Born about 1740 in Beaubassin, Acadie, Colony of Nova Scotia

Ancestors

Husband of Marguerite Saulnier — married about 1759 in Acadie [uncertain]

Husband of Anne Michel — married 25 Apr 1771 in St. Martinville, LA

Descendants

Died 5 Aug 1795 in Opelousas, St Landry Parish, Louisiana, USA

Profile managers: Jacqueline Girouard [send private message], Acadians Project WikiTree [send private message], Louisiana Families Project WikiTree [send private message], and Annette Cormier [send private message]

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

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

Biography

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

5th Generation- From Ouescoque Heights (Amherst Point Nova Scotia Canada) to Prison, and Louisiana

1740: Joseph Cormier is born, the fifth child of Pierre Cormier and Cecile Thibodeau.^[2] His family has a farm nearby on the Ouescoque Heights (Amherst Point, Nova Scotia, Canada). By the time he is 10 years old, the world he knows will be shattered and he will lose or become separated by all but one of his family members.

1750-55: 10 year old Joseph and his family are refugees from their burnt-out home and move across the French-English boundary to Le Lac (Aulac NB)^[3]. His father dies within the year.^[4][5]

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

Joseph and his brother Michel and a younger first cousin, Jean-Baptiste become separated from the rest of the family.

According to Steven Cormier^[7]: "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."

Around 1759: Joseph marries Marguerite Saulnier, daughter of Jacques Saulnier and Anne Hebert and widow of Michel Brun and Victor Comeau.^[2]

After the war, Joseph and Michel sail to Opelousas Louisiana and prosper as cattlemen^[8]

1771: Joseph marries Anne Michel, daughter of Jacques Michel and Jeanne Breau. The nuptials takes place on April 25 at Pointe-Coupee, Louisiana.^[2]

Joseph served under Galvez during the American Revolution.

1795: Joseph died on August 5 at the age of 55 in Opelousas, Spanish Louisiana.^[2]

Census Data

1777 Census of Opelousas Post ^[9], Family 109

- Joseph Cormier, age 37; 150 cattle, 15 horses, 20 hogs, 0 sheep

- Anne Michel, wife, 44

- THomas, son, 14

- Jean, son, 12

- Hunailet, son, 5

- Joseph, son, 1

- Susanne, daughter, 13

- Felicitee, daughter, 10

- Louise, daughter, 10

- Clemence, daughter, 3

Sources

1. ↑ Title: The Wall of Names at the Acadian Memorial; Author: Wall of Names Committee; Jane G. Bulliard, Chair; second edition, 2015; Bodemuller The Printer, USA; p. 15.
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).
3. ↑ Surette, Paul. Atlas of the Acadian Settlement of the Beaubassin 1660 to 1755. Tintamarre and Le Lac. Tantramar Heritage Trust. 2005
4. ↑ Acadian Census 1750, 1752, 1755 Accessed at Acadian and French Canadian Ancestral Home http://www.acadian-home.org/frames.html
5. ↑ Surette, Paul. Atlas of the Acadian Settlement of the Beaubassin 1660 to 1755. Tintamarre and Le Lac. Tantramar Heritage Trust. 2005
6. ↑ White, Stephen. “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. ↑ Cormier, Steven. Acadians in Grey. Accessed July 2011 at http://www.acadiansingray.com/Appendices-ATLAL-CORMIER.htm
8. ↑ Cormier, Steven. Acadians in Grey. Accessed July 2011 at http://www.acadiansingray.com/Appendices-ATLAL-CORMIER.htm .
9. ↑ 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

• Hebert, Rev. Donald J., Southwest Louisiana Records (1750-1900), CD-ROM, Rayne LA: Hebert Publications, n.d., “CORMIER, Joseph de l'Acadie, now of Opelousas (Pierre C., widr. of Marguerite SAUNIER & Cecile THIBAUDEAU) m. 25 April 1771 Anne MICHEL, of Acadie, wid. of Victor COMMAUT of Attakapa (Jacques & Jeanne BREAUD) Wits: Jean BERARD, J. GAIGNARD, GREVEMBER, MERCIER. Fr. IRENEE (SM Ch.: v.1, p.20)“

• MARRIAGES-BURIAL: Donald J. Hebert, SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA RECORDS; 1750-1800; vol. 1-A, rev. ed., Rayne, LA, Hebert Publications, 1996; p. 207; own copy; contains church and civil records.

Joseph CORMIER of l'Acadie, now of Opelousas, son of Pierre C., widower of Marguerite SAUNIER & Cecile THIBAUDEAU, married on 25 Apr 1771 to Anne MICHEL of Acadie, widow of Victor COMMAUT of Attakapa [sic], daughter of Jacques & Jeanne BREAUD. Witnesses: Jean BERARD; J. GAIGNARD; GREVEMBER; MERCIER. Recorded by Fr. IRENEE at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, St. Martinville, LA (SM Ch.: v.1, p.20).

Also: Joseph CORMIER buried 6 Aug 1795 at St. Landry Catholic Church, Opelousas, LA (Opel.Ch.: v.1, p.25).

• BIRTH-NAME-MARRIAGE-CHILDREN-RESIDENCES: Bona Arsenault, HISTOIRE ET GENEALOGIE DES ACADIENS, vols. 1-6; 1630-1775; Quebec, Le Conseil de la Vie Francaise en Amerique, 1965; p. 920-921;

Born 1742, with his brother Michel was deported to South Carolina, and settled in Louisiana.

Also on p. 2464 (Louisiana), Joseph CORMIER, born 1742, son of Pierre & Cécile THIBODEAUX of Beaubassin, Acadia, married 1st around 1760 to Marguerite SAUNIER; three daughters. He married Anne MICHEL, daughter of Jacques & Jeanne BREAUX and widow of Victor COMEAUX; three children. He died at Opelousas, LA in 1795.

More Genealogy Tools