François dit Nordest Pitre
Anne Préjean
Enfants de François Pitre & Anne Préjean
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François dit Nordest Pitre
Anne Préjean
Enfants de François Pitre & Anne Préjean
Generation 3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Main
1
Early Acadia - Painting by Claude Picard
Son of Jean Pitre and Marie Pesselet, François dit Nordest was born around 1682 in Port-Royal. He was still young in 1690 when Phipps and his Soldiers arrived in his region. At the age of 11, in 1693, he lost his father and his family lived through difficult times.
By 1697, peace returns to Acadia with the Treaty of Ryswick , which makes Acadia French soil again and the New Englanders leave.
Settlements are burned - Painting by Claude Picard
François lived during the period considered as the Golden Age of Acadian History. At the age of twenty-three, François Pitre marries Anne Préjean in Port Royal on July 27th, 1705. The young couple settles in Port Royal where all their children are born. François Pitre and Anne Préjean are not found in the census of 1707 or 1710 but it is most likely that they lived with or near Anne's family. They are listed on the 1714 census as the immediate neighbours of Jean Préjean dit le Breton.
After five years, this family finds itself in danger again when the New Englanders seized Port-Royal. Even with the resistance of 258 soldiers, the Fort was lost in mid-October of 1710. The 481 inhabitants again surrendered to the English.
Three years later, by the Treaty of Utreck in 1713, Acadia becomes Nova Scotia but the surrounding Ile Royale (Cap Breton) & Ile St-Jean (P.E.I.) and part of what is now New Brunswick, remained part of France. Acadians were given the right to practice their religion, own and keep their properties, but they became British Subjects.
As British Subjects, François Pitre and his family lived a relatively peaceful life for the next few years.
However on December 6th, 1725, François passed away leaving his wife and ten children in mourning. Like his father before him, he died young, at only 43 years old.
Oath of Allegiance - Painting by Claude Picard
Anne Préjean Anne would have been 18 years old when she married François Pitre in that summer of 1705 in Port Royal. She was the daughter of Jean Préjean le Breton and Andrée Savoie.
Anne was 38 when her husband of 20 years dies on December 6, 1725. He left her with ten children. Anne had just burried her twin babies, Théotiste and Anne who were born in August. Théotiste had died after one month and Anne after 2 months.
On April 16, 1732, a widow for seven years, Anne Préjean marries a widower named Michel Boudreau, the son of Claude & Marie Thibodeau. The previous year, one of Anne's daughters Marguerite had married François dit Lami Boudreau, son of the same Michel Boudreau. Later, one son and two other of Anne's daughters, married children of her second husband.
Marguerite Pitre married François dit Lami Boudreau around 1731
Jean-Baptiste Pitre married Cecile Boudreau around 1733
Agnès Pitre married Jean-Baptiste Boudreau around 1738
Judith Pitre married René Boudreau around 1745
Anne was the second child in a family of twelve children. Her father Jean Préjean was in his early 30's when he married Andrée Savoye. They were listed with their two-year old Marie in the 1686 census. At that time Jean could not have been wed for very long since he is 35 years old and his wife Andrée is only 21.
We do not know much of the origins of Jean Préjean but he is called Le Breton which would lead us to believe that he is from the region of Brittany in France.
In the 1701 census, Jean Préjean le Breton and his wife Andrée Savoie were said to own 1 gun, 16 cattle, 10 sheeps, 12 hogs and 3 arpents. By that time, they have at least 7 children. Pierre -12, Jean-10, Francois-8, Joseph-5, Marie-17, Anne-14 & Magdeleine - 3
Anne's mother was born Andrée Savoie in Port Royal around 1667. She was the daughter of pioneers François Savoye & Catherine Lejeune.
François Savoie was born in France around 1621 and arrived in Acadia before 1651, when he wed Catherine Lejeune. This couple had nine children. Source: Société historique acadienne, Stephen White
During the first half of the 18th century, the Acadian birth rate was relatively high and the child mortality rate was low. This period of Acadian history ( 1680- 1740 ) is known as the Golden Age. Large families were not uncommon and often many generations lived under on roof.
Source: Centre Acadien, Université Sainte-Anne, N.S
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François Pitre's dit name was Nordest. The French word "Dit" in this context means "called." People might take a ‘dit' name to distinguish their family from another family of the same name living nearby. In our ancestor's case, it could have indicated the location of his family within the settlement (Nordest meaning North-east in French). Often it was a sort of nickname, sometimes picked up during service as a soldier. Or it might refer to the place in France where the family originated. Occasionally, it was the mother's surname, and sometimes the father's first name was used, either instead of the surname. In any case, very often the dit name was passed down to later generations replacing the original surname, or in addition to it. For example, as the descendants of François Pitre dit Nordest, our family name could easily have become Nordest instead of Pitre.
According to Stephen White, 'dit Nordest' continued to be used in our family line until the fourth generation of Michel Pitre & Marie-Josephe Orillon. (White 66)
Paintings on this page are by Claude Picard and have been scanned from postcards bought at the Musée Acadien in Moncton, N.B. These have been posted for educational purposes only and not for profit.