Draft Project Page

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Welcome to the Acadians Project
Bienvenue

(Version française)

Contents 1 Mission* 2 How to join* 3 Goals* 4 We Need Help With* 5 Editing Acadian Profiles* 6 Sample Profiles* 7 Templates, Stickers and Project Management Guidelines* 8 Acadian Categories* 9 Location Names* 10 Naming Conventions 11 Acadian Indigenous and Métis People 12 Acadian Relationships 13 Resources 14 Acadian Exiles subproject 15 DNA 16 Related Projects and Groups 17 Frequently Asked Questions 18 Sources

Mission*

We aim to grow and source one family tree of French immigrants who settled in Acadia during the dates 1600-1763. Their descendants are concentrated in today's Canadian Atlantic Provinces, Québec, New England, and Louisiana (Cajuns).

How to join*

Project Membership Requirements
Becoming a project member means you are ready to make additional contributions to the broader set of Acadian profiles beyond your own family.

1. You have signed the Honor Code
2. Have been a member for at least 30 days
3. Have made at least 100 contributions, including some for Acadians
4. Are Pre-1700 certified (many Acadians are pre-1700)
5. Willing to improve profiles of Acadians - choose one of the areas in the We Need Help With in the section below

Please make sure you are willing to do the work before asking for the badge.

If you are willing to work on a We Need Help With area (see list below, or your own type of contributions), please answer our G2G welcome post and describe the improvements you'd like to make.

Requirements after Joining

• Members are encouraged to join our Google Group, a place for information and updates about the project. When you get a badge, an invitation to join the group will be sent to you via email.
• Respond to member check-ins with a project leader. A comment will be posted on your profile and/or an email sent. If we do not get a response or if you haven't been active on WikiTree for over a year, your badge will be removed, but can be given back when you are ready to participate in the project.

Communicating with the project:

• Leave a comment on any individual profile page that has an Acadians Project template and the project leaders will see it and respond shortly
• Anyone interested in project information and updates can join our Google Group. It is not necessary to be a member of the project
• Acadia tag on G2G - For discussions involving the broader Acadian participants or the WikiTree community in general

Goals*

The mission of the Acadians Project is to create, source, connect, and improve profiles and free-space pages related to Acadians in Acadie and in exile. The Project also aims to compile an extensive list of both on-line and off-line resources and research tools that people can use to find information on Acadian families.

• Any improvements you can make to linking the profiles of the Acadians in your family or others are welcome, and here are some specific goals we're working towards for each profile:
  • Standardized surnames are used for LNAB and current last name through the period to 1763
  • Women use their LNAB not their married name
  • Multiple names go in first names (no middle names)
  • Project Protection added to highly viewed profiles, historically important people, frequently duplicated people, those with relationship confusion. Marking the profile as project protected (must be done by one of the Project_Leaders)
  • Acadian Project Account added as manager (wtacadians *at* googlegroups.com) Replace *at* with proper sign
  • Acadian template included on the top of the page {{Acadian}}
  • At least one location Category is added (type Acadie in the category dropdown and the list will come up)
  • Migrating ancestor sticker is under the Biography heading (if applicable)
  • Each Acadian census in which that person appears included in the biography
  • Parents are correct
  • A simple child list (dates OK). Information about siblings go in the parents' and their own profiles - unless an historically important event includes them
  • Bio is cleaned up, free of any GEDCOM junk, and has an actual written bio

We Need Help With*

1. Fix up formatting for these profiles: Needs Formatting and Needs Biography plus a few more here. There are nice tools to make biographies for profiles that are empty like this Tool to Generate Simple Biographies and the WikiTree BEE Extension
2. Add all the people from a parish or census to help round out the population using Reliable Sources
3. Check and mark parents' status confident using reliable sources such as birth, marriage or death records or other documentation (not a family tree)
4. Look for marriages - infant mortality was low for this population. An adult without a marriage would be unusual. Can you find spouses - in parish registers or censuses. (a leader can make a list for you)
5. Find death information. With so many who fled or were forced to various parts of the world during the expulsion, review ship lists and in some places special Acadian censuses to fill in gaps and complete death dates and locations. See this subproject page here
6. Make sure every profile has a location category
7. Find sources for these Acadians: Unsourced
8. Add the native sticker {{First Peoples Canada Sticker|nation=Mi'kmaq}} to generations below the first native ancestor, no matter how thin the blood goes down through descendants. Mi’kmaq would be changed for proper tribe or can be left blank if not known. Placed below the Biography heading
9. Update profiles with research from the Bulletin du Centre d'etudes acadiennes Bulletins all in French.
10. For writers: create short stories for Interesting People in Acadie

Editing Acadian Profiles*

Anyone can edit Acadian profiles as they are all Open. If you see an improvement, please add it with a source if applicable. For questions or uncertain information, please leave comments on profiles and a project member or profile manager will respond. Collaboration is encouraged!

