Anyone familiar with Acadian history in Louisiana may recognize the name Joseph Broussard, better known as Beausoleil. He is remembered as an Acadian resistance leader and for leading a group of Acadian exiles to Louisiana in 1765. His brother Alexandre Broussard also came to Louisiana that year. Less often mentioned is another brother, Claude Broussard, one of my direct Acadian ancestors.
Even though Claude himself never set foot in Louisiana, his descendants did, making the “forgotten brother” an important part of Acadian-Louisiana history.
Claude lived through many of the same events that shaped the lives of his better-known brothers, including the years of uncertainty under British rule and the Deportation of the Acadians. Unlike Joseph and Alexandre, however, Claude apparently never reached Louisiana. The last record I have found that can definitely be connected to him places him in Maryland in 1763. Perhaps that is one reason his story is not as well known.
Claude was born in the late 1690s at Port Royal, Acadia, in what is now Nova Scotia. He was a son of François Broussard and Catherine Richard, and among his siblings were Joseph “Beausoleil” Broussard and Alexandre Broussard. Genealogical sources vary somewhat on Claude’s year of birth, so I consider the date approximate.
On October 24, 1718, Claude married Anne Babin, daughter of Vincent Babin and Anne Terriot. Their handwritten Catholic marriage record survives and identifies Claude as the son of the deceased François Broussard and Catherine Richard and Anne as the daughter of Vincent Babin and Anne Terriot. More than 300 years later, we can still see a record documenting this event in their lives.
Marriage record of Claude Broussard and Anne Babin, October 24, 1718.
Transcription of the marriage record of Claude Broussard and Anne Babin from the Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records.
By 1727, Claude was living in or associated with the Minas/Pisiquit area of Acadia. A record published in Denizations and Naturalizations in the British Colonies in America, 1607–1775 states that Claude Broussard, identified as an Acadian, took an oath to the British king at Minas, Pisiquit, on October 31, 1727. Anne Babin was from the Pisiquit area, so Claude’s presence there following their marriage is not surprising.
Entry recording Claude Broussard taking the oath to the King at Minas, Pisiquit, on October 31, 1727.
Claude and Anne had a family. One of the children identified in my family research as their daughter is Magdeleine Broussard, my direct ancestor. Her name appears in genealogical sources with several spellings and forms, including Madeleine, Magdeleine and Marie Magdeleine. For consistency, I will refer to her as Magdeleine in this article.
Magdeleine’s parentage has caused confusion in genealogical research. Claude’s brother Alexandre also had a daughter with a similar name, and conflicting identifications can still be found in family trees and genealogical sources. The Acadian Expulsion Memorial List, for example, identifies the parents of the Madeleine Broussard who married Jean Baptiste Landry and later Olivier Thibodeau as unknown because of discrepancies in her parentage. A Broussard genealogy collection at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, on the other hand, lists a Madeleine Broussard among the children of Claude Broussard and Anne Babin and identifies her as the wife of Jean Baptiste Landry.
Information provided to me in June 2025 by genealogist Deadra Doucet Bourke explained that DNA research supports Magdeleine—the woman who married Jean Baptiste Landry and later Olivier Thibodeaux—as the daughter of Claude Broussard and Anne Babin. DNA genealogy is not an area in which I have expertise, so I would not attempt to interpret those findings myself. I rely on researchers who understand that field. I mention the issue because anyone researching this family may encounter conflicting information about which Broussard brother was Magdeleine’s father.
Magdeleine was first married, about 1752, to Jean Baptiste Landry. I have not found a surviving marriage record establishing an exact date. The Acadian Expulsion Memorial List places their marriage in 1752. Their daughters Anne and Isabelle Landry later appear as the stepdaughters of Olivier Thibodeaux, Magdeleine’s second husband. Some genealogical sources attribute additional children to the Landry marriage, but because the information is not consistent among the sources I have reviewed, I am not listing those children here as established.
After Jean Baptiste Landry’s death, Magdeleine married Olivier Thibodeaux, probably around 1760. Their children included Marie Thibodeaux, my direct ancestor, and Théodore Thibodeaux. Southwest Louisiana Records later identifies Marie as the daughter of Olivier and Magdeleine Broussard in the record of her marriage to Joseph Sonnier on January 10, 1779. The same source identifies Théodore as the son of Olivier and Magdeleine Broussard in the record of his marriage in 1782.
According to Acadians in Gray, when Olivier and Magdeleine reached Louisiana in 1765, their family included Magdeleine’s daughters Anne and Isabelle Landry from her first marriage, along with daughter Marie, age 2, and son Théodore, age 1. Magdeleine was pregnant when they arrived. Their daughter Marguerite Anne Thibodeaux was born on the Teche in May 1765. Southwest Louisiana Records records Magdeleine’s death on May 17, 1765.
