Early Settlement
The journey to Havre Boucher was laden with hardship and heartbreak for many of the pioneer settlors. A number of our ancestral families began their North American resettlement in Port Royale, a settlement on the site of present day Annapolis Royal. The early Acadians built the first dykes in North America and cultivated the fertile reclaimed salt marshes. The peaceful coexistence between the early French settlors and the Mi’Kmaw natives was frequently disturbed by recurring skirmishes between England and France for ownership and control of these newly discovered lands rich with natural resources. The signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 is a significant demarcation. Under the terms of that Treaty, France ceded Acadia, Newfoundland and Hudson Bay to England, while France kept Ile Royale (Cape Breton) and Ile Saint Jean (Prince Edward Island). This left many early Acadian families in a vulnerable position. Families with surnames Benoit, Breau, Coste, Fougere, Petitpas and Samson are found in the 1752 census of the Port Toulouse (St. Peter’s) area of Ile Royale. The Pellerin family left Port Royale and traveled through Pisiquit (Windsor, NS) before ending up in Chezzetcook. The Roy family left Port Royale and travelled through Point St, Anne (Fredericton, NB) before ending up in Chezzetcook with some Roy family members imprisoned for a brief period at Halifax.

Acadians at work in the field (from a painting by Claude Picard)
Thomas Deslauriers (originally Jacquet) also from Normandy, France came to Quebec with the French Army about 1750 and following defeat by the British in 1760, rather than return to France, Thomas left the army and relocated his family to Isle Madame about 1763.

A typical early Acadian house (from a painting by Azor Vienneau)
The British authorities gave displaced Acadians permission to resettle in Nova Scotia but they could not settle on lands they once occupied and they could not concentrate in large numbers. This led to settlement in three harbour locations, Tracadie, Harbour au Bouche and Pomquet between 1776 and 1790. The Pierre Benoit family was the first to arrive in the area in 1776 followed by the Bonnevies, the Deslauriers and the Fougeres (who later moved to Havre Boucher). Pierre Benoit built a log house on the eastern point of Tracadie Harbour called, to this day, Cemetery Point. Benoit was a great friend of the Mi’kmaq, over whom he exercised considerable influence. He spoke their language fluently and was, on occasions, their interpreter with the missionaries and others. A large number of the early settlors in Havre Boucher were descendants of the Acadians who had relocated from Port Royal to Ile Royale (Cape Breton) in the early 1700’s. The Pellerin family also originally from Port Royale arrived about 1808 when Paul Pellerin of Chezzetcook married Marie Coste of Havre Boucher and settled there.
In 1785 a tract of land measuring 170 acres was granted to Paul Bushee, and a tract of land measuring 100 acres was granted to Philistin Coste in what was to become Harbour au Bouche. Paul Bushee was married to Pelagie Coste, a sister to Philistin. These two families are generally regarded as being the first two permanent family settlements in Havre Boucher but we know that other Acadian families were already arriving in the area. In a letter written in 1787 by Father Phalen, a missionary at Arichat in which he said that while traveling from Prince Edward Island to Arichat, he intended to visit two French settlements containing nine or ten families near the Gut of Canso.
The circumstances that brought Jean Baptiste Melon and Marc Crispo to Havre Boucher in the 1790’s are less than clear. One possibility links their arrival with the return of fisheries merchant Charles Robbins from the Jersey Islands to Isle Madame in the 1790’s bringing a workforce of unmarried men which may have included Jean Baptiste Melon. Also during that same time period, Charles Robbins was trading with Basque fishing crews which may have included Marc Crispo who was seeking passage to the new world. In later years, the Mathe and DeGruchy families also travelled through the Jersey Islands before relocating in the new world.
