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 .i 
 
 THE BROTHERS D'A M U R S 
 
 by 
 
 JAMES H A N N A Y 
 
 From Volume One^ f^umher One 
 
 New BpumiHck Magazine 
 
 18 9 8 
 
 TUf HKSr 1R1;N\|| SKTTI.KKS on the ST. JOHN RIVhR. 
 
 Mosl peoplo ill Nou- flninswiclc. when they speak 
 of the first settlers on the River St. John refer to the 
 l.oyalists who came here in 178^;, or to the New Knjj- 
 land n-,.-n who settled at Mauj^-erviile and Sheffield 
 twenty years earlier. l/ittle is ever said, because but 
 little is Uiiown, of those Kreiich inhabitants of the Si. 
 John river who were living- on its banks a full century 
 before the en» of the Loyalists, and of whom we obtain 
 very lleetinir and uncertain glimpses in the official de- 
 spatches sent by the commandants of .A.cadia to the 
 French j,-^overiunent. Vet these people cannot but be 
 interesting- to us who now inhabit the land which they 
 made their home, and if the wliole story of their trials 
 and toils coi-ld be told we would no doubt find it as full 
 
26 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE. 
 
 of romance as the world has found the story of Evange- 
 line, as related by America's greatest poet. Unfortu- 
 ately, there is no possibility of going into such details 
 with regard to the early French settlers of the St. John 
 as the poet was able to evolve from his imagination with 
 reference to the fictitious heroine of the Acadian exile. 
 Yet, enough can be gathered from the records of that 
 time to give us a fairly accurate idea of the manner of 
 men who were living on this great river, amidst the 
 vast Acadian wilderness, two hundred years ago. 
 
 In 1670 Acadia, which had been seized by the Eng- 
 lish in 1654, was restored to the French under the 
 terms of the treaty of Breda, and the Chevalier de 
 Grand Fontaine became governor of the colony. The 
 English had held Acadia for sixteen years, yet they had 
 done nothing to increase the number of its inhabitants, 
 and »'hen their fishing establishments were broken up 
 and their forts surrendered to the French, no traces of 
 their occupation remained, with the exception of the 
 fort at Jemseg which they had built, and which was 
 nothing more than a post for trading with the Indians. 
 Fort Jemseg stood on the east side of the St. John 
 river, and just south of the entrance to Grand Uke. 
 It was 120 feet long by 90 wide, enclosed by pickets 18 
 feet in height. On it were mounted four small guns, 
 and within it was a house for the garrison 60 ft. by 30. 
 Old Fort Utour, at the mouth of the river> was then in 
 ruins, and in 1670 there does not appear to have been 
 a single settler, French or English, on the banks of the 
 St. John from the Bay of Fundy to the river's source. 
 Rich as the territory was in every natural resource, its 
 very vastness and the gloom of the impenetrable forest 
 which shaded the waters of the great river seem to 
 have deterred the humble tiller of the soil from seeking 
 a home there. The great solitude was only broken 
 by the passing of the canoe of the savage or the 
 
WHERE STOOD FORT LATOUR? 37 
 
 movement of the wild animals of the wooded wilder* 
 ness. 
 
 The commandant on the St. John river in 1670 
 was Pierre de Joibert, seigneur de Soulanges and 
 Marson, an officer in the French army who had married 
 a daughter of Chartier de Lotbiniere, who had been 
 attorney general of New France. Joibert, although he 
 lived but eight years in Acadia, for he died in 1678, has 
 substantial claims to recognition as an historical figure 
 for he was the father of Elizabeth Joibert, who was 
 born in old Fort Latour in 1673, and who became the 
 wife of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor general of 
 Canada, and the mother of the second Marquis de 
 Vaudreuil who was the last French governor of Canada. 
 Joibert seems to have wis! ed to become an Acadian 
 seigneur, and he was the first grantee of territory in 
 that part of Acadia now known as New Brunswick, 
 under the terms of the edict made by Louis XIV. on 
 the 20th May 1676. This document authorized Count 
 Frontenac, the governor general, to grant lands in 
 New France, on condition that they should be cleared 
 within six years. Such a conaition was impossible of 
 fulfilment, for the grants were too large to be cleared 
 within the time specified unless the grantees had been 
 able to place a host of tenants upon them. On the 
 1 2th Oct. 1676, Joibert, who is described in the docu- 
 ment as major of Pentagoet (Penobscot) and command- 
 ant of the forts of Gemisick (Jemseg) and the river St. 
 John, received a grant of a seignory called Nachouac, 
 to be hereafter called Soulanges, fifteen leagues from 
 Gemisick, tviro leagues front on each side of the St. 
 John River, and two league -j deep inland. This grant 
 which contained upwards or 46,000 acres of land, em- 
 braced not only the territory occupied by Mr. Gibson's 
 town of Marysville, but also the site of Fredericton, St. 
 Mary's and Gibson, so that if Joibert's heirs could lay 
 