Project Protected Profiles require a much higher level of collaboration. Please comment first before adding or changing anything important like a name, date, location, or relationship. A source would be most helpful.

See the Reliable Sources page for many original sources with links and citations already made for you. Please contact Cindy Cooper if you feel inspired to work on one of these ideas.

See Biography Instructions and Checklist for guidelines.

Sample Profiles*

• Simple: Agnès Labauve
• Rather simple: Françoise Brun
• An especially nice story and good use of census sources: Jacques Léger
• Complicated - has many sources with links, good formatting (copy when needed): Nicolas Denys

Templates, Stickers and Project Management Guidelines*

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

The {{Acadian}} Template or Project Box identifies a profile as project-managed so that visitors can find out how to collaborate on the profile and related profiles. Should be placed above the Biography heading and below any categories for the following profiles:

• Acadians who lived in Acadie prior to the end of 1763, and any children born to Acadian couples who were married in Acadia through 1763, regardless of where they were born.
• Siblings and half-siblings of Acadie-born children even if born later or in a different place.
• Acadians on the Louisiana Wall of Names (WON), regardless of above rules.

See Definition for Inclusion in Acadian Project for more parameters.

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... ... ... migrated from France to Acadia.

The Migrating Ancestor Sticker identifies profiles of people who migrated from France to Acadia. Should be next to the text describing a Sticker, but always below the Biography heading.

{{Migrating Ancestor | origin = France | origin-flag = French_Flags-26.png | destination = Acadia | destination-flag = Acadie-1.png }}

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... ... ... is a descendant of an Acadian

After 1763, all other descendants of Acadians can have the {{Acadian Sticker}} as desired by the profile manager

(Placed below the Biography heading)

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... ... ... is an Acadian

To indicate that a descendant or living person is an Acadian, you can use the {{Acadian Sticker|living=yes}}

(Placed below the Biography heading)

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Acadian Categories*

This page has the listings of all the Acadian categories for locations. Selecting a location will show all profiles in that category. When editing a profile, you can use the category symbol, type in Acadie and the location choices will come up. Please try to add location categories whenever possible.

Most frequently used locations in Acadie (from 1604 to 1763)
[[Category:Arichat, Île Royale, Acadie]]
[[Category:Beaubassin, Acadie]]
[[Category:Chipoudy, Acadie]] (1698 - 26 Aug 1755)
[[Category:Cobeguit, Acadie]]
[[Category: Grand-Pré, Acadie]]
[[Category: Isle Royale]]
[[Category:Isle Saint-Jean, Acadie]]
[[Category:Les Mines, Acadie]]
[[Category:Louisbourg, Île Royale, Acadie]]
[[Category:Pisiguit, Acadie]]
[[Category:Port-La-Joye, Acadie]]
[[Category:Port-Royal, Acadie]]
[[Category:Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, Acadie]]
[[Category:Rivière-Saint-Jean, Acadie]]

This page provides all the other categories currently set up for Acadians. Some have drill downs to more subcategories. Use of these categories, including Maintenance tags, would be appreciated.

Most frequently used:
[[Category:Great_Upheaval]]
[[Category:Acadians_Born_in_Exile]]
[[Category:Acadians_Died_at_Sea_en_Route_to_Europe]]
Ships that carried the Acadian Diaspora List of ships

If there are any categories you would like added so you can see a particular population, please contact the Acadians Project Cindy (Bourque) Cooper.

Location Names*

Acadie 1749

Please use these and not the dropdowns that come up in the locations fields - those are from Family Search, not from WikiTree.

• The historic province in France should be used in place location names for most events related to Acadians before 1790, instead of the modern department. See French Origins of Acadians.
• A parish name may be used in the biography if available as that helps in identification of the location.
  
• A county may be used if they were in place at that time, but not at all during the Acadian period to 1763.
• Canada was not a country until 1867 so should not be used until then.
  
