APPENDICES

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

DOUCET

[DOO-set, doo-SET, doo-SAY]

ACADIA

Germain Doucet, sieur de La Verdure, of Couperans or Conflans en Brie, France, a minor nobleman and "captain at arms," came to Acadia with Isaac de Razilly and the sieur d'Aulnay in 1632.  This makes him one of the first permanent settlers of Acadia.  He was master at arms at Pentagouët, present-day Maine, in 1640 and testified in an inquiry against former governor Charles de La Tour that year.  Germain was mentioned in the will of the sieur d'Aulnay, written in 1649, the year before the governor died.  In 1654, when the English seized Port-Royal, Germain commanded the post and was guardian of d'Aulnay's children.  Germain is not listed in the first Acadian census of 1671, so he probably died before that year.  According to Acadian genealogist Bona Arsenault, if Germain had been listed in the first census, he would have been 76 years old that year.

Germain married twice, but the names of both of his wives have been lost to history.  He and his first wife had four children, including two sons who created families of their own.  Their daughters married into the Dugas and Lejeune dit Briard families.  The capitulation papers that Germain presented to English officer Robert Sedgwick in 1654 said that Germain left his "brother-in-law" and lieutenant, Jacques Bourgeois, as hostage with the English to insure that he fulfilled the terms of surrender, so Germain's second wife may have been a sister of Jacques Bourgeois's wife Jeanne, daughter of Guillaume Trahan, but, again, her name has been lost to history.  No children by his second wife have been recorded.

Germain's older son Pierre was born in France in c1621.  He settled at Port-Royal, worked as a mason, and did not marry until c1660, when he was nearly 40.  His wife Henriette, daughter of Simon Pelletret, was 20 years his junior and gave him 10 children.  Their four daughters married into the Hébert, Bernard, Doiron, Chênet Dubreuil, and Comeau families.  Pierre died at Port-Royal in June 1713; he was 92 years old.  Five of his six sons, all born at Port-Royal, created families of their own:  

Oldest son Toussaint dit François, born  in c1663, married Marie, daughter of Irishman Roger Caissie, at Port-Royal in c1690.  Toussaint dit Francois and Marie settled at Chignecto and had 11 children, including three sons who married into the Poirier, Brasseur dit Mathieu, and Cormier families.  Their five daughters married into the Girouard, Gaudet, Bertrand, Doiron, and Richard families.  Toussaint died probably at Chignecto in c1733.  

Jean, born in c1665, married Françoise, daughter of Martin Blanchard, at Port-Royal in c1692.  They settled at Minas and had seven children, including a son who married into the Hébert family.  Their five daughters married into the Landry, Daigre, and Bugeaud families.  In August 1714, after the British gained control of Acadia, Jean applied for and received permission from the French to move to Île Royale, but the marriage records of his children reveal that his family remained at Minas.  

Pierre, fils, born in c1667, probably died young and did not marry.  

Louis, born in c1674, married Marguerite, daughter of Jacques Bourgeois, at Port-Royal in c1702.  They settled at Chignecto and had seven children, including two sons who married into the Richard and Carret families.  Three of their daughters married into the Poirier, Richard, Gaudet, and Orillon dit Champagne families.  

René, born in c1678, married Marie, daughter of Francois Broussard, at Port-Royal in c1702.  They remained at Port-Royal and had 10 children, including four sons who married into the Dugas, Petitot dit Saint-Seine, Préjean, and Bourg families.  Five of their daughters married into the Landry, Pitre, Garceau, Arseneau, Babineau, and Bourg families.  

Youngest son Mathieu, born in c1685, married Anne, daughter of Julien Lord, at Port-Royal in June 1712.  They had seven children, including three sons who married into the Bourg, Comeau, and Lavergne families.  Two of their daughters married into the Thibodeau and Comeau families.  Mathieu died by July 1760 during Le Grand Dérangement.  

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Germain's younger son, Germain, fils, born at Port-Royal in c1641, married Marie, daughter of René Landry l'aîné, at Port-Royal in c1644.  They had nine children.  One of their daughters married into the Loppinot family.  Germain, fils died at Port-Royal in the late 1690s, in his late 50s.  Five of his seven sons, all born at Port-Royal, created families of their own.  Most of Germain, fil's sons remained at Port-Royal, at least until Le Grand Dérangement:  

Oldest son Charles, born in c1665, married Huguette, daughter of Francois Guérin, at Port-Royal in c1684.  They had nine children, including six sons who married into the Poirier, Robichaud, Carret, Comeau, and Pitre families.  Their only daughter married into the Lavigne family.  Charles became a sailor and a carpenter.  Soon after the British gained control of Acadia in 1714, Charles took his family to Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, today's Cape Breton Island, which remained in French hands.  Charles died at Port-Royal in May 1739 in his early 70s.  

Bernard dit Laverdure, born in c1667, married Madeleine, daughter of Jean Corporon, at Port-Royal in c1690.  They had four children, including a son who married into the Bourget family.  One of their daughters married into the Savary family.  Bernard died at Port-Royal in August 1709.  His wife remarried twice.  

Laurent, born in c1669, married Jeanne, daughter of Antoine Babin, at Port-Royal in c1689.  They had 12 children, including six sons who married into the Sylvestre dit Champagne, Pellerin, Doiron, Brun, Babineaux, and Martin families.  Three of their daughters married into the Lord, Levron, and Garceau dit Boutin families.  In 1714, soon after Britain gained control of Acadia, Laurent took the ship La Marie Joseph to Île Royale with other Port-Royal Acadians to look at land there.  Evidently he did not like what he saw; he returned to Port-Royal, probably where he died by January 1728.  His oldest son Pierre, meanwhile, left Nova Scotia, married at Pointe-aux-Trembles, near Montréal, in February 1716, and settled a "fief" at Chicot, Berthier Parish, in the 1720s; in other words, he and his family became Canadiennes.  

Jacques dit Maillard, born in c1671, married Marie, daughter of Étienne Pellerin, at Port-Royal in c1695.  They had 11 children, including three sons who married into the Bourg, Léger, and Dugas families.  Three of their daughters married into the Lord, Simon dit Boucher, and Landry families.  

Youngest son Claude dit Maître Jean, born in c1674, married Marie, daughter of Étienne Comeau, at Port-Royal in c1696.  They had 11 children, including four sons who married into the Préjean, Surette, Robichaux, and Pellerin families.  Five of their daughters married into the Gaudet, Préjean, Chiasson, Grosvalet, and Le Borgne dit Cotte families.  

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By the 1755, descendants of Germain Doucet de La Verdure could be found in several of the major Acadian communities along the Fundy shore--at their home base in the Port-Royal valley, which the British called Annapolis Royal; and at Minas, Chignecto, and Chepoudy.  They also could be found on French-controlled Île St.-Jean, today's Prince Edward Island, as well as on Île Royale.  

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At least three other Doucet males, none of them kin to the other Doucets, lived in greater Acadia.  One of them was a Canadian priest:

Alexandre, son of Jacques Doucet and Marie Binet, was born probably at Québec in c1663.  He was counted on Île d'Orléans, just downriver from Québec City, in 1681, age 18.  Alexandre was ordained a priest at Québec in March 1689, age 26, and died at Port-Royal in March 1701 in his late 30s.

Another Germain Doucet, this one an "Amérindien de la rivière du Port-Royal," so he probably belonged to the Mi'kmaq tribe, married Françoise, surname unrecorded, probably at Port-Royal in c1708.  According to one Acadian historian, this "German Doucet's family appears in the 1708 census [at Port-Royal] under the name Medosset."  Acadian genealogist Stephen A. White notes, however, that there "is ... a conflict in the documentation.  In the census, Germain Medosset's wife is called Marie-Charlotte, but in the parish register Françoise is clearly given as the first name of [this] Germain Doucet's wife."  Their son François, born at Port-Royal in c1709, married Marie, 17-year-old daughter of Pierre Pisnet, at Port-Royal in June 1726.  

Jean Doucet dit Lirlandois, said to be an Irishman and therefore not kin to the other Doucets, married Anne, daughter of Philippe Pinet, probably at Port-Royal in c1711.  They had five children, two sons and three daughters.  The older son died young, and the younger son may not have married.  Two of their daughters married into the Joubert and Lucas dit Bergerac families at Louisbourg on Île Royale and at Port-Lajoie, Île St.-Jean, respectively.  Jean and his family were at Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, in the late 1720s.  In June 1728, Jean bound out one of his daughters to a wealthy Louisbourg widow for three years service.  Jean remarried to Thérèse, daughter of Jean Dauphin of L'Ancienne-Lorette, Canada, and widow of Étienne Boyer, at Cap-St.-Ignace, present-day Québec Province, in April 1729.  Their daughter was born during the family's move from Québec to Louisbourg in the summer of 1730 and died soon after they reached the French citadel.  

LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

The fate of an Acadian family during Le Grand Dérangement was determined largely by where they settled in greater Acadia.  The more scattered the family in 1755, the more scattered it became in the decades that followed.  This was especially true for the oldest Acadian families.  Since Doucets could be found in a number of settlements in both British- and French-controlled greater Acadia in 1755, they ended up in many far-flung places during the great upheaval of the Acadian people:  in the British Atlantic colonies of South Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York; in England; at Miramichi on the eastern New Brunswick shore; at St.-Malo, Le Havre, La Rochelle, Rochefort, Cherbourg, Cenan, and Nantes, France; in the Caribbean basin at Haiti and Guadeloupe; at Halifax; up and down the St. Lawrence valley; in northeastern New Brunswick; on Baie St.-Marie in Nova Scotia; on Prince Edward Island; and in Louisiana.

The Acadians at Chignecto were the first to endure the great disruption.  In the early 1750s, the fanatical French priest Abbé Jean-Louis Le Loutre and his Mi'kmaq Indians burned a number of Acadian settlements at Chignecto, forcing the settlers to move from the British-controlled area south of the Missaguash River to the Aulac area north of Fort Beauséjour, still controlled by the French.  Doucets may have been among the refugees.  After yet another war erupted between Britain and France in 1754, the Chignecto Acadians were caught in the middle of it.  When British and New England forces attacked Fort Beauséjour in June 1755, Chignecto Acadians, pressured by the French, served in the fort as militia.  They, too, along with the French regulars, became prisoners of war when the fort surrendered on June 16.  Governor Lawrence was so incensed to find so-called French Neutrals fighting with French regulars at Beauséjour that he ordered his officers to deport the Chignecto Acadians to the southernmost British colonies on the Atlantic seaboard.  Doucets were among them.  

At least one Doucet family from Grand-Pré was transported to Maryland in the fall of 1755.  Other Doucets from the basin endured a fate worse than most of their fellow refugees.  In the fall of 1755, the British sent five ships full of exiles from Minas to Virginia.  That colony's governor, Robert Dinwiddie, refused to allow the 1,500 Acadians sent to him to remain in the colony.  Hundreds of the exiles died on the filthy, crowded ships anchored in Hampton Roads while the Virginia authorities pondered their fate.  Virginia authorities allowed a few Acadians to come ashore at various James River settlements, but they were watched closely.  When some of them began to fraternize with African slaves, the Virginians returned them to the transports, where they languished with the others.  A hand full of sturdy young Acadians managed to slip off the vessels and trek overland through fields and forests and across the mountains, back to French Canada.  But most of them remained on the terrible ships, and more of them died.  Finally, in the spring of 1756, Governor Dinwiddie and Virginia's House of Burgesses made their decision ... the Acadians must go!  In May, the first shipment of Acadians left for England, and in two weeks all of them had gone--299 to Bristol, 250 to Falmouth, 340 to Southampton, 336 to Liverpool--1,225 of the original 1,500.  The Doucets who survived the Virginia debacle ended up at Southampton.  Their ordeal only worsened in the English ports, where they were grossly neglected and treated like common criminals.  By 1763, more than half of them were dead.  One of the lucky survivors, Pierre Doucet of Grand-Pré, married Marie-Blanche, daughter of Joseph Richard, also from Minas, at Southampton in April 1763.  A month later, after prolonged negotiations between the French and British governments, the Acadians in England were repatriated to France. 

At Port-Royal, where most of the Doucets still lived in 1755, several hundred haute rivière Acadians, including Doucets, escaped deportation by hiding in the hills above the Fundy shore.  Nevertheless, the British were able to send off half a dozen transports filled with Port-Royal Acadians to Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and North Carolina in mid-October and early December.  The ship bound for North Carolina--the Pembroke--fell into the hands of the Acadian "passengers," who took it to the mouth of Rivière St.-Jean and escaped into the wilds of New Brunswick, but the five New England- and New York-bound ships reached their destinations.  Many of the Port-Royal Doucets were on these ships.  

