APPENDICES

Acadians Who Found Refuge in Louisiana, February 1764-early 1800s

[cloh-AT-ruh]

ACADIA

Pierre Cloistre dit Clouâtre, a gunsmith, reached Acadia before 1722, when he married Marguerite, daughter of André LeBlanc, one of the pioneers of the Minas settlement. Pierre and Marguerite settled at Saint-Charles-aux-Mines and had at least a dozen children, including five sons born at Minas: Louis in c1724, Georges in c1727, Dominique in c1729, Pierre-Sylvain in c1740, and Joseph in c1750. Only one of Pierre and Marguerite's sons married before Le Grand Dérangement. Dominique married Francois, daughter of probably Claude Boudrot, probably at Minas in c1752.

LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

Like most Acadian families, Le Grand Dérangement of 1755 scattered this family to the winds. When the British rounded up the Acadians at Minas in the fall of 1755, they deported Dominique and his wife to Massachusetts. After the French and Indian War ended, by 1767, Dominique and Francoise had left Massachusetts and settled at Trois-Rivière on the upper St. Lawrence River between Québec City and Montréal before they moved to St.-Philippe-de-Laprairie, across from Montréal, where they set down roots.

Meanwhile, in the fall of 1755, the British deported Pierre Cloistre dit Clouâtre, his wife Marguerite, and the rest of his family to Maryland. British authorities counted Marguerite, now a widow, at Port Tobacco, Maryland, in July 1763. With her were unmarried sons Louis, Pierre-Sylvain, and Joseph, and daughters Anne and Marthe-Marie. Son Georges, who had married Cécile, daughter of Antoine Breaux, in Maryland, two of their children, and an orphan also were counted at Port Tobacco that month. Georges died in Maryland sometime between July 1763 and December 1767.

LOUISIANA: RIVER SETTLEMENTS

All of the Acadian Clouâtres who came to Louisiana arrived in early 1768 with the Breaux party from Maryland. ... They settled at first in the new Acadian community of San Luis de Natchez, on the Mississippi River far above Baton Rouge. ...

CONCLUSION

The family's name also is spelled Chiadtre, Cloatre, Cloistre, Couatre.

Sources: Arsenault, Généalogie, 1136-37, 2459-60; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 153.

Settlement Abbreviations
(present-day parishes that existed during the War Between the States in parenthesis; hyperlinks on the abbreviations take you to brief histories of each settlement):

Asc	Ascension	Lf	Lafourche (Lafourche, Terrebonne)	PCP	Pointe Coupée
Asp	Assumption	Natc	Natchitoches (Natchitoches)	SB	San Bernardo (St. Bernard)
Atk	Atakapas (St. Martin, St. Mary, Lafayette, Vermilion)	Natz	San Luìs de Natchez (Concordia)	StG	St.-Gabriel d'Iberville (Iberville)
BdE	Bayou des Écores (East Baton Rouge, West Feliciana)	NO	New Orleans (Orleans)	StJ	St.-Jacques de Cabanocé (St. James)
BR	Baton Rouge (East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge)	Op	Opelousas (St. Landry, Calcasieu)

For a chronology of Acadian Arrivals in Louisiana, 1764-early 1800s, see Appendix.

The hyperlink attached to an individual's name is connected to a list of Acadian immigrants for a particular settlement and provides a different perspective on the refugee's place in family and community.

