| 1. | Jean PITRE was born in 1636 in Flanders, France; died about 1689 in Port Royal, Acadie. Notes:
Jean Pitre & Marie Pesseley
Jean Pitre appeared in only the 1671, 1678 and 1686 censuse s at Port Royal, Acadia. He is reported as being 35 in th e first census which would put his birth at around 1636. Hi s wife was Marie Pesseley, born c1645, the youngest child o f Isaac Pesseley and Barbe Bajolet, both French. Going by M arie’s age and the ages of the children in the 1671 census , she and Jean were probably married at Port Royal c1665.
Marie's parents had arrived in Acadia around 30 years earli er, but her mother returned to France after her father wa s killed on 16 April 1645 in the attack on Fort St. Jean. I t is unknown if Marie was born in Acadia or if she was bor n after her mother had returned to France, but her grandso n Claude Marc's declaration at Belle-Ile-en-Mer claimed Par is as her birthplace. After being widowed twice more, Barb e Bajolet, and certainly her two youngest children Marie Pe sseley and Marie Anne Lefebvre, returned to Port Royal in 1 661.
Jean Pitre's occupation was listed as taillandier, which tr anslates most closely as an edge-tool maker. He had no lan d and only one cow in the 1671 census, so the assumption i s that he made his living providing sharpened tools for oth ers. By 1678 he had two cows and two arpents of land unde r cultivation.
The 1686 census listed his growing family of seven childre n who were still living with them, while the two eldest dau ghters had married and were settled nearby with their husba nds.
With the youngest child Jeanne born c1688, Jean Pitre proba bly died c1689 at the age of about 53. Widow Marie was onl y 44 with eight children and quickly remarried to Francoi s Robin c1690 and together they raised the remaining mino r children. The Pitre children married into Amireau, Bertra nd, Comeau, Henry, Brun, Babin, Prejean, and Piat.
Family of Jean Pitre & Marie Pesseley
1 Jean Pitre b: Abt. 1636 "d'origine flamande"; d: Abt. 168 9 Port Royal, Acadia
+Marie Pesseley b: Abt. 1645 Port Royal, Acadia; m: Abt. 16 65 Port Royal, Acadia [Isaac Pesseley/Barbe Bajolet]; d: 2 6 December 1707 Port Royal, Acadia
2 Marie Pitre b: Abt. 1666 Port Royal, Acadia; d: Aft. 1726
+Francois Amireau dit Tourangeau b: Abt. 1644; m: Abt. 168 3 Port Royal, Acadia; d: Aft. 1726
2 Catherine Pitre b: Abt. 1668 Port Royal, Acadia; d: Bet . 1706 - 1714 Acadia
+Claude Bertrand b: Abt. 1651; m: Abt. 1685 Port Royal, Aca dia; d: Abt. 1726 Acadia
2 Claude Pitre b: Abt. February 1671 Port Royal, Acadia; d : Bet. 1729 - 1750 Port Royal, Acadia
+Marie Anne Comeau b: Abt. 1678 Acadia; m: Abt. 1696 Port R oyal, Acadia [Pierre Comeau/Jeanne Bourg]; d: 9 July 1707 P ort Royal, Acadia
*2nd Wife of Claude Pitre:
+Anne (Jeanne) Henry b: Abt. 1688 Mines, Acadia; m: 17 Febr uary 1710 Port Royal, Acadia [Robert Henry/Marie Madelein e Godin]; d: 29 November 1757 Hospital general, Quebec
2 Marc Pitre b: Abt. 1673 Port Royal, Acadia; d: Aft. 1714
+Jeanne Brun b: Abt. 1676 Port Royal, Acadia; m: Abt. 169 9 Acadia [Sebastien Brun/Huguette Bourg]; d: Aft. 1714
2 infant Pitre b: Abt. 1675 Port Royal, Acadia; d: Aft. 167 8 Port Royal, Acadia
2 Pierre Pitre b: Abt. 1677 Port Royal, Acadia; d: Aft. 1700
2 Jean Denis Pitre b: Abt. 1680 Port Royal, Acadia; d: Aft . 1724
+Francoise Babin b: Abt. 1681 Port Royal, Acadia; m: Abt. 1 698 Port Royal, Acadia [Antoine Babin/Marie Mercier]; d: Af t. 1724
2 Francois Pitre b: Abt. 1682 Port Royal, Acadia; d: 5 Dece mber 1725 Port Royal, Acadia
+Anne Prejean b: Abt. 1687 Port Royal, Acadia; m: 27 July 1 705 Port Royal, Acadia [Jean Prejean/Andree Savoie]
2 Marguerite Pitre b: Abt. 1683 Port Royal, Acadia; d: 12 J uly 1747 Port Royal, Acadia
+Abraham Comeau b: Abt. 1680 Port Royal, Acadia; m: Abt. 17 01 Port Royal, Acadia [Pierre Comeau/Jeanne Bourg]; d: Aft . 1739
2 Jeanne Pitre b: Abt. December 1685 Port Royal, Acadia
+Jean Pierre Piat dit La Bonte b: Abt. 1671; m: Abt. 1701 A cadia
2 Jeanne Pitre b: Abt. 1688 Port Royal, Acadia; d: Aft. 1707
For the remainder of the Pitre Descendant Tree there are li nks from the four married sons. The tree continues in the s ame style. Anyone with a two in front of their name is a ch ild of Jean & Marie, a three indicates a grandchild and s o forth. The descendants of each of the four sons generall y settled in different areas. Though the geographic pointer s are not absolutes, as a guide for where to start, select:
* Claude Pitre : Louisiana (St. Landry areas) ; Michigan; New York; Essex, Ontario; Quebec (Beauharnois , Chateauguay, Montreal); other spellings include Cayen, La jambe/Lashambe/Lashomb/Legembre, Peat/Peet
* Marc Pitre : Prince Edward Island; Quebec (Mat apedia); France; Louisiana (Pointe Coupee); other spelling s include Peters
* Jean Denis Pitre : Louisiana (Lafourche, Te rrebonne, St. Mary areas), Nova Scotia
* Francois Pitre : New Brunswick, Ontariio ( Russell), Quebec (Nicolet), New York; other spellings inclu de Lepitre, Petry
.
