Savoies and Acadia

 From the Acadian Expulsion in 1755 to 1763, some of the fourth generations of Acadian Savoies remained in exile or were held in prisons in Halifax. Many died from diseases and heartbreak. 

Francois Savoie was my 10th great grandfather, and he is the genealogical dead end for the Savoies.  He came from France to Acadia, Canada, married Catherine LeJEUNE, and had 9 children.  His parents are unknown.

Francois Savoie is said to be the progenitor of all the Savoie /Savo/Savoy/Savoye/Savois families in Southwest Louisiana.  Though I am a descendant of Francois' son Germain, my line of descent did not end up in Louisiana.

The Acadians (French: Acadiens) are the descendants of 17th and 18th century French settlers in parts of Acadia (French: Acadie) in the northeastern region of North America comprising what is now the Canadian Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the Gaspé peninsula in eastern Québec, and the Kennebec River in southern Maine.  Wikipedia

The British first deported Acadians to the Thirteen Colonies, and after 1758, transported additional Acadians to Britain and France. In all, of the 14,100 Acadians in the region, approximately 11,500 were deported, at least 5,000 Acadians died of disease, starvation or shipwrecks. Men, women and children were forcibly removed from their homes and their land, which they had farmed for a century. Their houses were burned and their land given to settlers loyal to Britain, mostly immigrants from New England and then Scotland. The event is largely regarded as a crime against humanity, though modern-day use of the term "genocide" is debated by scholars. A census of 1764 indicates that 2,600 Acadians remained in the colony having eluded capture. Wikipedia

Without making any distinction between the Acadians who had been neutral and those who had resisted the occupation of Acadia, the British governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council ordered them to be expelled.[e] In the first wave of the expulsion, Acadians were deported to other British North American colonies. During the second wave, they were deported to Britain and France, and from there a significant number migrated to Spanish Louisiana, where "Acadians" eventually became "Cajuns". Wikipedia

From the Acadian Expulsion in 1755 to 1763, some of the fourth generations of Acadian Savoies remained in exile or were held in prisons in Halifax. Many died from diseases and heartbreak.  Among the few who survived the British exile was Charles Savoie, who is assumed to have died later in New York. The rest of his large family is buried in scattered places in New Brunswick and Quebec. Among the Savoies later found in Louisiana were...From this family came another Francois Valcour Savoie, who is the ancestor of the Southwest Louisiana descendants.

I'm a descendant through a different son of Germain Savoie, but this is interesting: “After Germain Savoie died,” wrote Harry J. Savoy, “most of his sons moved north across the Bay of Fundy to what is now New Brunswick. Four of them evaded capture and deportation during the Canadian Expulsion, although the rest were deported. Germain’s youngest son, Charles Savoie, and his family of eight children were exiled to New York. His eldest son, Francois Savoie, was separated from the family and sent to Georgia.

Francois Savoie's 3rd great grandson left Canada and settled in Kansas, and after that, 2 generations later, John (Jean Baptiste) Savoie settled in Illinois.  His son, John Francis Savoie, settled in Albion, Indiana.  He was my great grandfather.  He was a farmer and owned a hotel in Albion (the "Savoie Hotel").  My great grandfather's family was recorded to be a French-speaking family.  That seems amazing after so many generations.  I've read that my grandfather was a French interpreter during World War One.   My grandfather died when I was about 5 years old, so I vaguely remember him.