Olivier Pitre
1741 Acadia – 1784 France
Olivier Pitre was born c1741 at Cobequit, Acadia, the 7th of eight sons born to Claude Jean Pitre and Marguerite Doiron. His parents had died by the time he was 18, but what became of him in the interval is somewhat vague.
His brothers, Benjamin, Claude, Paul, Francois & Raphael, all arrived in France in 1759 but, for whatever reason, Olivier is not recorded with that group. We know that he ended up eventually at Louisbourg, Isle Royale (now Cape Breton).
On 23rd April 1763 at Louisbourg, Olivier married Marie Latreille Moyse, the daughter of Louis Moyse and Marie Petitpas. While on Isle Royale, their first two children were born, Jean Baptiste & Victoire. Olivier is then found on Miquelon on 15th May 1767, listed as Olivier Pitre 24 (come from Louisbourg), wife Marie Moyse 22, son Joseph 3, daughter Marie 2, and Louis Moyse 38 (Marie's brother).
The family left Miquelon six months later and arrived in St. Malo on 13th November 1767 on the schooner La Creole. Olivier, wife Marie, Jean and Victoire settled in St. Suliac. Daughter Marie Cecile was born the following month (died at age 3 ½), followed by Francoise Olive, Marie Ludivinne (died at age 9 months) & Louis Constant. On 15th November 1775 the remaining family was in the 2nd Convoy leaving Chatellerault for Nantes, consisting of Olivier Pitre 38 seaman (listed as absent), Marie Moyse 37, and children Victoire 12, Jean-Baptiste 13, Francoise 5, & Louis-Constant 1.
Two more daughters were born: Julie Aimee (died as an infant), and Marie Martine (died about age 4). Probably Olivier died at about the same time because his widow Marie Moyse 45 boarded L’Amitie with only their children Victoire 19, Francoise 14 & Louis Constant 10, and left France for Louisiana in 1785.
The following spring Francoise Olive married Mathurin Chevalier Frelot , and nine months later Victoire married Jean Saisizo. The 1788 & 1791 Lafourche censuses show Marie Moyse and Constant on a six-arpent lot, with corn and hogs. Son Louis Constant married in 1797 to Marie Rose Guidry, and it is likely that his mother lived out her days with his family.
Continuation of tree (7th child of Claude Jean Pitre/Marguerite Doiron); all known surname descendants:
4 Olivier Pitre b: Abt. 1741 Cobequit, Acadia; d: Abt. 1784 France
+Marie Latreille Moyse b: Abt. 1741 Isle Royale; m: 23 April 1763 Louisbourg, Isle Royale [Louis/Marie Louise Petitpas]; d: Bet. 1810-1820 Lafourche, LA
5 Jean Baptiste Pitre b: Abt. 8 June 1764 Cap Breton, NS; d: 22 March 1785 Chantenay, Bretagne, France
5 Victoire Pitre b: Abt. 21 December 1765 Cap Breton, NS; d: 25 July 1829 Thibodaux, Lafourche, LA
+Jean Saisizo b: Abt. 1760; m: 14 February 1787 Donaldsonville, Ascension, LA; d: Abt. 1797 Lafourche, LA
*2nd Husband of Victoire Pitre:
+Etienne Gabriel Poirau b: Abt. 1765 St. Sebastien, Nantes, France; m: 30 May 1798 Plattenville, Assumption, LA [Eteinne/Louise Isabel Leboeuf]
5 Marie Cecile Pitre b: 19 December 1767 St. Suliac, Bretagne, France; d: 23 May 1771 St. Suliac, Bretagne, France
5 Francoise Olive Pitre b: 17 November 1770 St. Suliac, Bretagne, France; d: Abt. 9 May 1826 Lafourche, LA
+Mathurin Chevalier Frelot b: Abt. 1757; m: 9 May 1786 Donaldsonville, Ascension, LA; d: Bet. 1795-1802 Lafourche, LA
*2nd Husband of Francoise Olive Pitre:
+Jean Baptiste Boudrot b: 21 October 1767 Trigavou, Cotes du Nord, France; m: 26 December 1802 Plattenville, Assumption, LA [Olivier/Anne Dugas]; d: 13 June 1807 Opelousas, St. Landry, LA
*3rd Husband of Francoise Olive Pitre:
+Jean Lafont b: Bordeaux, France; m: 1 September 1808 Donaldsonville, Ascension, LA [Joseph/Louise Auray]
5 Marie Ludivinne Pitre b: 24 September 1772 St. Suliac, Bretagne, France; d: 23 June 1773 St. Suliac, Bretagne, France
5 Louis Constant Pitre b: Abt. 1774 St. Roman, Poitiers, France; d: Aft. 1820 Lafourche, LA
+Marie Rose Guidry b: 19 April 1779 St. Donaciano, Nantes, France; m: 28 August 1797 Plattenville, Assumption, LA [Pierre Janvier/Marie Josephe Lebert]; d: Aft. 1822 Lafourche, LA
5 Julie Aimee Pitre b: Abt. 1777 Chantenay, Bretagne, France; d: 5 December 1777 Chantenay, Bretagne, France
5 Marie Martine Pitre b: Abt. 1779 Chantenay, Bretagne, France; d: 2 June 1783 Chantenay, Bretagne, France
Back one generation to parents of Olivier Pitre
Items in RED verified from transcriptions in the following:
- The Acadian Exiles in St. Malo 1758-1785, Vol. 2 (Robichaux)
- South Louisiana Records: Church and Civil Records of Lafourche-Terrebonne Parishes (Rev. Hebert)
- Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records
Last updated: 2 February 2010***