a8 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE. 
 
 claim to it now they would be multi-millionaires. Four 
 days after the issue of this grant, Joibert obtained a 
 second concession granting him the house or fort of 
 Gemisick, with a league on each side of the fort, mak- 
 ing two leagues front on the river and two leagues in 
 depth inland. This second grant was just one half the 
 size of the first, yet it formed a noble domain and in- 
 cluded a fort which might "easily have been made a 
 formidable place of strength. 
 
 When Joibert died in 1678 it doe;? not appear that 
 he had done anything to improve or settle the valuable 
 territory which had been granted to him by the French 
 king. His widow and her children returned to Canada, 
 and we hear nothing more of her in connexion with the 
 affairs of Acadia until i6i)i, when she received a grant 
 of land on the River St. John of four leagues in front 
 on the river and two lea^'-ues in depth, and opposite the 
 grant of M. de Chauffours (called Jemseck) the centre 
 of the grant eing opposite the house at Jemseck. This 
 document shows that the grants to Joibert had been 
 escheated or lapsed, and that the territory they em- 
 braced had been regrantcd to other persons. The new 
 grant to the widow was probably intended to compen- 
 sate her in some measure for the loss of the land 
 granted to her husband, but it does not appear that she 
 ever occupied it or that she was able to sell it to a good 
 purchaser. Land was then too easily obtained from 
 the government to be of much value as a saleable com- 
 modity when in private hands. 
 
 The Sieur de Chauffours who was in the occupation 
 of the Jemseg territory in 1691 v.as one of four brothers 
 who had come to Acadia from (Quebec in 16S4, or per- 
 haps a year or two earlier. They were sons of Mathieu 
 d' Amours, a native oi" Brittany who emigrated to Que- 
 bec and became a member of the Governor's Council in 
 1663. He was created a n\ember of the Canadian 
 
WHERE STOOD FORT LATOUR? 39 
 
 Noblesse. From his position in the Council, d'Amours 
 was naturally an influential personage, and, like many 
 a modern public man, he used his power to promote the 
 fortunes of his sons. They all received large grants of 
 land in Acadia, and they all resided on the St. John 
 River where they had very extensive possessions. 
 Louis d'.Amours, who assumed the territorial name of 
 Sieur des Chauffours had a grant of the Richibucto 
 and Buctouche Rivers, but he afterwards became pos- 
 sessed of the Jemseg seigniory which had been granted 
 to Joibert. Rene d'Amours, Sieur de Clignacourt, in 
 1684, obtained a grant of land on the River St. John 
 from Medoctec to the Longue Sault, two leagues in 
 depth on each side. In the same year Mathieu 
 d'Amours, Sieur de Freneuse, was granted the land 
 along the River St. John between Gemesick and Nach- 
 ouc, two lejigues deep on each side of the river. In 
 1695 Bernard d'Amours, Sieur de Plenne received a 
 grant of the Kennebecasis River " with a le;vrue and a 
 half on each side of the said river, by two '.jruesin 
 depth, and the islands and islets adjucent. " Si < years 
 earlier the same territory had been granted to Pierre 
 Chesnet, Sieur du Breuil, a resident of Port Royal, but 
 this grant seems to have lapsed because the conditions 
 as to settlement had not been complied with. At all 
 events Bernsu-d d'Amours got the territory which du 
 Breuil had possessed and the latter did not come to this 
 side of the Bay of Fundy. 
 
