3 sisters.

Life Along the River

We don’t know exactly where Daniel grew up, but we do have some clues.

Daniel was born just three and a half years after his parents were married.

His mother, Marie Levron’s parents, Francois Joseph Levron, who probably arrived as a soldier, and Catherine Savoie, lived directly across the river from Port Royal. Literally in sight of the fort, which would have been a very dangerous location during the 1707, 1708, and 1710 battles with the English. Not protected by the fort and entirely exposed to the English.

Catherine Savoie’s parents lived a few miles further east, just below the BelleIsle Hall Acadian Cultural Centre.

Daniel Garceau would one day marry Anne Doucet, daughter of Rene Doucet and Marie Broussard.

Rene Doucet lived further west of the Levron family on the north side of the river, and the Broussard family lived further east of the Savoies for a total distance of about 9 miles between the homesteads. Of course, the Catholic church played in important role in the lives of all Acadians and is likely where the young people socialized.

Daniel Garceau’s mother remarried to Alexandre Richard the day after Christmas in 1711. Alexander’s father, Michel Richard married Madeleine Blanchard and lived at BelleIsle, possibly on or near the Savoie land. After her death, he married Jean Babin whose parents probably lived in the same area.

Alexander (Alexandre) Richard is quite confusing, because his father, Michel Richard had a son by that exact same name with both wives. Yes, seriously – and they both lived. Welcome to my rathole!

The elder Alexandre Richard, born in 1668 to Michel Richard and Anne Blanchard, married Isabelle Petitpas, and died in 1709. The younger Alexandre Richard (dit Boutin), born in 1686 to Michel Richard and Jeanne Babin, married Marie Levron in 1711 after Jean Garceau died.

So, there’s absolutely no question that there were two Alexander Richards, and no question that Marie Levron married the younger one because the older one was dead by that time.

This younger Alexandre Richard dit Boutin (born 1686) was probably raised at BelleIsle, because his mother, Jeanne Babin, a young widow with two children, married Laurent Doucet.

On this 1710 map, you can see the homestead of Laurent Doucet at BelleIsle. In other words, Alexander Richard born in 1686 dit Boutin grew up here, and likely met his future wife, Marie Levron, near here, too.

Daniel Garceau very likely spent his early years, before his father died and his mother remarried to Alexandre Richard someplace between Port Royal and BelleIsle. Then of course, after Daniel’s father died and his mother remarried, Daniel would have been living with his mother and stepfather at BelleIsle where Alexander Richard dit Boutin was raised in the home of Laurent Doucet.

Are you getting all this?

This is where it got even more confusing. Hang with me.

I found the homestead of Alexander Richard on the 1710 map, second from left, at the top. My lucky day. So I thought that Alexander Richard (born 1686) left the BelleIsle community after his marriage to widow Marie Levron to obtain land upstream.

That was before I knew there were two Alexander Richards, both sons of the same immigrant male. I mean, what the heck?? Who would ever have suspected that?

Another head-scratcher, before I realized there were two half-brothers, both named Alexandre Richard was that single, meaning unmarried, men simply didn’t have homesteads. So how did Alexander Richard have a homestead in 1710 when he didn’t marry until 1711?

I didn’t think too much about it at first, because, after all, there was an entry for Alexander Richard on the 1710 map.

The next second monkey-wrench was that the earlier Acadian censuses showed Alexander Richard living in that location, between the same neighbors, with his wife and children.

Wife and children? What wife and children?

Our Alexander Richard (born 1686) would still have been living with his mother and Laurent Doucet at BelleIsle where the 1701 and 1707 census shows them living. Except that census doesn’t show her children’s surnames by Jean Garceau – just the one name, Doucet, for the entire household.

Those censuses also confirm that the older Alexander Richard, born in 1668, is living on the land near present-day Bridgewater, not our Alexander Richard, born in 1686, dit Boutin, who was living with Laurent Doucet and his mother, Jean Babin.

