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{{Short description|Former Acadian village on NS NB border}} |
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|caption = Beaubassin in [[Nova Scotia]] (c. 1671 – 1750) |
|caption = Beaubassin in [[Nova Scotia]] (c. 1671 – 1750) |
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{{Coord|45|50|56.86|N|64|15|39.31|W|region:CA_type:city|display=title}}'''Beaubassin''' was |
{{Coord|45|50|56.86|N|64|15|39.31|W|region:CA_type:city|display=title}}'''Beaubassin''' was an important [[Acadian]] village and trading centre on the [[Isthmus of Chignecto]] in what is now [[Nova Scotia]], Canada. The area was a significant place in the [[Geopolitics|geopolitical]] struggle between the British and French empires. It was established in the 1670s on an upland close to an extensive area of [[salt marsh|saltwater marsh]]. Settlers reclaimed the land to engage in cattle ranching and trade. |
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==French colony== |
==French colony== |
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The settlement had strong ties with [[Port-Royal (Acadia)|Port Royal]],<ref name=griffiths>{{cite book|last=Griffiths|first=N.E.S.|author-link=Naomi E. S. Griffiths|title=From Migrant to Acadian: A North American Border People, 1604-1755|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cG4wSmIlziYC&pg=PP1|year=2005|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|isbn=978-0-7735-2699-0}}</ref> and Jacques Bourgeois, a farmer, shipbuilder, and merchant at sold a part of his holdings there to settle in the [[Chignecto Basin]], where he built a flour-mill and a saw-mill.<ref>{{Cite DCB |title=Bourgeois, Jacques |volume=II |first=Clément |last=Cormier |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bourgeois_jacques_2E.html}}</ref> Around the same time [[Michel Leneuf de la Vallière de Beaubassin]] set up a fur-trading post on the isthmus, while devoting part of his time to the fishing, farming, settlement, and soldiering. Following success in the latter activity, in 1676 governor [[Louis de Buade de Frontenac|Frontenac]] granted him 100 square [[League (unit)|league]]s land which became the Beaubassin [[Manorialism|seigneury]].<ref>{{Cite DCB |title=Leneuf de La Vallière de Beaubassin, Michel (d. 1705) |volume=II |first=J.-Roger |last=Comeau |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/leneuf_de_la_valliere_de_beaubassin_michel_1705_2E.html}}</ref> He established himself on an upland known as Île de la Vallière, later Tonge's Island. |
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Jacques Bourgeois, a farmer, shipbuilder, and merchant at [[Port Royal]] sold a part of his holdings there to settle in the Chignecto Basin, where he built a flour-mill and a saw-mill. |
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The settlement prospered on the fertile [[Tantramar Marshes]] and surrounding high ground, suitable for farming. The isthmus was also the site of a portage between the [[Bay of Fundy]] and the [[Northumberland Strait]] and lay at the heart of a vast trading network encompassing [[Île-Royale (New France)|Île Royale]], Nova Scotia and [[New England]]. |
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A few years later, in 1676, the region was made into a seigneury, the holder of which was Michel Leneuf de La Vallière (the elder), a nobleman born at Trois-Rivières; the new fief, 100 square leagues in extent, was named Beaubassin. As La Vallière brought in settlers and indentured employees from Canada, two distinct establishments adjoined each other at Beaubassin; but a clause in the title to the land grant protected the interests of Jacques Bourgeois and the other Acadian settlers established on the domain; it was not long before the two elements of the population merged into one. |
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The first fruit trees were brought from Port Royal by an [[Irish people|Irishman]], Roger Kuessey (Caissy or Quessey), who established himself on a highland now known as the Butte à Roger.<ref name="Arsenault">{{cite book|last1=Arsenault|first1=Bona|last2=Alain|first2=Pascal|title=Histoire des Acadiens|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9vN1chq0i0C&pg=PP1|year=2004|publisher=Les Editions Fides|isbn=978-2-7621-2613-6|language=fr}}</ref> In 1685 the site was inspected by [[Intendant of New France|intendant]] [[Jacques de Meulles]] who reported that the grasslands around the settlement was sufficient to fatten thousands of head of cattle, that there were 22 habitations, of which most had a dozen or more cattle and as many each of pigs and sheep, but that not much land was cultivated.<ref name="Arsenault"/> |
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The Chignecto region provided Jacques Bourgeois and the whole settlement with fertile marshes, and high ground suitable for farming. The Shediac portage was an important relay station in the sea communications between Acadia and Canada and a strategic position commanding the isthmus and Baie Française (Bay of Fundy). By the time of the expulsion of the Acadians, Beaubassin had become one of the most prosperous places in Acadia. |