Some of the Doucets who escaped the roundup at Chignecto and Port-Royal sought refuge at Miramichi, a small Acadian settlement on its eponymous bay on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  By 1756, as many as 4,000 exiles had made their way to the settlement, which had boasted only a hand full of Acadians before Le Grand Dérangement.  Food, clothing, and shelter were in short supply, and hundreds of refugees perished during the first winter of exile.  When spring finally came, some survivors moved on to Restigouche at the head of the Baie des Chaleurs and even to Québec, where the Canadiennes treated them badly.  But the majority, including Doucets, remained at Miramichi and tried desperately to create a permanent settlement despite thin soil and a short growing season.  In 1758, after the fall of the French fortress at Louisbourg in July, the British sent search and destroy missions to the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore to protect their lines of communication in the Gulf.  Unable to tend their fields or maintain their pitiful shelters, the Acadians at Miramichi faced another starving winter.  They began surrendering to British forces in late 1758 and were held in confinement at Halifax for the rest of  the war. 

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Since they were living in territory controlled by France, the British roundup in Nova Scotia in the fall of 1755 touched none of the Doucets on Île St.-Jean and Île Royale.  Their respite from British oppression was short-lived, however.  After the British captured the French fortress at Louisbourg in July 1758, they swooped down on the rest of Île Royale and on Île St.-Jean and rounded up most of the Acadians there, Doucets among them.  Later that year, the British packed hundreds of island Acadians into hired merchant vessels and deported them to St.-Malo and other French ports.  

Jean Doucet dit Lirlandois of Louisbourg and his second wife Thérèse Dauphin crossed aboard the transport Duke William, which left Île Royale in August and did not reach St.-Malo till early November.  The ship nearly foundered in a mid-Atlantic storm and suffered a devastating onboard explosion the following day.  Jean and his wife were among the passengers buried at sea.  Joseph Doucet, a 15-year-old seaman probably from Île St.-Jean, reached St.-Malo in 1759 and went to Brest in April, where he served on at least two vessels, before returning to St.-Malo in May 1760.  Anne Doucet, her husband François Chiasson, and two of their sons crossed on one of the five British transports that left the Gut of Canso in late November and reached St.-Malo in late January 1759.  Anne was buried at sea.  Marie-Anne Precieux, wife of Augustin Doucet dit Justice, and two of their children--Pierre, age 5, and Marie, age 3--crossed on the transport Tamerlan, which left the Gut of Canso in late November and reached St.-Malo in mid-January 1759.  Augustin dit Justice crossed on another, unidentified vessel.  They all survived the crossing and settled at St.-Énogat and St.-Servan near St.-Malo, where Augustin and Marie-Anne had six more children--Rose, born in April 1760 but died at age 6 in November 1766, Renée-Catherine, born in June 1762 but died at age 5 in October 1767, Augustin-Sylvestre, born in July 1764, Jean-Baptiste in September 1766, François-Adrien in April 1768 but died 11 months later, and Francois, born in September 1770.  Augustin dit Justice's son Pierre married Jeanne, daughter of Frenchman Jean Dautoville, at St.-Servan in January 1775, where at least two sons were born to them--Auguste-Pierre in October 1775, and Pierre-Michel in September 1779.  Francoise, daughter of  Francois Doucet and widow of Alexis Renaud, married widower Louis, son of fellow Acadian Jean-Baptiste Haché, at St.-Servan in February 1770 and gave him more children.  

More island Doucets who were deported in 1758-59 landed at other port cities up and down the French coast.  Joseph, son of Charles Doucet of Île Royale and great-grandson of Germain, sieur de La Verdure, came to Le Havre in Normandy with his wife Marie or Marguerite Robichaud and daughter Marguerite, age 28.  Joseph died at Le Havre in July 1764, age 66.  Joseph's son Joseph Doucet, fils and his wife Marguerite Molaison also landed at Le Havre with daughter Marie, age 2 1/2.  Marie died at Le Havre in February 1759, soon after the family got there.  Joseph, fils and Marguerite had at least six more children at Le Havre--Emmanuelle-Victoire born in May 1759, Joseph-Benjamin in October 1761, Adélaïde-Véronique in December 1763, Marie-Marguerite in January 1766,  Madeleine-Geneviève-Émilie in January 1768, and son Ange in c1770.  Marguerite was 34 years old when she married Jacques Bunel of Lunerey, France, widower of Marie-Josèphe Poirier, at Le Havre in July 1765.  Joseph Doucet, père's younger brother Michel and his wife Angélique Pitre landed at Le Havre with several children--Joseph le jeune, age 16, Michel, fils, and Euphrosine, age 15, Catherine, age 14, and Élisabeth, age 6.  Élisabeth and Catherine died at Le Havre in February and September 1760, and Joseph le jeune died there in 1764, age 21.  Michel, père died at Le Havre in February 1760, age 53.  Michel, fils became a carpenter and a sailor and married Marie-Blanche, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Cousin, probably at Le Havre in c1766.  They had at least three children at Le Havre--Marie-Rose was born in May 1767, Honorine-Eleonore in February 1768, and Jean-Baptiste-Michel in c1773.   Louis Doucet and his wife Jeanne Molaison also landed at Le Havre.  Their daughter Marie-Madeleine-Susanne was born there in April 1760.  Marie-Josèphe Doucet and her husband Pierre Molaison landed at Le Havre.  Anne, daughter of Joseph Doucet of Cap-Sable and wife of Philippe-Joseph Demar, probably a Frenchman, died at Le Havre, age 22, in July 1764.  

Jacques Doucet, a cabaretier or inn-keeper, and his wife Marguerite or Marianne Gerard ended up at La Rochelle.  They had at least three children there--Catherine-Thérèse, born in October 1766, Marie-Anne-Pélagie in January 1768 but died at age 5 months the following May, and Jacques-Charles born in July 1769.  

Élisabeth Doucet married Frenchman Jean Durier, a serrurier or locksmith, at Rochefort, near La Rochelle, in April 1760.  Joseph Doucet, a day laborer or a tailleur d'habits, and his wife Marie-Madeleine Goineau also landed at Rochefort.  Their son Pierre was born there in November 1760.  Joseph remarried to Marie Naud, probably at Frenchwoman, at Rochefort in June 1762.  Jean Doucet and his wife Marie-Anne Merenand came to Rochefort with daughter Marie-Anne, age 1.  Marie-Anne died there at age 5 in August 1763.  Pierre Doucet died at Rochefort in May 1764; he was 80 years old; the priest who recorded his burial did not give Pierre's parents' name of mention a wife and children.  Jacques Doucet, a day laborer, and his wife Marie David landed at Rochefort.  Their son Jacques died there at age 5 in July 1765, Marie was born in November 1765 but died at age 1 in October 1766, another daughter, name and age unrecorded, died in October 1767, and Marie-Marguerite was born in July 1777.  Marie, daughter of Jean Doucet, married Frenchman Joseph Cayra or Querat, a day laborer, at Rochefort in May 1767, and remarried to another day laborer, Antoine, son of Frenchman Louis Bourgoin of Bourdelle, Perigard, at Rochefort in July 1771.  

François Doucet ended up at Cherbourg in Normandy.  His daughter Marie-Renée-Adélaïde died there at age 17 months in January 1770.  

Charles Doucet was just a teenager when he came to France.  He became a carpenter and remained a bachelor. 

Meanwhile, in May of 1763, Pierre Doucet and his wife Marie-Blanche Richard, who had spent the war in England, reached St.-Malo aboard the ship L'Ambition and settled at St.-Servan near their cousins from Île St.-Jean.  Their son Joseph-Basile was born at St.-Servan in February 1764.  In 1765, Pierre and Marie-Blanche went to the rocky island of Belle-Île-en-Mer, off the southern coast of Brittany, with hundreds of other repatriated Acadians from England.  They had more children there--Marie-Blanche was born at Le Palais in January 1766, Pierre at Sauzon in August 1768, Jean-Pierre-Marie at Sauzon in October 1772, Jeanne-Gabrielle at Locmaria in March 1775 but died at age 1 in August 1776, and Marie-Périnne was born at Locmaria in September 1777.  

Several Doucet families--those of Augustin dit Justice, Joseph, Michel, fils, and probably Jacques--became part of the settlement venture in the Poitou region that exploited hundreds of Acadians in the early 1770s.  Michel's daughter Marguerite-Bénoni was born at Cenan, Poitou, in March 1775.  When the venture failed later that year, Michel Doucet, fils and his family, and Françoise Doucet and her family, retreated with the majority of the Poitou Acadians to the port city of Nantes, where they subsisted as best they could on government handouts or on what little work they could find in the area.  Michel's son Jean-Baptiste was born at St.-Martin-de-Chantenay, near Nantes, in February 1777 but died only 2 months later.  Michel, fils's sister Euphrosine, who seems to have remained a spinster, died at St.-Martin-de-Chantenay in June 1784 in her early 40s.  Francoise bore at least four more children for Louis Haché at St.-Martin-de-Chantenay.  The other Doucets who had endured the Leigne-les-bois fiasco, Joseph and Augustin dit Justice, were among the few Acadians who remained in Poitou.  Augustin dit Justice's daughter Marie married Anne, son of Frenchman Pierre Samie, at Cenan in April 1777.  Joseph's daughter Emmanuelle-Victoire married Louis-Joseph, son of Frenchman Jean Jaunon, at Cenan in September 1778, and his other daughter Adélaïde married Jacques, son of Frenchman Pierre Arnaud, at Cenan in January 1781.  Joseph's wife Marguerite died at Cenan in April 1784 in her late 50s, leaving Joseph with three teenaged children.  Augustin dit Justice died probably at Cenan in the late 1770s or early 1780s.  By September 1784, Joseph and Augustin's widow had left Poitou and joined their fellow Acadians at Nantes.  Meanwhile, the venture on Belle-Île-en-Mer also had failed.  Many Acadians were fed up with life in a mother country that terribly neglected its children.  

Although Le Grand Dérangement ended for most Acadians in North America by the late1760s, this was not the case for those who lived on St.-Pierre and Miquelon.  In 1778, during the American Revolution, soon after France joined the American struggle against their old red coated enemies, the British, who controlled every part of the Maritimes region except the two French-owned islands, rounded up the Acadians on St.-Pierre and Miquelon and deported them to France.  Doucets were among the unfortunates who endured the crossing on hired British transports.  Michel Doucet and his wife Louise Belliveau of Île Miquelon landed at La Rochelle.  Their son Jacques-Marc was born there in April 1779 but died the following August.  Michel died at La Rochelle that August; he was 42 years old.  Louise also died about that time, perhaps from complications of childbirth.  

In the early 1780s, the Spanish government offered the Acadians in France the chance for a new life in faraway Louisiana.  Some of the Doucets agreed to take it.  And some of them remained.  

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In the early 1760s, during the final months of the French and Indian War, Acadians exiled in New England and South Carolina were encouraged by French officials to go to French St.-Dominique, today's Haiti, to work on a huge naval base at Môle St.-Nicolas.  Although driven from North America, the French were determined to hang on to what was left of their shrinking empire.  The new naval base on the north shore of St.-Domingue would protect the approaches to what was left of their possessions in the Caribbean basin.  French officials saw the Acadian exiles as a ready source of cheap labor.  They promised them land of their own if they came to Haiti to help build the naval base.  And so Acadians, including Doucets, came to the island, but they found no farmland there, only, empty promises, misery, and death in the jungles of northern Haiti.  A number of Doucets survived the ordeal and remained at Môle St.-Nicolas.  Simon, son of Germain Doucet, married Madeleine LeBlanc of Grand-Pré at Môle in February 1776.  Their daughter Claire was born there in May 1777 but died at age 25 months in June 1779, Joseph was baptized at the Môle church, age 6 days, in November 1778, and Claire-Élisabeth was born posthumously in August 1780.  Simon died at Môle in August 1780; he was only 30 years old.  Pierre Doucet, a carpenter, married Marguerite Doiron.  Their daughter Marie-Antoinette was born at Môle in February 1777, Marie-Sophie was baptized at the Môle church, age 3 months, 12 days, in September 1779, and Marguerite-Eleonore was born in November 1783.  Anselme Doucet married Marie-Josèphe Melançon.  Their son Jean was born at Môle in July 1777 but died there at age 6 in July 1783, daughter Victoire was baptized at the Môle church, age 12 days, in March 1780, Marie-Félicité was born in April 1782, and Olive-Eugènie in August 1785.  Madeleine Doucet of Pointe Beauséjour, Chignecto, widow of _____ Demoulin, married Pierre Mauge of Bordeaux, France, at Môle in August 1778.  Francois, a carpenter, son of Bénoni Doucet, married Marie-Anne Paris of Rochefort, France, at Môle n May 1779.  Their son Charles died at Môle, age 1 1/2, in October 1782, and Antoine was born there in October 1786.  Jean, son of Pierre Doucet, died at Môle in May 1782; he was only 31 years old.  

Beginning in the summer of 1765, after several years of what they saw as fruitless effort, Acadians sought permission to leave the naval base, but French officials refused to let them go.  Some Acadians, including Doucets, left the project anyway and settled at nearby Jean-Rabel.  Marie, daughter of Francois Doucet, was living at Port-de-Paix when she married Pierre Dumas of Morlass, Bearn, France, at Jean-Rabel in August 1786.  Étienne Doucet married Francois Valois.  Their daughter Françoise-Louise was born at Jean-Rabel in November 1786.  

