Marianne Part Delaune – two of three

The Middle Years – Cherbourg, Poitou, Chantenay

While living in France in the late 1700s, Marianne Part, my fifth great-grandmother, may have been good friends of Acadian sisters Monique and Marguerite Commeau as she served as a witness to both their marriages. Before Marianne married Jean Delaune in Cherbourg, she witnessed Monique Commeau and Bazile Chaisson’s marriage in May of 1772. There she signed her name Marie Part, along with another woman who was probably a friend, Veronique Rennaud.^[1]Archives départementales de la Manche, Registres paroissiaux et d’état civil de la Manche, Cherbourg, 5 Mi 1453-1554, image 96 of 366. Marriage of Bazile Chaisson and Monique Commo … Continue reading 

A few months after Marianne married Jean Delaune, she witnessed the marriage of Jean Broussard and Marguerite Commeau on 6 July 1773.^[2]Archives départementales de la Manche, Registres paroissiaux et d’état civil de la Manche, Cherbourg, 5 Mi 1453-1554, 173 and 174/366 … Continue reading Jean Broussard and Marguerite Commeau are my paternal fifth great-grandparents. Interestingly, five women signed their names on the register while the men made their marques. The women who signed their names were: Marguerite Como (Commeau), Marianne Part, Veronique Rennaud, Agnes Broussard (Jean’s sister) and Germaine L’andry. 

The Acadians in Cherbourg wanted to return to Acadia, but it was not to be. Jean Delaune, a carpenter, caulker, and seaman, signed onto the farming project the Marquis Perusse des Car proposed for the Acadians in Poitou.^[3]Rieder, Milton P, The Acadians in France, 1762-1776 (Metaire, Louisiana, 1967) p. 57; digital … Continue reading Marianne said her final goodbyes to her elderly and bedridden grandparents, Joseph Godin dit Bellefontaine and Marie-Anne Bergeron. From Cherbourg on 29 April 1774, they sailed to La Rochelle on the ship Le Thomas and then traveled to the Poitou area.^[4]Rev. Donald J. Hebert, Acadians in Exile (Cecilia, Louisiana, Hebert Publications, 1980) p. 1.  

Marianne was several months pregnant with her first child when they left Cherbourg. Soon after her arrival in Poitou, she witnessed Christopher Delaune’s marriage to Marie Boudrot at Saint-Georges in Archigny.^[5]ancestry.org database, Archives Départementales Du Haute-Vienne, Limoges, France, Etat Civil 1792-1930, Saint-Georges Parish Register, image 11 of 1444 … Continue reading Her brother Laurent also served as a witness and signed his name on the register for her brother-in-law’s marriage. Her first-born son Jean was baptized at the parish of St. Pierre 22 Jul 1774 in LaChapelle-Roux, Vienne near Châtellerault. His godparents were his maternal grandfather, Eustache Part and paternal grandmother, Marguerite Caissy.^[6]archives-deux-sevres-vienne.fr, Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures – 1774-1791, Chenevelles — La Chapelle-Roux (Vienne, France), E depot 313 GG 1/5; Saint-Pierre; digital image 19 of 121 … Continue reading

More than 1000 Acadians lived in Châtellerault and the surrounding area, but the settlement was a failure.^[7]Robichaux, Jr., The Acadian Exiles in Nantes. p. viii.  Many Acadians abandoned the farming project in Poitou, including Marianne’s family. In a series of convoys, the Acadians headed to Nantes between October 1775 and March 1776. Jean, Marianne and their infant son, Jean at eight months old were in the first convoy leaving Châtellerault 24 October 1775.^[8]Lucie LeBlanc Consentino, Acadian Families on the First Convoy from Châtellerault to Nantes on October 24, 1775. http://www.acadian-home.org/Châtellerault.html, viewed 29 November 2017.  Jean’s brother Christopher and his family also joined the first convoy. In addition, Jean’s mother who was fifty-seven and infirmed was included.^[9]Lucie LeBlanc Consentino, Acadian Families on the First Convoy from Châtellerault to Nantes on October 24, 1775. http://www.acadian-home.org/Châtellerault.html, viewed 29 November 2017.  Marianne’s father, Eustache Part, age fifty, and a widower from his second marriage, was also on the first convoy but her brother, Laurent, was absent.^[10]Lucie LeBlanc Consentino, Acadian Families on the First Convoy from Châtellerault to Nantes on October 24, 1775. http://www.acadian-home.org/Châtellerault.html, viewed 29 November 2017.  Other ancestors who were on the first convoy were Paul-Dominique Broudrot (husband of Marie Olive Landry) and his parents.^[11]Lucie LeBlanc Consentino, Acadian Families on the First Convoy from Châtellerault to Nantes on October 24, 1775. http://www.acadian-home.org/Châtellerault.html, viewed 29 November 2017. 

Many of the women listed in the first convoy to Nantes are described as “spinner of wool,” weaver, sews, “dressmaker for men.”^[12]Lucie LeBlanc Consentino, Acadian Families on the First Convoy from Châtellerault to Nantes on October 24, 1775. http://www.acadian-home.org/Châtellerault.html, viewed … Continue reading Marianne Part and her sister-in-law Marie Bodrot, wife of Christopher Delaune, do not have a description attached to them. Could that mean they did not participate in this form of employment?  

Marianne and family settled in Chantenay near Nantes. Jean most likely resumed work as a seaman. There Marianne had three more sons and a daughter who were baptized at Saint-Martin Catholic Church: Pierre-Basile, born in 1779, Louise-August born in 1782, Pierre born in 1784 and Marie Celeste born about 1785.^[13]Christopher Delaune was baptized September 3, 1776; Pierre-Basile was baptized December 15, 1779. His godparents were Basile Henry and Marie Gaudot. He died at age 2 and buried February 14, … Continue reading Unfortunately, the three oldest boys, Jean, Pierre-Basile, and Louise-August, died within a few years and were buried in Chantenay. The boys may have died from malnutrition or disease. Marianne was probably not in the best of health either and probably suffered several miscarriages since there was a four-year gap between the first child and the second child. 

After ten years in Chantenay, on 19 October 1785 the Delaune families left Nantes to begin their immigration to Louisiana. Listed with the occupation of ship carpenter, Jean, Marianne, son Pierre, age one, and infant daughter Marie-Céleste boarded the ship La Caroline in Nantes for New Orleans, Louisiana.^[14]”Passenger List for La Caroline,” Acadian-Cajun Genealogy and History.com (http://www.acadian-cajun.com/7ships.htm, viewed 19 August 2022).  

Marianne’s life in Louisiana will be told in the next posting.