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In 1686, Beaubassin was made a [[parish]] when [[Abbot]] Claude Trouvé built a church. The settlement eventually extended up to [[Mill Creek, Cumberland,Nova Scotia|Mill Creek]], [[Petitcodiac, New Brunswick|Petitcodiac]], [[Memramcook, New Brunswick|Memramcook]], and the [[Shepody, New Brunswick|Shepody]] Rivers.<ref name="Arsenault"/> |
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Acadians, led by surgeon Jacques Bourgeois, founded the village between 1671 and 1672. |
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By 1715, it is thought that Beaubassin was home to 50 families, 32 acres of apple orchards, 1,000 head of cattle, and 800 hogs. There was also a trading post which traded with [[Louisbourg]] (in present-day Cape Breton) via [[Baie Verte, New Brunswick|Baie Verte]] and the [[Northumberland Strait]], and [[New England]], via the [[Bay of Fundy]].<ref name="Parks Canada">{{Cite web|title = Parks Canada - News Releases and Backgrounders|url = http://www.pc.gc.ca/APPS/CP-NR/release_e.asp?id=914&andor1=nr|website = www.pc.gc.ca|access-date = 2016-01-22}}</ref> |
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In 1672 [[Michel Leneuf de la Vallière de Beaubassin]] set up a fur-trading post on the isthmus of Chignecto, while devoting part of his time to the fishing, farming, settlement, and soldiering. |
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| ⚫ | By 1750, the population was about 2,800. Other villages in the immediate area included Weskak (now [[Westcock, New Brunswick|Westcock]]), Pré-des-Bourgs ([[Sackville, New Brunswick|Sackville]]), Pré-des-Richards ([[Middle Sackville, New Brunswick|Middle Sackville]]), and [[Aulac]]. About half of the population were refugees from mainland Nova Scotia. |
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== Beginnings of warfare == |
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In 1676 [[Michel Leneuf de la Vallière de Beaubassin]] and Sieur Richard Denys of the French Navy seized three English vessels from Boston that were taking on coal at Cape Breton. As a result of his success, [[Louis de Buade de Frontenac|Frontenac]] granted him land which became the Beaubassin seigneury in 1684. |
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The settlement was subject to attacks from [[New England]] starting with the [[Raid on Chignecto (1696)|1696 Raid on Chignecto]] during [[Queen Anne's War]], led by [[Benjamin Church (ranger)|Benjamin Church]]. In 1704 he returned and attacked the Beaubassin region again. |
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== Destruction == |
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By 1685, there were 22 houses in Beaubassin. In 1686, the area was constituted into a parish and Father [[Claude Trouvé]],<ref>http://www.biographi.ca/EN/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=1133</ref> of Quebec, built Beaubassin's first church. The parish church was located on the site of the present day monument to [[Fort Lawrence]], and the railroad crosses the church cemetery. |
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Beaubassin was located at a site of strategic military importance. The peace and prosperity of Beaubassin was ended by rivalry between Britain and France for the control of Canada in the mid 1700s. Acadia comprised most of what is now [[the Maritimes]], as well as parts of [[Québec]], and northern [[Maine]]. With the 1713 [[Treaty of Utrecht (1713)|Treaty of Utrecht]], the part of Acadia today known as peninsular [[Nova Scotia]] became another British colony on the eastern seaboard. The area now known as New Brunswick remained under French control, as did what are now known as [[Prince Edward Island]] (then known as Île Saint-Jean) and [[Cape Breton Island]] (then known as [[Île Royale (New France)|Île Royale]]). |
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Due to disagreements in interpretation of the treaty provisions delineating Acadia's boundaries, the ownership of New Brunswick was disputed. An informal dividing line was established on the Isthmus of Chignecto at the [[Missaguash River|Missiguash River]], near the site of Beaubassin. |
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The village, where residents farmed, raised livestock and were involved in shipbuilding, lay at the heart of a vast trading network encompassing Île Royale, Nova Scotia and New England. |
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In May 1750, the British dispatched Major [[Charles Lawrence (British Army officer)|Charles Lawrence]], along with 800 troops, to seize control of the Isthmus of Chignecto and construct a fort near the French post of Point Beauséjour,<ref name="Parks Canada" /> future site of [[Fort Beauséjour]]. |
