First Acadians (Cajuns) of Louisiana

The objective of this project is to identify all profiles that arrived in Louisiana as a result of the Le Grand Dérangement.

Many are ancestors of the first four documented Acadians in Louisiana in 1764, Jean-Baptiste Cormier, Jean Poirier, Jean Richard, and Olivier Landry. These four were followed by Joseph Broussard who lead the first 200 Acadians to Louisiana on February 27, 1765 aboard the Santo Domingo. These are the true Acadians of Louisiana better known as Cajuns.

From an analysis of church records, Albert J. Robichaux, Jr. identified the four families and 18 of the individuals as (Louisiana Genealogical Register, December 1985 p. 323):

• Jean Poirier and his wife Madeleine Richard
• Jean Baptiste Poirier, their son
• Joseph Poirier, their son
• Michel Poirier, of unknown relationship
• Jean Richard and his wife Catherine Cormier
• Joseph Richard, their daughter (sic)
• Rosalie Richard, their daughter
• Jean-Marie Richard, their son
• Jean-Baptiste Cormier and his wife Marie-Magdeleine Richard
• Anastasie Cormier, their daughter
• Marie Cormier, their daughter
• Marguerite Cormier, their daughter
• Olivier Landry and his wife Cecile Poirier
• Jean-Antoine Landry, their son

While it is possible that some Acadians did arrive prior to 1755 and in-between 1755-1764, the first documented group of Acadians [4 families: 20 individuals] arrived in New Orleans in February 1764 from New York after a brief stop in Mobile, Alabama where Jean Poirier and Magdeleine Richard were married on January 22, 1764. The arrival was documented in a letter dated April 6, 1764 from Governor D'Abbadie to his superior in France. They were settled along the Mississippi River in present day St. James in the area of the vacant lands between Verret's plantation and Jacquelin's cow ranch. [Source for location: pages 60 (map), 64 & 68-69 of Vacherie by Elton Oubre]. Note: The early census records use the terms "left bank" and "right bank" of the Mississippi River instead of East Bank and West Bank. This has caused some confusion and some location errors because most persons use North when thinking about East [right] and West [left]. The direction for rivers, however, is based upon the direction it is flowing. The Mississippi flows south toward the mouth below New Orleans so the Left Bank was East and the Right Bank was West! The 1764 group was followed in late February 1765 by a group of about 200 Acadian refugees from detention camps at Halifax via St. Domingue [Haiti] led by Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil. The arrival of this group was reported in a letter dated February 25, 1765 by Aubry [The Acadian Miracle by Dudley J. LeBlanc, p. 318] which read in part:

"Two hundred Acadian men, women and children, repelled by the climate of San Domingo, have just disembarked here and will actually die from want if they do not receive succor..."

Cajuns (pronounced /ˈkeɪdʒən/; French: les Cadiens or les Acadiens, [le kadjɛ̃, le zakadjɛ̃]) are an ethnic group mainly living in Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles (French-speaking settlers from Acadia in what are now the maritime provinces of Canada - New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island). Today, the Cajuns make up a significant portion of south Louisiana's population, and have exerted an enormous impact on the state's culture.

The Cajuns retain a unique dialect of the French language and numerous other cultural traits that distinguish them as an ethnic group. Cajuns were officially recognized by the U.S. government as a national ethnic group in 1980 per a discrimination lawsuit filed in federal district court. Presided over by Judge Edwin Hunter, the case, known as Roach v. Dresser Industries Valve and Instrument Division (494 F.Supp. 215, D.C. La., 1980), hinged on the issue of the Cajuns' ethnicity. Significantly, Judge Hunter held in his ruling that:

“ We conclude that plaintiff is protected by Title VII's ban on national origin discrimination. The Louisiana Acadian (Cajun) is alive and well. He is 'up front' and 'main stream.' He is not asking for any special treatment. By affording coverage under the 'national origin' clause of Title VII he is afforded no special privilege. He is given only the same protection as those with English, Spanish, French, Iranian, Portuguese, Mexican, Italian, Irish, et al., ancestors.