I was very confused at this point, and connected enough puzzle pieces together to discover the same-name brothers, Alexander Richard (1668) and his brother, Alexander Richard (1686). There has to be a joke in there someplace! My brother Alexander and my other brother Alexander…but I digress.

After the 1710 surrender of Acadia to the British, there was only one more census, taken in 1714.

That census shows us that our Alexander Richard (born 1686) is living with his wife and 4 sons beside Mathieu Doucet, with his wife (Anne Lord) and one son, and beside the LaMontagne family. Julien Lore dit LaMontagne lives next door along with his sons, Alexandre and Jacques. This location is very clearly between BelleIsle and the Lore land not far east of Granville Ferry.

The bottom line to all of this is that Daniel Garceau very likely grew up very close to the Lore land. This photo shows where some of those homesteads used to be on the raised knolls in the field.

A Funeral

In 1727, when Daniel was just 20, his mother, Marie Levron, died. She had given birth to her youngest of nine children just four and a half months earlier.

The family was most probably associated with the St. Laurent Church at BelleIsle, because one of Daniel’s aunts was married there in 1722 and it was much closer than Port Royal.

Daniel would have said goodbye to his mother in the little church and buried her in the churchyard outside, now lost to time. He wasn’t quite grown, wasn’t a young child, but he was an orphan just the same.

The Oath

For decades, there was a constant push and pull surrounding the issue of an oath of allegiance. The English insisted that the Acadians sign the dreaded oath, and the Acadians did everything possible to resist. Altogether, the Acadians signed three oaths, and all three times, the English wanted more. This was a hill the Acadians would, and did, die on. They felt the British would require them to fight against their countrymen, the Mi’qmaq people, with whom many had intermarried, and renounce their Catholic faith. They might even insist that they speak English! In 1710, the Acadians had initially been told that they had to vacate the Annapolis River basin and relocate to Beaubassin or another area, then by 1720, told they couldn’t leave.

Conflict, upheaval, and confusion were constant companions.

By 1720, Daniel would have been 13 – not yet a man, but an impressionable teen who was certainly paying attention to what the men discussed.

In 1725, yet another governor, Governor Armstrong, arrived. He realized he needed the Acadians to remain near Annapolis Royal to feed the English troops and convinced the Port Royal Acadians, representing about one-fourth of the Acadian population, to take the oath. He reminded them that England would not allow Catholics to serve in the military which should alleviate their concern about having to fight against their countrymen and family members. It worked! Encouraged by his success, the Governor tried the same thing in the Minas villages, but it didn’t work there.

Then Armstrong offered to allow them to take the following oath:

“I do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King George the Second, so help me God.”

Signing this oath meant that they wouldn’t have to “take up arms” against the French or Indians, they could leave whenever they wanted, and they had the freedom to have priests and to practice the Catholic religion.

Beginning then, they were known as the “neutral French” or “French neutrals.”

However, in 1729, that oath was considered too lenient and declared null and void. Everyone was unhappy, but the Acadians were unwavering in their insistence on a conditional oath, which they took in 1730.

This is where it gets interesting.

Phillips, the wizened old commander that was sent to replace Armstrong, reported that the Acadians took this oath:

“I sincerely promise and swear, as a Christian, that I will be utterly faithful and will truly obey His Majesty King George the Second, whom I acknowledge as the sovereign Lord of Nova Scotia and Acadia. So help me God.”

That’s what Phillips reported, but the actual oath continued, as follows:

“… that the inhabitants, when they have sworn hereto, will not be obliged to take up arms against France or against the Savages, and the said Inhabitants have further promised that they will not take up arms against the King of England or against its government.”

The priest and a notary signed as witnesses, but Phillips only sent the first part back to England. The second page was “somehow omitted,” but neither party knew.

In December 1729, Daniel Garceau, then 22, along with his brother, Joseph, signed that oath of allegiance to King George II. He had little choice, but after that, at least for awhile, everyone was happy.

Anne Doucet

Sometime around 1730, when he was about 23, Daniel Garceau married Anne Doucet, daughter of Rene Doucet and Marie Broussard.

