THE BROTHERS D'AMOURS.
Among the young adventurers who came to Acadia towards the close of
the seventeenth century were four brothers, sons of Mathieu
d'Amours[9] of Quebec. The father's political influence as a member of
the Supreme Council enabled him to obtain for each of his sons an
extensive seigniory. That of Louis d'Amours, the eldest, included a
tract of land of generous proportions at the Richibucto river; the
grant was issued September 20, 1684, but the seignior had already
built there a fort and two small houses, and for two years had been
cultivating a piece of land. His sojourn was brief, for in a year or
two we find him living on the River St. John, where his brothers
Mathieu and Rene were settled and where they were not long after
joined by their brother Bernard.
[9] This gentleman married in 1652 Marie, the eldest daughter of
Nicolas Marselot of Quebec; she was a very youthful bride,
being only 14 years old at the time of her marriage; she was
the mother of 15 children.
As mentioned in a previous chapter, it was customary among the French
noblesse for each son to take a surname derived from some portion of
the family estate; accordingly the sons of Councillor d'Amours figure
in history as Louis d'Amours, sieur de Chauffours; Mathieu d'Amours,
sieur de Freneuse; Rene d'Amours, sieur de Clignancourt and Bernard
d'Amours, sieur de Plenne.
After his arrival at the River St. John, Louis d'Amours fixed his
abode on the banks of the Jemseg and became the proprietor of the
seigniory formerly owned by the sieur de Soulanges. His brother, and
nearest neighbor, Mathieu's seigniory included all the land "between
Gemisik and Nachouac," two leagues in depth on each side of the river.
The wives of Louis and Mathieu d'Amours were sisters, Marguerite and
Louise Guyon of Quebec.
To Rene d'Amours, sieur de Clignancourt, was granted a seigniory
extending from the Indian village of Medoctec to the "longue sault."
The longue sault was probably the Meductic rapids twelve miles below
the village of Medoctec, although it may have been the Grand Falls
eighty miles above. The sieur de Clignancourt fixed his headquarters a
few miles above Fredericton at or near Eccles Island, which was
formerly called "Cleoncore"--a corruption of Clignancourt. An old
census shows he lived in that vicinity in 1696, and this is confirmed
by a statement in an official report of the same year that he lived a
league from Fort Nachouac. Rene d'Amours had an extensive trade with
the Indians, he was unmarried and lived the life of a typical "coureur
de bois."
Bernard d'Amours, the youngest of the quartette, came to Acadia
rather later than his brothers and was granted a seigniory at
Canibecachice (Kennebecasis), a league and a half along each side of
the river and two leagues in depth.[10] He married Jeanne le Borgne,
and their son Alexander was baptized at Port Royal in 1702 by a
Recollet missionary.
[10] The grants of Louis d'Amours at Richibucto, and of Mathieu and
Rene on the St. John river are of the same date, September 20,
1684; that of Bernard on the Kennebeccasis is dated June 20,
1695.
The brothers d'Amours were in the prime of life when they came to
Acadia; the census of de Meulles taken in 1686 gives the age of Louis
as 32 years and that of Mathieu as 28. All the brothers engaged in
hunting and trading with the Indians and were in consequence disliked
by Governor Villebon, who viewed them with a jealous eye and mentions
them in unfavorable terms in his official dispatches. Villebon's
hostility was no doubt intensified by a representation made to the
French ministry in 1692 by Louis d'Amours that the Governor of Acadia,
to advance his own private fortune, engaged in trade, absolutely
prohibited by his majesty, both with the natives of the country and
with the people of New England.
Frontenac and Champigny at this time filled the offices respectively
of governor and intendant (or lieutenant governor) of New France, and
the king in his message to them, dated at Versailles June 14, 1695,
refers to matters on the River St. John in the following terms:
"His Majesty finds it necessary to speak on the subject of the grants
obtained by the Sieurs d'Amours, which comprehend an immense tract of
land along the River St. John. It is commonly reported that since they
have lived there they have not engaged in clearing and cultivating
their lands, that they have no cattle nor any other employment than
that of a miserable traffic exclusively with the savages; and as his
Majesty has been informed that the lands in those parts are the best
in the world, watered by large rivers and in a situation more
temperate and pleasant than other parts of Canada, the sieurs d'Amours
must be compelled to establish themselves upon a better footing; and
those people who are to have new grants of land are directed to this
part of Acadia where, as his Majesty is informed, the sieurs d'Amours
pretend to have exclusive possession of about thirty leagues of
country."
