Free Jeanne Dugas of Acadia by Cassie Deveaux Cohoon

New England occupation and later used as a storehouse. Understandably, conditions in Louisbourg were still unsettled.
    On his way back to Grand-Pré, Joseph stopped at Port Toulouse to check on the land his father had left to the family.
    He knew that after the defeat of Louisbourg in 1745, the New England forces had attacked Port Toulouse and the surrounding area, burning down the town, the fort and the brickworks. They even desecrated a Mi’kmaw burial ground. Many of the settlers had left, and any who remained were caught and killed or taken prisoner and deported.
    Joseph found that most of the land his father had cleared nearly forty years ago was again covered with fir trees – the two dwellings mainly in ruins. But he discovered that other Acadians were returning to the area, and that Louisbourg was again sending some French troops there. This was encouraging. It did not lift his spirits, but he decided it would be a safer place to settle than Louisbourg.
    When he announced his intention to move to Port Toulouse and to take his children with him, his brothers and his uncle Abraham tried to disuade him. But Joseph would not be swayed. He asked Marie Braud if she would go with them and she agreed.
    At Joseph’s announcement the family turned their eyes on Jeanne. They knew she was very attached to her brother and his children.
    Before she could speak, Joseph said, “Jeanne, you can make a good life for yourself here in Grand-Pré. You must stay.”
    She knew he was sincere, and of course everyone else joined in to agree with him. But she was very unsettled by the situation. “I don’t know,” she said and frowned. “I have to think about it.” Then she walked out of the room.
    She had a favourite place on Uncle Abraham’s farm where she liked to go when she had to think about something important. It was between the house and the barn, in a slight hollow, where someone had placed a bench beside a willow tree. She went there now, just to sit and think. She had never before had to make such an important decision for herself.
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    Since losing their father, Jeanne’s brother Joseph had been the anchor in her life, perhaps even more so since Maman had died. And she had promised Maman that she would try to protect him. Now she wondered exactly what Maman had meant. Jeanne knew she could stay in Grand-Pré and that she would find a suitable husband here, but was this what she wanted? Sometimes she wondered if perhaps she was a kindred soul to Joseph and like him not afraid to take risks.
    The following day she announced that she would go with Joseph, and she made it clear that she was going as much for herself as for Joseph and his children. Marie Braud looked stricken for a moment, but Jeanne said with a smile, “No, Marie, you are to come too. I’m sure there will plenty to keep us both busy.” When Joseph opened his mouth to protest, Jeanne told him, “No, my mind is made up and as you know I am a truly stubborn Acadienne.” The rest of the family knew it was pointless to argue with her.
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    They sailed for Port Toulouse in mid-September, Joseph, his five children – all under eight years of age – and Jeanne and Marie Braud. As their schooner set sail, all of them were on deck to wave good-bye to their relatives – some of them crying. Jeanne was afraid but also strangely elated. She was embarking on an adventure on the sea she loved.
    Their arrival at Port Toulouse was not encouraging. Jeanne had never been there, but when she saw the two dilapidated habitations on her father’s property and felt the dampness in the air, she knew how her mother must have felt when she had arrived there many years before. They quickly set to work to repair the houses and clear some ground.
    Jeanne and Marie made the best of it, but it was clear that Joseph was not happy. He was bitter at France’s lack of support for its colony during the