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- Etienne Benoit1751 - 1787
Facts and Events
Early Life
Étienne, son of Claude Benoit and Anne Comeau, born probably at Pigiguit in c1751, came to Louisiana from Maryland as a teenaged orphan.
Maryland
From Acadians Who Found Refuge in Louisiana, February 1764-early 1800s:
"In August 1763, a few months after the French and Indian War finally ended, colonial authorities counted one Benoit family, a couple of Benoit wives, and half a dozen Benoit orphans at Port Tobacco on the lower Potomac River, all of them refugees from Pigiguit. Marie Benoit, wife of Jean-Charles Breau of Pigiguit, also was at Port Tobacco with her husband, two children, and a Boudrot orphan. Étienne, orphan son of Claude Benoit of Pigiguit, also may have been living with Marie and the Breaus."
Acadian Immigrants to San Luìs de Natchez, 1768
Steven A. Cormier has compiled a list of individuals as documented in Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth Century Louisianians, 435-39.
Etienne Benoit is listed as an 18 year old orphan, birthplace Pigiguit.
Also on the ship was Etiennne's future wife, the 21-year old Madeleine Breaux, daughter of Charles Breaux & Claire Trahan. Madeleine was travelling with her widowed mother Claire (age 61), her sisters Anne-Gertrude, Elizabeth/Isabelle, and her brother Pierre (age 27).
Louisiana
After leaving Fort San Luis de Natchez, he married Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Breaux, at St.-Jacques on the river in January 1771. Madeleine also had come to Louisiana from Maryland in 1768 and had lived at Natchez. After their marriage, they lived for a time at St.-Gabriel de Manchac and Ascension, upriver from St.-Jacques. Later in the decade, Étienne and Madeleine crossed the Atchafalaya Basin and settled at Carencro, at the northern edge of the Atakapas District. Their daughter married into the Huval family. They had seven sons, but only the younger ones perpetuated this line of the family. Étienne died at Carencro in December 1787; he was only 36 years old. His widow became the third wife of Michel Cormier of Opelousas in February 1789, but a year and a half later she was a widow again.
References
- Behrman, Eileen Larré. St. James Parish, Louisiana, colonial records, 1782-1787. (Cut and Shoot, Texas: Clan MacBean Press, 1981, c1980).
p. 4
1782-13, Mar. 11, pp 51-75, #189
Sale: Habitation, effects, animals and slaves of Messieurs Ouilline and Morrier. Sale requested by Monsieur Olliver Pollock, agent of the United States, resident of New Orleans, and ordered by Monsieur Estevanne Mirrol. The farm is situated in this parish, is managed by Sieur Alexandre Hendersonne. Sale was announced by Francois Landry on the 9th of this month. Buyers and their securities: a list of names follows. Etienne Benoit is included in the list of names. The sale was concluded on 13 March 1782 and amounted to a total of 26,167 piastres. /s/ Miguel Cantrelle, ___ Pollack, ___audair (?Livaudais) Commandant of Chapitoulas.
p. 35
1785-135, Sept 15, pp 747-746, #285
Sale: Etienne Benoit declares he has sold to Paul Melanson a farm of 6 arpents, several toises front for 1050 piastres; 550 piastres are due next December, and the remainder one year after. On the farm there are several fenced enclosures, a little house, and a storehouse. It is bounded below by land of Joseph Dupuis, and above by that of Marrin Landry. Witnesses: August Verret, Dominique Guidry. /s/ Miguel Cantrelle. /m/ Paul Melanson, Etienne Benoit.
- Attakapas Historical Association (Lafayette, Louisiana). Attakapas gazette. (Lafayette, Louisiana: Attakapas Historical Association, 2004)
XI, No 1.
The Census of Carencro - district of Attakapas, May 16, 1803, compiled by Glenn R.Conrad.
24. Widow Etienne Benoit 56, 1 Arpent held, 50 cattle
- Simon Benoit, 30
- Isabelle Benoit 30
- Xavier Benoit 26
- August Benoit 18
Editor's Note: The following census of the Carencro area of the District of Attakapas (now Lafayette Parish) was Signed by Saint Julien on May 16, 1803. The census is found in the Papales procedentes de Cuba of the Archives of the Indies, Seville, Spain. A microfilm copy of this census is now on deposit at the Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana.
- Deuxiememe generatin en Louisiane jusqu'en 1810, in Arsenault, Bona. Histoire des Acadiens. (Montreal, Quebec: Lemeac, c1978)
"Louisiane", VI, p 2416.
Etienne Benoit, 1751, fils de Claude et d'Anne Cormier, marie a Baton-Rouge, le 5 fevrier 1771, a Madeleine Breaux, fille de Charles et de Claire Trahan, de Pisiguit. Enfants: Joseph, vers 1772; Etienne, 1773; Marie-Angele, 1775; Charles, 1777; Marie-Henriette, vers 1776; Eloi, vers 1778; Francois-Xavier, vers 1780; Augustin, 1786.
- Acadian Immigrants to San Luìs de Natchez, 1768
Étienne BENOIT
Age as of 1768: 18
Birthplace: Pigiguit
Relationships & Comments: Orphan
NOTE: These individuals are documented in Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth Century Louisianians, 435-39.
- Étienne, son of Claude Benoit and Anne Comeau, born probably at Pigiguit in c1751, came to Louisiana from Maryland as a teenaged orphan. After leaving Fort San Luis de Natchez, he married Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Breaux, at St.-Jacques on the river in January 1771. Madeleine also had come to Louisiana from Maryland in 1768 and had lived at Natchez. After their marriage, they lived for a time at St.-Gabriel de Manchac and Ascension, upriver from St.-Jacques. Later in the decade, Étienne and Madeleine crossed the Atchafalaya Basin and settled at Carencro, at the northern edge of the Atakapas District. Their daughter married into the Huval family. They had seven sons, but only the younger ones perpetuated this line of the family. Étienne died at Carencro in December 1787; he was only 36 years old. His widow became the third wife of Michel Cormier of Opelousas in February 1789, but a year and a half later she was a widow again.
- Anne Helene GIROUARD b: 14 Apr 1728 in of Port Royale, Acadie, Nova Scotia c: 17 Apr 1728 in St. Jean Baptiste Ch., Port Royale, Acadie, Nova Scotia Alternate mother
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