At least two Doucets ended up on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.  Cécile, wife of Jacques Bourg, died there in October 1765, age 51.  Pierre, son of Germain Doucet, a sailor born in Port-Royal, died on the island in November 1771; he was only 30 years old.  

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Meanwhile, back in North America, Doucets who had escaped the British roundup on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore or who had drifted up to Canada from exile in New England after the British let them go, began the slow, inexorable process of becoming Canadiennes.  This proved to be the great majority of the family's survivors.  Acadian Doucets settled in present-day Québec Province at Trois-Rivières, Bécancour, Pointe-du-Lac, St.-Ours, La-Prairie-de-la-Magdeleine, Ste.-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, St.-Pierre-du-Sorel, Batiscan, St.-Pierre-les-Becquets, St.-Grégoire-de-Nicolet, Nicolet, Maskinongé, Deschambault, L'Assomption, Cap-Santé, and Yamachiche on the St. Lawrence above Québec City; at Québec City; at Charlesbourg, Beauport, Rivière Ouelle, Rivière-du-Loup, St.-Francois-du-Sud, St.-Pierre-du-Sud, and Kamouraska on the St. Lawrence below the city; at Bonaventure on the southern Gaspé Peninsula overlooking the Baie des Chaleurs; and on Îles-de-la-Madeleine in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  In New Brunswick, they settled at Nipisiguit, now Bathurst, and Île Miscou on the northeastern shore.  In Nova Scotia, they could be found on Baie Ste.-Marie, not far from their old home at Port-Royal, at Yarmouth on the Atlantic south of Baie Ste.-Marie, and at Windsor in the Minas Basin, once the Acadian settlement of Pigiguit.  They also settled on the French-owned island of Miquelon off the southern coast of Newfoundland before moving on to Rustico on Prince Edward Island.  Typical of most, if not all, Acadian families, these Acadiennes of Canada lost touch with their Cadien cousins hundreds of miles away, and until the Acadian reunions of the mid-twentieth century, they may even have forgotten that the others existed.  

When the French and Indian War finally ended, the Doucets being held in Nova Scotia had a serious dilemma on their hands.  The Treaty of Paris of February 1763 stipulated in its Article 14 that persons dispersed by the war had 18 months to return to their respective territories.  In the case of the Acadians, however, this meant that they could return only to French soil.  Where the Doucets had lived in Acadia had not been French territory for decades.  British authorities refused to allow any of the Acadian prisoners in the region to return to their former lands as proprietors.  If Acadians chose to remain in Nova Scotia, they could live only in the interior of the peninsula in small family groups and work for low wages on former Acadian lands now owned by New Englander "planters."  If they stayed, they must also take the hated oath of allegiance to the new British king, George III, without reservation.  They would also have to take the hated oath if they joined their cousins in the St. Lawrence valley.  After all that they had suffered on the question of the oath, no self-respecting Acadian would consent to take it if it could be avoided.   Some Halifax exiles chose to relocate to Miquelon, a French island off the southern coast of Newfoundland.  Others considered going to French St.-Domingue, where Acadian exiles in the British colonies already had gone, or to the Illinois country, the west bank of which still belonged to France, or to French Louisiana, which, thanks to British control of Canada, was the only route possible to the Illinois country for Acadian exiles.  Whatever their choice, they would not remain in old Acadia.  So the Doucets at Halifax gathered up what money they could and prepared to leave their homeland.  

LOUISIANA:  WESTERN SETTLEMENTS

Doucets were among the earliest Acadians to find refuge in Louisiana.  The first of them reached New Orleans in February 1765 with the Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil party from Halifax via St.-Domingue, today's Haiti.  After a short stay in the city, during which they exchanged their Canadian card money for Louisiana funds, they followed the Broussards to the Attakapas District, where they helped created La Nouvelle-Acadie on the banks of Bayou Teche:  

Agnès Brun, age 22, widow of Paul Doucet, came with daughter Anne dite Nannette, age 1.  Agnès remarried to widower Olivier Thibodeaux at Attakapas in c1770.  Anne dite Nannette married Jean-Baptiste, son of French Creole Jean Huval of New Orleans, at Attakapas in September 1786, and remarried to Henri, son of Léonard Ranconne of Liege, Flanders, at Attakapas in February 1802.   Nannette died at Attakapas four months after her second marriage, in July 1802; she was only 38 years old.  

Michel-Laurent Doucet of Port-Royal, age 45, came with wife Marguerite Martin, age 44, and five of their children--Joseph dit Hilaire, age 13, Michel, fils, age 12, Pierre, age 9, Jean, age 3, and Marie-Marthe, age 1.  Marie-Marthe, died on Bayou Teche, age 20 months, in November 1765; she was one of the last victims of the epidemic that killed dozens of her fellow Acadians on the Teche that summer and fall.  Michel and Marguerite had no more children in Louisiana.  They settled at the northern edge of the Attakapas District at La Manque, later called Anse la Butte or La Butte, between present-day Lafayette and Breaux Bridge, before moving to the Opelousas District in the 1780s or 1790s.  Michel died at Opelousas in October 1805; the priest who recorded his burial said that Michel was 105 years old when he died, but he probably was "only" in his early 80s. 

The majority of the Doucets of the Bayou State are descended from Michel and three of his sons, especially his eldest: 

Descendants of Joseph dit Hilaire DOUCET (c1752-1803)

Joseph dit Hilaire, eldest son of Michel-Laurent Doucet and Marguerite Martin, was born probably at Port-Royal in c1752.  He followed his family to Miramichi, present-day eastern New Brunswick, after they escaped the British roundup at Port-Royal in the fall of 1755, went to the prison at Halifax with them in the late 1750s, and followed them to Louisiana in 1765.  Joseph dit Hilaire married Anne, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Landry, at Atakapas in July 1772.  In the late 1770s or early 1780s, they moved north to the Opelousas District.  Their daughter married into the Leger family.  Joseph died at Opelousas in December 1803 in his early 50s.  Although they lived in St. Landry Parish, where Acadians were a numerical minority, Joseph's sons preferred Acadian brides.  

1

Oldest son Joseph, fils, baptized at Attakapas, age unrecorded, in May 1776, married Céleste, daughter of fellow Acadian Antoine Bellard, at Opelousas in May 1805.  A child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died in St. Landry Parish, age 5 months, in August 1807, Joseph III was born in September 1809, Maximilien in February 1813, Joachim in May 1814, Jean in March 1815, and Julien, born in c1817, was baptized at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, age "about 4 years," in October 1821.  They may also have had a son named Alexandre.   Their daughter married into the Comeaux family.  Joseph, fils died near Grand Coteau in November 1840; the priest who recorded his burial said that Joseph was 70 years old when he died, but he probably was in his 60s.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 3 slaves--a 24-year-old black female, a 22-year-old mulatto male, and a 5-year-old black female--on Céleste Doucet's farm; this may have been Joseph, fils's widow, Céleste Bellard.  

1a

Joseph III married Marie Carmelite, called Carmelite, daughter of Pierre Richard, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1828.  Their son Joseph IV was born in St. Landry Parish in March 1836, Martin in August 1838, Émile in April 1843, Charles in July 1845, Alfred near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in November 1847, Hippolyte in October 1849, Léon O'Neil near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in September 1854, and Narcisse in December 1857.  Their daughters married into the Comeaux, Figurant, and Sonnier families. 

Martin married Irma, daughter of German Creole Simon Matte, at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in May 1858; Irma's mother was a Chiasson.  During the War Between the States, Martin served probably as a conscript in Company B of the 1st Regiment Louisiana Heavy Artillery, a front-line unit that included many Acadian conscripts and fought gallantly at Vicksburg, Mississippi; he was captured at Vicksburg in July 1863 with the rest of his unit, but, unlike most of his fellow conscripts, who refused parole and went to Federal prisoner-of-war camps, Martin accepted a parole of honor, was exchanged, returned to his regiment, and surrendered with his unit at Meridian, Mississippi, in May 1865.  He was a farmer after the war and was living in Crowley, Acadia Parish, in 1891.  

Émile married Pauline, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Lejeune, at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in December 1863.  Their son Joseph was born near Church Point in November 1864. 

During the War Between the States, Charles served in Company D of the 7th Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, a front-line unit raised in Lafayette and St. Landry parishes that fought in Louisiana, including operations against prairie Jayhawkers.  Charles married French Creole Caroline Lebleu, widow of Charles Bellard, at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in November 1866.  Their son Grégoire was born near Church Point in November 1870.  Charles died near Church Point in December 1931; he was 86 years old.  

1b

Maximilien married Marie Anne, daughter of French Creole Hippolyte Marcantel, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in July 1834.  Maximilien died in St. Landry Parish in October 1841; he was only 28 years old.  His line of the family probably died with him.  

1c

Julien married Joséphine, daughter of French Creole Joseph Fontenot, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1839.  Their son Joseph le jeune was born in St. Landry Parish in March 1840, Julien, fils near Grand Coteau in December 1843, Jules in December 1849, Onésime near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in February 1853, Célestin in March 1863, and Félicien near Grand Coteau in July 1865. 

1d

Alexandre married fellow Acadian Céleste Comeaux in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in June 1850.  Their son Joseph was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in March 1851, Jean Dupré in March 1853, Jules in July 1859, Gerasin in July 1861, and Mirza in November 1863.  

1e

Jean seems to have married French Creole Adeline Dufrene and settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, by the early 1850s.  

1f

Joachim may have married Carmelite Braysand.  

2

Anselme, born at Attakapas in October 1777, married Marie-Angèle, called Angèle, daughter of fellow Acadian Blaise Lejeune, at Opelousas in November 1802.  Their son Anselme, fils, also called Anse, was baptized at Opelousas, age 6 weeks, in January 1807, Achille was born in St. Landry Parish in December 1809, Melon, sometimes called Menton or Mouton, in December 1811, Orien in February 1814 but died at age 16 months in June 1815, and Hilaire le jeune was born in September 1819.  Their daughters married into the Venable and Young families. 

2a

Anselme, fils, married Pauline, 15-year-old daughter of French Creole Joseph Bergeau, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1828.  They settled at Pointe-aux-Loups.  Their son Paulin was born in St. Landry Parish in December 1830, and Ursin in December 1831.  Anselme, fils remarried to Adélaïde, daughter of Joseph Venable and widow of André Meche, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in November 1836 and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1847; Adélaïde's mother was a Savoie.  Their son Simon was born near Grand Coteau in July 1839, Narcisse in Lafayette Parish in January 1841, Onésime near Grand Coteau in November 1842, Joseph in November 1844, and Melon le jeune in February 1851.  Their daughter may have married into the Caruthers or Leger family.  Anselme, fils's estate record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in September 1838, years before he died.  Anselme, fils died by May 1853, when a second succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse; he would have been 46 years old that year.  

Ursin, by his first wife, married Eudalie Miller in the mid- or late 1850s and settled near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish.  During the War Between the States, Ursin served with two of his brothers in the Prairie Rangers Company Cavalry or Todd's Prairie Rangers when it was part of the state militia; the company was transferred to Confederate service in August 1862; he died at Opelousas in December 1862, age 31, no cause of death given, before the company became part of the 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Louisiana Cavalry.  Ursin's succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in April 1863.  

Paulin, by his first wife, married Celima or Selina, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Trahan, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in October 1860.  During the War Between the States, Paulin served in the Prairie Rangers Company Cavalry or Todd's Prairie Rangers when it was part of the state militia.  The company was transferred to Confederate service in August 1862, but he was discharged on a surgeon's certificate in October 1862 and went home before the company became part of the 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Louisiana Cavalry.  

Narcisse, by his second wife, married Angelina Gatte in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in December 1859.  During the War Between the States, Narcisse served with his two older half-brothers in the Prairie Rangers Company Cavalry or Todd's Prairie Rangers when it was part of the state militia; the company was transferred to Confederate service in August 1862; he may have served in the unit when it was Company K of the 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, which fought in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi; like his half-brother Paulin, he survived the war.  Narcisse died near Iota, Acadia Parish, in June 1914; he was 73 years old. 

Simon, by his second wife, married Marguerite Cora, called Cora, daughter of fellow Acadian Dosithée Leger, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in December 1859.  Their son Simon, fils was born near Grand Coteau in September 1862, and Trasimond in July 1864.  During the War Between the States, Simon served in Company A of the 29th (Thomas's) Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit raised in St. Landry Parish that fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  

2b

Achille married Melanie, daughter of German Creole Joseph Matte, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1828.  They probably had no sons.  

2c

Melon married Hélène, 18-year-old daughter of fellow Acadian François Richard, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in June 1831.  They settled at Pointe-aux-Loups.  Their son Melon, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in March 1835, Théodule in February 1836, Joseph Portalis in December 1847, and André Duprélon in November 1848.  Their daughters married into the Richard and Veroni families.  Melon, père died near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in April 1859; the priest who recorded his burial said that Melon was 49 years old when he died, but he was 47.  

