Bourgoies Family Research WORK IN PROGRESS: SOME CONNECTIONS HAVE NOT BEEN VERIFIED. MISPELLS ARE ON PURPOSE TO MATCH RECORDS FOUND.
Jacques Bourgeois 1621 - 1701
Jacques Bourgeois was born on January 9, 1621 in Champagne (region), Seine-et-Marne (department), Couperans-en-Brie or La Ferte-Gaucher, France. He was a surgeon and may have learned this profession from the Order of Malta, near his home in France. He arrived to join his father in Acadie in 1631 and was the military surgeon for the colony. He married Jeanne Trahan at Port Royal in 1643. His father, Jacques, was a military officer who helped Isaac de Razilly reclaim Acadie for the King of France in 1632.
In 1646, Jacques and Jeanne were granted an island called Isle aux Cochons, situated in the Dauphin River, or Annapolis River.
In 1654, Jacques Sr. received land at Port Royal, for being a soldier, but he returned to France - most likely by force. At Port Royal, Jacques Jr. became a farmer, shipbuilder, and trader. He traded with Bostonians; learning their language and becoming an interpreter for French and English. By 1670, Jacques was believed to be the wealthiest citizen in Port Royal.
In 1672, he sold a part of his land in Port Royal to settle in Chignecto Basin, where he built a flour-mil and saw-mil. This region had fertile marshes and high ground for farming. The northeast coast of the basin (Shediac) was a relay station in sea communications between Acadia and Canada for strategic commanding the isthmus and Bay of Fundy. Later, the Beaubassin region (south of Shediac and west of Chigneto) became the most prosperous places in Acadia.
Jacques died in 1701, an octogenarian. He had 10 children with Jeanne; seven girls and three boys. (Names found from various sources) Jeanne (b1644), Charles (b1646), Germain (b1650-51), Marie (b1652), Guillaume (b1655), Marguerite (b1658), Francois (b1659), Anne (b1661), Marie (b1664), Jeanne (b1659)
Charles Bourgeois 1646-1678
Charles Bourgeois married Anne Marie Dugas. They had 3 children: Charles 1673-1722, Claude 1674-1733, Anne 1678-1706
Claude Bourgeois 1674 - 1748
Claude Bourgeois married Anne Marie Blanchard about 1701. They had 10 children: Marie, Paul Bourgeois (b1705-d1760), Claude (b1707 - d1770), Joseph, Michel, Anne "Annette" (b1717), Marguerite Josephe (b1720), Olivier (b1723 - d1778), Jean-Jacques, Rosalie "Marie-Rosie" (b1732)
Pierre Paul Bourgeois 1705 - 1760
Paul Bourgeois married Marie Josephe Brun and they had 10 children:
- Paul (Pablo) 1728
- Marie-Genevieve (b1730 Beaubassin, Acadia, Canada - d1797 St. James Parish, LA)
- Pierre Paul, Jr. 1731-1797
- Marie Josephe 1733-1805
- Joseph 1736 Beaubassin, Acadia, Canada - 1812 St. James Parish, LA)
- Michel Jerome 1736-1811
- Anne Marie 1740-1805
- Scholastique (b1743)
- Pierre Bourgeois (b1745)
- Jean-Baptiste (b1748)
Paul, Joseph, Michel, Pierre, and Jean-Baptiste migrated to Louisiana, where they settled on the east bank of the Mississippi River in St. James Parish.
Joseph Bourgeois 1736 - 1812
Joseph was born in Nova Scotia, Canada in 1736. He married Marie Magdeleine Giroir. In 1759, Joseph and his family were held captive in Ristigouche. In 1761, Joseph and his family were prisoners of war at Fort Edward, Nova Scotia. In 1762, British records show that Joseph and other able-bodied Acadian men were sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia. On August 9, 1762, British records show that there were 3 members of the family captive, but the family only received food rations for 2 people.
Antoine de St. Maxent received a receipt from a New Orleans merchant for 1,681.08 livres in Canadian paper money sent to Bordeaux on behalf of the Louisiana Acadians for their loyalty to the French crown.
Joseph probably arrived with his family through New Orleans around 1765 by ship. The 1766 Census of Cabannocé shows Joseph Bourgeois, Marie Giroir (wife), Marie (daughter), and brothers: Pierre, Michel, Paul & Rosalie LeBlanc (Wife). The family occupied a tract of land measuring six arpents frontage on the left bank of the Mississippi River. Joseph Bourgeois owned one sheep and one firearm. By 1769, They owned seven cows, two horses, twenty-five hogs, and one musket.
"Others made their way to Louisiana during the mid-1760's. At least nine Bourgeois men settled on the east bank of the Mississippi River in St. James Parish. Five of these, Paul, Joseph, Michel, Pierre and Jean-Baptiste, were brothers, the sons of Paul Bourgeois and Marie-Josephe Brun, originally of Beaubassin, Acadia. From this group came a number of successful sugar planters in St. James Parish."
