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| Birth: | About 1608 in La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, Aunis |
| Death: | About Dec 1676 in Boston, Massachusetts |
| Sex: | M |
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| Also Known As: dit Melanson 1 2 3 4 |
| Changed: 22 Apr 2004 23:47:37 |
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Individual:
French Huguenot Pierre LAVERDURE fled from persecution in France toEngland, in 1628. There h
e married Priscilla MALLINSON and had threesons. They were given her last name which eventually becameMelanson-Melançon.
Sailed for Acadia aboard the "Satisfaction" under the command of PeterButler 1657 in York,Yor kshire,England as part of the company which ThomasTemple, the new Governor of English Nova Scotia, was transporting toAcadia.
Pierre was very unpopular with his neighbors and fled to Boston, withPriscilla and their youn gest son John.
Sons Pierre and Charles had married Acadian girls and remained inAcadie. Charles was very pop ular with the Acadians. Pierre resisted thereturn of French rule, but was shielded by his powerful father in law andpopular brother.
Melancon is a Gallicized version of Mallinson.
(Al & Jane)
Introduction to the Melansons
The Melanson family surname is quite unique in the fact that it is one of the only surnames t hat's use can be traced to originating with one particular generation.
The progenitors of all Melansons, Pierre Laverdure and his wife Priscilla, were not known b y the Melanson surname but rather by the name, or title, of Laverdure. However, two of their sons, Pierre and Charles, appear to be the first to have begun using "Mellanson" - in well documented, written form.
Pierre Laverdure
The reason behind the use of Laverdure as an apparent surname for Pierre is not known for cer tain. It is likely that the name was not actually his surname but rather a title or nickname that may have referred to an area of France that he came from, families ties in France or property that he may have owned in France. Since two of his sons went by the Mellanson surname, societal logic would dictate that this was their father's surname. However, no record has been found to put the Mellanson surname with Pierre senior.
Of the Laverdure name, Pierre was not alone in using it in Acadia. There were several men o f French origin who also used the Laverdure/La Verdure name, although in these cases the name was clearly a title. A good example is that of Germain Doucet, once the Commander-in-Chief at Port Royal, who was known as "Germain Doucet dit La Verdure". Coincidentally, Germain was the father of Pierre Mellanson's wife's mother, Marguerite Doucet.
In the case of the Mellanson brothers, Pierre Mellanson would become known as "La Verdure" wh ile Charles Mellanson would become known as "La Ramée".
The French recorded such titles and nicknames by using the French word "dit" before the title , i.e.: "dit La Verdure", or in English, "called La Verdure". When referring to a female, the French would use the word "dite". Both "dit" and "dite" are pronounced "dee".
During their time in Boston, Pierre Laverdure, his wife Priscilla and their son John were kno wn by the name "Laverdure". This name was also to be consistently used as a surname for Pierre and Priscilla's granddaughter, Marie Melanson (first child and eldest daughter of Charles dit La Ramée Mellanson and Marie Dugas) who went to Boston to live with her grandmother at a young age. Marie became known as Mary Laverdure until later marrying David Basset.
Priscilla
In regards to Pierre Laverdure's wife Priscilla, we simply do not know for certain what her m aiden name was. Many have suggested that it was Mallinson (or a variation thereof) but there are no records to indicate this in any official sense that would serve to accurately enhance any historical or genealogical research. In an effort to present the most factual data available, most professional researchers and genealogists omit any suggestion of a maiden name for Priscilla from their work.
Many spelling variations resembling the Mellanson name did exist in England during the 1500' s and 1600's but it seems unlikely that Pierre and Charles, both apparently well educated and obviously literate, would go on to consistently misspell their surname when they settled in the New World. This and other details surrounding the origin of the name has gone on to create many theories and possibilities, but it is not known for certain why or from where Pierre and Charles started to use the Mellanson surname.
Of interesting note is that the Mellanson/Melanson name is not found in England prior to th e year 1755. It is only after the 1755 expulsions of the Acadian people from Nova Scotia that the name begins to show up on records in England, where some of Pierre and Charles' descendants had been deported to.
Family Arrival in Acadia
A portion of dykeland adjacent to the Melanson Settlement
Of the family's arrival in Acadia, it is widely accepted that Pierre and Priscilla landed i n 1657 after sailing from England with their sons onboard the ship Satisfaction. It is also generally accepted that the family disembarked at St. John's fort at the mouth of the St. John River. The family had sailed to Acadia with the newly appointed English Governor of Acadia, Sir Thomas Temple and a group of other settlers. Pierre and Priscilla, however, were to reside in Acadia for only 10 years.
A Boston court document from 1677 (Priscilla's petition of May 3, 1677) recorded Priscilla' s late husband, "Peter Leverdure", as being a Frenchman and a Protestant and "Priscilla Leverdure" as being an Englishwoman. This document helped early researchers, such as Father Clarence d'Ãëntremont, establish a connection between Pierre Laverdure, his wife Priscilla and sons Pierre and Charles. The document also served to clear up the persistent claim that the origins of the Melanson family were Scottish. On the same note, about refuting the claims of Scottish birth (this time for Pierre and Charles Mellanson), a second document, written by John Adams in 1720, decisively describes Pierre Laverdure's son Pierre as being "an aged English Gentleman...".
The petition goes on to state that Priscilla's husband had left "[St.] John's fort to escap e the wrath of his countrymen Papists". This latter statement clearly suggests that Pierre was a French Huguenot who might have left France as the Catholic government's tolerance for the Protestant Huguenots began to rapidly deteriorate during the 1620's. Either due to the problems unwinding in France or for some other reason, Pierre ended up in England were he and his Priscilla were married about 1630 (SW).
Ten years before Priscilla's petition the 1667 Treaty of Breda between the English and the Fr ench had ceded Acadia back to France. Pierre and Priscilla, both Protestants, were probably unable to fathom the idea of living under a French Catholic government and thus departed for Protestant ruled Boston, Massachusetts, sometime between 1667 and 1770 (Sir Thomas Temple had managed to delay the actual handing over of Acadia to French until 1670).
(Gregor Melanson)
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| Sources | | |
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- Title: Melanson - Symmes Genealogy
Author: Rich Melanson
Publication: http://www.gencircles.com/users/richm0
- Title: The Melanson Family Project
Author: Mike Melanson
Publication: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/7961/
- Title: Al & Jane's Genealogy
Author: Al & Jane
Publication: http://members.shaw.ca/bikeal/genealogy/index.htm#TOC
Page: http://members.shaw.ca/bikeal/genealogy/pafg39.htm
- Title: Gregor's Gathering
Author: A. Gregor Melanson
Publication: http://www.gregor.ca/index.htm
Page: http://www.gregor.ca/Acadia/Melanson/melansons-intro-gen1.htm
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