Joseph Pitre dit Marc was born 17th December 1726 at Cobequid, Acadia, the eldest son of Claude Marc Pitre and Isabelle Guerin. Around 1752 Joseph married Anne Bourg, the daughter of Ambroise Bourg and Elisabeth Melanson.
Building a picture of Joseph and Anne’s life and family has proved somewhat difficult. Sometime in the 1750’s the family did remove to Ile St. Jean as their son Simon Joseph was baptized at St. Pierre du Nord on 30th July 1758. It is probable that the family was a fairly recent arrival as they do not show up in the 1752 census of the island, and Simon Joseph’s birth was given as 31st October 1757, nine months before his baptism. Joseph and his family did not suffer the fate of so many on Ile St. Jean, that of being shipped overseas in late 1758.
One might presume that Joseph took his family back to the mainland in an effort to find a safe refuge. In August of 1763 there is a family listed as “Joseph Pitre, wife & 5 children” held as prisoners at Halifax. Is this group Joseph and his family? Might one conclude that the family stayed on the mainland, the daughters married, the parents (Joseph and Anne) died and the sons chose then to return to Prince Edward Island (Ile St. Jean) to live?
-- The following excerpt from a letter written by Stephen A. White to Leo F. Peters (22 March 1984) gives some useful evidence. I am very grateful to Leo for sharing his correspondence with me.
“I can give you a positive assurance that the Pitre/Peters family of Rollo Bay and Fortune does in fact descend from Joseph Pitre and Anne Bourg. ... In the case of the Pitres of Rollo Bay, I have found a dispensation that provides the proof that they descend from Joseph Pitre and Anne Bourg. Before examining the particular dispensation in question, let me note first that there can be no doubt that the Pitres of Rollo Bay descend from Marc Pitre. This certitude derives from the fact that several records in Tracadie, Nova Scotia, attribute to descendants of this family the surname of Marc rather than Pitre. These records are the marriages of two of the children of Alexis Jacquet dit DesLauriers and Agnes Pitre and of Germain Chiasson and Marie Pitre. In Moise Jacquet dit DesLaurier's marriage record, Jan. 15, 1816, his mother is called Agnes Marc. Nine years later, Feb. 1, 1825, in Susanne Jacquet's marriage record, her mother (the same individual) is called "Anne Mathe." One may ascribe the deviation in surname here to the unfamiliarity of the priest who officiated at Susanne's wedding, Father Grant, with French names. The given name Agnes was often replaced by Anne. On June 5, 1834, the wife of Alexis Jacquet dit DesLauriers was buried at Tracadie. This record calls her Agnes Pitre. Elsewhere she is called Anne Pitre. Charlotte Chiasson, on the other hand, daughter of Germain Chiasson and Marie "Marte," was married at Tracadie, Nov. 10, 1818. Most other records call Germain Chiasson's wife Marie Pitre. Taken all together these records show that Agnes and Marie belonged to the Pitre dit Marc strain, descending from Marc Pitre.
The dispensation toward which I have been leading is one of the fourth degree accorded to Benoni LeBlanc and Emilie Chiasson on the occasion of their marriage, Jan. 26, 1835, at Cheticamp. I can reconstruct the ancestries of Benoni and Emilie as follows:
A 1. Benoni LeBlanc B 1. Emilie Chiasson
A 2. Benoni LeBlanc B 2. Charlemagne Chiasson
A 3. Marguerite Cormier B 3. Barbe Aucoin
A 4. Benoni LeBlanc B 4. Germain Chiasson
A 5. Marie Josephe Bourg B 5. Marie Pitre
A 6. Guillaume Cormier B 6. Pierre Aucoin
A 7. Isabelle Boudrot B 7. Luce Babin
A 8. Claude LeBlanc B 8. Paul Chiasson
A 9. Judith Benoit B 9. Louise Boudrot
A 10. Ambroise Bourg B 10. Joseph Pitre
A 11. Anne Breau B 11. Anne Bourg
A 12. Francois Cormier B 12. Pierre Aucoin
A 13. Anne Chiasson B 13. Felicite LeBlanc
A 14. Germain Boudrot B 14. Claude Babin
A 15. Anne Hebert B 15. Madeleine LeBlanc
Benoni and Emilie received three dispensations for consanguinity in all: one for a third to fourth degree relationship and two for fourth degree relationships. The third to fourth degree link arose from the fact that Benoni LeBlanc (#A4 above) and Madeleine LeBlanc (#B15) were brother and sister. One of the fourth degree connections came from the fact that Anne Chiasson (#A13) and Paul Chiasson (#B8) were sister and brother. The other is the one I wish to point out particularly. It came from the Bourg side; Ambroise Bourg (#A10) was a brother of Anne Bourg (#B11). From a variety of sources we can prove that Germain Boudrot (#A14) and Louise Boudrot (#B9) were not nearly related; neither were Claude LeBlanc (#A8) and Felicite LeBlanc (#B13). So the only possible fourth degree connection -- other than the Chiasson one -- between Benoni and Emilie must have arisen from the side of her great-grandmother Pitre. Plugging Madeleine Darois into that slot would not work at all, but putting Anne Bourg there explains the relationship perfectly. This dispensation thus proves that Germain Chiasson's wife must have been a daughter of Joseph Pitre and Anne Bourg. Since Germain Chiasson's wife was a sister of Paul Pitre, we may then safely conclude that Paul Pitre was a son of Joseph Pitre and Anne Bourg.”
