Étienne (Poitevin) Poitevin dit Le Parisien (abt. 1673 - 1742)

Born about 1673 in France

Husband of Anne Daigre — married about 1696 in Port-Royal, Acadie

Descendants

Died 25 Jun 1742 at about age 69 in Saint-Pierre-du-Nord, Île-Saint-Jean, Acadie, Nouvelle-France

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Biography

Étienne (Poitevin) Poitevin dit Le Parisien migrated from France to Acadia.

Beginnings & the Port Royal years

Étienne’s year of birth in France varies according to the source. The Île Saint-Jean (ISJ) census of 1734.B has him as 64, suggesting 1669/70. The Port Royal census in 1698^[1] recorded him as age of 25, placing his birth in 1692/93. At his burial in 1742,^[2] the priest wrote his age as “about 65,” meaning he would have been born as late as 1676/77. On the face of it, this last estimate seems the weakest. Étienne’s parents are unknown, so far.^[3]

The ISJ censuses also give contradictory information about his origin, whether Poitiers or Paris .^[4] We don’t know specifically when he left France for Acadie. Landry estimates he arrived in Acadie c. 1690, but the basis for that is unclear.^[5] He is not found at any of the sites covered by the census of Acadie in 1693. Of course. he could simply have been missed or he might have been (for example) working elsewhere.

Around 1696, he married Anne Daigre, an Acadienne of the Port Royal settlement, where most of their children were born – likely, in fact, 10 of their 11. The last was born on ISJ (or maybe the last 2), after the household moved to the island in 1720/21.^[6] An ISJ census record says Étienne settled on the island in 1722,^[7] yet the burial record of young Étienne (the son) is dated mid-1721, at Saint-Pierre-du-Nord^[8]

Their known children were^[9]:

1. Madeleine Poitevin (about 1697 – before Dec 13 1758) .
2. Jacques Christophe Poitevin (about 1698 – Jul 27 1747) .
3. Louis Poitevin (Oct 3 1703 – Apr 1713) .
4. Unknown Poitevin (Apr 16 1706 – Apr 16 1706) .
5. Louis Poitevin (Sep 30 1707 – Jun 1753) .
6. Marie Judith Poitevin (Apr 14 1710 – Feb 17 1759) .
7. Étienne Poitevin (Oct 23 1712 – about Jun 6 1721) .
8. Marie Josèphe Poitevin (Dec 30 1714 – before Feb 14 1763) .
9. Anne Genevieve Poitevin (Jul 8 1718 – unknown) .
10. Ursule Poitevin dit Parisien (about 1720 – after 1793) .
11. Élisabeth Poitevin (Jul 1724 – Jul 19 1724)

By the census of 1698, Anne Daigre appears at age 20, married to 25-year-old Pierre [sic] Poitevin, and is mother of one-year-old Madeleine. Their farm was adjacent to that of her sister Marie (married to Pierre Sibilau) & to the farm of Marie’s mother & stepfather, as inferred from sequence in the census list. The Poitevin-Daigre operation featured 4 cattle, 10 sheep, 4 hogs, 2 & a half arpents of cultivation, 7 fruit trees, & 1 gun.^[10]

Two years later, the 1700 census offers anomalous information, with Anne back in the home of her mother & stepfather, 21 years old, minus both husband & daughter. The 1701 census turned up none of these persons. But in 1703, when only male heads of household (plus widowed women) were named, Poitevin has reappeared, but with the given name of Etienne (“Estienne”), along with a wife, 2 boys, & 2 girls.^[11]

After 4 more years, the 1707 count lists the family under Etienne’s nickname of Parisien (“Parizien”), including wife, 4 boys under age 14, & 1 girl under 12. They were farming 3 arpents, & livestock consisted of 2 cattle, 12 sheep, 9 hogs, & the standard gun. This list places them next door to Anne’s older brother Olivier Daigre (Jr.).^[12]

After the final British capture of Port Royal in 1710, & the treaty of 1713 permanently confirming British sovereignty of mainland Nova Scotia, a final general census of Acadians in that territory was taken in 1714. It shows “Parisien and his wife, 3 sons, 1 daughter.”^[13]

On Île Saint-Jean
The census records of 1728 to 1735

Étienne & Anne’s household lived in Havre Saint-Pierre (parish of Saint-Pierre-du-Nord) during that period.