 The four brothers d'Amours may be properly re- 
 garded as the first settlers on the River St. John who 
 were not officers of the government. Governor Ville- 
 bon found them here when he came to Acadia in 1690, 
 and he appears to have conceived a strong prejudice 
 against them. Writing to the minister in Paris in 1695 
 he complains of the brothers d'Amours, whom he calls 
 sot disants genteil hammes. He "^^ys.. — " Thev are four 
 
30 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE. 
 I'n number Hvinj: on the St. John River. They nre 
 K.ven up to licentious„cs.s and independence for tenor 
 welve v.- .rs the, have been here. They are disobed- 
 ient and seditious and require to be watched." |„ an- 
 other paper i, is stated of the d'Amours that "although 
 y have va,t ^'rants in the finest parts of the cot:nr, v 
 ey have hardly a place to lod,. in. They carry on ,;.; 
 t llajre. keep no rattle, but li.o in traciin^^ uith ,|k- In- 
 dmns and debauch a.on,. then. n,akin; lar ' p o s 
 thereby, but injuring, the public j,'ood.- \ t.l la. 
 we find V.„ebon a.ain u,' in^ to the n.i. il^ , ' : 
 
 |.m,eslrauK .MiKae.'' says he... „o more reason r^ 
 b satisfied u-ith the Sieurs d'A.n.nus t!,.-u, , p,.vio.slv 
 had. The one that has come from I.'ranci has no't 
 P eased me more than the o.hcr tuc Their n,inj, ar. 
 V ol y p,.,ed by lon^ licentiousness, and the manner^ 
 
 ^ w^ r i"T"T ""?"^ "" '"'^'""' '^"^' "->■ '"-t 
 last year.-' '' " ' '"' ''^^ '"^^"- ''' •^'^^'^' '^^^'- 
 
 It would not be c,uite fair to judge of the character 
 of he d Amours brothers bythe.se statenv.nrs, althou-W, 
 Go ernor V. lebo., doubtless made them in good faitl. 
 
 h.n>.selt. The I-rench government encouraged the for- 
 warding of con.plaints to France, not only against priv- 
 ate parties but against their own officials; and the 
 French archives are full of letters written by all .so 
 -d conditions of men .^,ainst the governors, the jud" 
 the priests and against each other. The d'Amours ^vere 
 engaged m trading ^vith the Indians and this Ja! 
 
 such conduct an infringement of the monopoly of the 
 company which was supposed to control the trade of 
 Acadia. But as this company did not provide a suf- 
 ficient amount of goods and sold them at exorbitant 
 
 ri u g sw « 
 
WHERE STOOD KORT LATOUR? 
 
 3' 
 
 prices, tmarly every person in Aciutia was engaged in 
 trading, or at all event.s, every person was accused ot 
 it, even V'iHebon hinisell bcinj;' char^^cd with having' 
 secret transactions with the Kii^'lish in tlie sale of liirs. 
 Even the captains of tho men-of-war which arrived 
 from France every year with supplio'; for the fort were 
 engaffed in trade, for they brought out jfoods for the 
 traders in Acadia who were ruiiuny' the conipany's 
 business. 
 
 Fortunately we are not without the means of cor- 
 recting Villebon's stalenn.nt tiiat the d" Amours brothers 
 had hardly a place to !odi,>-e in, kept nv) cattle and 
 carried en no tillaj^c. In Au;,'usl i68i; a little English 
 boy named John iJyles, thjn nine years old, wa;, fiikon 
 priioner in an Indian raid a^^ainst I'otnaquid, in Maine, 
 and carried to Acadia. He remained six years a tap- 
 ive among the Indians of the Upper St. John, but in 
 1695 was sold as a slave to Louis d'Amours de Cliauf- 
 fours, the oldest of the d'.Amours brothers, (lyles lived 
 with this man for mure than three years, and served him 
 so faithfully thai, at the end oi' that time, he ^jave him 
 his freedom and sent him back to his people in New 
 luii^land. S' < fiom having hardly a place to lodge 
 in, Louis d'Amours at that time had quite an extensive 
 establishment. His residence was at Jemseg on the 
 east side ol' U:e St. John river and he seems to have 
 lived in much comfort. Gyles, who published a narra- 
 tive of his captivity many years afterwards, .says that 
 he did a great trade with the Indians and kept a store 
 of wiiich the English captive had charge while he lived 
 there. He also possessed cattle and raised crops, and 
 Gyles tnoulions particularly one very fine field of wheat 
 of which the birds had made great havoc. Louis 
 d'Amours was married to Margaret Guion, a native of 
 Quebec, and they had two children when Gyles lived 
 with them. This lady treated the poor English captive 
 
