Marguerite Saulnier (abt. 1726 - 1790)

Born about 1726 in Acadie

Ancestors

Daughter of Pierre Saulnier and Madelaine Comeau

Wife of Charles Forest — married about 1750 in Acadie

Descendants

Died 1 Oct 1790 at about age 64 in Donaldsonville, Louisiana

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Marguerite Saulnier is an Acadian. Join: Acadians Project Discuss: ACADIA

Marguerite Saulnier lived in Louisiana. Join: Louisiana Families Project Discuss: louisiana

Biography

Charles Forest is on the Wall of Names at the Acadian Memorial in St. Martinville, Louisiana Plaque 3 Left. Listed with Charles is his spouse Marguerite Saulnier and children Paul, Anselme, Marie, Marguerite and Charles. Also his niece Marguerite Forest, daughter of his brother Joseph (De Forrest) Forest.^[1]

Marguerite Saulnier was born ca 1726 to Pierre Saulnier and Madelaine Comeau in Acadia. She married Charles Forest, the widower of Marguerite Poirier around 1750.^[2] I am unsure how the approximate dates were reached. Anselme Forest was born about 1751.^[3] His marriage record in 1774 does give his mother as Marguerite "Sone," ^[4] but I have seen the wrong mother written in cases such as this where the father remarried. Perhaps mtDNA studies will eventually confirm who his mother is.

Known Children

1. Anselme bn ca 1751^[3]
2. Marie bn ca 1760 ^[3]
3. Marguerite bn 1762^[3]; died 1793^[5]
4. Charles, fils bn 27 Sep 1764^[6]

Charles had three children with his first wife, a son and two daughters. The daughters are not with the family in the earliest census we have with names: The 1766 Census of Cabanocce^[3], but it is unclear when they separated from the family. This makes interpreting some of these interim censuses difficult when no names or ages are provided and especially when the name is listed as only Charles Forest.

There are two families led by a Charles Forest in the 1761 Census of Gaspesie Refugees.^[7] Both have a man and woman, but the number of children differ. The one in Nipisiguit-Bathurst has 2 boys and 4 girls, while the one in Caraquet has 2 boys and 1 girl. It's unclear if either of these are our Charles.

On 11 October 1762, there is a Charles Forest family of six members held at Fort Edward.^[8] Also held were the Broussards, with whom the family came to Louisiana in early 1765.^[9]

Forests were among the earliest Acadians to find refuge in Louisiana. The first of them reached New Orleans from Halifax via Cap-Français, St.-Domingue, with the Broussard dit Beausoleil party in February 1765.^[9] Several of the Forest families followed the Broussards across the Atchafalaya Basin to the Attakapas District and helped established La Nouvelle-Acadie on the banks of Bayou Teche. But Charles and his family was not one of them. Instead they settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques in St. James Parish on the river above New Orleans.^[9][3]

The 14 September 1769 St. Jacques de Cabannocé census includes Charles Forest aged 47; his wife Margueritte Sounier, aged 44; his son Charles aged 5; his daughter Marie aged 10; his daughter Margueritte aged 8 living on 6 arpents of land without slaves and with 3 cattle, no horses, 6 pig, no sheep, and one musket.^[10]

They also appear on the August 1, 1770 census of the right bank of Ascension Parish as the forty-eight-year-old head of a household that included the following persons: Marguerite Sonnier (Saulnier), his wife, 45 years old; Charles Forest, his son, 6 years old; Marie Forest, his daughter, 10 years old; and Marguerite Forest, his daughter, 8 years old."^[11]

The Parish of Ascension of Lafourche des Chetimachas Census taken 23 April 1777 includes the family living on the right bank: Charles Forrest, 52; Margueritte Saunier, his wife, 49; Marie Forrest, his daughter 17; Margueritte Forrest, id 15. On one side lives Charles Forrest, "fils", 14; and on the other is Paul Forrest, 31, Margueritte Orillion, his wife, 27, Joseph Forrest, his son, 6; Joseph Marans, publican, 50; Angelique Dugas, his wife, 46. Next to him is Enselme Forrest, 26; Magdelaine LeBlanc, his wife, 22; Louis Forrest, his son 7 months; Magdelaine Forrest, his daughter, 2. Charles has 6 arpents land, no slaves, 16 cattle, 4 horses, no sheep, 9 swine and one firearm.^[12]

After her husband died in 1783,^[13] Marguerite lived about 7.5 years before dying herself on 1 October 1790^[14] and was buried in the church cemetery in the Ascension Church of Donaldsonville.^[15]

Sources

1. ↑ "The Wall of Names at the Acadian Memorial"; Wall of Names Committee; Jane G. Bulliard, Chair; second edition, 2015; Bodemuller The Printer, USA; p. 16
2. ↑ Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Acadiennes, Première Partie 1636-1714 by Stephen A. White. Centre d'Études Acadiennes at University of Moncton: Moncton, NB, 1999, p. 639. Text:

   19. Charles n v 1722 (Rc Cabahannocer 1766 40a [sic], 1769 47a, Rc Ascension 1770 48a, 1777 52a [sic]); m 1 Rg Bbn 4 juin 1742 Marguerite POIRIER (Michel & Jeanne Bourgeois); m 2 v 1750 Marguerite SAULNIER (Pierre & Madeleine Comeau); S Rg Ascension 24 mars 1783 55a (sic).

