Acadian Families
The LaVache family is Acadian in origin, and although
deported to France from its refuge in Prince Edward Island in 1758, and nearly
exterminated by a most tragic series of deaths in exile, it managed to re-establish
itself in Nova Scotia in 1774.
The earliest known record of the LaVache family is
the 1750 baptism of one of Francois LaVache's
grandchildren at Port Lajoie, Ile St. Jean (Charlottetown,P.E.I.).
The family apparently came to Ile St. Jean earlier that year from "Acadia",the
Nova Scotian penninsula. The LaVache family is not mentioned in existing records
of the old Acadian parishes, however, and the family's precise originsare
thus unknown. Tradition has it that the family name was changed but does not
indicate what it was formerly .Firmin Gregoire LaVache was deported with the
rest of the family in 1758, and in 1766 he was godfather for a Firmin Gregoire
Landry at Boulogne sur Mer.
In 1772 Gregoire and his brother, Jean-Baptiste LaVache, were navigators at
St. Malo. They intended to go to the Acadian settlement planned for Poitou,but
took passage to Cape Breton with the Robins who were then building theirsalt
-fish trade out of Arichat and Paspebiac, P.Q.
Tradition holds that they were "smuggled in" from France. This accurately
reflects the attitude of the British authorities towards the twenty Acadians
whom the Jerseymen brought to Arichat from St. Malo earlyin 1774. Gregoire
signed the address of the seventy Acadian heads of families on Isle Madame
to Lt. Govenor DesBarres, March 8, 1786.
On April 13, 1804, Gregoire received a crown lease of 106 acres at Arichat.He
mortgaged this land December 13, 1822, to the merchants Philip and Francis
Janvrin, excepting a strip on which Francois LaVache, ( persumably one ofhis
sons) then resided. Gregoire and his wife both "over sixty"were
listed at Arichat in 1811 census. He was listed as a fisher man at that time.
Also in his household were another male and female over sixty, and a male
and female under fourteen.
Francois LaVache was a mariner. In 1830 he partitioned for a crown grant of
land inherited from 'his late father', Gregoire, who had held the same by
crown lease. In 1832 Francois sold thirty two acres of his land to thewidow
Angelique Forest (his sister ) and another eighteen acres to MichelTheriault
(his other sisters' husband)
LaVache Genealogy
Continued
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