Rene Doucet lived not even a mile west of Daniel Garceau’s Levron grandparents had settled, directly across from Port Royal.

Marie Broussard’s parents lived on east of Laurent Doucet and BelleIsle. These people clearly moved fluidly along the river, probably seeing each other regularly at church.

Daniel and Anne settled in this same general area, probably near or on the Lore land. Their oldest child, Marguerite, born in September of 1731, married Charles Lord in January of 1755, the son of Jacques (Montagne) Lore, their neighbor back in 1714.

The Lore/Lord family farmed land on the north side of the river, between BelleIsle on the east and the Doucet and Levron homes further west.

Two more Garceau children would marry sons of Jacques Lore after the 1755 deportation, which means the two families even stayed together as they were forced onto the ships. I envision them all holding hands.

Acording to the 1733/1753 map, the little Lore village had half a dozen homes clustered together, so one of them assuredly could have been Daniel Garceau’s.

Bucolic Years

I like to think of the years between Daniel’s marriage to Anne around 1730 and the deportation in 1755 as the bucolic years.

When life was still good and peaceful along the river, before everything blew up.

When the birds sang to welcome the springtime apple blossoms on the trees.

When the cows mooed to be milked, and butter was churned outside on porches.

When the fall apples were harvested to make applebutter or dried for the winter.

When as many babies were born as people died, and life had the cadence of continuity from one generation to the next.

When you worried about the weather and not if everyone was going to be killed.

When you prayed in your church, not in some godforsaken miserable place with nothing.

That hellscape was still a quarter century in the future when Daniel and Anne married.

I hope they truly enjoyed those 25 years or so, because the following chapter would be living hell.

Hell Arrives

Relations between the French and English had been deteriorating again. For decades, the Acadians had refused to sign a more restrictive oath to the English monarchy swearing complete allegiance, preferring to remain the “French neutrals.” They felt it was a matter of survival as they needed to coexist with the English, the French, and the Native people.

The English were becoming much less tolerant of the Acadians, who they considered French, and wanted to settle loyal English families in Acadia.

After all, those Acadians were so stubborn, troublesome and had attitudes. One might say they were ungovernable.

Finally, on July 28, 1755, orders were given by the British to round up and deport all French and Acadians in Nova Scotia – everyone who lived on those beautiful, productive farms that had, by now, been in Acadian families for generations.

On August 11^th, the Grand Dérangement began at Fort Beauséjour, also known as Fort Cumberland, at Beaubassin.

Often, there and elsewhere, the Acadian men and boys over 10 were called to and then trapped in the church where the orders were read.

Then the women were ordered to gather their children and a few things they could carry, and board the ships. Essentially, the women and children were used as leverage to control the men.

Daniel Garceau’s younger brother, Joseph made his way to Beaubassin by 1741, so he, along with his wife and seven children, were deported from there. He wasn’t with Daniel along the Annapolis River.

Joseph is shown in New York in 1763 with a wife and four children. Six of his seven children are later accounted for via marriage or burial records in Quebec.

Daniel’s older brother, Pierre Garceau and his wife were deported from Port Royal with their three known children. Their oldest daughter, who had married Joseph Lord, also had two children. None of this family has been accounted for. An entire family, three generations, wiped from the face of the earth.

They may have been on the ship with Daniel, or perhaps not.

Daniel Garceau wound up in New York, but we have no idea if he was in contact with Joseph, or if he ever knew what happened to Pierre and his family.

Daniel, his wife, and ten of their children are later accounted for in Quebec.

Three of Daniel’s half-siblings are also accounted for in Quebec, one died before the deportation in Annapolis Royal, and two disappeared.

So much agony.

So much heartbreak.

The expulsion at Annapolis Royal began in the late summer or early fall, but did not go as planned.

By the time December arrived, the disheartened, hungry, and freezing cold Acadians knew there was no hope of evading their fate.

There were pockets of resistance, and some escaped, often into the woods, but Daniel and his family did not.

