Jacques Bourgeois - an enterprising ancestor

All of the Bourgeois of Acadian descent share a common ancestor Jacques Bourgeois, a man who distinguished himself as a surgeon, farmer, ship builder, trader, and founder of Beaubassin.

According to recent research(1), Jacques Bourgeois was baptized on January 8th 1621, the illegitimate son of a widow Marguerite Bourgeois and of the deceased Nicolas Grandjehan in the church of St-Romain in the town of La Ferté-Gaucher near Paris. He was raised under his mother's maiden name. The Grandjehan and Bourgeois families had various alliances with the order of Malta. It is probably in the nearby commandery of Coutran that Jacques received his medical training.

He arrived in Acadia in 1643 as a ship surgeon with D'Aulnay's contingent and settled in Port-Royal.
For a narration of D'Aulnay's convoluted mission to Acadia see:
http://www.cyberacadie.com/Biographie/g6_charles_de_menou.htm

That very same year he married Jeanne Trahan aged fourteen, born in Bourgeuil, Anjou province. She was the daughter of Guillaume Trahan and Françoise Corbineau, the most prominent family of Port-Royal.

In 1646, the governor D'Aulnay granted Jacques and his wife an island (Isle aux Cochons) situated upstream from Port-Royal which he farmed diligently. The 1671 census shows him as having 20 arpents under cultivation, 33 head of cattle, and 24 sheep as well as 10 children.

In 1654, Sedgwick a british major armed by the citizenry of Boston, attacked Port-Royal even though France and England were at peace. The city was defended by brother-in-law, Germain Doucet de La Verdure who negotiated its reddition. The capitulation papers that Germain presented to Robert Sedgwick mention that, in order to insure that Germain fulfilled the terms of the capitulation, he left his "brother-in-law" and lieutenant, Jacques Bourgeois, as hostage. The english did not occupy Port-Royal after 1657 and the French did not reestablish a presence until 1670. During that time Port-Royal was administered by a syndic headed by Guillaume Trahan.

In addition to his work as a farmer and surgeon, Jacques Bourgeois also set up as a marine merchant. His boats follow the coast to trade with the MicMac indians in the Bay of Fundy and to the south to trade with the Bostonians. His trading activities were assisted by his knowledge of English which he may have learned while a prisoner.

In 1671, Jacques assisted by his three sons and two of his sons in laws founded the settlement of Beaubassin (now Amherst Nova Scotia) where he built a mill and shipyards. Jacques and his son, Guillaume, returned to live at Port Royal after the establishment at Beaubassin, although they kept farms at the new settlement.
In 1686, Jacques and Jeanne moved definitively to Beaubassin to live with their son, Germain.

At the beginning of Sept. 1696, the English Colonel Benjamin Church from Boston attacked Beaubassin, which has been left undefended by the French. Jacques is enlisted to negotiate with the English contingent from Boston. Jacques obtained a promise from Church that the residents would be left in peace, but Church reneged on his promise and the soldiers from Boston burned most of the homes in the region. The Acadians of Beaubassin were forced to flee to the woods; however, the English respected the Acadians' capabilities as marksmen and refused to chase the Acadians out of the reach of their ship's cannons. They were eventually able to return to Beaubassin but Jacques and his wife left to return to Port-Royal.

Jacques died shortly before 1700, as he is not listed in the census of that year. In 1702, the commandant of the fort at Port Royal referred to him in an official report as the late Jacques Bourgeois.

For a history of Beaubassin see:

http://collections.ic.gc.ca/neo-ecossaise/en/historique/beau.htm

and :

http://www.creda.net/~ccmuseum/acadian.htm

For a history of the people who settled Acadia and some notes on Jacques Bourgeois:

http://www.acadiansingray.com/appendices-Acadian%20Pioneers.htm


(1) Pierre-Paul Bourgeois' bilingual book A la recherche des Bourgeois d'Acadie, from La Societé Historique de Grande-Digue, C.P. 117, Grande-Digue, N.B. E0A 1S0, Canada."