THE EXILES
Thus the Acadians passed from the land of their birth
and from the scenes of their youth. Some were to wander
as exiles in many lands for many years, separated from
their children and from their kind, while others, more
fortunate, were soon to regain their native soil.
Lawrence, in his instructions to the governors of the
colonies to which he had sent the exiles, said that they
were 'to be received and disposed of in such a manner as
may best answer our design of preventing their reunion'
as a people. It was not intended to tear apart families
and friends, but, owing to the scarcity of vessels and
the inadequate arrangements for the deportation, there
were many cruel separations. The deputies confined since
July on George's Island, for example, were at the last
moment transferred to Annapolis in order that they might
accompany their families, but this was not effected, for
the deputies themselves landed in North Carolina, while
their wives and children were dispersed in other colonies.
[Footnote: Nova Scotia Documents, p. 280. Calnek and
Savary, History of the County of Annapolis, p. 124.] One
of the leading Acadians, and one who had loyally served
the British, Rene Le Blanc, notary of Grand Pre, was
landed with his wife and his two youngest children in
New York, while his eighteen other children were scattered
far and wide. [Footnote: Petition of the Acadians deported
to Philadelphia. Printed in Richard, vol. ii, p. 371.]
The real separation of families, however, began in the
colonies. For example, four hundred persons were transported
to Connecticut; but before the whole number arrived an
order went forth for their dispersion in fifty towns.
Nineteen were allotted to Norwich, while three only were
sent to Haddon. In some colonies only the first boats
were allowed to disembark the exiles, and the masters of
the others were forced to seek other ports.
The treatment of the exiles in the colonies varied
according to circumstances. In some instances the younger
men and women were bound out to service for periods
varying from three to twelve weeks. In others they were
left free to maintain themselves by their own efforts,
the state to provide for such as were incapable, through
age or infirmity, of performing manual labour. Hundreds
of those who were placed under control escaped and
wandered, footsore and half clad, from town to town in
the hope of meeting their relatives or of finding means
to return to their former homes. Little record has been
preserved of the journeyings of these unfortunates or of
the sufferings they endured.
About a third of the people deported from Nova Scotia in
1755 found their way to South Carolina, although that
does not appear to have been the destination proposed
for them by Lawrence. On November 6, 1755, the South
Carolina Gazette announced that 'the Baltimore Snow is
expected from the Bay of Fundy with some French Neutrals
on board to be distributed in the British colonies.' A
fortnight later the first of these arrived, and in the
course of a few weeks over a thousand had been landed at
Charleston. Soon after, probably passed on by other
colonies, a thousand more arrived. Alarmed by the presence
of so many strangers, the authorities adopted measures
to place them under restraint; and in February 1756 two
parties of the prisoners broke loose: thirty of them
outdistanced their pursuers; five or six, according to
the Gazette, made their way to the plantation of a Mr
Williams on the Santee, terrified the family, secured a
quantity of clothing and firearms, broke open a box
containing money, and headed across the Alleghanies, it
was thought, for the French stronghold, Fort Duquesne,
where Pittsburgh now stands. This conjecture is probable,
since nine Acadians from Fort Duquesne arrived at the
river St John some time later. In the interval the South
Carolina legislature passed an act for the dispersion of
four-fifths of the French Neutrals in various parishes
at the public expense, the remaining fifth to be supported
at Charleston by the vestry of St Phillips. On April 16
passports were given to one hundred and thirty persons
to proceed to Virginia. Here they obtained the authority
of the governor to return to Acadia, and they reached
the river St John on June 16, 1756. Some time later the
governor of South Carolina gave the remainder of the
people permission to go where they pleased. Two old ships
and a quantity of inferior provisions were placed at
their disposal, and they sailed for Hampton, Virginia.
In due course nine hundred of them landed in the district
of the river St John, where they were employed by Vaudreuil,
the governor of New France, in harrying the British. By
the year 1763 only two hundred and eighty-three Acadians
remained in South Carolina. One family of the name of
Lanneau became Protestants and gave two ministers to the
Presbyterian Church--the Rev. John Lanneau, who afterwards
went as a missionary to Jerusalem, and the Rev. Basil
Lanneau, who became Hebrew tutor in the Theological
Seminary at Columbia.
