APPENDICES

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

MIRE

[MEER]

ACADIA

Pierre LeMire dit Mire, born in Paris in c1705, came to Acadia in the 1720s and married Marie-Josèphe Forest in c1726.  They settled at Pigiguit in the Minas Basin.  Marie-Josèphe gave him two children:  daughter Pétronille, born in c1727, and son Joachim dit Bénoni, born in c1736.  After Marie-Josèphe died, Pierre dit Mire remarried to Isabelle, daughter of Claude Thibodeau, at Port-Royal in July 1738.  Isabelle gave him five more children, all born at Pigiguit:  Marie in c1741, Élisabeth, Joseph in c1742, David in c1743, and Simon in c1744.  Pierre dit Mire also may have had sons named Pierre, fils and Jean.  Pierre dit Mir died before 1757 during Le Grand Dérangement.

In 1755, Pierre LeMire dit Mire and his family could still be found at Pigiguit. 

LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

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

In the autumn of 1755, the British deported most of the Acadians at Pigiguit to Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.  In June 1763, colonial officials in Pennsylvania counted Pierre Mire, his wife Madeleine, and three children in that colony.  One wonders how Pierre was kin to Joachim dit Bénoni, Joseph, and Simon. 

Joachim dit Bénoni's half-brother David died at Québec in December 1757, only 14 years old.  Sister Marie married André Terrien at Nicolet, upriver from Québec, in February 1761.  Younger sister Élisabeth married Joseph Coltret at Nicolet in April 1765.  One wonders how they got there.  The Acadians sent to Virginia ended up in England in 1756 and were repatriated to France in 1763.  Most of the Acadians sent to Maryland emigrated to Louisiana in 1766, 1767, 1768, and 1769.  Many of the Acadians sent to Pennsylvania went to Maryland and then to Louisiana.  Many of the Acadians in Massachusetts moved to the St. Lawrence valley after the French and Indian War ended in 1763.  An Acadian who would have died at Québec in 1757 or married at Nicolet in early 1761 most likely had escaped the British roundup of 1755 and gone to French Canada via present-day New Brunswick.  Marie, age 16 in 1755, Élisabeth, age 13, and David, only 12, probably followed their parents to Canada.  Joachim dit Bénoni was 19 in 1755, his younger half-brothers Joseph and Simon only 11.  They, too, must have escaped the British in 1755 and gone into exile on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore.  How, and when, did they become separated from their parents and siblings?  Evidently Joachim dit Bénoni married in exile in the late 1750s or early 1760s and took charge of his younger half-brothers.  In August 1763, British officials at Halifax counted Beleaunie Mir, his wife, and two "children"--probably his brothers, now 19 years old--in the prison compound at Halifax. 

At least one family of Mires ended up in St.-Domingue, today's Haiti, the destination of hundreds of Acadian exiles who had been deported to Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Georgia.  After their defeat in the French and Indian War, the French began construction of a new naval base at Môle St.-Nicolas on the north shore of St.-Domingue.  They promised the Acadian exiles still languishing in the British colonies fresh land and a new life in Haiti.  Hundreds of Acadians took up the challenge.  They converged on the island in 1763 and 1764, but most of them found only misery and death in the jungles of northern Haiti.  A few of them hooked up with Acadian exiles from Halifax who changed ship at Cap-Français on their way to New Orleans.  Others simply stayed and endured.  Jean Mire, a master carpenter, married fellow Acadian Madeleine Mouton probably in Haiti.  Their daughter Marie-Jeanne was born at Môle St.-Nicolas in March 1776, so they chose to remain on the island.  Son Jean, fils was born probably at Môle St.-Nicolas in c1779, Pierre in December 1781, and Henri in December 1782.  Henri died the day he was born, and Jean, fils died at age 6 in February 1785.  One wonders how Jean was kin to Joachim dit Bénoni et al. 

Meanwhile, 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.  Pigiguit had not been a part of French territory for 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 Mires gathered up what money they could and prepared to leave their homeland.  