In total, someplace between 10,000 and 18,000 Acadians were displaced. After the first wave or two, the balance were hunted down. Families were scattered to the winds.

During the haphazard deportation process, families were often split up as they were herded like livestock onto waiting ships, with people finding themselves weeks later in the 13 colonies, the Caribbean, England, France, and eventually, Louisiana and Quebec. Many family members never made contact again or knew what happened to each other.

They sailed into the void.

Those who survived the actual deportation but died before they arrived in a location where church or parish records were kept are lost to us, especially if their descendants have not connected themselves to their ancestors either via records or DNA.

In October 1755, three ships were loaded from the Queen’s Wharf in Annapolis Royal  with unwilling passengers. They arrived in Massachusetts a few weeks later.

The balance of the Acadians would have spent weeks, if not months, agonizing, trying to figure out what to do.

Daniel Garceau’s wife’s uncle, Joseph Brousard, known as Beausoleil, was the legendary Acadian resistance fighter in Chignecto and Beaubassin, but that had little effect on the decision that had to be made by the Port Royal families. Ultimately, he too was captured, imprisoned, and deported, eventually leading a group to Haiti and, ultimately, to Louisiana in 1765. Beyoncé is one of his descendants.

The Port Royal families had contact with Beaubassin and may well have known what happened there in August and at Grand Pre.

Some Port Royal Acadians escaped to the south, to the Cape Sable peninsula, but they, too, were rounded up and shipped off to New York a few weeks later.

Some attempted to escape across the mountains to the north, but many froze and starved until the Mi’kmaq people found them in the spring and shepherded the survivors across the bay and on to New Brunswick.

As winter fell in Annapolis Royal, the remaining Acadian people were marched to the Fort and forced upon ships, directly across from the Levron home,. Perhaps they still hoped they would be able to return, to find their way home, or that they would be held as hostages, but eventually released or traded. It had happened in the past. It might just happen again.

They assuredly prayed relentlessly, but all to no avail.

Various newspapers tell the tale of two ships blown off course in a very late-season hurricane.

We know that in 1763, Daniel and his family were in New York where he petitioned, along with several other Acadian families, to be sent to France. That petition was denied, but the fact that they petitioned is gold to genealogists because it tells us where he was and how many children he had with him at that time. It also helps us reconstruct his trip.

Daniel and family most likely left Acadia on the ship, Experiment, that encountered a terrible storm and was blown to either Antique or St. Kitts in the Caribbean. Not that most people wouldn’t welcome some warmth in the winter, but about 20% of the Experiment’s passengers perished, and half of the people on her sister ship, the Edward, died.

This might explain what happened to Daniel’s brother, Pierre, who also lived in Port Royal, along with his entire family.

I told the story of this ill-fated journey and their unexpected detour through the eyes of Daniel’s 13-year-old daughter, Appoline Garceau.

Daniel’s other unmarried children were 22, 20, 16, 11, 9, 7, 4, and 3 when they were forced into the hold of that ship – terminating life as they knew it.

Daniel’s oldest daughter, Marguerite, had just married Charles Lore/Lord in January 1755. She was assuredly either pregnant, or had a newborn baby. However, there is no known child for her until 1766, so not only did that baby die, so did many more over the next 11 years. The

How soul-crushing. I can’t begin to imagine.

Nearly nine months later, in August, the beleaguered ship and hostage passengers finally docked in New York, probably at the port of New York in the harbour. Everyone knew the one in five people who died on the Experiment and were sent to a watery grave. One body every day or two was sent over the railing. They were assuredly neighbors and probably relatives. Many lost children.

And everyone knew the half of the passengers on the other ship, the Edward, that died too, although that ship landed in Connecticut, across the bay from New York. Their few possessions, blankets, cushions, and such, were burned on the beach in Connecticut to prevent the spread of whatever passengers were dying of. The New York passengers could have suffered the same fate, adding even more loss and grief to their horrific situation.