That the sentiments of this royal message were inspired by Villebon is
evident from the tenor of the letters he addresses to the French
ministry at this time. In one of these he says of the brothers
d'Amours: "They are four in number living on the St. John river. They
are given up to licentiousness and independence for the ten or twelve
years they have been here. They are disobedient and seditious and
require to be watched." In another communication he scornfully terms
them "the pretended gentry" (soi disant gentilhommes). Writing to the
French minister the next year he observes: "I have no more reason, my
lord, to be satisfied with the sieurs d'Amours than I previously had.
The one who has come from France has not pleased me more than the
other two. Their minds are wholly spoiled by long licentiousness and
the manners they have acquired among the Indians, and they must be
watched closely as I had the honor to state to you last year."
Fortunately for the reputation of the brothers d'Amours we have
evidence that places them in a more favorable light than does the
testimony of Governor Villebon. M. de Champigny, the intendant at
Quebec, wrote to the French minister. "The sons of the sieur d'Amours,
member of the supreme council at Quebec, who are settled on the River
St. John, apply themselves chiefly to cultivating their lands and
raising cattle.
"I sent you, my Lord, the census of their domain, which has been made
by Father Simon, the Recollet, who is missionary on the same river, in
which you may have every confidence, he being a very honest man. It is
very unfortunate, my lord, that any one should have informed you that
they lead a licentious life with the savages for I have reliable
testimony that their conduct is very good. It seems as if all who
live in that locality are in a state of discord; the inhabitants make
great complaints against the Sieurs de Villebon and des Goutins. Some
who have come to Quebec say they are constantly so harrassed and
oppressed that if things are not put upon a better footing they will
be compelled to abandon the country."
That the inhabitants living on the river were turning their attention
to agriculture is shown by a communication to Frontenac or Champigny
in 1696, in which the writer, probably Villieu, says: "I informed you
last year, Monsieur, by the memo that I did myself the honor to send
you, that the inhabitants of this river begin to cultivate their
lands. I have since learned that they have raised some grain. M. de
Chouffours, who had sown so considerably last year, has not received
anything in return, the worms having eaten the seed in the ground; M.
de Freneuse, his brother, has harvested about 15 hogsheads of wheat
and M. de Clignancourt very little; M. Bellefontaine, about 5
hogsheads; the Sieur Martel very little, as he has only begun to
cultivate his land during the last two years; the other inhabitants
nothing at all, unless it is a little Indian corn. The Sieurs
d'Amours, except the Sieur Clignancourt, have sown this year pretty
considerably of wheat and the Sieur Bellefontaine also, the Sieur
Martel some rye and wheat and much peas. The other inhabitants have
sown some Indian corn, which would have turned out well only they have
sown too late on account of their land being inundated."
Baron la Hontan visited Fort Nashouac about 1694. He describes the St.
John as "a very pleasant river, adorned with fields that are very
fertile in grain." He says that two gentlemen of the name of d'Amours
have a settlement there for beaver hunting.
The census made in 1695 by Simon, the French missionary, shows that
there were then ten families, numbering forty-nine persons, on the St.
John river, besides the garrison at Fort Nachouac. Their live stock
included 38 cattle and 116 swine; there were 166 acres of land under
cultivation and 73 in pasture; the crop of that year included 130
bushels of wheat, 370 of corn, 30 of oats, 170 of peas.