LOUISIANA: RIVER SETTLEMENTS

Joachim dit Bénoni, age 29, his wife, whose name has been lost to history, and his twin half-brothers Joseph and Simon, age 21, came to Louisiana 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.  Joachim dit Bénoni remained at Cabanocé, but his younger half-brothers settled elsewhere. 

Descendants of Joachim dit Bénoni MIRE (c1736-?)

Joachim dit Bénoni, eldest son of Pierre LeMire dit Mire and his first wife Marie-Josèphe Forest, was born at Pigiguit in c1736, came to Louisiana with two of his younger half-brothers in 1765.  He married Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadian Jacques Melançon, at Cabanocé in June 1768.  They remained at Cabanocé.  Their daughters married into the Bourg, Bourgeois, Lanoux, LeBlanc, Melançon, and Richard families.  One of his sons settled on upper Bayou Lafourche, but the others remained on the river in St. James and Ascension parishes. 

1

Eldest son Benjamin, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in March 1772, married Marie-Modeste, called Modeste, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Arceneaux, at St.-Jacques in February 1798.  Their daughter married into the Rennes family.  Their son Pierre Orten was born near Convent, St. James Parish, in April 1819, and Benjamin Désiré, called Désiré, in December 1830 but died the following July.  Benjamin died near Convent in September 1832; he was 60 years old. 

2

Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in December 1775, married Esther, daughter of another Joseph Arceneaux, at St.-Jacques in October 1799.  Their son Jean-Baptiste-Evariste, called Evariste, was born at St.-Jacques in August 1800.  Their daughter married into the Hébert family.  Jean Baptiste died in St. James Parish in February 1836; he was 60 years old. 

Evariste married Clémence, daughter of fellow Acadian Jérôme Gaudet, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in February 1819.  Their son Jean Baptiste Telesphore was born in St. James Parish in May 1820 but died the following September, Evariste Camille was born in June 1821, and Jérôme Elphége, called Elphége, in January 1823. ...

3

Pierre, born at St.-Jacques in c1778, married Henriette, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean-Baptiste Bernard, at St.-Jacques in October 1796.  Their son Benjamin Pierre was born at St.-Jacques in November 1797, Pierre Neuville in December 1806, Evariste near Convent, St. James Parish, in May 1817, and Jean Baptiste in June 1819.  They also had a son named Joachim.  They moved to the Bayou Lafourche valley in the early 1820s.

4

Alexandre Paschal, called Paul, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in May 1779, married Marie-Céleste or -Scholastique, daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Lanoux, at St.-Jacques in February 1802.  Their son Béloni le jeune was born at St.-Jacques in December 1802, a son, name and age unrecorded, died at St.-Jacques in January1805, Joseph Drosin, called Drosin, was born in May 1808, and Pierre Nicolas, called Colin, near Convent, St. James Parish, in January 1819 but died at age 14 in April 1833.  They also had son named Paul Dumesuil, called Dumesuil.  Their daughters married into the Blouin and Sarassin families.  Paul died near Convent in December 1824; he was only 44 years old. 

4a

Béloni le jeune married Marie Melanie, called Melanie, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Baptiste Bourgeois, at the Donaldson church, Ascension Parish, in February 1822.  They settled near the boundary of Ascension and St. James parishes. Their son Paul was born near Convent, St. James Parish, in November 1823, Jean Baptiste Doradon in March 1826, Victor in April 1835, and Pierre Valsin in Ascension Parish in August 1837.  ...

4b

Drosin married Marie Eulalie, called Eulalie, daughter of fellow Acadian Michel Boudreaux, at the Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish, in January 1828.  Their son Joseph Dumisiel was born near Convent, St. James Parish, in April 1831, Jean Baptiste Prudent in June 1833, and Césaire Sylvanie was baptized at the Convent church, age 5 months, in November 1836.  ...

4c

Dumesuil married Marguerite Arthémise, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Dugas, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in February 1830.  Their son Paul le jeune was born near Convent in June 1831.  Dumesuil remarried to Marie Belzire or Delphine, another daughter of Michel Boudreaux, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in November 1836.  Their son Léon Dumesuil was born near Convent in November 1837...

