Our Early Acadian Ancestor: Michel Richard dit Sansoucy

Oferit de

Acadians Who Found Refuge in Louisiana, February 1764-early 1800s

by Steven A. Cormier

Richard is a common surname in France, so it is not surprising that there were several Richards who came to Acadia:

First came Michel Richard dit Sansoucy, born in the Saintonge region of France in c1630. He appeared at Port-Royal in the early as a young soldier in the entourage of Emmanuel Le Borgne de Bélisle. According to one source, Michel's dit was a regimental nickname, Sansoucy, is interpreted as carefree or free of worries.

When his term of service ended, he remained in the colony, took up farming, obtained two grants of land from Le Borgne "at some ten to fifteen miles from the fort" on the upper Rivière au Dauphin, now the Annapolis River, and married Madeleine, daughter of Jean Blanchard, at Port-Royal in c1656. He and Madeleine had 10 children, including four sons, all born at Port-Royal, who created families of their own. Their six daughters married into the Broussard, Thériot, Babin, Vincent, Forest, and LeBlanc families. Madeleine died by c1683. Michel remarried to Jeanne, daughter of Antoine Babin, at Port-Royal. Jeanne gave the old soldier two more children, both of them sons, also born at Port-Royal, who also created families of their own:

Oldest son René dit Beaupré, by his first wife, born in c1657, married Madeleine, daughter of René Landry l'aîné, at Port-Royal in c1680. They had five children, including three sons who married into the Bourgeois, Girouard, and Thériot families. Their daughter married into the Dupuis family. René died at Port-Royal, date unrecorded.

Pierre, by his first wife, born in c1661, married Marguerite, another daughter of René Landry l'aîné, at Port-Royal in c1686. By the early 1790s they had moved to the new settlement at Minas. In August 1714, Pierre and his family received permission to settle on French-controlled Île Royale, today's Cape Breton Island. Later in the month, Pierre went to the island aboard La Marie Joseph to look at the land there, but he evidently did not like what he saw. Pierre and Marguerite had 10 children, including six sons who married into the Babin, Dugas, Granger, LeBlanc, Hébert, Gautrot, and Comeau families. Their three daughters married into the Dugas, Saint-Étienne de La Tour, Daigre, and Granger families.

Martin, by his first wife, born in c1665, married Marguerite, daughter of François Bourg, at Port-Royal in c1691. By the early 1690s he had taken his family to Chignecto, where they also had 10 children, including six sons who married into the Cormier, Thibodeau, Doucet, Comeau, Girouard, and Martin families. Their three daughters married into the Doucet, Caissie, Arseneau, and Cormier families. Martin died probably at Chignecto in c1748, in his early 80s.

In 1755, Richards, descendants of both Michel dit Sansoucy and François of Vannes, could be found at Chignecto and Minas, including Pigiguit, but most of them remained in the Annapolis Royal area, formerly Port-Royal, where their family progenitors had settled.