• Note that not all the colonies changed names at the same time.
• Acadie is used in Nova Scotia after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 because the Acadians still maintained their communities as much as possible until the expulsions and deportations and France gave up the other Acadian areas with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. Acadie is accompanied by Colony of Nova Scotia to recognize the legal ownership by the British.
• Most of these lands changed hands often during the early years, too many times to detail. Broad strokes of French inhabitation and general authority are used.

For Nova Scotia towns (no counties until 1759 see List)

Acadie, Nouvelle-France from 1604 to April 11, 1713 (town name, Acadie, Nouvelle-France)

Acadie, Colony of Nova Scotia from April 12, 1713 to Feb 10, 1763 (town name, Acadie, Colony of Nova Scotia)

Colony of Nova Scotia from February 11, 1763 to June 30, 1867 (town name, Colony of Nova Scotia)

Nova Scotia, Canada after July 1, 1867 (town name, Nova Scotia, Canada)

Port-Royal (with hyphen) the town from 1605 to Oct 12, 1710 became Annapolis Royal (no hyphen) Oct 13, 1710

For New Brunswick towns (no counties until 1785 see Archives)

Acadie, Nouvelle-France from 1604 to 10 February, 1763 (town name, Acadie, Nouvelle-France)

Colony of Nova Scotia from February 11, 1763 to 1784 (town name, Colony of Nova Scotia)

Colony of New Brunswick from 1784 to June 30, 1867 (town name, Colony of New Brunswick)

New Brunswick, Canada after July 1, 1867 (town name, New Brunswick, Canada)

For Ile Royale towns (no counties until 1835 see List)

Acadie, Nouvelle-France from 1713 to 7 October, 1758 (town name, Ile Royale, Acadie, Nouvelle-France)

Colony of Nova Scotia from 7 October, 1758 to 1784 (town name, Colony of Nova Scotia)

Cape Breton Colony from 1784 to 1820 (town name, Cape Breton Colony)

Colony of Nova Scotia from 1820 to June 30, 1867 (town name, Colony of Nova Scltia)

Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada after July 1, 1867 (town name, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada)

For Ile Saint-Jean towns (no counties until 1764-5 see History)

Ile Saint-Jean, Acadie, Nouvelle-France from 1604 to 11 February, 1763 (town name, Ile Saint-Jean, Acadie, Nouvelle-France). Note that Saint is written out and has a hyphen.

Saint John Island, Colony of Nova Scotia from February 11, 1763 to June 27, 1769 (town name, Colony of Nova Scotia)

Colony of St. John's Island from June 28, 1769 to 10 September, 1784 (town name, Colony of St. John's Island)

Colony of Nova Scotia 11 September 1783 to 1797 (town name, Colony of Nova Scotia)

Colony of Prince Edward Island from 1798 to June 30, 1873 (town name, Colony of Prince Edward Island)

Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada after July 1, 1873 (town name, Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada) - do not use abbreviation PEI

Which is the correct term for Ile Saint Jean and Ile Royale?

Isle is the old French word for Island, the way it was written at the time. Île is also sometimes seen.

We use Ile instead of Isle or Île.

Newfoundland (counties in 1880, perhaps before)

Acadie, Nouvelle-France from 1620 to April 11, 1713 (town name, Newfoundland, Acadie, Nouvelle-France)

Colony of Newfoundland from April 12, 1713 to 1907 (town name, Colony of Newfoundland)

Dominion of Newfoundland from 1907 to March 30, 1949 (town name, Dominion of Newfoundland)

Province of Newfoundland, Canada from March 31, 1949 to February 15, 2001 (town name, Province of Newfoundland, Canada)

Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada after February 16, 2001 (town name, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada)

Saint Pierre et Miquelon

Nouvelle-France 1670 to 1713

Colony of St Peter's Island 1713-1763 (town name, Colony of St Peter's Island)

Colonie de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon 1763-1778 (town name, Colonie de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon

British 1778-1816 (research needed on British name)

Saint-Pierre et Miquelon 1816-1947 (town name, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, France)

Territoire de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon 1947 to 18 July 1976 (town name, Territoire de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, France)

Département de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon from 19 July 1976 to 10 June 1985 (town name, Département de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, France)

Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon after 11 June 1985 (town name, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, France)

Iles de la Madeleine

Nouvelle-France from 1713 to 1760 (town name, Iles de la Madeleine, Nouvelle-France)

from 1760-1763 it was a British possession

in 1763 became part of Newfoundland

The most southerly areas became Province of Maine.

Naming Conventions

Should married names be included for Acadian women?