Among the refugees who put out from Minas on October 13,
1755, were some four hundred and fifty destined for
Philadelphia. The vessels touched Delaware on November
20, when it was discovered that there were several cases
of smallpox on board, and the masters were ordered to
leave the shore. They were not permitted to land at
Philadelphia until the 10th of December. Many of the
exiles died during the winter, and were buried in the
cemetery of the poor which now forms a part of Washington
Park, Philadelphia. The survivors were lodged in a poor
quarter of the town, in 'neutral huts,' as their mean
dwellings were termed. When the plague-stricken people
arrived, Philadelphia had scarcely recovered from the
panic of a recent earthquake. Moreover, there was a
letter, said to have been written by Lawrence, dated at
Halifax, August 6, and published in the Philadelphia
Gazette on September 4, not calculated to place the
destitute refugees in a favourable light. This is the
substance of the letter: We are now forming the noble
project of driving the French Neutrals out of this
province. They have long been our secret enemies and have
assisted the Indians. If we are able to accomplish their
expulsion, it will be one of the great achievements of
the English in America, for, among other considerations,
the lands which they occupy are among the best in the
country, and we can place good English farmers in their
stead. A few days later another letter was published to
the effect that three Acadians had been arrested charged
with poisoning the wells in the vicinity of Halifax.
Their trial, it was stated, had not yet taken place; but
if guilty they would have but a few hours to live.
Robert Hunter Morris, the governor at this time of
Pennsylvania, wrote to Shirley of Massachusetts saying
that, as he had not sufficient troops to enforce order,
he feared that the Acadians would unite with the Irish
and German Catholics in a conspiracy against the state.
He also addressed the governor of New Jersey [Footnote:
Jonathan Belcher, governor of New Jersey and later of
Massachusetts. He was the father of the chief justice of
Nova Scotia.] to the same effect. The governor of New
Jersey, in his reply, expressed surprise that those who
planned to send the French Neutrals, or rather rebels
and traitors to the British crown, had not realized that
there were already too many strangers for the peace and
security of the colonies: that they should have been sent
to Old France. He was quite in accord with Morris in
believing there was a danger of the people joining the
Irish Papists in an attempt to ruin and destroy the king's
colonies.
The Acadians had arrived at Philadelphia in a most
deplorable condition. One of the Quakers who visited the
boats while they were in quarantine reported that they
were without shirts and socks and were sadly in need of
bed-clothing. A petition to the governor, giving an
account of their conduct in Acadia and of the treatment
they had received, fell on deaf ears. An act was passed
for their dispersion in the counties of Bucks, Lancaster,
and Chester. The refugees, however, were not without
friends. To several Quakers they were indebted for many
acts of kindness and generosity.
Among those deported to Philadelphia was one of the Le
Blanc family, a boy of seventeen, Charles Le Blanc. Early
in life he engaged in commerce, and in the course of a
long and successful career in Philadelphia amassed an
enormous fortune, including large estates in the colonies
and in Canada. After his death in 1816 there were many
claimants to his estate, and the litigation over it is
not yet ended.
The Acadians taken to New York were evidently as poor as
their fellow-refugees at Philadelphia. An Act of July 6,
1756, recites that 'a certain number have been received
into this colony, poor, naked, and destitute of every
convenience and support of life, and, to the end that
they may not continue as they now really are, useless to
His Majesty, to themselves, and a burthen to this colony,
be it enacted ... that the Justices of the Peace ... be
required and empowered to bind with respectable families
such as are not arrived at the age of twenty-one years,
for such a space of time as they may think proper.' The
justices were to make the most favourable contracts for
them, and when their term of service expired, they were
to be paid either in implements of trade, clothing, or
other gratuity.
In the month of August 1756 one hundred and ten sturdy
Acadian boys and girls made their appearance in New York.
They had travelled all the way from Georgia in the hope
of finding means to return to Acadia. Great was their
disappointment when they were seized by the authorities
and placed out to service. Later some of the parents
straggled in, but they were dispersed immediately in
Orange and Westchester counties, and some on Long Island,
in charge of a constable. The New York Mercury of July
1757 reported that a number of the neutrals had been
captured near Fort Edward while on their way to Crown
Point. Between the arrival of the first detachment in
New York and the month of August 1757 the colony was
compelled to provide for large numbers who came in from
distant places. To prevent any further escape the sheriffs
were commanded to secure all the Acadians, except women
and children, in the county gaol.
