"The Pitre Trail from Acadia"
Welcome!
This site is designed to assist Pitre descendants in finding their way back through history.
To accomplish this you will find an extensive Pitre-surname descendant tree, Pitre extractions and transcriptions from parish registers and censuses, a Civil War Confederates and Civil War Union Soldiers list, an article about the Pitres who went to Louisiana in 1785 on the ‘Seven Ships’, and more.
The tree is an ongoing project, so although I have made an attempt to be as accurate as possible there will be errors and omissions. The tree is frequently updated as more names, dates, and sources are checked. Please check your own lines against what is here and contact me if you have additions, corrections or queries.
I also have some Pitres in my database for whom I have no parental link. You may have the vital clue to complete that link. So if you have a Pitre who is not listed, but whose parents are, please let me know so that they can be added.
Thank you!
Hundreds of Pitre descendants have emailed me since the site was launched on 18th March 2000, offering anything from a couple of names to entire lines. Your generosity with your time and research has been overwhelming! On behalf of our ever-growing Pitre family allow me to offer my heartfelt thanks!!
The site is divided into two sections, the research and the tree. The guide will allow you to view much of the research I've conducted. I have made every effort to transcribe registers, censuses, etc. accurately. If you have checked the original source and I have transcribed this incorrectly, please copy and scan the appropriate page for me so that I can make corrections.
Search the Pitre Descendant Tree
The tree begins with Jean Pitre and Marie Pesseley as generation one, listing the succeeding generations through generation nine or ten depending on the dates.
Each Pitre has the following information, if known: name, birth date/place, death date/place, marriage/s date/place. Likewise for spouse/s’ info, plus the spouse/s’ parents. While the marriages of Pitre women are included, the descendant lines of females are not followed on this tree for reasons of space and accuracy.
During the 1800’s many Acadians found themselves in areas that were no longer predominantly French or French-speaking. Because of this and other factors some Acadians, including the Pitre, gradually or eventually adopted a “dit” as their surname, or an Anglicized or different spelling altogether. Those that have been discovered thus far, and appear within the tree, are: Peters, Lepitre, Lapete, Lajambe, Lashamb, Lashomb, Cayen, Peat, Peats, Peet, and Petry.
Realising that most of us have limited access to the more reliable sources, I will be happy to provide a transcription of my source or my reason for a link.
Within the Pitre tree, generations one, two, and three are covered in Stephen White’s excellent and meticulously researched Dictionnaire Genealogique Des Familles Acadiennes. Generations four and five pull from a variety of Acadian registers, various censuses, and other published material and are more difficult to completely verify.
Much of the source material for the 30-year exile in France (1755-1785) and the Pitre presence in Louisiana (1765 to 1920) is in book form accessible at many archives and libraries. The Pitre branches on Prince Edward Island and in other parts of Canada can be traced with a good degree of accuracy using filmed copies of parish registers and censuses.
My own descent line is through one of the Lafourche branches in Louisiana. I am currently in the process of viewing and transcribing the Pitre entries from many Canadian parish registers. These will be placed online as each is completed. If you have done such a transcription of any register or census and would like to share it, please get in touch.
If you have contributed to the tree in any way and you wouldn’t mind being contacted by other researchers, please get in touch! Many people have helped me in my research over the years and I hope that this site will help others in return. You may have vital local knowledge that may help another Pitre descendant find an important connection.
Photographs for lagniappe!
PLEASE REMEMBER
Just because it's written here does not necessarily make it so!
Check original sources wherever possible.
For contributions or queries please contact me by e-mail.
Hampshire, England
The search engine below will search every page of this site. BUT, it can only search the spelling you provide. Angele may be Angelique, Arseneau can be Arsenault, Peters may be Pitre, Mary Ann may be Marie Anne, Melanson may be Melancon, etc. [The site is spidered monthly; usually on the 8th of the month.]
Last updated: 27 August 2009
This update: Updates and additions to the New York branches. If your ancestors were in New York State in the counties bordering Canada, try the link for historical New York newspapers from the Useful Links page.
[12 July update: Hundreds more entries from Quebec and Ontario registers. 1861 & 1871 Canadian censuses. Family pages updated, some minor corrections based on census information.
[6 June update: More Quebec registers online. Various family groups updated.]
[28 February update: 1891 Canadian census; Jacquet River registers; more Ontario registers; more Ste. Anne Detroit (through 1870)]
[9 February update: Various individual pages. Rogersville, Northumberland, NB & Robertville, NB registers.]
[10 November 2008 update: Registers: Ste. Brigitte, Maria, Bonaventure, Quebec; Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs, Verdun, Montreal, Quebec; Notre Dame de Grace, Hull, Wright, Quebec]
Important Note: The information presented here may be freely downloaded, copied or printed, but must not be redistributed for commercial gain. The author cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracy that may be present.