Théodule married Marie Azema or Zulma, daughter of French Creole Joseph Lavergne, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in January 1856 and registered the marriage at the Opelousas courthouse the following April; Marie's mother was a Jeansonne.  Their son Joseph Théodule was born in St. Landry Parish and baptized the day of his birth at the Bois Mallet chapel in July 1857, and Pierre O'Neil was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in July 1862.  During the War Between the States, Théodule may have served in Company F of the 29th (Thomas's) Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit that fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi. 

Melon, fils married Marie Irma, called Irma, daughter of Anglo-American Alfred Read or Reed, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in March 1859; Irma's mother was a Lejeune.  Their son Clémile was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in December 1861.  During the War Between the States, Melon, fils served the Prairie Rangers Company Cavalry or Todd's Prairie Rangers when it was part of the state militia; the company was transferred to Confederate service in August 1862; he may have served in the unit when it was Company K of the 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, which fought in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi; he survived the war.  After the war, he was a farmer and stock raiser.  He died near Iota, Acadia Parish, in March 1916; he was 81 years old.  

2d

Hilaire le jeune married Azélie or Émelie, 14-year-old daughter of Julien Lasage, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in January 1839.  Their son Joseph Duprélon was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in December 1843.  Hilaire le jeune remarried to Marie Hermance, daughter of fellow Acadian Michel Lejeune and widow of Alfred Reed, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in September 1859, and sanctified the marriage at the Opelousas church in May 1861.  

During the War Between the States, Joseph Duprélon, by his first wife, served in Company D of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit raised in St. Mary Parish that fought in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana; he survived the war.  Joseph Duprélon died near Iota, Acadia Parish, in January 1913; he was 69 years old.  

3

Hilaire, baptized at Opelousas, age 2 1/2 months, in April 1780, married Françoise, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Granger, at Opelousas in January 1805.  Their son Hilaire, fils was baptized at Opelousas, age 6 weeks, on New Years Day 1806, a child, perhaps a son, name and age unrecorded, died in St. Landry Parish in September 1808, and another child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, born in c1809, died at age 4 in March 1813, and Dosité was baptized at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, age 9 months, in July 1812.  Hilaire, père died in St. Landry Parish in April 1813, a widower; the priest who recorded his burial said that Hilaire was "about 30 yrs." old when he died; he was 33; his will was dated the day before his death. 

3a

Hilaire, fils married Marie Louise, daughter of Jean Lejeune, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1828.  Their son Hilaire III was born in St. Landry Parish in October 1829, Onésime in November 1834, Joseph le jeune was baptized at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, age 5 months, in May 1838, and Jean was baptized at the Opelousas church, age 2 months, in March 1843. 

3b

Dositée married Caroline Lejeune probably in St. Landry Parish in the early or mid-1830s.  Their son Onésime was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in March 1837, Dosité, fils in October 1847, Hilaire le jeune in February 1850, Émile in October 1852, and Hippolyte in April 1855.  Their daughter married into the LeBoeuf family. 

4

Valéry, born at Atakapas in February 1783, died at Opelousas in June 1806.  He was only 23 years old and did not marry.  

5

Youngest son Jean-Louis, born probably at Attakapas in c1786, married Susanne or Julie, daughter of fellow Acadian Basile Chiasson of Opelousas, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1812.  Jean Louis was a resident of La Butte, then in St. Martin but now in Lafayette Parish, when he died at Prairie Sorel, St. Martin Parish, in December 1812; he was only 26 years old.  Jean-Louis's succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in March 1813.  He and his wife probably had no children, so this line of the family would have died with him.  

Descendants of Michel DOUCET, fils (c1753-1804)

Michel, fils, second son of Michel-Laurent Doucet and Marguerite Martin, was born at Port-Royal in c1753.  He followed his family to Miramichi, present-day eastern New Brunswick, after they escaped the British roundup at Port-Royal in the fall of 1755, went to the prison at Halifax with them in the late 1750s, and followed them to Louisiana in 1765.  Michel, fils married Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadian René Landry, at Attakapas in January 1793, when he was 40.  They settled on upper Bayou Teche at La Pointe near present-day Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish.  Their daughter married into the Foreman family.  Unlike his brothers, Michel, fils remained in the Attakapas District, where he died at La Pointe in November 1804; the priest who recorded his burial said that Michel was 45 years old when he died, but he probably was in his early 50s; his succession record was not filed at the St. Martinville courthouse until May 1817.  

1

Their oldest son, name and age unrecorded, died of "liver illness" at Attakapas in 1793.  

2

Jean-Ursin, called Ursin, baptized at Attakapas, age 8 months, in November 1795, married Marie Apollonie, called Pauline, daughter of French Creole Philippe Doré of Île des Cypres or Cypress Island, now Lake Martin, at the St. Martinville Church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1816.  Their son Ursin, fils was born in St. Martin Parish in November 1816. 

Ursin, fils married Irma, also called Emma, daughter of French Creole François Champagne, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1838.  Their son Ursin III was born in St. Martin Parish in February 1844 but died  the following October, and Aurelien Ursin was born in September 1845.  Theirs daughter married into the Bertrand and Doré families.  Ursin, fils remarried to Amelina, daughter of French Creole Balthazar Delahoussaye, at the St. Martinville church in September 1850.  Their son Alexandre was born in St. Martin Parish in October 1851,and François Balthazar in March 1856.  Ursin, fils died in St. Martin Parish in August 1858; the priest who recorded his burial said that Ursin was 40 years old when he died, but he was 42; his succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse a few days after his death

3

Their youngest son, name unrecorded, died at Attakapas, age 1 month, in July 1799.  

Descendants of Pierre DOUCET (c1756-1807? 1840?)

Pierre, third son of Michel-Laurent Doucet and Marguerite Martin of Port-Royal, was born probably at Miramichi, present-day eastern New Brunswick, in c1756 during Le Grand Dérangement.  He went to the prison at Halifax with his family in the late 1750s and followed them to Louisiana in 1765.  Pierre married Marie-Madeleine, called Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadian Michel Comeaux, at Attakapas in August 1782.  During the 1780s or early 1790s, they moved north to the Opelousas District.  Their daughters married into the Carrière, Daigle (French Canadian, not Acadian), and Thibodeaux families.  Pierre died at Opelousas in February 1807; the priest who recorded his burial said that Pierre was 55 years old when he died, but he probably was in his early 50s; his succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse the following July and again in October 1817.  Strangely, a civil record from St. Landry Parish states that Pierre Doucet died in February 1840; he would have been in his early 80s then.  His sons, typical of Acadians living in St. Landry Parish, favored French Creole wives.  The oldest son moved down into the old Atakapas District, while the younger sons remained in St. Landry Parish.  

1

Oldest son Jean-Pierre dit Fifi, baptized at Attakapas, age 4 months, in November 1783, married Marie Louise, called Louise, daughter of French Creole Charles Lacase, at Opelousas in January 1802.  Their son Pierre Zéphirin was baptized at Opelousas, age 5 months, in May 1805, and David was baptized at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, age 6 months, in July 1807.  Jean-Pierre's succession record, probably following Louise's death, was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in September 1812.  Jean Pierre remarried to cousin Françoise, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Martin, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1813.  They settled at La Pointe on upper Bayou Teche.  She gave him no more sons.  Jean Pierre died at La Pointe in June 1823; he was only 40 years old; his succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in June 1824.

Pierre Zéphirin, by his first wife, married Adeline, daughter of fellow Acadian François Breaux, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in July 1822.  Their son Zéphirin was born in Lafayette Parish in September 1829, Valsin in April 1833, a child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died 2 hours after its birth in January 1840, Théodule was born in July 1841, and Francois Dassas in January 1854.  They also had sons named Gerasin and Cléobule, though Gerasin may have been Valsin, and Cléobule may have been Théodule.  Their daughters married into the Breaux, Broussard, and Judice families.  In September 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 19 slaves--10 males and 9 females, all black, ranging in age from 40  years to 6 months--on Pierre Z. Doucet's farm in the parish's western district.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 36 slaves--24 males and 12 females, all black, ranging in age from 58 years to 2 months, living in 11 houses--on Pierre Doucet's plantation next to Gerassin Doucet.  

Gerasin married Carmelite, daughter of fellow Acadian Treville Broussard, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in September 1855.  Their son Valsin le jeune was born in Lafayette Parish in November 1861.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted a single slave--a 23-year-old black female, living in her own slave house--on Gerassin Doucet's farm next to Pierre Doucet.  During the War Between the States, Gerasin served in Company A of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit raised in Lafayette Parish that fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  

Zéphirin married Anaïs, daughter of fellow Acadian Valéry Boudreaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in January 1856. Their son Léo was born in Lafayette Parish in November 1856, and Pierre Léopold in December 1860. 

During the War Between the States, Cléobule served in Company F of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit raised in Lafayette Parish that fought in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.  Cléobule married Émilie, daughter of fellow Acadian Alexandre Guidry, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in September 1865. 

2

Joseph Éloi, called Éloi, born at Opelousas in May 1792, married Modeste Divine, daughter of French Creole Michel Carrière of Mobile and St. Charles Parish, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1811.  Their son Louis, also called Don or Jean Louis, was born in St. Landry Parish in May 1813, a child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died of "an injured jaw or an illness of the jaw," "at a young age after birth," in April 1815, Éloi, fils, called Éloisin, in April 1816, and Joseph Valsin, sometimes called Valsin, in January 1824.  They also had a son named Jean Pierre, called Pierre.  Their daughters married into the Bellard, Leger, Lejeune, and Miller families.  Eloi died in St. Landry Parish in March 1842; the priest who record his burial said that Eloi was 45 years old when he died, but he was 49. 

2a

Don Louis married distant cousin Sidalise, daughter of French Creole Jean Carrière, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, January 1834.  Their daughter married into the Darbonne family.  Don Louis may have remarried to fellow Acadian Adeline Chiasson.  Their son Joseph was born in St. Landry Parish in July 1841. 

2b

Joseph Valsin married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Chiasson, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1840.  Their son Onésime was born in St. Landry Parish in March 1841, Joseph, fils in October 1842, David in December 1847, and Pierre in July 1852. 

2c

Jean Pierre married Caroline, daughter of German Creole Jean Baptiste Taylor or Teller, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in April 1847, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in March 1848.  Their son Jean Pierre, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in June 1848, Joseph near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in August 1856, Zéphirin in February 1858, and Éloi in January 1860.  

3

Jacques dit Jean le jeune, born at Opelousas in April 1796, married Marie Éloise, Héloise, or Louise, daughter of French Creole Jean Baptiste Duplechin, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1818; Marie Eloise's mother was a Trahan.  Their son Cyril was born in St. Landry Parish in December 1821, and Louis le jeune in May 1824. 

3a

Cyril married Émeline, called Meline, daughter of fellow Acadian Hilaire Leger, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in March 1842.  Their son Zéphirin was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in March 1845, and Philemon in June 1847.  In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted a single slave--a 1-year-old black female--in household of Ww., probably Widow, Meline Doucet, so Cyril probably died in the late 1840s.  

3b

Louis le jeune married fellow Acadian Marie Bellard in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in September 1859; he was 35 years old.  Their son Eugène was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in January 1862 but died at age 3 in June 1865, Adam was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in October 1863.  

Jean DOUCET (c1762-1803?)

Jean, fourth and youngest son of Michel-Laurent Doucet and Marguerite Martin of Port-Royal was born probably at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in c1762 during Le Grand Dérangement.  He followed his family to Louisiana in 1765, lived with them at Attakapas and followed them to Opelousas.  Jean married Céleste, daughter of Dutch Creole Guillaume Voorhies, probably at Opelousas in 1801 or 1802; he was nearly 40 years old at the time of the wedding.  Jean may have died at Opelousas in September 1803, age 41; his succession records were filed at the Opelousas courthouse in October 1803 and July 1804.  Jean and Céleste seem to have had no sons, so this line of the family probably died with him.  

~

In the 1810s, an Acadian Doucet from the river whose father had come to the colony from Maryland settled on upper Bayou Teche:  

Descendants of Firmin-Maurice DOUCET (1779-1842)

Firmin-Maurice, called Maurice, younger son of Jean-Baptiste Doucet and Anne Comeaux of St.-Gabriel on the river, was baptized at St.-Gabriel, age unrecorded, in November 1779.  He married Marie, daughter of German Creole Thomas Reel, Rill, Rille, Rils, Ritter, Vils, or Wiltz, at St. Gabriel in January 1804.  After his father died in 1814, Maurice and his family crossed the Atchafalaya Basin and settled at Grand Pointe on upper Bayou Teche near present-day Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish.  Their daughters married into the Guidry, Latiolais, Melançon, Patin, and Villier families.  Maurice's succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in February 1840, two years before he died in April 1842 at age 62; a post-mortem succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse the month he died.  Amazingly, none of his four sons seems to have created a family of his own, so this line of the family, except for its blood, probably died with him.  

