A History Of The Breaux Family

ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
A History Of The Breaux Family
Addendum To The Allendom Papers

ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
PART 2

The Problem of Names...

We are advised by Jack Pastorek of the Baton Rouge Diocese Archives that the original spelling of the family name in France was BRAULT and it is speculated that it is of Teutonic or German origin. Any further sleuthing in Loudun, therefore, should utilize this spelling. Our initial assumption was that the almost infinite variations in spelling we found on census records, etc., was due largely to evolutions in the spelling -- an idea that died a quick death when we found different spellings on different documents that we knew referred to the same person (not to mention different spellings among different members of the same immediate families!). The spellings began to stabilize around the time of the Civil War and it wasn’t until we were poring over original documents in the Convent Courthouse -- and noting all of the "marks" and witnesses to the marks -- that the answer became clear: as feudal peasants many of the original Acadians could neither read nor write. They gave their names orally to whatever civil servant, census taker or representative of the crown they were talking to and since "Brault" is pronounced "Bro" and there are a hundred different ways to render that "o" sound in French, the name splintered into a dizzying array of spellings. There, (especially until the mid-19th century when the marks began to be replaced by signatures and the family spellings became more consistent) all of the following spellings should be considered interchangeable: Bro, Brot, Brod, Brau, Braud, Brauld, Breau, Breaux, Breaud and Braut. All are pronounced "Bro" and it has been determined that everyone living in Louisiana bearing one of those names is descended from VINCENT BRAULT. (At one point another line was introduced but has since died out.)

Also, beware of Maries and Josephs. For much of the 18th and early 19th centuries it was fashionable in Acadian society for boys’ and girls’ names to begin with either Marie or Joseph. (Come to think of it, my own Catholic school was filled with Mary Janes, Mary Margarets, Mary Beths, etc.). Catholic church records are listed alphabetically (and form the
basis of virtually all early Acadian records), so if you can’t find a particular person’s common name under the Braud listing try sticking the appropriate Marie or Joseph in front of it and you’ll usually have better luck.

It is also helpful to have a working knowledge of Spanish during the period of Spanish civil records when Anne becomes Anna and Charles becomes Carlos.

Echoes of Life in Acadia...

In the past hundred years a wealth of information has emerged on the Acadians of Nova Scotia, their lives and culture. (Longfellow’s "Evangeline" deals with their expulsion from the area.) Telling the story here would constitute a book in itself, but there are some things worth mentioning from that long-ago story since we’ve found echoes of that life in our family today.

For example, the Reunion Document notes that Leontine Braud ("Ma’am George", who died in 1948 and is still alive in the memory of many older family members) is remember by Aunt Vivian as "often going barefoot" and by many members of the family as "easy-going but "sass" and well able to hold her own when the situation demanded".

The early Acadians produced and wore the purely practical wooden shoes (sabots) of their native France, with thick wool socks in the winter to protect against cold and dampness, and in the summer only when necessary to keep their feet from being cut or bruised. They also borrowed the concept of moccasins from the local Micmac Indians. When the Acadians arrived in the mild climate of Louisiana, the bulky wooden shoes were the first thing to go. In the Acadian mind, shoes were functional and the idea of spending money on footwear for fashion reminded them of the pretentious French aristocracy they had fled over a hundred years before.

The class-conscious Creoles mocked the Acadians (Cajuns) for their non-materialistic lifestyle,simple clothing and tendency to go about barefoot, even to dances and to church. Even after their diligence and agricultural skills brought many of them great wealth and social prominence, most Acadians remained surprisingly unfazed by the trapping of money.

And "sassy"? As colonial France and England traded their Acadian homeland back and forth in the 18th century, the Acadians declared themselves "French Neutrals" and simply ignored the political winds. A quote from Brasseaux’s book paints a vivid picture:

The Acadians quickly adjusted to new political realities...English rule meant little if any change in the Acadian’s daily lives. In practice, the colonists continued to regulate a considerable amount of their day-to-day affairs themselves. Furthermore, the Acadians consistently viewed the English colonial government as a instrument to serve their needs, particularly in the areas of judicial and notarial services, and not as an arbiter of their lives and properties."

Later in Louisiana, we find compelling stories of our direct ancestor, ALEXIS, and his brother, Honoré, defying the local Spanish governor and eventually contributing to his ouster.

