~ Roger ~
My paternal grandmother was Emelie Marguerite
Roger, daughter of Leon Roger and Elizabeth Buford. She was named after her maternal
grandmother, Emelie Darce. The family name was pronounced "Roger" in the French
manner, but they spelled it "Rogers". Through my grandmother, I am a
descendant of Roger Caissie, my Irish ancestor who settled in Acadia. But, I am also a
descendant of Roger Caissie through my maternal great-grandmother, Odilia Savoie.The
following history is taken from from The Caissie Family in Acadia
and The Caissy Family of Acadia, two excellent web
sites that have serious and accurate information on this family.
When Roger Caissie first appeared on the 1671 census of Port Royal, Acadia, his name was
spelled Kuessy. Depending on who was doing the recording, priest or scribe, variant
spellings were Quessy, Caissy, Caissie, and Casey. The story that has come down to us is
that Roger was an Irish prisoner of the British who escaped while at Port Royal. There is
another theory that he came to Acadia with Sir Temple who had been given a large grant of
land and was recruiting people to work on it. There is no list of Temple's settlers,
however, and it cannot be proven that this story is true. In 1671, Roger was among the 300
or so white settlers in Acadia. Roger, Marie-Françoise, his wife, and Marie, their first
child, appear on the 1671 Acadian Census as residents in Port Royal. Roger,is listed on
the 1671 census as "laboureur. He had no land of his own but he had three heads of
cattle and two sheep.
Roger Cassie married Marie Françoise Poirier in 1668 at Port-Royal. Marie Françoise was
the daughter of Jehan Poirier and Jeanne Chabrat, and she had one brother, Michel. Her
father, who had arrived in Acadia in 1641 aboard the Le Saint-Francois, had died
about 1656, perhaps as a victim in the raid on the settlement by Major Sedgwick of Boston.
Her mother had remarried Antoine Gougeon and had one daughter named Henriette. In the days
of large families, Marie Francoise had only one brother and a half-sister, all born in
Port-Royal. This family was among the first permanent settlers of Acadia.
Roger and Marie Francoise originally lived in Port Royal, but became one of the earliest
settlers at Beaubassin, a community founded by Jacques Bourgeois around 1672. In 1676,
Michel LeNeuf, Sieur de LaValliere, a gentleman from Trois-Rivieres received a seigneurial
concession at Beaubassin and invited new settlers to establish there. Jacques Bourgeois, a
surgeon who had arrived on the same ship as Jehan Poirier, had already settled in that
area in 1672. Roger and his brother-in-law Michel Poirier probably went to Beaubassin
earlier with Jacques. In 1684 there was a case of witchcraft at Beaubassin and one witness
stated that in 1678, he was sleeping at Roger Caissie's house. At Beaubassin Roger
and Marie settled on what became known as Butte La Roger (Roger's Knoll). It is
in Aulac, a small town relatively near the modern town of Amherst, NS, near the New
Brunswick border. Roger introduced fruit trees into Beaubassin and on the 1698
Acadian census, he is listed as possessing 30 out of 32 fruit trees (apples, pears and
plums) in the community.
While on an inspection tour of Acadia in 1686, Mr. de Meulles, went by Beaubassin, which
he described as follows: "On small hills, surrounded by immense prairies, twenty-two
houses, each having three or four adjoining buildings, twelve to fifteen heads of cattle
and as many pigs and sheep". The prairies were, in his opinion, vast enough to
support one hundred thousand heads of cattle. A census was taken that year and it shows
that Beaubassin had a population of 127. All the inhabitants were of French extraction
except two: Roger Caissie, Irish, and Emmanuel Miranda, a Portuguese, who like Roger had
married an Acadian.
Roger was considered a well-to-do inhabitant at Beaubassin. An analysis of the community
of the 1680 by Myriam Marceau (L'Etranger qui Dérange) states that when taken as
a clan the Caissie and the Poirier were the fourth in importance in terms of possessions.
In 1693, Roger had 26 heads of cattle, 32 sheep, 34 pigs and three guns. In 1698, two
years after a raid by Colonel Church when most of Beaubassin was destroyed, he had 17
heads of cattle, 20 sheep and 12 pigs, and he had thirty of the thirty one fruit trees in
the area. Obviously, in 1696, Roger had managed to hide a portion of his herd in the
surrounding woods. It may be significant to consider also that by then, his son Jean had
married and Roger had probably helped him out with some of his herd. If both are taken
together, the total is almost at the level of 1693.