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British forces led a devastating attack in the [[Raid on Chignecto (1696)|1696 Raid on Chignecto]], after which [[Joseph Robineau de Villebon|Governor Villebon]] wrote "the English stayed at Beaubassin nine whole days without drawing any supplies from their vessels, and even those settlers to whom they had shown a pretense of mercy were left with empty houses and barns and nothing else except the clothes on their backs."<ref name="Reid">{{cite book|last = Reid|first = John|title = "1686-1720: Imperial Intrusions" In The Atlantic Region to Confederation: A History|year = 1998|publisher = Toronto University Press|pages = 83}}</ref> Beaubassin was raided again during [[Queen Anne's War]], in response to a French [[Raid on Deerfield]] earlier in 1704. This assault was actually the work of a Quebec led company of Abenaki, Kanienkehaka, Wyandot, and Pocumtuck along with some Frenchmen, 200 to 300 attackers in all. According to Faragher, the Massachusetts authorities knew that the Acadians had nothing to do with the attack,<ref>Faragher, A Great and Noble Scheme, 109.</ref> but since the Acadians were closer than the French in Quebec the Acadians became the undeserving object of their revenge. As far as the New Englanders were concerned Acadians and French were synonymous, which was unfortunate for them.<ref>The Nova Scotia Genealogist, Spring, 2009, Vol. XXVII/1, Page 16</ref> Church also raided a French settlement near present-day [[Castine, Maine]], [[Raid on Grand Pre|Grand Pre]], and [[Pisiguit]]. |
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As the British arrived, the French and their allies burned the town to prevent its use by the enemy. Forty-five buildings were burned. The Acadian population abandoned the village and sought refuge on the other side of the Missaguash River on Point Beauséjour. Major Lawrence and his troops later built [[Fort Lawrence]] near the site. The bell was saved from Notre Dame d'Assumption Church and eventually put it into a cathedral at Fort Beauséjour. |
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The 1713 [[Treaty of Utrecht (1713)|Treaty of Utrecht]], in which France ceded Acadia to Britain, did not specify boundaries, and France claimed that only the peninsular portion of Acadia (now [[Nova Scotia]]) had been ceded. Beaubassin was located near what became the ''de facto'' dividing line between French Acadia and the British province of Nova Scotia. As a result, when the British established [[Fort Lawrence]] during [[Father Le Loutre's War]] the French countered by establishing [[Fort Beauséjour]] on the opposite side of the boundary on what is now called the Aulac Ridge. |
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== Aftermath == |
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[[Charles Lawrence (British Army officer)|Charles Lawrence]] faced resistance to building [[Fort Lawrence]]. Along with initially burning the village<ref>The practice of burning one's own residences for military ends was not uncommon. For example, at the time Le Loutre burned Beaubassin for military reasons, French officer Boishebert burned the French Fort Menagoueche on the Saint John River to prevent it from falling into the hands of the British and to allow Acadians to escape to the forest (see John Grenier (2008). ''The Edge of Empire''. Oklahoma Press. p. 179). As well, the British burned their military officers' own residences at Annapolis Royal to help defeat the French, Mi'kmaq and Acadian attacks during King George's War. (See Brenda Dunn (2004). ''Port Royal/Annapolis Royal''. Nimbus Press).</ref> upon Lawrence's return, Mi'kmaq and Acadians were dug in at Beaubassin trying to defend the remains of the village. Forty-five buildings were burned and residents were resettled to the west side of the [[Missaguash River|Missaquash River]] and the protection of Fort Beauséjour. Le Loutre saved the bell from Notre Dame d'Assumption Church in Beaubassin and put it into the cathedral he had built beside [[Fort Beausejour]]. Again Le Loutre was joined by Acadian militia leader [[Joseph Broussard]]. They were eventually overwhelmed by force and the New Englanders erected [[Fort Lawrence]] at Beaubassin. |
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The British occupancy of the Isthmus of Chignecto marked the beginning of the end of French power in Acadia.<ref name="Parks Canada" /> Less than five years later, British and [[New England]] troops used Fort Lawrence as their base to capture Fort Beausejour in June 1755, followed soon after by the [[Expulsion of the Acadians]] from the area. |
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== The site today == |
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| ⚫ | In 2004, [[Parks Canada]] acquired a significant portion of the lands on which Beaubassin once stood and the site was designated a [[National Historic Sites of Canada|National Historic Site of Canada]] in 2005.<ref name="Beaubassin NHS">{{CRHP|13964|Beaubassin National Historic Site of Canada|26 August 2012}}</ref> The site includes the separately designated [[Fort Lawrence|Fort Lawrence National Historic Site]].<ref>{{CRHP|13271|Fort Lawrence National Historic Site of Canada|26 August 2012}}</ref> There is a stone marker near the Nova Scotia visitor centre off the [[Trans-Canada Highway]] in [[Amherst, Nova Scotia]] commemorating the village's existence. |
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The pastured fields of the former Beaubassin village contain extensive archaeological resources including glass and ceramic artifacts and charred buildings that attest to the Acadian way of life. Modern buildings have impacted the archaeological resources, but much of the land is still agricultural or marshland. Cellar depressions demarcate the buildings that once made up the settlement.<ref name="Beaubassin NHS"/> |