Reduced to paupers with nothing, many Acadians in New York became indentured servants. They had no choice if they wanted to eat.

How they must have hated the English.

Unfortunately, we have absolutely no concrete evidence where these families were living, or what happened to them and what they endured during the 11 or 12 years they are missing. Most New York families seem to be in the area that is now New York City, Long Island, or adjacent counties. The one thing we do know is that they were in close proximity to the Lore/Lord family, because daughter Appoline married Honore Lore someplace in New England in 1766.

Novelist Monique Michaud, when researching this family, says she found information that the Garceau family lived on Staten Island, which prompted her to visit Staten Island.

Additionally, by perusing the notarial records, she discovered that Daniel’s son, Jean-Baptiste Garceau, later identified his father, Daniel as a cooper. I later found that record in Jean-Baptiste’s marriage record too. I wonder if Daniel was a cooper back in Acadia, or if he learned that trade to earn a living in the shipyards of New York, or perhaps both.

I really encourage you to read Monique’s fine writing about the Garceau family, here.

The following map is from 1839, but it shows the locations of the shipyards along Staten Island’s north and northeast coastlines inside the shelter of the harbors.

I tend to think Monique is accurate, because Daniel was later identified as a cooper and Staten Island was known for its shipyards. Ships transported goods and water in barrels, which coopers constructed. The need was endless. His hands must have had layers of calluses built up over the years from the rough wood and tens of thousands of splinters.

I wonder if the Acadian men felt like failures, unable to protect their families from deportation. Unable to provide well for them during their exile. Maybe Daniel’s cooper trade made him more fortunate than most. Maybe that’s at least part of why none of his children died in exile.

Daniel was 48 years old when they were deported, and Anne was 42. They had brought 10 children into the world, and probably buried at least three in tiny graves that would have been abandoned at Port Royal – not by their choice.

Did they look back at the cemetery and the rubble of their homes as they sailed out of the harbour that frigid December morning?

The English burned everything so that the Acadians knew nothing remained to return to.

Their heartache was immeasurable.

Quebec

Daniel Garceau and Anne Doucet had 10 children born in Acadia. Eight were reported in 1763. Oldest daughter, Marguerite had married Charles Lord and is with him in New York. All ten of Daniel’s children are eventually accounted for in Quebec which is how we know they survived. That alone is something of a miracle.

Three of Daniel’s children married someplace in New England, two to sons of Jacques Lore, brothers of Daniel’s oldest daughter’s husband.

The balance of their children married not long after the family made it to Yamachiche in 1767. They must have left almost immediately after the Massachusetts governor reached an agreement with the Governor of Quebec allowing Acadians to settle there. Not just allowing them to move, but inviting them and offering FREE LAND!!

Free land to Acadians was like food to the starving.

During negotiations, the Massachusetts governor indicated that Massachusetts had “700 souls to send,” but I’d wager that as soon as Acadians in other colonies heard the news, they hurriedly made their way to Massachusetts. In early September 1766, between 800 and 1500 Acadians departed on ships supplied by Massachusetts, the first arriving on August 31, 1766.

Other Acadians probably made their way in any way possible. Some may have walked or taken carts.

We know that the Garceau family made it to Quebec by September 29, 1767, when Appoline’s marriage to Honore Lore was validated. Their first child was born in February 1768, so I’d wager they were married in New England between February and May 1767.

Finally, they felt safe, living back upon a river.

By this time, Daniel would have been 60 – not a young man by any stretch – and probably incredibly tired.

Physical labor would have been his only choice in New England. Either that or starve. The Acadians went from thriving farmers to paupers in the blink of an eye on that fateful day in the winter of 1755. Now, they had the opportunity to farm for themselves once again – and recover some shred of dignity. Quebec needed settlers. Acadians needed a home.

The Garceau family first arrived near Becancour and probably settled in the village of Saint Gregoire, which was at that time, Sainte Marguerite.

While the original church has been replaced, the old Acadian windmill remains. The above photo was taken from Rue Garceau which runs right behind the church.

