Catherine Richard (abt. 1663 - abt. 1755)

Born about 1663 in Port-Royal, Acadie, Nouvelle-France

Ancestors

Wife of François Broussard — married about 1678 in Port-Royal, Acadie, Nouvelle-France

Descendants

Died about 1755 at about age 92 in Acadie, Nova Scotia Colony

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Biography

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Catherine Richard was born around 1663 in Port-Royal, Acadie, Nouvelle-France.^[1] Her parents were Michel Richard and Madeleine Blanchard.

She was listed on the first Acadian census in 1671 at Port-Royal when she was 8 years of age, living with her parents.^[2]

Catherine (14) married François Broussard (24) (born about 1653 in France) in 1678 in Port-Royal, Acadie, Nouvelle-France.^[3]

Together they had 11 children:^[3]

1. Madeleine Broussard (abt. 1681–bef. 1731) .
2. Pierre Broussard (abt. 1683– ) .
3. Marie Broussard (1686–abt. 1765) .
4. Catherine Josèphe Broussard (abt. 1690–abt. 1731) .
5. Elisabeth Broussard (abt. 1693–abt. 1718) .
6. François Broussard (abt. 1695–1717) .
7. Claude Broussard (abt. 1697–abt. 1763) .
8. Françoise Broussard (abt. 1698– ) .
9. Alexandre Broussard (abt. 1699–1765) .
10. Joseph Broussard (abt. 1702–1765) .
11. Jean Baptiste Broussard (1705–1770)

The newlyweds were counted in the 1678 census.^[4] They owned 5 head of cattle. No children were listed yet. Catherine's parents lived next door.

In 1686, at Port Royal, Catherine RICHARD, aged 22, was living with her husband, Francois BROUSSARD, aged 33, and their three children: Magdelaine [sic], aged 5, Pierre, aged 3, and a daughter, only 11 days old, who hadn't been named or baptized yet. They owned 1 gun, 7 cattle, 6 sheep, and 5 hogs.^[5]

In 1693, at Port Royal, Catherine RICHARD, aged 29, was living with her husband, Francois BROSARD [sic], aged 39, and their four children: Marie [sic], aged 11, Pierre, aged 9, Marie, aged 7, and Catherine Josephe, aged 3. The family owned 1 gun and was living on 7 arpents of cultivable land with 15 cattle, 20 sheep, and 16 pigs.^[6]

Around 1698, Francois Broussard collaborated with Pierre Thibodeau in the colonisation of Chipoudy, but he did not settle there. Francois and Catherine would continue to raise their children and tend their farm in Port-Royal until the end of their days, as shown in the subsequent censuses between 1698 and 1714.^{[3][7][8][9][10][11]}

DNA. Catherine Richard's mother was Madeleine Blanchard, whose mother was Radegonde Lambert. The ethnic origins of Radegonde Lambert continue to be discussed. Stephen White concluded that Radegonde Lambert is of French origin^[12] based on the declaration of her descendents at Belle-Ile-en-Mer. Michael Marcotte, who had previously argued in favour of Metis origins^[13] has acknowledged that the maternal DNA testing supports French origins, with the caveat that the field is evolving.^[14] Still others claim that their autosomal DNA testing supports an aboriginal heritage (see recent question in G2G). The Mothers of Acadia maternal DNA project posts its results here. To date, the haplogroup is consistently reported as X2b, indicating European origins.

Research Notes

Death

Stephen White does not give a date or location for Catherine's death. Some websites suggest she passed away around 1755, but there are no records to prove that claim.

Find A Grave shows her death is 1755 (aged 91–92) in Port Royal, Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada BURIAL Cremated, Catherine Richard Broussard Added Note: Catholics even today do not favor cremation. If she was, it would have been highly unusual for that time. I've heard of no other Acadian who was cremated that we know of.(Bourque-573 15:07, 9 June 2022 (UTC))

Karen Theriot Reader Catherine Richard at Geneanet citing Virginia Lobdell Jennings, THE PLAINs AND THE PEOPLE; ; 1989; p. 220-221; Salt Lake City Family History Library, US/CAN 976.318 H2j 1989: A HISTORY OF UPPER EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH.

[Where did they get the death date of 1755 in Acadia? Buried in Petitcoudiac.]

