Acadia has a long French-Canadian history that dates back to the early 1600s, with the first French colonists arriving in 1604 under the leadership of Pierre du Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain. Between 1632 and 1653, a significant influx of colonists arrived in Acadia, establishing the core Acadian population. If you’re a descendant of the Acadians, please follow along as I detail Acadia’s original French Canadian settlers and their untold stories.
Please note: I do not descend from the Acadians. My ancestor, Louis Hébert, lived in the colony intermittently between 1606 and 1613 with Champlain but is not considered Acadian.
Isaac Pesseley
Isaac Pesseley arrived in Acadia in 1636 aboard the Saint-Jehan. He came alone; however, at some point, his wife, Barbe Bajolet, and their children joined him. The couple had eight children in total: Etienne Pesseley, Marguerite Pesseley, Perrette Pesseley, Jeanne Pesseley, Charlotte Pesseley, Henriette Pesseley, Gilles Pesseley and Marie Pesseley. Marie, however, is the only one listed as having been born in Acadia.
On July 14, 1640, Pesseley appeared at Charles de Saint-Etienne de La Tour‘s inquiry along with Germain Doucet and Guillaume Trahan. He also served as a major at Port Royal, and it is believed that he was killed during Charles de Menou d’Aulnay‘s attack on La Tour’s Fort on the St. John River, Acadia, on April 16, 1645.
As of September 2024, Isaac has 91,408 descendants profiled on WikiTree. His daughter, Marie, became the ancestral matriarch of the Acadian Pitre Family.
Robert Cormier
Robert Cormier is recognized as the ancestor of all Cormier families in North America. He signed a contract in 1644 to work at Fort Saint Pierre in Acadia for three years as a ship’s carpenter. As part of his contract, Robert was allowed to bring his wife, Marie Peraud, and their two sons, Thomas Cormier and Jean Cormier.
While there is no evidence that Robert, Marie and Jean stayed in Acadia, there is evidence that Thomas remained in the colony. He moved to Port Royal around 1658 and married Marie Madeleine Girouard in 1666. Like his father, he became a carpenter.
Thomas and Marie Madeleine had 10 children: Marie Madeleine Cormier, François Cormier, Anne Cormier, Alexis Cormier, Germain Cormier, Pierre Cormier, Claire Cormier, Agnès Cormier, Marie Cormier and Jeanne Cormier.
As of October 2025, Robert has 148,239 descendants profiled on WikiTree. Through Thomas’s grandsons and their descendants, he is believed to have helped form one of the largest Acadian family networks.. His daughters and granddaughters married into other Acadian families, including LeBlanc, Arsenault, Haché-Gallant, Boudrot, Richard, Doucet, Landry, Poirier, Comeau, Chiasson, Theriot, Bourg, Cyr, Hébert, Thibodeau, Bourgeois, Dupuis and Babin.
René Landry the Elder
René Landry, also referred to as René l’Aîné (the elder), reportedly arrived in Acadia in 1640. He came to the colony with his two sisters, Antoinette Landry and René Landry. In 1645, he married Perrine Bourg in Port Royal. They had five children: Marie Marguerite Landry, Marie Landry, Madeleine Landry, Pierre Landry and Claude Landry.
In 1654, Acadia was captured by Robert Sedgwick with a force of over 700 men. Rene the Elder and Perrine stayed in Acadia during the 16 years of British rule, as they were allowed to keep their land and belongings and were guaranteed religious freedom.
As of September 2024, Rene the Elder has 136,854 descendants profiled on WikiTree.
Antoine Bourg
Antoine Bourg is believed to have arrived in Acadia in the early 1640s; however, he may have arrived as early as 1636. Historians consider him one of the first settlers in Acadia. Bourg married Antoinette Landry, sister of René Landry the Elder, in 1642 in Port Royal, and they had 11 children: François Bourg, Marie Bourg, Jean Bourg, Bernard Bourg, Martin Bourg, Jeanne Bourg, Renée Bourg, Huguette Bourg, Jeanne Bourg, Abraham Bourg and Marguerite Bourg.
The Bourg family remained in Acadia during English rule from 1654 to 1667, when the Treaty of Breda restored the colony to French control.