Name	Arrived	Settled	Profile
Anne CLOUÂTRE 01	Feb 1768	Natz	born c1746, probably Grand-Pré; daughter of Pierre CLOISTRE dit CLOUÂTRE & Marguerite LEBLANC; sister of Joseph, Marthe-Marie, & Pierre; exiled to MD 1755, age 9; in report on Acadians at Port Tobacco, MD, Jul 1763, called Anne CLOÂTRE, with widowed mother & siblings; arrived LA 1768, age 22; in report on Acadians who settled at St.-Luis de Natchez, 1768, called Ana, age 22, with widowed mother & siblings; married Bernard CAPDEVILLE, son of Antoine CAPDEVILLE & Catherine LARCOSSE or COUSAN of Mornasse, Bearn, Lescar, France, & widower of Anne AROSTEGUY?
Charles CLOUÂTRE 02	Feb 1768	Natz, StJ	born c1765, probably Port Tobacco, MD; son of Georges CLOUÂTRE & Cécile BREAUX; brother of Joseph & Madeleine; arrived LA 1768, age 3; in report on Acadians who settled at St.-Luis de Natchez, 1768, called Carlos, age 2, with widowed mother, siblings, & orphan Joseph BRO; moved to Cabanocé; in Cabanocé census, 1769, right [west], called Charles CLOÂTRE, age 4, with mother, stepfather Charles GODET, & siblings; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, right [west] bank, called Charles, no surname given, age 12, with mother, stepfather Charles GAUDET, full siblings & half siblings; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, unnamed, with stepfather, mother, & others; married, age 21, Anne ARCENEAUX, 30 Jan 1786, St.-Jacques; died [buried] St.-Jacques 27 Jan 1802, age 45[sic]
Joseph CLOUÂTRE 03	Feb 1768	Natz, StG	born c1750, probably Grand-Pré; son of Pierre CLOISTRE dit CLOUÂTRE & Marguerite LEBLANC; brother of Anne, Marthe-Marie, & Pierre; exiled to MD 1755, age 5; in report on Acadians at Port Tobacco, MD, Jul 1763, called Pierre Joseph CLOÂTRE [probably a misprint], with widowed mother & siblings; arrived LA 1768, age 18; in report on Acadians who settled at St.-Luis de Natchez, 1768, called Joseph, age 18, with widowed mother & siblings; moved to St.-Gabriel; in St.-Gabriel census, 1777, left bank ascending, called Jausephe a C[L]OUÂTRE, bachelor, age 18[sic], with 10 cattle, [0 horses?] 12 hogs, 18 fowl, 6 arpents; married, age 30, (1)Marguerite BABIN, daughter of Dominique BABIN & Marguerite BOUDREAUX, 3 Jun 1780, St.-Gabriel; married, age 37, (2)Élisabeth/Isabelle-Marie THIBODEAUX, daughter of Olivier THIBODEAUX & his second wife Élisabeth/Isabelle BOUDREAUX, 11 Feb 1787, St.-Gabriel
Joseph CLOUÂTRE 04	Feb 1768	Natz, StJ	born c1760, MD; son of Georges CLOUÂTRE & Cécile BREAUX; brother of Charles & Madeleine; in report on Acadians at Port Tobacco, MD, Jul 1763, called Joseph CLOÂTRE, with parents, sister, & orphan Joseph BRAUX; arrived LA 1768, age 8; in report on Acadians who settled at St.-Luis de Natchez, 1768, called Joseph DUANTE, age 7, with widowed mother, siblings, & orphan Joseph BRO; moved to Cabanocé; in Cabanocé census, 1769, right [west] bank, called Joseph CLOATRE, age 9, with mother, stepfather Charles GODET, & siblings; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, right [west] bank, called Joseph CLOITRE, age 15, with mother, stepfather Charles GAUDET, full siblings & half-siblings; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, unnamed, with stepfather, mother, & others; married, age 24, (1)Marie POIRIER, 1785, St.-Jacques; married, age 40, (2)Felicité LOUVIERE, daughter of Charles LOUVIERE & Isabelle MELANCON, 12 Feb 1801, St.-Jacques
Madeleine CLOUÂTRE 05	Feb 1768	Natz, StJ	born c1762, probably MD; daughter of Georges CLOUÂTRE & Cecile BREAUX; sister of Charles & Joseph; in report on Acadians at Port Tobacco, MD, Jul 1763, called Magdelaine CLOÂTRE, with parents, brother, & orphan Joseph BRAUX; arrived LA 1768, age 6; in report on Acadians who settled at St.-Luis de Natchez, 1768, called Magdalena, age 5, with widowed mother, brothers, & orphan Joseph BRO; moved to Cabanoce; in Cabanoce census, 1769, right [west] bank, called Magdeleine, no surname given, age 7, with mother, stepfather Charles GAUDET, & brothers; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, right [west] bank, called Magdelaine CLOITRE, age 15, with mother, stepfather Charles GAUDET, full siblings & half siblings; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, unnamed, with stepfather, mother, & others; married Armand BREAUX; died [buried] St.-Jacques 2 Dec 1800, age 38
Marthe-Marie CLOUÂTRE 06	Feb 1768	Natz	born c1748, probably Grand-Pré; daughter of Pierre CLOISTRE dit CLOUÂTRE & Marguerite LEBLANC; sister of Anne, Joseph, & Pierre; exiled to MD 1755, age 7; in report on Acadians at Port Tobacco, MD, Jul 1763, called Maria & Marthe CLOÂTRE [a double listing?], with widowed mother & siblings; arrived LA 1768, age 20; in report on Acadians who settled at St.-Luis de Natchez, 1768, called Maria, age 20, with widowed mother & siblings
Pierre-Sylvain CLOUÂTRE 07	Feb 1768	Natz, StG	born c1742, probably Grand-Pré; son of Pierre CLOISTRE dit CLOUÂTRE & Marguerite LEBLANC; brother of Anne, Joseph, & Marthe-Marie; exiled to MD 1755, age 13; in report of Acadians at Port Tobacco, MD, Jul 1763, called Pierre Joseph [probably a misprint] CLOÂTRE, with widowed mother & siblings; arrived LA 1768, age 26; in report on Acadians who settled at St.-Luis de Natchez, 1768, called Pedro CHIADTRE ?[sic], age 26, with widowed mother & siblings; moved to St.-Gabriel; married Marie-Madeleine BOUDREAUX, daughter of Pierre BOUDREAUX & Madeleine HÉBERT, & widow of Joseph LANDRY, probably St.-Gabriel; in St.-Gabriel census, 1777, left bank ascending, called Piere a CLOUÂTRE, age 48[sic], with wife [Madeleine?] age 40, 9 cattle, [0 horses?] 12 hogs, 20 fowl, 6 arpents; died St.-Gabriel 7 May 1798, age 60[sic]