My own line continues through Magdeleine and Olivier’s daughter Marie Thibodeaux, who married Joseph Sonnier on January 10, 1779. The St. Martin Church marriage record, as abstracted in Southwest Louisiana Records, identifies Marie as the daughter of Olivier Thibodeaux and Magdeleine Broussard. Through that line, Claude Broussard, although he apparently never came to Louisiana himself, became one of my Louisiana Acadian ancestors.
Before those events occurred, Claude’s own life had changed dramatically. His first wife, Anne Babin, died sometime before November 1754. I have not found a reliable record establishing exactly when or where she died. On November 18, 1754, Claude married Marie Dugas, widow of Abraham Bourg. This marriage is well documented in the St. Jean-Baptiste parish register at Port Royal, where Claude is specifically identified as the widower of Anne Babin and Marie as the widow of Abraham Bourg.
Less than a year later came the event that would scatter the Broussard family. In 1755, British authorities began forcibly removing thousands of Acadians from their homes during what became known as the Grand Dérangement, or Great Upheaval. Families lost their homes and farms and were dispersed among Britain’s North American colonies and elsewhere.
Claude and his second wife, Marie Dugas, were deported to Maryland. Research has placed Claude aboard the Dolphin, one of the vessels carrying Acadians from Pisiquit to Maryland in the fall of 1755. I have not found an original passenger list naming Claude, so I consider the identification of that particular ship probable based on later historical and genealogical research rather than proven by an original passenger manifest.
There is much stronger evidence showing that Claude was in Maryland after the Deportation. On July 7, 1763, a list was made of Acadians living there. Among the Acadians at Upper Marlborough, Maryland, were Claude Broussard and Marie Broussard, identified as his wife. This record establishes that Claude survived the Deportation and was still living in Maryland in 1763, when he would have been in his mid-60s.
After that record, Claude becomes difficult to trace. Some family trees give his death as September 18, 1765, but I believe that date should be treated as questionable unless documentation can be found to support it. Claude’s brother Alexandre Broussard died in Louisiana on September 18, 1765, raising the possibility that Alexandre’s death date was mistakenly attached to Claude in later family trees.
I have found no reliable record showing that Claude followed Joseph, Alexandre and other members of the Broussard family to Louisiana. It is possible that Claude and Marie Dugas remained in Maryland, but I have not found documentation proving where Claude died. Based on the records currently available to me, the most accurate statement is that Claude was alive at Upper Marlborough, Maryland, on July 7, 1763, and his date and place of death remain uncertain.
Meanwhile, the paths of his brothers became part of Louisiana history. Joseph “Beausoleil” Broussard led a group of Acadian exiles who arrived in Louisiana in 1765, and Alexandre Broussard also came to Louisiana. Both brothers died there later that year. Claude apparently did not make that journey, but if the identification of Magdeleine as his daughter is correct, his daughter did. She arrived with Olivier Thibodeaux and their family, and through their daughter Marie Thibodeaux, Claude’s descendants became part of the Acadian population of Louisiana.
That is what interests me about Claude’s story. Joseph “Beausoleil” Broussard understandably became the famous brother because of his leadership during one of the most difficult periods of Acadian history and his role in bringing Acadians to Louisiana. Alexandre is also found among the Broussards who settled here. Claude’s life followed another path. He was their brother, experienced the upheaval that scattered their family, and spent at least part of his later life as an Acadian exile in Maryland. We may not know exactly when or where Claude died, and some details concerning his family remain uncertain, but the records show that he survived the Grand Dérangement and that his descendants became part of Louisiana’s Acadian story.
Perhaps the forgotten Broussard brother should be remembered.
AI Assistance Note: This article was researched and written with the assistance of ChatGPT. Historical and genealogical information was checked against the records and sources cited in the References and Notes.
References and Notes
Claude Broussard and Anne Babin marriage, October 24, 1718. Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records, Volume 1a, Revised: The Registers of St. Charles aux Mines in Acadia, 1707–1748. The original handwritten marriage record and the Diocese of Baton Rouge transcription are reproduced in this article. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Broussard genealogy collection also records the October 24, 1718 marriage of Claude Broussard and Anne Babin.
Online reference: University of Louisiana at Lafayette — Broussard & Trahan Families Collection
Claude Broussard oath, October 31, 1727. Denizations and Naturalizations in the British Colonies in America, 1607–1775. The entry recording Claude Broussard taking the oath to the King at Minas, Pisiquit, is reproduced in this article.
Claude Broussard and Marie Dugas marriage, November 18, 1754. St. Jean-Baptiste parish register, Port Royal, RG 1, volume 26a, page 515. The record identifies Claude as the widower of Anne Babin and Marie Dugas as the widow of Abraham Bourg.