Additional excerpts from Stephen White letter:
“I agree that Joseph Pitre Jr. shown at Lot 43 in 1798 was Charlotte Cormier's husband. I do not agree that the Simon Joseph Pitre born in 1757 could not have been this same Joseph Pitre Jr. But even if Simon Joseph Pitre was known as Simon, it is quite possible that Joseph Pitre and Anne Bourg had another son known as Joseph Pitre Jr. who married Charlotte Cormier. As Joseph Pitre Sr. was born in 1726, we may suppose that Anne Bourg, his wife, was born about 1730, even in the absence of records to prove it, and she might have borne children well into the 1770's. Joseph Pitre Jr. might thus easily have been a young newly-wed of twenty-five or so in 1798 and only forty-five or so when his daughter Madeleine was born in 1817.”
“The dispensation for fourth degree consanguinity granted to Jacques Gallant and Domithilde Pitre at their marriage, Oct. 27, 1840, at Miscouche, does not seem to have anything to do with the Pitre line. It may eventually prove very useful in identifying Charlotte Cormier. At first glance it suggests to me that Charlotte may have been a daughter of Jean Cormier and Marie Boudrot of the Magdalen Islands or of Basile Cormier and Marguerite Arseneau of Margaree. In the former case the fourth degree consanguinity may be explained as coming from the Boudrot side; Marie Boudrot's father Joseph Boudrot, was a brother of Jacque Gallant's wife, Marie Josephe Boudrot. In the latter case the Arseneau family would be the connecting one; Marguerite Arseneau's father, Francois Arseneau, was a brother of Fidele Arseneau's father, Abraham Arseneau.”
“... a deed which shows that Paul Pitre shared a lease of land at Rollo Bay with Jean Baptiste Landry. I am persuaded that this Jean Baptiste Landry is the same man who resided most of his life at Arichat and who married Anne Pitre. If this assumption is true, then it seems much more likely that Jean Baptiste's wife was a sister of Paul, rather than of Francois Xavier Pitre. I presume that Jean Baptiste Landry and Paul Pitre would not have shared a lease of land unless they were very closely related. Given what we know of the two men themselves from other sources, it is most probable that they were brothers-in-law. Not knowing who Paul Pitre's wife was/is a particular handicap at this juncture, as the want of her identification leaves us open to several possibilities. First, it could be that she was from a third family, unrelated to the Landrys. In this case I would think that Jean Baptiste Landry's wife must necessarily have been Paul's sister. Secondly, it could be that Paul Pitre married Jean Baptiste Landry's sister (and I have reason to believe that Jean Baptiste had a sister Marguerite, born about 1754). Jean Baptiste's wife might still have been Paul's sister, making a stronger bond between the two men, but it would be equally possible that Anne was Francois Xavier Pitre's sister after all, and that the link between Jean Baptiste and Paul was on the Landry side only. Unfortunately, I have no information whatsoever throwing any light on the question of the identity of Paul's wife. Paul's wife might possibly have been a Landry, but it seems equally possible that she might have been a Cheverie. If she were a Cheverie, I think it most likely that she was a sister of the Pierre Cheverie who married successively Marguerite Laroque and Ursule Landry. This Pierre was a son of Denis Cheverie and Marguerite Rose DesRoches. He had a sister Catherine who was born Apr. 13, 1770, and was baptized July 29, 1771, at Arichat, by Father C. F. Bailly. Given that Paul seems to have married in the early 1790's, a bride born in 1770 might seem more probable than one born about 1754.”
Continuation of tree (1st child of Claude Marc Pitre/Isabelle Guerin); all known surname descendants:
4 Joseph Pitre b: 17 December 1726 Cobequid, Acadia; d: Aft. 1766
+Anne Bourg b: Abt. 1729 Cobequid, Acadia; m: Abt. 1752 Cobequid, Acadia [Ambroise/ Elisabeth Melanson]
5 Anne Pitre b: Abt. 1753 Acadia
+Jean Baptiste Landry b: Abt. 1749 Acadia; m: Abt. 1773 Riviere dux Habitants, Isle Madame [Alexis/unknown]; d: Abt. 1812 Cape Breton, NS
5 Simon Joseph Pitre b: 31 October 1757 St. Pierre du Nord, Ile St. Jean; d: Aft. 1841 Rollo Bay, PEI
+Charlotte Anne Cormier b: Abt. 1772; m: Abt. 1797 Rollo Bay, PEI; d: Aft. 1841 Rollo Bay, PEI
5 Paul Pitre b: Abt. 1759; d: Bef. 1841 Rollo Bay, PEI
+(Catherine Cheverie or Marguerite Landry ??) m: Abt. 1792
5 Marie Pitre b: Abt. 1761; d: 9 March 1835 Cheticamp, NS
+Germain Chiasson b: Abt. 1758; m: Abt. 1781 [Paul/Louise Boudrot]; d: Bef. 1809
5 Benoni Guillaume Pitre b: Abt. 1763; d: Abt. 1851 Rollo Bay, PEI
+Anne Marie Daigle b: Abt. 1786; m: Abt. 1807 Rollo Bay, PEI [Paul Daigre/Anne Arseneau]; d: Aft. 1861
5 Agnes Pitre b: Abt. 1766; d: 3 June 1834 Tracadie, NS
+Alexis Jacquet dit DesLauriers b: 18 January 1765 Berthier en Haut, Quebec; m: Abt. 1786 Tracadie, NS [Thomas DesLauriers/Marguerite Seguin]; d: Abt. 1837 Tracadie, Antigonish, NS
Back one generation to parents of Joseph Pitre
Items in RED taken from transcriptions in the following:
- Letter from Stephen A. White to Leo Peters
- Acadians in Exile (Hebert)
Last updated: 1 November 2003