Marie (1669) Jean (1676) Pierre (1678) Guillaume (1680) Michel (1684) Madeleine (1688)
Marie (1697). Some authors add a Marie Anne (1699), but that appears to be an error.
Because of the rather long time between some of the births, it would not be so improbable
to think that there were other pregnancies or perhaps children who died at a very early
age. The fact that two children have the same name is not uncommon among Acadians in those
days. It was not unusual to name a new born after an older child who had married and left
home. This is the case of the eldest Marie, who, by 1697 had married Toussaint Doucet.
Vincent Caissie relates the following interesting information about Roger and Francoise:
| "Perhaps the best documents to
tell us what kind of a man was Roger and what kind of relationship existed between him and
Marie Francoise, are the depositions made by witnesses at the trial of Roger Campagna who
had been accused of sorcery. There were four accusations but only one directly concerns
the Caissie's. Campagna was single, 45 years old in l684, and on Easter Sunday of that
year went calling on Roger to seek Marie's hand in marriage; she was 16 years old. Roger
answered that his wife was away on that day and that he should return another day when she
was there. The next day Campagna came over, and when he was seen approaching with his gun
he was met at the door by Marie Francoise. The deposition of Roger and Francoise state
that Roger had gone asleep on his bed when Campagna was seen approaching, and that Marie
had gone upstairs. There followed a dispute between Francoise and Campagna where sharp
words were exchanged and threats made by Campagna. One of the most interesting comment in
Francoise deposition later was one in which she claims that Campagna had said "I have
been told that you would be the cause of this marriage not taking place". That was in
answer to a statement by Francoise that what "Roger had promised yesterday, today she
was un-promising it." First, it is not believable that Roger would have gone to bed,
much less fallen asleep while this was going on. Marie, as was shown later was not at all
afraid to face Campagna and, in my view would not have willingly gone upstairs leaving her
mother alone to face a man with a gun. I rather think that Francoise, on seeing Campagna
approaching, would have told both Roger and Marie to disappear while she took care of the
bachelor. Now that would make Roger anything but a fearless individual, unless he had by
then become accustomed to Francoise's total domination of the household, and had more to
fear from Francoise's temper than from Campagna. The two comments quoted in the previous
paragraph, would tend to confirm that in the village, Francoise was seen as the 'boss'.
Francoise's 'un-promising' and the general tone of the deposition would support this
theory." (From The
Caissie Family in Acadia by Vincent Caissie) |
On the census of 1714, Roger,
Francoise and the youngest child, Marie, were living together at Beaubassin. The sons are
also there, except for Guillaume who had gone to Riviere du Nord in the Province of Quebec
where he had died about 1711. The 1714 census is the last documentation of Francoise, wife
of Roger. In 1715, a document listed the inhabitants of Checanectou who were present on
proclaiming King George at Beaubassin. On the list were Le vieux Roger and Pierre
Roger. This was obviously Roger Caissie and his son, Pierre. That is the last reference
that we find about Roger. In 1730, at the signing of the oath of allegiance, they are
absent and presumed dead. There is no documentary proof of their passing.
Pierre Caissy, son of Roger Caissie and Francoise Poirier, married around 1705 to Therese
Mirande, daughter of Emmanuel Mirande and Marguerite Bourgeois, and grand-daughter of
Jacques Bourgeois and Jeanne Trahan.
Emmanuel Mirande, son of Emmanuel Mirande of
Portugal and Catherine Spire of Acadia, and Marguerite Bourgeois, daughter of Jacques
Bourgeois and Jeanne Trahan, married at Beaubassin on November 30,1679. Marie-Therese
Mirande was born November 28, 1683. Other children of Emmanuel Mirande and Marguerite
Bourgeois were Joseph, Francois, Marie-Madeleine, Jean, Francoise, Louis Joseph, Michel,
and Alexis.
Pierre Caissy and Therese Mirande had the following children: Michel, Cecile, Joseph,
Anne, Marie, Marguerite, Agnes, and Alexis Caissy dit Roger.