5

Youngest son Joseph le jeune married Clarisse or Claire, daughter of fellow Acadian Paul Arceneaux, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in February 1811.  Their son Adélard was born near Convent, St. James Parish, in August 1813, Dominique Arestille in August 1819, and Paul le jeune in March 1827.  They also had a son named Théodule.  Their daughter married into the Jacob family.  ...

5a

Adélard married Clarisse, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Comeaux, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in June 1836. ...

5b

Théodule married Célestine, daughter of fellow Acadian Amand Bourgeois, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in August 1836.  Their son Joseph le jeune was born near Convent in July 1838.  ...

Descendants of Joseph MIRE (c1742-1792)

Joseph, son of Pierre LeMire dit Mire and his second wife Isabelle Thibodeau, born at Pigiguit in c1742, came to Louisiana with two brothers in 1765 and followed them to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river.   By the late 1780s, Joseph had moved upriver to St.-Gabriel de Manchac, where he married Marie-Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadian Simon-Pierre Daigle, in May 1786; he was 42 years old.  Joseph died probably at Manchac in January 1792, age 50.  Only one of his three sons married, and settled on upper Bayou Lafourche. 

1

Oldest son Joseph, fils, born at Manchac in July 1787, may have died young.

2

Élie, born at Manchac in August 1789, died in Ascension Parish in April 1832.  The priest who recorded Élie's burial said that he was 40 years old when he died, but he was closer to 43.  He probably did not marry. 

3

Youngest son Jean-Baptiste, born at Manchac in April 1791, married Arthémise, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Baptiste Bergeron, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in January 1817.  They settled on Bayou Lafourche and created a third center of family settlement. 

Other MIREs on the River

Area church and civil records make it difficult to link some Mires on the river with known lines of the family there:

Jean Baptiste Mire married Catherine Barouvier by the late 1810s and settled near Convent, St. James Parish. 

James Fort Mire married Marguerite Adeline Bourgeotte by the late 1820s and settled in Ascension Parish.  One wonders if he was Acadian.

LOUISIANA:  WESTERN SETTLEMENTS

In the early 1780s, one of the Mire brothers took his family to the Atakapas District and created a western branch of the family:

Descendants of Simon MIRE (c1744-1807)

Simon, son of Pierre LeMire dit Mire and his second wife Isabelle Thibodeau, born at Pigiguit in c1744, came to Louisiana with two of his brothers in 1765 and followed them to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river.  He married Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean-Baptiste Cormier, père, one of the 1764 pioneers, at Cabanocé in March 1766, but they did not remain on the river.  They settled, instead, at Côte Gelée in the Atakapas District.  Their daughters married into the Boulet, Granger, Landry, and Trahan families.  Simon, père died at his home at Côte Gelée, then in St. Martin but now in Lafayette Parish, on Christmas Day 1807; the priest who recorded his burial said that Simon was 70 years old when he died, but he was closer to 63; his succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse the following February. 

1

Oldest son Joseph le jeune, also called Joseph Zephirin and Pierre, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in October 1770, married Émilie, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Guilbeau, at Atakapas in August 1796.  They settled at Carencro and Côte Gelée.  Their son, name unrecorded, died at Atakapas, age 3 weeks, in June 1797, Joseph Zephirin was born in October 1801, Joseph, fils died, age unrecorded, in March 1804, Onésime was born in October 1805 but died at age 2 1/2 in April 1808, and Élisée was born at Carencro in February 1808.  They also had sons named Benjamin and Placide. Their daughters married into the Dubois, Granger, Plaisance, and Primeaux families.  Before he married, Joseph le jeune fathered a "natural son," Joseph-Simon, born at Atakapas in September 1796, by Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Granger of Opelousas.  Joseph le jeune died "at his home at La Côte Gelée" in December 1820; he was 50 years old; his succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in April 1823. 

1a

Natural son Joseph Simon married Lucie Félicité, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Florentin Bourg of Vermilion, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in November 1818.  Their son Joseph Simon, fils was born in Lafayette Parish in April 1840.  ...

1b

Joseph Zephirin married Marguerite Francoise, daughter of French Creole Balthazar Plaisance of Assumption Parish and Côte Gelée, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in October 1821; Marguerite's mother was a Breaux.  Their child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died in Lafayette Parish at age 26 days in February 1823, and Joseph le jeune was born in April 1824.  ...

