Pierre Caissie (1741 - 1813)

Born 4 Aug 1741 in Beaubassin, Acadia, Colony of Nova Scotia

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 24 Jan 1813 at age 71 in Richibouctou-Village, Colonie du Nouveau-Brunswick

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Acadians Project WikiTree [send private message] and Don Gallant [send private message]

Pierre Caissie is an Acadian. Join: Acadians Project Discuss: ACADIA

Biography

First Lieutenant Pierre Caissie served with Company of Frenchmen during the American Revolution.

Pierre Caissie is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: P-127226
Rank: First Lieutenant

Pierre Caissie has Irish ancestors.

Pierre Cosset [sic] was born 4 Aug 1741 at Beaubassin, Acadia, Colony of Nova Scotia. He was the son of Joseph Caissie and Marie Lapierre. He was baptized the same day at Beaubassin. His godparents were Francois Lapierre and Marguerite Arssenaud, all inhabitants of this parish.^[1][2]

The Great Expulsion of the Acadians

Like other families in Beaubassin at the time, the Cassie family was caught up in the events of the Great Expulsion (Le Grand Dérangement). Life was unsettled. The family moved five times between 1750 and 1763! They were listed in the 1750-51 Census living at la Butte.^[3]. In 1752 they were enumerated at Pointe à Beauséjour. ^[4][5][6] The family is found in Aulac (a community between Fort Beauséjour and the border of Nova Scotia) in 1755.^[7]. They were uprooted again and are found living at Camp d'Espérance in 1756-1757.^[6][8]. The British continued their harrassment. In 1763 Cassie family members were living as prisoners at Fort Beauséjour.^[9]

The Company of Frenchmen and the Battle of Fort Cumberland

In 1776, John Allan and Jonathan Eddy (Massachusetts-born), tried to bring the American Revolutionary War to their province of Nova Scotia. They had a plan to conquer the strongly loyalist Nova Scotia by first capturing Fort Cumberland (formerly Fort Beauséjour, on the isthmus of Chignecto which connects New Brunswick and Nova Scotia), then marching on Halifax with a group of militia men. Eddy obtained military support from the Massachusetts Congress and recruited a total of about 400 men in Maine and in present-day New Brunswick. A first attack on Fort Cumberland on 14 November 1776 was unsuccessful. That same day, a Company of Frenchmen, under the command of Isaïe Boudrot, was raised in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, which includes present-day Memramcook, and 19 Acadians from this village were recruited. Pierre Caissie was one of them. There was another failed attempt to capture the Fort a few days later. This event came to be known as the Battle of Fort Cumberland. Eddy’s men retreated, some were taken prisoner, a few were killed. Not long after, Allan and Eddy’s plan to make Nova Scotia the 14th American State came to an end. ^[10][11]

The payroll of the Company of Frenchmen shows that Pierre Caissie, first lieutenant, served from Nov. 14th to Nov. 30, 1776, at £ 8 2 s. per month. ^[11]

A short description of the 19 recruits of the Company of Frenchmen is included in Stephen White’s article “The Company of Frenchmen in the County of Cumberland, Province of Nova Scotia.”. See a table showing their shared experiences during the Grand Dérangement here.

Marriage and Later Life

Pierre married Rosalie Léger, daughter of Pierre-Jacques Léger and Marie-Madeleine Haché, around 1777. ^[2] Eight children are know to have been born of this union: ^[2]

1. Radegonde Cassie (abt 1783),
2. Fidele Cassie (abt 1783),
3. Marie Caissie (abt 1786),
4. Raphael Cassie (abt 1788),
5. Edesse Cassie (abt 1790),
6. Pierre René Cassie (1791),
7. Anne Cassie (abt 1791),
8. Joachim Cassie (1793).

Pierre Cassie passed away on 24 January 1813 in Richibouctou-Village. ^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Library and Archives Canada Fonds des Archives départementales de la Charente-Maritime [La Rochelle, France] : C-1207 Registres de Beaubassin - reel_c1207 MG 6 A 2 (Image 86) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c1207/86?r=0&s=6
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} White, Stephen A. "La généalogie des trente-sept familles hôtesses des Retrouvailles 94," online articles, Les Cahiers de la Société historique acadienne, vol. 25, nos 2 et 3 (1994), CAISSIE, page 1-2

   .3. iv. Pierre, n Beaubassin 4 août 1741; m v 1777 Rosalie LÉGER (Pierre-Jacques &Marie-Madeleine Haché); d Richibouctou-Village 24 janv 1813.

3. ↑ 1750 La Butte, Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home"; 2005 – Present, hosted by Lucie LeBlanc Consentino; 1750/1751 Census 1752 Census Transcribed.

   Joseph KESSY, his wife and 7 children.

4. ↑ Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home"; 2005 – Present, hosted by Lucie LeBlanc Consentino; [http://www.acadian-home.org/census1752.html
5. ↑ 1752 Census] The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the National Archives of Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752”, Images 277-308.

   Joseph KESSY, his wife, 1 boy, 1 girl.

6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Note: In this book the number of children listed in the 1752 census are: 4 boys, 2 girls) White, Stephen A. Recensements de Beaubassin et des Trois Rivières de Chipoudie, de Memramcook et de Petcoudiac (1686-1755). Les Cahiers de la Société historique acadienne, vol. 50, nos 2-4, juin-décembre 2019, p. 276-277.
7. ↑ Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home"; 2005 – Present, hosted by Lucie LeBlanc Consentino;1755 Census p. 28/32

   Jh Keissi, 1 man, 1 woman, 6 boys, 1 girl

8. ↑ LeBlanc, R.-G. (2012). Les réfugiés acadiens au camp d’Espérance de la Miramichi en 1756-1761 : un épisode méconnu du Grand Dérangement. Acadiensis, 41(1). Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/view/19077. English translation "The Acadian Refugee Camp on the Miramichi, 1756-1761" p. 158 of annex
9. ↑ Lucie LeBlanc Consentino. List of Acadian Prisoners at Fort Cumberland as of August 24, 1763, Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home, original record, digital images, Héritage, Genealogy collection, Library and Archives Canada. / France. Fonds des Archives nationales: Série C12. Correspondance générale; Saint-Pierre et Miquelon : C-9146, vol. 1, f. 22-26. Images 33-47, Image 39, accessed November 2020

   
   Joseph Quessy
   Marie Joseph Quessy
   Marie Quessy
   Magdelaine Quessy
   Pierre Quessy
   Jean BaptisteQuessy
   JosephQuessy
   Etienne Quessy
   Nastazie Quessy

10. ↑ D’Entremont, Clarence J., “La participation acadienne à la guerre d’indépendance américaine”, Les Cahiers de la Société historique acadienne, vol. 7, no 1, 1976, p. 5-13. accessed at https://societehistoriqueacadienne.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/0701_total.pdf
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} White, Stephen A. “The Company of Frenchmen in the County of Cumberland, Province of Nova Scotia.” accessed at acadian-home.org hosted by Lucie LeBlanc Consentino

See also:

• Pierre Caissie's profile at Généalogie acadienne