The testimony of John Gyles, who spent three years in the family of
Louis d'Amours at the Jemseg, conclusively disproves Villebon's
assertion that the d'Amours tilled no land and kept no cattle. He
speaks of a fine wheat field owned by his master, in which the
blackbirds created great havoc and describes a curious attempt made by
a friar to exorcise the birds. A procession was formed, headed by the
friar, in his white robe with a young lad as his attendant and some
thirty people following. Gyles asked some of the prisoners, who had
lately been taken by privateers and brought to the Jemseg, whether
they would go back with him to witness the ceremony, but they
emphatically refused to witness it and when Gyles expressed his
determination to go, one of them, named Woodbury, said he was "as bad
as a papist and a d--d fool." The procession passed and re-passed from
end to end of the field with solemn words of exorcism accompanied by
the tinkling of a little bell, the blackbirds constantly rising before
them only to light behind them. "At their return," says Gyles, "I told
a French lad that the friar had done no service and recommended them
to shoot the birds. The lad left me, as I thought, to see what the
friar would say to my observation, which turned out to be the case,
for he told the lad that the sins of the people were so great that he
could not prevail against those birds."
A story analogous to this is related in Dr. Samuel Peters' history of
Connecticut, of the celebrated George Whitefield, the New England
Independent minister and revivalist: "Time not having destroyed the
wall of the fort at Saybrooke, Whitefield, in 1740, attempted to bring
down the wall as Joshua did those of Jericho, hoping thereby to
convince the multitude of his divine mission. He walked seven times
around the fort with prayer and ram's horn blowing, he called on the
angel of Joshua to do as he had done at the walls of Jericho; but the
angel was deaf to his call and the wall remained. Thereupon George
cried aloud: 'This town is accursed and the wall shall stand as a
monument of a sinful people!'"
Mathieu d'Amours, Sieur de Freneuse, seems to have thought seriously
of leaving the St. John river on account of the difficulties and
discouragements of his situation, for on the 6th August, 1696, he made
out to one Michel Chartier, of Schoodic, in Acadia, a lease of his
seignioral manor of Freneuse, consisting of 30 arpents (acres) of
arable land under the plough, meadow, forest and undergrowth, with
houses, barns and stables thereon, a cart and plough rigged ready for
work; also all the oxen, cows, bullocks, goats, pigs, poultry,
furniture and household utensils that might remain from the sale which
he proposed to make. Chartier was to enjoy the right of trade with the
Indians through the whole extent of the manor except where lands had
been granted by the Sieur de Freneuse to private individuals. The
lease was to be for a term of five years beginning with the first day
of May following, and the lessee was to pay the Sieur de Freneuse 600
livres annually, half in money and half in small furs, such as beaver,
otter and martins.
It is not likely that this transaction was ever consummated, for less
than three months after the lease was arranged and six months before
Chartier was to take possession, all the buildings of the Sieur de
Freneuse were burned, his cattle destroyed and his fields laid waste
by Hawthorne's expedition returning from their unsuccessful seige of
Fort Nachouac. The original lease, a very interesting document, is now
in possession of Dr. W. F. Ganong and a fac-simile of the signature of
the Sieur de Freneuse is here given.[11]
[11] A copy of the original lease of the Seigniory of Freneuse, with
translation, and remarks by Dr. Ganong, will be found in Vol.
I., p. 121, of Acadiensis, printed at St. John by D. R. Jack,
to whose kindness and that of Dr. Ganong I am indebted for the
signature given above.--W. O. R.
[Illustration: Signature of Sieur de Freneuse]
The seigniory included both sides of the St. John river in Sunbury
county, and the most fertile portions of the parishes of Maugerville,
Sheffield, Burton and Lincoln. The name Freneuse is found in most of
the maps of that region down to the time of the American Revolution.
The residence of the Sieur de Freneuse stood on the east bank of the
St. John opposite the mouth of the Oromocto river.
Mathieu d'Amours, as already stated, died in consequence of exposure
at the siege of Fort Nachouac. Sixty years later the lands he had
cleared and tilled and the site of his residence were transferred to
the hands of the first English settlers on the river, the Maugerville
colony of 1763. His widow, Madame Louise Guyon, went to Port Royal,
where her indiscretion created a sensation that resulted in voluminous
correspondence on the part of the authorities and finally led to her
removal to Quebec.
