Dave Arsenault's Genealogy and History Pages

Children of Joseph and Marguerite were [2] :

1. Marie-Rose or Rosalie Arseneault, born circa 1760. Married Jean-Baptiste-Michel Lepage.
2. Jean-Baptiste Arseneault, born circa 1762 at Bonaventure. Married Anne Blanche Robichaud circa 1782.
3. JNicolas Arseneault, born ????. Married Geneviève Bourdages 1788.
4. Grégoire Arseneault born 1795, at Bonaventure. Married Théotiste Bourg.
5. Marguerite Arseneault, born circa 1768, Bonaventure. Married Charles Cavanagh 1784.

Family History Details

Alternate spellings for the Joseph Arseneault family in this period included Arseneau and Arsenot. Alternate spellings for the Bujold family during this period include Bugeaud.

Joseph Arseneault grew up at the Arseneault family farm at Mésagouèche (Missaquash) Point, Beaubassin, that had been first farmed by his maternal grandparents Emmanuel & Marguerite Mirande, then by his paternal grandparents Pierre & Marie Arsenaut, then by his parents Charles & Françoise Arsenaut, and from about 1745 to 1750, by his brother-in-law Pierre Derayer (husband of Joseph's sister Françoise Arsenault. Joseph's father Charles died when Joseph was about six years old, so he would have been raised mainly by his mother and older siblings, and later Pierre Derayer [19].

Joseph and the Derayers, along with three young Poirier nephews (sons of Joseph's widowed and remarried sister Marguerite Arseneault), were still living at the Arseneault farmstead in 1750 when the Mésagouèche village was burned down. They became refugees along with the other residents of the village. They were likely initially in the vicinity of Fort Beausejour, and later sought refuge at the community of Le Haut Tintamarre (today Upper Sackville, New Brunswick) at the homes of Joseph's brother Claude Arseneault and sister Marguerite (now Bernard).

In 1753, Joseph travelled to Port Royal and married his first wife, Marie-Josephe Gaudet, and then started a home back at Le Haut Tintamarre not far from his siblings. Marie-Josephe Gaudet died only two years after marriage. [2] [19]

In 1755, Colonel Monckton and his English troops arrived in the Tintamarre area to capture the Acadians there and burn these villages, but most including Joseph Arseneault were able to flee the villages before the army arrived [19]. By this time, the British soldiers were under orders to capture all Acadians for imprisonment and expulsion, so the refugees of Beaubassin now became fugitives. [19]

The specific whereabouts of most of the fugitive Acadians in the period 1755 to 1760, including Joseph and Marguerite, is unknown. Many of the fugitive Acadians made their way to various places in New Brunswick, Ile St. Jean (today PEI), Ile Royale (tday Cape Breton), or Québec, all of which (except the southern-most parts of New Brunswick) were still held by the France in 1756. These were hard years and many fugitive Acadians died of starvation and disease during the harsh winters. Some surrendered themselves to the British rather than starve to death. Other Acadian men formed bands of resistance fighters, living in the woods and periodically skirmishing with the British soldiers. By 1760 (probably in 1758), Joseph and Marguerite were married and living at Ristigouche (then part of New France), on the Baie des Chaleurs. Joseph's brother Jean Arseneault was also there with his own family. The Arseneaults were probably among the estimated 800 Acadian refugees who were evacuated from Ile St. Jean and the Miramichi region of New Brunswick in 1758 by French ships. [20]

It is not unknown whether Joseph married his second wife before fleeing Le Haut Tintamarre, at Ristigouche, or somewhere on their journey in between.

Joseph likely participated in the Battle of Ristigouche (1760) against the English, the last naval battle of the French vs. English in North America (end of the Seven Years War).

At Bonaventure, Joseph and other Acadian settlers (including the Bernards, Bourgs and Bujolds) obtained permission from Québec authorities to farm land near Bonaventure. It seems that the ownership of the land was in dispute for some years, as the same land had also been granted to some absentee landowners. There exist a number of letters and records dating between 1789 and 1796, some signed by Joseph, related to the status of land farmed by this group of pioneers and their attempts to gain permanent title to it. The landowners eventually relinquished their rights to the property in question. More details can be found here. [6]

Joseph was a captain of the local militia [2].

Joseph's brother Jean was also born somewhere around 1733 (date unknown) and bore the same nickname as Joseph - - pehaps they were twins. Like Joseph, Jean and his family were also at Ristigouche and also settled at Bonaventure.