Jean Baptiste Pitre
1730 Acadia - after 1798 PEI
Jean Baptiste Pitre was born c1730 (probably the eldest child) to Jean Marc Pitre and Judith Theriot. Two brothers and five sisters followed over the next 15 years.
While still in Acadia, around 1752, Jean Baptiste married Elisabeth Robichaud, the daughter of Alexandre Robichaud and (unknown) Bourg. As the political situation worsened they sought refuge on Ile St. Jean where a daughter Marie Josephe was born in 1755. By the time the British began to clear the island Jean Baptiste had probably sought escape in Restigouche where, now a widower, he married for a second time to Marguerite Arseneau. His sister, Anne Marie, also married on the same date to Charles Robichaud. Charles was the brother of Jean Baptiste’s first wife.
When the British raided Restigouche in 1761 Jean presumably escaped and he and Marguerite eventually made their way back to Ile St. Jean, as he is listed along with the four Gallant brothers as the residents of Rustico in 1763. He and Marguerite raised at least five sons and a daughter there and died sometime after the 1798 census of Rustico.
This Jean Baptiste, the great-grandson of the original Jean, is the progenitor of the majority of the Pitres/Peters of Prince Edward Island. The Pitres in the Rollo Bay area descend from his 1st cousins (once removed) Simon Joseph Pitre, Paul Pitre & Benoni Guillaume Pitre, sons of Joseph and Anne Bourg.
[Notes made by Joseph Pius Pitre (Jean Baptiste's 3xgreat-grandson), now in the possession of his nephew Yvon Pitre, refer to the family story that Jean Baptiste "escaped the expulsion by living in the woods, probably in New Brunswick."]
[Jean Baptiste Pitre's parents, spouses, children (and their spouses) have been checked against Stephen White's conclusions for accuracy - courtesy of Jean Paul Arsenault.]
Continuation of tree (1st child of Jean Marc Pitre/Judith Theriot); all known surname descendants:
4 Jean Baptiste Pitre b: Abt. 1730 Cobequid, Acadia; d: Aft. 1798 Rustico, PEI
+Elisabeth Robichaud b: Abt. 1731 Acadia; m: Abt. 1752 Acadia [Alexandre/---- Bourg]; d: Bef. 1760
5 Marie Josephe Pitre b: 14 August 1755 Port Lajoie, Ile St. Jean
*2nd Wife of Jean Baptiste Pitre:
+Marguerite Arseneau b: Abt. 1737 Ile St. Jean; m: 28 July 1760 Ste Anne, Restigouche, Quebec [Pierre/Marguerite Cormier]; d: Aft. 1798 Rustico, PEI
5 Jean Pitre b: Abt. 1763 Rustico, PEI; d: 1808 Rustico, PEI
+Marie Rose Doiron b: 11 September 1764 St. Enogat, Bretagne, France; m: Abt. 1785 Rustico, PEI [Alexis/Madeleine Josephe Bourg]
5 Jacques Pitre b: Abt. 1764 Rustico, PEI
+Marie Blanchard b: Abt. 1766; m: Abt. 1787 Rustico, PEI [Francois/Anne Marie Deveau]
5 Joseph (Cormier) Pitre b: Abt. 1765 Rustico, PEI; d: 9 January 1822 St. Augustine, Rustico, PEI
+Modeste Chiasson b: Abt. 1769; m: Abt. 1790 Rustico, PEI [Joseph/Catherine Blanchard]; d: Bef. 1822
5 Pierre (Captain Peter) Pitre b: Abt. 1769 Rustico, PEI; d: Bef. 15 February 1847 Rustico, PEI
+Martine Gallant b: Abt. 1774 Rustico, PEI; m: Abt. 1791 Rustico, PEI [Jean Francois/Agnes Doucet]
5 Marie Pitre b: Abt. 1771 Rustico, PEI
+Jean Gallant b: Abt. 1768 Rustico, PEI; m: Abt. 1790 Rustico, PEI [Jean Francois/Agnes Doucet]
5 Theodore Pitre b: Abt. 1774 Rustico, PEI; d: Aft. 1832
+Pelagie Arseneau b: Abt. 1783 Rustico, PEI; m: Abt. 1805 Rustico, PEI [Paul/Anne Bernard]; d: Aft. 1832
Back one generation to parents of Jean Baptiste Pitre
Items in RED have been verified against parish register entries.
Last updated: 3 March 2010