Marie Blanche (Leblanc) LeBlanc (abt. 1751 - 1827)

Born about 1751 in Aulac, Acadie, Colony of Nova Scotia

Ancestors

Wife of Pierre Lethiecq — married 26 Nov 1775 in Saint-Pierre, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon

Descendants

Died 23 Oct 1827 at about age 76 in Bécancour, Bas-Canada

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Acadians Project WikiTree [send private message] and Francis Bouvet [send private message]

Marie Blanche (Leblanc) LeBlanc is an Acadian. Join: Acadians Project Discuss: ACADIA

Biography

Marie Blanche LeBlanc was born about 1751 at Aulac, Acadie, Colony of Nova Scotia, first daughter born to Félix LeBlanc and Marie Josephe Theriot. ^[1]

The LeBlanc family was considered one of the most numerous of all families at the time, and was quite prosperous. Her great-grandfather René LeBlanc was the founder of the village Grand LeBlanc at Grand-Pré. ^[2] Her granduncle René LeBlanc was notary for the King there and was later immortalized in Longfellow's poem Evangeline. This family was greatly affected by the Grand Dérangement, especially Marie-Banche, who was deported four times by the British, and lived most of her life in exile.

Early Years in Beaubassin

In 1752, her family was living in the Beaubassin region, at Aulac (Le Lac). There were 3 boys and 1 girl in the household. ^[3] Many Acadians had fled there after the village of Beaubassin was burned down in 1750, and the French priests encouraged habitants to move northward to villages on the other side of the Mésagouèche River, in French controlled territory. When the deportations began, the family was still residing at Aulac, but her father Félix was listed alone on the 1755 census. ^{[4] [5]} Her father was a militia officer, and served at the siege of Fort Beauséjour. ^[6]

Fort Beauséjour as seen from Fort Edward. Detail of a 1754 map by Charles Husband Collins.

Expulsion from Chignectou to South Carolina, 1755

In 1755, your Marie-Blanche who was about 4 years of age, her parents and her brothers were deported to South Carolina aboard the Edward Cornwallis. The ship departed Chignectou on 13 October 1755 and arrived in South Carolina on 17 November 1755. ^[7] In total there were four ships with some six hundred Acadians that arrived in the colony of South Carolina, without warning. The arrival of so many destitute aliens with an unclear legal status was thought to represent a threat to the stability and the economy of the colony. They didn't know if they should consider them prisoners, refugees, French or British subjects. The local officials summoned two leaders from each of the four vessels who presented documents attesting their innocence and insisted on their right to practice their religion. Governor Glen who was sympathetic to the Acadians' ordeal, gave them permission to disembark on 4 December, first on Sullivan's Island, in quarantine, then in Charleston around 9 December. In May 1756, and for a short period, the Acadians were encouraged and helped to leave the colony. A group of fifty people, including Félix and his family, purchased a boat and sailed along the coast to New York, and headed for the Saint John River where they arrived on 16 June 1756. Wishing to flee the turmoil in Acadie where British soldiers were still making roundups and taking prisoners, the family left Cocagne for the French colony of Ile Saint-Jean, (now Prince Edward Island), with a group of 87 Acadians in the summer of 1756. ^[7] Her father worked as a courier on the island, making trips as far as Ile Royale (Cape Breton). ^[6]

Expulsion from Ile Saint-Jean to France, 1758

During the French and Indian War, the siege of Louisbourg Fortress in 1758 resulted in the British expelling the Acadians from Ile Saint-Jean. As French subjects, they were deported to France. In November 1758, they were put aboard the Neptune. ^[6] Around December 23, 1758, the ship arrived in great distress at Portsmouth, England, lacking in provisions and with many sick passengers. After restocking and tending to the sick by a surgeon, it then went on to Boulogne-sur-Mer in France where 179 passengers disembarked on December 26, 1758. ^[8][9] One year later, when Marie-Blanche was only about 8 years of age, she lost her mother who died two days after giving birth to Jean-Pierre.

