Thomas Cormier (abt. 1636 - bef. 1693)

Born about 1636 in La Rochelle, Aunis, France

Ancestors

Husband of Marie Madeleine Girouard — married about 1668 in Port-Royal, Acadie, Nouvelle-France [uncertain]

Descendants

Died before 1693 before about age 57 in Beaubassin, Acadie, Nouvelle-France [uncertain]

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Biography

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One of the largest Acadian families^[1] stems from one pioneer named Thomas Cormier^[2].

Thomas Cormier migrated from France to Acadia.

Thomas Cormier was born in France around 1636 to parents Robert Cormier and Marie Péraud.^[3]

In 1644, Thomas' father Robert, who was a masters ship carpenter at La Rochelle France, signed a contract to take the family to Fort St-Pierre, l'ile du Cap-Breton, Acadia, arriving on the ship Le Petit Saint Pierre.^[2][3][4] His father had agreed to work there for three years. It is not known what happened to Thomas' parents or brother Jean after they arrived in St-Pierre. Around 1668 Thomas married Marie Madeleine Girouard, daughter of François Girouard and Jeanne Aucoin.^[3] In 1671, 35 year old Thomas was living in Port-Royal, Acadia with Marie and their first child.^[3][5][6] Like his father, he was a carpenter.

In the 1670's, the available farmland at Port-Royal was diminishing and some Acadians established new villages such as at Beaubassin.^[7] Thomas and Marie Madeleine were among the first settlers of Beaubassin. Around 1679 Thomas claimed the large marsh area in the second loop of the River of the Planks (Rivière des Planches), building a home on the southern flank, which was exposed to the north wind. Within the year, Thomas abandoned this site and started a new settlement on the reverse and southern side of the Ouescoque heights (Amherst Point, NS)^[8]

In March 1682, the seigneur of Beaubassin Michel Le Neuf de La Vallière sent summons to eleven inhabitants of Beaubassin to appear before the Sovereign Council of Quebec for having refused to accept concession contracts. These inhabitants were: Pierre Morin, Guyon Chiasson, Michel Poirier, Roger Kessy, Claude Dugas, Germain et Guillaume Bourgeois. Germain Girouard, Jean-Aubin Migneaux, Jacques Belou and Thomas Cormier. ^[9] However, his attempt to impose seigneurial dues such as the corvée (obligatory labour) was soon contested by the settlers who won their case in court. ^[10][11]

Thomas and Marie Madeleine gave depositions during the trial of Jean Campagna from Beaubassin, accused of sorcery. The trial took place in 1684 and 1685.^[12][13]

In 1686, at Chiqnitou dit Beaubassin, Thomas Cormier, aged 55, was living with his wife, Magdelaine (sic) GIROUARD, aged 37, and their 9 (sic) children: Magdeleine (sic), aged 18, Francois, aged 16, Marie (sic), aged 12, Alexis, aged 14, Germain, aged 10, Pierre, aged 8, Angelique (sic), aged 4, Marie and Jeanne twins (sic) aged 1. The family owned 4 guns and was living on 40 arpents of cultivable land with 30 cattle, 10 sheep, and 15 hogs. See "Research Notes".^[14]

By 1688, Thomas and Marie Madeleine had 10 children: Marie Madeleine, François, Anne, Alexis, Germain, Pierre, Claire, twins Marie and Agnès, and Jeanne.^[3] Their daughter Anne had married Michel Hache dit Gallant (an agent of the Sieur) and started her own family. A census two years earlier indicated that Thomas and Madeleine had 40 arpents of cultivated land, 30 cattle, 10 sheep, and 15 hogs.^[14]Thomas was one of the most prosperous settlers.^[15]

Around 1687 there was a dispute between the Poiriers and the Cormiers over the reclamation by Toussaint Doucet and wife Marie Poirier of the south bank border of the Great Ouescoque marsh. This dispute was resolved eventually with the intermarriage of Cormiers with Poiriers.^[8]

Thomas died before 1693.^[16] He left a profound legacy. His 17 married grandsons and their offspring would generate one of the largest Acadian families. ^[1] His 6 daughters and 25 granddaughters married into other large Acadian families including the LeBlanc, Arsenau, Haché-Gallant, Boudrot, Richard, Doucet, Landry, Poirier, Comeau, Chiasson, Theriot, Bourg, Cyr, Hébert, Thibodeau, Bourgeois, Dupuis, and Babin.^[3]

