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Documents Concerning
Acadian Deportees in Massachusets Towns 1755-1766 The Acadians were the French inhabitants of Acadia, a French colony that covered present day Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and parts of Maine. Beginning in 1755, after the British had conquered the colony and renamed it Nova Scotia, they began a project to deport these people. Approximately 2,000 Acadians, or "French Neutrals, as they were called by the British, arrived at the Port of Boston without any prior notification, much to the annoyance of the authorities there. The vessels were so overcrowded that the provincial government set a limit to the number per vessel and took into custody the Acadians in excess of those limits. So, in comparison to the other English colonies along the Atlantic seaboard, Massachusetts got more than its share of the deported Acadians. To pacify the taxpayers of Boston, the Acadians were assigned to the towns of Massachusetts in proportion to the amount of taxes paid by those towns. If possible, the towns were to find work for the Acadians to support themselves. In many cases this was not possible and they were auctioned off to those who would support them at the least charge to the town. This auction system, as crass as it may seem to us, was the standard way of dealing with the poor in Massachusetts. It was not developed specifically for the treatment of the Acadians. The expenses of the towns were documented and sent to the Provincial Government. As soon as the Acadians were portioned out to the towns, petitions began to arrive in the Province House. One town would complain that they had received a disproportionate number in comparison to other towns in the area. An elderly man, who could not support himself, would learn that his son was living in another town and was willing to support him. He would petition to be sent to that town, but that would throw off the proportions for the town he left and the town to which he was transferred. These petitions and transfers continued during the whole period of the Deportation. Other petitions from the Acadians concerned their mistreatment, sometimes violent, by the towns and the persons to whom they were assigned for support. The Colony frequently sided with the Acadians and reprimanded the towns or individuals abusing them. The documents transcribed or summarized in this collection are taken from volumes 23 and 24 of the Massachusetts Archives series, labeled "French Neutrals," as well as a census of deported Acadians from volume 14 of the Governor's Council Records. The original manuscripts of these documents are in the Massachusetts Archives. The transcriptions or summaries of documents are arranged by county and town. I have also added transcriptions of A List of the French Who Desire to Go to Old France and Acadians Wishing to Go to Canada. I have concentrated upon biographical data concerning the deported Acadians, which comes not only from memorials written by or for them or against them, but also from sources such as an account of expenses including a bill for a midwife or for a burial. The spelling of the documents has been modernized, except for the names. The spelling of some of the names is so garbled that I still can't decipher them. Because of this I have decided to leave the names as they are and let the reader decide. I have standardized in the surnames index the names that I could decipher. The surnames index lists the counties and towns where a particular surname may be found. Acadian Surnames Mentioned in the Text: Amirault, Babin, Barrieau, Belliveau, Benoit, Benoni, Beosten?, Beoften?, Beshong?, Blanchard, Blandine, Boucher, Boudreau, Bourg, Bourgeois, Breau, Brun, Bruno, Chenay, Chilet, Clermont, Clouatre, Comeau, Cyr, d'Entremont, Daigle, David, Deneur, Dennero, Deparis, Deshon?, Dominique, Doucet, Dugas, Duon, Dupuis, Eday?, Forest, Fortin, Gallant, Gaudet, Girouard, Gould?, Gourdeau, Green?, Grovelait, Guidry, Guilbeault, Hebert, Janvier, Joseph?, Judore?, King, Labove, Lanoue, Laverdure, Leannure, Leblanc, Legloy?, Lemaine, Lemaire, Lionart, Lowen?, Maillet, Marichal, Mary?, Maurice, Mazerolle, Melanson, Menou, Mereau, Michel, Mius, Maillet, Nassell?, Ouinet, Ozel, Pellerin, Picot, Poirier, Prejean, Rabas?, Raymond, Richard, Rigidores?, Robichaud, Rout, Royal, Rue, Savoie, Senocy?, Seymore?, Simmix?, Terriault, Thibault, Thibodeau, Tourangeau, Trahan, Truchant, Vincent and White Massachusetts Counties and
Towns Mentioned in the Text: Suffolk County: Towns of Bellingham, Boston, Braintree, Chelsea, Dedham, Dorchester, Hingham, Hull, Medfield, Medway, Milton, Needham, Roxbury, Stoughton, Walpole, Weymouth and Wrentham Worcester County: Towns of
Bolton, Brookfield, Charlton, Douglas, Dudley, Grafton,
Hardwick, Harvard, Holden, Lancaster, Leicester, Leominster,
Lunenburg, Mendon, New Braintree, Oxford, Petersham,
Rutland, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Spencer, Sturbridge,
Sutton, Upton, Uxbridge, Westborough, Westminster, Weston
and Worcester |