Generation 3 - The Great Upheaval

Marguerite Cormier

Marguerite Cormier was born before the Beaubassin census in 1714 where she is counted among the children of Germain Cormier & Marie Leblanc. Around 1732, she married Ambroise Comeau . Together, they settled near Chipoudie.

Besides the difficulties she survived in exile with her husband and children, like many other Acadians Marguerite Cormier would see members of her family deported.

• Her brother Pierre Cormier is on the list of the sick among deportees to South Carolina.
• Her brother Jean-Baptiste Cormier and his family will be deported to South Carolina.
• Her sister Marie-Madeleine Cormier and her family will be deported to South Carolina .
• Her brother Fran�ois Cormier will be deported to New York where he dies before 1760.
• Her brother Michel Cormier will be deported to South Carolina .

Ancestors of Marguerite Cormier

Marguerite's father, Germain Cormier was born circa 1680, the son of Thomas Cormier & Marie-Madeleine Girouard. In 1703, he was mentioned as newlywed with his bride Marie Leblanc, daughter of Andr� & Marie Dugas. Marguerite Cormier's mother, Marie Leblanc was born around 1687. She will spend her last years escaping deportation to Quebec City where she died January 16, 1758 at the age of 70.

Germain Cormier & Marie Leblanc had twelve children. Germain Cormier died at the age of 70 between the census of 1752 and 1754-55. Germain was the grandson of pioneers Robert Cormier & Marie P�raud.

On January 8, 1644, Robert Cormier, ship's master carpenter in La Rochelle, with his wife Marie P�raud and thirteen year old son Thomas book passage to Acadia on a ship called �Le Petit Saint-Pierre'. Robert was on his way to work as a carpenter at Fort Saint-Pierre on 'L'�le Royale' (Cape Breton Island). This journey begins the story of the Cormier family on the American continent.

Like his father before him, Thomas Cormier was also a carpenter. Around 1668,at the approximate age of thirty-two, he married Marie-Madeleine Girouard. First established in Port-Royal, Thomas et Marie-Madeleine were later among the first settlers of Beaubassin. They had at least 10 children.

To date, nine children born of Ambroise Comeau et Marguerite Cormier, have been found in the registres and census..

1. Marie Comeau, baptized in Chipoudy on April 12, 1733. (Register confused the family names of her mother, Marguerite Cormier with her aunt Marguerite Thibodeau, wife of Maurice Comeau). Marie is witness at the wedding of her sister Marguerite.
   
   
2. Marguerite Comeau, born in Chipoudy between 1733 et 1741, married January 21, 1757 in Port La Joye, Michel Brun (Charles & Anne Caissie). Marguerite Comeau is deceased before the census of 1790.
   
   
3. Catherine Comeau, born February 21, 1741, baptized in the registers of Beaubassin June 18, 1741, she married around 1763 Joseph Bourg (Joseph & Anne Cormier); Catherine Comeau died in Bonaventure May 8, 1817, a 76 year old widow..
   
   
4. Jean-Baptiste Comeau, born around 1743, married in 1774 Marie-Esther Babin (Joseph & Marguerite LeBlanc). Jean-Baptiste Comeau died in Carleton on November 27, 1780 at the age of 37.
   
   
5. Madeleine Comeau, born May 14, 1746 and baptized in Beaubassin July 10, 1746.
   
   
6. Fran�ois Comeau dit l'ain�, born around 1746, married around 1768 to Marie Le Blanc (Joseph & Madeleine Girouard)
   
   
7. Agn�s Comeau born around 1749, married Charles Fran�ois Allard (Jacques & Marguerite Brousseau). Agn�s Comeau died in Carleton on June 16 juin, 1778 at the age of 29.
   
   
8. Fran�ois Comeau dit le jeune, born around 1750, he married
   1. in Carleton on July 27, 1778, Marie Baudry (Fran�ois Baudry & Marie-Madeleine Boissel)
   2. around 1795, �lisabeth (Isabelle) Boudreau (Athanase & F�licit� Orillon)
   Fran�ois Comeau dit le jeune, died in Pointe-aux-P�res (Bathurst) around 1832 at the age of 82.

(White - Notes)

HISTORICAL TIDBITS

The Deportation Order

"Many factors have contributed to what is called the "Acadian Identity". Amongst these are: a common experience shared by the first settlers; an independent spirit principally the result of having been left to themselves by their mother country; and a common language and religion that were shared with only a small number of those other settlers who were also discovering the "New World". However, amongst all these factors, none has had as much impact as the forcible expulsion of the Acadians during the years 1755 to 1763. All Acadians, no matter where they live today, see the "great upheaval", or the deportation as the ultimate factor of their common identity.".

The Acadian Odyssey, Centre acadien, Universit� Ste-Anne, N.-�.

The embarkation aboard the transport ships began early in October 1755. In the panic, family members were separated from their loved ones. Hundreds were squeezed into ships built for half their numbers. During the journey, Acadians had to take turns lying down due to lack of space. Many did not survive.

DESTINATION OF THE DEPORTEES