Timeline

c1636 birth, in France

1644 father Robert signs contract to work at Fort St-Pierre

1654 British capture Port-Royal; French settlement ceases^[17]

c1668 marriage to Marie Madeleine Girouard

1667-70 Treaty of Breda cedes Acadia to the French; settlement resumes.^[18] Available farmland decreases; some leave Port-Royal to establish new villages such as Beaubassin (1671)^[19]

c1670 birth, daughter Marie Madeleine

c1671 residence, in Port-Royal

c1672 birth, son François

c1674 birth, daughter Anne

c1676 birth, son Alexis

1676-78 Michel Leneuf des Vallières is awarded a large (1000 square miles) seigneury at Beaubassin. “The grant specified that he leave undisturbed any settlers there, together with their lands they used or had planned to use for themselves”. La Vallière builds his homestead on an island (Tonge’s Isand)^[20][11]

1679 residence, in Beaubassin

c1680 birth, son Germain

1682 birth, son Pierre, in Beaubassin

1682 Eleven men are subpoenaed for refusing to accept the contracts of concessions including Thomas Cormier.^[11]

1684 birth, daughter Claire, in Beaubassin

1686 birth, twin daughter Marie, in Beaubassin

1686 birth, twin daughter Agnès, in Beaubassin

c1688 birth, daughter Jeanne

b1693 death

Biographie

Une des plus grandes familles acadiennes a débuté avec un pionnier, Thomas Cormier. ^[1] Thomas est né vers 1636 en France, le fils de Robert Cormier et de Marie Péraud.^[3] Son père était maître charpentier de navire à La Rochelle, France. En 1644, la famille s’est engagée à prendre le navire Le Petit Saint-Pierre, afin de venir travailler au fort Saint-Pierre, Acadie (St Peter's, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada). "C'est ainsi que l'histoire de la famille Cormier en Amérique débute."^[2]

Le sort de la famille de Thomas est inconnue, mais en 1671, il vivait à Port-Royal, Acadie (Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia).^[5] Comme son père, il était charpentier. Vers 1668, Thomas a épousé Marie Madeleine Girouard, fille de François Girouard et de Jeanne Aucoin.^[3]

Vers 1670, les terres cultivables commençant à manquer, certains Acadiens quittent la région de Port-Royal pour fonder de nouveaux villages.^[7] Thomas et Marie Madeleine figuraient parmi les premiers colons de Beaubassin^[2] Leur ferme etait située à Ouescoque (Pointe Amherst).^[8]

En mars 1682, le seigneur de Beaubassin Michel Le Neuf de La Vallière assigne onze censitaires de Beaubassin à comparaître devant le Conseil souverain de Québec pour avoir refusé d'accepter des contrats de concession. Ces habitants sont: Pierre Morin, Guyon Chiasson, Michel Poirier, Roger Kessy, Claude Dugas, Germain et Guillaume Bourgeois, Germain Giroir, Jean-Aubin Migneaux, Jacques Belou et Thomas Cormier. ^[9] Cependant, sa tentative d'imposer des droits seigneuriaux comme la corvée fut bientôt contestée par les colons qui obtinrent gain de cause devant les tribunaux. ^[10][11]

Entre 1670 et 1688 environ, Thomas et Marie Madeleine ont eu 10 enfants: Marie Madeleine, François, Anne, Alexis, Germain, Pierre, Claire, les jumeaux Marie and Agnès, et la benjamine Jeanne. Leur fille Anne avait épousé Michel Haché dit Gallant (un agent du sieur). Le recensement indique que Thomas et Madeleine avaient 40 arpents de terres cultivées (environ 34 hectares), 30 bovins, 10 moutons et 15 porcs. Thomas était l'un des colons les plus prospères.^[15]

Vers 1687 il y avait un différend entre les Poiriers et les Cormiers sur la remise en état par Toussaint Doucet et sa femme Marie Poirier de la frontière de la Grande Ouescoque marais de la rive sud. Ce différend a été réglé par la suite avec les mariages entre Cormiers avec Poiriers.^[8]

Thomas est mort avant 1693.^[3] Les 17 petit-fils de Thomas qui se sont mariés ont eut des grandes familles qui ont assuré que le nom Cormier est aujourd'hui un des plus commun en Acadie^[1]. Ses 6 filles et 25 petites-filles se marieront dans d’autres grande familles acadiennes, y compris LeBlanc, Arsenau, Haché-Gallant, Boudrot, Richard, Doucet, Landry, Poirier, Comeau, Chiasson, Theriot, Bourg, Cyr, Hébert, Thibodeau, Bourgeois, Dupuis, and Babin.^[3]

Research Notes

Date of Birth. Some family trees list Thomas' date of birth as 8 Jan 1636 in La Rochelle, France. No evidence has been produced to support this specific date. The year 1636 is estimated based on the Acadian census.

