McDonnell, Thomas (b. ABT. 8 MAR 1843, d. ?)

Note: St. Hyacinth's, D'Escousse, Nova Scotia; Church Baptism Records

MCDONELL, THOMAS Bapt. Mar 23, 1843 Born 15 days ago
Parents James McDonell and Susanne Poirier
Godparents Valentin McDonell and Marie Petitipas
B 5

Note: St. Hyacinth's, D'Escousse, Nova Scotia; Church Baptism Records

POIRIER, WILLIAM Bapt Apr 28, 1835 Born Jan 4, 1835
Parents Pierre Poirier and Marie Peitipas
Godparents David McDonald and Marguerite McDonald
B5

Note: St. Hyacinth's, D'Escousse, Nova Scotia; Church Baptism Records

POIRIER, MAXIME Bapt Oct 28, 1836 Born June 5, 1836
Parents Pierre Poirier and Marie Petitpas
Godparents Pacien Poirier and Suzanne Poirier
B18

Note: St. Hyacinth's, D'Escousse, Nova Scotia; Church Baptism Records

POIRIER, GUILLAUME Bapt Dec 21, 1839 Born Nov 9, 1839
Parents Pierre Poirier and Sabine Rancon
Godparents Simon Landry and Virginia Poirier
B 33

Note: St. Hyacinth's, D'Escousse, Nova Scotia; Church Baptism Records

POIRIER, CECILE June 29, 1857
Parents Pierre Poirier and Sabine Rancon
Godparents Charles Landry and Rosalie ?
B

Note: St. Hyacinth's, D'Escousse, Nova Scotia; Church Baptism Records
Listed by Baptism Date

B. 29 Mars, 1860. Alfred Poirier, de Pierre et Sabine Rancon

Note: PIERRE was born Abt 1760 in D`Escousse, N.S., and died Abt 1806 in D`Escousse, N.S.. He married NATALIE ANASTASIE BONIN 1792 in D`Escousse, N.S., daughter of Jean-Francois Bonin and Marguerite Josse.

Notes
Pierre Poirier and his wife Anastasie Bonin settled in the part of the parish that is actually D'Escousse, and now known as Poirierville.
Pierre died about 1806, according to a petition dated 1808, in which Anastasie is described as a widow of two years and the mother of ten children.

Note: Anastasie was baptized as Natalie September 9, 1771, at Gabarus by Fr. Bailey


Cape Breton as a Separate Colony . RG 11 vol 3 # 42
TRANSLATION OF THE ABOVE REFERENCED LETTER FROM:
Anastasie Bonain, widow of Pierre Poirier, to Clement Hubert -
dated D'Escousse, August 15, 1808


Monsieur Hubert,
Anastasie Bonain, widow of Pierre Poirier, her late husband, living in D'Escousse , regarding the lot measured recently by Mr. Jean Jean which has remain in the same state for the past two years.
Taking care of 10 children -- 4 boys, the oldest of whom is aged 12 years and the youngest 6 years and 6 girls, the oldest being 16 years and the youngest being 2. Requests very humbly to indicate her poverty and her circumstances in order that she be granted the time to be able to fulfil the necessary payment given the work that her husband left her for the support of the family.
You would render a very great service to a poor widow and orphans.
It is with respect and submission that I am, Sir.
Your very humble servant
Anastasie Poirier, widow
D'Escousse, August 15, 1808


The original French letter is very formal and I have tried to stay as close to that style as possible. The main point of the letter is that the widow has been unable to pay the rent for the land that was surveyed for her husband and on which she, presumably, has been living. Because she has been a widow, presumably for 2 years, she has not been able to make any improvements to the land since she has been kept pretty busy looking after 10 young children!
Since other letters are written in the same hand, I am sure that Anastasie herself did not pen this letter. I suspect it was probably written for her by Father Le,Jamtel, the priest serving all of Cape Breton at the time. He was the French priest who came over the Island of Miquelon with numerous Acadians.

Note: CHARLES POIRIER was born Abt 1721 in Beaubassin, NS. He married (1) MARGUERITE CHAISSON February 08, 1745/46 in Beaubassin, NS, daughter of Jean-Baptist Chaisson and Madeleine Boudrot. He married (2) MARGUERITE VIGNEAU November 15, 1747 in Beaubassin, NS, daughter of Mourice Vigneau and Marguerite Comeau.

Notes
Charles and his second wife Marguerite settled at Port Toulouse shortly after the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Acording to a tradition as told by Edme Rameau de St-pere, Charles hid with his family, in 1758 on an island in Bras d'Or lake, "where we killed all the dogs for fear of making noise".
After a decade or so, Charles settled in Arichat, where he occupied a piece of land that was later expropriated for the construction of the city hall, at the bequest of his daughter, Eulalie.
Charles is the ancestor of all the Poiriers of D'Escousse and the "Andriens" of Cheticamp. Volume 1- The Andre Line, By Jean Doris LeBlanc (1985).
Names and births of children; Source; Jim Meunier


Inspection Voyage of Sieur de la Roque Census 1752

Charles Poirier, native of l'Acadie, 30 years of age, married to Marguerite Vigneau, native of Port Toulouse, 25 years of age. It's been 18 months since they came to the country.
They have Charles, their son, aged 18 months.
In cattle, they have one sow (truie) and 10 hens.
The land in which they live on belongs to the Langlois family of Isle Madame.