And finally, an intriguing note from our own family: The early Acadians were renowned for the excellent maple syrup they produced. One of the staples in their diet were large slabs of homemade wheat bread served dripping with maple or molasses. After arriving in Louisiana and unable to grow wheat, they issued this sweet treat until they discovered that corn and sugar could provide a delicious substitute and were soon serving chunks of cornbread, slathered in cane syrup. Our other, Josie Duncan, passed away at 78 still trim and tiny after a lifetime of sensible eating. But not before doing battle with a lifelong "sweet tooth". Her Christmas present to herself each year was a box of Sees dandy and one "sinful evening when she ate it all and loved every minute of it!

The Winds of Change...

In 1713, the War of the Spanish Succession ended in Europe with the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, by which France ceded Acadia to England. For two yeas the Acadians had waged a guerrilla war against the English occupation of their capitol at Port Royal, so tensions in the colony were strained, to say the least.

VINCENT’S son, ANTOINE, was 44-year-old. He and his wife, MARGUERITE BASIN were busy raising their large family. The five boys ranged in age from 5 to 23, and since there is a ten year gap between the first two boys and only a sic year period covering the birth of the last four, we can safely assume there were 4 or 5 daughters in their teens filling the gap. All five boys lived to maturity, married and raised families, so this branch of the Brauds appears to have been a hardy bunch. ALEXANDRA, the middle boy, was 12-years-old.

Under the terms of the treaty the Acadians were given a choice: Swear an unconditional oath of allegiance to the English crown and retain their land, possessions and religious freedom, or, leave the colony within one year and transport their movable property to "any place they see fit". Some of the younger Acadians left the area, but the vast majority -- guessing correctly that the small English garrison was ill-equipped to drive 2500 people out of their homes -- turned sassy and answered in effect, "Sit tight. We’ll get back to you". Four years later (1717) they had a compromise to offer. The Acadians agreed to p[ledge their loyalty to England and to remain in the colony (which the English had renamed Nova Scotia) in exchange for freedom to exercise their Catholic faith, guaranteed neutrality in the inevitable Franco-English colonial wars and last, but certainly not least, recognition by the colonial government that the Acadians were, in fact a distinct community. The provincial governor, Richard Phillips, recognizing that not only did he not have enough men to move against the united community of Acadia,but that driving Acadians from their farms would deprive the garrison of their primary source of food and supplies, answered with the equivalent of, "I’ll think about it", and proceeded to think about it for the next six years.

Meanwhile, ALEXANDRA grew to manhood, married MARIE DEGAS and begun raising his own family. The son, Amend, was born in 1721-23, the year that Governor Phillips broke off negotiations with the Acadians and abruptly sailed for England. ALEXANDRE’S second son, ALEXIS, was born in 1725. He was 4-year-old when Phillipps returned from England and decided to end the impasse by simply lying to everyone involved.

He assured the Acadians that the British government had approved their demand for neutrality and with these verbal assurances, the Acadian leaders signed the oath of allegiance. Phillipps then sailed back to England and announced to the Lords of Trade that his mission had been a complete success and that the Acadians had abandoned their claims to neutrality. Thus, the Conventions of 1730 were not only based on a great lie, but each side believed the other had capitulated to its demands.

In 1730, ALEXIS’S younger brother, Honoré was born, the same year the Conventions of 1720 were agreed to -- or so the Acadians thought. Tensions in the colony eased and by 1731, life in Acadia had returned to normal.

"The Grand Derangement"
(The Great Dispersal)

His Name was Major Charles Lawrence. By the time he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Acadian province in August of 1754, England’s position regarding the colony had changed dramatically. Their brand new capitol at Halifax was thriving and the garrison no longer depended upon the Acadians for supplies. English forts appeared on the landscape and, with the spectre of the French and Indian War on the horizon, the strategic importance to England of the area had shifted considerably.

Major Lawrence had had enough of their French tongue, self-proclaimed neutrality and general "sass", and so -- with no legal justification whatsoever -- he decided to get rid of this annoying problem once and for all and by any means necessary.

