Hypothesis
N°1 It is certain that there was a GAUDET
family in Martaizé (Vienna, France) in the 1634's, This family
(Jean, René and François) was established on the lands
of the mother of Charles of AULNAY, One would expect this to be
sufficient proof that it is the same Jean Godet who sailed for Acadia
after 1634.
Hypothesis N°2
Research done the GODET family, producers of Cognac,
goes back to the GODET ancestors who were natives of Low Countries,
but Jean GODET was not a descendant of this family.
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Hypothesis
N°3 Jean GODET is the same person as Jean
DOGET. In bulletin n°8 of " Le Messager de
l'Atlantique", Emmanuel Poupault states that in the report
on the vessel St François leaving La Rochelle on December
12, 1641 there was a jean Doget aboard. "Compte
de tout largent paié aux hivernents repassent dans le Vaisseau
le St François qui est arrivé le 27 em septembre 1640.
Paié a Jehan Doget avaloir sur le billet quil a de M Daunay
la somme de..." |

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Could this Jehan Doget be our ancestor
Jean Godet? To support this thesis the author of the article publishes
another document; the marriage contract of Olivier Daigre and Jeanne
Blanchard registered on August 8, 1700, among the witnesses present
at this marriage is Pierre Godet uncle of the husband, this Pierre
Godet was also the brother of Marie Godet, mother of the bridegroom.
Even more significant - and which lends credence to this hypothesis-
is the fact that Pierre Godet signs his name as Pierre DOGET at
the end of the document. |

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The wives of Jean
GODET Everybody believes that Jean GODET
in had 2 wives. The name of second is known thanks to
various censuses, her name was Nicole COLLESON whom he married by
1652 However, there seems to be a problem.
In his "Great Classification of Acadieans in Quebec"
Father Adrien Bergeron states that Jean's first wife's name
was Marie DAUSSY..
In his genealogical dictionary, Stephen White researches the
source of this error further and he quotes Novia Francia's
article of 1927 in which one speaks > about some Jean GAUDET
of Abbeville ( Picardy) who was 59 years old in 1727, who would
have been born about 1668 and who was the son of Jean GAUDET and
Marie DAUSSY.
Genealogists made the connection that this was the same Jean GAUDET
of Acadie. This is totally impossible because in 1668, in Jean GAUDET's
birth, son of Jean GAUDET and Marie DAUSSY, our Jean GAUDET the
Acadian, was in Port Royal married with Nicole COLLESON.
Nevertheless the name DAUSSY always appears always in numerous
Acadian genealogies. Father Bergeron himself even admitted
to have been mistaken on this point. (Article appeared in
French Canadian Genealogical Society). Vol. 40, * 4, p. 299.)
Some authors think that his first wife was Micmac but this is not
very easy to prove. In the work " A feudal colony in America
" Edme Rameau hinted in a note at a Metis branch that would
have been a part of this family.
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When did
Jean Godet arrive in Acadia?
Father Léopold Lanctot, o.m.i., claims that he would
have arrived in Acadia very early, by 1610 , with Charles
de Biencourt. Were that so, the original statement evoked
in the hypothesis N°1 would not be true. On the other
hand if he arrived with Razilly by 1634, his first children were
born in France and his first wife would not be of MicMac origin.
Others think that Jean GODET, arrived in Acadie by 1610, or even
with Champlain in 1604, would have returned to France to look there
for his family. This version is more reconcilable with the tenants
of those who believe that he might have left by 1634.
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Censuses.
Jean Godet was listed only once in Acadie, in 1671:
Laboureur - JEHAN GAUDET aagé
de quatre vingt et seize ans, sa femme Nicolle Colleson aagée
de soixante et quattre ans. Leurs enfans Jehan aagé
18 ans, Leur terre en labour trois arpans en deux places, Leurs
bestes a Cornes six piéces. Leurs brebis trois piéces.
If this information are exact, he would have been born by
1575 and would have had a child, Jean, at the age of 78 ??
Personally I think that the age is a little exaggerated in this
census, especially if one thinks at which age he had his first 3
children, he was 48 years old when Françoise was born, 50
for Denis' birth and 58 years at Marie's birth.
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The
GAUDET and GODET in France nowadays. |

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2 written forms GODET and GAUDET with
a different distribution . |
ROUX François
1999 and Lucie Leblanc Consentino for the translation |
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