by Danielle Duval Lemyre
ddlemyre@yahoo.com

SYNOPSIS:

Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie, who at the death of his elder brother Jean-Jacque, in 1674, would become the third baron de St-Castin, was born around June 1652
and he was a true child of the plague.
He was a survivor.
The Plague took his Mother's life, Isabeau de Bearn-Bonasse, on November 17 1652, mother of three children, at age 24,
when she died at the home of her parents in Arette,
in the valley of Barétous.

The plague of 1348 had killed a third of the occidental countries
including the major part of France, but it had spared the Béarn.
Now in 1652, it was the last plague epidemic,
perhaps the most virulent,
and it raged in the Bearn from 1652 to 1654

CREST of the BÉARN

The families of Vincent's Father and Mother were both illustrious:

the D'Abbadie of the House of Maslacq (from Orthez in the canton of Lagor), who were a long line of lawyers and jurists including Vincent' gr-grand-father, Bertrand d'Abbadie who was lawyer (avocat général) to the King of Navarre, was seigneur of Baléon, Lignac, Tartoin who married Jeanne de Florence, d'Oloron.

Click here to know more about the d'Abbadie family ancestry

On the other hand, the Bearn-Bonasse were soldiers. They were of the House of Foix-Grailly which was allied with the House of d'Albret in 1484 when Capitaine Francois Bonasse helped Jeanne d'Albret, Mother of the futur Henri IV;
the Bonasse counted as ancestors:
- - Jean de Grailly who received his sword from the King of France Jean le Bon and was made prisonner in 1356 at the Battle of Poitiers
- - Bernard de Béarn (1382), the bastard of the comte de Foix, who became sénéchal de Lannes;
- - Gaston de Foix had a child with Agnes, daughter of King David of Navarre. This site on heraldry at www.heraldica.org/topics/france/peerage2.htm says "Foix (1458, C F): for Gaston de Foix. Passes to Albret 1517, Bourbon 1572. Unit. 1589."

The Béarn-Bonasse were a long line of knights and militaries known for their courage, kin to both the Bearn/Navarre and French courts.

The History of the kingdom of Navarre shows that it passed by marriage to Aragon in 1425, then to Foix in 1480, then to Albret.
In 1512, the part of the kingdom which lay
south of the Pyrenees was taken by Spain.
Later, by a quirk of fate,
France and Navarre were reunited when Henri IV
who was king of Navarre by right of his mother, Jeanne
d'Albret since 1572, became king of
France in 1589 by his father's right.

www.heraldica.org/topics/france/navarre.htm#navarre:
"When Henri III of Navarre became king of France as Henri IV,
in August 1589, he possessed considerable estates of his own,
both within and without France:
the kingdom of Navarre, the independent sovereignties of Béarn, Donnezan and Andorra; and, within the kingdom of France, the duchies of Albret, Beaumont, Vendôme, counties of Foix, Armagnac, Comminges, Bigorre, Marle, and other possessions. He inherited Beaumont and Vendôme from his father Antoine de Bourbon, but most of this inheritance came through his mother Jeanne d'Albret (died 1572), daughter of Henri d'Albret and Marguerite de France.

The county of Foix belonged to a junior branch of the counts of Carcassone. The counts of Foix acquired the vicomté de Béarn (created in the 9th c.) by marriage in 1290.

In 1398 the estates passed to the Grailly family,
who inherited the kingdom of Navarre by marriage in 1480.
In 1484, the inheritance passed to the powerful family of Albret.
They were deprived in 1512 of the Haute-Navarre, or the part of Navarre south of the Pyrenees, when it was conquered by Aragon.
The Albret only retained the Basse-Navarre, north of the Pyrenees."

In a nutshell, for generations, the family of Vincent had intrepid, courageous and loyal individuals, who made steadfast friends and had powerful relatives.

CRESTS and Shields of GASCOGNE
(includes Albret, Oloron, Pau & Béarn)

Map from website at http://membres.lycos.fr/heratlas/

Click here for the History of Navarre.
www.heraldica.org/topics/france/navarre.htm#navarre

ADVENTURE in NEW-FRANCE

In 1670, he installed himself by the Atlantic shores, in Pentagoët, Acadia, (now in Maine, U.S.A.)
where the weather was mild all winter long, and where the summers where beautiful.

At that point, the Abenaki Sachem, Madocawondo, liking this young man and knowing he intends to go back to France,
gave him all his daughters as wives, in an attempt to keep him in the Penobscot bay area.

Soon, Mathilda or Pidianske or Pidi8ammisk8a, elder sister to his future wife Melchide, gave him a daughter, Claire, in 1671, Thérese (born prior 1677). He also had a son, Robardis,(c.1671-1672) either from a third sister (unknown name) or Pidianske, who chose not to 'mix' with the European community. Around 1684, after his return from a trip to France, he married the youngest, Melchide de Nicosquoué adding on the marriage certificate the Pidicwanmiskwe name of Mathilda. Melchide gave him 10 children: Cécile, Bernard-Anselme, Joseph-Marie, Francois-Xavier, Anasthasie, Ursule, Brigitte, Jean-Pierre(born 1692- died while at Quebec's College, in 1701), Bernard, Barenos

On October 14 1689, Louis XIV (France), awarded him a large concession on the St.John River, close to the D'Amours fief, but he remained mostly in Pentagouet and Port-Royal, and in 1696 he became chief of the Abenakis when Madockawando, his Father-in-law died.
He had to go back to France around 1704 to answer charges of trading with the British in Boston, even though rights to that effect had been granted earlier on, and he died there in late 1706 before he could come back.
His son, Bernard-Anselme, was elected as Chief of the Abenaki tribe.

Both Vincent and Anselme were instrumental in preserving both the rights of the Abenakis in the U.S. and saving the lives of several families by getting land concessions for them in Quebec (St-François-de-Sales, near Quebec, then St-François-du-Lac (Odanak) near Sorel in Nicolet)

CLICK HERE
About the story of the 17th century people of CASTINE, USA

Jean-Vincent was only twelve or thirteen when he first came(c.1665) to Quebec with the Carignan Salières Regiment, and since France and England signed a peace treaty which brought him back to France in 1667, he soon decided to see more of New France. First linking to one group of First Nations, the Micmac, he soon got into contact with the Etchemins, and from there it was but a step to meet the Penobscot Abenakis who spent their winters in Pentagouet (c.1671)

Pentagoët was a site where a Jesuit Mission had been established around 1613, which Charles de Bienville, Claude and Charles de LaTour had fought for at the beginning of the century, under LOUIS XIII of France and Charles 1st of England.

Around 1682-85, Vincent married the Abenaki Princess, Melchide (sister of Matilda, a.k.a. Pidiwanskie).

He had several sons of which Anselme St-Castin & Joseph Robardis were better known, and finally his many grandsons, including Louis St-Castin and Joseph Meunier.

Most of them were major players in the development of Maine and Acadia, which was then part of New-France, moreso from 1665 to 1725, and they were instrumental in preserving Abenaki lives and their rights, both in U.S.A and in Odanak, Canada.

Vincent and his family lived in Pentagoet, Penobscot peninsula, with their extended family, the Etchemin Abenakis.

The story as told by clicking on the link below talks about many ancestors and their descendants, including families of the D'Amours, the La Tour, the d'Aulnay, the LeBorgne, the Belisle, the Mius, the d'Entremont, Colonels Winslow, Lawrence, Murray who all took part in the 1755 Acadian Deportation of Grand Pre and Beaubassin.

FRENCH SYNOPSIS:
Vincent d'Abbadie, troisième baron de St-Castin, cousin des rois de Navarre et de France, de par sa mère les Béarn-Bonasse et de son père, arriva en Nouvelle-France le 19 juin 1665, comme Enseigne au Régiment de Carignan (Sallières), agé de 13 ans.

Bientôt, la paix entre la France et l'Angleterre lui permit d'explorer la Nouvelle-France, et il s'établit en 1670 à Pentagoët, qui faisait partie de L'Acadie (et se trouve maintenant dans le Maine, U.S.A.) où le Sachem des Abenakis Etchemin de la baie de Penobscot, Madocawondo lui donna toutes ses filles comme épouses.

Vincent eut comme enfants, entre autres, Claire, Thérèse et un fils, Robardis de l'une des ses femmes, Pidi8ammisk8a ou Mathilde, mais il épousa vers 1684-5 la plus jeune des soeurs, Melchide, de qui il eut 10 enfants, dont Bernard-Anselme, Anasthasie, Ursule, Jean-Pierre(né 1692- décédé 1701 au Collège à Québec), Joseph, Barenos
En 1687, le Roi Louis XIV lui accorda une large concession à la Rivière St-Jean, près de celle des D'Amours.

En 1696 il devient le chef de la tribu des Abenakis à la mort de son beau-père Matakando.
Il fut forcé d'aller en France vers 1704 pour se défendre d'allégations d'avoir "négocié" avec les Britanniques, bien qu'une entente eut été faite à ce sujet quelques années auparavant. Il mourut en France à la fin de 1706 et son fils Bernard-Anselme fut élu chef des Abénakis.

Le père et le fils furent responsables de la retention des droits des Abénakis aux Etat-Unis, et de l'implantation de plusieurs familles Etchemin Abenakies au Québec, dont à Odanak, St-François.

Dear Reader: My name is Danielle and I find enthralling the stories which are tied to these early settlers of North America, over-lapping each other so many times, that the story of one becomes the story of his neighbour, child or ennemy; men marrying widows of those who had betrayed them, as did Jeanne Motin with Charles Latour, d'Aulnay's arch ennemy.

Such is the history of many of those living in the Penobscot Bay area of Maine, who used to be part of Acadia and New-France.

So much in this story is conveluted, I chose to first give you an overlay, then let you wander where your heart choses.

Some like to read about their ties to the Kings of Europe, others to the First Nations, others again to the women who were our Mothers and caregivers, and most people love the stories of fearless pirates who roamed the seas in those years.

This story has them all, the French, English and Indian foes and friends, where friendships overlaid so many lives, the forays into the French Court life during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV or the ties to the Kings of Navarre.

The seventeenth century saw the exod and difficult beginnings of Europeans trying to adapt to different lifestyles, often fleeing persecutions, jumping from the frying pan into the fire, as it were...

The numerous First Nations preferred way of life was also going to undergo massive changes, as disturbing as those of the newcomers.

Please, reader, remember that there is a "Links Page" to consult, you can learn a lot more about the subjects I merely touch on, and if you want to be included in the LINKS page, submit your site to me

You are welcomed to Sign the Guestbook or VIEW our Guestbook

“We were there! Quebec, Canadian, French, American, Amerindian, Acadian, European Roots, a Genealogy & a History" by Danielle Duval LeMyre) TO ORDER BOOK CLICK HERE in the early years of the Colony. It is the best recorded period of his life and it shows that he was one of the Ancestors of most Americans, Acadians, Canadians and many Amerindians.

BACK TO INDEX