Mathe
The Mathe journey to Mattie Settlement was set out in considerable detail in “The Legacy of Frederick & Charlotte Mattie” composed by Andrew & Fred Delorey and Marie Mathe with assistance from Lloyd Boucher in celebration of a Mattie Family Reunion in 2001.
Today there are relatively few families bearing the Mattie surname in Havre Boucher but over the years, many of our pioneer settlors took Mattie girls as their bride so the Mathe lineage runs strong in the maternal ancestry of present day residents of Havre Boucher.
Alexandre Mathe came to Nova Scotia in the last quarter of the 1700’s. We know he was from France because Edma Rameau, the renowned historian from France in the mid 18oo’s said so.
In the 1770s a Jerseyman named Charles Robbin had a series of fishing places all along the coast of Ile Royale (Cape Breton). He hired a number of his compatriots to come with him, Alexandre Mathe being one of them.
Then Mathe needed a bride. At Tracadie, there was a family named Benoit. Alexandre met and married Marie-Jeanne Benoit about 1785 in Tracadie, Nova Scotia. She was a daughter pf Pierre Benoit, Commonly referred to as the first settlor in Tracadie and his wife Victoire Dugas, formerly of River Inhabitants.
Alexandre Mathe and Marie-Jeanne had five children before Aleaxandre died in 1799. The following year, Marie-Jeanne married Louis Meunier and went on to have five more children.
The five children from Alexandre’s marriage to Marie-Jeanne Benoit are the progenitors of virtually all of the Mattie descendants with roots in our community.
- Alexandre Mathe, born about 1786 married Osite Ursule Briand of Harbour au Bouchie in 1815 in Tracadie. Osite was born about 1798 in St. Pierre et Miquelon, the daughter of Francoise Celestin Briand and Francoise D’Orley. She died in 1878 in Mattie Settlement.
- Susanne Mathe, born about 1790 married Basil Gautrot of Mattie Settlement in 1813 in Tracadie. Basile was born about 1787 in Tracadie, the son of Basile Gauthreau and Marie Maeleine Girouard.
- Moise ‘Maurice’ Mathe born about 1793 married Marie Bushey of Harbour au Bouchie in 1817. Marie was born about 1798, the daughter of Paul Bushey and Pelagie Coste, pioneer settlors of Harbour au Bouchie.
- Isabelle Mathe, born about 1706 married Louis Perrault of Tracadie in 1815 in Tracadie. Louis was born about 1793 in Harbour au Bouchie, the son of Louis Perrault and Theotiste Charpentier.
- Elie ‘Charles’ Mathe born about 1798 married Ursule Cote in 1825 Tracadie. Ursule was born about 1803, the daughter of Pierre Cote and Marguerite Charpentier.