At a later date these unfortunates were put to a strange
use. Sir Harry Moore, governor of the colony of New York
(1765-69), had designs upon the French colony at Santo
Domingo, in the West Indies, and desired plans of the
town and its fortifications. So he entered into
correspondence with the French Admiral, Count d'Estaing,
offering to transport thither seventy Acadian families
in order that they might live under the French flag. The
count accepted the offer and issued a proclamation to
the Acadians inviting them to Santo Domingo. Moore had
arranged that John Hanson should conduct the exiles to
their new home. Hanson, on arriving at the French colony,
was to take a contract to build houses and make out the
desired military plans while so engaged. He succeeded in
transporting the Acadians, but failed in the real object
of his mission. He was not allowed the liberty of building
houses in Santo Domingo. The Acadians who went to the
West Indies suffered greatly. The tropical climate proved
disastrous to men and women who had been reared in the
atmosphere of the Bay of Fundy. They crawled under trees
and shrubs to escape the fierce rays of the sun. Numbers
of them perished and life became a burden to the others.
Far different was the lot of the Acadians who were sent
to Maryland. [Footnote: The Maryland Gazette, Annapolis,
December 4, 1755, said: 'Sunday last [November 30] arrived
here the last of the vessels from Nova Scotia with French
Neutrals for this place, which makes four within this
fortnight bringing upwards of nine hundred of them. As
the poor people have been deprived of their settlements
in Nova Scotia, and sent here for some political reason
bare and destitute, Christian charity, nay, common
humanity, calls on every one according to his ability to
lend assistance and to help these objects of compassion.']
There they were kindly received and found, no doubt, a
happier lot than in any of the other colonies. Those
landed at Baltimore were at first lodged in private houses
and in a building belonging to a Mr Fotherall, where they
had a little chapel. And it was not long before the frugal
and industrious exiles were able to construct small but
comfortable houses of their own on South Charles Street,
giving to that quarter of the city the name of French
Town. Many of them found employment on the waterside and
in navigation. The old and infirm picked oakum.
Massachusetts at one time counted in the colony a thousand
and forty of the exiles, but all these had not come direct
on the ships from Nova Scotia. Many of them had wandered
in from other colonies. The people of Massachusetts loved
not Catholics and Frenchmen; nevertheless, in some
instances they received the refugees with especial
kindness. At Worcester a small tract of land was set
aside for the Acadians to cultivate, with permission to
hunt deer at all seasons. The able-bodied men and women
toiled in the fields as reapers, and added to their income
in the evening by making wooden implements. The Acadians
were truly primitive in their methods. 'Although,' says
a writer of the time, 'they tilled the soil they kept no
animals for labour. The young men drew their material
for fencing with thongs of sinew, and they turned the
earth with a spade. The slightest allusion to their native
land drew forth tears and many of the aged died of a
broken heart.'
As French Neutrals began to come into Boston from other
towns, the selectmen of that city protested vigorously
and passed the people on to outlying parishes, promising,
however, to be responsible for their maintenance should
they become a public charge. Several instances are recorded
of children being sent to join their parents. A certain
number were confined in the workhouse and in the provincial
hospital. But on December 6, 1760, the authorities gave
instructions for the hospital to be cleared to make room
for the colonial troops who were returning home, many of
them suffering from contagious diseases; and the Acadians
were forthwith turned out.
Although none of the Acadians appear to have been sent
direct to Louisiana, large numbers of them found their
way thither from various places, especially from Virginia,
where they were not allowed to remain. Finding in Louisiana
men speaking their own tongue, they felt a sense of
security, and gradually settled down with a degree of
contentment. There are to-day in various parishes of the
state of Louisiana many thousand Acadian-Americans.
Of the Acadians who succeeded in escaping deportation
and went into voluntary exile, many sought shelter in
New Brunswick, on the rivers Petitcodiac, Memramcook,
Buctouche, Richibucto, and Miramichi, and along Chaleur
Bay. The largest of the settlements so formed was the
one on the Miramichi, at Pierre Beaubair's seigneury,
where the village of Nelson now stands. For several years
these refugees in New Brunswick bravely struggled against
hardship, disease, and starvation; but in the late autumn
of 1759 the several settlements sent deputies to Colonel
Frye at Fort Cumberland, asking on what terms they would
be received back to Nova Scotia. Frye took a number of
them into the fort for the winter, and presented their
case to Lawrence. It was decided to accept their submission
and supply them with provisions. But when the people
returned they were held as vassals; and many of them
afterwards were either sent out of the province to France
or England, or left it voluntarily for St Pierre and
Miquelon or the West Indies.