Not long after the move to ISJ, the family faced tragedy (though it was neither their first nor their last). Little Étienne, just 8 years old, went off into the forest on 6 June 1721 and was not found. On 3 July, the priest issued a certificate of death.^[14] In all, 5 of the couple’s offspring were boys; Étienne Jr. was the third of them to perish in childhood.

The 1728 census says Étienne Poitevin arrived on ISJ in 1722, although (as just mentioned) we know that the family was there by early June of 1721. The census-taker classified him as a fisher, & had him living with his wife & 3 young girls. Although only Étienne was named, we can infer that the girls were clearly Marie-Josèphe, Anne-Geneviève, & Ursule, who would have been about 14, 10, & 8 them. The 2 older daughters had already married (1712 & 1724) & moved out.^[15] A previously born son had died in childhood, long before the move to ISJ. Son Étienne also, as just stated, was long gone by 1728. Anne & Étienne’s 11th & last offspring had been-born on the island in 1724, but had died almost immediately. Separately listed in this census is son Louis Poitevin, with no others in his own household, & no house of his own, but he possessed a fishing chaloupe (shallop). Louis’ date of arrival is stated there as 1723. At the time of this census, he was probably living with the parents, but being about 21 years old in 1728, he apparently was classified as his own household head, in that one survey.

The other census of that year (1728.B) calls Étienne a farmer. No doubt, in fact, the family farmed & fished at the same time, as did many residents of that area, which gave them a significant economic boost in a milieu where poverty was the general rule.^[16] The record confirms the presence of a wife & the 3 young girls, while adding 3 boys (not 2!) in the older age category. As mentioned above, both this count & the 1735 census state Étienne’s origin as Paris, France. Was this correct, or was it stated only because his nickname was “Parisien” (which itself may or may not have marked his place of origin)? The 1734.A census has him coming from Poitiers. The presence of 3 boys older than their mid-teens is odd, since there were only 2 surviving sons in that age group by this time, one of whom was Louis, age around 30 by then, and there is no record that he ever married. A second was most likely son Jacques-Christophe, then possibly as old as 35. And the third (assuming this is not a mere clerical error)? He could plausibly have been a member of the household without being an offspring of Étienne & Anne. He was probably not a servant, since domestics were recorded separately in most years. But a young relative or a foster child would have been indistinguishable from an offspring in these records.

Oddly, no Étienne Poitevin (or man of similar name) appears in the 1730 survey. But in 1734.A, he is again a farmer with a wife, but only 1 older boy & 3 girls. The boy would, again, be Louis. Jacques-Christophe no longer lived on the island, because he had married a woman from the Montréal area in Jan 1731 &, to all appearances, remained there the rest of his life.^[17]

In 1734B, we find “Pierre Parisien” but no Étienne. This “Parisien” is unquestionably Étienne going by his nickname, while “Pierre” seems to have been one of his given names, since that is what he was called back in the 1698 census at Port Royal. His age is given as 64 (see above about the inconsistent accounts of his birth year), while the unnamed wife’s age of 55 fits exactly with the estimate of Anne Daigre’s year of birth as offered in Landry. They have a son of age 22, & girls 18 & 14. That is about 4 years too young for Louis Poitevin, a year or 2 beyond Anne-Geneviève’s actual age, & just right for Ursule’s estimated year of birth. Marie-Josèphe has wed early in this year, before the survey, & has moved to Rivière-du-Nord-Est with husband Pierre Petit.^[18]

