APPENDICES

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

JEANSONNE

[jzonh-SONH]

ACADIA

William, called "Billy," Johnson, a native of Scotland, came to Port-Royal in 1710 as a soldier with the British army.  He got into trouble with his superiors, who branded him a thief, escaped to the nearby Acadian community, denounced Protestantism, and became a Catholic.  In c1714, he married Isabelle, daughter of Jean Corporon, at Port-Royal and "became" an Acadian.  Among his Acadian in-laws he was Guillaume Johnson dit Jeanson.  His four sons, all born at Port-Royal, created families of their own in the Annapolis Basin.  He and his wife had no daughters.  Billy died at Annapolis Royal before April 1732.  

Oldest son Jean-Baptiste dit Jeanson, born in January 1715, married Marie-Josèphe, daughter of Pierre Lord, at Port-Royal in February 1743. 

Charles, born in July 1717, married Marie, daughter of Joseph Aucoin, probably at Port-Royal in c1744.  

Thomas dit Jeanson, born in June 1719, married first to Marie-Josèphe, daughter of Alexandre Girouard, at Port-Royal in January 1742, and then to another Marie-Josèphe, this one daughter of Claude Granger, at L'Assomption, Québec, in October 1768 during Le Grand Dérangement.

Youngest son Guillaume dit Billy, born in July 1722, married yet another Marie-Josèphe, daughter of Pierre Aucoin, probably at Port-Royal in c1743.

In 1755, descendants of "Billy" Johnson dit Jeanson could still be found at Annapolis Royal.  

LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

Le Grand Derangement of the 1750s scattered this family to the winds:

The British deported at least two Jeanson families, those of Jean-Baptiste dit Jeanson and his younger brother Thomas dit Jeanson, to Connecticut in the fall of 1755.  After the French and Indian War finally ended, they headed north with many other Acadians from the New England colonies to the St. Lawrence valley, where Jean-Baptiste dit Jeanson died at St.-Jacques de l'Achigan in June 1785; he was 70 years old.  Thomas dit Jeanson remarried at L'Assomption, above Québec City, in October 1768.  A widower once again, he died at nearby St.-Jacques de l'Achigan in May 1797; he was 77 years old.  

Meanwhile, brothers Charles and Guillaume dit Billy and their families, plus Jean-Baptiste's son Joseph, eluded the British roundup at Annapolis Royal and found refuge on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore.  All of them fell into British hands in the late 1750s or early 1760s.  British officials counted Guillaume and his family at Fort Edward, formerly Pigiguit, in August 1762.  After the French and Indian War ended in 1763, Guillaume took his family to Carleton on the northern shore of the Baie des Chaleurs, where they were counted in 1777.  Guillaume dit Billy died there in December 1806; he was an astonishing 95 years old.  

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 twentieth century, they may even have forgotten the others existed. 

.

British officials counted a Charles Jeansone and two of his "children" at Halifax in August 1763; this was probably Charles, fils and two of his younger siblings; their parents probably had died by then.  Cousin Joseph also may have been held at Halifax in the final months of the French and Indian War.  

Charles, fils, his siblings, and cousin Joseph did not remain in Acadia.  Now that the French and Indian War had finally ended, the Acadians being held at Halifax had a serious dilemma on their hands.  The Treaty of Paris of the previous February 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.  Port-Royal had not been French territory for over half a century.  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 England "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 Canada.  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-controlled island off the southern coast of Newfoundland.  Others considered going to French St.-Domingue, today's Haiti, 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 Jeansons gathered up what money they could and prepared to leave their homeland.  

LOUISIANA:  RIVER SETTLEMENTS

Descendants of "Billy" Johnson the wayward soldier were among the earliest Acadians who found refuge in Louisiana.  Most likely all of the Jeansons who came to the colony reached New Orleans from Halifax via St.-Domingue in 1765.  They settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river above New Orleans where 20 Acadians from Georgia had settled the year before:

According to the Acadian Memorial in St. Martinville, Charles Jeanson, fils, age 20, came to Louisiana with three younger siblings--Jean, age 19, Marie, age 18, and Paul, age 10.  Interestingly, only Jean and Paul appear in the Cabanocé/St.-Jacques census of April 1766, and not in the same household.  Paul appears in the censuses of 1766 and 1769 as a young orphan with the family of Claude-Amable Duhon.  Jean married Anastasie, daughter of fellow Acadian Amand Préjean, at either Cabanocé or nearby Ascension in the late 1760s.  Spanish officials counted him, his wife, and brother Paul on the right, or west, bank of the river at Ascension in August 1770.  