Acadians were masters at water management, including mills.

Today, Rue Garceau reminds us of the original settlers. Many of Daniel’s descendants attended this church for decades and are buried here.

The original church would have stood here, near the windmill, and the original cemetery would have been located just outside the church. The original cemetery no longer exists. There’s a newer cemetery about half a mile or so down the road. I don’t know if the graves were moved.

Shortly, the family traveled down the river, about 10 miles, to Yamachiche.

The history of Yamachiche provides insight into how the Acadians came to settle here.

In July 1767, a schooner arrived at the mouth of the Yamachiche River carrying a large contingent of Acadians who were originally deported to Massachusetts. The Lesieur family, still the owner of the Grosbois-East seigneury, was ready to welcome them on a concession still to be cleared of trees.

Up to 42 Acadian families, or 192 individuals, settled on the Lesieur family’s concession. The French-Canadian villagers of St. Anne of Yamachiche parish, founded in 1722, gave them a warm welcome.

The parish priest, Jacques-Maxime Chef from the city of La Garenne, did hasten to validate the marriages and baptisms of all Acadians who could not officially take place in Massachusetts for lack of Catholic priests.

Historian Andre-Varl Vachon discovered the actual record of the ship that he believes delivered Daniel Garceau’s family. He used the 1763 census and the number of passengers, combined with Yamachiche records to reconstruct the families on that ship. He states that Daniel and family left New York on March 26^th, 1767 and were one of the 22 families that arrived on the ship Diana at the port of Quebec on June 11, 1767.

OMG!!!

Ironic that the trip from New York to Quebec meant that they had to sail around and past Nova Scotia. Thankfully, not past Annapolis Royal, but there must have been a lot of tears shed, just the same. They knew there was nothing left for them there, and the English planters from New England had been in possession of their farms for a decade. No, there was no going back, and no one would have wanted to see what used to be their homes with English families living there. Now, they were the outsiders. Strangers in what had been their own land.

They were headed for a fresh start, to establish a new Acadia. They finally had hope.

Their prayers had been answered!

This is the scene that would have greeted them as they sailed up the St. Lawrence and saw the Port of Quebec in the distance.

The port of Quebec is Quebec City, perched high on a hill – certainly a welcome sight for French-speaking Acadians. Somehow vastly ironic that the English were in charge of Quebec too – the difference being that no one wanted to settle there, on uncleared land in the frigid, snowy north among French-speakers – except, of course, the displaced Acadians. They were thrilled!

The Acadians would have taken a few days to evaluate their options. Who was welcoming? Where were resources located? Was family already there someplace? Maybe family they hadn’t seen in years? And, about that land…

Quebec City is downriver about 90 miles from the Trois Rivieres, Yamachiche, Becancour area, so it makes perfect sense that they arrived at the Yamachiche River a month later.

The mouth of the Yamachiche River is swampy, an area that would have felt very familiar to homesick Acadians. The first settlement location was not in present-day Yamachiche, but where the upper red arrow is pointing, near today’s entrance loop to Highway 40. We know this because the old cemetery was located there and the early graves were moved to present-day Yamachiche in 1795.

Appoline Garceau’s first child was baptized in Yamachiche on February 28, 1768, and her brother, Jean Joseph Garceau died there on May 8, 1770, leaving his wife and eight children. The family had clearly put down roots in this community.

Daniel’s health may have been failing. In 1772, he turned 65, “retirement age” today.

On August 28, 1772, he died and was buried in the cemetery at Ste. Anne Church at Yamachiche, but that cemetery was not where it is located today.

On the 28th of August, 1772, I, the undersigned, have buried in the cemetery the body of Daniel Garneau, aged seventy years. The witnesses present were François Lavergne, Joseph Vivard, and several others who declared they could not sign.

Daniel’s original burial location was located here, about a mile from where his remains would have been moved 23 years later.

This original Yamachiche Cemetery held burials from 1654 to 1794. In 1795, all bodies were removed to the new Sainte-Anne Cemetery within the town.

