This section of the web site is devoted to
the history of the Acadian people. It explores
how and why the French settled this new land
and called it "Acadia" which was
part of the New France. How a group of less
that 100 families, including Francois Girouard
and his wife Jeanne Aucoin, took a chance
and left France to inhabit this new land
and called it home. Although Europe still
controlled how and who managed this colony
of people and how the prospered even under
English rule. You can explore how the Acadian
people lived, what type of homes they built,
and how they farmed with the with the help
of the dikes.
You'll see how the Girouard family grew with
the help of the Census Records that not only
list the names and ages of the family members,
but also their livestock. There is also a
map of Port Royal that shows the location
of what was known as the "Girouard Village"
(Number 38), across the river from the the
foundation of an Acadian home found by archaeologists
in 1983.
In 1755, everything changed when the British
Governor Charles Lawrence, in collaboration
with the Governor of Boston William Shirley,
decided to deport the Acadians from their
lands, and burn their homes and kill their
livestock to be sure that they would not
return. Over the next 7 year 10,000 Acadians
were put on ships and sent through out the
English Colonies and Europe. Some escaped
the deportation, only to be hunted down and
either killed or put in prison in Halifax.
Today Acadians and the Girouard family can
be found around North America, but there
are a few places that the majority can be
found as you can see in the present day dispersion.