Joseph Jeanson, Jean and Paul's first cousin, would have been only 17 in 1765.  Although, like cousins Charles and Marie, he does not appear in any of the early Cabanocé/St.-Jacques or Ascension censuses, he may have come to colony with his Jeanson cousins and settled at Cabanocé.  

The Jeansons did not remain on the river.  Marie married French Creole Philippe Langlois perhaps at Cabanocé in c1770 .  Spanish officials counted them at Opelousas, west of the Atchafalaya Basin, the following year.  Evidently brother Jean, his wife, and brothers Paul and Charles followed their sister to the prairies.  They, too, were counted at Opelousas in October 1774.  

LOUISIANA:  WESTERN SETTLEMENTS

In the early 1770s, the Jeanson siblings--Charles, fils, Jean, Marie, and Paul--led by Marie, crossed the Atchafalaya Basin and settled in the Opelousas District, where Marie and her husband were counted in 1771 and all four of the siblings in 1774.  By May 1777, all of the Jeansons in Louisiana had settled on the Opelousas prairie, including cousin Joseph.  Two of the brothers married, and one did not.  Cousin Joseph likely married.  The two brothers who married set down deep roots in the wide, open prairies of today's St. Landry Parish:  

Descendants of Charles JEANSONNE, fils (c1745-?)

Charles, fils, eldest son of Charles Jeanson and Marie Aucoin, born at Port-Royal in c1745, followed his family into exile on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore and then to a prisoner of war camp in Nova Scotia.  He most likely came to Louisiana in 1765 with three of his younger siblings.  They settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques and Ascension on the river before moving to the Opelousas District in the early 1770s.  He first appears in Louisiana records at Opelousas in 1774, still a bachelor.  Spanish officials counted him at Opelousas in May 1777; he was still a bachelor and in his early 30s.  He married Marie-Rose, called Rose, daughter of fellow Acadian Cosme Brasseaux of Grand-Pré probably at Opelousas in c1777.  Their daughter married into the Clark family.  Charles's first succession record was filed at Opelousas in May 1788, years before his death. 

1

Oldest son Louis-Marie or Auguste-Louis, called Louis, baptized at Opelousas, age unrecorded, in May 1779, married Lise, daughter of French Creole Jean-Baptiste Demaré or Desmarets, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1810.  Their child, perhaps a son, name and age unrecorded, died in St. Landry Parish in April 1812, Auguste Louis, fils, called Louis, was born in April 1816, Cyprien Louis in March 1821, Gérard in November 1834, and twins Jean and Pierre in May 1838.  Their daughters married into the Gaspard, Hargrave, and Reed families.

1a

Cyprien Louis married cousin Azema, daughter of French Creole Jean Baptiste Desmarets, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in November 1840.  Their son Jean Baptiste le jeune was born in St. Landry Parish in November 1844, and Louis le jeune in December 1846.  Cyprien Louis's succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in August 1851; he was only 30 years old that year. 

1b

Auguste Louis, fils married Hyacinthe, daughter of Scots American Henry McCauley, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in February 1843.  Their son Théodule was born in St. Landry Parish in December 1843, Jean Pierre in July 1851, and Gérard le jeune in March 1858.  Their daughter married into the Frugé family.  Auguste Louis, fils remarried to Céline, daughter of French Creole Jean Baptiste Frugé, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in July 1860; Auguste Louis was in his early 40s and Céline was 22.  Their son Gustave was born in St. Landry Parish in May 1861, and Osmin in October 1863.

2

Charles, fils, baptized at Opelousas, age 5 months, in November 1781, married Joséphine, daughter of French Creole Baptiste Guillory of Avoyelles, at Opelousas in October 1806.  Their son Louis le jeune, perhaps also called Don Louis, was born in St. Landry Parish in January 1812, and Aloyse, also called Florence, in October 1816.  Their daughter married into the Smith family.  Charles, fils may have remarried to Hélène Geofriant, Jeanprion, or Jeaufriant in his late middle age.  Their son Paul was born in St. Landry Parish in March 1844, Napoléon in June 1848, Apollinaire in September 1849, and Hilaire near Ville Platte, then in St. Landry but now in Evangeline Parish, in April 1855. 

2a

Louis le jeune, by his first wife, may have married fellow Acadian Delphine Broussard.  Their son Jean Pierre was born in St. Landry Parish in August 1843, and Louis, fils in March 1848.

