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A Portrait of the Family of Germain Doucet Sieur de Laverdure of France and the 1649 Will of Sieur Charles de Menou d’Aulnay

10/25/2023

 
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Portrait of Charles de Menou, Sieur d'Aulnay et de Charnisay. 19th century. See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_d%27Aulnay.jpg
A Portrait of the Family of Germain Doucet Sieur de Laverdure of France
and the 1649 Will of Sieur Charles de Menou d’Aulnay
by Deadra Doucet Bourke and Marie Rundquist
October 2023
Recently, Deadra Doucet Bourke and I had the occasion to review a number of documents which had been sent to the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry Project by a long-time member.  One in particular, originally written in 2019, in draft form, and later updated, concerned the Will of Sieur Charles de Menou d’Aulnay.

Named in d’Aulnay’s Will, which was recorded in 1649, was his close friend, Germain Doucet Sieur de Laverdure of France, b. 1595, the military commander of the French fort at Port Royal during Acadia’s earliest days. In his Will, Sieur Charles de Menou d’Aulnay expressed his greatest admiration and generosity towards his true and loyal friend, Germain Doucet of France.

By also portraying his family members and their relationships as he did in his Will, d’Aulnay, in a way, framed a “portrait” of the family of Germain Doucet as known to him at the time.

Who might d’Aulnay have included when he framed his portrait of the family of Germain Doucet Sieur de Laverdure of France in his Will?  But more importantly, who was left out?

Referencing the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project’s original 2008 finding of a Native American Y DNA haplogroup (C-P39) for a man who traced his patrilineal line to Germain Doucet b. 1641, and the test results of other Doucet men who shared the same ancestor, who were found to belong to the same Native American Y DNA haplogroup, we may exclude Germain Doucet b. 1641 from being the biological son of Germain Doucet of France, or, for that matter, the biological brother of Pierre Doucet b. 1621.   
  • The Y DNA test results of numerous male, patrilineal descendants of Germain Doucet b. 1641, as we have in the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project database, have helped us conclude that this Germain was of Native American, paternal-line ancestry, and his father, therefore, would have been a Native American (Rundquist, 2012) and not a European man.
  • Likewise, Germain Doucet b. 1641, whose male patrilineal descendants belong to a Native American Y DNA haplogroup, could not have been the biological brother of Pierre Doucet b. 1621 whose male patrilineal descendants belong to a European Y DNA subclade.  Their DNA does not match.
While the DNA results we have in the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project help us identify and categorize the different Native American and European Doucet surname lineages represented, as stewards of our heritage, we want to find out more about the “how” and “why” behind these DNA findings and their implications for the family of Germain Doucet Sieur de Laverdure of France.

And so, to add to the body of DNA evidence we have about the family of Germain Doucet of France, we share the following information a project member sent to us, in 2019, about the Will of Germain Doucet, Sieur de Laverdure’s close friend, Sieur Charles de Menou d’Aulnay,  where the author states (quoting directly from his letter):
“… To further complicate the situation, there has been no documentation found to date that even suggests that “Germain Doucet, Sieur de Laverdure”  had children of his own.

“Documentation to suggest this was the case can be found in the Will (recorded January 20, 1649 and February 20, 1649) of “Germain Doucet, Sieur de Laverdure’s” close friend, “Sieur Charles de Menou d’Aulnay.” A transcription of this will, properly entitled, “Copie du Testament Pour l’Acadie du Sieur Charles de Menou” was published on page 483 to 494 of the 1924 anthology entitled, “Revue de l’Histoire des Colonies Françaises: Douzième Année: Tome XVII,” which was published by the “Société de l’Histoire des Colonies Françaises.” There are a few extremely relevant excerpts from this Will, the first being found on page 485 of this transcription and is as follows:

“… Je la suplye d’Avoir soin de La Verdure2 et de sa femme…”

This loosely translates to:

“… I beg her to care for La Verdure2 and his wife…”

The second excerpt accords with this first excerpt. The second excerpt can be found on page 486 and is as follows:

“… c’est ce que je le conjure de tour mon cœur, le tout à l’acquitte de ma conscience. Il luy dira aussy quelques debtes de peu de consequence, et de beaucoup pourtant pour mon âme, ausquelles je le suplye de la voulloir satisfaire et de vouloir ordonner à Germain Doucet, dit La Verdure, de la paroisse de Couperans en Brie1, cinquante escus de rente pendant sa vye et celle de sa femme, en recongnoissance de l’amour qu’il m’a tousjours tesmoigné...”