Bourg is considered the father of the Bourg/Bourque family. As of February 2026, he had 271,004 descendants profiled on WikiTree.
Jean Thériot
Jean Thériot is considered one of the earliest permanent settlers in Acadia. While there is no exact date for his arrival, he is believed to have arrived before 1650, before the death of Acadian Governor d’Aulnay. Thériot married Perrine Rau in 1653, and they had seven children: Claude Thériot, Jean Thério, Bonaventure Thériot, Jeanne Thériot, Germain Thériot, Catherine Thériot and Pierre Thériot.
The Thériot family remained in Acadia when the English occupied the colony for 17 years from 1654 to 1671.
Thériot is the patriarch of the Thériault/Thériot family in North America, with descendants across Canada and the United States, including the Cajuns of Louisiana. As of September 2024, he has 180,145 descendants profiled on WikiTree.
Daniel LeBlanc
Daniel LeBlanc is the ancestral patriarch of one of the largest Acadian families. He arrived in Acadia before 1650. It’s suspected that he arrived around 1645 and settled on the north bank of the Port-Royal River. LeBlanc married Françoise Gaudet in 1650, and they had seven children: Jacques LeBlanc, Françoise LeBlanc, Étienne LeBlanc, René LeBlanc, André LeBlanc, Antoine LeBlanc, and Pierre LeBlanc.
LeBlanc and his family lived through three changes in rule, from French to English from 1654 to 1667, English to French from 1667 to 1690 and then back to English in 1690.
LeBlanc’s married grandsons would go on to have large families. As a result, the LeBlancs would represent the most common name in Acadia. His daughter and granddaughters would marry into other large Acadian families, including the Blanchard, Cormier, Boudrot, Haché, Landry, Doiron, Robichaud and Allain families.
As of August 2024, the LeBlanc family has 219,783 profiles on WikiTree.
Jean Gaudet
Jean Gaudet is considered the Abraham of Acadia because of his many descendants; however, his exact arrival date is heavily debated, and nothing is known for certain.
Some believe that he arrived in Acadia shortly after 1634; however, Father Léopold claims that he arrived in 1610 with Charles de Biencourt. Others believe that he arrived in Acadia in 1604 with Samuel de Champlain. It’s also possible that he was part of the first exhibition to Poutrincourt and that he remained in Acadie after the Kirke brothers seized Port Royal in 1629.
Gaudet was married twice; however, there is some confusion about his first marriage. Some sources believe that his first wife may have been Mi’kmaq. Others speculate that she was French and that her name was Marie Daussy. All that’s certain is that she and Gaudet were likely married in 1622 in France and had three children together: Françoise Gaudet, Denis Gaudet and Marie Gaudet. In 1652, Gaudet married his second wife, Nicole Colleson. They had one child together, Jean Gaudet.
Gaudet and his family lived through Robert Sedgwick’s capture of Acadia in 1654 and 17 years of British rule before it was returned to France in 1671.
Through his four children, 22 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren, Gaudet became the ancestor of roughly one-tenth of Acadia’s small population. He has 180,551 descendants profiled on WikiTree as of August 2024, among the most of Acadia’s original French Canadian settlers.
Jacques Bourgeois
Jacques Bourgeois departed for Acadia on May 7, 1641, aboard the Saint-François. He was travelling with the governor of Acadia, Charles de Menou d’Aulnay, who was leading a convoy of four ships.
Bourgeois came to the colony as a surgeon. In Port Royal, he also became a fur trader and a merchant, eventually building lumber and flour mills. He traded with New England settlers in Boston, learning English and becoming an interpreter for the French and English. He also traded with the Mi’kmaq.
In about 1643, Bourgeois married Jeanne Trahan. They had 10 children together: Jeanne Bourgeois, Charles Bourgeois, Germain Bourgeois, Marie Bourgeois, Guillaume Bourgeois, Marguerite Bourgeois, Françoise Bourgeois, Anne Bourgeois, Marie Bourgeois and Jeanne Bourgeois.
Bourgeois and his two sons established a small farming settlement in the Chignecto Isthmus, where he built a flour mill and saw mill. Also referred to as the “Bourgeois colony,” the settlement became Beaubassin.
