Joseph Pitre
1700 Acadia - 1758 shipwreck
Joseph Pitre was born Abt. 1700 in Acadia, the 2nd son of twelve children of Jean Denis Pitre and Francoise Babin. In 1724, the same year his youngest brother was born, Joseph married.
Joseph and wife Elisabeth (Isabelle) Boudrot settled at Cap Sable with a family of six sons and two daughters. Like other family members he removed to Ile St. Jean.
By the time of the 1752 census, Joseph’s family had been on the island fourteen months. They were found at Riviere du Ouest and listed as Joseph Pitre, ploughman, native of Acadia, aged 53 years, and wife Elisabeth Boudrot, native of Acadia, aged 51 years. They had four sons: Pierre 27, Joseph 18, Paul 16, and Jean Baptiste 14. An orphan Marie Roze, also an Acadian, aged 8, was living with them. They had in livestock three oxen, one cow, one calf, one ewe, two sows, and four pigs. Their land was given to them verbally by Monsieur de Bonnaventure, and on it they had made a clearing for sowing about four bushels of wheat.
Also at Riviere du Ouest were daughter Madeleine, her husband Louis Henry and their two daughters; son Francois, wife Rosalie Henry and their daughter; son Charles and new bride Anne Henry; and newlyweds Marie Pitre and Jean Henry.
Both Joseph Pitre and his wife Elisabeth (Isabelle) Boudrot died in the shipwreck of the Duke William in 1758. Since there are no records in France of their three youngest children Joseph, Paul and Jean Baptiste, it is presumed they perished with their parents. As for their married offspring, it is probable that Madeleine’s family and Francois’ family met the same fate. Son Pierre died on the island a year before the deportations. (His son Francois Xavier returned to the island by 1774 where he married Marie Modeste Cheverie.) Charles and his wife Anne Henry survived the crossing but their three children did not. (Charles and Anne, with three children, eventually sailed to Louisiana in 1785 on La Ville d'Archangel.) Marie and her husband Jean Henry survived the crossing with one of their three children and also eventually sailed to Louisiana in 1785 on La Ville d'Archangel.
Continuation of tree (2nd child of Jean Denis Pitre/Francoise Babin); all known surname descendants:
3 Joseph Pitre b: Abt. 1700 Cobequit, Acadia; d: Abt. 13 December 1758 in the shipwreck of Duke William on way to France
+Elisabeth (Isabelle) Boudrot b: Abt. 1701 Acadia; m: Abt. 1724 Acadia [Rene/unknown]; d: Abt. 13 December 1758 in the shipwreck of Duke William on way to France
4 Madeleine Pitre b: Abt. 1725 Acadia
+Louis Henry b: Abt. 1722 Acadia; m: Abt. 1749 Acadia
4 Pierre Pitre b: Abt. 1725 Acadia; d: 21 February 1757 Port Lajoie, Ile St. Jean
+Anne Bourg b: Abt. 1726 Cobequit, Acadia; m: 6 June 1753 Port Lajoie, Ile St. Jean [Jean Baptiste/Francoise Aucoin]
4 Francois Pitre b: Abt. 1727 Acadia
+Rosalie Henry b: Abt. 1729 Acadia; m: Abt. 1750 Acadia [Jean/Marie Madeleine Theriot]
4 Charles Pitre b: Abt. 1729 Beaubassin, Acadia; d: Bet. 1785 - 1794 Louisiana
+Anne Henry b: Abt. 1731 Acadia; m: 7 February 1752 Port Lajoie, Ile St. Jean [Jean Francois/Marie Hebert]; d: Aft. 1785 Louisiana
4 Marie Pitre b: Abt. 1731 Acadia; d: 31 August 1786 Pointe Coupee, LA
+Jean Henry b: Abt. 1731 Acadia; m: 26 January 1752 Port Lajoie, Ile St. Jean [Jean/Marie Madeleine Theriot]; d: Aft. 1786 Louisiana
4 Joseph Pitre b: Abt. 1734 Acadia; d: Aft. 1752
4 Paul Pitre b: Abt. 1736 Acadia; d: Aft. 1752
4 Jean Baptiste Pitre b: Abt. 1738 Acadia; d: Aft. 1752
The Sinking of the Duke William and of the Violet Taking the Acadians into Exile - An article by the late Rev. Clarence d'Entremont [website of Michele Doucette]
Back one generation to parents of Joseph Pitre
Items in RED verified from transcriptions in the following:
- Dictionnaire Genealogique des Familles Acadiennes (Stephen A. White)
- The Acadian Exiles in St. Malo (Robichaux)
- Letter from Stephen A. White to Leo Peters
Last updated: 2 February 2010***