3a THE NEW BRUNSWICK MA^AZ/NE 
 
 - the rr.sj,.;^:z :T:;z?.:\r' '-^'^ 
 
 theea«t .ide of the s7 lohn * ""*' ""*^ °" 
 
 '" '695. but he ^ves us no d'^r , ' "'^'^ "* '^'^ ''«"'*« 
 The fact that he^d Z^^^ ^.^r ''r ''''■ 
 'country, rather than in a pla " J "* '^''"""'^ 
 
 fradin^^ would lead us to infe th«. h *^^""*"'^"» ''^r 
 in agriculture. His Ju •"^*''/''«* f'* «"tra*fed largely 
 the wife of Lou" dw'^T ''""''"• «-^^^^ 
 children. Louise Gutnun I" T ^'^^ '^"^ '*— ' 
 
 and for nearly teTvI ' f ^ ^''' '" '^'^^'«" '''^^^ory, 
 
 -er .sent friJ^A^:^^::::':^::^ ^-^-^ - 
 
 some reference to her llnfT "^ "°' '■'°'"«'n 
 
 -re not always Xvu—ZtX'r T'"''^ 
 was a sort of Acadian Cleopa^' who '"^ '^'"''"^"'^^ 
 
 '"'•ning the foundations of the littl ^ "'^'' ""^^^■ 
 mandant she ruined and 'h. P 'n °"^' ^"« ^«'"- 
 »^«Pt in a continual state oJ f. ''''^'' *^'"°">' -- 
 
 had parti^ans and Z:.t^7:j;Z''":''''' 
 enemies, ^*" *« "nrelenting 
 
 Rene d'Amours. Si^nr ,»« r-i- 
 
 "PPMr lo have lived uoon it Z, uj "' ''"•^ """ 
 
 m-ried Jeanne 1. BorgneTJld'T'" '""'«"• ■7'". 
 <Je la Tour, the most Tl'- ^ """Shter of Charles 
 
 Hene appear, -oreClf P^.^ ^^0" ""r 
 
 •h' '"lian,. johTS" ; "'^..'"^""r"' in 'radinsf with 
 .<.« When he L ^^^'."J" ZZT' "'"'""' "^ 
 — 'When .he. would U^rrrrtLX 
 
THE BROTHERS DAMOURS. 33 
 
 would be drunk and fij^ht for several days and nijjhts 
 together, until they had speni most of their skins in 
 wine and brandy, which was brought to the village by 
 a Frenchman called Monsieur Sigenioncour." The 
 reader will easily recognize in this name that of Rene 
 d'Amours, Sieur de Clignacourt, Perhaps we may dis- 
 ccrn in this statement, also, the principal reason for 
 Villtfhon's dissatisfaction with the d'Amours brothers. 
 A man who was engaged in selling the Indians wine and 
 brandy, and keeping them drunk for days until he had 
 obtained from them ail the furs they had gathered in 
 the winter's hunt, was not likely to be a favorite with 
 the Acadian governor. Yet the time soon came when 
 Villebon had good reason for looking on the d'Amours 
 with some degree of favor for at a very critical period 
 they rendered essential service to him and to the state. 
 In 1696 Villebon was established with a garrison 
 of one hundred men at Fort Nashwaak, which was thea 
 the head quarters of Acadia. It had been chosen be- 
 cause it was near the principal Indian villa^'es, and sc 
 far from the mouth of the St. John river that it could 
 not be easily attacked by the English of Boston, with- 
 whom a constant state of war existed. The story of 
 the combats which were carried on between 1690 and- 
 1700 between Villebon and the English would make a 
 paper of itself, and therefore I shall not touch upon it 
 further than as it relates to the fortunes of our first 
 settlers, the d'Amour's brothers. If settlement was; 
 tardy on the St. John River it was not without good": 
 cause, for the tiller of the soil above all things needs 
 peace to enable him to prosper, and he is not likely to 
 be content to live in a land where his fields are being 
 constantly ravaged by an enemy, his buildings burnt 
 and his cattle killed or driven away. Yet that was 
 what he might expect if he lived on the banks of the St^ 
 John two hundred years ago. 
 