Rene d'Amours, during his sojourn on the River St. John, was much
engrossed in trade with the natives. He made periodical visits to
their villages and was well known at Medoctec, where Gyles lived as a
captive, and it is not unlikely the Frenchmen living at that village
were his retainers. He seems to have made little or no attempt to
fulfil the conditions necessary to retain possession of his seignioral
manor, for to his mind the charms of hunting and trading surpassed
those of farming. His visits to Medoctec to purchase furs and skins
when the Indians had returned from their winter hunts were of doubtful
advantage to the poor savages, for Gyles tells us that "when they came
in from hunting they would be drunk and fight for several days and
nights together, till they had spent most of their skins in wine and
brandy, which was brought to the village by a Frenchman called
Monsieur Sigenioncor" (Clignancourt).
The latter portion of the narrative of John Gyles throws light on the
course of events on the St. John during Villebon's regime, and
supplies us with a particularly interesting glimpse of domestic life
in the home of Louis d'Amours on the banks of the Jemseg, where Gyles
spent the happiest years of his captivity. The wife of the Sieur de
Chauffours, Marguerite Guyon[12], appears in an especially amiable
light. Her lonely situation and rude surroundings, the perils of the
wilderness and of savage war, amidst which her little children were
born, evoke our sympathy. Her goodness of heart is seen in her
motherly kindness to Gyles, the young stranger of an alien race--the
"little English," as she calls him. But with all her amiability and
gentleness she possessed other and stronger qualities, and it was her
woman's wit and readiness of resource that saved her husband's
fortunes in a grave emergency. The story shall be told in Gyles' own
words.
[12] Louis d'Amours married Marguerite Guyon in 1686, about the time
he settled on the St. John river. They had three children.
"When about six years of my doleful captivity had passed, my second
Indian master died, whose squaw and my first Indian disputed whose
slave I should be. Some malicious persons advised them to end the
quarrel by putting a period to my life; but honest father Simon, the
priest of the river, told them that it would be a heinous crime and
advised them to sell me to the French."
The suggestion of father Simon was adopted and Gyles, now in his
sixteenth year, went with the missionary and the Indians to the mouth
of the river, the occasion of their journey being the arrival of a
French man-of-war at Menagoueche with supplies for the garrison and
presents for the Indians.
"My master asked me," continues Gyles, "whether I chose to be sold
aboard the man-of-war or to the inhabitants? I replied with tears, I
should be glad if you would sell me to the English from whom you took
me, but if I must be sold to the French, I chose to be sold to the
lowest on the river, or nearest inhabitant to the sea, about 25
leagues from the mouth of the river; for I thought that if I were sold
to the gentlemen aboard the man-of-war I should never return to the
English. * * My master presently went on shore and a few days after
all the Indians went up the river. When we came to a house which I had
spoken to my master about, he went on shore with me and tarried all
night. The master of the house (Louis d'Amours) spoke kindly to me in
Indian, for I could not then speak one word of French. Madam also
looked pleasant on me and gave me some bread. The next day I was sent
six leagues further up the river to another French house. My master
and the friar tarried with Monsieur De Chauffours, the gentleman who
had entertained us the night before. Not long after father Simon came
and said, 'Now you are one of us, for you are sold to that gentleman
by whom you were entertained the other night.'
"I replied, 'Sold!--to a Frenchman!' I could say no more, but went
into the woods alone and wept till I could scarce see or stand. The
word 'sold,' and that to a people of that persuasion which my dear
mother so much detested and in her last words manifested so great
fears of my falling into; the thought almost broke my heart.
"When I had thus given vent to my grief I wiped my eyes, endeavoring
to conceal its effects, but father Simon perceiving my eyes swollen,
rolled me aside bidding me not to grieve, for the gentleman he said to
whom I was sold was of a good humor; that he had formerly bought two
captives of the Indians who both went home to Boston. This in some
measure revived me; but he added he did not suppose that I would ever
incline to go to the English for the French way of worship was much to
be preferred. He said also he would pass that way in about ten days,
and if I did not like to live with the French better than the Indians
he would buy me again.
"On the day following, father Simon and my Indian master went up the
river six and thirty leagues to their chief village and I went down
the river six leagues with two Frenchmen to my new master. He kindly
received me, and in a few days Madam made me an osnaburg shirt and
French cap and a coat out of one of my master's old coats. Then I
threw away my greasy blanket and Indian flap; and I never more saw the
old friar, the Indian village or my Indian master till about fourteen
years after when I saw my old Indian master at Port Royal, and again
about twenty-four years since he came from St. John to Fort George to
see me where I made him very welcome.
