My husband Dean and I have family that came from, or still
live, in Nova Scotia, Canada. Several years ago, we moved to New Brunswick and
while there, I took the opportunity to use the local resources to 'branch out' and
research the Leblanc (LeBlanq/LeBlanc) family history. I was able to trace back
to the earliest settlers, who it has been said established one of the largest
family lineages in all of Acadia, in both Canada and the United States.
In my ‘branching out’ post for #52ancestors I’ve decided to
write about Dean’s 5-times great-grandfather, René LeBlanq, one of the most
well-known of the LeBlanq ancestors.
René was born in 1682, in Port Royal, Nova Scotia. At the time,
the area was a focal point for France and Britain’s rivalry for control of it. This
ended in 1713 when England was granted control of mainland Nova Scotia and
France retained Cape Breton Island. But hostilities didn’t end completely, and
the position of Acadians in Nova Scotia became increasingly precarious.
René was married twice. His first wife was Elisabeth (Isabelle) Melanson. They married in 1709 and had several children before her death December 12, 1718.
The union of René and his second wife, Marguerite Thébeau (Thibault), is the branch
that Dean descends from.
Marguerite and René were married on November 26, 1720, in
Port Royal. The marriage was very fruitful and between 1721 and 1748 they had
17 children – 5 sons and 12 daughters. This is an amazing fact by itself, but what
I found fascinating about it is that Marie had several multiple births. Of
their 17 children they had a set of triplets and three sets of twins!
~ Triplets - Marie, Marguerite and Anne born on July 25, 1721. I believe Anne was stillborn.
~ They had another daughter on September 29, 1724, who they also named Anne.
~ In early 1726, they had twin daughters, Blanche and Marie.
~ A daughter, Madeleine, was born on November 19, 1727.
~ Twin sons René and Simon were born November 10, 1731.
~ Three more daughters Francoise, May 1, 1734; Ursule, December 17, 1735; and Josephe-Marie, May 20, 1738.
~ Twins in early 1740. A son, Pierre-Benjamin, and daughter, Esther.
~ Two sons followed: Paul-Marie on May 2, 1742, and Jean-Baptiste-Marie June 25, 1744.
~ Their youngest daughter, Marie-Jeanne, was born April 5, 1748.
To support his large family, René practiced law and was named a Royal Notary. It was in this capacity that he was immortalized in the epic poem, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It is a story of loss and devotion set against the deportation of the Acadian people in 1755. The notary in the poem is our ancestor René Leblanq.
Which brings me back to the precarious state for Acadian’s of the time. During the great deportation in 1755, René, Marguerite, and their sons, Pierre-Benjaman and Jean-Baptiste were deported. As I prepared this blog, I realized that I have not yet discovered what happened to their youngest daughter, Marie-Jeanne, and son Pierre-Marie at that time. Another item for my parking lot to branch out to discover their fates.
René took ill while banished and died in Philadelphia in 1758. He is buried in Philadelphia in a potter’s field that is now known as Washington Square. In the square there is an epitaph for those who are buried there. Below is a transcription of the text in the first section:
“Until the 19th Century, this was often a sorrowful place. Many people knew it as a potters field, a “publick burying place for all strangers,” for soldiers, sailors, convicts, and the “destitute whose remains are walked over.” A lonely Acadian refugee found eternal rest hear, along with epidemic victims, Catholics, and African Americans.”
At the time of his death René had 21 children and almost 150
grandchildren.
For more information on the Great Deportation follow the link below to watch a Heritage Minutes video on the Historics Canada website.
Heritage Minutes: Acadian Deportation
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