FRANÇOIS FORTIN - QUÉBEC?? - FRANCE?? TO BRAS D'OR, CAPE BRETON
SURNAMES :
FORTIN, FORTUNE, FORTON, FRAUGHTON, FONTAINE, LEROY, ROI, ROY, LEJEUNE, FOURNIER, GALLANT, MIUS, CHAUVET, JESSO, JESSOME, JESSEAU, JESSAUME, BABIN, MARCHE, MARSH, JOSEPH, GUIDRY, GUÉDRY
I’m searching for the parents and the first wife of my ancestor FRANÇOIS F0RTIN [FRANCIS FORTUNE], perhaps FRANÇOIS FONTAINE.
Although this query might be on a forum that is not Fortin, I have posted it on allforums where another Surname is associated with my FRANÇOIS F0RTIN to disseminate as much information about FRANÇOIS F0RTIN as possible, so please bare with me. I’m hoping someone who reads this message and knows anything about the census records for the deported Acadians in France or the French families of Québec might be able to link my François Fortin to a known family based on the information provided below.
According to the 1818 Census of Bras d’or Cape Breton, FRANÇOIS F0RTIN was 75 years old and would have been born circa 1743.Whether or not the age recorded is correct is somewhat uncertain.François Sr. only has one known son, also named François who was born in 1793.This would mean François Sr. was 50 years old when François Jr. was born.Although this would not be unreasonable, it does suggest that perhaps François Sr. Fortin may have been younger than recorded in the census.One thing that supports an older age is that the Fortin family was noted for it’s longevity.François Jr. Fortin as well as many of his children lived well into their 90s.
In the 1818 census, François listed his Country as “France” and his father’s birth place as “France”.Other French families in this census also listed “France” in these categories, but have been shown to have been born in St. Pierre et Miquelon.So it’s possible that the “France” FRANÇOIS F0RTIN refers to in the census is some place other than continental France such as St. Pierre et Miquelon or Québec, depending on how he viewed French territory in this time period.However France cannot be ruled out either.
When FRANÇOIS F0RTIN was married the second time, his name was recorded as “FORTANG”, which also suggests the possibility that the name may have been “FONTAINE” or perhaps BELLE-FONTAINE.
FRANÇOIS F0RTINwas living among the French families of Bras d’or listed at the end of this post who were recorded on a petition drafted up in 1799 by the families for a priest to visit once a year.They all lived in the same section of Bras d’or, next to each for the most part which can be shown through land grant maps as well as through the 1864 map of Cape Breton Island by A. F. Charles.Every single family was related to the other in the list.The one common thread that runs through these families are they ARE predominantly descendants of the LEJEUNE and the LEROY families with the FOURNIER-JESSEAU family being added to the mix.They were also all of French-Aboriginal descent and were coined with the moniker, “The Bras d’or Indians”,a term which exists to present day.Many of their descendants are also found in Newfoundland.
As you go through the list of names found further below, of which many are my ancestors, you will note how the families are clearly interwoven into each other.What is clearly missing, is the relationship of François Fortin to the other families.François Fortin is not found on the outskirts of these families, but dead smack in the middle of the mix which does suggest the Fortin family of Bras d’or was also of French-Aboriginal ancestry.
Below are some possible scenarios as to who François Fortin was:
1. Was FRANÇOIS F0RTIN a descendant of the LeRoy family and perhaps not a FORTIN but a FONTAINE?
There was a Louis Fontaine who married Marie Madeleine Roy who would have been related to the LeRoy family above, but to date he is only supposed to have had one son also named Louis. However ifLouis Fontaine or his son had a son named François it might help to explain why François Fortin is found among the other LeRoy descendants.
2. Was François married to a Lejeune or a LeRoy?
To date I have found nothing in the records to support this, but the families had been deported to France.Did some member of the core families marry François Fortin while in France during the deportation period?If François was truly French, this might explain why he would end up in Bras d’or, Cape Breton with the other families.I don’t have access to the census records in France so I have no way of verifying a possible marriage.
3. Was François FORTIN a FOURNIER or did he marry a FOURNIER?
The FOURNIER family was married into the LEROY family through the marriage of JEAN FOURNIER TO GENEVIEVE LEROY.Perhaps François married one of their daughter or was a Fournier himself.
4. Did François FORTIN marry someone from the other French families found traveling among the families of Bras d’or also married into the LEJEUNE, LEROY AND FOURNIER families:
a. John Joseph Marsh & Marie Théotiste Babin
b. Joseph Marmeau & Marie Victorie Babin
5. There was also a Jean FORTON married to Marguerite Guy in Stephen White’s dictionary on Acadian Families who had a son Jean-François born in Québec May 4, 1712, with no further information on the family.
6. The last scenario is the family of Julien Fortin or Julien Frontain found in the Yarmouth region of mainland Nova Scotia married to Ann Mius whose family was deported to Boston and returned to Nova Scotia, possibly grandson of Jean Forton above.Some members of the Lejeune family below also descend from the Mius family, another French-aboriginal family.Was François Sr. younger than the age given in the census and the son of Julien Fortin or perhaps the brother of Julien Fortin?François Jr. married Susan Boutilier.The Boutilier family appears in Bras d’or in the same time period as the other families.The Boutilier was found for the most part in the Lunenburg area of mainland Nova Scotia which is the same area of the province (Souther Shore) that the Frontain family of Julien Frontain was located.Did François Sr. Fortin travel with the Boutilier family to Bras d’or?