In 1766, Marie-Blanche and her family left Boulogne for Saint-Servan. She was recorded there on a census in 1766 at 14 years of age. ^[1] By 1772 the family was living in Saint-Malo. Her widowed father Félix was a laborer and a carpenter. Marie-Blanche, age 21, could spin with cotton.^[10]

On "Role [sic] of the Truly Acadian Families - September 15, 1772:"

Felix LE BLANC, 52, widower of Marie Josephe TERRIOT, laborer and carpenter, of St. Malo

Etienne, 24, his son, works the land;

Joseph, 20, his son, fisherman;

Amand, 30, his son;

Marie, 21, his daughter, spins with cotton;

Elisabeth, 16, his daughter, married Louis LE SOLLIER of St. Pleta, Archdiocese of St. Brieuc.

It is believed that her cousin Abraham Dugas, a navigator who traveled frequently between France and Miquelon, brought Marie-Blanche back to Miquelon during one of his trips, probably in the spring of 1774. ^[11]

Mariage 1775

In Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, Marie-Blanche, age about 24 years, married Pierre Lethiecq, son of François Lethiecq and Sébastienne Arondel) on 26 November 1775 in Saint-Pierre. ^[12] Pierre was said to be from Lorient in France. The witnesses were: Jacques Arondel, André Novel, Abraham Dugas, Joseph Dugas, Sébastienne Arondel wife of Mr. Morel and mother of the groom, and many others.

Their children were:

1. Pïerre Lethiecq b. ca 1776 France
2. Guillaume François Lethiecq b. 1778, Lorient, France d. 29 Mar 1797, Nantes
3. Pierre Gatien Lethiecq b. 19 Dec 1780, La Rochelle
4. Joseph Sebastien Lethiecq b. 18 Sep 1783, La Rochelle
5. Unknown Lethiecq ^[11]

The young couple settled in Saint-Pierre where they appeared on the 1776 census with their one-year-old son Pierre. ^[13]

Pierre LETIECQ 26

Marie-Blanche LEBLANC, his wife, 24

Pierre, their son, 1

Expulsion from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon to France, 1778

By 1778, there were two children in the household as shown in the census taken in Saint-Pierre. ^[14] That year, the islands of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon were attacked, in retaliation against France for joining the American Revolutionary War on the side of the United States. The homes were destroyed, and all of the residents were deported by the British to France. ^[15] The Letiecq family ended up in Lorient, Bretagne, France. ^[11] That same year, Marie-Blanche gave birth to her second son Guillaume François, but lost her first-born Pierre in 1779. He was buried in La Rochelle. Two more sons were born in La Rochelle: Pierre Gatien in 1780, and Joseph Sébastien in 1783.

After France regained the islands in 1783, many Acadians in exile returned to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. The Letiecq family was recorded on censuses there in 1784 and 1793. ^[1] On 24 August 1790, in Saint-Pierre, she was godmother to Jean Martin, a ten-year-old Indigenous boy of the Montagnais (Innu) Nation, adopted by Helie of the Mi'kmaq Nation. ^[16]

Expulsion from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon to Boston, 1794

In 1794, Marie-Blanche experienced her fourth deportation by the British. After the occupation of the islands by the British forces, the inhabitants of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon were deported to Halifax and Boston. They were not allowed to return to Miquelon until 1816, so when Marie-Blanche, Pierre and the children were released from Boston in 1795, they returned to France aboard the Hunter, and settled in Nantes. ^[11] They appeared on a list of citizens of Nantes, deported from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and having arrived from Boston, requesting an allowance. ^[17]

Pierre Letiecq, 45

Marie Blanche Letiecq (Leblanc) 42

Guillaume Letiecq 17

Pierre Letiecq 14

Joseph Letiecq 13

Their son Guillaume-François was buried there in 1797.