Note: An 1817 petition for crown land indicates that Charles Poirier came to Isle Madame about 1757, and was at Little D'Escousse, (Poirierville), as early as 1795.
Charles Poirier immediately precedes Edward McDonald, indicating that they were living near each other.the census show Charles age 60, living with his wife and 9 children. Six of the children were under the age of 14. One son and two daughters were over the age of 14 but were unmarried.
Charles had eight cattle and twelve sheep and was listed as a fisherman.
In 1817 Charles petitioned Governor Ainslie, asking title to the lot at D'Escousse on which he had lived the past 22 years. The lot was adjoining land of Nastasie (Anastasie) Poirier, widow of the late Peter Poirier. Charles was age 75, a native of Cape Breton, and had lived 60 years on Isle Madame. He had 9 children all living with him. Charles was granted 58 acres of land in D'Escousse, Lot #5 Little Goulet, by crown lease from the government of Cape Breton on April 21, 1817. This land was passed by his son Charles to grandsons Edward and Simon Poirier

Note: Children by second marriage:

ii . VALENTIN, b. ca. 1806/7 (probably by second marriage although possibly by first); m. Marie Forest; 4 ch.

Note: (probably) URBAIN, godfather of his cousin Edward Burke in 1834, of his niece Gracieuse Poirier in 1837, of his nephew David Poirier in 1839, and of Louis McDonald's sons Pierre in 1839 and William in 1843. No further record.

Note: St. Hyacinth's, D'Escousse, Nova Scotia; Church Baptismal and Birth

POIRIER, MARGUERITE JEANNE Born June 23, 1881 Bapt June 24, 1881
Parents Isidore Poirier and Marie Louise Boudrot

Note: Jean (Jehan) Poirier, the first ancestor of this Poirier family,
was born in France where he married, around 1646, Jeanne Chabrat. He
appears to have been the soldier "Jehan Poirier" who came to Acadia in
1641 with Jacques Bourgeois on board the ship Saint Francois. So , we find
the Poirier family setttled in Beaubassin, Acadie, a settlement founded by
Jacques Bourgeois.

Jean died around 1653 and his widow, Jeanne Chabrat, married
Antoine Gougeon around 1656. The 1671 Port Royal census mentions Jeanne
Chabrat, aged, 45 and her 20 yr old son Michel.. Recently, the baptismal
entry for Jeanne Chabrat, dated Feb. 5/1627 was found in the registers of
the parish of La Chaussee, in Poirou, France.

The same register contains baptismal entries of several families
who bear identical surnames as those who came to Acadia, including Poiriers,
although there is no entry for Jean.

The 1678 Port-Royal census tells us that Jeanne Chabrat was, at that
time, a widow once again. Only two children from the Poirier-Chabrat
marriage are known : Marie, born around 1649, she married Roger Caissie, and
Michel, born around 1651, married Marie Boudreau. The two settled at
Beaubassin around 1675. All Acadian Poirier have roots in this area.

There was an other Michel Poirier in Beaubassin born around 1667,
married to Marie Chiasson, a 16 year old girl. They had a son named Michel
in 1693 but it is not known if they were related to our Jean Poirier. This
Poirier family was known as Michel Poirier from France..

Descendants of Michel, son of Jehan Poirier, are the most numerous
of the two Poirier families and are found in the Maritime provinces and in
Quebec province such as Gaspe area, Rimouski, Montmagny and Nicolet area.

Several members of this Poirier family had "dit" names, such as
Joseph dit Lantine, (from Cocagne) Joseph dit Gourdiec (exiled to Louisiana)
Charles dit Commis (settled in Bonaventure, PQ) Pierre dit
Chiche (also settled in Bonaventure, PQ) Pierre dit Doiron and Jean Baptiste
dit Canique (both in Nicolet, PQ, in 1787)

Some Poirier who settled on Prince Edward Island, changed their
name to Perry (Anglicized version) such was the case of Sylvain Poirier
priest, born on PEI in 1801 signed his name Sylvain Perry..

Jean Poirier was part of a group to work on the fishing establishment of Nicolas Denys in Cape Breton. Jehan Poirier arrived in Port-Royal around 1649, having married Jeanne Chabrat in 1648. His descendants are quite numerous, especially in New Brunswick and the Gaspé. His great-grandson Pierre (à Louis à Michel) was the ancestor of all the Gaspésian Poiriers.
He emigrated, 1641. Point of origin: Acadie, NS, Canada. He arrived on board the ship Saint Francois.?? Jean's occupation was soldier in 1648.

Information on the first four generations of Poiriers is available in the 'Genealogy of the Poirier Family in Cheticamp'

Burial: Date: 2 FEB 1942
Place: Marlboro, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Christening: Date: 27 JUN 1762
Place: Halifax, Plymouth, Massachusetts

Christening: Date: 2 NOV 1755
Place: Halifax, Plymouth, Massachusetts

Burial: Date: MAR 1764
Place: First Church, Scituate, Plymouth, Ma

Immigration: Date: ABT. 1633
Place: Dorchester, MA

Burial: Date: NOV 1733
Place: Marsh. Hills Cem, Marshfield, Plymouth, Ma

Christening: Date: 9 SEP 1683
Place: Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts