Germain Doucet

Germain Doucet, also known as Sieur de La Verdure was born around 1595. It's said that Doucet's origins began in Coupru, France.[1] He was a French military commander in colonial Acadia.

Portrait of Germain Doucet by E. Sénécal (1980)

Doucet's North American career began when he began an association with Charles de Menou d'Aulnay, who would be captain and future governor of Acadia. Doucet arrived in La Hève in 1632, with d'Aulnay and Isaac de Razilly. From 1635 to 1645, he served there as captain-at-arms of Fort Pentagouët (modern day Castine, Maine) as a major. After the death of d'Aulnay in 1650, Doucet became commandant serving at the French fort of Port-Royal (now Annapolis Royal). The English, under the command of Massachusetts Major General Robert Sedgwick, captured Port-Royal on August 15, 1654. Under the surrender, Doucet was forced to leave Acadia permanently, and returned to France It is believed that he died the same year.

Family

Doucet had at least three children, Pierre Doucet (born in France around 1621), Marguerite-Louise-Judith Doucet (born in France around 1625) and Jeanne (Kagijonais Mi'qmak nation) who married Pierre Le Jeune de Briard. He probably had a fourth child, born around 1641, who was also called Germain. However, some maintain that he was not the biological son of Doucet (born around 1595). His sons Pierre, Germain II and his daughter Marguerite remained in Acadia. Around 1640, Pierre married Henriette Pelletret. Germain II married Marie Landry and Marguerite married Abraham Dugas. The name of Doucet's wife is uncertain. Some genealogists propose that she was Marie Bourgeois because the act of capitulation of Port-Royal of 1654 stipulates that Jacques (Jacob) Bourgeois was the brother-in-law of Germain Doucet.

References

Jean-Marie Germe, "Origine de Germain Doucet", Les Amitiés généalogiques canadiennes-françaises, No. 9 (1999), p. 23. According to Geneviève Massignon, the last will of Charles de Menou d'Aulnay mentions Germain Doucet "of the parish of Conflans (?) en Brye", (Geneviève Massignon, Les Parlers français d'Acadie, Vol. 1, 1962, p. 44). According to F. René Perron of Sèvres, Germain Doucet is from La Verdure, which is 10 kilometers north of Coutran, in the Bassevelle parish, which is in Champagne Brie. Cf.: F. René Perron, "De Germain Doucet à Jacob Bourgeois", Société historique acadienne, Cahiers, Vol. 23, No. 1 (October–December 1991) and "Bourgeois et Doucet : à Bassevelle, des suites surprenantes", Société historique acadienne, Cahiers, Vol. 23, No. 1 (January–March 1992), pp. 27-46.

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[1] Jean-Marie Germe, "Origine de Germain Doucet", Les Amitiés généalogiques canadiennes-françaises, No. 9 (1999), p. 23. According to Geneviève Massignon, the last will of Charles de Menou d'Aulnay mentions Germain Doucet "of the parish of Conflans (?) en Brye", (Geneviève Massignon, Les Parlers français d'Acadie, Vol. 1, 1962, p. 44). According to F. René Perron of Sèvres, Germain Doucet is from La Verdure, which is 10 kilometers north of Coutran, in the Bassevelle parish, which is in Champagne Brie. Cf.: F. René Perron, "De Germain Doucet à Jacob Bourgeois", Société historique acadienne, Cahiers, Vol. 23, No. 1 (October–December 1991) and "Bourgeois et Doucet : à Bassevelle, des suites surprenantes", Société historique acadienne, Cahiers, Vol. 23, No. 1 (January–March 1992), pp. 27-46.