DCB/DBC Mobile beta
+

As part of the funding agreement between the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and the Canadian Museum of History, we invite readers to take part in a short survey.

I’ll take the survey now.

Remind me later.

Don’t show me this message again.

I have already taken the questionnaire

DCB/DBC News

New Biographies

Minor Corrections

Biography of the Day

ROBINSON, ELIZA ARDEN – Volume XIII (1901-1910)

d. in Victoria 19 March 1906

Confederation

Responsible Government

Sir John A. Macdonald

From the Red River Settlement to Manitoba (1812–70)

Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Sir George-Étienne Cartier

Sports

The Fenians

Women in the DCB/DBC

The Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences of 1864

Introductory Essays of the DCB/DBC

The Acadians

For Educators

The War of 1812 

Canada’s Wartime Prime Ministers

The First World War

BOUDREAU (Boudreault, Boudreaux, Boudrot), CÉCILE (Pitre; Pellerin), b. c. 1714 in Annapolis Royal, N.S., probably the daughter of Michel Boudrot and Cécile Le Blanc; m. there c. 1733 Jean-Baptiste Pitre, and they had 11 children; m. secondly 3 Nov. 1762 Pierre Pellerin in Sainte-Croix (Que.); d. 13 Jan. 1811 in Nicolet.

Having escaped the cruel, sweeping Acadian deportation of 1755 [see Charles Lawrence*], Cécile Boudreau, her husband, and her children joined about 200 families who scattered into the woods bordering the Memramcook, Shepody, and Petitcodiac rivers. Fortunately they were able to count on the aid of missionary François Le Guerne* and of Charles Deschamps* de Boishébert, a captain in the colonial regular troops. The two men worked together to ensure the survival of the Acadians, provide for their sustenance, and organize their resistance to the British.

Foreseeing the second phase of the expulsion, which would be carried out in 1758 [see Robert Monckton*], many of the families, including Cécile Boudreau’s, moved up the coast toward Miramichi in 1757. They were exhausted, suffering from epidemics and starvation resulting from poor crops. Several of them then resigned themselves to following Boishébert’s troops, which had been recalled to Quebec for the winter of 175758.

The situation at Quebec seemed little brighter. There was a dearth of supplies and a severe famine. The Acadians had to make do with cod and rotten meat. According to the testimony of several persons, these poor living conditions brought about a number of deaths. On 9 June 1758, amid the general gloom and inactivity, Cécile Boudreau had to bury her husband, who had fallen victim to the smallpox epidemic raging at the time. A month earlier she had laid to rest her son Jean, barely eight years of age, and four days after her husband’s interment she buried one of her daughters.

It was for such reasons that the Acadian refugees then sought to flee Quebec. Some joined Le Guerne, who had become parish priest of Saint-François, on Île d’Orléans. Others settled in the Beauce area or in the regions of Saint-Joachim and Bellechasse. In 1758 a large number went to Saint-Grégoire (Bécancour); others, including Cécile Boudreau’s family, chose Nicolet. This locality, which their missionaries and the Abenakis had drawn to their attention, turned out to be a good place for a settlement. It was situated near the St Lawrence, which gave them access to the gulf and to Acadia, where everyone hoped to live once again. There were abundant woods and many lakes that enabled them to survive; moreover, it was remote and peaceful.

Along with other Pitres and Boudreaus, Orillon-Champagnes, Gaudets, Laurts, Melançons, Bastaraches, Commeaus, and Rouisse-Languedocs, Cécile Boudreau found fresh hope in this new setting, where she could set down roots. Five children remained with her; one, François, would receive a commission as captain in the militia. She married Pierre Pellerin in 1762 and was widowed 30 years later. She apparently reached the age of 97, still strong, lucid, and courageous. An unfortunate fall then forced her to take to her bed. After 18 days during which she was willing to drink “only a little water and two shots of rum,” she died.

A long way from Nicolet, the Quebec Gazette, one of the province’s major newspapers, printed a paragraph about this strong, incomparable woman which formed a longer, better tribute than any cold tombstone could offer. Having described the circumstances of her death, it concluded: “This venerable Acadian constantly retained all her mental faculties with remarkable freshness and good health until the accident which brought her to the grave.”

Adrien Bergeron

ANQ-MBF, CE1-13, 14 janv. 1811. Arch. du séminaire de Trois-Rivières (Trois-Rivières, Qué.), Louis Richard, “Notes sur l’arrivée des Acadiens dans le district de Trois-Rivières après 1755.” Quebec Gazette, 31 Jan. 1811. Arsenault, Hist. et généal. des Acadiens (1965). J.-E. Bellemare, Histoire de Nicolet, 1669–1924 (Arthabaska, Qué., 1924). Adrien Bergeron, Le grand arrangement des Acadiens au Québec . . . (8v., Montréal, 1981), 2: 35, 43; 5: 163, 165. P.-G. Roy, La ville de Québec sous le Régime français (2v., Québec, 1930), 2: 295–96.

Revisions based on:
Bibliothèque et Arch. Nationales du Québec, Centre d’arch. de Québec, CE301-S1, 9 juin 1758; CE301-S40, 3 nov. 1762. S. A. White, Dictionnaire généalogique des familles acadiennes (2v., Moncton, N.-B., 1999), 1: 44, 207.

General Bibliography

Cite This Article

Adrien Bergeron, “BOUDREAU, CÉCILE (Pitre; Pellerin),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed March 19, 2024, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/boudreau_cecile_5E.html.

The citation above shows the format for footnotes and endnotes according to the Chicago manual of style (16th edition). Information to be used in other citation formats:


Permalink:   http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/boudreau_cecile_5E.html
Author of Article:   Adrien Bergeron
Title of Article:   BOUDREAU, CÉCILE (Pitre; Pellerin)
Publication Name:   Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5
Publisher:   University of Toronto/Université Laval
Year of publication:   1983
Year of revision:   2022
Access Date:   March 19, 2024