APPENDICES

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

GIROIR/GIROUARD

[jih-RAH, jih-RARD]

ACADIA and LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

Francois Girouard dit La Varanne, born in c1621, was a young laborer and farmer from La Chaussée, near Blois, in the Orleanais region of the Loire valley in France, when he came to Acadia in c1640 with his wife Jeanne Aucoin.  She was from La Rochelle.  They had five children, including two sons, both born at Port-Royal, who married and created families of their own:

Older son Jacques dit Jacob, born in c1648, married Marguerite, daughter of Francois Gautreaux, at Port-Royal in c1670.  They had 14 children, including nine sons who married into the Le Borgne de Bélisle, Comeaux, Doiron, Petitpas, Amireau dit Tourangeau, Bourgeois, Guilbeau, Blanchard, Bernard dit Renochet, Barrilleaux, Bastarache, Pitre, and Doucet families.  Jacques dit Jacob died at Port-Royal in October 1703 in his mid-50s.

Younger son Germain, born in c1656, moved to Chignecto in the late 1670s to join the pioneers of that settlement, which included his older sister Marie-Madeleine, wife of Thomas Cormier.  (A personal note:  the Cormiers of North America are descended from Thomas Cormier, who married Marie-Madeleine, third child and second daughter of Francois Girouard dit La Varanne, at Port-Royal in c1668.  Genealogically, then, all Acadian Cormiers are Girouards, too.)  Germain married Marie, daughter of Jacques Bourgeois, founder of the Chignecto settlement, and widow of Pierre Cyr, at Chignecto in June 1680.  They had three children, including a son, Germain, fils, who married into the Barrilleaux family.  Germain, père died at Chignecto in the early 1690s, only in his 30s.  

Meanwhile, Francois dit La Varanne died at Port-Royal in the early 1690s in his early 70s.  His wife never remarried and died at Port-Royal in April 1718 in her late 80s.  ...

Like most old Acadian families, Le Grand Dérangement of the 1750s scattered this large family to the winds.  ...

LOUISIANA:  WESTERN SETTLEMENTS

Girouards were among the earliest Acadians who immigrated to Louisiana. ...

LOUISIANA:  RIVER SETTLEMENTS

Most of the Acadian Girouards who settled in Louisiana came aboard three of the Seven Ships from France that reached New Orleans in 1785. ...

LOUISIANA:  LAFOURCHE VALLEY SETTLEMENTS

By the mid-1790s, Spanish officials were counting Acadian Girouards in the upper valley of Bayou Lafourche. ...

CONCLUSION

The family's name also is spelled Giroire, Girroir.  

Sources:  Arsenault, Généalogie, 567-79, 976-82, 1389-92, 1659, 2236, 2492-94; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/Duc_Guillaume.htm>, Family Nos. 8, 15, 32, 37; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/Supply.htm>, Family No. 5; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/5bateaux.htm>, Family No. 96; White, DGFA-1, 718-39; White, DGFA-1 English, 150-53.  

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, 11, calls her Anatalia GIROUARD; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2424, calls her Nathalie GIROUARD, gives her parents' names, & says that she & Amable BLANCHARD were married c1762 but gives no location.

02.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls her Anne [GIROIR], & lists her with her parents & 5 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls her Anne, sa [Prosper GIROIR's] fille, age 18, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Anne GIROIRE, his [Prosper GIROIRE's] daughter, age 18, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with her parents & 5 siblings; BRDR, 2:323, 348 (ASM-2, 27), her marriage record, calls her Ana GIROIR, does not include her or her husband's parents' names, gives the date 3 Sep 1797, says that she & her husband shared a 3rd degree of consanguinity, & that the witnesses to her marriage were Ambroise HÉBERT & Joseph HÉBERT, & that the marriage record is "a re-validation."  

The Ascension census of 1788, taken in Jan, shows that this couple was married long before 1797, the year given in their marriage record.  See Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98, 41; & her husband's profile.  

03.  Wall of Names, 40, calls him Charles GIROIR, & calls his wife Michele PETRY; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 980, his marriage record, calls him Charle GIROUAR, calls her Michelle PATRU, gives the name of her first husband as well as Charles' parents' names, & says the witnesses to their marriage were Alexandre DOUERON (first cousin of the groom), Germain VINCENT (second cousin of the groom), Jacque JOURDAN (uncle of the bride), Jan FORTIN, & Jean TOTIN & Guillaume DREOUAUX, who signed; <acadian-cajun.com>, calls him Charles GIROIR, calker, & calls her Michele PETRY, wife.  See also <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/Duc_Guillaume.htm>, Family No. 15; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth Century Louisianians, 503.

