Joseph Broussard
Joseph Broussard | |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Beausoleil |
Born | 1702 Father Rale's War
|
Other work | Led Acadians to Louisiana. Militia captain of the Acadians of the Atakapas[1] |
Joseph Broussard (1702–1765), also known as Beausoleil (English: Beautiful Sun), was a leader of the
Life
Broussard was born in Port-Royal, Acadia, in 1702 to Jean-François Broussard and Catherine Richard. His father came from Poitiers and his mother was born in Port Royal. He lived much of his life at Le Cran (present-day Stoney Creek, Albert County, New Brunswick), along the Petitcodiac River with his wife Agnes and their eleven children.
During
King George's War
During
Father Le Loutre's War
During
In late April 1754, Beausoleil and a large band of Mi'kmaq and Acadians left Chignecto for Lawrencetown. They arrived in mid-May and in the night opened fire on the village. Beausoleil killed and scalped four British settlers and two soldiers. By August, as the raids continued, the residents and soldiers were withdrawn to Halifax.[8]
In the action of 8 June 1755, a naval battle off Cape Race, Newfoundland, on board the French ships Alcide and Lys were found 10,000 scalping knives for Acadians and Indians serving under Chief Jean-Baptiste Cope and Acadian Beausoleil as they continue to fight Father Le Loutre's War.[9]
Broussard was also active in the fight against Lieutenant Colonel
Seven Years' War
With Le Loutre imprisoned after the
Arrival at Louisiana
Released in 1764, the year after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Broussard left Nova Scotia, along with his family and hundreds of other Acadians, to Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti).[11] Unable to adapt to the climate and diseases that were killing Acadians, he led the group to settle in Louisiana.[12]
He was among the first 200 Acadians to arrive in Louisiana on February 27, 1765, aboard the Santo Domingo.[13] On April 8, 1765, he was appointed militia captain and commander of the "Acadians of the Atakapas" the area around present-day St. Martinville.[1] Not long after his arrival, Joseph Broussard died near what is now St. Martinville at the presumed age of 63. The exact date of his death is unknown, but it is assumed to have been on or about October 20, 1765. Many of his descendants live in southern Louisiana and Nova Scotia.
Descendancy
Broussard's children and grandchildren generally remained in Louisiana, integrating into the slave-owning upper classes of the colony.[14][15][16] His 21st-century descendants include Celestine "Tina" Knowles and her two daughters Beyoncé and Solange.[17][18]
Modern cultural references
The Cajun music group BeauSoleil is named in honor of Broussard.
A New Brunswick group "Beausoleil Broussard" was very popular in the 1970s.
Broussard is a character in the novel Banished from Our Home: The Acadian Diary of Angelique Richard, Grand-Pre, Acadia, 1755 (2004) by Sharon Stewart.
A dramatized, historically inaccurate version of Beausoleil is featured in the Acadian novel Pélagie-la-Charrette, by Antonine Maillet.
Part of his militant Acadian hero story is told in the documentary feature "Zachary Richard, Cajun Heart" by Acadian director Phil Comeau.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "History:1755-Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil (c. 1702-1765)". Archived from the original on 2009-05-20. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
- ^ "Middle Name or Clerical Error?: Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil and 'Gaurhept', Shane K. Bernard". 3 April 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
- ^ James Laxer, The Acadians: In Search of a Homeland, Anchor Canada Press, p. 103
- ^ Brodhead, John Romeyn (1858). Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York. Vol. 10. Albany: Weed, Parsons and Co. p. 155.
- ISBN 978-0-8061-3876-3.
- ^ Grenier (2008), p. 160.
- ^ Grenier (2008), p. 161.
- ISBN 978-0-88780-978-1.
- ISBN 9780771072468.
- ^ Grenier (2008), p. 171.
- ISBN 978-1-934110-78-2
- ISBN 0969463405
- ^ "Broussard named for early settler Valsin Broussard" Archived 2009-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Record Detail". The Acadian Memorial Database. Acadian Memorial Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
They owned 700 semi-wild beef cattle and 60 domesticated cattle. They also owned the following slaves: Thomas, 50 years old; Leuder, 23 years old; Martin, 19 years old; Jean-Louis, 11 years old; Célestin, 7 years old; Charles, 5 years old; Godfrey, 4 years old; Charlotte, 42 years old; Hélène, 25 years old; Félicité, 23 years old; Madeleine, 17 years old; Angélique, 16 years old; Pte. Félicité, 10 years old; Marie, 7 years old; Messite, 4 yeaers old; Clarisse, 2 years old; and Hortense, 1 year old.
- ^ De Ville, Winston (1987). Southwest Louisiana Families in 1777: Census Records of Attakapas and Opelousas Posts.
71. Joseph BROUSSARD, 47; Marguerite SÇAVOIS, wife, 35. Garcons: Joseph, 3; Francopis, 1. Filles: Marguerite, 12; Luedivine, 10; Nastasie, 8; Magdeleine, 6. Slaves: 3. There were 100 cattle, 20 horses, and 20 hogs.
- ISBN 9780940984806.
Estate No. 288, appraised at $42,562.82, including 28 slaves, and numerous tracts of land. His only child by the 1st marriage petitioned that all property given to other members of the [2nd] family "be carried into the inventory and appraisment and valued as other property of the succession of the said deceased." There were 11 heirs.
- ^ "Beyonce's Acadian Roots". THE FRENCH-CANADIAN GENEALOGIST. 2021-12-02.
- The Huffington Post. AOL. January 12, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
Further reading
- d’Entremont, C. J. (1974). "Brossard, Beausoleil, Josepth". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. III (1741–1770) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ISBN 978-0-393-05135-3.
- Jobb, Dean W. (2005). The Acadians: A People's Story of Exile and Triumph. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-73961-7. – published in the United States as The Cajuns: A People's Story of Exile and Triumph
- Marshall, Dianne (2011). Heroes of the Acadian Resistance: The Story of Joseph Beausoleil Broussard and Pierre II Surette 1702-1765. Halifax: Formac. ISBN 978-0-88780-978-1.
- Perrin, Warren A. (2005). Acadian Redemption: From Beausoleil Broussard to the Queen's Royal Proclamation. Opelousas, Louisiana: Andrepont. ISBN 978-0-9768927-0-0.