1c

Placide married French Creole Marguerite Azelie Gisclard probably in Lafayette Parish by the mid-1820s, and remarried to Adélaïde, daughter of fellow Acadian Olidon Broussard, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in August 1829.  Placide's succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in 1835. 

1d

Élisée married Anne Marie, called Marie, daughter of French Creole Joseph Reaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in July 1826; Marie's mother was a Granger.  Their son Melizer was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 2 months, in September 1829, Théodule at age 2 in November 1835, and Théogène at age 2 months in March 1836.  ...

2

Simon, fils, called Simonet, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in January 1773, married Constance, daughter of fellow Acadian Augustin Broussard, at Atakapas in May 1797.  They settled on the Vermilion.  Their son Édouard was born at Atakapas in March 1799.  Simon, fils's succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in May or June 1814; he would have been in his early 40s that year.  He was a widower. 

Édouard married distant cousin Aspasie, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Thibodeaux of Vermilion, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in September 1819; Aspasie's mother, also, was a Broussard.  Their son Édouard, fils was born in Lafayette Parish in January 1824, and a child, perhaps a son, name and age unrecorded, died in June 1829.  Édouard died in Lafayette Parish in April 1831; the priest who recorded his burial said that Édouard was 30 years old when he died, but he was 32. 

3

Youngest son Benjamin, born at Atakapas in November 1783, married Marie Eloise or Louise, called Louise, daughter of fellow Acadian Michel Bernard of Côte Gelée, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in October 1810.  They settled at Côte Gelée.  Their son, name unrecorded, died "at his parents' at Côte Gelée" 2 days after his birth in April 1812, Édouard was born in August 1818, Evariste in Lafayette Parish in April 1822, Norbert in April 1824, Clément in December 1826, and Léo was baptized at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 3 months, in March 1829.  Their daughters married into the Boullé, Breaux, and Broussard families.  ...

Other MIREs on the Western Prairies

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

Pierre Mire married fellow Acadian Adélaïde Dugas probably at Atakapas.  Pierre Mire "of Bayou Tortue" died in St. Martin Parish in February 1807.  The priest who recorded Pierre's burial did not bother to give his parents' names or his age at the time of his death, nor did he mention a wife.  One wonders how Pierre was kin to Simon Mire. 

Marie Arthémise Mire gave birth to son Onésime in St. Martin Parish in October 1819.  The priest who recorded the boy's baptism did not give the father's name.  One wonders who was Marie Arthémise's parents. 

LOUISIANA:  LAFOURCHE VALLEY SETTLEMENTS

During the early antebellum period, Mires from Baton Rouge and St. James Parish settled on Bayou Lafourche, creating a third center of family settlement that soon rivaled in numbers their cousins on the river and the prairies:

Descendants of Jean Baptiste MIRE (1791-)

Jean-Baptiste, youngest son of Joseph Mire and Marie-Marguerite Daigle, born at Manchac in April 1791, married Arthémise, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Baptiste Bergeron, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in January 1817.  They settled down bayou in Lafourche Interior Parish.  Their daughter married into the Danos family.  ...

1

Oldest son Jean Baptiste Séraphin, born in Lafourche Interior Parish in July 1820, ...

2

Drosin, born in Lafourche Interior Parish in March 1829, ...

3

Jean Prosper, born in Lafourche Interior Parish in September 1836, ...

Descendants of Pierre MIRE (c1778-1833)

Pierre, third son of Joachim dit Bénoni Mire and Madeleine Melançon, born at St.-Jacques in c1778, married Henriette, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean-Baptiste Bernard, at St.-Jacques in October 1796.  They and their children, including the married ones, moved to the Bayou Lafourche valley in the early 1820s.  Their daughters married into the Aucoin, Dugas, Gautreaux, Lessart, Levert, Morvant, Poirier, and Robichaux families.  Pierre died in Lafourche Interior Parish in July 1833; he was 55 years old. 

