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PELLERIN'S IN NEW BRUNSWICK:
Pierre's brother Germain. born 1729 married Marie Belliveau. They lived in "La Riveire Saint-Jean" in New Brunswick in 1768, in Halifax in 1770, and in Memramcook about 1772, where he died Oct. 4th, 1807. Joseph-Frederick Pellerin, one of the sons of Germain and Marie, born 1760 married in Memramcook, New Brunswick about 1782 to Marie Bourgeois. That Pellerin family eventually migrated to the Bouctouche area.
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So many suffered miserably during the deportation...such was the story of Pierre Pellerin, son of Jean Baptiste & Marie Martin, who were exiled from Acadie along with his wife, Anne (Girouard) and their seven children. They found themselves in Pembroke, Massachusetts where he and his wife became ill and found themselves in a state of poverty & debt. They were renting a house from Mr. Isaac Keene of Pembroke, but soon found they could not pay their rent. Mr. Keene had Pierre put in jail in Plymouth for 40 days. On April 13, 1765, Pierre appealed for relief. The following letter was received by Governor Francis Bernard. "Your poor petitioner is greatly distressed by reason of a law just brought by Mr. Isaac Keene against me for rent. I have seven children, five of them small and it's with great difficulty I can with mine and my wife's industry, get clothes to keep me and mine from suffering with cold, and victuals to prevent their perishing with hunger, and can't possibly pay for house rent, but so it is Mr. Keene has taken out his execution and last Tuesday to add to all my distresses and poor fortunes the officer committed me to the goal in Plymouth, where I remain close confined to this day," note spelling:"It's verey distressing after getting through a cold winter to be shut up in a dark goal and fear they suffer greatly. May it please your Excellency, the creditor is notified in order to my taken the benefits of the law. I pray that it may be done, possibly if your Exe. Honours would send to ye Selectmen of Pembroke they would pay the house rent which is but #2,8 and #2,21,5 which I am utterly unable to pay, and if I must lye here fourty days, I shall lose all my opportunity of the spring tyling for my poor family relief as well as my other labor and planying. Pray consider my distress case.
his Peter+Pelerine Mark
SOURCE: Pembroke Historical Society, Pembroke, Massachusetts PIERRE'S RELEASE FROM JAIL:
Pierre's rent was paid and he was released to go back to his family. The then Selectmen in 1765 were Ichabod Bonney and John Turner. The Pellerin family settled on an old farm located on a rough road not far from the ruins of a colonial saw mill. Today, nothing remains of the Pellerin house except a well a short distance away. This well of fine cut stone rises just a few inches from the ground, 18 inches in diameter and 10 to 12 feet deep. Even now the water remains clear as it did back in 1756 when Peter first tasted the refreshing water. There is no proof that Peter built this well, but tradition has named it "Peter's Well" down thru the generations. The well was lost for awhile, only to be re-discovered by wood choppers, lost again, then found by developers. The man-built supply known to residents of Pembroke as "Peter's Well" will be preserved by the Pembroke Historical Society who have on April 26, 1977 purchased the land for preservation.
What Happened to Pierre Pellerin and his family?
He and his wife Anne(Girouard) managed to build themselves a small boat on which they arrived in Yamachichi, Quebec, Canada sometimes after 1765. Pierre and his family established themselves in Yamachichi, two miles from Saint-Pierre Lake at a spot they called, "Little Acadie", a name still used in 1900.
In 1772 they returned to Port Royal where according to F. Desaulniers, "The Ancient Yamachichi Families", they died about 1780. Four of his sons remained in Yamachichi.
Pierre left behind a legacy which will be shared by many for years to come namely "PETER'S WELL".
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