2b

Aloyse, called Florence by the recording priest, married Azéline Louis Charles, daughter of fellow Acadian Louis Charles Pitre, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in September 1846.  Their son Florence, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in August 1853.

3

Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, born at Opelousas in September 1783, may have married fellow Acadian Judique Broussard in St. Landry Parish during the early antebellum period.  Their daughter married into the Deville family.  Jean Baptiste may have died in St. Landry Parish in July 1845; the priest who recorded his burial said that Jean Baptiste died "at age 57 yrs.," but this one would have been closer to 61.  One wonders if he fathered any sons. 

4

Youngest son Joseph le jeune, born at Opelousas June 1784, may have died young.

Descendants of Jean JEANSONNE (c1746-c1822)

Jean, second son of Charles Jeanson and Marie Aucoin, born at Port-Royal in c1746, followed his family into exile on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore and then to a prisoner of war camp in Nova Scotia.  He most likely came to Louisiana in 1765 with three of his siblings.  They settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques.  Jean married Anastasie, daughter of fellow Acadian Amand Préjean, in the late 1760s.  Spanish officials counted them on the right, or west, bank of the river at Ascension in 1770.  By 1774, they had moved to the Opelousas District.  Their daughters married into the Deville, Fontenot, Fuselier, Guillory, Ledoux, and Ritter families.  Jean's succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in March 1822; he would have been in his late 70s that year.  Only two of his five sons created families of their own. 

1

Oldest son Jean-Baptiste, born probably at Opelousas in the early 1770s, married Isabelle, daughter of French Creole Pierre Joubert, at Opelousas in November 1797; Isabelle's mother was a Pitre.  Their son, name unrecorded, born at Opelousas in c1800, died at age 2 in October 1802, Jean-Baptiste, fils, called Baptiste, baptized at Opelousas, age unrecorded, in December 1800, died the same day, Pierre was baptized at Opelousas, age 2 months, in September 1803, a child, name unrecorded, perhaps a son, died 19 days after its birth in July 1805, and another child, name unrecorded, died "as a child" in August 1805.  After the death of his wife, Jean Baptiste filed a succession record at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in April 1817.  Jean Baptiste, whom the recording priest described as a resident of Prairie de Langlois, "Captain of Militia and president of the members de l'admistration de cette eglise (of the church administration)," remarried to Marie Françoise, daughter of French Creole Henry Fontenot of La Grande Prairie, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1817.  Jean Baptiste's postmortem succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in August 1822; it names his widow, so he was dead by then; he would have been in his late 40s or early 50s that year.  He probably died at his home on La Prairie Ronde.  

Pierre, by his first wife, married Clarisse, daughter of French Creole Joseph Andrepont, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1823.  Their son Pierre, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in January 1829.  Their daughters married into the Saucier and Vasseur families. 

Pierre, fils married Sophie, daughter of French Creole Hubert Doucet, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in May 1850.

2

André, born at Opelousas in c1777, died in St. Landry Parish in March 1812.  The priest who recorded his burial said that André died "at age 30 yrs,", but, according to Acadian genealogist Bona Arsenault, he was closer to 35.  He did not marry.  

3

Auguste or Augustin, baptized at Opelousas, age 2 months, in September 1782, married Marie, daughter of French Creole François Guillory, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in March 1810.  Their son Augustin, fils was baptized at the Opelousas church, age 2 months, in September 1812, Paulin, a twin, called Babolin, was born in June 1818, Joseph died at age 1 1/2 months in January 1821, Aurelien was born in December 1822, Terence in December 1828, and Jean Gerasinme, called Gerasime, in May 1836.  Their daughters married into the Lavergne (French Canadian, not Acadian) and Pitre families.  Augustin, père died in St. Landry Parish in December 1847; the Opelousas priest who recorded his burial said that Augustin died "at age 62 yrs.," but he was 65; his succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse later that month. 

3a

Paulin, called Babolin by the recording priest and Olin by the recording parish clerk, married Amelina, Alevine, Aveline, Avelina, or Evelina, daughter of French Canadian Joseph Lavergne, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1837; Aveline's mother was a Richard.  Their son Joseph was baptized at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, age 2 months, in May 1838, Babolin, fils was born in October 1839, Gustave François in February 1849, and Louis Ophela in July 1852 but died at Washington, St. Landry Parish, age 11, in December 1863.  Their daughters married into the Gautreaux and Lebarge families.  Babolin's succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in July 1852; he would have been only 34 years old that year. 