Marie-Blanche lost her beloved Pierre in 1800, who died at the young age of 48. She outlived him by 27 years, and never remarried. She was listed on the 1808 census in La Rochelle, age 54 (sic), a widow. ^[1]

Return to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, 1816

In 1816, Marie-Blanche, age 64, decided to return to Saint-Pierre et Miquelon with the only survivor of her five sons, Joseph-Sébastien. ^[11][1] They embarked at Brest aboard La Caravanne carrying 235 passengers. ^[18]

LETIECQ Sébastien-Joseph, 32 ans

LETIECQ sa mère veuve Marie-Blanche LEBLANC, 64 ans...

Saint-Pierre le 1er juillet 1816...

Ile Madame 1818 and Bécancour 1819

They did not stay long in the islands. In 1818, she followed her son to Ile Madame on Cape Breton Island and became the housemaid of François Lejamtel, the missionary of Arichat. ^[19] At the end of the summer of 1819, Marie-Blanche and her son followed Lejamtel to Bécancour, Bas-Canada, where he was named parish priest.^[11] The following year, her son was married in Bécancour. Marie-Blanche was present at the ceremony and signed her name in the marriage record.

Signature

Eight months later, Marie-Blanche became a grandmother for the first time.

Death in Bécancour 1827

Marie-Blanche, widow of Pierre Letiecq, died on 23 October 1827 in Bécancour, Bas-Canada. ^[20][21][22] Her son was present at the burial, but not named. She was given about 75 years of age. Father François Lejamtel officiated the funeral mass.

Research Notes

Une source mentionne une naissance en 1752 à La Rochelle, en France. Cela semble toutefois peu probable puisqu'elle a déclaré être originaire de Beaubassin lors de son mariage... ^[23]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Geneanet.org. Karen Theriot Reader's Family Tree. Marie-Blanche LeBlanc citing Stephen A. White, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles acadiennes: 1715 à 1780, (Moncton, NB: Centre d'études acadiennes, draft version) - p. 609

   Born about 1751 at Beaubassin.

   On 1766 census at Saint-Servan, age 14 years.

   On 1772 census at Saint-Malo, age 21 years.

   On 1784 census in Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, age 33

   On 1793 census in Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, age 43

   On 1808 census in La Rochelle, age 54 (sic), a widow

   On 1816 census, France. List of passengers bound for St-Pierre & Miquelon, age 64 years.

2. ↑ Paul Delaney. La liste de Winslow expliquée. (Moncton, N.-B.: Éditions Perce-Neige, 2020 - Kindle Edition), p. 309
3. ↑ Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home"; 2005 – Present, hosted by Lucie LeBlanc Consentino; 1752 Census The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the Library and Archives Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752”, Images 277-308.

   (Félix is listed as Alexis) Alexis LEBLANC, his wife, 3 boys, 1 girl.

4. ↑ Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home"; 2005 – Present, hosted by Lucie LeBlanc Consentino; image 24/321755 Census

   Félix LeBlanc, at Le Lac

5. ↑ Stephen A. White, 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, pp.354-355

   Félix LeBlanc, son of Claude, married Marie-Josèphe Thériot in 1742 in Grand-Pré. On 1752 census at Aulac 3 boys, 1 girl. On 1755 census at Aulac, alone. Deported to South Carolina. Also mentions Ile Saint-Jean,Boulogne and Saint-Servan as places of exile or refuge. Family members settled, after 1763, in Châtellerault, Tracadièche, Bécancour, New Orleans, Ascension.

6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Petition of Félix LeBlanc, Aquadient [Acadien] on 29 November 1774, Septentrion, Document : 1774-11-29b, accessed 15 November 2023, https://www.septentrion.qc.ca/acadiens/documents/1408
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Paul Delaney, "The Acadians Deported from Chignectou to 'Les Carolines' in 1755: Their Origins, Identities and Subsequent Movements," Du Grand Dérangement à la Déportation: Nouvelles perspectives historiques, Ronnie-Gilles LeBlanc, ed., (Moncton, NB: Chaire d’études acadiennes, 2005) p. 271, 282-283, 294, 300

   Listed as Alexis on the passenger list. footnote 174 states that this is another transcriptional error. Stephen A. White in "Le malheureux Félix" (Ms CEA) has shown that this must refer to Félix LeBLANC and his family. The article published by White on a website is no longer available.