Other fugitives of 1755, fifteen hundred, according to
one authority, [Footnote: Placide Gaudet, 'Acadian
Genealogy and Notes,' Canadian Archives Report, 1905.
vol. ii, part iii, Appendix A, p. xv.] succeeded in
reaching Quebec. Here their lot was a hard one. Bigot
and his myrmidons plundered everybody, and the starving
Acadians did not escape. They had managed to bring with
them a little money and a few household treasures, of
which they were soon robbed. For a time they were each
allowed but four ounces of bread a day, and were reduced,
it is said, to searching the gutters for food. To add to
their miseries smallpox broke out among them and many
perished from the disease. After Quebec surrendered and
the victorious British army entered the gates, some two
hundred of them, under the leadership of a priest, Father
Coquart, who apparently had a passport from General
Murray, marched through the wilderness to the headwaters
of the St John and went down to Fort Frederick at the
mouth of that river. Colonel Arbuthnot, the British
commandant there, treated them generously. In 1761,
however, many Acadians at the St John were seized and
deported to Halifax, where they were held as prisoners
of war, but were provided with rations and given 'good
wages for road-making.' [Footnote: MacMechan in Canada
and its Provinces, vol. xiii, p. 115.] Of those who
escaped this deportation, some established themselves on
the Kennebecasis river and some went up the St John to
St Anne's, now Fredericton. But even here the Acadians
were not to have a permanent home. Twenty years later,
when the war of the Revolution ended and land was needed
for the king's disbanded soldiers, the lands of the
Acadians were seized. Once more the unfortunate people
sought new homes, and found them at last along the banks
of Chaleur Bay and of the Madawaska, where thousands of
their descendants now rudely cultivate the fields and
live happy, contented lives.
The deportation did not bring peace to Nova Scotia.
Acadians of New Brunswick and of those who had sought
refuge in the forest fastnesses of the peninsula and Cape
Breton joined with the Indians in guerilla warfare against
the British; and there was more killing of settlers and
more destruction of property from Indian raids than ever
before. Early in the month of January 1756 British rangers
rounded up over two hundred Acadian prisoners at Annapolis,
and put them on board a vessel bound for South Carolina.
The prisoners, however, made themselves masters of the
ship and sailed into the St John river in February. French
privateers, manned by Acadians, haunted the Bay of Fundy
and the Gulf of St Lawrence and carried off as prizes
twelve British vessels. But in 1761 the British raided
a settlement of the marauders on Chaleur Bay, and took
three hundred and fifty prisoners to Halifax.
We have seen in a preceding chapter that from time to
time numbers of Acadians voluntarily left their homes in
Nova Scotia and went over to French soil. Many of these
took up their abode in Ile St Jean at Port La Joie
(Charlottetown), where they soon formed a prosperous
settlement and were able to supply not only the fortress
but the town of Louisbourg with provisions. Those who
were not engaged in agricultural pursuits found profitable
employment in the fisheries. There were also thriving
settlements at Point Prince, St Peter, and Malpeque. It
is computed that in 1755 there were at least four thousand
Acadians in Ile St Jean. A much larger estimate is given
by some historians. Now, on the fall of Louisbourg in
1758, some of the British transports which had brought
out troops from Cork to Halifax were ordered to Ile St
Jean to carry the Acadians and French to France. The
largest of these transports was the Duke William; another
was named the Violet. Some of the Acadians made good
their escape, but many were dragged on board the vessels.
On the Duke William was a missionary priest, and before
the vessels sailed he was called upon to perform numerous
marriages, for the single men had learned that if they
landed unmarried in France they would be forced to perform
military service, for which they had no inclination. Nine
transports sailed in consort, but were soon caught in a
violent tempest and scattered. On December 10 the Duke
William came upon the Violet in a sinking condition; and
notwithstanding all efforts at rescue, the Violet went
down with nearly four hundred souls. Meanwhile the Duke
William herself had sprung a leak. For a time she was
kept afloat by empty casks in the hold, but presently it
became evident that the ship was doomed. The long-boat
was put out and filled to capacity. And scarcely had the
boat cleared when an explosion occurred and the Duke
William went down, taking three hundred persons to a
watery grave. The longboat finally reached Penzance with
twenty-seven of the castaways. The other vessels probably
found some French port. [Footnote In 1763 there were
2,370 Acadians in the maritime towns of France and 866
at various English ports. Many of these returned later
to the land of their birth. See Canadian Archives Report,
1905, vol. ii, Appendix G, pp. 148 and 157.]