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== Demographics == |
== Demographics == |
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{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |
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|+ Population of Beaubassin<ref> |
|+ Population of Beaubassin<ref>{{cite book |last=Roy |first=Muriel K. |title=«Peuplement et croissance démographique en Acadie» dans Les Acadiens des Maritimes |location=Moncton |publisher=Centre d'études acadiennes, Université de Moncton |date=1980 |page=148}}</ref> |
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|1698 |
|1698 |
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|? |
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|1701 |
|1701 |
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|{{formatnum:2800}} |
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==Legacy== |
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== References == |
== References == |
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{{Reflist}} |
{{Reflist}} |
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==Bibliography== |
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*N.E.S. Griffiths. 2005. ''Migrant to Acadian'', McGill-Queen’s University Press. |
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*Benjamin Church, Thomas Church, Samuel Gardner Drake. ''The history of King Philip's war ; also of expeditions against the French and Indians in its Eastern parts of New England, in the years 1689, 1692, i696 AND 1704. With some account of the divine providence towards Col. Benjamin Church.'' |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www.pc.gc.ca/canada/pn-tfn/itm2-/2009/2009-05-18_e.asp Parks Canada: History Beneath the Ruins of Beaubassin] |
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{{NHSC}} |
{{NHSC}} |
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{{Nova Scotia parks}} |
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[[Category:Acadian history]] |
[[Category:Acadian history]] |
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[[Category:Heritage sites in New Brunswick]] |
[[Category:Heritage sites in New Brunswick]] |
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[[Category:Heritage sites in Nova Scotia]] |
[[Category:Heritage sites in Nova Scotia]] |
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[[Category:1670s establishments in the French colonial empire]] |
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[[Category:Populated places established in the 1670s]] |
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Latest revision as of 07:36, 11 June 2024
45°50′56.86″N 64°15′39.31″W / 45.8491278°N 64.2609194°WBeaubassin was an important Acadian village and trading centre on the Isthmus of Chignecto in what is now Nova Scotia, Canada. The area was a significant place in the geopolitical struggle between the British and French empires. It was established in the 1670s on an upland close to an extensive area of saltwater marsh. Settlers reclaimed the land to engage in cattle ranching and trade.
French colony
[edit]The settlement had strong ties with Port Royal,[1] and Jacques Bourgeois, a farmer, shipbuilder, and merchant at sold a part of his holdings there to settle in the Chignecto Basin, where he built a flour-mill and a saw-mill.[2] Around the same time Michel Leneuf de la Vallière de Beaubassin set up a fur-trading post on the isthmus, while devoting part of his time to the fishing, farming, settlement, and soldiering. Following success in the latter activity, in 1676 governor Frontenac granted him 100 square leagues land which became the Beaubassin seigneury.[3] He established himself on an upland known as Île de la Vallière, later Tonge's Island.
The settlement prospered on the fertile Tantramar Marshes and surrounding high ground, suitable for farming. The isthmus was also the site of a portage between the Bay of Fundy and the Northumberland Strait and lay at the heart of a vast trading network encompassing Île Royale, Nova Scotia and New England.
The first fruit trees were brought from Port Royal by an Irishman, Roger Kuessey (Caissy or Quessey), who established himself on a highland now known as the Butte à Roger.[4] In 1685 the site was inspected by intendant Jacques de Meulles who reported that the grasslands around the settlement was sufficient to fatten thousands of head of cattle, that there were 22 habitations, of which most had a dozen or more cattle and as many each of pigs and sheep, but that not much land was cultivated.[4]
In 1686, Beaubassin was made a parish when Abbot Claude Trouvé built a church. The settlement eventually extended up to Mill Creek, Petitcodiac, Memramcook, and the Shepody Rivers.[4]
By 1715, it is thought that Beaubassin was home to 50 families, 32 acres of apple orchards, 1,000 head of cattle, and 800 hogs. There was also a trading post which traded with Louisbourg (in present-day Cape Breton) via Baie Verte and the Northumberland Strait, and New England, via the Bay of Fundy.[5]
By 1750, the population was about 2,800. Other villages in the immediate area included Weskak (now Westcock), Pré-des-Bourgs (Sackville), Pré-des-Richards (Middle Sackville), and Aulac. About half of the population were refugees from mainland Nova Scotia.