34 
 
 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE. 
 
 The English made several aif^^i, 
 i"g the las. decade of the leven.l ,t '*"*" ''"^- 
 Principal one was in .6^ Tn ." h""'"''' "•" "" 
 ou. a. Boston in .he au^n,„ 1 Z'ZVJ f "1 
 under the command of Col R^n: Z ^"*^ P'^^^^ 
 
 ^ee„a,on,.a„deri„lHe „* rr'of r: "'» "'"' 
 known a. King Phillip's war. C^ I l^^' f "'^''J' 
 hundred men with him and .hey t. I eVbal'd "" 
 sloops and boats. Thev ravLJl^ '" "P^" 
 from Passama,„odd, tZ^r^lt'l^ ll fT 
 and ^vere on their way back to Rncf u ^ ""''^' 
 
 -et by a reinforcement of two hudred" '''' ''^^'^ 
 vessels under Col Hathn^nJ . f '"^" '" ^^ree 
 
 council. Ha,ho™,tr.;or 1" 'tTr'"''' 
 
 vvaak, and .he expedition re.urned to the S. I„h , 
 •hat purpose, and ascended the river V~.u I '' " "^"^ 
 tacked in his for. o„ .he .Sth of Oc o Jt.^" "" "'■ 
 nonading it for two days the Enghsh ^.^re. ^^l, T' 
 *as ably assisted in the defence of Mr t . """" 
 the d'Amour's brothers, Martlrand Ren" ." """ "' 
 on the evening before the Er.-^ ' "'''° "'^"'' 
 
 Frenchmen, thL -r^nta'n^ tinTrrtu"'!"" 
 ours was in France at m:^ ^- '*'"®'^*- ^"'s d'Am- 
 
 fairs in thec^nrhi: feUHfrE'nrl': "'"' ''" "'^ ^<- 
 «hen a lad of sixteen. do b^ whethtT ^"''" ^^"'• 
 story of what occurred to ,t.r *""'"" '"n tell the 
 
 ^unng .His EnglL^Tvaltb^lreX'Tnt "'"T" 
 Gyles himself, who in .k. _ . ° "" "''>'•<'» of 
 
 scribes the 1* tbus* ■""" *""" '^"'""^ * <"- 
 
 '•'enf*.. the ^e„u of ^1^^^''^' -"^"-^ 
 
 i>™we::^srS^^fsnss;^ii=S!^i^^^ 
 
 ] 
 
THE BROTHERS D'AMOURS. 
 
 35 
 
 lieatro)' my cattle. I don't suppose that such aa army comes here to destroy a 
 few inhabitants, but to take the fort above us. I have shown kindness t(> the 
 English captives, as we were capacitatod, and have bought two, of the Indians 
 and sent them to Boston. We have one now with us, and he shall go also when 
 a convenient opportunity presents, and he desires it." 
 
 When I had done this, madaui said to ine. " Little English," [which was the 
 familiar name she used to call me by,] " we have shown you kindness, and now it 
 lies in your power to serve or disserve us, as you know where our goixls are hid in 
 the woi>ds, and tliat monsieur is not home, t could have sent you to the fort 
 and put you under a^nfinement, but my respect to jou and your assurance of lo\t 
 to us have disposed me to confide in you, persuaded you will not hurt us or our 
 affairs. And, now, if ye will not run away to the English, who are coming up 
 the river, but serve out rest. I will acquaint monsieur of it on his return trom 
 
 France which will be very pleasing to him; and I now give ray word, you shall 
 have liberty to go to Boston on the first opportunity, if you desire, it or any other 
 lavor in my p<nver shall not be denied you." I replied : 
 
 " Madame, it is contrary to the nature of the English to requite evil for good. 
 I shall endeavor to serve you and your interest. I shall not run to the English, 
 but if I am taken by them I shall willingly go with them, and yet endeavor not to 
 disserve you either in your person or good*.' 
 