In 1755, British authorities deported most of Jacques Bourgeois’ grandchildren to the New England colonies. Many later returned to Canada, and the Bourgeois name is now common in southeastern New Brunswick, Quebec’s Lanaudière region and along the Richelieu River, the Magdalen Islands and eastern Ontario. Others settled in Louisiana and St-Pierre-et-Miquelon.
As of August 2024, Bourgeois has 187,789 descendants on WikiTree.
François Girouard
François Girouard was among the very first settlers in Acadia. There’s some confusion around when he arrived in Acadia. According to La Rochelle Admiralty Records, he arrived aboard the St. Jehan with d’Aulnay de Charnisay; however, there is no record of him being aboard that ship. Other sources suspect Girouard arrived in 1640. Historian André-Carl Vachon believes that he was a French soldier recruited in 1644.
In 1647, Girouard married Jeanne Aucoin. They had five children: Jacques Girouard, Marie Girouard, Marie Madeleine Girouard, Germain Girouard and Anne Girouard.
When Acadia was captured by Robert Sedgwick in 1654, the Girouards remained in the colony, retaining their property, land and religion.
Girouard has 170,213 descendants on WikiTree as of August 2024.
François Gautrot
François Gautrot was the patriarch of the Acadian Gautrot family and was among the first settlers of Acadia. There is no exact date for his arrival in the colony; however, he is believed to have arrived before 1650, possibly as early as 1636.
Gautrot was married twice. He married Marie around 1635. They had two children: Marie Gautrot and Charles Gautrot. His daughter, Marie, was born in France, and it’s suspected that Charles was born in Acadia. Gautrot married a second time in 1644. His second wife was Edmée Lejeune. They had nine children: Marie Gautrot, Jean Gautrot, Renée Gautrot, Marguerite Gautrot, François Gautrot, Claude Gautrot, Charles Gautrot, Jeanne Gautrot and Germain Gautrot.
In 1654, the Gautrot family witnessed Robert Sedgwick’s capture of Acadia and lived through 17 years of British rule.
When the Acadians were deported between 1755 and 1764, the Gautrots were among the first Acadians to arrive in Louisiana beginning in 1765. As of August 2024, the Gautrot family has 201,821 descendants profiled on WikiTree.
Michel Boudrot
Michel Boudrot founded one of the largest Acadian families. He is first mentioned in 1639 when he attended the baptism of Governor Charles de Menou d’Aulnay’s daughter as the First Trustee of Port-Royal. He likely arrived before that date with a group of colonists recruited by d’Aulnay and Martin Le Godelier in La Chaussee, France, in 1632, who departed from Saint-Martin-de-Ré on July 23, 1632.
In 1641, Boudrot married Michelle Aucoin in Port Royal. They had 11 children: Françoise Boudrot, Jeanne Boudrot, Charles Boudrot, Marguerite Boudrot, Marie Boudrot, Jean Boudrot, Abraham Boudrot, Michel Boudrot, Olivier Boudrot, Claude Boudrot and François Boudrot.
The family stayed in Acadia when Robert Sedgwick seized the colony in 1654 and brought it under English control.
When Boudrot first arrived in Acadia, he served as a syndic (managing agent) in Port-Royal. By 1671, he was listed in the census as a farmer, though he had also taken on judicial responsibilities. By 1686, he held the position of civil and criminal lieutenant general of the colony, acting as a senior magistrate.
As of May 2024, Boudrot has 171,419 descendants profiled on WikiTree.
Abraham Dugas
Abraham Dugas is the ancestral patriarch of the Acadian Dugas family. He arrived in Port Royal around 1640 and was given the Lieutenant General designation. He was also reportedly an armourer to the king.
Around 1647, Dugas married Marguerite Doucet in Port Royal. They had eight children: Marie Dugas, Claude Dugas, Anne Dugas, Martin Dugas, Marguerite Dugas, Abraham Dugas, Madeleine Dugas and Marie Dugas.
Dugas lived through Robert Sedgwick’s seizure of control of Acadia, its return to French rule in 1671 and back to English rule in 1690 when Sir William Phipps captured the colony.
As of August 2024, Dugas and Doucet have 199,075 descendants profiled on WikiTree.