1

Oldest son Eugène, born near St. Gabriel in December 1805, was still alive, age 36 and unmarried, in April 1842, when his father died.  He probably did not marry.  

2

Jean Baptiste, born at St. Gabriel in November 1807, died in St. Martin Parish in May 1835.  The priest who recorded his burial said that Jean Baptiste was 25 years old when he died, but he was 27.  He did not marry.  

3

Léonard, born near St.-Gabriel, Iberville Parish, in March 1813, died 6 days after his birth.  

4

Youngest son Firmin Bélisaire, born in St. Martin Parish in November 1823.  His succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in July 1857; he would have been 34 years old that year.  Like his older brothers, he did not marry.  

~

By the 1840s, an Acadian Doucet from the Bayou Lafourche valley moved his family to the New Iberia area, which was then part of St. Martin Parish:

Descendants of Hippolyte Mederio DOUCET (1809-)

Hippolyte Mederio, second son of François Doucet and Marie-Adélaïde Engilbert of Lafourche Interior Parish, born in Assumption Parish in August 1809, married fellow Acadian Célestine or Clementine Bourg.  By the early 1840s, they had moved to St. Mary Parish on lower Bayou Teche.  Their daughters returned to the Lafourche valley and married into the Foret and Trosclair families in Terrebonne Parish.

William Osémé was born in St. Mary Parish in August 1846.

~

Other DOUCETs on the Western Prairies

Area church and civil records make it difficult to link some Doucets in the western parishes with known Acadian lines of the family there.

Marie-Josèphe Doucet married Nicolas-Joseph Mouton or Mathon at Atakapas in January 1788.  A witness to the marriage was Attakapas commandant Alexandre Chevalier Declouet.  Marie Josèphe died a widow in Lafayette Parish in December 1821; her succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in June 1824.  The parish clerk who recorded her death and succession did not bother to give her parents' names, nor did he mention any children.  

Marie Catherine Doucet of La Rochelle, France, married Jean Boissier.  Marie Catherine died son magazin, that is, at her store or shop near the church in St. Martinville in August 1820.  The priest who recorded her burial said that she was 57 years old when she died.  He did not record her parents' names, so she may have been French Creole or Foreign French, not Acadian.  

Marie Doucet married Pierre Caillier or Cuvilier.  She died at St. Martinville in September 1829.  The priest who recorded her burial did not give her parents' names, her birthplace, or her age at the time of her death.  Her succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse the following December. 

Léandre Doucet married Melanie Baudin and settled in St. Landry Parish by 1850. 

Joséphine Doucet gave birth to son Jean Simon in St. Landry Parish in October 1854.  The priest who recorded the boy's baptism did not give the father's name or identify Josephine's parents.  

Marie Amelina Doucet gave birth to son Jules in St. Landry Parish in August 1855.  The priest who recorded the boy's baptism did not give the father's name or identify Marie's parents.  

Zéphirin married Eurasie Clement probably at Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in the late 1850s.  

In July 1860, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted a single slave--a 3-year-old black male--on Civonise Doucet's farm.  

Joseph J. Doucet married Meleide LeBlanc in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in July 1861.  Which Joseph Doucet was this?  Their son Edmond was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in July 1862, and Joseph Lasty near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in March 1864.  

Jean Doucet married Adèle Racca.  Their son Jean dit Méance married Advelia, daughter of Acadian Joseph Valsin Trahan, at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in August 1865.  

Théodule Doucet married Pauline Robery at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in October 1865.  

LOUISIANA:  RIVER SETTLEMENTS

Two other Doucets came to Louisiana from Halifax via St.-Domingue in 1765, but they did not follow their cousins to Bayou Teche.  They settled, instead, at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river above New Orleans where 20 Acadians from Georgia had settled the year before:  

Marie-Madeleine, called Madeleine, Doucet, age 29, husband Pierre Gaudet, age unrecorded, and three children, ages 5 to infancy, remained at Cabanocé, where Madeleine remarried to fellow Acadian Abraham Roy in June 1768.  

Paul Doucet, age 21, was part of Verret's Company, Cabanocé militia, in April 1766; he had no one else in his household.  Eleven years later, in January 1777, Spanish authorities counted him at St.-Jacques.  According to the census taker, Paul was 33 years old and working as an engagé with the family of Joseph Thériot.  The census taker said nothing about a wife for Paul, so he may not have married.  

~

A young Doucet from Grand-Pré reached the colony probably from Maryland by July 1767, when Spanish officials counted him at New Orleans.  He was still single then.  

Descendants of Jean-Baptiste DOUCET (1743-1814)

Jean-Baptiste, sometimes called Jean-Baptiste-Maurice, son of Jean Doucet and Élisabeth Hébert, born at Grand-Pré in August 1743, followed his family into exile in Maryland in 1755.  He came to Louisiana from Maryland by July 1767, when Spanish officials counted him at New Orleans with other Acadian exiles; no other member of his family was with him.  He married Marianne, called Anne, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Comeaux, at St.-Gabriel in January 1773.  His daughter Marie-Anne-Adélaïde, called Adélaïde, born in October 1777, was baptized at New Orleans in September 1778, so the family returned for a time to the city.  Jean-Baptiste's older son did not marry, and his younger son, as well as daughter Adélaïde, moved to the western prairies in the 1810s, so Acadian Doucets did not permanently settle on the river above New Orleans.  Adélaïde married into the Dupuis and Wells families.  Jean-Baptiste died near St. Gabriel, Iberville Parish, in May 1814; he was 70 years old.  

1

Older son Pierre-Edmond, born at St.-Gabriel in November 1774, died at St.-Gabriel in April 1803.  He was only 28 years old and did not marry.  

2

Younger son Firmin-Maurice, called Maurice, baptized at St.-Gabriel, age unrecorded, in November 1779, married Marie, daughter of Thomas Reel, Rill, Rille, Rils, Ritter, Vils, or Wiltz, at St. Gabriel in January 1804.  After his father died in 1814, Maurice and his family crossed the Atchafalaya Basin and settled at La Grand Pointe on upper Bayou Teche near present-day Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish.  

~

Most of the Acadian Doucets who came to Louisiana arrived aboard two of the Seven Ships from France in 1785, two decades after their cousins had reached the colony from Halifax.  Some of them settled on the river:

Charles Doucet, age 40, a carpenter, crossed on L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in November.  He crossed alone.  He went to Nueva Gálvez, an Isleño community along the river south of New Orleans in present-day St. Bernard Parish which was also called San Bernardo.  He may not have married. 

Joseph Doucet, age 53, a widower, crossed on La Caroline, the last of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in December.  With him were three children--Marie-Marguerite, age 19, Madeleine, age 17, and son Ange, age 15.  Marie-Marguerite married René, son of Frenchman Pierre Arnaud of Vouneil, France, and widower of Anne-Pérrine Albert, at New Orleans in January 1786 soon after they reached the colony on the same ship.  Marie-Marguerite and René remained at New Orleans, where Marie died in February 1792; she was only 26 years old.  Meanwhile, Spanish officials counted Joseph and his younger children at St.-Jacques on the Acadian Coast in 1788.  One wonders what happened to Madeleine and Ange, who disappear from Louisiana records.  If Ange died young, this line of the family would have died with him.  Joseph, who did not remarry, died at New Orleans in April 1797; the priest who recorded his burial said that Joseph was 75 years old when he died, but he was "only" 65. 

Michel Doucet, age 45, wife Marie-Blanche Cousin, age 37, and their three children--Eléonore-Honorine, age 15, Jean-Baptiste-Michel, age 12, and Marguerite-Bénoni, age 9--also crossed on La Caroline.  They chose to settle at Nueva Gálvez.  Michel died at Charity Hospital, New Orleans, in September 1792; the priest who recorded his burial said that Michel was 54 years old when he died.  

LOUISIANA:  LAFOURCHE VALLEY SETTLEMENTS

Some of the Acadian Doucets who came to Louisiana from France in 1785 chose to settle on upper Bayou Lafourche, creating a third center of family settlement.  During the antebellum period, some of  them moved down bayou as far as Lockport in Lafourche Interior Parish and into Terrebonne Parish:

Marie-Josèphe Doucet, age 60, widow of Joseph Molaison, crossed on L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in November.  With her was a grown son, Joseph, fils. 

Marie-Anne Precieux, age 52, widow of Augustin dit Justice Doucet, crossed on L'Amitié with two sons--Jean-Baptiste, age 19, and François, age 14. 

Françoise Doucet, age 46, second husband Louis Haché, age 41, and four of their children, ages 19 to 10, crossed on L'Amitié.  

Descendants of Jean-Baptiste DOUCET (1766-1825)

Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, elder son of Augustin Doucet dit Justice and his second wife Marie-Anne Précieux, born at St.-Servan, near St.-Malo, France, in September 1766, crossed to Louisiana aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships from France, with his widowed mother and younger brother and followed them to upper Bayou Lafourche, where he married Anne- or Marianne-Barbe, called Barbe, daughter of French Creole Nicolas Daublin and a "free Indian," in June 1789.  Their daughters married into the Hébert, Lenée, and Martin (Foreign French, not Acadian) families.  In March 1813, an estimation of Baptiste's property was filed at the Thibodauxville courthouse, Lafourche Interior Parish; according to the record, Baptiste "apparently ... was still alive."  Baptiste died in Lafourche Interior Parish in February 1825; he was 60 years old.  

François-Nicolas, born at Assumption in April 1793, married Marie Cécile, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Louis Hébert, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in June 1816.  Their son Joseph Célestin, called Célestin, was born in Assumption Parish in September 1817.  Their daughter married into the Bossnet or Roussuet family.  François Nicolas died in Lafourche Interior Parish in June 1833; he was only 40 years old; his succession inventory was filed at the Thibodauxville courthouse that month.  

Joseph Célestin married fellow Acadian Rosalie Catherine Bourg, widow of Drosin Gaspard, in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1843.  Their son François Octave was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1846, and Octave Adam near Raceland in June 1854.  Their daughter married into the Guidry family.  Joseph Célestin remarried to Madeleine Fabre or Folse in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Parish in August 1867; he was 50 years old at the time of the wedding.   Their son Augustin was born near Lockport in March 1870. 

François Octave married Marguerite Geneviève Mertilia, 17-year-old daughter of French Creole Charles Augeron, at the Lockport church, Lafourche Parish, in July 1866; Marguerite's mother was a Benoit.  Their son François Lessin was born near Lockport in February 1870.  

Descendants of François DOUCET (1770-1834)

François, younger son of Augustin Doucet dit Justice and his second wife Marie-Anne Précieux, born at St.-Servan, near St.-Malo, France, in September 1766, crossed to Louisiana aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships from France, with his widowed mother and older brother and followed them to upper Bayou Lafourche, where he married Marie-Adélaïde, daughter of French Creole Étienne-Joseph Angilbert or Engilbert, at Assumption in May 1802.  Marie-Adélaïde was a native of Nantes, France, and as an infant had come to Louisiana aboard La Caroline, the last of the Seven Ships from France; her mother was an Hébert.  They settled in what became Lafourche Parish.  Their daughters married into the Barrios, Bernard (French Creole, not Acadian), Lejeune, Molaison, Parks, and Scanlen families.  Franéois died in Lafourche Interior Parish in March 1834; he was 64 years old.

1

Jean Pierre Vinceslas, sometimes called J. Pierre, born in Assumption Parish in September 1807, married Marie Rosalie, called Rosalie, 21-year-old daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Firmin Guidry, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in February 1829.  Their son Jacques Aurelien, called Aurelien, was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1835, Pierre Émile, called Émile, in January 1838, and Édouard Sylvère in November 1839.  Their daughters married into the Estivennes and Legendre (Foreign French, not Acadian) families.  Jean Pierre died in Lafourche Interior Parish in April 1851; he was only 44 years old.  

1a

Édouard married Augustine or Justine, daughter of Étienne Lusignan, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Parish, in June 1854.  Their son Léon Xavier was born in Lafourche Parish in December 1855 and died at age 25 days.  Édouard died in Lafourche Parish in November 1866; the priest who recorded his burial said that Édouard was 33 years old when he died, but he was only 27.  His line of the family probably died with him. 

1b

Émile married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadian Marcellin Breaux, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Parish, in July 1858.  Their son Pierre Aurestile was born in Lafourche Parish in October 1861, Joseph Adreci in February 1864, and Joseph Émile in February 1866.  During the War Between the States, Émile served in the Lafourche Parish Regiment of Militia; he fought in the Battle of Labadieville in nearby Assumption Parish in late October 1862, fell into Federal hands, was paroled, and sent home. 

1c

Aurelien married Rose, daughter of fellow Acadian Maxile LeBlanc, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in August 1858.  Their son Jacques Philippe was born in Lafourche Parish in August 1868.  During the War Between the States, Aurelien also served in the Lafourche Parish Regiment of Militia, was taken prisoner at Labadieville, was paroled, and sent home.  

2

Hippolyte Mederio, born in Assumption Parish in August 1809, married Célestine or Clementine Bourg.  By the early 1840s, they had moved to St. Mary Parish on lower Bayou Teche. 

