Jean Francois Broussard

Anjou, Isere, France

Port Royal, Acadia

General Notes

Jean Francois Broussard came from La Rochelle, France, in the spring of 1661 aboard the ship L'Oranger. In Port Royal, 10 years later, Jean Francois married Catherine Richard, daughter of Michel Richard and Madeline Blanchard. They had 10 children: Marie (1682), Madeline (1683), Pierre (1684), Catherine (1686), Francois (1690) Elizabeth (1693) Claude (1697) Joseph (1702), Aiexandre (1703), and Jean Baptiste (1705).

Jean Francois left Port Royal in 1698 and settled for a time at Chipoudy. He returned to Port Royal a few years later, but his two sons, Joseph and Alexandre, stayed on the Petitcodiac, marrying sisters from Chipody (Agnes and Marguerite Thibodeaux). Joseph Broussard and Agnes Thibodeaux also had 10 children: Jean Gregoire (1726), Joseph (1727), Victor (1728) Raphael (1733), Isabelle (1735), Timothe (1741), Francois (1742), Claude (1748), Francoise (1752) and Armand (1754).

(It is this Armand Broussard's house that has been restored and now stands at Vermillionville, the historic attraction at Lafayette. )

Many Acadians fled into hiding during those fall and winter months of 1755, when the British were rounding up their neighbors to send them into exile. Considerable numbers fleeing in small groups, escaped to what they thought to be French territory in today's New Brunswick.

It wasn't until late in 1758, three years after Le Grand Derangement, that the English finally succeeded in burning the last of the Acadian villages, along the upper Petitcodiac River (in New Brunswick near today's Moncton). Yet they still met with resistance. Many Acadians stayed in the area, hiding in the woods, living off the land, and harassing the English whenever and however they could.

One of their leaders was Joseph "Beausoleil" Broussard, a militia captain and resistance leader who built an almost legendary reputation as a sharp-shooter and guerrilla fighter.

He was called Beausoleil because he was one of the first to settle the little village of the name (now Boundary Creek, New Brunswick). Another variation is that his beautiful sunny smile earned him that nickname.

Click here for details of Jean Francois' family with Catherine Richard