3b

Augustin, fils married Céleste or Célestine, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Pitre and widow of Auguste Ledoux, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in September 1849; Augustin, fils was in his late 30s at the time of the wedding, so one wonders if this was his first marriage.  Their son Bruneaut Darmas was born in St. Landry Parish in October 1858, and Paul Augustin in November 1860.  ...

3c

Aurelien married Céleste Pierre, daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Pitre and widow of Napoléon Frulette, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in December 1856.  Their son Louis Durel was born in St. Landry Parish in June 1859.  ...

3d

Gerasime married Marie Melina, called Melina, daughter of Jean Baptiste Rider, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in January 1861.  Gerasime died at Bois Mallet, near present-day Eunice, a notorious Jayhawker hideout, in October 1863; the Opelousas priest who recorded his burial said that "Gerasin" died "age 23 yrs.," but he was 27.  One wonders if his death was war-related. 

4

Jean, fils, was buried at Opelousas, "a boy," age unrecorded, in January 1793.  

5

Youngest son Hippolyte, born at Opelousas in c1787, died at age 12 in January 1799.  

Paul JEANSONNE (c1755-?)

Paul, third and youngest son of Charles Jeanson and Marie Aucoin, born probably at Port-Royal in c1755, followed his family into exile on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore and then to a prisoner of war camp in Nova Scotia.  He most likely came to Louisiana in 1765 with his three older siblings.  They settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques, where Paul was counted in 1766 and 1769 on the right, or west, bank of the river, with the family of fellow Acadian Claude-Amable Duhon.  In 1770, still in his teens, he was living with older brother Jean on the right bank of the river at Ascension.  He followed his brother Jean to the Opelousas District in the early 1770s and was counted there, still a bachelor, in 1774 and 1777.  He evidently never married.  

Joseph JEANSONNE (c1748-1806)

Joseph, likely a son of Jean-Baptiste Jeanson and Marie-Josèphe Lord, was born probably at Port-Royal in c1748.  The British deported his family to Connecticut in 1755, but he evidently escaped the British roundup and sought refuge with his cousins on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore.  He may have come to Louisiana in 1765 with his cousins from Halifax via St.-Domingue, but he does not appear in Louisiana records until May 1777, when he was counted as a 29-year-old bachelor at Opelousas.  If he did come to the colony in 1765, he, too, likely lived for a time at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river.  He may have married Scholastique, daughter of Acadian Paul Leger, at Opelousas in the 1780s.  Joseph died at Opelousas in October 1806; the priest who recorded his burial said that Joseph was 55 years old when he died, but he was closer to 58.  One wonders if he fathered any children. 

Other JEANSONNEs on the Western Prairies

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

Samuel Jansonne's succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in January 1808.  The parish clerk who recorded the succession did not bother to give Samuel's parents' names, mention a wife, or record his age at the time of the succession.  One suspects that Samuel was an Anglo-American Johnson, not an Acadian Jeansonne.  

Joseph Jeansonne or Johnson married German Creole Sophie Marks.  They may have had a son named Hippolyte, who married Anglo American Louisa Reed in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in September 1834.  Their son Omer was baptized at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, age 7 months, in April 1843, Jean Baptiste was born in March 1845, Anam in August 1848, and Anderson in July 1850.  Joseph and Sophie's son Gérard Joseph married Celise Don Louis Philippe, daughter of French Creole Don Louis Philip Fontenot, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in January 1842, and sanctified the marriage at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1843.  Their son Jean Louis was baptized at the Opelousas church, age 5 months, in April 1843, Gervais was born in February 1849, and Gérard, fils in December 1850.  Joseph and Sophie's daughter married into the Fontenot family.  Was Joseph's family Anglo or Acadian?

Louis Jeansonne or Johnson died in St. Landry Parish in January 1831.  He was only 3 weeks old.  The priest who recorded the boy's burial did not bother to give the parents' names.  

Gilbert Jeansonne or Johnson married Barbara Baret or Barret probably in St. Landry Parish.  Their son Gilbert, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in April 1838, and Abraham in February 1844.  

Jean Baptiste Jeansonne or Johnson married French Creole Marcelline Mayeux.  Their son Benoît was born in St. Landry Parish in May 1839, Jean Baptiste, fils in January 1841, and Ambroise in February 1844.  Benoît married Anglo-American Louise Clark probably in St. Landry Parish in the late 1850s.  They settled near Ville Platte, then in St. Landry but now in Evangeline Parish.  Their twin sons John David and Léonard were born in March 1860, and Benoît, fils in March 1861. 

