Before the French presence: The Mi'kmaq word for Tracadie meant the "settlement" or "place of residence" or "camping ground". The Mi'kmaq have lived at Tracadie for at least 6,000 years. 1613 - Samuel de Champlain spells Tracadie as Tregate on his map made that year. 1772 - Pierre Benoit, his wife Victoire Dugas and their children arrived in East Tracadie. They came from Lower River Inhabitants. (#1 on the map) 1777 - The Bonnevie dit Beaumont from Chezzetcook and the Jacquet dit Deslauriers from the Gaspé arrived at the same time. 1782 - The Girourds arrived. With them they brought the Gauterots, Maillets, Barillots, d'Orly and the Petitpas. They all came from Chezzetcook. About the same time the Côé and Perraults came from Quebec and the Mathe came from Cape Breton via the Isle of Jersey. 1787 - After the American Revolution a group of Loyalist Blacks consisting of 71 men, 50 women and 51 children were settled in Tracadie. There Thomas Brownspriggs and 74 others were given a grant of 3,000 acres of land at "Trackady" 1788-1792 - Thomas Brownspriggs acted as school master for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (Church of England). 1803 On the 2nd September, Father Amable Pichard, a priest from France, was appointed the first pastor of St. Peters' Parish of Tracadie and of the attached missions of Pomquet and Havre Boucher. (#2 on the map). 1806-1808 - The Boudreaus were the last Acadians to arrive coming from Larry's River in Guysborough County. 1808 - The Reverend Charles Weeks, Anglican missionary at Guysborough, reported that there were 23 Black families at Tracadie. 1812 - When Bishop Octave Plessis of Quebec visited Tracadie in August, there were 43 heads of families. Up to 1814 - The original cemetery is on the eastern side of the harbour next to Pierre Benoit place. "La Pointe de la cimètiere" was the one that was used from the beginning until 1814. It became the final resting place of Pierre Benoit on the 19th April 1811 at the age of 82. Later (in 2004) an aluminum cross was chosen to mark the spot of the second cemetary. (#3 on the map) 1814 - The site was chosen for a new church at the shoreline across the harbour. A small chapel was built and the old church was hauled across the harbour on the ice to become the Glebe House for the new church. In the summer (2003), a large aluminum cross was chosen to mark the spot of the second cemetary. (#4 on the map)
The Chronological Development of Aspects of Tracadie & Area