"My French master had a great trade with the Indians, which suited me
very well, I being thorough in the language of the tribes at Cape
Sable[13] and St. John. I had not lived long with this gentleman
before he committed to me the keys of his store, etc., and my whole
employment was trading and hunting, in which I acted faithfully for
my master and never knowingly wronged him to the value of one
farthing. They spoke to me so much in Indian that it was some time
before I was perfect in the French tongue."
[13] The Micmacs, as distinguished from the St. John river Indians or
Maliseets.
It was in the summer of the year 1695 that John Gyles was purchased of
the Indians by Louis d'Amours, having been nearly six years in
captivity at the Medoctec village. The strong prejudice against the
French instilled into his mind by his mother, who was a devout
puritan, was soon overcome by the kindness of Marguerite d'Amours.
The goods needed by the Sieur de Chauffours for his trade with the
Indians were obtained from the man-of-war which came out annually from
France, and Gyles was sometimes sent with the Frenchmen in his
master's employ to the mouth of the river for supplies. On one of
these trips, in the early spring time, the party in their frail canoes
were caught in a violent storm as they were coming down the
Kennebeccasis--having crossed over thither from Long Reach by way of
Kingston Creek, the usual route of travel. They were driven on Long
Island opposite Rothesay and remained there seven days without food,
unable to return by reason of the northeast gale and unable to advance
on account of the ice. At the expiration of that time the ice broke up
and they were able to proceed, but in so exhausted a state that they
could "scarce hear each other speak." After their arrival at St. John,
two of the party very nearly died in consequence of eating too
heartily, but Gyles had had such ample experience of fasting in his
Indian life that he had learned wisdom, and by careful dieting
suffered no evil consequences.
In the month of October, 1696, the quietude of the household at the
Jemseg was disturbed by the appearance of the Massachusetts military
expedition under Hawthorne and Church.
"We heard of them," says Gyles, "some time before they came up the
river by the guard that Governor Villebon had ordered at the river's
mouth. Monsieur the gentleman whom I lived with was gone to France,
and Madam advised with me; she then desired me to nail a paper on the
door of our house containing as follows:--
'I intreat the General of the English not to burn my House or
Barn, nor destroy my Cattle. I don't suppose that such an army
comes up this River to destroy a few Inhabitants but for the Fort
above us. I have shewn kindness to the English captives as we were
capacitated and have bought two Captives of the Indians and sent
them to Boston, and have one now with us and he shall go also when
a convenient opportunity presents and he desires it.'
"This done, Madam said to me, 'Little English; we have shewn you
kindness and now it lies in your power to serve or disserve us, as you
know where our goods are hid in the woods and that Monsieur is not at
home. I could have sent you to the Fort and put you under confinement,
but my respect for you and assurance of your love to us have disposed
me to confide in you, persuaded that you will not hurt us nor our
affairs. And now if you will not run away to the English, who are
coming up the river, but serve our interest I will acquaint Monsieur
of it at his return from France which will be very pleasing to him;
and I now give my word that you shall have liberty to go to Boston on
the first opportunity, if you desire it, or that any other favor in my
power shall not be deny'd you.'
"I replied:--'Madam, it is contrary to the nature of the English to
requite evil for good. I shall endeavor to serve you and your
interest. I shall not run to the English; but if I am taken by them
shall willingly go with them and yet endeavor not to disserve you
either in your persons or goods.'
"This said we embarked and went in a large boat and canoe two or three
miles up an eastern branch of the river that comes from a large pond
[Grand Lake] and in the evening sent down four hands to make
discovery; and while they were sitting in the house the English
surrounded it and took one of the four; the other three made their
escape in the dark through the English soldiers and came to us and
gave a surprising account of affairs.
"Again Madam said to me, 'Little English, now you can go from us, but
I hope you will remember your word!' I said, 'Madam, be not concerned,
for I will not leave you in this strait.' She said 'I know not what to
do with my two poor little Babes.' I said 'Madam, the sooner we embark
and go over the great Pond the better.' Accordingly we embarked and
went over the Pond.