 Tlie place where we lived was called Hagiinsack, twenty-five leagues from 
 the river's mouth, as I have before stated. 
 
 We now embarked and went in a targe boat and cance two or three mileo 
 up an eastern branch of the river that cotnes from a large pond, and on the fol- 
 lowing evening sent down four hands to make discovery. And whiWthey were 
 sitting in the house the English surrounded it and took one of the four. The 
 other three made their escape in ttie dark and through the English soldiers, and 
 coming to us, gave a surprising account of affairs. Upon this news madam said 
 to me, "Little English, now you can go from us, but I hope you will remember 
 your word." I said, "Madam be not concerned. I will not leave your in this 
 strait." She said. " t know not what to do with my two poor little babies." I 
 said, "Madam, the sooner we embark ax^ go over the great pond the better." 
 Accordingly we embarked and went over the pood. * The nest day we spoke 
 with Indians, who were in a canoe, and they gave us an account that Signecto 
 town was taken and burnt. Soon after we beard the great guns at Gov. Villb- 
 bon's fort, which the English engaged several days. They killed one man, then 
 drew off down the river; fearing to conitnue longer, for fear of being frozen in for 
 the winter, which in truth they would have been. 
 
 Hearing no report of cannon for several days, I. with two othen, went down 
 to our house to make discovery. We found our younf lad who was taken by the 
 English when they went up the river. The gvncral had shown himself so honor- 
 able, that on reading the note on our door, lie ordered it not to be burnt, nor the 
 bam. Our cattle and other things be p re se t f ed , eaoept one or two and the poul- 
 try for their use. At their return they ordered the young iad to be put on shore. 
 Finding things in this posture, we returned and gave oiadam an account of it. 
 
 Here we are brought face to face with the realities 
 
 •in.:. ••__ 
 
 ..w,.! " w n__« I .1.- 
 
 f 
 
36 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE 
 
 f 1 no. go unrewarded wl h" " '" "" ""^'"« 
 from France in the soring f ^ """'"• """•"«'' 
 
 for the care he had S of ^''J" '""""^^ °^'« 
 would endeavor to fnlfi, ,h^ "'!' '"''"'^' ""'' "W he 
 
 ;^^ Accord4;t'r;z::*:;:':r'-^' '■'''' 
 
 had been proclaimed, an EnHish V ; ^^ ^^^^^ 
 -^'"e to the mouth ^f the sf th^ ^°^ '"'" ^"^^°" 
 ci'Amours sent Gyles back i„ hi to T " "' "-""'^ 
 
 whom he had been parted .h . '^ P^°P^^ ^''^'^ 
 
 *'^" parted about nine years 
 
 Mathieu d'Amours did nnt f 
 
 brother. Ashe h.dVl ^'^''^ '° ^«" «« his 
 
 Nashwaak^he En^i H Ir '"' '" ^'^ '^^^"^^ °^ ^-^ 
 his residence and tr„ nrp'r? ''"" ^'^ "^^^ ^^^ 
 <^«ttJe. The Sieur de Fr!n '' ""'^ "^'^'^^ ^is 
 
 House and was whoHyr^rbuVtr '^'' ^^'^^^^ « 
 price he had to nav LT , . ^^ "^""^ "^^ «" the 
 
 f . ^in.. The ^x^:: r rri7hr'" ^°""^^^ -^ 
 
 during the sei»e bro„„l„ . ^ ^"^ subjected 
 
 died, leaving f w'dow „°d ", '"'"' '""" »«"> "« 
 
 world-s trouble, ffd care. P "''hT''"" ''^^'"'^' '"= 
 ""•other who had taken L ,'^.'"' f^""""'. ">e other 
 Nashwaak, had all be- •'" "" ""■'"« »' P"" 
 va.io„.for'hisg„<^;: wh"f ' "^ '"' '^"S"'" '"- 
 were seized or ^atyld 'h " V'""' ""■■—. 
 Indian war parties thai were mil, "'t"" '°""^ "« 
 «sh settlements of wle VhusTr"' °" "" ^''^- 
 war brings about renri^l. JTl ™'° *™"ght by 
 
