Biography of Pierre Laverdure and Priscilla

Contributed By

robertmelanson

Pierre was born in France approximately in 1605. He was a French Protestant, known as a Huguenot, and probably left France about 1628 when the Protestant city of La Rochelle was captured by Catholic forces. He fled to England because of the religious persecution in France. There he met and married Priscilla, an English woman around 1631. It is believed that her maiden name may have been Melanson, however, there is no concrete proof of that. They lived in England, raising three sons, Pierre, Charles, and John, during the turbulent years of the English Civil War and its aftermath.

In the summer of 1657 Pierre and his family left England, boarding the sailing vessel Satisfaction in company of Sir Thomas Temple, the new governor of English controlled Acadia. They traveled to North America and settled at Fort St. John and later moved to Port Royal (present day Annapolis, Nova Scotia).

In 1667 the English ruled Acadia went back to the Catholic France. Fearing religious persecution again Pierre, Priscilla, and John sought refuge at Boston. Their other two sons, Pierre and Charles stayed in Nova Scotia with their Catholic wives, and chose to use the last name of Mellanson. Pierre and Priscilla had very little and were supported by their son John, a mariner. John disappeared in September 1676, and Pierre went in search of his son, convinced that the most logical place to find him was with his brothers in Acadia. He traveled to Port-Royal. The trip was a grueling one, and not finding or hearing any news of John and being very aged he died during the trip sometime before May 1677.

He left Priscilla a widow not knowing where their son John was, and having no means of support. She married a second time at Boston, 8 April 1680 to Captain William Wright, an innkeeper, who was born about 1611. Priscilla is believed to have died in January 1692.