The Acadian Exiles : a Chronicle of the Land of Evangeline

by Sir Arthur G. Doughty

When the Treaty of Paris (February 1763) brought peace between France and England and put an end to French power in America, the Acadians could no longer be considered a menace, and there was no good political reason for keeping them out of Canada or Nova Scotia. Almost immediately those in exile began to seek new homes among people of their own race and religion. The first migration seems to have been from New England by the Lake Champlain route to the province of Quebec. There they settled at various places, notably L'Acadie, St Gregoire, Nicolet, Becancour, St Jacques-l'Achigan, St Philippe, and Laprairie. In these communities hundreds of their descendants still live.

In 1766 the exiles in Massachusetts assembled in Boston and decided to return to their native land. All who were fit to travel, numbering about nine hundred men, women, and children, marched through the wilderness along the Atlantic coast and across New Brunswick to the isthmus of Chignecto. Many perished by the way, overcome by the burden and fatigue of a journey which lasted over four months. But at last the weary pilgrims approached their destination. And near the site of the present village of Coverdale in Albert county, New Brunswick, they were attracted to a small farmhouse by the crowing of a cock in the early dawn. To their unspeakable joy they found the house inhabited by a family of their own race. Here they halted for a few days, making inquiry concerning their old friends. Then they tramped on in different directions. Everywhere on the isthmus the scene was changed. The old familiar farm buildings had disappeared or were occupied by strangers of an alien tongue, and even the names of places were known no more. Some journeyed to Windsor and some to Annapolis, where they remained for a time. At length, on the western shores of the present counties of Digby and Yarmouth, they found a home, and there to-day live the descendants of these pilgrims. For miles their neat villages skirt the shores of the ocean and the banks of the streams. For a century and a half they have lived in peace, cultivating their salt-marsh lands and fresh-water meadows, preserving the simple manners, customs, and language of their ancestors. They form a community apart, a hermit community. But they are useful citizens, good farmers, hardy fishermen and sailors.

Both in Canada and in the United States are to be found many Acadians occupying exalted positions. The chief justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, Joseph A. Breaux, is of Acadian descent. In Canada the Rt Rev. Edward Le Blanc, bishop of Acadia, the Hon. P. E. Le Blanc, lieutenant-governor of the province of Quebec, and the Hon. Pascal Poirier, senator, are Acadians, as are many other prominent men. And Isabella Labarre, who married Jean Foret, of Beaubassin, was one of the maternal ancestors of Sir Wilfrid Laurier.

Save in the Maritime Provinces, it is not possible to count the offspring of the original French settlers of Acadia who came out from France in the seventeenth century. It is estimated that there were at the time of the expulsion ten or eleven thousand under the British flag, and four or five thousand in Ile St Jean and elsewhere on French territory. About six thousand were deported, as we have seen, and scattered over the British colonies. Undoubtedly a great number of Americans of to-day are descendants of those exiles, but, except at the mouth of the Mississippi, they are merged in the general population and their identity is lost. Neither can we tell how many of those who found their way to Old France remained there permanently. For upwards of twenty years the French government was concerned in finding places for them. Some were settled on estates; some were sent to Corsica; others, as late as 1778, went to Louisiana. Nor can we estimate the number of Acadians in the province of Quebec, for no distinction has been made between them and the general French-Canadian population. For the Maritime Provinces, however, we have the count of the census of 1911. This shows 98,611 in New Brunswick, 51,746 in Nova Scotia, and 13,117 in Prince Edward Island, a total of 163,474 in the three provinces. The largest communities are those of Gloucester, Victoria, Madawaska, and Kent counties in New Brunswick, and of Digby and Yarmouth in Nova Scotia. Several thousand Acadians are counted in Cape Breton; so, too, in Halifax and Cumberland counties. But in the county of Annapolis, where stands the site of the first settlement formed on the soil of Canada—the site of the ancient stronghold of Acadia—and which for many generations was the principal home of the Acadian people, only two or three hundred Acadians are to be found to-day; while, looking out over Minas Basin, the scene of so much sorrow and suffering, one solitary family keeps its lonely vigil in the village of Grand Pre.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The story of Acadia and the Acadians has been told many times, but most of the treatises on the subject are unsatisfactory from the historical point of view, either because of the biased attitude taken by the authors or because of their inadequate use of original sources. The present writer has deliberately avoided consulting secondary works. The following titles, however, are here suggested for the benefit of the reader who wishes to become acquainted with the literature of the subject.

