Marie Hebert Henry

Parents unknown

Wife of Jean Henry dit le Vieux 

Mother of Marie Joseph, Magdelena, Simon, François, Charles, Françoise, Anne 

Marie Hebert was the fifth great-grandmother of my maternal grandmother, Velma Mary Carrow Provost. Marie is the last mother in a direct line of mothers from Velma’s paternal grandmother, Louise Boudreaux that I can trace with certainty. From Louise Boudreaux to Marie Hebert there are six generations of Acadians/Cajuns in Velma’s ancestry.  

Most of Marie’s life was spent in l’Acadie (now Nova Scotia), probably in the area of Cobiquid (present day Truro). She moved with her family to Île Saint-Jean (present day Prince Edward Island) around 1750. After she and her family were expelled by the British in 1758, Marie spent her last five years in Pleurtuit, near Saint-Malo in France. 

Cobequid, located at the head of the Base Francoise (now the Bay of Fundy), was settled around 1703 by Acadians.^[1]Cobequid Arts Council, “Introduction,” Truro: Our Enduring Past, (The Heritage Advisory Committee: Truro, Nova Scotia, 1986), digital image, Family … Continue reading The Micmac people, indigenous to the land, used the term cobequid to mean “place of rushing waters.”

Throughout Marie’s lifetime, Great Britain and France battled over the land and traded control several times. By 1713, the English had won control of the area called l’Acadie from France through the Treaty of Utrecht and the Acadians became British subjects. Though it was British at that time, the population was mostly Acadians and very few British people. Acadians who were descendants of the French who settled the area, were expected to take an oath of allegiance to the English. Some took the oath; others did not. Some left for Île Saint-Jean instead.^[2]University Women’s Club of Truro, Cobequid Chronicles : A History of Truro and Vicinity, (Truro, Nova Scotia, 1975), p. 9; digital image, archive.org … Continue reading Winning the French and Indian War in 1758, Great Britain gained control of Île Saint-Jean and proceeded to deport the Acadians that lived there, even those that had taken an oath of allegiance. 

Marie Hebert was likely born in l’Acadie between 1697 and 1699. She was recorded as fifty-five years old in the Sieur de la Roque 1752 Census for Île Saint-Jean.^[3]“Tour of Inspection Undertaken by Le Sieur De La Roque,” Report Concerning Canadian Archives for the Year 1905, 2 (1906): p.81; digital … Continue reading Her burial record cites her age as sixty-five at death in 1764.^[4]10 NUM 35228 648 – Pleurtuit – 1764 – Sépultures – Commune, … Continue reading At this time, Marie Hebert’s parents are a mystery. It is possible she was the daughter of Antoine Hebert and Jeanne Corporon living in Port Royal.  

Antoine Hebert and Jeanne Corporon were recorded in the 1698 Port Royal Census with a daughter named Marie who was two years old.^[5]Acadie Recensements 1671-1752 (Canadiana Heritage), Canadiana, p. 115, Dépôt des papiers publics des colonies; état civil et recensements : Série G 1 : Recensements et documents divers : C-2572, … Continue reading In the 1700 Port Royal Census, their daughter Marie was four and they had three other children, Anthoine, Agnes and Madelaine.

Marie married Jean Henry dit le Vieux (dit indicates a nickname and “le Vieux” means the old) around 1722 as her eldest child in the 1752 census is 29 years old. She had at least seven children. The baptismal record of her son, Charles Henry, was found in the parish registers of St. Charles aux Mines Parish in Acadia. The registers were brought to Louisiana and given to the church in St. Gabriel. The information in this record leads one to believe that Marie Hebert and Jean Henry dit le Vieux lived in Cobequid in 1737.^[6]Una F. Daigre, Archivist, Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records Acadian Records, 1707-1748 Volume 1a (Revised) (Baton Rouge, LA, Diocese of Baton Rouge, 1999), p. 102. Citation … Continue reading  

Joseph de la Roque, the King’s Surveyor, was charged with taking a census of Île Royale and Île Saint-Jean, which he began on 5 February 1752. He was instructed to record the names of every man, woman, and child, as well as their ages and professions, how much land they owned and what had been improved, the number of animals and kind that they owned, as well as their character and work ethic.^[7]“Tour of Inspection Undertaken by Le Sieur De La Roque,” Report Concerning Canadian Archives for the Year 1905, 2 (1906) pgs. 3-4; digital … Continue reading

Sieur de la Roque’s 1752 Census for Île Saint-Jean indicates that the Marie’s family lived at Rivière du Ouest (West River). They had arrived two years earlier with other Acadian families, most likely bringing their animals. Marie’s family was probably encouraged to leave Cobequid by the French priest Jean-Louis LeLoutre. He led Acadians from Cobequid to Île Saint-Jean so they would not have to take up arms against their fellow countryman when the British battled against the French. LeLoutre promised the French government would provide assistance for three years if they relocated.  

Jean Henry dit le Vieux is listed as a ploughman and native of l’Acadie. He was sixty-eight and Marie Hebert was fifty-five. They had five oxen, two cows, one calf, three sheep, three sows, and three pigs. They had cleared land for wheat. Their daughter Magdalena and her husband Charles Thibodeau lived near them as well as daughter Anne and her husband Charles Pitre.^[8]“Tour of Inspection Undertaken by Le Sieur De La Roque,” Report Concerning Canadian Archives for the Year 1905, 2 (1906): p. 81; digital … Continue reading With five oxen and being a ploughman, Henry could clear land quickly. This would have allowed the family to acquire additional land for food and trade or he could hire himself out for trade. Because agriculture was encouraged on Île Saint-Jean, they were not allowed to fish. 