Online reference: Nova Scotia Archives — Claude Broussard and Marie Dugas marriage record
Claude and Marie Broussard at Upper Marlborough, Maryland, July 7, 1763. The surviving enumeration lists Claude Broussard and Marie Broussard, his wife, among the Acadians living at Upper Marlborough. Images of the original 1763 Upper Marlborough documents are reproduced by Acadians Were Here courtesy of Library and Archives Canada.
Online reference: Acadians Were Here — Acadians in Lower Marlboro and Upper Marlboro
Magdeleine Broussard and Jean Baptiste Landry. The Acadian Expulsion Memorial List identifies Madeleine Broussard as marrying Jean Baptiste Landry in 1752 and Olivier Thibodeau in 1760. The same source lists her parents as “Unknown (discrepancies in parentage).” I therefore use the marriage years as reconstructed genealogical dates rather than dates established by surviving marriage records.
Online reference: Association des Familles Daigle Acadiennes — The Acadian Expulsion Memorial List
Magdeleine Broussard as a daughter of Claude Broussard and Anne Babin. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Broussard genealogy collection lists a Madeleine Broussard among the children of Claude Broussard and Anne Babin and identifies her as marrying Jean Baptiste Landry. Because other genealogical sources disagree about her parentage, I do not regard the compiled genealogy alone as resolving the question.
Online reference: University of Louisiana at Lafayette — Broussard & Trahan Families Collection
Magdeleine Broussard’s parentage and DNA information. Information supporting Claude Broussard and Anne Babin as the parents of the Magdeleine Broussard who married Jean Baptiste Landry and later Olivier Thibodeaux was provided to me by genealogist Deadra Doucet Bourke on June 11, 2025. The information included mitochondrial DNA research. DNA genealogy is not an area in which I have expertise, so I have not attempted to independently interpret the DNA findings.
Olivier Thibodeaux and Magdeleine Broussard’s family in Louisiana. Acadians in Gray, by Steven A. Cormier, reports that Olivier arrived with wife Madeleine Broussard, her daughters Anne and Isabelle Landry from her first marriage, daughter Marie, age 2, and son Théodore, age 1, and that Madeleine was pregnant when the family reached Louisiana. I use this source for the family group and reported ages, not as evidence of Magdeleine’s disputed parentage.
Online reference: Acadians in Gray — Thibodeaus in Louisiana
Marie Thibodeaux, daughter of Olivier Thibodeaux and Magdeleine Broussard. Donald J. Hébert, Southwest Louisiana Records, 1750–1800, p. 545. The entry identifies Marie as the daughter of Olivier and Magdeleine Broussard and records her marriage to Joseph Sonnier on January 10, 1779, citing St. Martin Church, volume 1, page 67.
Théodore Thibodeaux, son of Olivier Thibodeaux and Magdeleine Broussard. Donald J. Hébert, Southwest Louisiana Records, 1750–1800, p. 547. The entry identifies Théodore as the son of Olivier and Magdeleine Broussard and records his July 2, 1782 marriage, citing St. Martin Church, volume 2, no. 78.
Death of Magdeleine Broussard. Donald J. Hébert, Southwest Louisiana Records, 1750–1800, p. 100. The entry records Magdeleine Broussard, wife of Olivier Thibodeaux, as having died May 17, 1765, citing St. Martin Church, volume 1, page 6.
Alexandre Broussard’s death. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Broussard genealogy collection gives Alexandre Broussard’s death as September 18, 1765, in Louisiana. Because this is the same date sometimes attributed to Claude in online family trees, I consider Claude’s supposed September 18, 1765 death date questionable unless an independent record for Claude can be found.
Online reference: University of Louisiana at Lafayette — Broussard & Trahan Families Collection
Research Note
Genealogical research involving eighteenth-century Acadian families can be complicated by incomplete or missing records, repeated given names within families, variations in the spelling of names, and conflicting information in later genealogical compilations and online family trees. Where an original or contemporary record has been available, I have tried to give it greater weight than later family trees or compiled genealogies.
Some questions concerning this family remain unresolved, particularly the parentage of Magdeleine Broussard and the date and place of Claude Broussard’s death. I have identified those uncertainties rather than presenting disputed information as established fact. The identification of Magdeleine as a daughter of Claude Broussard and Anne Babin is also supported by DNA information provided to me by genealogist Deadra Doucet Bourke; I rely on her expertise for the interpretation of that evidence.
This article represents my understanding of the available records and research at the time of publication. Genealogical research is ongoing, and additional records or evidence may lead to corrections or a better understanding of this family’s history.