Thomas Chandler Haliburton, 'An Historical and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia' (2 vols., Halifax, 1829), the earliest general history of the province, based on but slight knowledge of the sources. Beamish Murdoch, 'A History of Nova Scotia' (3 vols., Halifax, 1865-1867), fuller and more accurate than Haliburton, but having less charm of style. Francis Parkman, 'France and England in North America' (9 vols., Boston, 1865-1892, and later editions). The chapters on Acadia are scattered through several volumes of this valuable series: see the volumes entitled 'Pioneers of France, The Old Regime, A Half-Century of Conflict', and 'Montcalm and Wolfe'. Celestin Moreau, 'Histoire de l'Acadie Francoise' (Paris, 1873). James Hannay, 'History of Acadia' (St John, 1879). P. H. Smith, 'Acadia: A Lost Chapter in American History' (Pawling, N.Y., 1884). Justin Winsor, 'Narrative and Critical History of America': see vols. iv and v (Boston, 1884, 1887), containing scholarly bibliographical notes. Abbe H. R. Casgrain, 'Un Pelerinage au pays d'Evangeline' (Quebec, 1887). Rameau de Saint-Pere, 'Une Colonie Feodale en Amerique, l'Acadie' (2 vols., Paris and Montreal, 1889): the appendix contains some interesting documents. Edouard Richard, 'Acadia: Missing Links of a Lost Chapter in American History' (2 vols., New York and Montreal, 1895). Rev. Wm. O. Raymond, 'The River St John' (2nd ed., St John, 1910).

Some older works which incidentally contain interesting or valuable references to Acadia may be mentioned. F. X. Charlevoix, 'Histoire et Description Generale de la Nouvelle France' (3 vols., Paris, 1744; and translation by J. G. Shea, 6 vols., New York, 1866-1872). Abbe Guillaume Thomas Raynal, 'Histoire philosophique et politique des Etablissemens dans les deux Indes' (5 vols., Paris, 1770), which first painted a picture of an idyllic life of simplicity and happiness among the Acadians. Thomas Hutchinson, 'History of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay' (3 vols., London, 1765-1828). G. R. Minot, 'Continuation of the History of the Province of Massachusetts Bay' (2 vols., Boston, 1798-1803). Jeremy Belknap, 'History of New Hampshire' (3 vols., Boston, 1791-1792). W. D. Williamson, 'History of the State of Maine' (2 vols., Hallowell, 1832). The last four works are of much value for the relations between Acadia and the New England colonies.

Among special studies of note are: J. G. Kohl, 'Discovery of Maine' ('Documentary History of the State of Maine,' vol. i, 1869). H. P. Biggar, 'Early Trading Companies of New France' (Toronto, 1901). Henry Kirke, 'The First English Conquest of Canada' (London, 1871; 2nd ed., 1908), a work which devotes much space to the early establishments in Nova Scotia. Rev. Edmund F. Slafter, 'Sir William Alexander and American Colonization' (Boston, 1873), which contains a valuable selection of documents. Abbe J. A. Maurault, 'Histoire des Abenakis' (Sorel, 1866). Pascal Poirier, 'Origine des Acadiens' (Montreal, 1874) and 'Des Acadiens deportes a Boston en 1755' ('Trans. Roy. Soc. of Can.,' 3rd series, vol. ii, 1908).

Several local histories contain information regarding the Acadian exiles in the American colonies. William Lincoln, 'History of Worcester, Massachusetts' (Worcester, 1862). Bernard C. Steiner, 'History of the Plantation of Menunkatuck and of the Original Town of Guilford, Connecticut' (Baltimore, 1897). Rev. D. P. O'Neill, 'History of St Raymond's Church, Westchester New York.' J. T. Scharf, 'Chronicles of Baltimore' ( Baltimore, 1874). Edward M'Crady, 'History of South Carolina under the Royal Government, 1719-1776' (New York, 1899).