In the original 1686 census at Chiqnitou dit Beaubassin, Marie Madeleine Girouard was listed as Magdelaine Girouer. Marie Madeleine (daughter) was listed as Magdelaine and transcribed as Magdeleine. Marie Anne was listed as just Marie. Claire was listed as Angelique. Marie and Jeanne were listed as twins when the twins were actually Agnes and Marie. Agnes was not listed at all even though she was listed in the 1693 census. Jeanne was not a twin. The 1686 census at Beaubassin may not have been taken until 1688 since Jeanne was born in 1688 and is listed in the 1686 census. The 1686 census lists 4 boys and 5 girls by name while White’s Recensement de Beaubassin 1686 lists 3 boys and 6 girls by number.^[21]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Massignon, Geneviève. "Les parlers français d'Acadie, enquête linguistique", Librairie Klincksieck, Paris, 1962, 2 tomes.p. 43 (Cormier); p42-58(other large families
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} White, Stephen A. La généalogie des trente-sept familles hôtesses des "Retrouvailles 94", Les Cahiers de la Société historique acadienne, vol. 25, nos 2 et 3 (1994). (Cormier)
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9} White, Stephen A., Patrice Gallant, and Hector-J Hébert. Dictionnaire Généalogique Des Familles Acadiennes. Moncton, N.-B.: Centre D'études Acadiennes, Université De Moncton, 1999, Print. p. 400,401
4. ↑ Ship List
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Archange Godbout, "Origine des Cormier",Mémoires de la Société généalogique canadienne-française, Vol 4, 1951, pp179-180.
6. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1671 Acadian Census, at Port-Royal, Acadie. 1671 Census Transcribed. The original census can be found at Census microfilm C-2572 of the National Archives of Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752” Images 3-14.

   Thomas CORMIER, carpenter, 35, wife Madeline GIROUARD 17; Child: 1 daughter 2; cattle 7, sheep 7.

7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Les familles pionnières Pioneer Families, in 1755 l'Histoire et les Histoires, University of Moncton
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3} Surette, Paul. Atlas of the Acadian Settlement of the Beaubassin 1660 to 1755. Tintamarre and Le Lac. Tantramar Heritage Trust. 2005, p5-6 (claiming the marsh at Ouescoque); p9 (dispute with the Poiriers); p44,45 (location of Ouescoque Amherst point).
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Fonds Beaubassin, Library and Archives Canada, MG9-B9-2, http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=98473&lang=eng (To access the list, select: Record information - Details; Scope and content; Show detail)
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Kennedy, Gregory, Thomas Peace, and Stephanie Pettigrew. 2018. “Social Networks across Chignecto: Applying Social Network Analysis to Acadie, Mi’kma’ki, and Nova Scotia, 1670-1751”. Acadiensis 47 (1). https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/view/26239
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3} Clark, Andrew Hill, Acadia The Geography of Early Nova Scotia to 1760. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1968. p. 141-142 (seigneury of Beaubassin), https://archive.org/details/acadiageographyo0000clar/page/142/mode/1up
12. ↑ Clarence-J. d’Entremont, “Jean Campagna, The Sorcerer,” Yarmouth Vanguard, Tuesday, May 29, 1990. Link to article :
    Jean Campagna the Sorcerer
    Jean Campagna le sorcier
13. ↑ Link to the 35-page manuscript of the depositions, interrogations and other proceedings. “Procès de Jean Campagna, prisonnier, 45 ans, laboureur, natif d'Angoulins en Aunis, demeurant à Beaubassin en Acadie, accusé de sorcellerie, 26 septembre 1684 - 28 juin 1685“, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, accessed at https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3372917
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1686 Acadian Census, at Port-Royal, Acadie 1686 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 15-60;

    at Chiqnitou dit Beaubassin: Thomas CORMIER 55, Magdelaine GIROUARD 37; children: Magdeleine 18. Francois 16, Alexis 14, Marie 12, Germain 10, Pierre 8, Angelique 4, twins Marie and Jeanne 1; 4 guns, 40 arpents, 30 cattle, 10 sheep, 15 hogs.

15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Cormier, Stephen. Acadians in Grey, Cormier Appendix.
16. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1693 Acadian Census, at Port-Royal, Acadie 1693 Census Transcribed. The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the National Archives of Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752”, Images 62-108

    Madeleine GIROUARD (widow of Thomas CORMIER) 39, Alexis 16, Germain 13, Pierre 11, Claire 9, Marie 7, Agnes 7, Jeanne 5; 16 cattle, 4 sheep, 12 pigs

17. ↑ William I. Roberts, 3rd, “SEDGWICK, ROBERT,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed November 20, 2013
18. ↑ In collaboration, “MORILLON DU BOURG,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed November 20, 2013
19. ↑ Pioneer Families, in 1755 l'Histoire et les Histoires, University of Moncton
20. ↑ J.-Roger Comeau, “LENEUF DE LA VALLIÈRE DE BEAUBASSIN, MICHEL (d. 1705),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 2, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed January 13, 2021, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/leneuf_de_la_valliere_de_beaubassin_michel_1705_2E.html.
21. ↑ https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2572/56