Neuville Jeansonne or Johnson married French Creole Rosalie Labarde.  Their son Émile was born in St. Landry Parish in March 1844. 

Saintville Jeansonne or Johnson married French Creole Pauline Guillory in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in October 1844, and remarried to French Creole Coralie Billeaudeau in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in February 1848.  Their son Lucius was born in St. Landry Parish in December 1851, and Michel in January 1855.  So who was the Saintville Jeansonne who married Anne Kennison, widow of Louis George Stelly, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in July 1848? 

Marie Jeansonne married Dorsin Lacasse.  Their daughter married into the Pitre family in St. Landry Parish in September 1866. 

NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in LOUISIANA

A Frenchman with a similar-sounding surname lived--and died--at New Orleans during the late colonial period: 

Jean-Joseph, son of Joseph Jeanseaume and Marie Arnaud of Caillols, near Marseilles, France, was a bachelor living at New Orleans when he died there in August 1803.   The priest who recorded his burial said that Jean-Joseph died at age "cir. 50 yr." 

~

Anglo American, German, and even Scandinavian Johnsons and Jonsons emigrated to South Louisiana during the antebellum period.  They settled at New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Pointe Coupee, but they also lived in predominantly-Acadian communities on the river in Ascension and St. James parishes, along bayous Lafourche and Terrebonne, on lower Bayou Teche, and on the western prairies, especially in St. Landry Parish. 

One Johnson who lived in the old Opelousas District during the antebellum period was from Copenhagen, Denmark.  He married a German Creole and fathered a large family that settled near Grand Coteau, not far from his Acadian namesakes. 

CONCLUSION

Jeansons, originally Johnsons, were not among the early settlers in Acadia, but they were among the earliest Acadians to seek refuge in Louisiana.  Five descendants of William "Billy" Johnson, aka Guillaume Jeanson, of Annapolis Royal, came to Louisiana in the 1760s.  When three of them got there is anyone's guess.  Two of them--brothers Jean and Paul--reached the colony in 1765 from Halifax via St.-Domingue.  Neither appears in the early church records of the Acadian Coast, though Jean certainly married in one of the communities there in the late 1760s.  Both appear in the Cabanocé/St.-Jacques census of 1766, Paul in the Cabanocé/St.-Jacques census of 1769, and both again in the Ascension census of 1770 .  Sister Marie first appears in Louisiana records at Opelousas in 1771.  All three of her brothers, including oldest brother Charles, appear with her and her husband at Opelousas in 1774.  Three years later, in 1777, all five of the Jeansons who came to Louisiana finally appear in a single census together.  It was again at Opelousas, and cousin Joseph first appears in Louisiana records. 

Though three of the four Jeanson males who came to the colony took wives, the Acadian Jeansonnes of South Louisiana spring from brothers Charles and Jean of Opelousas.  Although the brothers married fellow Acadians, their descendants, who remained on the Opelousas prairies in what became St. Landry and Acadia parishes, tended to marry French Creoles and other non-Acadians, who greatly outnumbered Acadians in the Opelousas District.  From 1790 to 1861, in fact, Jeansonnes married only four fellow Acadians, all of them Pitres.  The others took non-Acadian spouses, a remarkable record of exogamy for an Acadian family.  This exogamy rate, and the fact that a number of Anglo-American and even a Scandinavian Johnson family also settled in St. Landry Parish, considerably complicated the genealogical picture for this family during the antebellum period. ...

In Louisiana, the spelling of the Acadian family's surname evolved from Jeanson to Jeansonne.  The family's name also is spelled Janson, Jansonne, Jaunie, Jeanconne, Jeantonne, Johonson.

Sources:  AGE, May 2005, 10; Arsenault, Généalogie, 607-09, 2517-19; BRDR, vols. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; 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; White, DGFA-1, 873-75; White, DGFA-1 English, 185.

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, 19, calls him Charles JEANSON; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2517-18, calls him Charles JEANSON, says he was born in 1754, gives his parents' names, says he was vraisemblablement son of Charles [JEANSON] & Marie AUCOIN, that he was 2 years younger than brother Jean, that he married Marie-Rose BRASSEUX of Grand-Pré in c1775 but gives no place of marriage, & lists his children as Francoise, born in 1777, Louis-Marie in 1779, Charles in 1781, Jean-Baptiste in 1783, Joseph in 1784, Marguerite in 1789, Marie-Louise in 1793, & Dionysia in 1794, but gives no birthplaces.  See also Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 249; De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1777, 24.  

