Text taken from Les Familles de Caraquet, by Fidèle Thériault (Translated from French by John Mark Hopkins)
In 1750 the village of Beaubassin was burned down and its Acadian families were resettled on the St. John River, mostly at Grimross (now Gagetown). In 1758 this last village of Acadian refugees was destroyed by Colonel Monckton’s troops, and Joseph Jean THÉRIAULT, along with his compatriots, took refuge in the village of Pointe Sainte-Anne. This time it was Moses HAZEN and his men who were responsible for destroying this Acadian village in the middle of the month of February, leaving its civilian population, elderly, men, women and children, without shelter or resources. They had no choice but to go back up the St. John River as far as the villages in Québec along the St. Lawrence River. The situation wasn’t any brighter there, since WOLFE had already ordered several villages to be burned down in that region as well. Many Acadian families arriving from the St. John River found refuge at Trois-Pistoles, Cacouna, L’Islet, etc. Joseph Jean THÉRIAULT stopped first at Trois-Pistoles where he had his son Pierre baptized in 1760. He then started out again and went as far as Cap Saint-Ignace where he settled and had his son Victor baptized on 13 November 1761. In 1767 Joseph Jean THÉRIAULT decided to try his luck again on the St. John River, near the ruins of the village of Sainte-Anne. On 28 September 1767 in Nashwaak, Father BAILLEY baptized his daughter who was named Marie-Anne. He was one of the first Acadians to return from Québec and resettle in the region of Fredericton. He took up residence on Sugar Island, located at the mouth of the Keswick River. Tranquility on the St. John River did not last long for the Acadians. Once the American Revolution broke out in 1776 the Acadians took the side of the Americans, and as a result suffered reprisals from the British who once again burned down many of their settlements. With the arrival in great numbers of Loyalists in 1783-84, most of the Acadians decided to leave their colony, which had suddenly become very Anglo-Protestant, and went on to found Madawaska and rejoin their compatriots from Caraquet, Nipisiguit, Memramcook, Tracadie, Miramichi, etc. It was on this occasion that old Jean-Baptiste CYR, also known as Croque, was said to remark: “Dear God, can it be true that you have no more space in the world for the ‘Cadiens?” Joseph Jean THÉRIAULT was one of those who decided to leave. On 15 July 1786, he sold his property of 100 acres to a Loyalist, Frederic DePEYSTER, “a certain house and plantation situated, lying and being on the upper end of Sugar Island.” He then reprised his role as pilgrim, took what furniture and other belongings he could carry with him, and headed up a small caravan to reach Caraquet towards the end of summer 1786. The preceding summer he had asked Governor Thomas CARLETON for permission to sell his property and obtain a lot at Miramichi River. This permission was granted, but he must have changed his mind, as on 7 July 1786 he asked for a parcel of land at Caraquet which also was granted to him. On 27 April 1787, Joseph Jean THÉRIAULT received for himself and his sons official titles to lots at Caraquet, to the west of the “Grande Grant.” His sons, Jean-Baptiste, Victor, François and Pierre obtained lots 6, 8, 9 and 10, and Jean-Joseph himself received lot number 7 with 230 acres. Lots 1 to 5 were given to the GODIN family, and lots 11 and 12 to the PINETs. These families were the founders of present-day Bertrand. Joseph-Jean THÉRIAULT died during the winter of 1795-96 and was buried in the small cemetery of Sainte-Anne-du-Bocage. His wife, Marie-Josephte GIROUARD passed away on 4 October 1823 at the age of 89.