Acadian Communities in Louisiana as they existed at the time of the first Acadians arrival to present-day Louisiana: Louisiana was under Spanish rule (1762-March 1801) at which time many records were recorded in Spanish (Hence the Spanish names often associated with French names). Louisiana was known as New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain, or Kingdom of New Spain. Original name (present-day name)

• Natchitoches (Natchitoches, Natchitoches Parish)
• Fort de Mississippi, also called Fort de la Boulaye and Fort Iberville (near Phoenix, Plaquemines Parish)
• New Orleans (New Orleans, Orleans Parish)
• Le Poste de Pointe Coupée or Pointe Coupée (Pointe Coupee, Pointe Coupee Parish)
• St. Jacques de Cabahanoce or Cabanocé or St Jacques (St James, St James Parish)
• Poste des Attakapas or Attakapas (St Martinville, St Martin Parish)
• Poste des Opelousas or Opelousas (Washington, St Landry Parish)
• Fort St-Gabriel or St.-Gabriel d'Iberville or St.-Gabriel (St Gabriel, Iberville Parish)
• Fort Rosalie or San Luìs de Natchez (near present-day Vidalia, Concordia Parish)
• Baton Rouge (Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish)
• La Conception or Nueva Gálvez or San Bernardo or St. Bernard (Saint Bernard, St. Bernard Parish)
• Valenzuéla (near present Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish)
• Ascension (Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish)
• Plattenville (Plattenville, Assumption Parish)
• Bayou des Écores or Feliciana (Thompson Creek, West Feliciana Parish)
• La Chapelle (Abbeville, Vermillion Parish)
• Côte Gelée or Prairie Côte Gelée (Broussard, Lafayette Parish)
• Carencro Prairie or Carencro (Carencro, St Landry Parish)
• Plaquemine Brûlé (Church Point, Acadia Parish)
• Bayou Terrebonne (Houma, Terrebonne Parish)
• Fausse Pointe or Dugasville (Loreauville, Iberia Parish)
• Bayou Lafourche (Napoleonville, Assumption Parish)

The timeline used for dates of Louisiana's settlement is as follow: [English name]

• La Louisiane [Louisiana] or La Louisiane Française [French Louisiana], Nouvelle France [New France]: 1682 - 20 April 1764
• La Luisiana [Spanish Louisiana], Nueva España [New Spain]: 21 April 1764 - 21 March 1801
• La Louisiane [Louisiana] or La Louisiane Française [French Louisiana], Nouvelle France [New France]: 22 March 1801 - 3 July 1803
• Vente de la Louisiane [Louisiana Purchase], United States Territory: 4 July 1803 - 30 September 1804
• Territory of Orleans or Orleans Territory, United States Territory: 1 October 1804 - 29 April 1812
• Louisiana, United States: 30 April 1812

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The timeline used for creation of parishes in Louisiana (Maps are from https://mapgeeks.org)

• 10 April 1805 - Territory of Orleans - After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the territorial legislative council divided the Territory of Orleans into 12 counties:
  • Acadia County
  • Attakapas County - existed from 1805 to 1811
  • Concordia County
  • German Coast County - existed from 1805 to 1807
  • Iberville County
  • Lafourche County
  • Natchitoches County
  • Opelousas County - renamed to St. Landry Parish in 1805
  • Orleans County
  • Ouachita County
  • Pointe Coupee County
  • Rapides County

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• 31 March 1807 - Territory of Orleans - the territorial legislature created 19 parishes:
  • Ascension Parish
  • Assumption Parish
  • Attakapas Parish - In 1811, the parish was divided into St. Martin and St. Mary parishes
  • Avoyelles Parish
  • Baton Rouge Parish
  • Concordia Parish
  • Iberville Parish
  • Interior Parish - present parishes of Lafourche and Terrebonne
  • Natchitoches Parish
  • Orleans Parish
  • Ouachita Parish
  • Plaquemines Parish
  • Pointe Coupee Parish
  • Rapides Parish
  • St. Bernard Parish
  • St. Charles Parish
  • St. James Parish
  • St. John the Baptist Parish
  • St. Landry Parish