In Nova Scotia the Acadians were sorely needed. Even
their bitter enemy, Jonathan Belcher, now lieutenant-
governor, [Footnote: He succeeded Lawrence, who died in
October 1760. Two documents in the Colonial Office Records
raise more than a suspicion that Lawrence had been by no
means an exemplary public servant. The first is a complaint
made by Robert Sanderson, speaker of the first legislature
of Nova Scotia, elected in 1758, respecting the grave
misconduct of Lawrence in many stated particulars,
including the release from gaol before trial of prisoners
charged with burglary and other grave offences as well
as the misapplication of public funds. The second is a
letter from the Lords of Trade to Belcher laying down
rules for his conduct as lieutenant-governor and referring
to the many serious charges against his predecessor, some
of which they regard as having substantial foundation,
and none of which they express themselves as altogether
rejecting. Consult, in the Public Archives, Canada, Nova
Scotia A, vol. lxv.] wrote on June 18, 1761: 'By
representations made to me from the new settlements in
this province, it appears extremely necessary that the
inhabitants should be assisted by the Acadians in repairing
the dykes for the preservation and recovery of the marsh
lands, particularly as on the progress of this work, in
which the Acadians are the most skilful people in the
country, the support and subsistence of several hundred
of the inhabitants will depend.' [Footnote: Nova Scotia
Documents, p. 319.] It seemed almost impossible to induce
settlers to come to the province; and those who did come
seem to have been unable to follow the example of the
former owners of the soil, for much of the land which
had been reclaimed from the sea by the labour and ingenuity
of the Acadian farmers was once more being swept by the
ocean tides.
Yet, when the Acadians began to return to Nova Scotia in
ever-increasing numbers, Belcher and the Halifax Council
decided to banish them again. In 1762 five transports
loaded with prisoners were sent to Massachusetts, but
that colony wanted no more Acadians and sent them back.
Belcher had some difficulty in explaining his action to
the home government. And the Lords of Trade did not
scruple to censure him.
When the Treaty of Paris (February 1763) brought peace
between France and England and put an end to French power
in America, the Acadians could no longer be considered
a menace, and there was no good political reason for
keeping them out of Canada or Nova Scotia. Almost
immediately those in exile began to seek new homes among
people of their own race and religion. The first migration
seems to have been from New England by the Lake Champlain
route to the province of Quebec. There they settled at
various places, notably L'Acadie, St Gregoire, Nicolet,
Becancour, St Jacques-l'Achigan, St Philippe, and Laprairie.
In these communities hundreds of their descendants still
live.
In 1766 the exiles in Massachusetts assembled in Boston
and decided to return to their native land. All who were
fit to travel, numbering about nine hundred men, women,
and children, marched through the wilderness along the
Atlantic coast and across New Brunswick to the isthmus
of Chignecto. Many perished by the way, overcome by the
burden and fatigue of a journey which lasted over four
months. But at last the weary pilgrims approached their
destination. And near the site of the present village of
Coverdale in Albert county, New Brunswick, they were
attracted to a small farmhouse by the crowing of a cock
in the early dawn. To their unspeakable joy they found
the house inhabited by a family of their own race. Here
they halted for a few days, making inquiry concerning
their old friends. Then they tramped on in different
directions. Everywhere on the isthmus the scene was
changed. The old familiar farm buildings had disappeared
or were occupied by strangers of an alien tongue, and
even the names of places were known no more. Some journeyed
to Windsor and some to Annapolis, where they remained
for a time. At length, on the western shores of the
present counties of Digby and Yarmouth, they found a
home, and there to-day live the descendants of these
pilgrims. For miles their neat villages skirt the shores
of the ocean and the banks of the streams. For a century
and a half they have lived in peace, cultivating their
salt-marsh lands and fresh-water meadows, preserving the
simple manners, customs, and language of their ancestors.
They form a community apart, a hermit community. But they
are useful citizens, good farmers, hardy fishermen and
sailors.
Both in Canada and in the United States are to be found
many Acadians occupying exalted positions. The chief
justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, Joseph A.
Breaux, is of Acadian descent. In Canada the Rt Rev.
Edward Le Blanc, bishop of Acadia, the Hon. P. E. Le
Blanc, lieutenant-governor of the province of Quebec,
and the Hon. Pascal Poirier, senator, are Acadians, as
are many other prominent men. And Isabella Labarre, who
married Jean Foret, of Beaubassin, was one of the maternal
ancestors of Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
Save in the Maritime Provinces, it is not possible to
count the offspring of the original French settlers of
Acadia who came out from France in the seventeenth century.
It is estimated that there were at the time of the
expulsion ten or eleven thousand under the British flag,
and four or five thousand in Ile St Jean and elsewhere
on French territory. About six thousand were deported,
as we have seen, and scattered over the British colonies.