Sources

1. ↑ She was age 8 years old on the census of 1671.
2. ↑ 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.

   at Port Royal: Michel RICHARD, farmer, 41, his wife Madeleine BLANCHARD 28; their seven children: Rene 14, Pierre 10, Martin 6, Alexandre 3, Catherine 8, twins Anne and Magdeleine 5 weeks; cattle 15, sheep 14, 14 arpents of land.

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Stephen A. White, Patrice Gallant, and Hector-J Hébert, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles acadiennes (Moncton, N.-B.: Centre d'études acadiennes, Université de Moncton, 1999) pp. 284 & 1373
   • No parents given for groom. - Francois BROUSSARD, born around 1653, married around 1678 to Catherine RICHARD, daughter of Michel & Madeleine BLANCHARD; eleven children listed.
4. ↑ Tim Hebert; 1678 Port Royal Acadian Census noting that the correlations for this census were done by Rev. Clarence J. d'Entremont, Fairhaven, Massachusetts.1678 Census

   at Port Royal: Francois Brossard & Catherine Richard; 5 cattle.

5. ↑ 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 National Archives of Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752,” Images 15-60;

   at Port Royal: Francois BROUSSARD 33, Catherine RICHARD 22; children: Magdelaine 5, Pierre 3, and a daughter who has not yet been baptized 11 days; 1 gun, 7 cattle, 6 sheep, 5 hogs. In the original 1686 census at Port Royal, Broussard was listed as Brossard and transcribed as Broussard, and Madeleine was listed as Magdelaine.

6. ↑ 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 Library and Archives Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752,” Images 62-108;

   at Port Royal: Francois BROSARD 39, Catherine RICHARD 29, Marie 11, Pierre 9, Marie 7, Catherine-Josephe 3; 15 cattle, 20 sheep, 16 hogs, 7 arpents, 1 gun. In the original 1693 census at Port Royal, Broussard was listed as Brosard, and Madeleine was listed as Marie.

7. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1698 Acadian Census at Port-Royal, Acadie1698 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 110-150

   at Port Royal: Francois BROSSARD 45; Catherine RICHARD (wife) 35; Madeleine 18; Pierre 15; Marie 13; Catherine 7; Elisabeth 5; Francois 3; Claude 1/2; 15 cattle, 20 sheep, 14 hogs, 16 arpents, 2 fruit trees, 2 gun, 1 servant.

8. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1700 Acadian Census at Port-Royal, Acadie 1700 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 151-173.

   at Port Royal: Jean BROSSARD [Broussard] 46; Catherine RICHARD (wife) 36; Pierre 16, François 6; Claude 5, Allexandre l, Marie 18; Marie-Anne 14; Catherine 10; Isabelle 4; Françoise 3; 24 cattle, 26 sheep, 15 arpents, 1 gun.

9. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1701 Acadian Census at Port-Royal, Acadie 1701 Census Transcription. The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the National Archives of Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752”, Images 174-211.

   at Port Royal: Francois BROSSART [Broussard] 53, Catherine RICHARD (wife) 38; Pierre 18, Francois 5, Claude 3, Alexandre 2, Magdeleine 20, Marion 16, Catherine 10, Isabelle 7; 5 guns, 10 cattle, 18 sheep, 17 hogs, 10 arpents.

10. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1703 Acadian Census at Port-Royal, Acadie 1703 Census Transcription. The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the National Archives of Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752”, Images 212-220.

    at Port Royal: Francois BROSSARD, his wife, 5 boys, 3 girls, 1 arms bearer.

11. ↑ Tim Hebert; Transcription of the 1714 Acadian Census at Port-Royal, Acadie 1714 Census Transcription. The original census can be found at Acadian Census microfilm C-2572 of the National Archives of Canada “Acadie Recensements 1671 – 1752”, Images 239-261.

    BROUSSARD and wife, 5 sons

12. ↑ White, Stephen A. "Origins of the Pioneers of Acadia." Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home, accessed November 2020 at http://www.acadian-home.org/acadian-origins.html
13. ↑ Marcotte Michael, Radegonde Lambert, My PREVIOUS arguments and position statements, made OBSOLETE or irrelevant by mtDNA testing, Accessed April 27, 2014.
14. ↑ Marcotte, Michael Radegonde Lambert used to be listed on this chart as Metis; Why no longer? Accessed April 27 2014 (https://michaelmarcotte.com/metissources.htm