Michel Quessy, son of Pierre Caissy and Therese
Mirande, was born before 1707 at Beaubassin. He married twice, first to Catherine Poirrier
around 1733, and second to Rosalie Commeau, daughter of Jean Baptiste Commeau and Ann
Marie Thibodo, on January 22,1743. By Catherine Poirrier, Michel had Catherine, born at
Beaubassin on January 8, 1735, Marie, Francoise, Anne and Joseph. By Rosalie Commeau, he
had Joseph, born about 1744.
Michel was dead before 1752, when his widow, Rosalie Commeau, married to Jean Baptiste
Perial, was living on Ile Saint Jean. Joseph who was born in 1744 was with her. In 1760 a
list of the inhabitants of Restigouche indicates the presence of Jean Baptiste Perial as
the head of a family comprising seven persons. Joseph must have been one of them. Joseph
is later in Halifax with his half sister, and he must have gone to Louisiana from there.
Catherine Caissy, the daughter of Michel and his first wife Catherine Poirier,
married Jean-Baptiste Bergeron, the son of Augustin and Marie Rose
Melancon. They had 4 children: Magdelaine, Ositte, Jean Baptiste and Charles. Jean
Bergeron is on the list of prisoners at Halifax in 1763 with his wife and four children.
Since some of the Halifax prisoners made it to Louisiana and Jean-Baptiste and Catherine
were in Louisiana in 1766, the Jean Bergeron in the list of prisoners must be
Jean-Baptiste and his wife Catherine. They have a fifth child in Louisiana, Marie Anne, in
the summer of 1765, who died at age 2 months. The census of 1766, from St. James to
Donaldsonville, shows Catherine, the widow of Jean Baptiste Bergeron, living with Mathurin
Landry and her half brother Joseph Caissy.
Jean Baptiste Bergeron, born about 1754, son of Catherine Caissy and Jean Baptiste
Bergeron, married on June 1, 1778 in St. James Parish to Marie Elmire Babin, born about
1764, daughter of Jean Baptiste (Basile) Babin and Anne Marie Saulnier. Jean Baptiste
Bergeron died in Terrebonne Parish on October 27, 1829, and Marie Elmire Babin died on
September 15, 1832.
Their daughter, Marie Francoise Bergeron, married on July 27, 1794 to Joseph Pierre
Savoie, son of Charles Savoie and Judith Arcenault.
Pierre Lucien Savoie, son of Joseph Pierre Savoie and Marie Francoise Bergeron, was born
on June 2, 1809. He married twice, first to Marie Marcelite Chauvin, daughter of
Louis Chauvin and Marie Louise Robichaux, and granddaughter of Louis Robichaux and Isabel
Babin. Louis Robichaux was the stepson of Joseph Roger, through his marriage with
Anastasie Dugas, widow Amable Robichaux.
Pierre Lucien Savoie married a second time on February 11, 1852 to Rositte Aglae Martin,
daughter of Damien Martin and Marie Theotiste Malbrough. Rositte Aglae Martin was
born in Terrebonne Parish on August 15, 1834. Pierre Lucien Savoie, having had a large
family with his first wife, was 43 years old at the time of his second marriage to
Rositte; she was 18 years old. They had a large family together, including my
great-grandmother, Odilia Savoie.
Odilia Savoie, born March 2, 1857 in Terrebonne Parish, married on October 18, 1875 to
Pierre Arsene Falgout, son of Marcellin Falgout and Eliza Champagne. They were my maternal
great-grandparents. Their son, Joseph Marcellin Falgout, married my grandmother, Lillianne
Eloise Champagne, daughter of Louise Alde (Althee) Champagne and Eva Boudreaux.
In 1763, Joseph, son of Michel Caissy and Rosalie Commeau, was still a
minor. He was under the care of his half sister, Catherine, and her husband Jean-Baptiste
Bergeron. Joseph obviously came with them on that voyage. Joseph is listed in early
records in Louisiana as "Joseph Quessy dit Roger." The census of Cabahonocey in
1766, St. James to Donaldsonville, shows Joseph Quessy dit Roger, 21 living with his half
sister Catherine Caissy [he was listed as her brother]. They were on lot number 52 on the
west bank of the Mississippi. Joseph’s next door neighbor was Anastasie, widow
Robichaux (Anastasie married Amable Robichaux on 1 June 1758), with her 3 children by
Robichaux. On the 1769 census Joseph was listed as "Joseph Roget called Query"
age 23, living by himself on the right bank of the Mississippi in the Donaldsonville area.