7. In 1870 there was a death record for Theophis? Fortin who drowned in Sydney Harbour while swimming.He was 21, unmarried and was born in Québec.Unfortunately he died before the 1871 census records were taken.Could this indicate a link between the Fortin family of Bras d’or and the Fortin family of Québec?? or was he just taking a swim while on shore leave from a ship that came into the harbour??The records recorded on the page in the register did not list the person reporting the death.
Any information any one could provide in tracing the parents of François FORTIN-FRONTAIN-FORTON-FONTAINE??? would be greatly appreciated.Feel free to email me directly.
I have posted what I know about the descendants of François Sr. Fortin on World Connect:
http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=zaxciel-fortunehttp://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=zaxciel-fortune
Eric Burton
Vous-pouvez m’écrire en français aussi…
This is a partial list (12 of 15) of the names found on the 1799 petition in Bras d’or for a priest.
1. FRANÇOIS LEJEUNE:
Son of JOHN CHARLES LEJEUNE and MARTINE LEROY
Spouse of MARGARET BRIARD LEJEUNE, daughter of CHRISTOPHE LEJEUNE and LOUISE HACHÉ DIT GALLANT
2. JACQUES LEJEUNE :
Son of CHRISTOPHE LEJEUNE and LOUISE HACHÉ DIT GALLANT.
Spouse of CATHERINE JESSEAU, daughter of JEAN JESSEAU and MARIE ANNE FOURNIER, daughter of JEAN FOURNIER and GENEVIEVE LEROY.
3. GEMMY ROSS:
Possibly James Ross, Spouse of HARIETTE LEJEUNE aka GRANNY ROSS - daughter of JOHN CHARLES LEJEUNE and MARTINE ROY.
4. CHRISTOPHE LEJEUNE:
Son of GERMAIN LEJEUNE and MARIE GUÉDRY.
Spouse of LOUISE HACHÉ DIT GALLANT.
5. JEAN-BAPTISTE LEJEUNE:
Son of CHRISTOPHE LEJEUNE and LOUISE HACHÉ DIT GALLANT.
Spouse of MARIE LEROI, grand-daughter of CHARLES LEROY AND MARIE CHARLOTTE CHAUVET.
6. ********************************************************************
******FRANÇOIS FORTIN:**********************************
******SPOUSE UNKNOWN, PARENTS UNKNOWN ******
********************************************************************
7. CHARLES LEROY:
Son of CHARLES LEROY and MARIE CHARLOTTE CHAUVET.
Spouse of MARIE KENNEDY.
8. PAUL BRIARD
Son of GERMAIN LEJEUNE and MARIE GUÉDRY.
Spouse – HÉLÈNE - Mi'kmaw.
9. JOSEPH LEROY
Son of CHARLES LEROY and MARIE KENNEDY.
10. JEAN JESSOT[JESSEAU]:
Spouse of MARIE ANNE FOURNIER.MARIE was the daughter of JEAN FOURNIER and GENEVIEVE LEROY.
11. JOSEPH LEJEUNE:
Son of GERMAIN LEJEUNE and ANNE MARIE TRAHAN, Spouse of MARTINE LEROY.
12. JOSEPH LEJEUNE:
Son of JOSEPH CHARLES LEJEUNE AND MARTINE LEROY
Spouse of AGATHE LEJEUNE, daughter of CHRISTOPHE LEJEUNE and LOUISE HACHÉ DIT GALLANT
Note : This JOSEPH LEJEUNE might also be Joseph CHRISTOPHE LEJEUNE son of CHRISTOPHE LEJEUNE and LOUISE HACHÉ DIT GALLANT.Joseph was married to ELIZABETH LEJEUNE, daughter of JOSEPH CHARLES LEJEUNE AND MARTINE LEROY.
Land grant maps list the following in sequential order, descendants of the above.
1. Henry Jessome-Jesseau
2. Thomas Jessome-Jesseau
3. John Jessome-Jeasseau
4. Francis Lejeune-Lejeune
5. ****Francis Fortune-Fortin Jr.
6. Gabriel Lejeune
7. John King-Roy
8. Alexis King-Roy
9. Marie Babin - Mother of Joseph Marmeau, linked by marriage dispensation to Lejeune family
10. John Leitch – no link to other families that I know of
11. John Baptiste Young-Lejeune
Alternative spellings only listed to facilitate search efforts of others:
Charles King, Charles LeRoy, Charles Roi, Charles Roy, Louise Gallant, Francis Young,
Francis Lejeune, John Young, John Lejeune, Martine Roy, Martine LeRoy, Martine LeRoi, Martine Roi, Chysotome Lejeune, Jean Jessaume, Jean Jesso, Francis Fortane, Francis Fortang, Francis Fortain, Marmeau, Marmot, Marmond, Fraughton.