Undoubtedly a great number of Americans of to-day are
descendants of those exiles, but, except at the mouth of
the Mississippi, they are merged in the general population
and their identity is lost. Neither can we tell how many
of those who found their way to Old France remained there
permanently. For upwards of twenty years the French
government was concerned in finding places for them. Some
were settled on estates; some were sent to Corsica;
others, as late as 1778, went to Louisiana. Nor can we
estimate the number of Acadians in the province of Quebec,
for no distinction has been made between them and the
general French-Canadian population. For the Maritime
Provinces, however, we have the count of the census of
1911. This shows 98,611 in New Brunswick, 51,746 in Nova
Scotia, and 13,117 in Prince Edward Island, a total of
163,474 in the three provinces. The largest communities
are those of Gloucester, Victoria, Madawaska, and Kent
counties in New Brunswick, and of Digby and Yarmouth in
Nova Scotia. Several thousand Acadians are counted in
Cape Breton; so, too, in Halifax and Cumberland counties.
But in the county of Annapolis, where stands the site of
the first settlement formed on the soil of Canada--the
site of the ancient stronghold of Acadia--and which for
many generations was the principal home of the Acadian
people, only two or three hundred Acadians are to be
found to-day; while, looking out over Minas Basin, the
scene of so much sorrow and suffering, one solitary family
keeps its lonely vigil in the village of Grand Pre.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
The story of Acadia and the Acadians has been told many
times, but most of the treatises on the subject are
unsatisfactory from the historical point of view, either
because of the biased attitude taken by the authors or
because of their inadequate use of original sources. The
present writer has deliberately avoided consulting
secondary works. The following titles, however, are here
suggested for the benefit of the reader who wishes to
become acquainted with the literature of the subject.
Thomas Chandler Haliburton, 'An Historical and Statistical
Account of Nova Scotia' (2 vols., Halifax, 1829), the
earliest general history of the province, based on but
slight knowledge of the sources. Beamish Murdoch, 'A
History of Nova Scotia' (3 vols., Halifax, 1865-1867),
fuller and more accurate than Haliburton, but having less
charm of style. Francis Parkman, 'France and England in
North America' (9 vols., Boston, 1865-1892, and later
editions). The chapters on Acadia are scattered through
several volumes of this valuable series: see the volumes
entitled 'Pioneers of France, The Old Regime, A Half-Century
of Conflict', and 'Montcalm and Wolfe'. Celestin Moreau,
'Histoire de l'Acadie Francoise' (Paris, 1873). James
Hannay, 'History of Acadia' (St John, 1879). P. H. Smith,
'Acadia: A Lost Chapter in American History' (Pawling,
N.Y., 1884). Justin Winsor, 'Narrative and Critical
History of America': see vols. iv and v (Boston, 1884,
1887), containing scholarly bibliographical notes. Abbe
H. R. Casgrain, 'Un Pelerinage au pays d'Evangeline'
(Quebec, 1887). Rameau de Saint-Pere, 'Une Colonie Feodale
en Amerique, l'Acadie' (2 vols., Paris and Montreal,
1889): the appendix contains some interesting documents.
Edouard Richard, 'Acadia: Missing Links of a Lost Chapter
in American History' (2 vols., New York and Montreal,
1895). Rev. Wm. O. Raymond, 'The River St John' (2nd ed.,
St John, 1910).
Some older works which incidentally contain interesting
or valuable references to Acadia may be mentioned. F. X.
Charlevoix, 'Histoire et Description Generale de la
Nouvelle France' (3 vols., Paris, 1744; and translation
by J. G. Shea, 6 vols., New York, 1866-1872). Abbe
Guillaume Thomas Raynal, 'Histoire philosophique et
politique des Etablissemens dans les deux Indes' (5 vols.,
Paris, 1770), which first painted a picture of an idyllic
life of simplicity and happiness among the Acadians.
Thomas Hutchinson, 'History of the Colony of Massachusetts
Bay' (3 vols., London, 1765-1828). G. R. Minot,
'Continuation of the History of the Province of
Massachusetts Bay' (2 vols., Boston, 1798-1803). Jeremy
Belknap, 'History of New Hampshire' (3 vols., Boston,
1791-1792). W. D. Williamson, 'History of the State of
Maine' (2 vols., Hallowell, 1832). The last four works
are of much value for the relations between Acadia and
the New England colonies.
