Acadia was created in 1604 by Samuel CHAMPLAIN. The firsts colonists arrived
soon after and were mostly from the western part of France, particularly
from the Poitou region. They settled on the fertile lands of the maritimes.
In 1654 war was declared between France and England, which made life more
difficult for the Acadians, until 1755 when they were dispersed. This was
called the "Grand Dérangement", meaning the Great Disturbance. The
Acadians set sail for the American coast, England and France. In France,
they settled in 2 locations: Belle-Ile-en-Mer and in the Poitou region. For
some, the adventure had not been completed, as they crossed the Atlantic
Ocean once again, this time heading towards Louisiana, where they would join
the increasing number of Cajuns.
At the end of July 1772 a Royal council held at Compiegne decide to settle
the Acadiens who lived in the port towns in an agricultural settlement, which
still had to be created. Bertin, the minister of agriculture, was in charge
of the project. He contacted the Marquis de Perusse des Cars, who already
had some experience in this are, because he had a part of his land cleared
by a small colony of Germans. Bertin asked him to settle 150 Acadien families
(1500 people) on his lands at Monthoiron. At the end of 1773 the Acadiens
arrived at Chatellerault. There were 1472 of them there in July 1774. However
the hardest part of the job still had to be done, clearing the land and building
the farms.
The Acadians were dissapointed because the work wasn't progressing quickly,
the land was not as fertile as in Acadia, and only some of the families were
really motivated by the project. Disputes started, and some of the people
refused to work at clearing the land. Also, some of the Acadians, who were
supposed to be farm workers, were really sailors. Finally the death of their
protector, Louis XV, was a new reason for unrest. Those who weren't farm
labourers decided to go back to the port towns. Many of the Acadiens left
Chatellerault to go to Nantes, where they hoped to leave for Louisiana where
many of their fellow-countrymen had settled.
Only some of the families stayed on the settlement, rested from their travels,
and took up the modest and quiet life of thepeasants of central France. Among
these people were several of my ancestors.
La
Ferme-musée d'Archigny - La ferme-musée acadienne
d'Archigny,(France)
--http://www.vi.interpc.fr/archigny/fr20/musee_acad.html
ROUX François
05/09/98