3

Antoine Léandre, called Léandre, was born in Assumption Parish in March 1812.  His succession inventory was filed at the Thibodaux courthouse in April 1858; he would have been 46 years old that year.  Evidently he never married, unless he was the Léandre Doucet who married Mélanie Baudin, was living in St. Landry Parish in the early 1850s, and returned to the Lafourche valley later in the decade, but this is unlikely.  

Other DOUCETs in the Lafourche Valley

Area church and civil records make it difficult to link some Doucets in the Bayou Lafourche valley to known Acadian lines of the family there:

Rose Douset's son Marcellin was born in Assumption Parish in February 1817.  The priest who baptized the boy did not record the father's name.  

Pauline Doucet married Anglo-American Joseph J. C. Perkins in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in August 1855.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

Louis Doucet married Melasie Guidry.  Their son Donatius was born near Lockport, Lafourche Parish, in October 1869.  

NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in LOUISIANA

Doucet is a fairly common surname in France and French Canada, so it is not surprising that non-Acadian members of the family came to Louisiana during the colonial period:

Julien-Jérôme Doucet, a prominent businessman and member of the colony's Superior Council, was one of the leaders of the insurrection against Spanish Governor Ulloa in October 1768.  After Ulloa's ouster, Doucet helped finance an independent colonial bank, the Bank of Mount Piety.  Ulloa's successor, Spanish General Alejandro O'Reilly, arrested Doucet and 11 other insurrectionists in August1769, tried them, found them guilty, and sentenced six of them to death.  The other six, including Doucet, received long prison sentences at Moro Castle, Havana, Cuba--10 years in Doucet's case. 

.

French Creole Doucets, called Alibamons by their fellow colonists, came to Louisiana from present-day Alabama in 1764 and settled in the Opelousas District.  Pierre and Simon Doucet may have been brothers.  Both had served as French soldiers at either Mobile or along the Alabama River when France controlled the region.  At the end of the French and Indian War, the Treaty of Paris of 1763 awarded all of French Louisiana east of the Île of Orleans to the victorious British.  This included some of present-day eastern Louisiana and all of Mississippi and Alabama.  Most of the French families in the region refused to remain under British rule.  They migrated to New Orleans in 1764 and were, in fact, among the first permanent settlers of the prairie districts west of the Atchafalaya Basin.  Pierre Doucet and his wife set down deep roots on the Opelousas prairie.  A Simon Doucet died "at Jean Bapt. Hernandes[']" home near St. Gabriel, Iberville Parish, on the river, in November 1831; the priest who recorded his burial said that Simon was 95 years old when he died but did not mention a wife or children.  This may have been Simon Doucet from Alabama.  

Descendants of Pierre DOUCET (?-?)

Pierre Doucet, "surnamed Maurice," according to one church record, married Marie-Françoise Pagot probably in Alabama.  They came to New Orleans in 1764 with other Alibamon families and followed them to the Opelousas District, where at least one of their sons had sons of their own.  Their daughter married into the Fontenot family, also Alibamons.  

1

Older son Pierre, fils, born probably at Mobile in the 1750s, married Marie-Thérèse, called Thérèse, daughter of fellow Alibamon Charles Brignac, probably at Opelousas by 1777.  They settled in the Plaisance area of the Opelousas District, near the headwaters of Bayou Plaquemine Brûlé.  Their son Augustin was born probably at Opelousas in the late 1770s, Pierre III dit Morue in November 1783, Hubert, sometimes called Hebert, in January 1793, and François in November 1798.  Their daughters married into the Joubert and Roy families.  Pierre, fils and Thérèse's joint estate record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in July 1825.  One of their daughters, Susanne, died of "insanity" in St. Landry Parish by July 1826, when her succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse.  ...

1a

Augustin married Marie Louise, called Lise, daughter of French Canadian Charles Vigé, at Opelousas in September 1804.  Their son Augustin, fils was baptized at Opelousas, age 8 months, in March 1806, Hyacinthe was born in November 1811, Henri Léon in February 1816, and Pierre Rosémond, called Rosémond, in September 1826.  Their daughters married into the Hollier and Latour families.  

Rosémond married Evelina, daughter of Benjamin Carantin and widow of Henry Johnson, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1853.  In October 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 17 slaves--7 males and 10 females, all black, ranging in age from 40 to 1--owned jointly by C. Hollier and R. Doucet, near Francois and Hubert Doucet; this may have been Rosémond.  Rosémond died by December 1853, when his succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse; he would have been only 27 years old that year.  

1b

Pierre III dit Morue married Eulalie, daughter of fellow Alibamon Pierre Baptiste Fontenot, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1814.  They settled at Grand Prairie, present-day Lafayette Parish, now downtown Lafayette.  Their son Pierre IV was born probably at Grand Prairie in May 1815 but died at age 1 1/2 in September 1816.  This line of  the family may have died with him.  

1c

Hubert married Adrienne, daughter of French Creole Jean La Fleur, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1814.  Their son Hubert, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in January 1822, Lasty in April 1824, Auguste or Augustin le jeune in September 1834, and twins Théodule and Théophile in June 1842.  Their daughters married into the Andrepont, Behlman, Couleau, Deville, Guillory, Jeansonne, and Vidrine families.  Hubert, père died in St. Landry Parish by January 1859, when his succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse; he would have been 45 years old that year.  In October 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 15 slaves--11 males and 4 females, all black, ranging in age from 75 to 3--on Hubert Doucet's farm next to François Doucet.  

Lasty married Amelia, daughter of fellow French Creole Alexandre Deville, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in March 1850.  Their son Jean Baptiste was born near Ville Platte, then in St. Landry but now in Evangeline Parish, in May 1858.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 3 slaves--a 50-year-old black male, a 20-year-old mulatto female, and an 18-year-old mulatto female--on Lastie Doucet's farm.  

Augustin, called Auguste by the parish clerk, married Anglo-American Elizabeth Kimball in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in June 1860.  During the War Between the States, Augustin may have served as a conscript in Company B of the Confederate Guards Response Battalion Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit raised in Orleans Parish that contained many conscripts from other parishes.  

During the War Between the States, Théodule may have served in Company F of the 29th (Thomas's) Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit that fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  

1d

François married Marie, daughter of Acadian Olivier Richard, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1822, and remarried to Anglo-American Sarah Bundick in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in April 1835.  Their son Pierre was born in St. Landry Parish in December 1836, François, fils in January 1845, William in March 1847, Louis in February 1851, Jean Baptiste in April 1858, and Martin near Ville Platte, then in St. Landry but now in Evangeline Parish, in August 1864.  Their daughter married into the Garand or Garant and Glaze families.  In October 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 11 slaves--5 males and 6 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ranging in age from 36 to 4--on François Doucet's farm next to Hubert Doucet.  In 1860, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 20 slaves--10 males and 10 females, all black, ranging in age from 50 to to 2, living in 3 houses--on François Doucet's plantation.  

During the War Between the States, François, fils, by his first wife, listed as a resident of Washington, St. Landry Parish, served as a conscript in Company D of the 1st Regiment Louisiana Heavy Artillery, a front-line unit that included many conscripts from South Louisiana and which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  According to his Confederate service record, François, fils was absent sick in Vicksburg City Hospital in early 1863 but returned to duty, was captured at Vicksburg in July 1863 with the rest of his unit, but, unlike most of his fellow conscripts in the regiment, who refused parole and went to Federal prisoner-of-war camps, he accepted a parole of honor, was exchanged, returned to his regiment, and surrendered with his unit at Meridian, Mississippi, in May 1865.  According to an Opelousas church record, however, François, fils died in June 1863, which would have been during the siege at Vicksburg; if so, he was only 18 years old at the time of his death.  

William, by his first wife, died "at old grande prairie," St. Landry Parish, in November 1865.  He was only 18 years old and did not marry.  One wonders if his death was war-related. 

2

Younger son Joseph Maurice, also called Jean, born at New Orleans in February 1764, married Sarah Bourassa of Kentucky at Opelousas in the 1790s.  Their daughter married into the Hook and Miller families.  Joseph died at his home at Prairie Chataignier, St. Landry Parish, in April 1819; the priest who recorded his burial said that Joseph was 52 years old when he died, but he was 55; the priest also noted that Joseph died "without having received the sacrament because of his sudden death."  Joseph's succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in August 1820.  He and his wife had no sons, so his line of the family, except for its blood, died with him.  

~

A Doucet who created a family on the western prairies at the end of the antebellum period was neither Acadian nor Alibamon:

François, son of Pierre Doucet and Delphie ____, described in one of his marriage records as a free man of color, married Pauline, daughter of Jean Baptiste Jacques, a free woman of color, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in January 1860.  

CONCLUSION

Doucets were one of the first families of Acadia and became one of the largest families there.  Compared to the number of Doucets who remained in Canada, however, relatively few descendants of Germain Doucet, sieur de La Verdure, emigrated to Louisiana.  But those who did were among the earliest Acadians to seek refuge in Louisiana.  The first of them--a middle-aged family head and a widow--reached Louisiana in February 1765 with the party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil.  They followed the Broussards to Bayou Teche.  Later that year, two more Doucets, one of them a young bachelor, arrived from Halifax via St.-Domingue; they settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river.  An Acadian Doucet from Maryland settled at St.-Gabriel on the river in the late 1760s, but his only surviving son moved to the western prairies in the 1810s.  Several more Doucet families came to Louisiana from France in 1785; most of them settled on upper Bayou Lafourche.  By the antebellum period, Acadian Doucets had disappeared from the river parishes, but they could still be found on Bayou Lafourche as far down as Lockport and especially out on the western prairies.  

Doucets from Alabama--Alibamons their fellow colonists called them--left Mobile after the British took over the area and settled in the Opelousas District about the time that the first Acadians arrived there.  By the 1780s, Acadian as well as Alibamon Doucets were living on the Opelousas prairies, somewhat clouding the family's genealogical picture there.  Many of the Acadian Doucets at Opelousas took French Creole brides, but their French-Creole namesakes tended to marry their own kind, especially fellow Alibamons.  During the antebellum period, the French-Creole Doucets lived mainly in St. Landry Parish and in the Ville Platte area of what is now Evangeline Parish.  The Acadian Doucets on the prairies, more numerous and more scattered, could be found around Church Point in present-day Acadia Parish, near Grand Coteau in St. Landry and Lafayette parishes, in the Bois Mallet area of St. Landry Parish, along upper Bayou Teche in St. Martin Parish, and farther down the Teche in St. Mary Parish. 

Judging from the slave schedules compiled by federal census takers in 1850 and 1860, the great majority of the Doucets of South Louisiana participated only peripherally in the South's antebellum plantation economy.  Two of them, however, one a French Creole, the other an Acadian, owned enough slaves by 1860 to qualify as planters.  French Creole François Doucet of St. Landry Parish owned 11 slaves in 1850 and 20 in 1860.  In 1850, his older brother Hubert, who lived next to François, owened 15 slaves.  Acadian Pierre Zéphirin Doucet of Lafayette Parish owned the most bondsmen.  In 1850, Pierre Z., as he was called, held 19 slaves on his farm in the parish's Western District.  A decade later, he held 36 slaves on his Lafayette Parish plantation.  In contrast, only a few of his cousins in the prairies parishes owned more than one or two slaves, and no Doucet who lived on Bayou Lafourche appeared on either of the federal slave schedules.  

Dozens of Doucets, both Acadian and French Creole, served Louisiana in uniform during the War Between the States.  At least two of them died in Confederate service, one an Acadian, the other a French Creole.  Ursin, son of Acadian Anselme Doucet, was 30 years old and married when he joined a local militia unit, the Prairie Rangers Company, also called Todd's Prairie Rangers, raised in St. Landry Parish early in the war.  With him were two of his brothers, Paulin and Narcisse.  Ursin died probably of disease at Opelousas in December 1862, four months after his unit was transferred to Confederate service.  François, fils, a French Creole, also from St. Landry Parish, was among the dozens of men from South Louisiana who were conscripted into the 1st Regiment Louisiana Heavy Artillery and ended up in the trenches at Vicksburg.  Although his Confederate service record says that he survived the siege as well as the war, an Opelousas church record shows that he died in June 1863 during the siege; if so, he was only 18 years old at the time of his death.  

During the war, successive Federal invasions devastated the regions where Doucets lived.  The Lafourche valley suffered early in the war and remained under the hard hand of Federal occupation for most of the conflict.  Federal armies marched three times through the Teche and upper Vermilion valleys in 1863 and 1864, burning and pillaging many farms and plantations, some of them no doubt owned by Doucets.  Thanks to these Federal incursions, emancipation came early to the area, with its resulting economic and social turmoil.  Confederate foraging parties and cutthroat Jayhawkers also plagued the area where Doucets lived, adding to the family's misery. ...

The family's name also is spelled Doucé, Douchet, Dousait, Doussé, Dousset, Duchet, Dusé, Dusset.