8. ↑ Earle Lockerby. 1998. “The Deportation of the Acadians from Ile St.-Jean, 1758”. Acadiensis 27 (2):45. , # 28, https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/view/10844
9. ↑ Paul Delaney, Chronologie des déportations et migrations des Acadiens (1755-1816). Les Cahiers de la Société historique acadienne, vol. 36, nos 2-3, septembre 2005, p. 52-86. https://societehistoriqueacadienne.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/3602_total.pdf
   Translation at Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home Translation: "The Chronology of Deportations and Migrations of the Acadians 1755-1816."
10. ↑ Milton P. Rieder, Jr & Norma Gaudet Rieder, Acadians in France, 1762-1776 vol. 1 , (Metairie, LA: Authors, 1967) p. 77

    On "Role [sic] of the Truly Acadian Families - September 15, 1772:"

    Felix LE BLANC, 52, widower of Marie Josephe TERRIOT, laborer and carpenter, of St. Malo

    Etienne, 24, his son, works the land;

    Joseph, 20, his son, fisherman;

    Amand, 30, his son;

    Marie, 21, his daughter, spins with cotton;

    Elisabeth, 16, his daughter, married Louis LE SOLLIER of St. Pleta, Archdiocese of St. Brieuc.

11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5} Stephen A. White, "Douze « quadruples » déportés", Bulletin Contact-Acadie, no 34, 2004 p. 19-20 de 29 https://www.umoncton.ca/umcm-ceaac/files/umcm-ceaac/wf/wf/pdf/contact34.pdf

    "Marie-Blanche LeBlanc, fille de Félix LeBlanc et de Marie-Josèphe Thériot, qui a été déportée avec ses père et mère d’Aulac en Caroline du Sud sur le navire Cornwallis. Sa famille, accompagnée de quatre autres, a réussi à revenir en Acadie, arrivant par la rivière Saint-Jean le 16 juin 1756. Son père a ensuite obtenu permission de se retirer à l’île Saint-Jean, d’où la famille a été déportée une deuxième fois en 1758, étant envoyée à Boulogne-sur-Mer sur le parlementaire Le Neptune. En 1766, les LeBlanc ont quitté Boulogne pour Saint-Servan où, dès 1772, ils ont pris contact avec leur cousin Abraham Dugas, un très habile navigateur qui demeurait à Miquelon, mais qui faisait de nombreux voyages en France. Nous croyons qu’Abraham Dugas aurait ramené Marie-Blanche à Miquelon lors d’un de ses voyages, probablement au printemps 1774. Le 26 novembre 1775, Marie-Blanche a épousé à Saint-Pierre Pierre Le Thiecq, un maître voilier originaire de Louisbourg. Selon leurs réponses à un questionnaire de 1808, la famille Le Thiecq a été envoyée à Lorient en 1778, puis après trois mois, à La Rochelle. En 1794, les Le Thiecq ont été déportés à Boston, d’où l’année suivante, ils sont allés à Nantes sur le navire Le Hunter. Cette expulsion était bel et bien la quatrième que Marie-Blanche ait subie aux mains des Anglais. En 1816, après plus de vingt ans à Nantes, la veuve Le Thiecq est revenue à Saint-Pierre avec le seul survivant de ses cinq fils, JosephSébastien. En 1818, elle est allée avec son fils à l’île Madame, puis à la fin de l’été de 1819 a déménagé une dernière fois, à Bécancour, où elle est décédée le 23 octobre 1827 (pour des plus amples renseignements au Acadie - CEA - Contact-Acadie, no 34, 2004 09-02-18 Page 7 of 7 sujet de Marie-Blanche, voir notre article « Une vie passée en exil : les quatre déportations de l’Acadienne Marie-Blanche LeBlanc »[à paraître])."

