Individual Details

Out of Acadia: The Journey of Pierre Morin

An Acadian Youth and a Grand Wedding (1662–1685)

Pierre Morin was born in 1662 in Port-Royal, the pioneering heart of Acadia. He was the son of Pierre Morin, a respected settler commonly known as "Boucher," and Marie Martin. Growing up along the tidal marshes of the Bay of Fundy, Pierre learned the delicate arts of frontier farming and coastal survival. As the colony expanded, his family relocated to the newly established settlement of Beaubassin, a fertile frontier bordering modern-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

It was in Beaubassin that Pierre’s adult life truly began. On November 8, 1682, he married Françoise Chiasson, the daughter of Guyon Chiasson and Jeanne Bernard. Their wedding was a significant event for the young colony, solemnized by the Recollet missionary priest Father Claude Moireau in the small chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours. The prestige of the match was reflected in their wedding guests, which included high-ranking colonial officials such as Michel Le Neuf, the Lord of Beaubassin and Commander of the King in Acadia, alongside prominent local pioneers like Jacques Blou and the bride's uncle, Pierre Mercier.

Exile from the Frontier (1686–1693)

Following their marriage, Pierre and Françoise built a prosperous homestead. The official Acadian census of 1686 captures a snapshot of their early success: Pierre possessed two muskets, owned fourteen head of cattle, eight pigs, and six sheep, and had successfully broken six acres of wild marshland into productive cultivation.

However, this tranquility was shattered by a family scandal. In 1688, one of Pierre's brothers was accused of a serious criminal indiscretion involving a local woman. In the tightly-knit, deeply religious community of Beaubassin, the local seigneur outlawed the entire Morin clan and confiscated their properties. Forced to abandon their thriving farm, Pierre, his wife, and his extended family fled north to the remote outpost of Chaleur Bay (Gaspésie). They spent several difficult years as refugees, surviving on fishing and trading with the indigenous Mi'kmaq people.

Reclaiming a Life in Quebec (1694–1720)

Seeking long-term stability and protection from escalating English pirate raids along the Atlantic coast, Pierre relocated his family further upriver into the mainland of New France. By 1694, they were living within the fortified walls of Quebec City.

The family's fortunes turned for the better in 1697 when Pierre secured a land grant on the Seigneury of Rivière-du-Sud (near Montmagny) from the prominent local seigneur, Jean-Baptiste Couillard de Lespinay. Here, Pierre and Françoise raised a large, resilient family of eleven children. Pierre proved to be a remarkably ambitious land developer; in 1721, he expanded his family’s holdings even further by securing an additional, massive coastal land grant at Mont-Louis on the northern Gaspé Peninsula alongside his younger brothers, Jacques and Jacques-François.

The Gift to the Children and Final Rest (1725–1741)

As the years caught up with them, Pierre and Françoise looked for a way to secure the future of their family while ensuring their own survival in old age. On January 17, 1725, the aging couple executed a unique, deeply moving legal contract. They divided their entire land estate equally among their eleven children. Each child received a meticulously measured plot of land under cultivation, while the children collectively bound themselves to a strict condition: they would provide their parents with full food, clothing, and safe lodging for the remainder of their natural lives.

Secure in the care of her children, Françoise passed away around 1730. Pierre survived his wife by more than a decade, witnessing his grandchildren build a sprawling dynasty along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. In April 1741, at the advanced age of seventy-nine, the resilient pioneer passed away. He was buried on April 15, 1741, in the parish of Saint-Thomas in Montmagny, Quebec, leaving a legacy born of Acadian hardship and forged into French-Canadian endurance.

References and Sources

• Registre de la paroisse de Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours de Beaubassin (Marriage Contract, 1682).
• Registre de la paroisse de Saint-Thomas de Montmagny (Burial Records, 1741).
• Recensements nominatifs de l'Acadie (Censuses of Acadia for 1686).
• White, Stephen A. Dictionnaire généalogique des familles acadiennes. Centre d'études acadiennes - Université de Moncton, 1999.
• Jetté, René. Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec. Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1983.
• Arsenault, Bona. Histoire et généalogie des Acadiens. Les Editions Leméac, 1978.
• Archives Nationales du Québec (Land grants for Rivière-du-Sud and Mont-Louis, 1697 and 1721).

Birth	Abt 1662	Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Port-Royal, Acadie, Nouvelle-France
Marriage	1682	Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours, Beaubassin, Acadie, New France
Marriage	8 Nov 1682	Beaubassin, Acadie, Nouvelle-France - Françoise Chiasson
Residence	1688	Bonaventure, Québec, New France
Residence	1699	Census Mont Louis, Gaspe - Mont-Louis, Québec, Nouvelle-France
Residence	1700	Mont-Louis, Québec, Gaspe, Nouvelle-France
Residence	17 Jan 1725	Saint-Thomas de la Rivière-du-Sud
Death	Abt 15 Apr 1741	Saint-François-De-La-Rivière-Du-Sud, Montmagny, Quebec, Canada
Burial	15 Apr 1741	Saint-François-De-La-Rivière-Du-Sud, Montmagny, Quebec, Canada
Alt name		Pierre Morin
Reference No		A760 M248

Spouse	Françoise Chiasson (1668 - 1726)
Child	Pierre Boucher Morin (1683 - 1767)
Child	Barbe Boucher Morin (1686 - 1728)
Child	Denis Boucher Morin (1694 - 1768)
Child	Sébastien Boucher Morin (1696 - 1756)
Child	Agathe Boucher Morin (1697 - 1733)
Child	Michel Boucher Morin (1699 - 1767)
Child	Jean Boucher Morin (1702 - 1782)
Child	Antoine Boucher Morin (1704 - 1776)
Child	Charles Boucher Morin (1707 - 1786)
Child	Françoise Boucher Morin (1709 - 1783)

Father	Pierre Boucher Morin (1634 - 1690)
Mother	Marie Madeleine Martin (1642 - 1714)
Sibling	Marie-Anne Boucher Morin (1670 - 1745)
Sibling	Marie Boucher Morin (1671 - 1716)
Sibling	Marguerite Boucher Morin (1676 - 1716)
Sibling	Jacques Boucher Beauséjour Morin (1686 - 1757)