Did you know that, as descendants of Frederic Gautreau, we have a village in New Brunswick named after our ancestors? Here is the story…

A few years after the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763, the Acadians were allowed to return to certain areas in Canada. Many Acadians struggled to find their way back from their deportation locations, from British prisons, and even from hiding places in the woods in order to repatriate themselves. Tragically, thousands of Acadians were permanently dispossessed of their homes, their families, and in some cases, their lives. Among those imprisoned was our direct ancestor, Paul Gautreau, with his wife, Anne Belliveau, whom he married about 1761, and their children. It is believed Paul attempted to escape the British by hiding out on Ile Saint Jean (Prince Edward Island), and was ultimately captured. Paul and his family were held prisoner at Fort Edward in New York. After release, Paul’s family settled at Menoudie village in Nova Scotia. During that time, many small villages in the Memramcook region were sprouting up, inhabited by Acadians returning from exile.

Paul Gautreau was born to Pierre Gautreau and Marie-Josephe Bugeaud in 1728, in Grand Pre, Acadie, Nova Scotia. Paul and his son Joseph - who was born about 1762 - tragically drowned in the Minoudie River. Another of Paul’s sons – and our direct ancestor - Petit Jean, born in 1769, married Madeleine Forest in 1793. They had eight children. Jean and Madeleine left Nova Scotia with some friends to settle in the interior of Memramcook at a place referred to as the "second village." Their son, Moise, was born in Memramcook in 1802. Moise married Anne LeBlanc and they had Anselme, who was born in Memramcook in 1842. Anselme married Gertrude LeBlanc and they had Ferdinand, born in Gautreau Village in 1867. Ferdinand married Henriette Gaudet and they had nine children, among them our direct ancestor, Frederic, who was born in Pre d'en Haut in 1891. Frederic married Marie Rose Cormier in 1916 and had 10 children.

Gautreau Village was so named to honor its first colonists: Petit Jean and Madeleine Forest (our direct ancestors), as well as some of their distant Gautreau cousins.