To deal with the provincial debt the Nova Scotia legislature passed a Poll Tax Act in 1791 which levied a capitation tax on all adult males. The amount of tax was based on a person’s employment and their ownership of cattle and sheep. The poll tax of 1794 revealed the following families as settlers in the area:
Lazare Benoit m. Marguerite Landry
Joseph Benoit m. Rosalie Doiron
Paul Bushee m. Pelagie Coste
Thomas Bushee m. Judith Deslauriers
Policarpe Bushee m. Rosalie Forgeron
Simon Bushee m. Olivette Petitpas
Fidele Bushee m. Jeanne Benoit
Honore Boucher m. Marie Benoit
Louis Boucher m. Angelique Bellefontaine
Georges Charpentier m. 1 Anne Cyr (deceased)
Alexandre Charpentier m. Olive Victoire D’Aigle
Michel m. Adelaide Deslauriers
Georges Charpentier m. 2 Marguerite-Joseph Henry
Louis Charpentier m. Angelique Petitpas
Marguerite-Josephe Henry m. Gregoire D’Aigle
Francoise-Jeanne Daigle m. Michael Webb
Claude Coste m. Marguerite Vigneau
Jacques Coste m. Archange Langlois
Jean Coste m. Ludivine Benoit
Felicien Coste m. Marie Langlois
Joseph Fougere m. Marguerite Coste
Jean-Baptiste Fougere m. Marguerite Deslauriers
Joseph Fougere m. Apoline Boucher
Charles Fougere m. Marie-Modest Richard
Marcel Fougere m. Anne-Charlotte Richard
Jacques Fougere m. Madeleine Petitpas
Joseph Langlois m. Henriette Langlois
Francois Langlois m. Angelique Boucher
Abraham Lavandier m. Genevieve Benard
Charles LeBlanc m. Marie Daigle
Paul Manette m. Anne Lavandier
Pierre-Paul Lavandier m. Martha Fougere
Charles Lavandier m. Therese Fougere
Jean (de Dieu) Lavandier m. Ursule Meunier
Basile Lavandier m. Marine Deslauriers
Pierre Lavandier m. Marguerite Langlois
Charles LeBlanc m. Marie D’Aigle
Rosalie m. Louis-Francois Briand
Paul Manet m. Anne Lavandier
Luc Manet m. Anne Lavandier
Many residents of Havre Boucher descend from these early settlers as is evidenced by surnames that persist to this day.
In the 1790’s the cultural barriers between the early Acadians and newly arriving Celtic immigrants resulted in a peaceful coexistence and occasional marriages. Michael Webb, an English sea captain sailing out of Massachusetts befriended the Daigle family and married their daughter Jeanette Francoise about 1791. In 1799, shortly after their arrival from Connecticut the McKeough family with roots in County Roscommon, Ireland acquired 550 acres of land from Jean Baptiste Coste and relocated from Lakevale near Antigonish to Little Tracadie (Linwood, NS). About 1851, the Corbett family with roots in County Tipperary, Ireland relocated from Malignant Cove, Antigonish County to Havre Boucher.
The descendancy charts on this website include a number of significant family relationships and surnames that may not have been included among the “Pioneer Families” but who nonetheless have and continue to contribute in a very meaningful way to the lifeblood of our community.
Many residents of Havre Boucher descend from these early settlers as is evidenced by surnames that persist to this day. The sustenance of these early settlers and the economy of the area was very much rooted in the natural resources of the area for the entire 19th century. The nearby ocean provided an abundant fishery, crops were planted as the lands were cleared and cultivated and the bountiful forests provided wildlife for food and lumber for somewhat primitive homes and shipbuilding. Towards the mid nineteenth century, the industrious, hard working seafarers began venturing to and working on vessels sailing out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. This led to an outmigration in the later part of the nineteenth century that fractured many families as young men and women left Nova Scotia to work as labourers and domestics in the rapidly growing industrial economy in the Boston area. A second wave of outmigration occurred in the early twentieth century as many young men and women again left the area to work in the automotive plants of Michigan. Interspersed with this out migration was the loss of many brave young men in World War I and World War II. Through all of this family separation and hardship, the tight knit community fabric of Havre Boucher has prevailed.