3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5} Voorhies, Jacqueline K.. Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianans: Census Records of the Colony, 1758-1796. Lafayette, LA: University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1973. Census of Cabaanoce 1766, p.206. Summary:

   Charles Forest-40, wife Marguerite Saunier-37, son Paul-20, son Anselme-15, son Charles-2, daughter Marie-6, daughter Marguerite-4, niece Marguerite-20. Charles & Paul each have 6 arpents land and one firearm. Anselme has 4 arpents and one firearm.

4. ↑ Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records 1770-1803 Volume 2. Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge:Baton Rouge, 2009, p.292. Text:

   FORET Anselme (Charles & Margarite Sone, Acadians) m. 7 Feb. 1774, Magdelaine LE BLANC (Simon & Elisabet LeBlanc) wit. Abraham Landry & Joseph LeBlanc (ASC-1, 126)

5. ↑ Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records 1770-1803 Volume 2. Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge:Baton Rouge, 2009, p.294. Text:

   FORET Margarita, age 28 years, bur. 5 Feb. 1793 (ASC-4,13)

6. ↑ Archdiocese of New Orleans Sacramental Records Volume 2, 1751-1771. Earl C. Woods and Charles E. Nolan, editors. Archdiocese of New Orleans: New Orleans, 1988, p.125. Text:

   FORET Charles (Charles, Acadian, and Margueritte SAUNIER), b[apt] Dec. 10, 1765, bn. Sept. 27, 1764, s. Mathurin DOUSSAIN and Felicite BOISDORE (SLC, B5, 111)

7. ↑ 1761 Census of Gaspésie Refugees
8. ↑ Acadian Prisoners1 761-1762 Ft. Edward, Pisiguit, Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home by Lucie LeBlanc Consentino, accessed 3 Aug 2016.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} Acadians in Gray on the Forests
10. ↑ Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianans, compiled & translated by Jacqueline K. Voorhies; University of Southwestern Louisiana: Lafayette, LA, 1973. Acadians at Cabannoce, dated 14 September 1769, p.453.
11. ↑ Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianans, compiled & translated by Jacqueline K. Voorhies; University of Southwestern Louisiana: Lafayette, LA, 1973. Census of Ascension Parish, dated 1 August 1770, p.272.
12. ↑ 1777 Parish of Ascension of Lafourche des Chetimachas, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 190
13. ↑ Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records 1770-1803 Volume 2. Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge:Baton Rouge, 2009, p.292. Text:

    FORET Carlos, age 55 years, bur. 24 Mar. 1783 (ASC-1, 188b)

14. ↑ Certified Entry for Burial of Margarita Fore from Parish Register of Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church in Donaldsonville, LA. ASC-4, page 7. Original in possession of Donna Storz

    Burial Entry for Marguerite Saulnier Forest

15. ↑ Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records 1770-1803 Volume 2. Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge:Baton Rouge, 2009, p.294. Text:

    FORET Margarita, age 60 years, bur. 2 Oct. 1790 (ASC-4, 8)

• Savard, Denis, Administrator, Mothers of Acadia mtDNA Project reports mtDNA Test Results (Accessed 15 Dec 2023), Kits: tester1 N66807 tester2 MK12792. EKA: Unknown (Inconnu) Gaudet - Spouse of Jean Gaudet. Haplogroup: J1b2.
• Savard, Denis, Administrator, Mothers of Acadia mtDNA Project reports this diagram depicting matrilineal descent, from the Mothers of Acadia DNA Project for more information.

DNA Confirmations

• mtDNA Tester Justin Russ is a grandchild of Marie Anne Elaine Cormier who is a 9x ggd of Unknown (Inconnu) Gaudet through daughter Francoise Gaudet (abt.1623-abt.1699).
• mtDNA Tester UNK is a great grandchild of Leontine Josephine Leboeuf, who is a 8x ggd of Unknown (Inconnu) Gaudet through daughter Marie Gaudet (abt.1633-abt.1710).
• Maternal relationship is confirmed through Mitochondrial DNA test results on Family Tree DNA. Justin Russ FTDNA kit # N66807, (a grandchild of Marie Anne Elaine Cormier) and his maternal line cousin UNK (a great grandchild of Leontine Josephine Leboeuf), FTDNA kit # MK12792, have an exact HVR1 and HVR2 match, thereby confirming their direct maternal lines back to their most-recent common ancestor who is Unknown (Inconnu) Gaudet the 11x great grandmother of Justin Russ and the 11x grandmother of UNK.