Jean Blanchard
Jean Blanchard is the founding ancestor of the Acadian Blanchard family. He arrived in Acadia in 1640 and married Radegonde Lambert in 1642. They had six children: Madeleine Blanchard, Anne Blanchard, Martin Blanchard, Guillaume Blanchard, Bernard Blanchard and Marie Blanchard.
Blanchard was among the five who had received one of the first grants at Port Royal. His lot was next to the side of the old Fort in Port Royal, which is now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. It’s unclear how long the family lived near the fort, but the land was expropriated in 1705 for the extension of Port Royal’s fort.
During the British occupation of Acadia, which began in 1654, Blanchard and his family lived upriver from Port-Royal, as many Acadian families moved away from the Fort area.
The Blanchard family includes 205,231 descendants profiled on WikiTree as of August 2024.
Simon Pelletret
Although there is no exact date for Simon Pelletret’s arrival in Acadian, it is believed that he arrived before 1641 because his first child was born in the colony in 1641. He married Perrine Bourg around 1640 and had two children: Henriette Pelletret and Jeanne Pelletret.
Pelletret’s land was next to the old fort, as was François Gautrot’s, Guillaume Trahan’s, Jean Blanchard and Michel Boudrot’s. He is believed to have received one of the first land grants in Port Royal. Pelletret died before 1645, and Bourg later married René Landry dit l’aîné.
Even though Pelletret had only two children, he has 151,027 descendants profiled on WikiTree as of September 2024.
Guillaume Trahan
Guillaume Trahan is the Ancestral Patriarch of the Acadian Trahan Family. He arrived in Acadia in 1636 along with his wife, Françoise Corbineau, and their two children, working as an edge-tool maker.
Trahan and his wife, Corbineau, played important roles in Port Royal. Corbineau was godmother to Charles de Menou d’Aulnay’s first child, Marie Menou, and Trahan was a syndic during the British capture of Port-Royal in 1654. He signed the terms of capitulation on behalf of the Acadians.
Around 1666, Trahan married a second time. His second wife, Madeleine Brun, was just 21 years old when they got married while he was 65. The couple had seven children together, but only six of them survived into adulthood: Guillaume Trahan, Jean Charles Trahan, Alexandre Trahan, Marie Trahan, Jeanne Trahan and Madeleine Trahan
Trahan has 193,133 descendants on WikiTree as of September 2024.
Pierre Melanson dit Laverdure
Pierre Melanson dit Laverdure is considered one of the early settlers of Acadia. He was a French Huguenot who found refuge in England. Melanson married Priscilla in 1631 in England, and had four children: Pierre Melanson, John Melanson, Katherina Meranzo and Charles Melanson dit La Ramée.
In 1657, Melanson and his family relocated to Acadia with the future governor Thomas Temple. They first lived in the St. John River, but they later moved to Port Royal. When Acadia returned to French rule, Melanson and his family moved to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and settled in Boston. Two of his sons later moved back to Acadia.
Melanson has at least 158,230 descendants profiled on WikiTree as of August 2024.
Claude Petitpas
There is no exact date for Claude Petitpas‘s arrival in Acadia; however, it appears he arrived in the 1650s, as he married Catherine Bugaret in Port Royal in 1658. Catherine was one of the first French children born in Acadie. Her father, Bernard Bugaret, had arrived in Acadia in 1636 as a carpenter. It’s unclear whether he ever settled in the colony.
Petitpas and Bugaret had 13 children: Bernard Petitpas, Marguerite Petitpas, Claude Petitpas, Jean Petitpas, Jacques Petitpas, Marie Petitpas, Isabelle Petitpas, Henriette Petitpas, Paul Petitpas, Charles Petitpas, Martin Petitpas, Pierre Petitpas and Anne Petitpas.
Known as sieur de La Fleur, Petitpas was initially a ploughman. He became a royal notary at Jemseg, Acadia, and was the clerk of the court at Port Royal.
During the British occupation of Acadia in 1654, the Petitpas family appear to have lived upriver from Port Royal, as most Acadian families relocated away from the Fort area.
As of September 2024, Petitpas has 94,371 of his descendants profiled on WikiTree.
Michel Richard dit Sansoucy
Michel Richard dit Sansoucy arrived in Acadia during the early 1650s, either in 1651 with Sieur de Saint-Mas, a representative of Emmanuel LeBorgne, or in 1652 with LeBorgne. He was a soldier in the garrison at the fort in Port-Royal.