Étienne Poitevin reappears in 1735, with his wife, no boys, & 2 girls. Louis had evidently left the homestead – probably to enroll in the military. Without providing a timeframe, Landry has him as becoming a sailor & a soldier.^[19] That left only Anne-Geneviève & Ursule (aged about 17 & 15) with the parents. These last 2 would marry in 1737 & 1740 respectively.^[20]

The rest of their story

After the loss of the young son who bore his father’s name, Étienne Poitevin & Anne Daigre next appear in the parish registers of Saint-Pierre-du-Nord in an undated item between the 19th & 21st of July 1724, at the burial of their last-born child Élisabeth.^[21] Her birth date is not mentioned there, nor does the register show a baptism. It appears^[22] that she was born in that same month, quite possibly on the same day as she died & was buried.

Étienne & Anne are named as parents of the bride at four weddings in Saint-Pierre-du-Nord: on 10 Sep 1724 for Marie-Judith, on 22 Feb 1734 for Marie-Josèphe, on 20 Aug 1737 for Anne-Geneviève, & finally on 10 Oct 1740 for Ursule. At all but the first, Étienne signed with his mark.^[23] On 24 June 1727, Anne served as godmother for her own grandson Jean-Baptiste Fouquet, first-born of Marie-Judith Poitevin & Charles Fouquet.^[24] Likewise, on 26 Feb 1735, Étienne became godfather for his own grandson Étienne Petit, born to Marie-Josèphe Poitevin & Pierre Petit.^[25]

Étienne Poitevin - husband & father - died on ISJ in June 1742 & was buried in the parish of Saint-Pierre-du-Nord on the 25th. Despite the priest’s estimate of his age as about 65, he was likely closer to 70, perhaps as old as 72. All the surviving offspring were full adults by then.^[26][27]

Family Fate
The twice-widowed Anne may have been living, at that point, with her first-born offspring, Madeleine Poitevin, 61-year-old widow of Guillaume Leprieur dit Dubois. Anne was about 79 when she and most of her surviving family members were rounded up by the British. They were among the approximately two-thirds of non-aboriginal islanders who failed to elude the captors.^[28] They were put aboard ships sailing for exile in France. En route, close to their destination, two of the ships sank on Dec 12/13. Only 5 exiles survived in lifeboats from the Duke William, while no one made it off the Violet. Anne Daigre & Madeleine Potevin & 5 of Madeleine’s own offspring were among the people aboard those two vessels. Also on the Violet was young Anne Royer, the granddaughter who had been with Anne Daigre & Mathurin Tennier in 1752. Shortly after, on Dec 16, the Ruby was wrecked on the coast at the Azores. Although 120 - of the 310 exiles who set sail on this ship - did come out of the wreck alive, among those who did not were the 6th & 7th of Madeleine's offspring to die en route to France: the recently widowed Marie Leprieur, along with 5 of her children (ages 1 to 12); & Pierre the elder Leprieur dit Dubois, plus his wife & all 4 of their children (ages 1 to 10). Various others also lost their lives, among the sons- & daughters-in-law of Anne Daigre & Étienne Potevin, besides more of their grandchildren & some great-grandchildren. Some of their family made it to France, to endure the unsettled years that this contingent of Acadians went through.^[29] A few others survived the Expulsion by gaining refuge in today's Quebec province or by hiding out in the Maritimes until the drive to expel them ended in 1763. All told, the fateful story of the Potevin-Daigre descendants is as tragic as it is complex.

Sources

1. ↑ Listed (in this transcription) as "Pierre POITEVIN."
2. ↑ Parish Register of Saint-Pierre-du-Nord, Images 218-219.
3. ↑ White, Stephen A. 1999. Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Acadiennes - Première Partie 1636-1714. 2 vols. Moncton NB: Centre d'Études Acadiennes, Université de Moncton, p. 1338

   Étienne Poitevin dit Parisien n v 1673 (Rc PR 1698 25a); laboureur; s Rf SPN 25 juin 1742 65a env.