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• 23 March 1808 - Territory of Orleans:
  • Catahoula Parish established - created from part of Rapids and Ouachita parishes

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• 1809 - Territory of Orleans:
  • Concordia parish expanded taking part of Ouachita parish

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• 27 October 1810 - Territory of Orleans
  • St Tammany Parish established
• 1810 - Territory of Orleans
  • St Helena Parish established
  • East Baton Rouge Parish established from West Florida region, which had been seized from Spain by the United States earlier in the year
  • Feliciana Parish created from West Florida territory. In 1824, it was divided into East Feliciana Parish and West Feliciana Parish

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• 1811 - Territory of Orleans
  • St. Mary Parish created from part of Attakapas Parish
  • St. Martin parish created from part of Attakapas Parish
  • Warren Parish created from part of Concordia Parish, and merged into Concordia Parish and Ouachita Parish in 1814
  • Biloxi Parish created from West Florida territory. It was eliminated in 1812 when it was transferred to the Mississippi Territory
  • Pascagoula Parish created from West Florida territory. It was eliminated in 1812 when it was transferred to the Mississippi Territory

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• 1812 - Louisiana ... statehood
  • Baton Parish Parish renamed West Baton Rouge Parish
  • Interior Parish renamed Lafourche Interior Parish

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• 1814 - Louisiana
  • Warren Parish merged into Concordia and Ouachita Parishes
  • Catahoula Parish exchanged territory with Ouachita Parish
  • Concordia Parish gained territory from Ouachita Parish
  • Avoyelles Parish exchanged territory with St. Landry Parish

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• 1819 - Louisiana
  • Western boundary as well as the Florida Parishes boundary dispute settled with Spain
  • Washington Parish created from part of St. Tammany Parish

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• 1822 - Louisiana
  • Terrebonne Parish created from part of Lafourche Interior Parish

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• 1823 - Louisiana
  • Lafayette Parish created from part of St. Martin Parish

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• 1824 - Louisiana
  • East Feliciana Parish created from part of Feliciana Parish
  • West Feliciana Parish created from part of Feliciana Parish

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• 1825 - Louisiana
  • Jefferson Parish created from part of Orleans Parish
  • Iberville Parish gained territory from West Baton Rouge Parish
  • West Baton Rouge Parish and Pointe Coupee Parish exchanged territory

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• 15 March 1828 - Louisiana
  • Claiborne Parish created from part of Natchitoches Parish
• 1828
  • Catahoula Parish exchanged territory with Ouachita Parish

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• 10 February 1832 - Louisiana
  • Livingston Parish created from part of St. Helena Parish

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• 1838 - Louisiana
  • Ascension and Assumption parishes gained territory from St. James Parish
  • Caldwell Parish created from part of Catahoula and Ouachita Parishes
  • Madison Parish created from part of Concordia parish
  • Carroll Parish created from part of Ouachita Parish
  • East Feliciana Parish exchange territory with East Baton Rouge Parish
• 18 January 1838 - Louisiana
  • Caddo Parish created from part of Natchitoches Parish

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• 3 March 1839 - Louisiana
  • Union Parish created from part of Ouachita Parish

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• 24 March 1840 - Louisiana
  • Calcasieu Parish created from part of St. Landry Parish

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• 1843 - Louisiana
  • Desoto Parish created from parts of Natchitoches and Caddo Parishes
  • Franklin Parish created from parts of Catahoula, Madison, Carroll and Ouachita parishes
  • Assumption and Iberville Parishes gained territory from Ascension Parish
  • Rapids Parish gained territory from Natchitoches and Avoyelles Parishes
  • Catahoula Parish gained territory from Avoyelles Parish
  • Livingston Parish gained territory from Ascension Parish
  • Iberville Parish gained territory from St. Martin Parish
• 24 February 1843 - Louisiana
  • Bossier Parish created from part of Claiborne Parish
• 17 March 1843 - Louisiana
  • Tensas Parish created from part of Concordia Parish
• 27 March 1843 - Louisiana
  • Sabine Parish created from part of Natchitoches and Caddo Parishes, with the Sabine River as the international boundary between the United States and the Republic of Texas as the western boundary