"The next day we spake with Indians, who were in a canoe and gave us
an account that Chignecto-town was taken and burnt. Soon after we
heard the great guns at Governor Villebon's fort, which the English
engaged several days, killed one man, and drew off and went down the
river; for it was so late in the fall that had they tarried a few days
longer in the river, they would have been frozen in for the winter.
"Hearing no report of the great guns for several days, I, with two
others, went down to our house to make discovery, where we found our
young lad who was taken by the English when they went up the river;
for the general was so honorable that, on reading the note on our
door, he ordered that the house and barn should not be burnt nor their
cattle or other creatures killed, except one or two, and the poultry
for their use, and at their return ordered the young lad to be put
ashore.
"Finding things in this posture, we returned and gave Madam an
account. She acknowledged the many favors which the English had shown,
with gratitude, and treated me with great civility. The next spring
Monsieur arrived from France in the man-of-war, who thanked me for my
care of his affairs, and said that he would endeavor to fulfil what
Madam had promised me."
At the expiration of another year, peace having been proclaimed, a
sloop came to Menagoueche with ransom for one Michael Coombs, and
Gyles at once reminded the Sieur de Chauffours of his promise. That
gentleman advised him to remain, offering to do for him as if he were
his own child, but Gyles' heart was set upon going to Boston, hoping
to find some of his relations yet alive. His master then advised him
to go up to the fort and take leave of the Governor, which he did, and
says the Sieur de Villebon spoke very kindly to him. Some days after
he took an affecting leave of Madame d'Amours and his master went down
to the mouth of the river with him to see him on board. A few days
afterwards he arrived safely in Boston and was welcomed by his
relatives as one risen from the dead.
[Illustration: Signature of John Gyles]
After Villebon's death his successor, de Brouillan, dismantled Fort
Nachouac and the fort at the mouth of the St. John river and
transferred the garrisons to Port Royal. The French families living on
the river soon followed, as they found themselves without protection
and did not care to remain in a situation so exposed. The houses
abandoned by these settlers had been built upon the interval lands on
the east side of the river between the Nashwaak and the Jemseg. The
soil was very fertile, entirely free from rock or stone and little
incumbered by forest. But the situation had its disadvantages--as it
has still. In the spring of the year 1701 the settlers had a most
unhappy experience in consequence of an extraordinarily high freshet.
This event increased Brouillan's aversion to the St. John, and he
writes:
"The river is altogether impracticable for habitations, the little
the people had there being destroyed this year by the freshets
(inondations) which have carried off houses, cattle and grain.
There is no probability that any families will desire to expose
themselves hereafter to a thing so vexatious and so common on that
river. Monsieur De Chauffours, who used to be the mainstay of the
inhabitants and the savages, has been forced to abandon it and to
withdraw to Port Royal, but he has no way to make a living there for
his family, and he will unhappily be forced to seek some other retreat
if the Court pays no consideration to the services which he
represents in his petition, and does not grant him some position in
order to retain him in this colony."
The next year France and England were again at war and in the course
of the conflict the fortunes of the d'Amours in Acadia were involved
in utter ruin. The gentle spirit of Marguerite Guyon d'Amours did not
survive the struggle, and with the close of the century she passed
from the scene of her trials. Louis d'Amours, while serving his
country in arms, was taken by the English, and for more than two years
remained a prisoner in Boston. His brother, the Sieur de Clignancourt,
served in various expeditions against the New Englanders and for
several years is heard of in connection with military affairs.
Eventually most of the surviving members of the d'Amours family
removed from Acadia leaving behind them no abiding record of their
sojourn on the St. John river.