Though the family seemed to have done well in 1752, they may have experienced years of harsh weather, field mice, locusts and fungus which devastated crops. Hopefully, they were not without little clothing and practically naked as described by the priest Pére Girard in 1753 in a letter dated 31 October 1753.^[9]D.C. Harvey, The French Regime on Prince Edward Island, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1926) p.179; digital … Continue reading

Alas, Marie and family were not at Rivière du Ouest for very long as the English deported them in 1758 and they arrived in Saint-Malo 16 January 1759. Leaving Rivière du Ouest may have been a mixed blessing as crop failures and near starvation for many years had left most Acadians in a poor state.  

Many of Marie’s children, grandchildren and extended families were probably on either the John Samuels, Mathias, Patience, Restoration, or Yarmouth, referred to as the “Five Ships.” These ships started at Île Royale (Cape Breton) and Île Saint-Jean before arriving at Saint-Malo.9^[10]”Ships of the Acadian Expulstion,” acadian.org (https://www.acadian.org/ships.html : viewed 30 January 2022). While crossing the Atlantic Ocean in December, a mighty storm struck and caused the Violet and the Duke William to sink with almost 400 fellow Acadians. How many of these people were Marie’s family or friends? Did the ship Marie was on get tossed to and fro while crossing the Atlantic? Imagine the amount of seasickness everyone experienced on the boat.

Once in Saint-Malo, the Acadians were moved to the nearby village of Saint-Servan. It would have been a two-mile walk along the coast. Not long after their arrival Marie’s husband, recorded as Jan Henry, died on 17 March 1759 in Saint-Servan at the age of seventy-one years.^[11]Saint-Servan – 1759 Sépultures – Greffe, Archvies et patrimonie d’ille-et-Vilaine (https://archives-en-ligne.ille-et-vilaine.fr/ : accessed 16 January 2022) > Les Archives … Continue reading Had he been sick throughout the crossing? Many other Acadians died soon after arriving in France having suffered seasickness and disease while in the holds of the ships. At least two of Marie’s granddaughters did not survive the crossing and died at sea.

Life goes on and more grandchildren were born into their ancestral homeland. At the age of sixty-three in 1762, Marie lived in neighboring Pleurtuit with her grown children and many of her extended family living nearby: her daughter, Magdalena Henry and her husband Charles Thibodeau; son-in-law Charles Pitre and her daughter Anne Henry; Pierre Henry and Anne Thibodeau; Charles Henry and Francoise Hebert; Pierre Henry and Anne Marguritte-Josephe Bourg; and Jean Henry and Marie Pitre; Laurent Henry, Francois Xavier, his brother, and Marie Henry, his sister.^[12]Rieder, Milton P, The Acadians in France, 1762-1776; Rolls of the Acadians living in France distributed by towns for the years 1762 to 1776 (Metairie, Louisiana, 1967), p. 28; digital … Continue reading Most likely they took a boat when they relocated to Pleurtuit from Saint-Servan to cross the River Rance.  

As the matriarch of the family, Marie may have helped her children by taking care of the grandchildren, teaching the young girls to sew or cook, or hosting meager family dinners. What stories did she tell her grandchildren in France about l’Acadie and Île Saint-Jean before the deportation? Did she give them religious instruction and help them say their prayers each night? 

After five years in her ancestral country, Marie Hebert died 4 February 1764 and was buried in Pleurtuit.^[13]10 NUM 35228 648–Pleurtuit–1764– Sépultures – Commune, … Continue reading Her son Simon Henry was present. Given the circumstances, it is a wonder that she lived to sixty-five. I suggest that Marie accepted the trials and tribulations with grace and looked to her Catholic faith to provide solace and hope.  

How do you picture Marie Hebert? I see her as a grandmother, tiny in stature but commands respect and attention. Her steely-gray hair is pulled into a bun and covered with a white kerchief. She wears a starched white apron around her dress to keep her clothes clean. Her bosom and hips are full. Her hands are calloused from working in the fields, washing dishes and clothes by hand in cold water, and spinning wool into cloth; but her hands know how to be soft when holding a baby. She is quick to smile and sing a sweet lullaby; but she does not hesitate to give a stern, piercing look to put you in your place or warn you to behave. Her face is soft but lined with love and a touch of sadness. She smells like fresh-baked bread and lavender. She has a soft voice that speaks only French, but she is smart enough to understand English when she needs to. I hear her saying to her children and grandchildren, “Mon chéri, do not worry. Everything will be all right. God will provide. Say your prayers, chére, and have faith.”

And so ends this maternal family line of strong women who faced adversity and passed life on: Louise Boudreaux Carrow to Adelaide Delaune Boudreaux to Julie Marie Hebert Delaune to Marie-Victoire Thibodeau Hebert to Magdalena Henry Thibodeau to Marie Hebert Henry. Next week, the maternal family line of Adele Ordonot, wife of Jean Carrow and Velma Carrow Provost’s great-grandmother, will be explored.