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Descendants of Germain Doucet, Sieur de LaVerdure
Updated: 11/24/2014

The date at the top of each generation is the latest date that data was added to or changed for that generation. Please check often for new information.

Germain Doucet - Biographical Sketch

Following is a short biographical sketch of Germain Doucet, Sieur de Laverdure. It was printed in The Advertiser, page 8C, dated 10 August 1997, published in Lafayette, Louisiana (items in [ ] are added from other sources to help clarify information):

Germain DOUCET dit Laverdure [born about 1595], native of Couperans-in-Brie, France, arrived in Acadia in 1632 with the Commander Isaac de Razilly and Charles de Menou d'Aulnay. The King of France gave Razilly, a Knight in the Order of Malta, the task of retaking possession of the colony of Acadia from the English following the treaty of St-Germain-en-Laye, which returned Acadia to France. Two ships, the St-Jehan and the L'Esperance-in-Dieu, left from d'Auray in Brittany on the 23rd of July, 1632. Germain Doucet was an officer [a Major (Captain of Arms)] among the small group of soldiers that accompanied this mission.

Doucet apparently was accompanied by his wife, Marguerite [see note below] and his son, Pierre, and his daughter, Louise-Marguerite [or Marguerite-Louise-Judith]. The family landed first at La Heve [La Have], where Germain assisted in the construction of Fort Sainte-Marie-de-Grace. [Note: The name of Germain's wife is unknown. See information about his wife in Generation I of the genealogical data.]

Within three months of their arrival, Razilly sent d'Aulnay to retake Port Royal, which was still occupied by the English. Doucet, who would always be d'Aulnay's faithful friend, accompanied him on this mission. At Port Royal, those English colonists who wanted to leave the colony and return to England were boarded on the St-Jehan and sent first to La Heve. Germain Doucet then accompanied the St-Jehan to England to return the English colonists. From there, Doucet returned to France, where he met d'Aulnay aboard the Esperance- en-Dieu, and they returned to Acadia with new French colonists.

Later, in 1635, d'Aulnay was ordered to retake possession of Fort Pentagouet at the western limit of Acadia near the present day Castin, Maine, from the British. Once again, Germain Doucet accompanied d'Aulnay, this time with his family. D'Aulnay returned to Port Royal after the fort was retaken and left Doucet in command of a small garrison. The British soon sent a detachment from Plymouth, Mass., to try to retake the fort, but the French under the command of Germain Doucet, successfully repelled the attack.

Razilly was governor of but a part of Acadia. The rest of the colony was governed by Charles de La Tour. La Tour and Razilly coexisted in Acadia on peaceful terms, but in late 1635, Razilly died suddenly, leaving his position as governor of his part of the colony to his brother, Claude de Razilly. Unwilling to leave France, Claude de Razilly delegated his powers to Charles de Menou d'Aulnay. Soon after d'Aulnay succeeded to this post, relations with La Tour deteriorated, in part due to a confusing geographic division of the colony between the two governors by the King of France. By 1636, this quarrel had degenerated to open warfare, and La Tour demanded that d'Aulnay give up the post at Pentagouet, commanded by Doucet. D'Aulnay and Doucet refused to do so, and proceeded to make plans to reinforce the fort. A small party sent from Fort Pentagouet to Port Royal for provisions, which very well may have included the commander, Doucet, was captured by forces loyal to La Tour and held prisoner. But soon after, La Tour is defeated and captured following a naval engagement with the vessel of d'Aulnay.

In 1645, following the death of the commander, Isaac Pessely, Doucet was named commander of the garrison at Port Royal. By 1647, the forces loyal to d'Aulnay had consolidated their power over the colony, and La Tour was forced to take refuge in Quebec. However, in May 1650, d'Aulnay drowned when his canoe overturned in the Riviere du Moulin. D'Aulnay's widow, Jeanne de Mottin, and Germain Doucet executed d'Aulnay's possession.

In 1651, Jeanne de Mottin married her late husband's rival, Charles de La Tour, and through this marriage, La Tour retook power in the colony. Doucet signed as a witness to their marriage, and La Tour left him in command of the garrison at Port Royal.

In July 1654, despite the fact that England and France were at peace, Major Robert Sedgewick of Boston attacked and took La Tour's fort at Pentagouet, and proceeded immediately to lay siege to Port Royal. Doucet and his men resisted the attack for 16 days, however, faced with an opponent superior in numbers and armament, Doucet was finally forced to surrender Port Royal to Sedgewick and the English. Doucet and his wife were taken prisoner and returned to France, never to return to the New World.