Among special studies of note are: J. G. Kohl, 'Discovery
of Maine' ('Documentary History of the State of Maine,'
vol. i, 1869). H. P. Biggar, 'Early Trading Companies of
New France' (Toronto, 1901). Henry Kirke, 'The First
English Conquest of Canada' (London, 1871; 2nd ed., 1908),
a work which devotes much space to the early establishments
in Nova Scotia. Rev. Edmund F. Slafter, 'Sir William
Alexander and American Colonization' (Boston, 1873),
which contains a valuable selection of documents. Abbe
J. A. Maurault, 'Histoire des Abenakis' (Sorel, 1866).
Pascal Poirier, 'Origine des Acadiens' (Montreal, 1874)
and 'Des Acadiens deportes a Boston en 1755' ('Trans.
Roy. Soc. of Can.,' 3rd series, vol. ii, 1908).
Several local histories contain information regarding
the Acadian exiles in the American colonies. William
Lincoln, 'History of Worcester, Massachusetts' (Worcester,
1862). Bernard C. Steiner, 'History of the Plantation of
Menunkatuck and of the Original Town of Guilford,
Connecticut' (Baltimore, 1897). Rev. D. P. O'Neill,
'History of St Raymond's Church, Westchester New York.'
J. T. Scharf, 'Chronicles of Baltimore' ( Baltimore,
1874). Edward M'Crady, 'History of South Carolina under
the Royal Government, 1719-1776' (New York, 1899).
Of original sources, many of the more important narratives
are available in print. Champlain's Voyages, a work which
appeared in its first form in 1604: recent editions are
by Laverdiere (6 vols., Quebec, 1870); translation by
Slafter (3 vols., The Prince Society, Boston, 1880-1882);
and translations of portions by W. L. Grant in Jameson's
'Original Narratives of Early American History' (New
York, 1907). Marc Lescarbot, 'Histoire de la Nouvelle
France' (1st ed., Paris, 1609): a new edition with
translation has been edited by W. L. Grant (The Champlain
Society, 3 vols., Toronto, 1907-1914). Nicolas Denys,
'Description Geographique et Historique des Costes de
l'Amerique Septentrionale' (Paris, 1672): new edition
and translation by William F. Ganong (The Champlain
Society, Toronto, 1908). Denys tells of De Monts,
Poutrincourt, Biencourt, and the La Tours.
Supplementary information can be obtained from 'The Jesuit
Relations' (the first number, by Father Biard, was
published at Lyons, 1616); see edition with translation,
by R. G. Thwaites (Cleveland, 1896). See also Purchas,
'His Pilgrimes,' vol. iv (1625); and John Winthrop,
'History of New England,' edited by James Savage (2 vols.,
Boston, 1825-1826), and by J. K. Hosmer in 'Original
Narratives of Early American History' (New York, 1908).
Gaston du Boscq de Beaumont, 'Les Derniers Jours de
l'Acadie,' 1748-1758 (Paris, 1899) contains many interesting
letters and memoirs from the French side at the time of
the expulsion.
There are several important collections of documentary
sources available in print. The 'Memorials of the English
and French Commissaries concerning the Limits of Nova
Scotia or Acadia' (London and Paris, 1755) contains the
arguments and documents produced on both sides in the
dispute regarding the Acadian boundaries. Many documents
of general interest are to be found in the 'Collection
de Documents relatifs a l'Histoire de la Nouvelle France'
(4 vols., Quebec, 1885); in 'Documents relative to the
Colonial History of the State of New York,' edited by
O'Callaghan and Fernow (15 vols., Albany, 1856-1887),
particularly vol. ix; and in the 'Collections' of the
Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston, 1792-). The
'Collections' of the Nova Scotia Historical Society
(Halifax, 1879-), besides modern studies, contain many
valuable contemporary documents, including 'Journal of
Colonel Nicholson at the Capture of Annapolis,' 'Diary
of John Thomas,' and 'Journal of Colonel John Winslow.'
Thomas and Winslow are among the most important sources
for the expulsion.
The 'Report on Canadian Archives' for 1912 prints several
interesting documents bearing on the early history of
Acadia, and the Report for 1905 (vol. ii) contains
documents relating to the expulsion, edited by Placide
Gaudet. The calendars contained in various Reports to
which references are made below may also be consulted.
The British Government publications, the 'Calendar of
State Papers, Colonial Series, America and West Indies,'
which has been brought down only to 1702, and the 'Acts
of the Privy Council, Colonial Series,' are also useful.
But perhaps the most valuable of all is the volume entitled
'Selections from the Public Documents of the Province of
Nova Scotia,' edited by Thomas B. Akins (Halifax, 1869),
though the editor has taken many liberties with his texts.
A volume entitled 'Nova Scotia Archives II,' edited by
Archibald MacMechan (Halifax, 1900), contains calendars
of Governors' Letter Books and a Commission Book, 1713-1741.
