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Individual:
Bourgeois family
Telegraph-Journal, Friday, July 29, 1994; p. A4
By his own account, Jacques Bourgeois, the pioneer of the Bourgeois family in Acadia, came to Acadia as a surgeon in 1642, during the governorship of Charles d'Aulnay.
The most recent theory about Jacques Bourgeois' birthplace comes from René Perron. His research on the origins of Acadian families in France brought him to a La Ferté-Gaucher where he found in the registers of the parish of Saint-Romain the baptismal certificate of Jacob Bourgeois, born on January 9, 1621, son of Marguerite Bourgeois. He might have learned his trade of surgeon in a commandery of the Order of Malta in nearby Coutrans.
Around 1643, shortly after his arrival in Acadia, Jacques Bourgeois married Jeanne Trahan, daughter of Guillaume and Françoise Charbonneau. Through this marriage he entered into one of the oldest Acadian families.
When Port-Royal surrendered on August 16, 1654, Jacques was lieutenant of the small Acadian garrison. His name tops the 1671 census list where he is described as a surgeon. Judging by the extent of the cultivated acreage of his farm, in two different places, and by the number of cattle he owned, Bourgeois made a living from agriculture as much as from his profession. It is possible this means that he had already begun his settlement at Beaubassin.
Jacques Bourgeois was a jack of all trades. He was equally at home as carpenter, merchant and colonizer.
It was he who established the colony of Beaubassin by settling his sons there, as well as his sons-in-law, Pierre Cyr and Germain Girouard. When Beaubassin was granted to La Vallière as a seigniory in 1676, his patent letters stated he was not to interfere with the settlers already established there.
At Beaubassin, Jacques Bourgeois was involved in ship building and he also built a flour and a sawmill. His knowledge of English allowed him to trade with the Boston merchants, notably with one John Nelson. He died at Port-Royal in 1701.
His son Charles settled at Beaubassin and continued his father's work. His brother Germain stayed at Port-Royal where he was a merchant. The Acadian Bourgeois are descended from these two brothers.
The majority of the members of the Bourgeois family living in Acadia in 1755 were deported to New England, especially to Massachusetts, and to South Carolina and Connecticut.
Unable to live as exiles among anglo-protestants, they courageously took to the roads in order to come back to Canada and most of them settled in the Nicolet, Saint-Grégoire, Bécancourt, L'Assomption and Saint-Jacques-de-l'Achigan areas. Descendants of that family are also to be found on Iles-de-la-Madeleine and on Cape Breton, particularly in Chéticamp and Ile-Madame.
In New Brunswick, this family settled in the southern part of the province, especially at Memramcook and in Grande-Digue.
The ancestor of the Bourgeois family of Memramcook and of Grande-Digue, Pierre-Benjamin, was a grandson of Germain Bourgeois of Port-Royal.
Pierre-Benjamin died at Grande-Digue, in 1821, at the age of approximately 95.
It is not because of his longevity that he is interesting, but rather because he married five times. Only the names of four of his five wives are known: Cécile Aucoin, Anne LeBlanc, Anne Thébault and Anne Thibodeau.
However, not all the Memramcook Bourgeois descend from Pierre-Benjamin. Some are descended from Pierre-Benjamin's cousin from Beaubassin, Joseph Bourgeois. Often called Calotte, Joseph married Félicité Belliveau at Pisiquit in 1764. Like Pierre-Benjamin, he lived to a ripe old age, 94, and died at Memramcook in 1833.
Joseph was the ancestor of Father Philias Bourgeois, a professor at Collège de Saint-Joseph and the author of Vie de l'abbé F.-X. Lafrance and of a Histoire Du Canada en 200 leçons, published by the Librairie Beauchemin in 1902 and in 1903.
Contributed by Fidele Theriault of Fredericton, New Brunswick.
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