Note: Check census and with Historical Society about settlement on East or West bank of the Mississippi. In 1770, Joseph joined the First Company of the Acadian Coast militia unit as a fusilier under Commandant Nicolas Verret. In 1776 he served as the local churchwarden.
1777 Census showed that they purchased another arpent, for a total of 6 arpents of property, and now owned one slave, sixteen cows, and four horses.
In 1784 he joined Acadian leaders in denouncing the tyranny of the local curé. In 1786, he signed a petition with other church members about upholding church debt between priests. In 1795, he participated in a meeting of the District’s notables to discuss increasing local security in the before the abortive 1795 Pointe Coupée slave uprising. Joseph and Marie Magdeleine had 5 children: Marie (b1762), Scholastique (b1770), Celeste (b1774 in St. James Parish, LA), Joseph Simon (b 1777 in St. James Parish, LA - d1821), Pierre Paul (b1780 in St. James Parish, LA)
Joseph Simon Bourgeois 1777 - 1821
Joseph Bourgeois married Marcelite Judice and they had 8 children:
- Ovide Madeleine (b1804 in St. James Parish, LA)
- Caroline (b1806 in St. James Parish, LA)
- Aurora (1809-1856 in St. James Parish, LA)
- Hortense (b1811 in St. James Parish, LA)
- Seraphin Valcourt (b1813 in St. James Parish, LA)
- Euphemie (b1815 in St. James Parish, LA)
- Simone (b1817 in St. James Parish, LA)
- Orter Lucien Bourgeois (1820-1863 in St. James Parish, LA)
Orter Lucien Bourgeois 1820 - 1863
Lucien Bourgeois married Azelie Marie Prejean and the had 12 children:
- Marie Aurore (b1843 in Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, LA)
- Simon (b1844 in Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, LA - d1873 in Church Point, Acadia Parish, LA)
- Marie Armine (b1846 in Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, LA)
- Joseph Homer (b1848 in Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, LA)
- Marie Ermisa (b1851 in Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, LA)
- Marie Felonise (b1853 in Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, LA - d1855 in Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, LA)
- Lucien Oscar (b1854)
- Hortense (b1856 in Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, LA - d1875 in Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, LA)
- Joseph Seraphin (b1858 in Lafayette, LA - d1862 in Bois Malett, LA)
- Clementine (b1860)
- Paul Desthe (1862-1944 in Iota, LA)
- Clairville (b1864 in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, LA - d1887 in Church Point, Acadia Parish, LA)
Paul Deste Bourgeois 1862 - 1944
Paul Deste Bourgeois married Olivia Olivier and had 3 children: Eva (b1882), Paul (1883 - 1884), Angela (b1885 - d1943)
Then married Anastasie Lavergne and had 10 children:
- Joseph Walter (b1889 LA - d1949 LA)
- Pierre (b1891 - d1891)
- Seraphim (b1892 - d1919)
- Orter (b1894 - d1894)
- Ludovic (b1896 in Church Point, LA - d1867 in Crowley, LA)
- Samuel (b1898 - d1961)
- Martin Deste (b1901 in Lawtell, LA - d1964 in Lafayette, LA)
- Alphonse (b1904 LA - d1932 LA)
- Marie Aurore (b1906 - d1906)
- Martha (b1909 and died the same day)
Martin D Bourgeois 1901 - 1964
Martin Bourgeois married Bessie Gatte and they had 7 children: Nella, Jimmy, Jeanette, Edward, Lynda Jane, Charles, and Jacob
Jacob Bourgeois
Jacob Bourgeois was born in Louisiana. He married Edna Mae Gotte and had 8 children: Timothy, Mark, David, Daniel, Matthew, Vincent, Rita, and Elizabeth
Timothy Bourgeois (b1953 - d2019)
Tim Bourgeois grew up in Crowley, LA. He graduated high school from LaGrange High School in Lake Charles, Louisiana. After graduation, he moved to the Deer Park area and met Janice Lynn Paschal in Houston, Texas. They got married, and had 2 children. He passed away in Lafayette, LA on December 9, 2019 of a heart attack/failure. Monica Rachell and Damon Leon
Bourgeois Family Crest
- The three colored sails and the star represent the Acadian flag
- The Franciscan cord and the ship represent the Saint Francois that brought Jacques Bourgeois to Acadia.
- Ten waves represent the ten children of Jacques Jacob Bourgeois and Jeanne Trahan.
Bourgeois Coat of Arms
- The colors represent Acadia. The horizontal wavy band represents the sea, which linked France to New France. It also alludes to Beaubassin, which was founded by the first ancestor, Jacques Bourgeois.
- The symbolism of the Acadian star requires no explanation.
- The Franciscan cord refers to the ship Saint Francois on which Jacques Bourgeois crossed the sea to settle at Port-Royal in 1641.
- The fleam identifies his profession of surgeon.
- The Maltese cross represents the Coutran Commandery of the Order of Malta at La Ferte-Gaucher. It is possible that Jacques Bourgeois received his surgeon training at the school of the Commandery.
- The motto is “Attaining the ideal together”