The original church is long gone now, and in 1795, all of the burials in the cemetery adjacent to the church were moved inland to the present-day village. This location was quite close to the river, and I’m willing to bet that it flooded, prompting the move inland. The original cemetery was someplace in the meadow or woods, near the yellow marker above, or perhaps both. It may also have extended beneath what is today a modern road.

All burials, both pioneer and modern are reportedly located in the Ste. Anne Cemetery behind the church in town.

We don’t know where Daniel or the older burials were reburied in Sainte Anne, or if they were buried separately or together, but FindAGrave shows a few older burials near the monument beside the road in the rear.

Daniel’s remains rest someplace here, perhaps near the locations of those older graves.

His descendants placed a marker in 1995 honoring Daniel, Anne, and their family’s long journey, although Anne is not buried here.

The inscription is engraved in a black granite stone that pays tribute to the Garceau family. I used both Google translate and ChatGPT to translate.

Garceau
Yesterday to Tomorrow…
All United Together

After being driven
from our lands of Acadia in 1755
and exiled in a foreign country
under harsh conditions,
we are now free
and choose this land
as our new homeland.

Our descendants will take root here
and remember their origins.

Daniel Garceau and Anne Doucet

Unveiled: 1995-07-09

Erected by Garceau-Auger for the ADJGT

In addition to the inscription, there is an illustration that shows the journey of the Garceau family who voyaged from France to Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia), then from Acadia to Quebec.

Not to mention that unplanned detour to the Caribbean, thanks to a storm that might well have ended the lives of all on board, followed by a decade someplace in New York.

Where Did Daniel Live?

Daniel’s family may actually have lived halfway between Sainte Marguerite, now Saint-Gregoire, and Yamachiche.

The road, Rang des Garceau, marks the location where Daniel’s children and grandchildren lived, which certainly suggests Daniel settled there, too.

It looks like quite a distance today, by road, but then, it was just a couple miles to the river from Sainte Marguerite/Saint Gregoire, then maybe 7 miles by water to Rang des Garceau, then another 5 miles to the original church in Yamachiche.

Rang des Garceau, as it exists today, is just over two miles end to end, but of course, we don’t know how the modern roads have affected the east end where it intersects with the modern highways. We also don’t know if they moved once they got there after they were assigned land.

You can see that there’s still quite a bit of forest, and a few well-manicured fields.

Let’s take a drive, west to east. The older buildings are on the west end of the road.

This barn and two adjacent homes look to be quite old.

Notice the area in front of the barn. That could be an old homestead foundation.

Look at the exposed side of this house, which is adjacent to the barn. How interesting.

Just a short distance down the road, there’s an extremely old log home. I can’t help but wonder if Daniel lived here, although the traditional Acadian homes had a rather unique slanted roof to them. However, they may well have built what they could as soon as possible.

This is how I will forever think of Daniel in Quebec, a humble home surrounded by a garden. Maybe that’s “Anne” weeding.

This barn isn’t old enough to be Daniel’s, but if his children and grandchildren owned this land, it was assuredly theirs. This would have been a prime location for livestock because there’s a very small stream that runs to the right side of the barn, crossing under the road. The fields behind the buildings would have been cleared by the Garceau family.

The older homes are on the north side of the road. These fields on the south side are quite reminiscent of the reclaimed marshes of Acadia.

Daniel Garceau must have felt vindicated, at least somewhat. After all he and his family had been through, he could finally relax.

The Acadians weren’t just tolerated here, they were welcomed. They weren’t constantly in jeopardy. They no longer had to be afraid.

Finally, the Acadians had a new homeland.

Together.

Along the path that would one day be named Rang des Garceau.

Life’s normal rhythm resumed. Births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials.  Ceremonies and sacred rites performed by a priest, in French, in a Catholic church.

They could once again be buried in consecrated ground where their descendants, for generations, could come to visit their graves.

Once again, they had roots.

The Acadians were home.

_____________________________________________________________

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