Michel Cormier (1741 - 1790)

Born 19 Jan 1741 in Beaubassin, Acadie, Colony of Nova Scotia

Ancestors

Husband of Marie-Anne Saulnier — married 1769 in Louisiana, Nouvelle-France

Husband of Catherine (Stelly) Cormier — married 1774 in Opelousas Post, Spanish Louisiana

Husband of Marie Madeleine Breau — married 10 Feb 1789 in Attakapas, Louisiana, New Spain

Descendants

Died 30 Dec 1790 at age 49 in Opelousas Post, Louisiana, New Spain

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Acadians Project WikiTree [send private message], Louisiana Families Project WikiTree [send private message], and Annette Cormier [send private message]

Michel Cormier is an Acadian. Join: Acadians Project Discuss: ACADIA

Michel Cormier lived in Louisiana. Join: Louisiana Families Project Discuss: louisiana

Biography

Michel Cormier migrated from Acadie to Louisiana.

Joseph Cormier is on the Wall of Names at the Acadian Memorial in St. Martinville, Louisiana, Plaque 2 Right. With him are his first spouse, Marguerite Saulnier, and their children, Susanne, Marie Louise, Felicite; and his brother, Michel Cormier.^[1]

Michel Cormier was born on the 19th of January, 1741, the sixth child of Pierre Cormier and Cecile Thibodeau. He was baptized at Beaubassin, Acadie (now Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada).^[2][3] His family had a farm nearby on the Ouescoque Heights (now Amherst Point, Nova Scotia). By the time he was 9 years old, the world he knew would be shattered and he would lose or become separated from all but one of his family members.

1750-55: 9-year-old Michel and his family were refugees from their burnt-out home and moved across the French-English boundary to Le Lac (now Aulac, NB)^[4] His father died within the year.^[5][4]

1755: Some of the Cormier brothers were taken prisoner at Jolicoeur (now Jolicure, New Brunswick) and were able to escape and rejoin their mother and siblings.^[6]

Michel and his brother Joseph and a younger first cousin, Jean-Baptiste, became separated from the rest of the family. "They either fell into British hands during the family's wanderings from Chignecto to Québec and back, or they became separated early and joined the Acadian resistance in the Petitcoudiac area led by Joseph Broussard, dit Beausoleil. Joseph and Michel's mother was a Thibodeau, the family into which the Broussard, dit Beausoleil brothers had married. Jean-Baptiste Cormier, fils's mother was a Richard, another family close to the Broussard clan. So the Cormier boys may have been part of the Broussards' large, extended family. Joseph, Michel, and Jean-Baptiste, fils surrendered to the British probably in the early 1760s when the Broussards surrendered. And, like hundreds of other captured Acadians, they spent the next few years in a Halifax prison waiting for the war to end."^[7] The war finally ended in 1763.

After the war, Joseph and Michel and the Beausoleil group worked for a year to earn passage to sail ultimately to New Orleans. They settled in Opelousas, Louisiana, and prospered as cattlemen.^[7]

Around 1769 Michel married Anne Saulnier, daughter of Jacques Saulnier and Anne Hebert, and widow of Basile Babin.^[3]

Around 1775 Michel married Catherine Stelly, daughter of Johann Georges Stelly and Christine Edelmeyer.^[3]

In 1789 Michel married a third time on February 10 at St. Martinville, Louisiana. His bride was Madeleine Breau, daughter of Charles Breau and Claire Trahan.^[3]

In 1790, only a year after his marriage, Michel died at the age of 49 on December 30th in Opelousas, Louisiana.^[3]

Census Data

1777 Census of Opelousas Post ^[8], Family 68

- Michel Cormier, age 34; 50 cattle, 16 horses, 16 hogs, 0 sheep

- Catherine Stely, wife, 22

- Amant, son, 6

- Michel, son, 5

- Pierre, son, 1

Sources

1. ↑ The Wall of Names at the Acadian Memorial, compiled by Jane G. Bulliard and the Wall of Names Committee (Opelousas, LA: Bodemuller, 2015) p. 15
2. ↑ 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 78) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c1207/78?r=0&s=6
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Stephen A. White, 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)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Paul Surette, Atlas of the Acadian Settlement of the Beaubassin 1660 to 1755, Tintamarre and Le Lac (Tantramar Heritage Trust, 2005)
5. ↑ Acadian Census 1750, 1752, 1755 Accessed at Acadian and French Canadian Ancestral Home http://www.acadian-home.org/frames.html
6. ↑ Stephen White, “Pierre Cormier” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. Accessed July 2011 at: http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-.php?BioId=36465&PHPSESSID=73cd94f0sto8ap6bp2uml5u6l6
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Steven Cormier, "Acadians in Grey," website accessed July 2011 at http://www.acadiansingray.com/Appendices-ATLAL-CORMIER.htm .
8. ↑ Winston De Ville, Southwest Louisiana Families in 1777: Census Records of Attakapas and Opelousas Posts (Ville Platte, Louisiana, 1987) citing Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, at the General Archives of the Indies in Seville, Spain; legajo 2358, folios 258 -300

Acknowledgments

WikiTree profile Cormier-62 created through the import of Rider_Deshotel Family 040809.ged on Jul 21, 2011 by Nadine Rider.