The Acadian Boudreau Family
The Boudreau family in North America descends from early Acadians Michel Boudrot and his wife, Michelle Aucoin. Michel Boudrot, b. c. 1601, perhaps of the parish of Notre-Dame-de-Cougnes, near La Rochelle, France, was living in Port-Royal by September 1639 when, as one of the settlement’s two syndics (community representatives), he witnessed the baptism of Governor d’Aulnay’s eldest daughter, Marie. Within a year or two he was married to Michelle Aucoin, b. near La Rochelle c. 1618, daughter of Martin and Barbé (Minguet) Aucoin. She and her orphaned siblings had arrived in Port-Royal c. 1640 with their widowed step-mother, Marie Sallé.
The Boudreau family apparently thrived despite the political turmoil that periodically engulfed the tiny community. In 1654, the settlement was captured by a combined force of New Englanders and English Roundheads under Robert Sedgewick. It would remain under British control until 1670. During this period, the French inhabitants (the Boudreaus among them) were allowed to retain their property and were guaranteed religious freedom. The return of the area to French jurisdiction marked a period of expansion for the growing settlement. From Port-Royal, second generation Acadians, including several of the Boudreau children, became the founders of Grand-Pré, Beaubassin, Pisiquid, Cobequid and other villages on the tidal marshes of the Bay of Fundy. Michel Boudrot and his wife remained at Port-Royal, where in 1686, at 85 years of age and deaf, he was listed as the lieutenant general of justice (magistrate). He was recommended for replacement shortly afterwards, and he died at Port-Royal between 20 Aug. 1688 (when he was replaced) and the taking of the 1693 census, in which his wife Michelle is listed as a widow. She died 17 Dec. 1706.
Early Acadie was notable for its rapid population growth, facilitated largely by a very low infant mortality rate, and the Boudrots were typical of Acadian families of the time. The household of Michel Boudrot and Michelle Aucoin included eleven children who grew to adulthood and married. Their children:
1. Françoise Boudreau, b. Port-Royal 1642, m. Port-Royal 1663 Étienne Robichaud, b.1640.
2. Jeanne Boudreau, b. Port-Royal 1645, d. Port-Royal 8 May 1710, m. Port-Royal 1666 Bonaventure Theriault, b. Port-Royal 1641 son of Jean and Perrine (Reau) Theriault, d. Grand-Pré 3 May 1731.
3. Charles Boudreau, b. Port-Royal 1646, d. Pisiquid (now Windsor) after 1714, m. (1) Port-Royal 1672 Renée Bourg, b. Port-Royal 1655 daughter of Antoine and Antoinette (Landry) Bourg, m. (2) Port-Royal 1686 Marie Corporon, b. Port-Royal Sept. 1671 daughter of Jean and Françoise (Savoie) Corporon.
4. Marguerite Boudreau, b. Port-Royal 1648, m. (1) Port-Royal 1665 François Bourg, b. Port-Royal 1643 son of Antoine and Antoinette (Landry) Bourg; m. (2) Port-Royal 1691 Jean Babineau, b. France 1660, d. Annapolis Royal 5 Sept. 1741.
5. Marie Boudreau, b. Port-Royal 1650, m. 1673 Michel Poirier, b. 1650, son of Jean and Jeanne (Chebrat) Poirier.
6. Jean Boudreau, b. Port-Royal 1655, d. Grand-Pré before 1679, m. Port-Royal 1676 Marguerite Bourgeois, b. Port-Royal 1658 daughter of Jacques and Jeanne (Trahan) Bourgeois, d. Beaubassin 8 Aug. 1732.
7. Abraham Boudreau, b. Port-Royal 1657, d. 1701, m. Port-Royal 1686 Cecile Melançon, b. Port-Royal May 1671 daughter of Charles and Marie (Dugas)Melançon, d. Ile St. Jean (now Prince Edward Island) Apr. 1735.
8. Michel Boudreau, b. Port-Royal 1659, d. before 1714, m. Port-Royal 1690 Marie-Madeleine Cormier, b. Port-Royal 1670 daughter of Thomas and Marie-Madeleine (Girouard) Cormier.
9. Olivier Boudreau, b. Port-Royal 1661, d. Port-Royal 1689, m. Port-Royal 1686 Isabelle Petitpas, b. Port-Royal 1670 daughter of Claude and Catherine (Bugaret) Petitpas.
10. Claude Boudreau, b. Port-Royal 1663, d. Riviere au Vieux Habitants March 1739/40, m. (1) Port-Royal 1682 Anne-Marie Thibodeau, b. Port-Royal 1666 daughter of Pierre and Jeanne (Theriault) Thibodeau; m. (2) 1700 Catherine Meunier, daughter of Jean and Marguerite (Housseau) Meunier; m. (3) Annapolis Royal 7 Aug. 1735 Madeleine Corporon, b. Port-Royal 1672 daughter of Jean and Françoise (Savoie) Corporon.
11. Francois Boudreau, b. Port-Royal 1666, d. Annapolis Royal 27 Sept. 1733, m. Port-Royal 1692 Madeleine Belliveau, b. Port-Royal 1676 daughter of Jean and Jeanne (Bourque) Belliveau.