Sources:  1850 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Lafayette & St. Landry parishes; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Lafayette & St. Landry parishes; Arsenault, Généalogie, 505-24, 953-59, 1153-55, 1560-61, 2230, 2278, 2334, 2473-75; BRDR, vols. 1a(rev.), 2, 3, 5(rev.), 9; Brasseaux, Foucault and the Rebellion of 1768, 5, 90; Hébert, D., Acadians in Exile, 115-19; Hébert, D., South LA Records, vols. 1, 2, 3, 4; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, vols. 1-A, 1-B, 2-A, 2-B, 2-C, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; NOAR, vols. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/5bateaux.htm>, Family No. 57; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 35-37, 42, 121-22, 127, 158; Robichaux, Acadians at Nantes, 58, 81-82; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 198, 276-79, 437-38; West, Atlas of LA Surnames, 60-61, 162-63; White, DGFA-1, 526-51; White, DGFA-1 English, 112-16; Acadian/Cajun History.

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):

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. 

NOTES

01.  Wall of Names, 47 (pl. 12R), calls him Ange [DOUCET], & lists him with his widowed father & 2 sisters; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Ange, son [Jh DOUCET's] fils, age 15, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Ange DOUCET, his [Joseph DOUCET's] son, age 15, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 27th Family aboard L'Amitié with his widowed father & 2 sisters.  

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, he & his family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  

What happened to him in LA? 

02.  Wall of Names, 15, calls her Nanette DOUCET; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:257, 427 (SM Ch.: v.3, #137), the record of her first marriage, calls her Anne DOUSSET "d'Allifax," calls her husband Jean-Baptiste HUVAL "of his parish," gives her & his parents' names, calls her mother Agnès BRAINT (BRUN), calls her a minor daughter & him a minor son, but gives no witnesses to her marriage; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:260, 427 (SM Ct.Hse.: OA-vol.4 1/2, #76), also the record of her first marriage, calls her Nanette DOUCET "from Halifax, in Acadie," calls her husband Jean-Baptiste HUVAL "from New Orleans," gives her & his parents' names, calls her mother Agnès BRUN, says her father & his mother were deceased at the time of the wedding, & that the witnesses to her marriage were Claude MARTIN, Amant TIBAUDO, Paul TIBAUDO, & Alexandre Chevalier DECLOUET; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:243, 604 (SM Ch.: Marriage Investigation: Folio D, #32), a record of her second marriage, calls her Anne DOUCET "of Boston, widow of Jean-Baptiste HUVAL," calls her husband Henry RANCONNE "of Liege, Flanders, living in this colony for 10 years and in this parish for 3 years," gives her & his parents' names, calls her mother Anne PELERIN, says her parents were "of Acadia & living in this parish of Attakapas," that his parents were "of Liege," & that the witnesses to her marriage investigation were Amand BRUSARD, Paul BONIN, Édouard BROUSSARD, & François GUIVRAULT, all of whom signed; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:243-44, 604 (SM Ch.: v.4, #246), another record of her second marriage, calls her Anne DOUCET "of Boston, wid. of Jean-Baptiste HUVAL," calls her husband Henry RANSONNET "of Liege, France," gives her & his parents' names, calls her mother Anne PELEREIN, says her parents were "of Acadia" & his of Liege, France," & that the witnesses to her marriage were Adam HUVAL, Amand BROUSSARD, Louis BONIN, Paul BONIN, & François GOIVRAULT; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:243, 604 (NI Ch.: OA-#11), yet another record of her second marriage, calls her Anna DOUCET, "widow of Jean-Baptiste UVAL, born in Boston," calls her husband Henri RANCONNE, "born at Liege, Flanders," gives her & his parents' names, calls her mother Anna PELLERIN, says her parents were "of Acadie" & his were Flemish," says the marriage was "entered in the SM church register," but gives no witnesses to her marriage; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:243 (SM Ch.: v.4, #269), her death/burial record, calls her Anne DOUCET of Boston m. to Léonard RANCONNET, gives her parents' names but calls her mother Anne PELLERIN, & says she was 38 yrs. old when she died.  

Where did the Atakapas priest get the idea that her mother was a PELLERIN, not a BRUN?  What killed her so soon after her second wedding?  Complications of childbirth?  Note her age at the time of her death.  She is mentioned in the succession record of "wid. Olivier THIBODEAU," dated 23 Aug 1808, 6 years after her death, because her mother, Agnès BRUN, not Agnès PELLERIN, was Olivier THIBODEAUX's second wife.  See Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:243 (SM Ct. Hse.: Succ. #28).  

03.  Wall of Names, 39 (pl. 10L), calls him Charles DOUCET, & lists him singly; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 66-67, calls him Charles DOUCET, garçon, charpentier, age 40, on the embarkation list, Carlos DOUCET, on the debarkation list, & Charles DOUCET, young man, carpenter, age 40, on the complete listing, says he was in the 3rd "Family" aboard L'Amitié with no one else, & lists the implements the Spanish gave him after he reached LA.  

When is a 40-year-old known as a "young man?"  Is the proper translation of garçon here "unmarried man?"

His going to San Bernardo is only a guess based on the fact that he is not in the census records at Ascension & the Lafourche valley in the 1780s & 1790s with other passengers from his ship & that some passengers from his ship went to "Nueva Galvez."  See <thecajuns.com/1785acad.pdf>.  

04.  Wall of Names, 46 (pl. 12R), calls her Eléonnore [DOUCET], & lists her with her parents & 2 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadians in Exile, 116, her birth/baptismal record, calls her Honorine-Eléonor DOUCET, gives her parents' names, says her father was a marinier, but does not give her godparents' names; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 37; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 58; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls her Eleonnore, sa [Michel DOUCET's] fille, age 15, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Eleonore DOUCET, his [Michel DOUCET's] daughter, age 15, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 25th Family aboard L'Amitié with her parents & 2 siblings.

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, she & her family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  Her going to San Bernardo is only a guess based on the fact that she is not in the census records at Ascension & the Lafourche valley in the 1780s & 1790s with other passengers from her ship & that some passengers from her ship went to "Nueva Galvez."  See <thecajuns.com/1785acad.pdf>.  

05.  Wall of Names, 39 (pl. 10L), calls him François [DOUCET], & lists him with his widowed mother & a brother; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 276-78, Family No. 340, his birth/baptismal record, calls him Francois DOUCET, gives his parents' names, says his godparents were François JEANBAR & Marie DOUCET, & that his family resided at St.-Servan from 1764-72; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him François, son [Marie-Anne PRÉCIEUX's] fils, journalier, age 14, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him François DOUCET, his[should be her, Marie-Anne PRECIEUX's] son, day laborer, age 14, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 20th Family aboard L'Amitié with his widowed mother & a brother; BRDR, 2:247, 276 (ASM-2, 67), his marriage record, calls him François DOUCET "of St.-Malo," calls his wife Marie ENGILBERT "of St.-Nicolas of Nantes, France," gives his & her parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Ambrosio HÉBERT & Pierre-Louis CHIASSON; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:183 (Thib.Ch.: v. 1, #633), his death/burial record, calls him François DOUCET, gives his parents' names, says he was 64 yrs. old when he died, &  that the original record "has March 1833.".  

His residence in Poitou is assumed from the death of a 10-year-old brother there in 1774.  See Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 36, Family No. 72.  

His wife's parents sailed to LA in 1785 aboard La Caroline, the last of the 7 ships from France.  Her father was a Frenchman whom her Acadian mother married in France.  

06.  Wall of Names, 41, calls her Francoise DOUCET femme Louis HACHÉ; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2505, calls her veuve Louis HACHÉ; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 1065, her marriage record; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 81.  See also Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98, 51, 76, 125, 180.  

By calling her veuve Louis HACHÉ, Arsenault implies that her husband was dead when she reached LA.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  He was still very much alive; he just came to LA on a different, as yet unidentified, vessel.

07.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Jean DOUCET; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2474, calls him Jean DOUCET, says he was born in 1780 but gives no birthplace, gives his parents' names, says he married at Opelousas in c1802 to Céleste VOORHIES, daughter of Guillaume & Marie SAMSON, & lists his children as Marguerite, born in 1803, but gives no birthplace.  

Arsenault probably meant VOORHIES.  The birth/baptismal record of Marguerite DOUCET, baptized 22 Jan 1803, age 2 months, in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:246 (Opel. Ch.: v.1-A, p.300), says the girl's parents were Jean [DOUCET] & Céleste BOREYS, that the paternal grandparents were Michel DOUCET & Marguerite MARTIN, the maternal grandparents were Guillaume BOREYS & Marie SIMON, & the godparents were Joseph MALLET & Jeanne-Rosalie HÉBERT.  This was no doubt Arsenault's source for Jean's marriage.    

Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:246 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.65), the death/burial record of Jean DOUCET, "single person," dated 27 Sep 1803, does not give Jean's parents' names, mention a wife, or give his age at the time of his death.  Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:245 (LSAR: Opel.: 1803; LSAR: Opel.: 1804), dated 27 Oct 1803 & 15 Jul 1804, the succession records of Jean DOUCET, do not mention a wife or children.  Was this "single person" Jean, son of Michel? 

08.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, & lists him singly; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2473, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, says he was born in 1743 but gives no birthplace, gives his parents' names & place of residence, details his marriage, & lists his children as Pierre-Edmond, born in 1774, & Firmin-Maurice in 1779, but gives no birthplace; BRDR, 1a(rev.):62-63, his birth/baptismal record, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, gives his parents' names, says his godparents were Amans HÉBERT & Claire DOUCET & that his father signed the baptismal register as Jean DOUSAIT; BRDR, 2:196, 247 (SGA-4a, 5), his marriage record, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUSSE, calls his wife Anne COMO, gives his & her parents' names, says his parents were Acadians, & that the witnesses to his marriage were François HÉBERT & Jean-Charles COMO; BRDR, 3:277 (SGA-8, 66), his death/burial record, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, age 72, but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife.  

He is not on the list of settlers who went to St.-Gabriel in 1767, so he may not have arrived with those Acadians from MD.  He may have reached LA in 1766 & was still at New Orleans when the second wave of Acadians from MD arrived, hence the ? in his date of arrival.  He was married at St.-Gabriel, but his daughter Marie-Anne, born on 4 Oct 1777, was baptized at New Orleans on 23 Sep 1778.  See NOAR, 3:103 (SLC, B9, 30).  His wife died at St.-Gabriel in Aug 1788.  Did he ever remarry?  Evidently not. 

09.  Wall of Names, 39 (pl. 10L) calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, & lists him with his widowed mother & a brother; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 276-78, Family No. 340, his birth/baptismal record, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, gives his parents' names, says he was godson of Geffray-Jean RUEL & Marie GROSSIN, & that his family resided at St.-Servan from 1764-72; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Jean-Bte DOUCET, perseur, age 19, on the embarkation list, Juan Bautista DOUCET, on the debarkation list, & Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, borer, age 19, on the complete listing, says he was in the 20th Family aboard L'Amitié with his widowed mother & a brother, & lists the implements the Spanish gave him after he reached LA; BRDR, 2:223a, 247 (ASC-2, 16), his marriage record, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, calls his wife Maria Barbara DOUBLIN, does not gives his or her parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Manuel ORDONEZ & Pierre LANDRY; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:183 (Thib.Ch.: v. 1, p. 20), his death/burial record, calls him Jean Baptiste DOUCET, does not gives his parents' names or mention a wife, & says he was 60 yrs. old when he died.

His residence in Poitou is assumed from the death of a 10-year-old brother there in 1774.  See Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 36, Family No. 72.  

For his wife's parents' names & his mother-in-law's ethnicity, see various baptismal, marriage, & burial records in BRDR, 2:223a-24.  Her mother has no recorded surname.  She is simply called Cathalina, Catharina, Catharine, or Catherine, "an Indian" or a "free Indian."

10.  Wall of Names, 46 (pl. 12R), calls him Jean-Baptiste [DOUCET], & lists him with his parents & 2 sisters; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 37; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 58; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Jean-Bte-Michel, son [Michel DOUCET's] fils, age 12, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls him Jean-Baptiste-Michel DOUCET, his [Michel DOUCET's] son, age 12, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 25th Family aboard L'Amitié with his parents & 2 sisters.

Was he called Baptiste?  He should not be confused with younger brother Jean-Baptiste, who was baptized on 23 Feb 1777 at St.-Martin-de-Chantenay & was buried there 2 months later.  See Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 58, Family No. 108.  

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, he & his family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  His going to San Bernardo is only a guess based on the fact that he is not in the census records at Ascension & the Lafourche valley in the 1780s & 1790s with other passengers from his ship & that some passengers from his ship went to "Nueva Galvez."  See <thecajuns.com/1785acad.pdf>.  

Did he move from San Bernardo to the Opelousas District in the late 1780s?   See the Jul 1789 militia list for Opelousas in Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 413, which contains a Baptiste DOUCET.  Considering his age, this is probably not him; he would have been only 15 in 1789.

