Theory
on the origin of Pierre Lanoue
Researchers of the Lanoue family in the United States claim that Pierre
Lanoue was Pierre de La Noue of Bogard Knight oc Malta. Their assertion is based on researching files in
Canada, France and parochial registers of the catholic Church.
Since there is no mention of a particular document I could refer to
document this assertion, there will always
remain doubts until the necessary evidence can be located.
During the summer 1998, Duane Lanoue from California, visited my home
in Notre-Dame de Stanbridge, Quebec, and told
me that he had returned from visiting the Maritime Province in Canada.
He visited the Acadian Museum of the University
of Moncton. A professor there who specializes in Acadian history told
him that there was no Acadian of noble origin among Lanoue names. Duane
then went to Port-Royal and found positive evidence pertaining to the
first Pierre
Lanoue of long ago. He also discovered that this land was to be sold.
Did the Acadian history professor really conduct
a thorough research to back up his claim? Where are the information
sources that profess such a declaration?
During the summer of 1999, I was invited to visit the castle of Bogard
by Baudoin and Harald Capelle the current owners. I had the opportunity to review their extensive files and I
also attempted to see precisely what areas I could focus on to continue my research. I soon discovered that a longer stay
in France would be necessary to achieve goals.
I thus continued my information research by scrutinizing documents for
evidence that could reveal the place of origin of Pierre Lanoue and
his family. Initially, to accomplish this, it is
necessary to locate the father of Pierre Lanoue (the first one to come
to Acadia) and to determine his place of origin in France.
However,
efforts in this direction proved fruitless.
Another
method is by tracing of Pierre de La Noue, Knight of Malta, and
to know his life. First, we are familiar with the life of Pierre
Lanoue approximately from 1668 and the following years. About
Pierre de La
Noue, we know that his birth was in 1643, that he studied, that he was made Knight of
Malta into 1662, then accepted a three years mission. After that, he seems to disappear. Is it possible that the two
individuals are one and the same? To this question I answer "yes" .
There are those who will theorize that people of nobility who engage in
trading practices no longer have nobility status.
If one accepts that theory then Pierre Lanoue of Acadia was not of the
nobility, considering that he used his boat to trade. "When an individual is buying or selling products, he is
considered to be trading and to trade is to derogate. Around 1760, to derogate
started to get quite popular among the
nobility. Naval officers and even the Knights of Malta did not
feel constrained by their nobility status to venture forth and
amass
fortunes by using vessels of the (Order and even of the King to engage in these practices. Then to trade without
derogating. The Island of Malta was highly regarded
by the young noble people of the Province. They all entertained
daydreams of some day acquiring a place in
the prestigious Order of Malta. Many families submitted official
requests to have one of their sons admitted to the prestigious
Order. The Order of Malta is widely known to be more active in the
movement of goods than in displaying the pomp and glory associated with
its title." (La Bougainvillee of Fanny Deschamps).
George Lanoue asked to me: "Is this significant?", he referring to the
marital status of our ancestor, Baron, Count or peasant involved in trading? What is significant is not whether our
ancestor had strains of nobility, but to establish the
truth regarding our history. If it can be determined that we are
rightfully descendents of Pierre de La Noue of Bogard
then the lineage of our ancestors can established up to the Means-Age.
If not then the known Lanoue ancestor lineage
ascent halts at the seventeenth century for the moment
***
Some pertinent data:
Anne Le Metayer deceased 3 June 1665. The sharing of young Pierre de La
Noue, Knight of Malta was 30,593 pounds. An additional amount of 4,174 pounds for anticipated expenses
must arrive for the Knight of Malta. (Reference: Document of the Castle of Bogard, noted in July 1999)
***
(Extracted from " History from Acadian " by Bona Arsenault)
Between 1654 and 1667, there was no French immigration to Acadie.
July 31 1667, as a result of the Treaty of Breda, England returned
Acadia to France. In 1668, the following year, Marillon du Bourg, again took possession of Acadia in the name of King
de France. Alexandre Le Borgne, Sire of Belle-Isle, son of a wealthy merchant in La Rochelle, creditor of
d'Aulnay, became Provisional Governor and Lieutenant-General of Acadia.
In the Spring of 1671, French immigration in Acadia began again in
earnest. The new colonists left La Rochelle on a ship named "Oranger". There are no Lanoue in the names mentioned
among them.
In 1665, after the construction of Fort Chambly on the river Richelieu,
many soldiers from the Regiment of Carignan went to Acadia and in 1670, left the service and took up residency. The
first Colony of Acadia census was made in 1671 by Father Laurent Molin, religious Cordelier, before the first of
the first group of French colonists arrived at Port-Port-Royal in 1671.