1

Oldest son Benjamin Pierre, born at St.-Jacques in November 1797, married Céleste, daughter of fellow Acadian Laurent Arceneaux, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in February 1816.  Their son Joachim le jeune was born near Convent in February 1817, Ortaire in c1818 but died in Lafourche Interior Parish, age 5, in December 1823, and Vincent died in Lafourche Interior Parish a day after his birth in July 1823.  Benjamin died in Lafourche Interior Parish in October 1830; he was only 32 years old. 

2

Pierre Neuville, called Neuville, born at St. James in December 1806, married Basilise, daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Olivier Gautreaux, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in August 1827.  Their son Joseph Théodule was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in January 1831, and Pierre Éloi in February 1833. ...

3

Joachim, born probably near Convent, St. James Parish, married Célesie, another daughter of Pierre Olivier Gautreaux, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in November 1831.  Their son Joachim Auguste or Augustin was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in August 1832, Jean Baptiste Siméon in February 1836, and Pierre Orestile in June 1838. ...

4

Evariste, born near Convent, St. James Parish, in May 1817, married cousin Marie Zeline, 19-year-old daughter of French Creole Joseph Morvant, in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Interior Parish in August 1837; Marie's mother, also, was a Bernard.  Their son Arvillien was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in July 1839. ...

5

Youngest son Jean Baptiste, born near Convent, St. James Parish, in June1819, married Adele, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Pierre Guillot, at the Thibodeaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in November 1841.  ...

NON-ACADIANS FAMILIES in LOUISIANA

Non-Acadians named LeMire and Mire lived in Louisiana during the early colonial period:

Gilles, son of Guillaume Lemirre and Pérrine Roy of La Fresnay, Brittany, France, married Marie-Louise, daughter of Phalio de Montfrim and Marie Brunet of Paris at New Orleans in August 1720. 

Louise, daughter of Jean Mire and Marie-Thérèse Roy, married Pierre, fils, son of Pierre Foure, at Old Biloxi, then part of Louisiana colony, in July 1721. 

~

A Mire born in New England before Le Grand Dérangement of 1755 lived among his Acadian namesakes on the river:

Jacques Mire, "nat. Angleterre (New England)," died near Convent, St. James Parish, in October 1821.  He was 71 years old, which means he was born in c1750.  The priest who recorded his burial did not give his parents' names or mention a wife.  Was he French Canadian, a native of France, or a wayward Acadian? 

CONCLUSION

The Mires settled "late" in Acadia, but they were among the earliest Acadians to find refuge in Louisiana.  Three brothers came to Louisiana from Halifax in 1765 and settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques.  The oldest brother remained there.  One of the younger brothers moved upriver to St.-Gabriel de Manchac by the late 1780s.  About the same time, the other younger brother crossed the Atchafalaya Basin and created a western branch of the family at Côte Gelée in the Atakapas District.  During the early antebellum period, Mires from Baton Rouge and St. James moved to upper Bayou Lafourche, creating a third center of family settlement.  ...

Non-Acadians named LeMire and Mire lived in Louisiana as early as the 1720s.  A Mire born in New England before Le Grand Dérangement lived among his Acadian namesakes in St. James Parish during the antebellum period.  He evidently left no descendants.  One wonders if he was French Canadian, French, or perhaps a wayward Acadian.  Most, if not all, of the Mires of South Louisiana, then, are descendants of Pierre LeMire dit Mire of Pigiguit, not French Creoles or French Canadians. ...

The family's name also is spelled Lemire, Mier, Mir, Mirre, Myr, Myre, Myrre.

Sources:  Arsenault, Généalogie, 1419-20, 2558-60; BRDR, vols. 2, 3, 4, 5(rev.); Hébert, D., Acadians in Exile, 329; Hébert, D., South LA Records, vol. 1; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, vols. 1-A, 1-B, 2-A, 2-B, 2-C, 3; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 218, 249; NOAR, vol. 1. 