Their lives in context
Even though the English controlled the colony during the 16 50's and 1660's, they didn't make much of an impact. Durin g this period Acadia had much more contact with New Englan d than with France. In the early years of Jean and Marie' s marriage France again regained control (1667), even thoug h they had decided not to send more colonists to the New Wo rld (1666).
France regained official control in 1670 and during the nex t 20 years of Jean and Marie's marriage the settlement gre w outward. Positioned between New France and New England ma de Acadia the subject of disputes and attacks. It receive d little help from France and the Acadians still continue d to trade with New England, although it was forbidden to d o so.
After French attacks on New England in 1690, in retaliatio n the English captured and plundered Port Royal. The Port R oyal Acadians swore an oath of allegiance to England to avo id further persecution. It was around this time that Jean P itre died. His widow's second husband was presumably a rece nt arrival, as he did not appear in the 1686 census. The fa mily continued to live in Port Royal, though by the early 1 690's the families of the two elder daughters had moved sou th to Port Razoir. Over the next 16-17 years sporadic attac ks from New England occurred at Port Royal, Minas and Beaub assin, while the children Claude, Marc, Jean, Francois, Mar guerite and Jeanne started their own families. Most staye d in the Port Royal area, except Jean who went north to Cob equit. Marie was about 62 when she died the day after Chris tmas in 1707. Francois Robin had died 14 months before. Th e end of French control of this part of Acadia was only a f ew years away.
Theories of Jean Pitre’s origin
According to the declaration at Belle-Île-en-Mer by his gra ndson Claude Pitre, the pioneer of the Acadian Pitre famil y is of Flemish origin. However, Père Clarence d'Entremon t believes that it is "more likely that he was English" (Hi stoire du Cap-Sable), according to a report in An account o f the Customs and Manners of the Micmakis and Maricheets (p ublished London 1758), "where it is said that Peters, a too lsmith in England... was of English origin." [Excerpt fro m Dictionnaire Genealogique Des Familles Acadiennes (Stephe n A. White), original in French]
Or was Jean Pitre really Jan Pietr from Holland? Leopold La nctot theorizes that in about 1656 Jean emigrated to the Am erican colonies founded by the Dutch, either to Fort-Orang e (Albany, NY), or New Amsterdam (New York, NY). England ha d seized Acadia in 1654, renamed it New Scotland, and sen t an expedition led by Sir Thomas Temple which arrived ther e on 1st May 1657. When war broke out between England and H olland in 1664, Bostonians seized Fort Orange and New Amste rdam. Temple then recruited the Dutch colonists for his ne w seignory, supposedly including Jan Pietr. (There is no li st of settlers from this expedition but the timing allows f or the possibility.)
Another theory of Jean's origins appeared in The History o f St. Anthony's Parish 1803-1980 (which includes the descen dants of Jean Pitre in Prince Edward Island, most of whom h ave taken the name Peters). This account would have him i n Permambuco, Brazil and escaping the Dutch wars in South A merica by hopping a schooner to Acadia.
Excerpt from 1984 letter from Stephen White to Leo F. Peter s: “The best direct evidence of Jean Pitre’s parentage an d origin would have been the record of his marriage to Mari e Pesseley. Without that one will have to be very lucky ind eed to trace him in Europe, even with the area of researc h narrowed to Flanders. Even if you found a Jean Pitre bor n in Flanders in 1636, it would be impossible to be sure h e was the same Jean Pitre who settled in Acadia without som e positive evidence making the connection, such as a recor d showing his departure for Acadia. Such a record might b e almost anywhere, if it exists at all.”
He could have arrived in Acadia as a child with his parent s or been born in Acadia since there were not many document s kept in the early 1600's. His name may have originally be en different from what we have in the 1671 census. But what ever his origins, there are today thousands of descendant s across Canada, America and France who all trace their wa y back to Jean Pitre of Acadia.
Jean married Marie PESSELET in 1664/1665 in Port Royal, Acadie. Marie was born in 1641 in Port Royal, Acadie; died on 26 Dec 1707 in Port Royal, Acadie; was buried on 27 Dec 1707 in Annapolis Royal, Acadie. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Children:
- 2. François PITRE
 was born in 1682 in Port Royal, Acadie; died on 5 Dec 1725 in Port Royal, Acadie; was buried on 6 Dec 1725 in Annapolis Royal, Acadie.
- 3. Marguerite PITRE was born in 1684 in Port Royal, Acadie.
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1636 - Abt 1689 (53 years)