Widow Anastasie was living nearby with her children by Robichaux. Joseph married Anastasie
on 2 November 1769.
Anastasie Dugas, the daughter of Jean Dugas and Marie Charlotte Gaudin, was born about
1739 in Port Royal, Acadia. She had a brother, Athanase Dugas, in Louisiana. She and
Joseph Roger had the following children: Marie Rose Anastasie, Gregoire, George, Francois,
Joseph, and Rosalie.
On the census of 1770 of inhabitants along the Mississippi River below Donaldsonville,
Joseph's family was listed as follows: Joseph Roger 22; Anastazie Dugas, his wife 32;
Henry Robichaux, his stepson 8; Jean Baptiste Robichaux, his stepson 7; and Louis
Robichaux, his stepson 3. There was a fourth child, a daughter of Anastasie and
Amable Robichaux, who would have been 5 years old. She does not appear in any further
records and probably died.
On the 1777 census of Ascension of Lafourche des Chetimachas, Joseph has 20 arpents of
land and some goats. He and his family were listed on the census: Joseph Roger 28;
Anastazie Dugas, his wife 38; Joseph Roger, his son 5; Francois Roger, 5; Marie Roger, his
daughter 7; Henrie Robichaux, 16, his stepson; Jean Baptiste Robichaux, 15; Louis
Robichaux, 9. (Note: some of the above information on Catherine and Joseph Quessey was
taken from CATHERINE AND JOSEPH
CAISSY IN LOUISIANA, Roger/Rogers - The Roger Caissy Descendants in Louisiana by
Allen John Rogers.)
Joseph Caissy dit Roger moved below Thibodaux to the St. Charles community, where he owned
a tract of land and raised sugar cane. He died there in July 1818. His son, Francois, born
February 13, 1776, lived on Joseph's tract of land at the St. Charles community. He
married Marguerite LeBlanc, born May 13, 1782 in Nantes, France, daughter of Pierre Paul
LeBlanc and Anne Boudreaux.
Their son, Joseph Zenon Roger, married on June15,1835, at Thibodaux, Louisiana to
Rosalie Arseneau, daughter of Nicolas Paul Arseneau and Carmelite Breau.
They were the parents of Leon Roger. Leon Roger married first to Marguerite Bourgeois on
February 13, 1855, at Raceland, Louisiana. He married a second time on May 5, 1876,
in Terrebonne Parish, to Elisabeth Buford, daughter of Thomas
Jefferson Buford and Emelie Darce. Leon Roger and Elisabeth Buford were my
great-grandparents. They resided at Bayou Dularge.
Marguerite Emelie Roger, daughter of Leon Roger and Elisabeth, had a child by Lee
Lottinger, son of Frederick Lottinger and Mary (May) Dugas, Lee Peter Lottinger, born
February 12, 1898. They were my grandparents. When the child, Lee, was 2 years old, she
married to Ernest Joseph Boudreaux, and they had Lucretia, Lillian, Inez, Leona, and
Ernest Joseph (E.J.) Boudreaux.
My Descent from Roger Caissie of
Ireland and Acadia is as follows:
(Note: information below was formatted for a monitor set at 800x600. It will be
distorted at any other setting)
1. Roger Caissie & Marie Francoise Poirrier
2. Piere Caissie & Therese Mirande
3. Michel Caissie dit Roger & 1) Catherine Poirrier ------
------------------------------------- 2) Rosalie Commeau
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4. Joseph Quessy dit Roger & Anastasie Dugas 4.
Catherine Quessy & Jean Baptiste Bergeron
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5. Francois Roger &
Marguerite LeBlanc 5.
Jean Baptiste Bergeron & Marie Elmire Babin
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6. Joseph Zenon Roger & Rosalie Arseneau
6. Marie Francoise Bergeron & Joseph Pierre Savoie
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7. Leon Roger & Elisabeth
Buford
7.
Pierre Lucien Savoie & Rositte Aglae Martin
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8. Emelie Marguerite Roger & Lee
Lottinger
8. Odillia Savoie & Pierre Arsene Falgout
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9. Joseph Marcellin Falgout & Lillianne Eloise Champagne
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9. Lee Peter Lottinger &
Berthille Marie Falgout
10.
Berthille Marie Falgout & Lee Peter Lottinger
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10/11. Barbara Ann Lottinger
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