Since no Acadian records name Acadian women using married names, we would be making an assumption about them to include them. Therefore, only the last name at birth should be used (the standard version - see below)

How do we know the "correct" spelling of a last name?

There is a lot of variance in how the early Acadians spelled their last names, so it's difficult to determine a "correct" spelling. Therefore, we have agreed upon standard spellings of these names, as used by Stephen White. These standards can be found here. The standard last name should be used in Last Name at birth if possible, and in Current Last name. All other various spellings go in Other last names, separated by commas.

Should dit names be part of the last name at birth?

No. It has been decided by this project that Acadians with dit names should not have the dit name as part of their LNABs. The dit name can go in the Other Last Names field or the Nickname field as appropriate.

How long does the standard last name apply?

All Acadians born in Acadie should receive the standard last name in both LNAB and current last name. Those born after deportation would receive the LNAB provided on baptism in their home country (if no record use father's spelling). Those who died in a new country and with new last name spelling would have this name put in current last name.

How do we handle the middle name?

The french did not use middle names at that time, so we don't use them either. Someone can have several, they are all still the first name.

1. All names used on the baptism go in the Proper First Name.
2. If other name uses are not known, the names from the Proper First Name are repeated in the Preferred Name.
3. If they used just one name later, that can go in Preferred Name, i.e. if found on a document.
4. If a different name (not from baptism) was used later then that can go in nicknames. Sometimes professional genealogists will give that additional name in ( )
5. Dit names for identification go in nicknames (such as dit l'aine), where dit names for last names go in Current Last Name (such as Amireau dit Tourangeau.)

Acadian Indigenous and Métis People

• Information and helpful sources
• Metis
• DNA sources
• How to find Acadian and/or Native ancestors

Acadian Relationships

Who are you related to? Here are some interesting categories where you can find out. Discover your possible connections to the profiles there by clicking on any category. Select the My Connections box on the top right. If you are related, you'll get a list of ancestors and cousins as well as other connections and the degrees of separation for each.
Abenaki
Acadian First Families
Acadian Immigrants to Louisiana
Acadians on the Wall of Names at the Acadian Memorial, Louisiana
Acadian Village Heritage Site / Village Historique Acadien
Acadians Born in Exile
Acadians Who Died at Sea
Acadian Residents of Ile Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island) before 1763
Boudreau Name Study
Company of Frenchmen
Great Upheaval: Acadians affected by "Le Grand Dérangement"
Interesting People in Acadie
List of people from Arichat Parish, including 70 founders
Louisiana First Families
Mi'kmaq
Mius Name Study
Passengers on the Pembroke 1755
Passengers on the Duke William 13 December 1758
Wall of Names at the Acadian Memorial

Stickers for use on your own profile to show your relationship to anyone. Add the name and the id of the person you're related to.
(Place below the Biography heading)
For more options see: Template: Relationship Sticker and Relationship Stickers

... is related to Germain Doucet.

{{Relationship Sticker |name=Germain Doucet |id=Doucet-20}}

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... is the 1st cousin 8 times removed of Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil.

{{Relationship Sticker |image=WikiTree_Images-30.png |relationship=1st cousin 8 times removed |name=Pierre Melanson |id=Melanson-99}}

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Resources

Great Tools

To get a citation made use Citation Machine

To get a biography made, get the facts and relationships entered and saved in the profile. Then use Bio Builder Tool to have a biography made. Cut and paste it into the profile. It will need some spacing, punctuation, and inline sources added but greatly reduces time to get a biography in place. Another tool is the BEE Extension. It loads a quick biography that only needs to have headings and siblings list taken out.

To make a nicely formatted Ancestry citation with a link to the images for non-members, you can use Ancestry Citation Builder or WikiTree Sourcer.

More tools created by independent developers for the WikiTree community.

Where to Find Sources

• Census Links and Citations Census Information links AND pre-made reference citations
• Acadians Project Reliable Sources *** very useful Recommended sources with prepared citations
• Louisiana Sources
• Wall of Names at the Acadian Memorial & Acadian.org Wall of Names
• Cyndi's List - Acadian, Cajun & Creole. Links to a whole bunch of websites, mailing lists, etc. with an Acadian focus.
• Canadian and Quebec locations and history, not Acadie specific
• New Brunswick and New England Sources, primarily history
• Sources for locations in the US and Canada, not Acadie specific
• Notarial Acts of New France

Town information

• Arichat Parish & 70 Founders
• Beaubassin, Acadie
• Grand-Pré, Acadie
• Île Royale, Nouvelle-France
• Prince Edward Island
• Port-Royal, Acadie
• Port-Toulouse, Île Royale (needs more info)
• River Bourgeois, Nova Scotia
• Sackville, New Brunswick