***
Considerations
According to several new arrivals, the name Lanoue did not appear in
the list of new emigrants. At the time of the census of 1671, Pierre Lanoue was there. He did not come with the La
Rochelle group en 1671.In reviewing all this information, I wondered when and by what means did Pierre Lanoue
arrived in Acadia and I submit the following thoughts.
One: Did he accompany Le Borgne of Belle-Isle in 1668?
Two: Did he come from the Regiment of Carignan in 1670 ?
Three: Did he travel with his own boat in 1668 ?
Four: No emigration took place between 1654 and 1667, and prior to that
Pierre was too young in age.
Numbers one and three seem more plausible to me. They could be an
indication that he was of Breton origin and that he
had enough resources to own his own boat. Further, Pierre Lanoue was
known to be a tradesman- navigator traveling between Acadia and the
coasts of New England to Boston. (Reference: Books of the S.H.A.,
Vol.VII, No 4, page 161 ss., December 1976.)
About number two. During the summer of 1999, while checking the public
records in Quebec, I discovered an officer by
the name of Lanoue assigned to the Regiment of Carignan. However, he
did not go to Acadia rather electing to remain
in Quebec. He is of little interest to us.
For verification puposes, it would be interesting to find the names of
all the people who embarked with Le Borgne for Acadie into 1668, and also those who accompanied Marillon du Bourg.
Between the years 1642 and 1650, the Sire of d'Aulnay recruited at
Poitou, Anjou, Saintonge, Champagne, and left La Rochelle to join other ships in Morbihan and sailed towards Acadia.
Le Borgne, father, traded between Acadia and La Rochelle and advance funds to d'Aulnay. (Reference: History of
Acadian of Bona Arsenault)
***
During this time Henri de La Noue passed away and his son Pierre was
born. Pierre's mother assumed tutoring responsability to provide the children with proper education
opportunities. Pierre was sent to the Priory of Aquitaine which
was close to Poitiers. He was elevated to Knight of Malta into
1662. (Reference: Precis généalogique de la Maison de La Noue by the
Viscount Oscar of Poli).
***
Interpretations:
Guillaume de La Noue VIII, Knight, Lord, Adviser to the Parliament of
Brittany, Adviser to the queen Marie de Médecis, Chancellor to the Duchess of Orleans. In 1604, married Anne de
Cornulier. He had a son by the name of Henri.
Henri de La Noue, was Lord of Crenolles, and Adviser at the Parliament
of Brittany. In 1632, married Anne Le Metayer and became Lord of Bogard etc. (Reference: Marriage contract,
Carres, p. 92, exped. pap. 1658). Guillaume and Pierre were born from this marriage. Henri deceased in
1643. (Reference: On 21 May 1643, a sentence is delivered by the marshal of Moncontour concerning the
supervision of the children of the late Henri de La Noue by Anne Le Metayer mentioning that she is seven months with
child.) (Reference: 16 August in Rennes. Baptism of Pierre, son of Henri de La Noue in St-Sauveur).
After her husband's death, Anne le Métayer was named tutor of his
children. She assured the future welfare of her children, and then remarried. The older Guillaume inherited his
father's position and the younger Pierre, was inscribed at
Grand Priory of Aquitaine near Poitiers for his formation. Letters of
nobility were available and genuine. (Reference: 22 July 1662,
Poitiers, Grand Priory Register ).
During the sojourn of Pierre de La Noue in Aquitaine, recruitment for
Colony of Acadia around this area was thriving. Students
gathered locally and discussed the possibility of future adventures.
During this period, exotic stories abounded in
Court as well as saloons about the colonies and the possibilities of
future trade with these distant lands.
Departures to Acadia occurred from La Rochelle in the neighborhood of
the Grand Priory. Recruitment around the area was well known by Pierre and his companions and influenced him to
begin trading with Acadia for his own monetary monetary gains. In this regard, he contacted d 'Aulnay or Le Borgne,
sons who were no longer obligated to their father.
In 1662, having finished his studies, Pierre was received in rank of
Brother Knight in Order of S. J. of Jerusalem. The Receiver's Prior acknowledged receiving the amount of 1425 pounds
tournement. (Reference: 24 July 1662, Poitiers, of Grand Priory )
During the autumn of 1662, Pierre sojourned at Castel of Bogard. He
received his shared amount of 26,631 pounds. His
brother Guillaume had inhérited the Castel of Bogard and the position
of Adviser to the Parliament of Brittany in Rennes.
In this family, there existed positions of magistrate, ecclesiastic or
military. His brother in law, de Pern, who was
one year older, attended the same school, and chose to pursue a
military carreer. It would be interesting to know what he accomplished.
In 1663, Pierre received in Bogard, an order to pursue a three-year
mission at Malta. (Reference: Notes from archives of
Bogard).