 -es.ruc.ionofiifea:;?™:;:^;'' """' """•' "■■"-- 
 frcn,Fo;.tash:rTo^;;r°" ?"■-=" "- ^-•-" 
 
 the river, on the Cal,! •! '""^ «' ">= ""»•* of 
 
 - ori.nall^'^-r-r-^. w.ch .^d 
 
THE BROTHERS D'AMOURS. 37 
 
 in the summer of 1700 and his successor Brouillan, 
 who arrived at St. John in the summer of the following 
 year, resolved to abandon the f,/t there and remove 
 the military establishment to Port Royal. This Was 
 immediately done, and as a consequence the settlers on 
 the St. John were left without protection. As the war 
 between France and England was renewed in the 
 ijpring of 1702, these unfortunate people had no re- 
 source but to abandon their properties on the St. John 
 and remove to Port Royal. By this time it appears 
 that Margaret Guion, the wife of Louis d'Amours, was 
 dead, for her sister, Madame Freneuse, had taken 
 charge of her children and was providing for them. 
 These children were indeed in a bad plight and were 
 destined soon to be doubly orphaned. Their father 
 was made prisoner by the English in 1703 and taken 
 to Boston where he was confined in prison for more 
 than two years. When he was liberated, under the 
 terms of an exchange, and returned to Port Royal he 
 was broken in health as in fortune and soon afterwards 
 died. We learn this fact from an entry in the register 
 of the parish of Port Royal recording the marriage of 
 " Pierre de Morpain, commander of the Marquis de 
 Beaupre, on 13th August, 1709, to Mdlle. Marie 
 d'Amour de Chauffour, daughter of the late Louis 
 d'Amour, ecuyer, and Sieur de Chauffour, and of the 
 late dame Marguerite Guyon ". 
 
 Madame Freneuse, who had not only her own 
 large family to look after but also the children of her 
 sister, appears to have removed to Port Royal about 
 the time of the transfer of the garrison to that place. 
 In 1 70 1 she was a petitioner to the French government 
 for a pension on the ground of the death of her husband 
 and the losses he had suffered by the English invasion. 
 Two of her sons were at that time cadet-soldiers of the 
 companies in the Port Royal garrison, so Madame 
 
38 THE NEW BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE. 
 
 Freneuse must then have been nearly forty. Yet she 
 had capt.vated the too susceptible heart of M. de Bon . 
 
 Ippet That r '' " I ""'^^ °' ^^^^'•'^- N- ^o.s it 
 appear that Governor Brouillan was insensible to her 
 
 biand.shments. for he shielded her in every possibllwav 
 
 and defended her fron, her enemies. ThrPrench "v 
 
 rnment encouraged what may be properly describe'd Is 
 
 was a .spy on some one else. In November ,702 we 
 
 da cVrJu bv" M r-^'T"'' complaining, of a scan- 
 aa caused by Madame Freneuse and Bonaventure 
 This story was repeated by others and tho r""'^«; 
 
 For. R„,., .™„^,r„, n,!;, ; ; ',*;„r.:r;° 
 
 the inf.nf , '703 Madame Freneu.se had a child, but 
 the mfant was sp.nted away and kept at the residence 
 
 Broudlan the governor, was. however, aware of 'the 
 affa r, and so was one of the priests for the child IZ 
 bapt.ed by the name of Antoine on the 7th Sept. ,70 
 
 he d h^ K '"/""--tmg: an humble and contrite spirit 
 
 two most mfluentml men in the colony, the Governor 
 
 and Bonaventure. made it uncomfortable for any ZZ 
 who d d ,„ ^^^. ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^ y o 
 
 letters m our archives is one from Pnntif «= 
 
 veml '„ ' "" •■= "'"' ^=«'>'<' f«"" Bona, 
 d L,T ° rr""' °' ""'"'"« ''^'— • Even M 
 1, : ^ ""«""" "' P"" Royl. and the Drin 
 
 c pal man .n .h. colony, wa, ^ade.oUlize .he J„" 
 of cfrend,„g a Wend of Bonaventu,., for in a letter to 
 
THE BROTHERS D'AMOURS. 
 