This loosely translates to:

“… that is what I conjure for it from all of my heart, all to the acquittal of my conscience. He will also say a few debts of little consequence, and many yet for my soul, to which I beg him to want to satisfy and wanting to order that Germain Doucet, dit La Verdure, of the parish of Couperans en Brie1, fifty escus of annuity during his lifetime and that of his wife, I recognition of the love that he has always shown me…”

"These two excerpts are very important for a number of reasons, the first being that they inform us that “Germain Doucet, Sieur de Laverdure” had at least one wife.
"The second reason is that the second excerpt informs us that “Germain Doucet, Sieur de Laverdure” was originally from the parish of “Couperans en Brie” in France. This is important because when combined with the fact that most of the “Lejeunes” discussed throughout this report carried the “dit name” (alias) of “Briart”/“Briard,” suggests that both the progenitor of the “Lejeune dit Briard” family was also from Brie, France and may provide additional commonality between the two families. However, as previously-stated, there is no evidence to support the idea that “Germain Doucet, Sieur de Laverdure” even had children of his own.

"That being said, an excerpt found on pages 490 and 491 of this transcription of “Copie du Testament Pour l’Acadie du Sieur Charles de Menou” strongly suggests that “Germain Doucet, Sieur de Laverdure” did not have children of his own and that the original “Doucets” of early Acadia were likely his nieces and nephews that he took in or quite possibly, in the case of “Germain Doucet (1641),” adopted children. This excerpt is as follows:

“… Il me reste encore à donner quelque cognoissance pour le repos de mon âme, que je supplye ma femme de vouloir considérer et ceux qui me succéderont; c’est que je croy que La Verdure mérite d’estre continue dans sa charge pour l’amour puissant que Dieu luy à donné pour les sujets cy-dessus et pour la fidellité et tendresse qu’il a tousjours tesmoigné dans ce qui m’a tousché depuis longues années. On luy donnera, je ne luy donne que deux cent livres, mais le secours que je rend à ses nepveux et niepces et tous ceux qui luy touchent va bien à cent livres. Enfin ne prend garde de si près; il les mérite bien cent escus par an d’apointement et sa nourriture et celle de sa femme; on se doit reposer sur luy…”

This loosely translates to:

“… I still have to give some acknowledgement for the rest of my soul, that I beg my wife to want to consider and those who will succeed me; it is that I believe that La Verdure deserves to be continuous in his charge for the strong love that God gave him for the subjects above and for the fidelity and tenderness that he has always shown in what has touched me for many years. We will give him, I only give him two hundred livres, but the help I give to his nephews and nieces and all those who touch him go well to a hundred livres. Finally beware of so near; he deserves a hundred escus per year of his appointment and his food and that of his wife; we must rest on him…

"This excerpt is especially important because, as previously-mentioned, it strongly suggests that “Germain Doucet, Sieur de Laverdure” did not have any biological children. I make this assertion because in my opinion, it would be more plausible for “Sieur Charles de Menou d’Aulnay” to have left money to his good friend, Germain’s children if Germain did in fact have any children of his own rather than leaving money to Germain’s “nepveux et niepces” (“nieces and nephews”).

"Unfortunately, we may never know the names of these“nepveux et niepces” (“nieces and nephews”) however, it is my firm belief that “Pierre Doucet” and “Marguerite Doucet” were “more-than-likely” Germain Doucet, Sieur de Laverdure’s nephew and niece, respectively rather than his biological children."
So, in summary, where we find Germain, his wife, a niece, and a nephew clearly identified by d’Aulnay in his Will, which he signed in 1649, we do not find a "son," “Germain Doucet” b. 1641 or, for that matter, another "son," “Pierre Doucet” b. 1621.   There were no references to either Doucet in d’Aulney’s Will!
 
Were they to have been Germain’s "sons," as they were clearly in the picture at the time d'Aulnay drafted his Will, surely d’Aulnay, who expressed his great affection for Germain and his concern for the well-being of his wife, his niece, and nephew in his Will, would have made provisions for them. 

He did not.

The DNA evidence we have gathered to-date bears out why: Germain Doucet b. 1641 could never have been the biological son of Germain Doucet of France, and likewise, Germain Doucet b. 1641 could never have been the biological brother of Pierre, born 1621.  As we found when we referenced project data, The Y chromosome DNA of their patrilineal, male descendants does not match up!
 
For now, if not at the Louvre Museum in Paris, Sieur Charles de Menou d’Aulnay’s metaphorical portrait of “The Family of Germain Doucet Sieur de Laverdure” which he "painted" so eloquently in the text of his Will in 1649, that includes his friend, Germain Doucet of France, Germain’s wife, and Germain’s niece and nephew, hangs prominently on the wall of the Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project.
 