His estimated birth year is based on the Opelousas census of 1777, the only one that gives his age, not on Arsenault's guestimation.  

His presence at Cabanocé before he moved to the Opelousas District is inferred from his being listed in Wall of Names as having come to LA with his 3 siblings & the fact that 2 of them, Jean & Paul, were in the Cabanocé census of 1766.  Why is Charles not in the Cabanocé censuses of 1766 & 1769 & the Ascension census of 1770 with his brothers?  Where was he during those years?

The Opelousas census of 1777 says that he was still a bachelor that year.  His wife is in fact listed in the same census as a "spinster" & probably was his neighbor.  

02.  Wall of Names, 19, calls him Jean JEANSON; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2517, calls him Jean JEANSON, says he was born in 1752, which makes him 2 years older than brother Charles, gives his parents' names, says he married Anastasie PREJEAN, daughter of Amand [PREJEAN] & Madeleine MARTIN in c1774 but gives no place of marriage, & lists his children as Rosalie, born in c1775, Jean-Baptiste in c1776, André in c1777, Marie-Sophie in 1780, Marie-Madeleine in c1781, Augustin in 1782, Marie in c1784, Appolonie in c1786, Félicité in 1789, Euphrosine in 1794, & Céleste in 1798 but died in 1800, but gives no birthplaces.  See also Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 249; De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1777, 24; Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98, 1.  

His estimated birth year is based on the average of the ages given in the Cabanocé censuse of 1766, the Ascension census of 1770, & the Opelousas census of 1777, not Arsenault.  

The Ascension census of 1770 shows that Jean & Anastasie were married years before Arsenault's date of c1774.  Why did the census taker at Opelousas in 1777 call her Marie?  She is called this nowhere else.

03.  Wall of Names, calls him Joseph JEANSON, & lists him singly; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2517, called him Joseph JEANSON, says he was born in 1753, probablement son of Jean-Baptiste [JEANSON] & Marie-Josèphe LAURE of Port-Royal, & that he died at Opelousas on 16 Oct 1806; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:396 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.87), his death/burial record, calls him Joseph JANSONNE, says he died "at age about 55 yrs.," but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife.  See also De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1777, 25; De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1785, 28; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 323, 355, 412.  

Arsenault gives him a brother named Louis, born in 1749, who married Madeleine DAVID in c1774 & was at St.-Jacques in 1777, but Wall of Names, followed here, lists no Acadian named Louis JEANSONNE.  A Louis JOSOSNE, actually Louis-Medisierre JOUSSON dit Josson, a French Creole, with wife Marie-Madeleine, called Madeleine, DAVID, an Acadian, & an orphan boy named Louis, can be found in De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 18, doubtlessly the source of Arsenault's "Acadian" Louis JEANSONNE.  See also NOAR, 3:165 (SLC, B9, 29), for the 19 Sep 1778 baptismal record of their daughter Marie-Louise at New Orleans. 

Was Joseph ever at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques?  Were the JEANSONNE siblings his first cousins?  If, as Arsenault says, he was son of Jean-Baptiste JEANSON, he would have been a first cousin. 

Did he ever marry?  Arsenault lists no wife for him, & there is no marriage record for him in Father Hébert's compilation, but Scholastique LEGER of the Opelousas District did marry a Joseph JEANSONNE, & this was probably him.  See her burial record, dated 28 Jan 1817, in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-A:613 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.157).  Notice that, starting with the Opelousas census of 1785, he seems to be head of a family.  

04.  Wall of Names, 19, calls her Marie JEANSON.  See also Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 249; De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1771, 11-12; De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1777, 21.

Her presence at Cabanocé before she moved to the Opelousas District is inferred from her being listed in Wall of Names as having come to LA with her 3 brothers & the fact that 2 of them, Jean & Paul, were in the Cabanocé census of 1766.  Why wasn't she counted in the Cabanocé censuses of 1766 & 1769?  Where was she during those years?  When, and where, did she marry her husband?

She is the first of the JEANSONNEs to appear in an Opelousas census--in 1771.  Her three brothers do not appear there until 1774, so they may have followed her & her husband to Opelousas in the early 1770s.  

05.  Wall of Names, 19, calls him Paul JEANSON.   See also Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 249.  

[top of page JEANSONNE]

Copyright (c) 2007-11  Steven A. Cormier