The Land of Evangeline: The Authentic Story of Her Country and Her People: With Evangeline by H. W. LongfellowLongfellow, Henry Wadsworth
History
The Land of Evangeline: The Authentic Story of Her Country and Her People: With Evangeline by H. W. Longfellow
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth
Acadians; Acadians -- Poetry; American poetry; Grand Pré (N.S.); Nova Scotia -- History -- To 1763
"Their dwellings were open as day, and the hearts of the owners;
Where the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance."
The Terriots numbered about fifty, and were also settled in other parts
of Nova Scotia. This region seemed to attract the younger people from
the older and more thickly settled country of Port Royal. It was
favorably situated, more remote from the New England colonies, and so
conditioned that all who came could acquire land and make homes.
[Illustration: At Annapolis Royal
The Old Port Royal
At Annapolis Royal--once the busy capital--one is struck by the
peace and content which seems to reign everywhere, and perhaps the
most peaceful spot is amongst the grass-grown ramparts of the old
Fort--softened and rounded by time, and in summer carpeted with wild
flowers. A magnificent sweep of the wide river mouth lies in front,
and the Fort, built on a high bluff, looks over the valleys of the
Lequille and Annapolis Rivers on either hand. The buildings still
standing are the officers' quarters, which are interesting, and no
doubt were considered luxurious in those days, and the old powder
magazine, built nearly three centuries ago, and still in excellent
repair. A horrible dark dungeon, chill and damp, is built under the
ramparts at one angle, and the picturesque sally port is still much
as it was in olden days.]
Next to the Grand-Pré Park land, the New Minas relics of the Terriot
settlements and the work of their descendants are the most numerous and
interesting. Many cellar foundations remain as they were left in 1755
after the houses and barns were burned. The English colonists of 1760
raised their houses farther away from the marshes, so that the Terriot
landmarks for the greater part still remain undisturbed. Some of their
houses were forty-five feet square, with huge chimneys built outside ten
feet square at the ground, traces of which still remain.
The Le Blancs (Grand-Pré)
Among the later arrivals were the Le Blancs, whose children added
considerably to the growth of population, and whose importance and
prosperity make them outstanding persons in the country.
The first Le Blanc was Daniel, born in France in 1626. Thousands of his
descendants are to be found in America to-day. He arrived in Acadia in
1650, with his wife, Françoise Gaudet. He settled in Port Royal about
nine miles above the fort. When that place fell to the English under
Phipps, in 1690, Le Blanc was among those appointed to administer the
affairs of the Province until the arrival of a Governor. His name is
found on the census of 1671, 1686, and 1693. He had probably died before
the next census in 1698, as his name does not appear then or afterwards.
He lived to be about seventy years old, in spite of the trying and
laborious period through which the people of Acadia lived.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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