11.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Joseph DOUCET; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2473, calls him Joseph DOUCET, says he was born in 1753 but gives no birthplace, gives his parents' names, details his marriage, including his wife's parents' names, lists his children as Anne, born in 1773, Joseph in 1776, Anselme in 1777, Hilaire in 1780, & Valérie in 1783, but gives no birthplaces, & says he died in 1806 but gives no place of death; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:259 (SM Ch.: v.1, p.26; SM Ch.: Folio A-1, p.19), his marriage record, calls him Joseph DOUCET/DOUCETTE, "resides in Attakapas," calls his wife Anne LANDRY, "resides in Attakapas," gives his & her parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were ____ BERARD, Augustin GREVEMBER, François GREVEMBER, ____ DURIEU, & Joseph LANDRY; BRDR, 2:247, 417-18 (PCP-2, part 2, 139a), also his marriage record, calls him Joseph DOUCETTE, gives his & his wife's parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Augustin GREVENBERG & Gerald de VERBOIS; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:246 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.67), probably his death/burial record, calls him Joseph DOUCET, "inhabitant of this parish," but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife, & does not give his age at the time of his death.  See also De Ville, Attakapas Post Census, 1771, 12; De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1777, 8. 

His dit can be found in daughter Marie's birth/baptismal record, dated 9 Oct 1773, in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:260 (SM Ch.: v.1, p.41; SM Ch.: Folio B-1), which calls him Hilaire.  

His marriage was recorded at Pointe Coupée because the Atakapas area had no resident priest during the early 1770s, so the Pointe Coupée priest administered the sacraments there. 

The burial record cited above is a cursory thing, but this is probably him.  

12.  Wall of Names, 47 (pl. 12R), calls him Joseph DOUCET, & lists him with no wife & 3 children; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 36, Family No. 73; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Jh DOUCET, laboureur, age 53, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Joseph DOUCET, plowman, age 53, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 27th Family aboard L'Amitié with no wife & 3 children; NOAR, 6:97 (SLC, F4, 45), his death/burial record, calls him Joseph DOUCET, "native of Port Royal in Acadia, 75 yr., sp. Margarita MOLESON, native of Port Royal," but does not gives his parents' names.  

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, he & his family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  When did he leave the Acadian Coast for New Orleans?  What happened to younger children Ange & Madeleine?  Did they die at St.-Jacques in the late 1780s or early 1790s?  Did their death & his older daughter Marie-Marguerite's living in the city with her French husband influence his move to New Orleans?  He did not remarry. 

13.  Wall of Names, 47 (pl. 12R), calls her Magdalaine [DOUCET], & lists her with her widowed father & 2 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls her Magdeleine, sa [Jh DOUCET's] fille, age 17, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Magdelaine DOUCET, his [Joseph DOUCET's] daughter, age 17, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 27th Family aboard L'Amitié with her widowed father & 2 siblings; 

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, she & her family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  

What happened to her in LA? 

14.  Wall of Names, 46 (pl. 12R), calls her Margueritte [DOUCET], & lists her with her parents & 2 siblings; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 36-37, Family No. 74, her birth/baptismal record, calls her Marguerite-Bénony DOUCET, gives her parents' names, says her godparents were Jacques BUNEL & Marguerite MOULAISON, & details the family's participation in the Poitou settlement of the early 1770s; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 58, Family No. 108; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls her Margueritte, sa [Michel DOUCET's] fille, age 9, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Marguerite DOUCET, his [Michel DOUCET's] daughter, age 9, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 25th Family aboard L'Amitié with her parents & 2 siblings.

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, she & her family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  Her going to San Bernardo is only a guess based on the fact that she is not in the census records at Ascension & the Lafourche valley in the 1780s & 1790s with other passengers from her ship & that some passengers from her ship went to "Nueva Galvez."  See <thecajuns.com/1785acad.pdf>.  

15.  Wall of Names, 41, calls her Marie DOUCET veuve MOULAISON; White, DGFA-1, 1236.

16.  Wall of Names, 17, calls her Madeleine DOUCET; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 172, & Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 425, the record of her second marriage, calls her Marie DOUSSET, but gives no witnesses to her marriage; BRDR, 3:277 (SMI-8, 18), her death/burial record, calls her Magdelaine DOUCET, "age 80, wid. Abraham ROY," but does not give her parents' names.  

The records of her second marriage & her burial provide her full name, which is found in no single record.

For evidence of her being at Miramichi, see the marriage record of son Charles GAUDET, dated 9 Jun 1792, in BRDR, 2:307 (SJA-2, 16), which describes his parents as "of Macamiri."  

17.  Wall of Names, 47 (pl. 12R), calls her Marie-Margueritte [DOUCET], & lists her with her widowed father & 2 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls her Marie-Marthe[sic], sa [Jh DOUCET's] fille, age 19, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Marie-Marthe[sic] DOUCET, his [Joseph DOUCET's] daughter, age 19, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 27th Family aboard L'Amitié with her widowed father & 2 siblings; NOAR, 4:11, 104 (SLC, M5, 44), her marriage record, calls her Margarita DUCHET, "native of France," calls her husband Renato ARNOUD," native of Bonelle in France," gives her & his parent's names, & says the witnesses to her marriage were Vicente LLORCA & Josef MARTINEZ; NOAR, 5:135 (SLC, F2, 53), her death/burial record, calls her Maria DOUCET, "native of Havre de Grace in (France), sp. Ren(*) ARNAUD," & gives her mother's but not her father's name.

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, she & her family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  

Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 1, 3, Families nos. 1 & 4, says that René son of Pierre ARNAUD & Marie RAIMON of Vouneuil, France, married Anne-Pérrine, daughter of Nicolas-Gabriel ALBERT & Marie-Marthe BENOIT, on 21 Nov 1780 in Cenan, Vienne, France, which was in Poitou.  I am assuming this is the same fellow, called Renato ARNOUD by the New Orleans priest, who married Margarita DUCHET, that is, Marie-Marguerite DOUCET, in Jan 1786.  (Wall of Names, 47, lists René ARNAUD as an immigré on the passenger list of La Caroline; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 110, calls him Renato ARMEAU.)  Back in France, René & Anne-Pérrine ALBERT had a son, Pierre, baptized on 25 Jan 1782 in Cenan, but the little fellow died at age 17 days.  Did Anne-Pérrine die soon after?  Robichaux's study of the Acadians in Poitou gives no death/burial date for her but says she was born in c1762, though he gives no birthplace.  Since Robichaux lists no more children for this couple, Pierre's birth may have finished her.  René probably met Marie-Marguerite aboard ship, unless he knew her back in France before they set sail on La Caroline.  Did René & Marie-Marguerite follow her widowed father to the Acadian Coast, where he was counted at St.-Jacques with some of his other children in Aug 1788?  Looking at her burial record, & seeing that her father returned to New Orleans in the 1790s, I would guess that Marie-Marguerite & René did not leave the city.  If so, she, & her father, would have been the rare Acadian immigrants who settled at New Orleans.  What killed her so young?  Complications of child birth? 

18.  Wall of Names, 15, calls her Marie-Marthe DOUCET; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:26, her death/burial record, calls her Marie-Marthe DOUCET, does not give her parents' names but this is her, & gives her exact age at the time of her burial.

19.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Michel DOUCET; Arsenault, Généalogie, 517, the Port-Royal section, calls him Michel DOUCET, says he was born in 1722, that he was son of Laurent DOUCET & Marie-Anne PELLERIN, details his marriage to Marguerite MARTIN, gives her parents' names, says that he & his wife went to LA, & lists his children as Joseph, born in 1749, and Marie-Modeste, born in 1751; Arsenault, 2473, the LA section, calls him Michel dit sons fils DOUCET, says he was born in 1733 but gives no birthplace, says he was son of Michel DOUCET & Agnès PITRE, that he married Marguerite MARTIN in c1752 but gives no place of marriage, says he was at Miramichy, New Brunswick in c1758, & lists his children as Joseph born in c1780, Pierre in c1758, Michel in c1770, & Jean in c1780 but gives no birthplaces; <www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/acadian/archives.asp?ID=915>, his birth/baptismal record, calls him Michel Laurent DOUCET, gives his parents' names, & says his godparents were Michel RICHARD & Marguerite PELLERIN; <www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/acadian/archives.asp?ID=3031>, his marriage record, calls him Michel DOUCET, calls his wife Marguerite MARTIN, gives his & her parents' names, says her mother was deceased at the time of the wedding, & that the witnesses to his marriage were Charles MOUTON, Charles BLANCHARD, Laurent DOUCET, Pierre SAVOYE, François DUGAST, & Mathieu FOREST; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:247 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.81), his death/burial record, calls him Michel DOUCET, originally from Acadie, does not give his parents' names or mention a wife, says he was 105 yrs. old when he died, & concludes with the cryptic phrase "God have mercy upon him."  See also <thecajuns.com/cardmoney.htm>; De Ville, Attakapas Post Census, 1771, 12.  

In his LA section, Arsenault seems to be confusing the Michel DOUCET who came to LA from France in 1785 with the Michel DOUCET who settled in the Attakapas District 2 decades earlier.  The Michel DOUCET from France was, as his burial record reveals, son of Michel DOUCET & Angélique PITRE.  Keith DOUCET, a family genealogist and descendant of Michel of Attakapas, agrees with Arsenault's Port-Royal section, which says that Laurent DOUCET, fils & Anne PELLERIN were Michel of Attakapas's parents.  Laurent was son of Laurent DOUCET, père & Jeanne BABIN and grandson of Germain DOUCET, sieur de La Verdure's younger son Germain, fils.  However, Keith recently took a "Y" chromosome test that placed him in haplogroup "C"--the one for Native Americans!  Is it possible, then, that Michel DOUCET of Attakapas is a descendant not of Germain DOUCET, sieur de La Verdure, who, according to every source I have consulted was French and not Indian, but of the Germain DOUCET of Port-Royal who was an American Indian?  

Arsenault's birth dates for this Michel DOUCET's sons are wildly at variance with the ages found in the Attakapas census of 1771.  

Hebert, D. Southwest LA Records, 1-A: 260 (LSAR: Opel.: 1800), the succession record for Marguerite MARTIN, dated 8 Feb 1800, says "Michel's brothers are:  Pierre & Jean," but Arsenault lists them as his, & therefore her, sons.  Strange, unless the record was talking about Michel, fils, Marguerite's son, not Michel, père, her husband.  

20.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Michel DOUCET; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2473, 2474, says he was born in c1770; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:260, 478 (SM Ch.: v.4, #72), his marriage record, calls him Michel DOUCET, calls his wife Margueritte LANDRY, gives his & her parents' names, says his parents were "naturales de Puerto Real en France (natives from Port Royal in France [Acadia in New France])," says her parents were "de St.-Malo, France," & that the witnesses to his marriage were Jean-Baptiste CASTI, André MARTIN, & Félix LOPEZ; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:247 (SM Ch.: v.4, #385), his death/burial record, calls him Michel DOUCET dit Sonfils of LaPointe, does not give his parents' names or mention a wife, & says he was 45 yrs. old when he died.  See also De Ville, Attakapas Post Census, 1771, 12.  

Why did he wait so long to marry?

21.  Wall of Names, 46 (pl. 12R), calls him Michel DOUCET, & lists him with his wife & 3 children; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 36-37, Family No. 74; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 58, Family No. 108; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Michel DOUCET, charpentier, age 45, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Michel DOUCET, carpenter, age 45, on the complete listing, says he was in the 25th Family aboard L'Amitié with his wife & 3 children, details his marriage, including his wife's but not his parents' names, & says he & his wife were married in 1768 but gives no place of marriage; NOAR, 5:135 (SLC, F2, 53), his death/burial record, calls him Miguel DOUCET, "native of Lacadia [Acadia], resident of this city, 54 yr., sp. Marie Blanche COUSIN," & gives his parents' names, calling his mother Angelica PYE, which probably is PITRE.  

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, he & his family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  His going to San Bernardo is only a guess based on the fact that he is not in the census records at Ascension & the Lafourche valley in the 1780s & 1790s with other passengers from his ship, & that some passengers from his ship went to San Bernardo.  See <thecajuns.com/1785acad.pdf>.  He was a sailor, so, if he continued in that profession, it would make sense that he would want to settle near the colony's only port.  Note where he died.  

His wife, from Ministigueshe, Cap-Sable, was the only member of her family to emigrate to LA. 

22.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Paul DOUCET 2.

What happened to him in LA?

23.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Pierre DOUCET; Hebert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:200, 261 (SM Ct.Hse.: OA-vol.3, #174), his marriage record, calls him Pierre DOUCET, "native of Miramichy in Acadie," calls his wife Marie-Magdeleine COMMONT," native of Opelousas Post," gives his & her parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were François GREVEMBERT, Joseph BABIN, André MONDON, Joseph BOURG, & Alexandre Chevalier DECLOUET; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:247 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.89), his death/burial record, calls him Pierre DOUCET, does not give his parents' names or mention  a wife, & says he was 55 yrs. old when he died; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:247, his succession record, calls him Pierre DOUCET, but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife & children.

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