4. ↑ Poitiers in 1734.A; Paris in 1728.B & 1735.
5. ↑ Landry, ID #10752.
6. ↑ Landry, ID #10752. The birth record of the second-last child, the 10th, has not been found, but the estimated year is 1720. We also do not know exactly the year when the family moved to ISJ, but it would have been 1720 or 1721, given the date on the death record of son Étienne Jr. See the following footnote.
7. ↑ 1728.A Ile Saint-Jean
8. ↑ Parish Registers "Ile Saint-Jean...," p. 6.
9. ↑ Marcel W Landry “Généalogies des Landry a travers le monde” Etienne Accessed 5/12/2023.
10. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1698 Acadian Census at Port-Royal, Acadie1698 Census Transcribed. The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the Library and Archives Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752”, Images 110-150

    Port Royal: Pierre POITEVIN 25; Anne DAIGRE (wife) 20; Magdelaine 1; 4 cattle, 10 sheep, 4 hogs, 2 1/2 arpents, 7 fruit trees, 1 gun. and her sister's farm of Pierre TIBILAU 23; Marie DAIGRE (wife) 21; 7 cattle, 8 sheep, 4 hogs, 6 fruit trees,

11. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1703 Acadian Census at Port-Royal, Acadie 1703 Census Transcription. The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the Library and Archives Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752”, Images 212-220.

    Port Royal: Estienne POITEVIN, his wife, 2 boys, 2 girls, 1 arms bearer.

12. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1707 Acadian Census at Port-Royal, Acadie 1707 Census Transcription. The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the Library and Archives Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752”, Images 221-237.

    Port Royal: PARISIEN and his wife, 3 boys less than 14, 1 girl less than 12; 3 arpents, 2 cattle, 12 sheep, 9 hogs, 1 gun.

13. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1714 Acadian Census at Port-Royal, Acadie 1714 Census Transcription. The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the Library and Archives Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752”, Images 239-261.

    Port Royal: PARISIEN and wife, sons 3, daughters 1. /blockquote></li>

    ↑ Parish Registers "Ile Saint-Jean...," p. 6.</li>

    ↑ Landry, ID #10764 & #10769.</li>

    ↑ Arsenault, p. 29;</li>

    ↑ Landry, ID #10765.</li>

    ↑ Pierre Petit in Census ISJ 1734.B; Parish Register of Saint-Pierre-du-Nord, Images 61-62</li>

    ↑ Landry, ID #10768.</li>

    ↑ Landry, ID #10771 & #10772.)</li>

    ↑ Parish Register of Saint-Pierre-du-Nord, Image 3.</li>

    ↑ Landry, ID #10773.</li>

    ↑ Parish Register of Saint-Pierre-du-Nord, Images 8-9, 61-62, 101, & 139-140.</li>

    ↑ Parish Registers "Ile Saint-Jean...," p. 82.</li>

    ↑ Parish Register of Saint-Pierre-du-Nord, Image 75.</li>

    ↑ Parish Register of Saint-Pierre-du-Nord, Images 218-219. The death record does not mention the day of death (see the accompanying image), but typical practice was to inter the remains on the day of death or the day following.</li>

    ↑ White, p. 1338.</li>

    ↑ Lockerby 2008, end of Ch. 4 & passim.</li>

    ↑ See, for example: Hodson; Mouhot.</li></ol>

See also:

