Glimpses of the Past: History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784Raymond, W. O. (William Odber)
History
Glimpses of the Past: History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784
Raymond, W. O. (William Odber)
New Brunswick -- History; Saint John River Valley (Me. and N.B.)
The eldest daughter of Charles la Tour by his second wife, the widow
of d'Aulnay Charnisay, was Marie la Tour, who was born in St. John in
1654.[19] She married when about twenty years of age Alexander le
Borgne de Belleisle, who was eleven years her senior. Their son
Alexander, born in 1679, married December 4, 1707, Anastasia St.
Castin, a daughter of the Baron, de St. Castin by his Indian wife
Melctilde, daughter of Madockawando, and as a consequence of this
alliance the younger le Borgne obtained great influence over the
Maliseets. Lieut.-Gov. Armstrong alludes to this circumstance in a
letter to the Lords of Trade, written in 1732, in which he observes,
"Madame Bellisle's son Alexander married an Indian and lived among the
tribe, being hostile to the British government." This statement is
hardly fair to Anastasie St. Castin, for, while her mother certainly
was the daughter of an Indian chief, her father was the Baron de St.
Castin and she herself a well educated woman. The genealogist of the
d'Abbadie St. Castin family, however, uses rather grandiloquent
language when he styles the mother of Anastasie St. Castin, "Mathilde
Matacawando, princess indienne, fille de Matacawando, general-en-chef
des indiens Abenakis."[20]
[19] Marie la Tour, widow of Alexander le Borgne was living at
Annapolis Royal in 1733 at the age of 79 years.
[20] See Transactions Royal Society of Canada 1895, p. 87.
In spite of the supposed hostility of Alexander le Borgne de Belleisle
to British rule in Acadia, he came before the governor and council at
Annapolis and took the oath of allegiance. He also presented a
petition requesting the restoration of the seignioral rights of his
father as one of the la Tour heirs; this was ordered to be transmitted
to the home authorities. For several years the sieur de Belleisle
lived with his family at Annapolis and the governor and council
regarded him with favor, but failed to obtain the recognition of his
seignioral rights. After a time the la Tour heirs got into litigation
among themselves, and one of their number, Agatha la Tour, who had
married an officer of the garrison, Ensign Campbell, seems to have
outwitted the other heirs and to have succeeded in selling the rights
of the la Tour family to the English crown for three thousand guineas.
This naturally was displeasing to Alexander le Borgne de Belleisle. He
retired to the St. John river about the year 1736 and settled near the
mouth of Belleisle Bay. He had a son Alexander (the third of the
name[21]), who married Marie Le Blanc and settled at Grand Pre, where
he died in 1744. Francoise Belleisle, who had the honor of being a
correspondent of Lieut.-Governor Mascarene, married Pierre Robichaux.
The wedding took place at Annapolis Royal, January 16, 1737, the
officiating priest being St. Poncy de Lavennede. The contracting
parties are described in the old church register as "Pierre Robichaux,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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