Acadian History: The Exile: Massachusetts

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Exile Destination: Massachusetts

MASSACHUSETTS - 735 Acadians In the 3rd week of November, there were 2000 Acadians aboard ships in Massachusetts Bay. Many of them were to move down to other colonies. The first group to land for settlement in Massachusetts consisted of 206 Pisiquid settlers who disembarked the Seaflower on November 19, 1755. Capt. Salt sailed the Hornet from Annapolis Royal on Oct. 28, 1755. After reaching Boston on Nov. 17, he continued on to Spithead. Capt. Sylvans Cobb sailed the York from Annapolis Royal on Oct. 13, 1755 and made it to Boston on Nov. 17. The Swallow brought in 136 Minas Basin settlers on December 13, 1755. Another group arrived for resettlement on December 26, 1755; and four more ships of Acadians arrived on January 15, 1756.
BOSTON HARBOR by Robert Dafford	The sloop Eagle, captained by McKown, is said to have left Halifax (April 1, 1756) with some Acadians (including LeBlancs) and sailed to Boston by May 29, 1756. ["Acadian Deportation Ships", Connecticut Maple Leaf, V. 6, Albert LaFreniere] Lauviere also mentions that a ship called the Race Horse brought Acadians to Boston. The final group of 90 Acadians were part of a group of 200 Acadians that had been sent to Georgia, but were trying to sail back to Canada.
When they landed south of Boston in August 1756, officials put an end to their journey. As with most of the ships, smallpox killed many of the Acadians before they disembarked. When they were allowed to settle down, they were afforded some freedom of movement. Some escaped to Canada, while others took jobs as sailors and left. Realizing this, the government sought to restrict the Acadians’ freedom. On April 15, 1756, they passed a law forbidding anyone from hiring Acadians as sailors. The following month, a law was passed forbidding Acadians from leaving their assigned towns. As in the other colonies, the Acadians lived in squalor. Children were indentured by British colonists. Work was hard to come by. When the war ended in 1763, the Acadians tended to move to urban areas. They petitioned to go to France, but the plans never materialized. Soon after, over 300 of the Acadians went to Saint Domingue. When an additional 300 tried to follow, they were stopped. Several hundred made their way north over land to Quebec. Another group of 116 Acadians sailed to St. Pierre and Miquelon, arriving there on October 1, 1763. The remaining Acadians asked for better living conditions or to be allowed to go to Canada. The Massachusetts officials asked them to take an oath of allegiance to England and allowed them to go. On June 2, 1766, a large number of Acadians (including 720 from Boston and 140 from Salem) took the oath. Since most were poor, they tried to make it to Quebec or Nova Scotia by land. Those with the funds went by ship. When some of the Acadians arrived in Nova Scotia, they found their land settled by English colonists. Though some recieved small amounts of land, many went to the Petit Codiac River Valley in New Brunswick.

The 1755 Exile The 1758 Exile The "End" of the Exile	Exile Destinations
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