In the Braud family,another generation had come of age. ALEXANDER and MARIE’S three sons, Amend (33), ALEXIS (30) and Honoré (25) had each married and started families. ALEXANDRA and MARIE were dead by 1763). Amand’s only son, Joseph, was 3, ALEXIS’S three sons, HONORE, Joseph and Charles -- ranged in age from 7 to l respectively, while Honoré had a 2-year-old toddler names Magdeleine. There is compelling evidence that the three brothers also had a sister named CECILE who would have been 17 at the time.

After four generations in the New World, Acadian society had evolved from the hard scrabble, "we’re-in-this-thing-together" structure of the early pioneers, into a more traditional society with some leading families emerging and differing levels of prosperity among the farmers. There is evidence that despite the tradition of large, extended families working the land, some farmers now had a few hired hands to aid in production and increase profits. In view of the role they were to play as leaders-in-exiile and the economic position they would achieve in Louisiana, it is quite possible that the Breaux boys were counted among the leaders of the Pisiquid community.

Colonel Lawrence wasted no time. In the late spring of 1755 he coerced the French Neutrals into surrendering their arms. In June he seized the French fort at Baubassin ,closing the isthmus and cutting off any possible escape by the Acadians into the interior. On July 3rd, on the pretext of discussing the return of their firearms, Lawrence summoned representatives of the major Acadian settlements to Halifax where he demanded they abandon their neutrality and sign an unconditional oath of allegiance. When they refused, he summarily imprisoned the entire delegation; lured the Acadian men into the posts on some pretext, then arrested them all as enemies of the Crown. Separated from their men, the women and children would offer no resistance and could be loaded onto the English transport ships waiting offshore. Extended families would be broken up and distributed among British Atlantic seaboard colonies and sent to England.

On September 5th at Grand Pré (a community right next door to Pisiquid), 418 Acadian men were lured to the local Catholic church -- ostensibly to discuss a decree regarding their lands. Instead they were arrested. Five days later, they and their families, divided into groups based upon age and sex, were hustled under armed guard to the ships and deported. It is improbable that the Breaux brothers were among this group, more likely they were among the neighboring communities so demoralized by the incident and terrorized by the roving British patrols that they surrendered within days for transport.

By mid-October, the communities and farms surrounding Pisiquid were ghost towns. Nearly 5,000 Acadians had been deported from the province. When word of this reached Port Royal, the Acadians there fled into the woods but without their firearms they had no chance against the British soldiers. By late November all of them had been captured and deported.

An Acadian resistance movement sprang up in what is now New Brunswick as some of the French Neutrals managed to make it across the isthmus to the interior (approximately 3,500). The British high command harassed them constantly and ultimately destroyed their settlements.

As the winter of ‘55-’56 set in, the colonial government abandoned its policy of deportation in exchange for one of outright and total extermination. In refugee camps in the forests Acadians desperately tried to survive the harsh winter; starvation reduced them to eating carrion, spoiled meat, and eventually their own moccasins. Starvation and disease claimed "great numbers", but the British commitment to extermination was relentless. Between 1756 and 1758, the Nova Scotia government declared an official bounty on Acadian prisoners. Unofficially, the bounty was on their scalps. Hundreds more died.

It is difficult to leave this story and return to the specific talk of our ancestors but we will leave it to our family members to pursue the saga of the Acadian dispersal on their own. (NFS: There are apparently volumes of material published on "The Grand Derangement" and the story of the Acadians. Charles Brasseaux’s "The Founding of New Acadia" which we grabbed in a New Orleans bookstore on our way our of town and served as our introduction to the sage, contains an extensive and tantalizing bibliography.)

Virtually overnight, the Acadians had become a culture without a country.

In summary, most of the French Neutrals were deported to England, France, Boston, Charleston, South Carolina; Williamsburg, Connecticut, New York Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Of the remainder, some ended up in Martinique and Santo Domingo (present-day Haiti). Others managed to survive in Halifax when the English and German colonists who took over their land were unable to operate the complex system of dikes and levees the Acadians built, and were forced to hire the remaining Halifax Acadians to work the farms for wages. These wages were carefully hoarded. In the early spring of 1765, they chartered vessels at their own expense and set sail by way of Santo Domingo for a remote land, newly added to Spain who was looking for a few good colonists to develop the land, no questions asked -- a fertile land still bearing the name of a French king, Louisiana.

To On The Shoulders Of Giants Part 3

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