 39 
 
 the Minister he protests against his interdiction and at- 
 tributes it to the fact that neither he nor his wife had 
 visited Madame Freneuse. In the autumn of 1704, 
 Madame Freneuse was sent by Governor Brourillan to 
 the River St. John, but she soon returned, alleging that 
 she could not live there because the place was deserted. 
 Brouillan had been ordered to send her to Quebec, but 
 he excused himself on the ground that he had no 
 opportunity of doing so. A journey from Port Royal 
 to Quebec was a serious matter in those days. For 
 nearly a year the cause of all this trouble lived up the 
 river, at a distance from Port Royal, at the house of an 
 inhabitant, but in the autumn of 1705 she went to 
 France. She did not remain there very long, for she 
 was again at Port Royal in the summer of 1706, and was 
 the subject of much correspondence. Subercase, who 
 hud succeeded Brouillan as Governor, required iier to 
 live at a distance from Port Royal, but she seems to 
 have returned to it occasioniUly. It was not until the 
 summer of 1708 that the instructions of the French 
 government with regard to this remarkable woman 
 were carried out and she was sent to Quebec. 
 
 It might be supposed that this would be the last 
 heard of Madame Freneuse in Acadia, for Quebec was 
 a place which no person could leave without the con- 
 sent of the Governor General. But this Acadian widow 
 was quite irrepressible, and it would almost seem as if 
 she had become as influential with the Quebec authori- 
 ties as she was with the leading personages in Acadia. 
 After the capture of Port Royal by the English in 1710 
 she turned up as an emissary of the French govern- 
 ment, and the attempt which was made in the summer 
 of 171 1 by the French inhabitants and Indians to re- 
 capture that place was thought to be due to instructions 
 she had brought from Canada. Major Paul Mascerene, 
 n officer of the Annapolis garrison who afterwards 
 
4» THE NE'.V BRUNSWICK MAGAZINE 
 
 f« the fono,lVX„l'r m""? "" ' "• *""''P'"'»- 
 Ah„ ..u. ^ reterence to Madame Freneuse 
 
 *.".e. . certain woman by „^, • Mal'^p '"^•.°' '" "''-''-' *' '»"' — 
 of ,he Bay of F„„jy ;„ \ g.^; J^"'^"' Pj*"-"-. "-^n.e from .he o.her ,id„ 
 
 her «,„-;„ the CoId«.t part ^WnT' ^L °"" '" '•"'»" '"'« » '--^ ^ad. 
 Reason to believe wa. Sent by Onlr, <ro,„ c" T u" " "*^ " * «™"' «*«»' ^'^ 
 
 Garn»onwi,hany„ece,«ry.a„ap„.;,"' ^ , "" ''""'"' '" ""'''''>'''« ^he- 
 occasion shouUl offeror endeavourin^t? ^"■' *" '^""' "^ °"' ^c-cret,. till 
 indeed She .„ but too ..cty .ho.he cl"" ": ""' "' '""^ '^''""''>- '" ^" '^'^ 
 -id that want of ,1. manner If nt^; ha;"'" T"'' '"'^^ " «"'• '^^ 
 venturing all_for all to cross the B^r .k ""' ""^ '" '*"= E«'«'n.t> of 
 
 that the rndians o, penobsco. -^e^/j^ ' t' """— ^'-^ 'i.ne of the year- 
 come to try whether she could be aliu^ r f " ''"' ""' "''^ ^^ f^- ^ '" 
 upon thi« received Very Kindl b S Ch ' H T. "^ ''^'"■"'"' *''« -» 
 <^'red granted to her. ' ' *^'"*'- "°'"'y-and had the Liberty she 
 
 archives of a! h "' , ""■ ^''•' ""= ''"'•'■ments in ,he 
 
 ■ possession and more thn,f ^' * '^'■'"'•''' 
 
 .o pass a.a, C^ .t"« ^Erarslr ^J''^ 
 
 :?r;ro:;rratr, z ^-^^^^^ 
 
 their oriaVnarhlr i^ ""' '''="'"""' '" Quebec, 
 
 ve.:iri„.,,irwHr-rnr„^rr:;r."r'