Beginnings of warfare
[edit]The settlement was subject to attacks from New England starting with the 1696 Raid on Chignecto during Queen Anne's War, led by Benjamin Church. In 1704 he returned and attacked the Beaubassin region again.
Destruction
[edit]
Beaubassin was located at a site of strategic military importance. The peace and prosperity of Beaubassin was ended by rivalry between Britain and France for the control of Canada in the mid 1700s. Acadia comprised most of what is now the Maritimes, as well as parts of Québec, and northern Maine. With the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, the part of Acadia today known as peninsular Nova Scotia became another British colony on the eastern seaboard. The area now known as New Brunswick remained under French control, as did what are now known as Prince Edward Island (then known as Île Saint-Jean) and Cape Breton Island (then known as Île Royale).
Due to disagreements in interpretation of the treaty provisions delineating Acadia's boundaries, the ownership of New Brunswick was disputed. An informal dividing line was established on the Isthmus of Chignecto at the Missiguash River, near the site of Beaubassin.
In May 1750, the British dispatched Major Charles Lawrence, along with 800 troops, to seize control of the Isthmus of Chignecto and construct a fort near the French post of Point Beauséjour,[5] future site of Fort Beauséjour.
As the British arrived, the French and their allies burned the town to prevent its use by the enemy. Forty-five buildings were burned. The Acadian population abandoned the village and sought refuge on the other side of the Missaguash River on Point Beauséjour. Major Lawrence and his troops later built Fort Lawrence near the site. The bell was saved from Notre Dame d'Assumption Church and eventually put it into a cathedral at Fort Beauséjour.
Aftermath
[edit]The British occupancy of the Isthmus of Chignecto marked the beginning of the end of French power in Acadia.[5] Less than five years later, British and New England troops used Fort Lawrence as their base to capture Fort Beausejour in June 1755, followed soon after by the Expulsion of the Acadians from the area.
The site today
[edit]In 2004, Parks Canada acquired a significant portion of the lands on which Beaubassin once stood and the site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2005.[6] The site includes the separately designated Fort Lawrence National Historic Site.[7] There is a stone marker near the Nova Scotia visitor centre off the Trans-Canada Highway in Amherst, Nova Scotia commemorating the village's existence.
The pastured fields of the former Beaubassin village contain extensive archaeological resources including glass and ceramic artifacts and charred buildings that attest to the Acadian way of life. Modern buildings have impacted the archaeological resources, but much of the land is still agricultural or marshland. Cellar depressions demarcate the buildings that once made up the settlement.[6]
Demographics
[edit]| Year | Number of inhabitants |
|---|---|
| 1671 | 127 |
| 1686 | 119 |
| 1693 | 174 |
| 1698 | ? |
| 1701 | 188 |
| 1703 | 246 |
| 1707 | 326 |
| 1714 | 345 |
| 1730 | 1,010 |
| 1737 | 1,816 |
| 1748 | 2,800 |
References
[edit]- ^ Griffiths, N.E.S. (2005). From Migrant to Acadian: A North American Border People, 1604-1755. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-2699-0.
- ^ Cormier, Clément (1979) [1969]. "Bourgeois, Jacques". In Hayne, David (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. II (1701–1740) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ^ Comeau, J.-Roger (1979) [1969]. "Leneuf de La Vallière de Beaubassin, Michel (d. 1705)". In Hayne, David (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. II (1701–1740) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
- ^ a b c Arsenault, Bona; Alain, Pascal (2004). Histoire des Acadiens (in French). Les Editions Fides. ISBN 978-2-7621-2613-6.
- ^ a b c "Parks Canada - News Releases and Backgrounders". www.pc.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
- ^ a b Beaubassin National Historic Site of Canada. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
- ^ Fort Lawrence National Historic Site of Canada. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
- ^ Roy, Muriel K. (1980). «Peuplement et croissance démographique en Acadie» dans Les Acadiens des Maritimes. Moncton: Centre d'études acadiennes, Université de Moncton. p. 148.
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