Association des Richard du N.-B.

Descendants et amis de Michel Richard dit Sansoucy

Richibouctou-Village

We find 17 Richard families listed, either on the commemorative plaque or in Father Hudon’s registers for Cap-Lumière from 1898.

Brief historical note

All the Richards that we find at Cap-Lumière in 1896 are descended from Michel Richard (dit Sanssoucy), while those from Bas-de-l’Allée are descended from Jean-Baptiste Richard (dit Jani). ***

Michel Richard (known as Sanssoucy) is from Saintes, a village located some 60 kilometers south-east of La Rochelle. He arrived in Port-Royal in 1654, as a soldier, at the age of 24 (note 1). After two years in Acadia, he married a 12-year-old girl, Madeleine Blanchard, daughter of Jean Blanchard and Radegonde Lambert. The Blanchard family took root in Acadia with the arrival, on April 1, 1636, of Guillaume-Louis Blanchard, the ancestor of the Blanchard. In 1670, when the English ceded Port-Royal to France, Michel already appeared as one of the wealthy inhabitants of the region. The 1671 census notes that he owned 14 acres of arable land, 15 cattle and 14 sheep. The corresponding figures for the entire Acadian population were 829 cattle, 399 sheep and 417 acres of arable land.

Michel and Madeleine Blanchard had ten children, two of whom particularly caught our attention: the eldest, René (dit Beaupré) Richard, who married around 1680, Madeleine Landry and Martin, who married, around 1691, Marguerite Bourg. Of the thirteen Richard families that we find in Cap-Lumière in 1896, five are the descendants of René (dit Beaupré) Richard and Madeleine Landry, known as Beaupré, and eight of Martin and Marguerite Bourg, known as the Plate.

The nickname “Plate”

When in 1755, Michel Richard, son of Martin and Marguerite Bourg, was captured at Fort Beauséjour, his wife, Madeleine Doucet, managed to escape to Malpeque, Île Saint-Jean (now Prince Edward Island). During her brief stay in Malpeque, she and her children lived near the Plate River, hence the nickname Plate, which was then associated with all the members of this family. Later, in 1763, Madeleine settled in Memramcook with her ten children. It was from Memramcook that most of these ten children subsequently migrated to Kent County, to become the ancestors of the Plate in Acadie. At least five of Michel and Madeleine’s sons migrated to Richibouctou-Village (Joseph, Pierre, Jean, Michel and Basile-Richard), while the deaths of two others (Jean-Baptiste and François) were reported in Saint-Charles. This explains why the eight Plate families that we find in Cap-Lumière in 1798 all had as grandfather the seventh son of Michel and Madeleine Doucet, namely Michel (dit Plate) Richard, who married Marguerite Babineau around 1771, and who died at Cap-Lumière on June 8, 1807.

As for Jean-Baptiste (dit Jani) Richard, third son of Michel (dit Beaupré), and Marie-Josèphe Bourgeois, they settled in Memramcook after their marriage, celebrated on November 4, 1745. According to S. White, as they are in Memramcook during the Deportation of the Acadians in 1755, they managed to avoid the English by escaping to the New Brunswick coast. However, by chance they found themselves in Caraquet during the Mackenzie raid in 1761. Brought back prisoners to Fort Cumberland, Jani and his family then went to Memramcook, and finally to Richibouctou-Village. Jani dies in the village on March 19, 1796

By grouping the families together whose names are inscribed on the commemorative plaque and those present in Father Hudon’s list at Cap-Lumière in 1898, we have a total of 18 Richard families, namely:

The seven families from Michel (dit Beaupré) Richard and Marie-Josèphe Bourgeois :

  1. Jean-Baptiste (dit Jani), son of Michel (dit Beaupré) Richard and Marie-Josèphe Bourgeois, and Françoise Girouard;
  2. Jean (dit Petit Jean à Jani) Richard, son of Jean-Baptiste, and Anastasie LeBlanc (1st marriage), and Marie Maillet (2nd marriage);
  3. Urbain J. Richard, son of Joseph (dit Gros Joe) Richard and Nathalie Vautour, and Henriette Hébert;
  4. Arcade Richard, son of Théophile (dit Breau) and Marguerite Maccaille, and Émilienne Thibodeau;

The three sons of Fabien (dit Motchison) and Perpétue Richard and their descendants:

  1. Maxime Richard, son of Fabien (dit Motchison) and Perpétue Richard, and Catherine Boucher.
  2. Urbain F. Richard, son of Fabien (dit Motchison) and Perpétue Richard, and Émilienne Maillet;
  3. Pierre F. Richard, son of Fabien (dit Motchison) and Perpétue Richard, and Marie P. Maillet;

The eleven families descendant of Michel (dit Plate) and Madeleine Hébert :

  1. Pierre (dit Plate) and Madeleine Allain;
  2. Jean (dit Plate) and Anne Richard;
  3. Michel (dit Plate) and Marguerite Babineau;
  4. Georges Richard, son of Placide and Hélène Léger, and Suzanne Girouard.
  5. Damien O. Richard, son of Olivier and Prudence Babineau and Mélanie Maillet.

The three sons of Simon (dit Simonet) Richard and Louise Daigle and their descendants:

  1. Georges (dit Jacques) Richard, son of Simon and Louise Daigle, and Céline Allain;
  2. Maxime Richard, son of Simon and Louise Daigle, and Pélagie Caissie (no children);
  3. Luc (dit Lucas) Richard, son of Simon and Louise Daigle, and Ursule Martin.

The three sons of Luc (dit Lucas) Richard and Ursule Martin and their descendants:

  1. Georges L. Richard, son of Luc (dit Lucas) and Ursule Martin, and Marie Hébert;
  2. Charles L. Richard, son of Luc (dit Lucas) and Ursule Martin, and Hélène Allain;
  3. Dosithée L. Richard, son of Luc (dit Lucas) and Ursule Martin, and Mésie (dite Maisez) Richard.

All of these families can therefore be grouped into two, that is, on the one hand, those who are descendants of Jean-Baptiste (dit Jani) Richard and Françoise Girouard and, on the other hand, those who are descendants of Michel’s three sons (dit Plate) Richard and Madeleine Doucet.

Note 1 :  It is important to note that most of the documents concerning Michel Richard dit Sansoucy indicate his place of origin as being Saines or the region of La Rochelle and his arrival in Port-Royal as being in 1654. This information is in no way confirmed by concrete documents. Nobody to date knows the place of birth of Michel. His arrival in Port-Royal is simply an estimate based on information contained in the 1671 census which indicates his marriage to Magdeleine Blanchard and the ages of his children. (Paul Richard)

Source :  Les descandants des fondateurs de la paroisse de Richibouctou-Village : Richard, Arsenault, Hébert, LeBlanc, Maillet, Caissie, Léger,Thibodeau

Doris Mailelt-Gallant et Léandre Maillet, Les Éditions de la Francophonie2009