Ambroise Pitre was born c1750 at Cobequit, Acadia, the 3rd son of nine children of Amand Pitre & Genevieve Arsement. The following year, like many of his neighbors, Amand moved his family to Ile St. Jean.
When the deportations began, Ambroise was only about nine. On 9th March 1759, Ambroise, four siblings and his parents arrived at St. Malo on du Supply. Still in France, fifteen years later, Ambroise married Elisabeth Dugas, also an Acadian refugee. Their son Paul Ambroise was born the following year.
When the large movement of Acadians to Nantes occurred in 1776, Ambroise, his wife and son were in the 4th Convoy which left Chatellerault. The journey lasted a week, from 6th March to 13th March 1776. Four more children followed, Elisabeth (died at age 2), Marie, Jean Louis (died at 1 month) & Jean Marie. In 1785 the family, which now consisted of Ambroise 35 a sailor, his wife Elizabeth Dugat 32, and their remaining three children (Paul 9, Marie 6 & Jean Marie 1) sailed from France to Louisiana on La Bergere.
The family settled in Lafourche Parish. Ambroise died within those first couple of years as widowed ‘Isabelle Dugats’ is found in the 1st January 1788 Lafourche census, with their children Paul, Marie, Jean Marie and 2-year-old Celeste (who was baptized at Ascension on 4 December 1785). They were settled on six arpents of land whose frontage would have been on the bayou. They had 20 quarts of corn, 1 cow, 1 horse and 4 hogs.
About a year later Elisabeth Dugas remarried to Jean Marie Campo. They had two sons, Joseph & Augustin Martin, before Elisabeth was again widowed. She is found in the 1791 Lafourche census as widow Isabelle Campeau 38, with her sons Paul Pitre 15, Jean Pitre 8, and Joseph Campeau 1.
The family is listed in the 1795, 1797, and 1798 Lafourche censuses with all members listed. Her four surviving Pitre children married between 1800 & 1805. Her youngest Campo son, Augustin Martin, married on 15 June 1812 to Emilie Marie Hebert. It was due to Elisabeth’s remarriage to Campo that her son Jean Marie was also referred to as Jean Marie Campo or Jean Marie Pitre dit Campo. Elisabeth Dugas died in Assumption, Lafourche, Louisiana sometime between 1810 & 1820.
Continuation of tree (3rd child of Amand Pitre/Genevieve Arsement); all known surname descendants:
4 Ambroise Pitre b: Abt. 1750 Cobequit, Acadia; d: Abt. 1787 Lafourche, LA
+Elisabeth Dugas b: Abt. 1753 Acadia; m: 6 April 1774 Pleurtuit, Ille-et-Villaine, France [Paul/Anne Marie Boudrot]; d: Bet. 1810 - 1820 Plattenville, Assumption, LA
5 Paul Ambroise Pitre b: 21 July 1775 Vienne, France; d: 21 November 1837 Plattenville, Assumption, LA
+Celeste Blanchard b: 13 August 1776 Nantes, France; m: 16 September 1800 Plattenville, Assumption, LA [Benoni/Madeleine Forest]; d: Aft. 1840 Plattenville, Assumption, LA
5 Elisabeth Pitre b: 12 December 1776 Chantenay, Bretagne, France; d: 7 October 1778 Chantenay, Bretagne, France
5 Marie Pitre b: 3 February 1779 Chantenay, Bretagne, France; d: Abt. 6 November 1815 Lafourche, LA
+Francois Joseph Leblanc b: 19 March 1766 Belle Ile en Mer; m: 16 September 1800 Plattenville, Assumption, LA [Jean Baptiste/Marguerite Celestin]; d: Louisiana
5 Jean Louis Pitre b: March 1783 Chantenay, Bretagne, France; d: 27 April 1783 Hotel Dieu, Nantes, France
5 Jean Marie Pitre b: 14 April 1784 Chantenay, Bretagne, France; d: 30 August 1842 Houma, Terrebonne, LA
+Rose Adelaide Lirette b: Abt. 1783 Chantenay, Bretagne, France; m: 14 October 1805 Plattenville, Assumption, LA [Jean Pierre/Marie Madeleine Durambourg]; d: 10 September 1858 Houma, Terrebonne, LA
5 Celeste Pitre b: Abt. 4 December 1785 Donaldsonville, Ascension, LA; d: Abt. 18 September 1817 Thibodaux, Lafourche, LA
+Jean Martin Leblanc b: 11 November 1783 Chantenay, Bretagne, France; m: 6 February 1804 Plattenville, Assumption, LA [Moise/Angela Forest]; d: April 1826 Houma, Terrebonne, LA
Back one generation to parents of Ambroise Pitre
Items in RED verified from transcriptions in the following:
- The Acadian Exiles in Chatellerault 1773-1785 (Robichaux)
- Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records
- South Louisiana Records: Church and Civil Records of Lafourche-Terrebonne Parishes (Rev. Hebert)
Last updated: 21 March 2008