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• 1844 - Louisiana
  • Morehouse Parish created from part of Carroll and Ouachita parishes
  • Vermilion Parish created from part of Lafayette Parish

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• 1845 - Louisiana
  • Louisiana counties, created in 1805, abolished
  • Jackson Parish created from parts of Claiborne, Ouachita, and Union Parishes

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• 14 March 1848 - Louisiana
  • Bienville Parish created from part of Claiborne Parish

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• 24 February 1852 - Louisiana
  • Winn Parish created from lands which had belonged to the parishes of Catahoula, Natchitoches, and Rapides
  • Pointe Coupee Parish gained territory from West Baton Rouge and Iberville Parishes
  • Iberville Parish gained territory from West Baton Rouge parish
  • St. Martin Parish gained territory from Iberville Parish
  • Rapides Parish gained territory from Calcasieu and St. Landry parishes

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• 1853 - Louisiana
  • Lafourche Interior Parish renamed Lafourche Parish

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• 1868 - Louisiana
  • Franklin Parish gained territory from Tensas Parish
  • Tensas Parish gained territory from Madison Parish
• 29 September 29 1868 - Louisiana
  • Richland Parish created from parts of Carroll, Ouachita, Franklin and Morehouse Parishes
• 30 October 1868 - Louisiana
  • Iberia Parish created from parts of St. Martin and St. Mary Parishes

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• 1869 - Louisiana
  • Grant Parish created from part of Rapides and Winn Parishes
• 6 March 1869 - Louisiana
  • Tangipahoa Parish created by Louisiana Act 85 on March 6, 1869, during the Reconstruction era. The parish was assembled from territories taken from Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, and Washington Parishes

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• 1870 - Louisiana
  • Cameron Parish created from portions of Calcasieu and Vermilion parishes

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• 2 March 1871 -Louisiana
  • Red River Parish created from parts of Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Desoto and Natchitoches Parishes (Reconstruction parish)
• 1871 - Louisiana
  • Vernon Parish created from parts of Natchitoches, Rapides and Sabine Parishes
  • Webster Parish created from parts of Bienville, Bossier, Claiborne Parishes

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• 1873 - Louisiana
  • Lincoln Parish created from parts of Bienville, Claiborne, Union, and Jackson parishes (Reconstruction parish). Its boundaries have changed only once (in 1877)
  • Franklin Parish gained territory from Catahoula Parish
  • St. Bernard Parish gained territory from Orleans Parish

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• 26 March 1877 - Louisiana
  • East Carrol Parish created from part of the now defunct Warren Parish and the original Carroll Parish (Reconstruction parish)
  • West Carrol Parish created from part of the original Carroll Parish (Reconstruction parish)

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• 30 June 1886 - Louisiana
  • Acadia Parish created from parts of St. Landry Parish

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• 1908 - Louisiana
  • Lasalle Parish gained territory from Catahoula Parish
  • Acadia Parish gained territory from Lafayette Parish

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• 1910 - Louisiana
  • Evangeline Parish gained territory from St. Landry Parish

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• 1912 - Louisiana
  • Allen Parish created from north-eastern part of Imperial Calcasieu Parish
• 1 January 1913 - Louisiana
  • Beauregard Parish created from the north-western area of Imperial Calcasieu Parish
  • Jefferson Davis parish created from south-eastern part of Imperial Calcasieu Parish

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• 1928 - Louisiana
  • St. John the Baptist Parish gained territory from St. James and Ascension Parishes

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• 1955 - Louisiana
  • Rapides Parish exchanged territory with Natchitoches Parish

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• 1960 - Louisiana
  • Lafourche Parish exchanged territory with Terrebonne Parish

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• 1990 - Louisiana
  • Lafourche Parish gained territory from Jefferson Parish

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