04.  Wall of Names, 41, calls her Eudore GIROIR; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/5bateaux.htm>, Family No. 96, shows the fate of her family in the crossing to St.-Malo in 1758-59, detailed in the footnote for her brother Prosper's profile, below.  

05.  Wall of Names, 17, calls him Firmin GIROUARD.  His dit can be found in his son Simon's marriage record in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, vol. 1-A.  Where does the dit come from?

06.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls him Francois [GIROIR], & lists him with his parents & 5 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls him Francois, son [Prosper GIROIR's] fils, age 11, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Francois GIRIOIRE, son [of Prosper GIRORE], age 11, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with his parents & 5 siblings.

07.  Not in Wall of Names.  BRDR, 2:320, 324 (ASM-2, 18), her marriage record, calls her Genoveva GIROIR, gives her & her husband's parents' names, says her parents were from Parish of Pleslien, Diocese of St.-Malo, Britany, France, "same as groom's parents," & that the witnesses to her marriage were Pedro BOURG & Marino GAUTREAU.  See also Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98, 87, 139.

So why is this thoroughly documented Acadian immigrant not on the Wall of Names?

08.  Wall of Names, 41, calls her Elenne GIROIR; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/5bateaux.htm>, Family No. 96, shows the fate of her family in the crossing to St.-Malo in 1758-59, detailed in the footnote for her brother Prosper's profile, below; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 827, her marriage record, calls her Hélène-Judith GIROUARD; Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 12, calls her Helen-Judith GIROIRE & Helen GIROIRE; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 15, calls her Hélène-Judith GIROIRE & Hélène GIROIRE. 

09.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls him Jean-Baptiste [GIROIR], & lists him with his parents & 5 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls him Jean-Baptiste, son [Prosper GIROIR's] fils, journalier, age 15, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Jean-Baptiste GIRIOIRE, son [of Prosper GIRORE], day laborer, age 15, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with his parents & 5 siblings.

10.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls her Jeanne [GIROIR], & lists her with her parents & 5 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls her Jeanne, sa [Prosper GIROIR's] fille, age 13, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Jeanne GIROIRE, his [Prosper GIROIRE's] daughter, age 13, on the complete listing, says she was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with her parents & 5 siblings, & that she was born in 1771 but gives no birthplace.

11.  Wall of Names, 17, calls him Joseph GIROUARD.

12.  Wall of Names, 12, calls her Marie GIROUARD.

13.  Wall of Names, 15, calls her Marie GIROUARD.  Her middle name is from Arsenault, Genealogie, 2460-61. 

14.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls her Marie-Paul [GIROIR], & lists her with her parents & 5 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls her Marie-Paul, sa [Prosper GIROIR's] fille, age 20, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Marie-Paul GIROIRE, his [Prosper GIROIRE's] daughter, age 20, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with her parents & 5 siblings.

15.  Wall of Names, 41, calls her Marie-Rose GIROIR.

16.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls him Pierre [GIROIR]; & lists him with his parents & 5 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls him Pierre, son [Prosper GIROIR's] fils, age 7, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Pierre GIRIOIRE, son [of Prosper GIRORE], age 7, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with his parents & 5 siblings.  See also Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 71, Family No. 133.

What happened to him?

17.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls him Prosper GIROIR, & lists him with his wife & 6 children; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/5bateaux.htm>, Family No. 96, shows that in the crossing to St.-Malo in 1758-59, his father, called Honoré GIROIRE, age 45, his mother, called Marie-Josèphe TERRIOT, age 39, & sisters Hélène-Judith, age 17, & Eudoxile, age 12, also survived the crossing, but that 3 of his siblings--brothers David, age 5, & Joseph, age 2 mos., & sister Marie, age 7--died at sea; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls him Prosper GIROIR, journalier, age 41, on the embarkation list, Prosper CHERVER, on the debarkation list, & Prosper GIROIRE, day laborer, age 41, on the complete listing, says he was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with his wife & 6 children, details his marriage, including his & his wife's parents'  names but gives no place of marriage, says that daughter Jeanne was born in 1771 but gives on birthplace, lists the implements the Spanish gave to him & his family after they reached LA, & says he owned 6 arpents of land but doesn't say where or when.  See also Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 70-71, Family No. 133.

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Copyright (c) 2007-08  Steven A. Cormier