12. ↑ Archives nationales St-Pierre-et-Miquelon: St-Pierre: Mariages 1775, page 11 Acte de Mariage

    St-Pierre, St-Pierre-et-Miquelon

    26 novembre 1775

    Sujet: Pierre Letiecq, originaire de Lorian en Bretagne

    Père: François, décédé

    Sujet: Marie Leblanc, originaire de Beaubassin, Canada

    Père: Félix, demeurant au Poitou

13. ↑ Saint-Pierre 1776, Arche Musée et archives, (Archives Nationales S.O.M. G1 467) https://www.arche-musee-et-archives.net/fr/54-recensements.html

    Pierre LETIECQ 26

    Marie-Blanche LEBLANC, his wife, 24

    Pierre, their son, 1

14. ↑ Arche Musée et Archives, Etat des familles d'habitants de l'île Saint-Pierre au recensement fait à Saint-Pierre le 3 mai 1778, Saint-Pierre 1778

    Pierre LETIECQ, voilier, 28

    Marie LEBLANC, son épouse

    2 enfants

15. ↑ History of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Acadian.org, Website, https://www.acadian.org/history/history-saint-pierre-miquelon/
16. ↑ Archives Nationales d'outre-mer État civil, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon parish records, 1763-1905, Year 1790, p. 24 Baptism Jean Martin, 24 August 1790, accessed 16 Nov 2023
17. ↑ Joseph Naud, "Les Lethiecq Acadiens de Bécancour et des environs", L'Ancêtre, 2001, vol 28, no. 1, pp. 20-30 https://www.sgq.qc.ca/client_file/upload/L-Ancetre/Les-premieres-annees/V28-N01.pdf

    Pierre Letiecq, 45

    Marie Blanche Letiecq (Leblanc) 42

    Guillaume Letiecq 17

    Pierre Letiecq 14

    Joseph Letiecq 13

18. ↑ Elle figure dans la liste des colons réfugiés qui ont embarqués du port de Brest sur la flute du Roy La Caravanne pour retourner aux îles St-Pierre et Miquelon: (A.N Col C 12-7)
19. ↑ Bérubé, Martine, avec la collaboration de Stephen A. White. Le cahier de messes de l’abbé François Lejamtel: Missionnaire à l’Isle Madame, Cape Breton. (Lévis, Québec: Martine Bérubé, 2023) p. 63 of 210, online at BAnQ https://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/4631675 accessed DATE,

    Footnote #82: Marie-Blanche LeBlanc et son mari seront déportés en 1794 en France (à La Rochelle puis à Nantes). Veuve, elle reviendra à Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon lors de la rétrocession de l’île en 1816. Peu de temps après, elle passera à l’Isle Madame et deviendra la servante de l’abbé Lejamtel. Elle et son fils Sébastien Le Tiecq suivront l’abbé Lejamtel lorsqu’il sera nommé curé de Bécancour en 1819. Marie-Blanche aura le bonheur de devenir grand-mère avant son décès en 1827 (White 2021-2023).

20. ↑ Institut Généalogique Drouin: Le Lafrance: Sépultures 1621-1861 Acte de Sépulture
21. ↑ Burial "Canada, Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8993-6SQY?cc=1321742&wc=HCM5-929%3A13624501%2C13624502%2C13822001 : 16 July 2014), Bécancour > Nativité-de-Notre-Dame-de-Bécancour > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1812-1831 > image 361 of 459; Archives Nationales du Quebec (National Archives of Quebec), Montreal.
22. ↑ Institut Généalogique Drouin: Le Lafrance: Sépultures 1621-1861 Acte de Sépulture

    Bécancour

    25 octobre 1827

    Décès : 23 octobre 1827

    Sujet: LEBLANC, MARIE BLANCHE

    âge: 75

    Ét. civil: veuve

    Conjoint: LETIECQ, PIERRE, décédé

23. ↑ cjutras.org Pierre Lethiecq

• https://www.nosorigines.qc.ca/GenealogieQuebec.aspx?genealogie=Leblanc_Marie-Blanche&pid=451693