People

• DesRoches Family see also: Region of Avranches, Village of St-Pierre-Langers, Village of Carolles, Village of St-Michel-des-Loups
• Prince Edward Island Families

History

• New France good overview of the three parts of Nouvelle-France, as well as Metis relationships
• General History with dates
• Well written historical overview with enough depth for expertise. JSGB ..
• Superb timeline migration map and enough historical information for expertise. JSGB...
• Scotia Archives-Records of the Deportation and Le Grand Dérangement
• Acadiensis-Journal of the History of the Atlantic Region-Vol. XXVII, No. 2 Spring/Printemps 1998, Lockerby-"The Deportation of the Acadians from Ile St.-Jean, 1758", Written By:Earle Lockerby Description of deportation and ships
• History of Kings County

Acadian Exiles subproject

The goal of this project is to create profiles for every Acadian who was deported from Acadie. Leader: Jacqueline Girouard

• Acadians of Le Grand Dérangement
• The First Acadian Arrivals in Louisiana Territory

DNA

• Acadian DNA Project
• Acadian DNA Sources
• Acadian Indigenous and Métis People

Related Projects and Groups

The following projects and groups are likely to have some overlap with this one, so members of this project may be interested in them as well:

• Louisiana Families Project
• Acadians of Le Grand Dérangement sub-project
• Acadian Notables sub-project
• Québécois Project
• France Project
• Nova Scotia Team
• New Brunswick Team
• Newfoundland Team
• First Peoples Canada helpful for Native and Metis questions
• Canadian History Project

Frequently Asked Questions

How do we handle uncertain parents?

if there is some evidence but just isn't certain, they may be attached and set to uncertain. These should not be a theory or a guess. With no evidence, or if Acadian genealogy experts indicate unknown parents, leave them in the research notes. Family trees, no matter how many, are not sources and not evidence. More than one set of possible parents: you may use the more likely (i.e. better quality) set of facts in the data fields. Collaboration is necessary when multiple parents are under consideration. For more information read how WikiTree defines Uncertain and suggests ways of handling Disagreements about Certainty.

What is the age of Majority?

Under the French regime in North America until 1763 "the age of majority" was defined as 25 years. Until this age, young adults were the responsibility of their parents and had some family obligations to them.. . . Also the young man needed to be able to support his family. Young women could marry at much younger ages, and often did. Under the English rule after 1763, the age of majority in the former French zone became 21 years.

Who gets the Acadian project box?

Any French who settled in Acadie, were born in Acadie lands through 1763, or who had siblings born in Acadie (keeping the families together in the project), or whose parents were married in Acadie through 1763. We do not normally use the project for paid military from France or Quebec unless they married and settled in Acadie. Details Here

How can I find out if I have Acadian and/or Native ancestors?

Build up your family on WikiTree so you can connect back to the oldest ancestors you can find. Once you start to connect to them, you don't need to make new profiles. Then use the various easy-to-use WikiTree tools to see your relatives and connections. Details Here

I have recently received my DNA test results and I think I have Acadian roots. What do I need to do?

If you have an account with WikiTree, you need to add your test details to your profile. See How to Get Started with DNA. Then if you have built your tree in WikiTree and connected the branches, your test information will spread to your ancestor profiles. Details Here

Sources

For my own research:

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Template:Project_Navigation
• Help Project Pages https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Project_Pages
• "Acadia (French: Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early 18th centuries, Norridgewock on the Kennebec River and Castine at the end of the Penobscot River were the southernmost settlements of Acadia. The actual specification by the French government for the territory refers to lands bordering the Atlantic coast, roughly between the 40th and 46th parallels. Later, the territory was divided into the British colonies that became Canadian provinces and American states. The population of Acadia included members of the Wabanaki Confederacy and descendants of emigrants from France (i.e., Acadians). The two communities intermarried, which resulted in a significant portion of the population of Acadia being métis."(Wikipedia contributors, "Acadia," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Acadia&oldid=1070879306 (accessed February 13, 2022).)(Created by Brad Foley [[Space:North_American_Place_Names#Quebec|Barry Sweetman-11])
• The Project Navigation template is not available in this namespace, please review the template documentation.
• Placed above ==Biography== heading and below any categories.
• Should be next to the text describing a Sticker, but always below the == Biography == heading.
• Ireland Tabs https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Ireland