A newspaper article by Diana Ross McCain in 1989 both inspired and contributed to this account of Acadians in Suffield. During the winter of 1756 three large ships sailed into New London harbor with an unusual cargo – hundreds of people, men, women, and children, had been deported from Acadia and sent to Connecticut. Their homes in Acadia were destroyed, their land and any remaining possessions were confiscated. The Connecticut government prepared a plan to distribute the people to fifty towns. A committee was formed to coordinate the distribution and to allocate any future deportees to the towns. Each community was directed to treat them “as tho they were inhabitants of such town.” Five people were allocated to Suffield.
The Acadian region of Canada included Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton Island, New Brunswick, the lower Gaspe Peninsula, and a slice of Northeast Maine. Acadians originally came to Canada from France. However, they developed a separate culture from their cousins in Quebec that blended French, Indigenous, and later British influences. In the 18th century, the boundaries of the Acadia region changed with the fortunes of wars between England and France. These included King William’s War (1689-1697), Queen Ann’s War (1702-1713), King George’s War (1744-1748), and the French and Indian War (1754-1763).
In 1710 the British government gained control of the Nova Scotia section of Acadia from the French. The French inhabitants were directed to pledge an oath of allegiance to the English monarch. Many refused and those that did also declared they would never take up arms against the French. They became known as “French Neutrals.” The British government of Acadia became paranoid that the French inhabitants were planning to join the French resistance and decided to deal forcefully with the French Acadians. Starting in 1755 and going on for years, as more territory was gained by the British, they forcibly removed the entire French population of Acadia from their homeland and distributed them initially in various locations along the Eastern coast of the United States and later to France and its Territories.
Acadians Deported into Connecticut Towns
Of the Acadians sent to Suffield, the five people came from one family, the Brun family. Joseph and Nathalie (Lanoue) Brun and their children: Marie (6 years old), Amable (5 years old), and Joseph (2 years old). The family spoke only French, was Catholic (in a Protestant community), and was very poor, arriving with no money or possessions. They probably encountered suspicion and discrimination due to their French heritage and the political tensions at the time. An examination of old town records from 1756 to 1767 reveals no mention of the Brun family or Acadian refugees. Nothing is known of their time in Suffield. The Brun family returned to Quebec in 1767 as part of a large group sailing from New London.
Are there any Acadians in Suffield today? Anyone who traces their ancestry back to the original settlers of Acadia is considered an Acadian. There are probably hundreds of Acadians living today in Suffield. Count both Lester and me in that group. Also, Wendy, Ed, Janet, Aime, maybe even you.