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, 23, calls him Joachim dit Bénoni MIRE, & lists him with half-brother Joseph; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2558, calls him Bénoni-Joachim MIRE, says he was born in 1736, gives his parents' names, says that Madeleine MELANÇON was born in 1741, gives her parents' names, says he married her in c1760 but gives no place of marriage, says he occupied lot number 101 on the east bank of the Mississippi at St.-Jacques in 1769 with his stepbrother Francois PART, born in 1753, & lists his children as Scholastique, born in 1769, Marie-Madeleine in 1770, Félicité in 1771, Benjamin in 1772, Rosalie in 1773, & Jean-Baptiste in 1774 but gives no birthplaces; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 172, & Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth Century Louisianians, 425, his marriage record, calls him calls him Joachim MIRRE, & calls his wife Marguerite/Margaritte BROUSSARD.   See also Jehn, Acadians Exiles in the Colonies, 249; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 167.  

Arsenault's estimated birth year conforms to the Cabanocé census of 1766.  Arsenault's claim that Joachim dit Bénoni married Madeleine MELANÇON in c1760, however, is refuted by Wall of Names, which shows him unattached when he reached LA with half-brother Joseph.  However, the British report at Halifax in Aug 1763 indicates that Joachim dit Bénoni was married to someone, if not to Madeleine, before he came to LA. 

One has to ask--how did someone from Pigiguit end up a prisoner at Halifax when the Acadians at Pigiguit were deported to MD, MA, PA, & VA in 1755?  As Jehn, Acadians Exiles in the Colonies, 218, reveals, colonial officials in PA counted Pierre MIRE, his wife Madeleine, & 3 children in that colony in Jun 1763.  How was Pierre kin to Joachim dit Bénoni & his half-brothers?  Arsenault lists no Pierre as a brother of Joachim dit Bénoni, so we must eagerly await Stephen A. White's next installment of his DGFA to do justice to this family during Le Grand Dérangement. 

Marguerite BROUSSARD was his mother-in-law, not his wife. 

02.  Wall of Names, 23, calls him Joseph MIRE frère [of Joachim dit Bénoni]; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2558-59, calls him Joseph MIRE, says he was born in 1744, gives his parents' names, details his marriage, including his wife's parents' names, says he occupied lot number 132 on the east bank of the Mississippi at St.-Jacques in 1769, & does not list any children; BRDR, 2:548 (SGA-3, 16, #79), probably his death/burial record, calls him Joseph MIRE, but does not give his parents' names, mention a wife, or give his age at the time of his death.  

Looking at the sparseness of his burial record, one wonders if this was Joseph, père's or Joseph, fils's burial. 

03.  Wall of Names, 23, calls him Simon MIRE, & lists him with Madeleine CORMIER; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2559, calls him Simon MIRE, says he was born in 1744, gives his parents' names, says he married Madeleine CORMIER in 1766 but gives no place of marriage, gives her parents' names, says he occupied lot number 100 on the east bank of the Mississippi at St.-Jacques in 1769, lists his children as Marie-Anne, born in 1767, Joseph in 1768, Pierre in 1770, Simon in 1773, Pélagie in 1774, Isabelle in 1780, Constance in 1781, & Benjamin in 1783, but gives no birthplaces, & says he died sur sa ferme à Côte Gelée on 26 Dec 1807; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 171, & Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth Century Louisianians, 424, his marriage record, calls him Simon MIRE, & calls his wife Madelaine CORMIER; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:528 (SM Ch.: v.4, #490), his death/burial record, calls him Simon MIRE of Acadia, says he died "at his home at La Côte Gelée ... at age 70 yrs," & was buried next day, but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife; Southwest LA Records, 1-B:528 (SM Ct. Hse.: Succ. #16), calls him Simon MIRE, wid. is Magdaleine CORMIER. 

It is unlikely that his marriage at Cabanocé in Mar 1766 was merely the blessing of a marriage that already existed.  First, the ceremony was conducted not by a priest but by Cabanocé's commandant.  Second, Madeleine probably reached LA in Feb 1764 with her parents via GA & Mobile, a year before Simon arrived via Halifax & St.-Domingue.  The likely scenario is that Simon met Madeleine soon after he settled at Cabanocé.  They were married by the commandant on the same day that Madeleine's sister Marie married Michel POIRIER, another young Acadian who had recently arrived in the settlement.  

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