• Arsenault, Georges. 2003. “The Settlement of Havre Saint Pierre.” The Island Magazine', no. 53 (spr-sum): 25-30. Also at http://vre2.upei.ca/islandmagazine/fedora/repository/vre%3Aislemag-batch2-683.
• Census 1728.A of Île-Saint-Jean. LAC (Library and Archives Canada). France. Dépôt des papiers publics des colonies; état civil et recensements : Série G 1 : Recensements et documents divers. LAC reel c2574, images 222-226 (pp. 216-220). Accessed 25 Mar 2020 at http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2574.
• Census 1728.B of Île-Saint-Jean. Same locus. Images 235-240 (pp. 229-234).
• Census 1730 of Île-Saint-Jean. Same locus. Images 242-247 (pp. 236-241).
• Census 1734.A of Île-Saint-Jean. Same locus. Images 249-258 (pp. 243-252).
• Census 1734.B of Île-Saint-Jean. Same locus. Images 259-266 (pp. 253-259).
• Census 1735 of Île-Saint-Jean. Same locus. Images 270-280 (pp. 263-273).
• Census 1678 of Port Royal. Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home, site of Lucie LeBlanc Consentino. Accessed 8 Dec 2020 at http://www.acadian-home.org/census1678.html.
• Census 1686 of Port Royal. Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home, site of Lucie LeBlanc Consentino. Accessed 8 Dec 2020 at http://www.acadian-home.org/census1686.html.
• Census 1693 of Port Royal. Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home, site of Lucie LeBlanc Consentino. Accessed 8 Dec 2020 at http://www.acadian-home.org/census1693.html.
• Census 1700 of Port Royal. Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home, site of Lucie LeBlanc Consentino. Accessed 11 Dec 2020 at http://www.acadian-home.org/census1700.html.
• Census 1701 of Port Royal. Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home, site of Lucie LeBlanc Consentino. Accessed 11 Dec 2020 at http://www.acadian-home.org/census1701.html.
• Creative Commons, Wikimedia. Contributor “Jljmt.” Title “Map of the Valley of du [sic] Dauphin river / Carte de la vallée de la rivière du Dauphin.” Original work 2001; latest version 11 Oct 2020. Accessed 10 Dec 2020 at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carteprthbd.jpg.
• Hebert, Donald J. 1980. Acadians in Exile. Cecilia LA: Hebert Publications.
• Hodson, Christopher. 2012. The Acadian Diaspora: An Eighteenth-Century History. Oxford University Press.
• Landry, Marcel Walter. Généalogie des Landry à travers le monde. Database: “Acadiens avant 1825.” Updated to 25 Oct 2019. Search page: http://mwlandry.ca/genealog/searchform.php. (Note that this site is extremely well researched but specific citations are generally not provided.)
• Lockerby, Earle. 2008. Deportation of the Prince Edward Island Acadians. Halifax NS: Nimbus.
• Mouhot, Jean-François. 2018. The Acadian Refugess in France 1756-1785: The Impossible Reintegration?. Transl. Rissell Desmond. Lafayette LA: University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press.
• Nos Origines site at http://www.nosorigines.qc.ca/GenealogieQuebec.aspx?genealogy=Etienne_Poitevin&pid=972497&lng=en&partID=972498.
• Parish Register of Saint-Pierre-du-Nord 1724-1758 (transcription done in 1923). Canadiana-Héritage sites. Fonds des Archives départementales d'Ille-et-Vilaine [Rennes, France]. Reel No. C-2970. Accessed 28 Nov 2020 at https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2970/1?r=0&s=1.
• Parish registers “Ile Saint-Jean: Port-Lajoie et Saint-Pierre du Nord Trois registres séparés,” Library & Archives Canada, Item ID #2318739. MG1-G1, Vol. #411/2, Microfilm reel C-1472, F-595. (Sourced from Centre des archives d'outre-mer (France) vol. 411.) Accessed 8 Dec 2020 at https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/CollectionSearch/Pages/record.aspx?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=2318739&new=-8585965847287648266&.
• Sieur de La Roque 1752 Census for Prince Edward Island/Ile Saint Jean. Transcription ("from the library of Waldron Leard") posted 1998 at ‘’Island Register’’. Accessed May 2020 at http://www.islandregister.com/1752.html.