Two of the daughters of Louis d'Amours were married at Port Royal
while very young. Perhaps they possessed their mother's winsome
manners, perhaps, also the scarcity of marriageable girls in Acadia
may have had something to do with the matter; at any rate Charlotte
d'Amours was but seventeen years of age when she married the young
baron, Anselm de St. Castin. Their wedding took place at Port Royal in
October, 1707, just two months after young St. Castin had greatly
distinguished himself in the heroic and successful defense of Port
Royal against an expedition from New England.[14] The event no doubt
caused a flutter of excitement in the then limited society of Port
Royal. The officiating priest was Father Antoine Gaulin, of the
Seminary of Quebec, at which institution the young baron had finished
his studies only three years before. Among the witnesses of the
marriage were the Chevalier de Subercase, governor of Acadia;
Bonaventure, who had for some years rendered signal service as
commander of the "Envieux" and other warships; Mon. de la Boularderie,
a French officer who had been wounded in the recent siege, and the
bride's farther, Louis d'Amours--who, signs his name D'Amour
D'Echofour.
[14] The mortification of the Bostonians at the failure of this
expedition was extreme. So confident of success were they that
preparations were made for a public rejoicing on the
anticipated capture of Port Royal. The young baron St. Castin
was wounded in the defence of Port Royal. His conduct in
leading the defenders on several critical occasions was
characterized by such dash and intrepidity that Governor
Subercase in describing the siege wrote to the French minister
at Versailles that if it had not been for the presence of the
Baron St. Castin he knew not what would have been the result.
See Murdoch's Hist. Nova Scotia, vol. I., p. 289.
A few years later the Marquis de Vaudreuil entrusted to St. Castin the
command of Acadia. After the treaty of Utrecht he retired to his
ancestral residence on the banks of the Penobscot, where he lived on
amicable terms with the English and kept the Penobscot Indians from
making encroachments on their neighbors. His sister, Ursule de St.
Castin, married his wife's brother, a son of Louis d'Amours, a
circumstance of interest not only as being a double marriage between
the families of St. Castin and d'Amours, but also from the fact that
the familiar titles of the d'Amours family seem to have been retained
in this, the oldest branch of their family. In proof of this fact, the
distinguished Acadian genealogist, Placid P. Gaudet, has shown that
among the Acadians residing at the Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon
in 1767 (according to the census of that year), were Ursule de St.
Castin, widow of the only son of Louis d'Amours, then 71 year of age,
who resided with her son Joseph d'Amours, deChauffour, and his family.
Joseph d'Amours was at that time 49 years of age, and his wife,
Genevieve Roy, 44 years of age. They had seven children and the oldest
sons were Joseph d'Amours, aged 19 years; Paul d'Amours de Freneuse,
aged 16 years, and Louis d'Amours de Clignancourt, aged 13 years. As
the father himself retained the title of de Chauffours it is evident
that on his decease it would fall to his oldest son, Joseph.
Marie d'Amours, sister of the young Baroness de St. Castin, married
Pierre de Morpain, the commander of a privateer of St. Domingo. It
chanced that he had just brought a ship load of provisions to Port
Royal when it was attacked in 1707, and he was able to render good
service in its defence. Two years afterwards he was again at Port
Royal and in the course of a ten days' cruise took nine prizes and
destroyed four more vessels. Being attacked by a coast-guard ship of
Boston a furious engagement ensued in which the English captain was
killed with one hundred of his men and his vessel made a prize and
taken to Port Royal. The commander, Subercase, highly commended
Morpain's bravery and persuaded him to remain at Port Royal where, on
August 13, 1709, he married Marie d'Amours de Chauffours.
Louis d'Amours, Sieur de Chauffours, returned to Port Royal in 1706
after a two years captivity at Boston. On the 17th January, 1708, only
a few weeks after the marriage of his daughter to St. Castin, he took
to himself a wife in the person of Anne Comeau. The marriage was
witnessed by Governor Subercase and other officials at Port Royal,
also by his daughter Charlotte and her husband, the Baron de St.
Castin, and by the widow of his brother the Sieur de Freneuse. It
seems probable that his health had suffered through his long
imprisonment, for very shortly after his second marriage he was
stricken with an illness which proved fatal. The Recollet missionary,
Justinien Durad, records in his parish register the burial in the
cemetery of St. Jean Baptiste at Port Royal on May 19, 1708, of "Louis
d'Amour d'Echauffour, aged not far from sixty years [should be 54
years], after an illness of three months, during which he received the
sacraments with great edification." And this brings us to the last
incident in the romantic story of the brothers d'Amours.