Around 1656, Richard married Madeleine Blanchard in Port Royal. They had 10 children: René Richard, Pierre Richard, Catherine Richard, Martin Richard, Alexandre Richard, Anne Richard, Madeleine Elizabeth Richard, Marie Josephe Richard, Cecile Richard and Marguerite Richard.
When the British captured Acadia in 1654, Richard and his family remained, retaining their land, belongings, and religion.
After Blanchard died, Richard married Jeanne Babin in 1683 in Port Royal. They had two children together: Michel Richard and Alexandre Richard.
Through his sons and grandsons, Richard created one of the largest Acadian families. His daughters and granddaughters would marry into other large Acadian families. These include the LeBlanc, Arsenau, Cormier, Broussard, Doucet, Landry, Savoie, Theriot, Daigle, Thibodeau, Bourgeois, Breau, Doiron, Cassie, Dupuis, Babin, Dugas, Vincent, Forest, Granger, Bastarache, Lanoue and Raymond families.
As of September 2024, Richard has 166,657 descendants profiled on WikiTree.
François Savoie
François Savoie is the ancestral patriarch of the Savoie family in Acadia. He likely came to the colony around 1643. Around 1651, Savoie married Catherine Lejeune. They had nine children: Françoise Savoie, Germain Savoie, Marie Savoie, Jeanne Savoie, Catherine Savoie, François Savoie, Barnabé Savoie, Andrée Savoie and Marie Savoie.
Most of Savoie’s descendants remained in Port Royal/Annapolis Royal. Some also settled in Minas, Chepoudy and the French Maritimes. Some of their descendants emigrated to Louisiana in 1765 during the Expulsion of the Acadians. They also relocated to greater Acadia, the French Antilles, France and Canada. Only one of Savoie’s sons, Germain, had sons of his own and spread the name Savoie in Acadie.
During the British occupation of Acadia, the Savoie family stayed in the colony, moving upriver from Port-Royal, following the broader pattern of settlement away from the Fort.
Savoie has 145,319 descendants on WikiTree as of September 2024.
Pierre Thibaudeau
The Acadian Thibaudeau family originates from Pierre Thibodeau. He arrived in Acadia in 1654 and married Jeanne Thériot in 1660 in Port Royal. They had 16 children: Marie Thibodeau, Marie Thibodeau, Marie Thibodeau, Anne-Marie Thibodeau, Catherine Thibodeau, Pierre Thibodeau, Jeanne Thibodeau, Jean Thibodeau, Antoine Thibodeau, Pierre Thibodeau, Cécile Thibodeau, Michel Thibodeau, Anne Marie Thibodeau, Claude Thibodeau, Catherine Josèphe Thibodeau and Charles Thibodeau.
Between 1698 and 1702, Thibaudeau explored the Shepody region with his sons. They settled there temporarily and even built a grist and saw mill. At the time of his death, in 1704, Thibaudeau was living in Prée Ronde Marsh on the south bank of the Annapolis (Dauphin) River, east of the fort.
As of September 2024, Thibaudeau has 159,854 descendants on WikiTree.
Vincent Brun
Vincent Brun and his wife, Renée Breau, are both considered pioneers of Acadia. They arrived in the colony before 1653 with their two eldest children, Madeleine Brun and Andrée Brun. In Port Royal, they had three more children: Françoise Brun, Sébastien Brun and Marie Brun.
Following Robert Sedgwick’s capture of Port-Royal in 1654, the Brun family remained in Acadia. Like many Acadian families, they lived upriver from the Fort, where residents established farming communities along the river.
Brun and Breau’s children married into other prominent Acadian families, including the Trahan, Bourg and Hébert families. As of August 2024, they have 179,906 descendants profiled on WikiTree.
Celebrities with Acadian Roots
Hundreds of thousands of people can trace their ancestry back to the Acadians, including some celebrities! I reviewed dozens of celebrity family trees with French Canadian roots. I found several famous people who trace their lineage to Acadia’s original French Canadian settlers:
Interested in learning more about famous people with French Canadian roots? Check out Celebrities You Didn’t Know Have French Canadian Pioneer Ancestors.
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