NOTES

01. Wall of Names, 14, calls her Anne CLOÂTRE. Beginning in Jun 1775, the name Bernard CAPDEVILLE begins to appear in the church records of St.-Gabriel community. See BRDR, 2:174-75. In these birth/baptismal records, Bernard's wife is called Anne CLOITRE/CLOÂTRE/CLOUATRE, not AROSTELY/AROSTEGUY. Did Bernard remarry, or is the Anne CLOUÂTRE in the church records actually Anne AROSTEGUY? Anne CLOUÂTRE settled with her widowed mother & siblings at Fort St.-Luis de Natchez. Most of the Natchez Acadians left that remote settlement a couple of years later & moved to Acadian communities downriver, including St.-Gabriel. The ARSOTEGUYs were from Chignecto, the CLOUÂTREs from Minas. I would venture to guess that these were different women. Bernard died at St.-Gabriel, age 77, in Sep 1800. His death/burial record calls his parents Antonio CAPDEVILLE & Catalina COUSAN of Martasi, France, so this is the same fellow, but the record unfortunately says nothing of his wives. See BRDR, 2:174. If the age given for him in the burial record is correct, he would have been born c1723. This means he would have been about age 43 when he married Anne AROSTEGUY in New Orleans in early 1766. Ship's surgeon or not, he probably was a widower when he married her, though the church record in New Orleans says nothing of a previous wife.

02. Wall of Names, 14, calls him Charles CLOÂTRE.

03. Wall of Names, 14, calls him Joseph CLOÂTRE. See also Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 153; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth Century Louisianians, 436; De Ville, St. Gabriel Census, 1777, 12.

His estimated birth year is from the age found in the Spanish report of Feb 1768, not the St.-Gabriel census of 1777.

04. Wall of Names, 14, calls him Joseph CLOÂTRE.

05. Wall of Names, 14, calls her Madeleine CLOÂTRE.

06. Wall of Names, 14, calls her Marthe CLOÂTRE. Her middle name is from the Spanish report of Feb 1768 in Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth Century Louisianians, 436. The British report in MD, in Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 153, indicates that there may have been 2 separate daughters named Marie & Marthe, or is it a double listing of one person, Marthe-Marie? Wall of Names will be followed here until I find corroboration that they were 2 separate daughters.

07. Wall of Names, 14, calls him Pierre CLOÂTRE. His middle name is from White, DGFA-1 English, 47. Arsenault, Généalogie, 2460, says he was born in 1740, but the Spanish report of Feb 1768, followed here, & especially the St.-Gabriel census of 1777 say otherwise. See De Ville, St. Gabriel Census, 1777, 12; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth Century Louisianians, 436. The St.-Gabriel census seems way off. The British report in MD can be found in Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 153. Arsenault does not include his wife's name, but a clue to her identity may be found in BRDR, 2:193-94, marriage records of Maria & Mariana CLOUÂTRE, daughters of Pierre CLOUÂTRE & Madeleine BOUDREAUX, & birth record of Mariana/Marine. Who was the Pedro [Pierre] CLOUÂTRE, age 60, son of Juan [Jean] CLOUÂTRE & Maria LANDRY, buried 7 May 1798, at St.-Gabriel? Is this the same Pierre CLOUÂTRE who was married to Madeleine BOUDREAUX & is found in the St.-Gabriel census of 1777? See BRDR, 2:194. Arsenault, despite the discrepancies in Pierre's parents' names, seems to think so. Could the priest at St.-Jacques in 1798 have been that sloppy in recording the dead man's parents?

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