We plan to revisit d'Aulnay's portrait of “The Family of Germain Doucet Sieur de Laverdure” from time to time, along with the genealogies, records, and DNA results of our project members, whenever new questions about old ancestors arise.
References:
  • Société de l’Histoire des Colonies Françaises. (1924). Revue de l’Histoire des Colonies Françaises: Douzième Année: Tome XVII (17), 483-494. Retrieved from: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1062505/f489.item
  • The Acadian Amerindian Ancestry DNA Project.
  • Rundquist, M., Doucet, K. (2008). "Confirmed C3b Y DNA Test Results Test the Heritage of Cajun Cousin Keith Doucet." Family Heritage Research Community. https://www.familyheritageresearchcommunity.org/doucet_dna
  • Rundquist, M. (2012, August). "C3b Y Chromosome DNA Test Results Point to Native American Deep Ancestry, Relatedness, among United States and Canadian Study Participants." Family Heritage Research Community.
https://storage.googleapis.com/wzukusers/user-29915042/documents/5d5eae4d90580m9fQted/amerindian_ancestry_c3b_y_dna_analysis(1).pdf

Travel by Ancestry -- to Reliable Sources for French and Acadian Genealogy Research

7/23/2023

 
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The Official Flag of France
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The Official Flag of Acadia
To any family researcher who shouts, or has ever shouted, "I JUST FOUND [fill in the blank ancestor]" just when you thought you would NEVER FIND [fill in the blank ancestor] by reading through EVERY PAGE of a civil or parish register, I dedicate the following post:

I had the occasion to recommend a couple of reliable sources on Wikitree, which I cited while adding family profiles to that system.  Happily, the feedback received in response to my recommendations, appeared to be very positive.

As there is no reason why I should not share these same sources with everyone, I am publishing my recommendations along with the links to Wikitree Reliable Sources lists where they have been posted.

The sources I've recommended in this post have original scanned and digitized records, and they add to the numerous scanned and digitized census reports, civil and church registers, and other records inventories made available to us so graciously by the Canadian and Nova Scotia archives, the State of Louisiana, the Diocese of Baton Rouge, and other State organizations. 

I can't tell you how very helpful these sources are in researching and verifying the marriage, births, and deaths of our French and Acadian ancestors and how exciting it is when the name of a beloved ancestor, or two, or three, born hundreds of years ago, "pop out" (and they do have a way of "popping out") while reading through the records, in their original form. 

The birth notice for ancestor Charles Gaschet de Lisle, and one for the marriage of his parents, did "pop out" (finally!) in the Les Archives nationales d'outre-mer after paging through hundreds of records.  I felt elated, like I struck gold, when I found their names, and all of the details of their birth and marriage events as recorded in French, in the pages of antique civil registers.   That "aha" feeling was every bit worth the time it took to read through every page!

Family records appear, as recorded in the original French language, in the civil registers of Saint-Pierre, Martinique as cited below (as an aside, I find I have autosomal DNA matches in My Heritage whose families are also from Saint-Pierre, Martinique -- but to find out how we relate, exactly, is research for another day):

  • Recommend: Les Archives nationales d'outre-mer http://www.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/anom/en/index.html and particularly the IREL Digitised Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths. The scope of the database is as follows: "Territories which were at one time or another part of the French colonial empires from the XVIIth Century" may be searched by year and community. See: http://www.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/anom/en/Recherches/IREL.html You may use this system to search for the year of an event (such as a birth, a marriage, death or other civil action), and the territory where the event occurred, and then read through resulting scanned images of records as originally written in the French language (these are not transcribed). My experience was that it was surprisingly easy to search for, locate, read through the scanned image records and verify with high confidence several family genealogies using the search and reading tools provided by this system. I plan to reference it again.
  • Léa Haupaix, a manager of the Wikitree France Project Reliable Sources page, wrote in a public response to my recommendation, "Thank you M, they are listed under the "archives départementales" for parish records and they are the very first source we recommend!"  So, good news all around, and use that source with confidence!  Here's where you may find the listing for the "archives départementales" and other sources :  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:France_Project_Reliable_Sources

Moving on to the Acadians.  I have added my mtDNA-proven matrilineal line, and other related ancestors, starting with me (Wikitree profile M. Asselia Rundquist) and tracing all the way back, from mother to mother, to ancestor Anne Marie Mi'kmaq in Wikitree, and have of course, included my ancestors who were exiled to the State of Maryland.  While editing a profile of Angelique David, one of my direct ancestors in my matrilineal line, I referenced the AcadiansWereHere.org website where we have a county map and scanned images of the 1763 census taken in Colonial Maryland.

  • Recommend: the Acadians Were Here website (https://acadianswerehere.org) and most specifically a map on the Home Page that shows where Acadian exiles were enumerated in census lists taken in Colonial Maryland in 1763 (which are also on the site).  I happily received the following response from a Wikitree Acadians Project manager after giving the site as a reference:
  • Gisèle Cormier an Acadian Project leader on Wikitree, replied in a public comment, "Thank you for your edits and for the link to the excellent "Acadians Were Here" website. It has been added to the Acadians Reliable Sources page."  That was great news, and I am very pleased that the site was added to this page!

I invite you to research both of these recommended sources with confidence, enjoy using the reliable sources pages referenced in the post, and have a great time researching ancestry!
    Marie Rundquist
    Marie Rundquist, Author
    [email protected]

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