The principal manuscript collections of material for
Acadian history are in Paris, London, Boston, Halifax,
and Ottawa. In Paris are the official records of French
rule in America. Of the 'Archives des Colonies,' deposited
at the 'Archives Nationales,' the following series are
most important:
Series B: Letter Books of Orders of the King and Dispatches
from 1663 onward (partially calendared in Canadian Archives
'Reports' for 1899; Supplement, 1904 and 1905).
Series C: correspondence received from the colonies,
which is subdivided geographically. All the American
colonies have letters relating to the refugee Acadians,
but the most important section for general Acadian history
is C-11, which relates to Canada and its dependencies,
including Acadia itself, Ile Royale, now Cape Breton,
and Ile St Jean, now Prince Edward Island.
Series F, which includes in its subdivisions documents
relating to commercial companies and religious missions,
and the Moreau St Mery Collection of miscellaneous official
documents.
Series G: registers, censuses, lists of Acadian refugees,
and notarial records.
The 'Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres' has, in the
'Angleterre' section of its 'Correspondence Politique'
and the 'Amerique' section of its 'Memoires et Documents,'
extensive material on the disputes with the English
Government over Acadia. The 'Archives de la Marine'
(Series B), which is divided into eight sub-series, has
a vast collection of documents relating to America,
including Acadia. Acadian material is also found scattered
through other series of the 'Archives Nationales' and
among the manuscripts of the 'Bibliotheque Nationale.'
At the town of Vire, in France, among the municipal
archives, are to be found the papers of Thomas Pichon,
a French officer at Louisbourg and Beausejour, who after
the fall of Beausejour lived on intimate terms with the
British in Nova Scotia.
In London most of the official documents for the period
under consideration in this volume are preserved in the
Public Record Office. The most useful collections are
among the Colonial Office Papers: Series C.O. 5, formerly
described as America and West Indies, embraces the papers
of the office of the Secretary of State who had charge
of the American colonies; and C.O. 217-221, formerly,
for the most part, described as Board of Trade Nova
Scotia, contains the correspondence of the Board of Trade
relating to Nova Scotia. The 'Admiralty Papers and Treasury
Board Papers' likewise contain considerable material for
the story of British administration in Acadia.
In the British Museum are some manuscripts of interest,
the most noteworthy being Lieutenant-Governor Vetch's
Letter Book (Sloane MS. 3607), and the Brown Collection
(Additional MSS. 190694). These are papers relating to
Nova Scotia and the Acadians, 1711-1794, including the
correspondence of Paul Mascarene.
In Boston two important collections are to be found: the
Massachusetts State Archives, which contain some original
documents bearing on the relations between New England
and Nova Scotia, and others connected with the disposal
of those Acadians who were transported to Massachusetts,
and many transcripts made from the French Archives; and
the Parkman Papers, which are now in the possession of
the Massachusetts Historical Society.
The Public Records of Nova Scotia at Halifax contain
transcripts from the Paris and Massachusetts Archives
relating to Acadia, transcripts from the Public Record
Office at London and from the British Museum, letter-books
of the Governors of Nova Scotia, minutes of the Executive
Council, and much miscellaneous correspondence and papers
belonging to our period.
In the Public Archives of Canada at Ottawa a very extensive
collection of transcripts has been assembled comprising
all the more important official documents relating to
Acadia. A full description of most of the series can be
obtained from David W. Parker's 'Guide to the Documents
in the Manuscript Room at the Public Archives of Canada,'
vol. i (Ottawa, 1914). The series known as Nova Scotia
State Papers is divided into several sub-series: A.
Correspondence from 1603 onwards, made up chiefly of
transcripts from the Papers of the Secretary of State
and of the Board of Trade at the Public Record Office,
but including some from the British Museum and elsewhere
(a calendar is to be found in the 'Report on Canadian
Archives' for 1894); B. Minutes of the Executive Council
of Nova Scotia, 1720-1785; E. Instructions to Governors,
1708 onwards. The Archives also possess transcripts of
the French 'Archives des Colonies,' Series B, down to
1746, Series C-11 and parts of Series F and G, and of
many documents of the 'Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres,'
of the 'Archives de la Marine,' Series B, and of the
'Bibliotheque Nationale' (among the latter being the
'Memoire instructif de la conduite du Sr. de la Tour').
Also transcripts of the Pichon Papers, of much of the
C.O. 5 Series for this period in the Public Record Office,
London; of Vetch's Letter Book, the Brown Collection and
other sources in the British Museum; and of parts of the
Parkman Papers, and other records regarding the exiled
Acadians in the Massachusetts Archives.
END