When
he returned from this expedition in 1666, Pierre was sad to hear
that his mother Anne le Métayer had passed away on 3 June 1665. In view
of the many years he was required to spend far away from home, his
mother's passing left
a void in this family links. Pierre received his shared amount of
30,593 pounds that came at a convenient time to time to serve
his
needs. Military live did not appeal as a career. Meanwhile, he had
accumulated three years of navigation
and garrison experience that prove to be useful. Now that he had his
independance he did not want to have to
rely on others. He had now enough resources to follow up his dreams of
adventures in New-France. His first move was to purchase a ship. He
outfitted his ship with the necessary equipment and put out to sea from
St-Malo, north-east
of Bogard.
Around 1668, we trace Pierrre Lanoue in Acadia. He purchased property
at Port-Royal and cultivated enough to
satisfy his personnal needs and indulged in trading produce utilizing
his ship and navigating between different points on
the East Coast down to Boston. He traded on a scale that satisfied his
personnal nedds and those of the Colony. His
work consumed all of his time and he did not see need to inform his
family of his activities since family relatinship had deteriorated
somewhat. He preferred to be addressed merely as Pierre Lanoue and
discouraged discussing his age or
his birthplace with anyone. The fact that he knew how to read and write
and that he had his own ship made him realize
that he possessed the knowledge necessary to increase his wealth. His
uncertain situation explaind why he put off
marriage until his later years.
His brother, Guillaume de La Noue, was mortally wounded on 26 December
1677 in his Castel of Bogard. In May 1680, an agreement in Rennes, named Françoise Orégon, tutor of
children. At this time, it is believed that Pierre had deceased.
(Reference: de Poli) Since Pierre had not contacted his family in quite
some time, she believed he had passed away. Many times, after
emigrating to America, documents written in France declared emigrate,
deceased.
About 1681 Jeanne, his sister, also passed away.
In 1681, Pierre married Jeanne Gautrot in Port-Royal. Shortly after his
marriage, he put out to sea for France. He was discontented about events that happened in his family and uncertain
about arriving in port of St-Malo after all this time some fourteen years since his first departure.
He visited and introduced his wife to his family. With his wife
pregnant, he acquired temporary lodging around St-Malo. During this time, he made necessary repairs his ship and waited
for the birth of his child. A son was born on 21 November 1683 in Dol. A maternal relative, Michel-David Bogard,
Canon and Archideacon of Dol to baptise his son.
During the 1686 census in Acadia, Pierre Lanoue was absent, but he is
listed in census of 1693. Later after his
wife's recuperation and his ship supposedly ready to sail, Pierre did
not seem to be in any hurry to leave and return to his home in Port-Royal in Acadia. Perhaps he had problems with his
boat or maybe personal difficulties with
his family?
In 1695, two years after his return in Acadia, he want to exchange his
boat. In fact, Pierre had duty problems in
Salem, Massachusetts where he had just buyed a ship the "Fortune ".
. . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . .
. . . . .*****
OTHER ARGUMENTS:
When I was a young man, my mother said to me on many occasions " your
father, his ancestors were part of the minor nobility, they had noble
blood in their veins ". Perhaps she wanted me to hear that my father
should be given the propre respect due him and that I should be aware
of the circumstances surrounding his past. At the time, I did not
regard my mother's words seriously. I did not realize what she was
attempting to instill in me was indeed the truth.
Several
years later, while I was conducting my research and discovered who
could be my rightful ancestors, the words of my mother slowly returned
to my memory. (With the assistance of my sister who related the same
words to me).
I now believe that my mother would not have
given me her message if it had not been the truth and had not been
passed on from father to son by Lanoue descendants over time. In
Quebec, a similar approach was regarded as completely objectionable. I
hesitated for a long time before writing about this subject. One point
I had to consider was that even if I endeavoured to bring forth
elements of evidence of tangible affiliation, such as agreements
depicting dates and places, and writings as proof, certain individuals
think that I should add this point and make known this argument.
Even
prior to the intensive beginning of my research, my mother had talked
about the family tradition that attached us to a noble origin. Taking
into account the saga displayed by our ancestors over time, such a past
tradition handed down from generation to generation attached great
importance for interested genealogists. Especially since a priority
were not necessarily interested in the genealogy of all generations of
ancestors nor dis they show any particular interest in the French
aristocracy that appeared quite remote to them. Consequently if such a
tradition occurred from generation to generation, it was not simply a
product of phantasm.
" As I consider myself an important
witness to this entire affair, I do not entertain any doubts as to its
authenticity. I find quite convincing the theory regarding the
peregrinations of the young Knight of Malta reported by Gaetan in his
website." (Reference: Baudoin Capelle)