One Immigrant Family's Trip To The New World

For months, Nicolas LeRoy had been dreaming of this day in 1661.  The 22-year-old and his l8-year-old wife and two kids anxiously waited on a windy dock in La Rochelle, a coastal city in southwest France.  They had journeyed 244 miles south to this port city from their home in Dieppe, France.

Nicolas had signed a promissory note for 50 livres to pay for the passage of his family on a sailing vessel to the New World in Canada.  The loan was the equivalent of 50 pounds of silver.  It was a large sum for the young Frenchman, who earned his living as a knife maker.

Indeed, it was a leap of faith for Nicolas to even leave France.  His family traced its roots to the 13th century and included wealthy landowners, influential judicial officers, an archbishop and titled members of royalty.  Many inhabited the area around St. Malo on the west coast.

Nicolas was born with none of these ancestral entitlements. He was searching for a better life, one free from the religious tumult between Catholics and Protestants that had roiled France for decades. Ironically, Nicolas, a Catholic, was disembarking from La Rochelle, a hotbed of Protestantism.

There also was the lure of free land promised by French King Louis XIV to any countrymen who would join a small settlement in Quebec, Canada.  At the time of Nicolas' departure in the summer of 1661, a clutch of 300 French pioneers had colonized the area for their native land.

Gasping the hand of his wife Jeanne, Nicolas and his family boarded the wooden sailing vessel Jarden de Hollande.  Anchored nearby was the Aingle d'Or, another French ship planning to sail in tandem from La Rochelle to Canada.  There were 300 passengers crammed on board the two vessels.

The Atlantic Ocean crossing was not without its perils. An outbreak of scurvy, common in that era, took its toll on passengers and crew.  Sixty of them died at sea of the insidious disease caused by chronic Vitamin C deficiency, the result of the absence of fresh fruit and vegetables on the ships.

The two sailing ships limped into the port at Quebec on August 22, 1661 after months at sea.  Nicolas and his family lived with his wife's father-in-law, who had preceded them to the New World. In 1663, Nicolas received a grant for a two-acre farm near Montmorency Falls, where he built a cabin.

From this humble start, Nicolas prospered by increasing his land holdings to 20 acres.  Although their wealth grew, the family was not immune from tragedy.  In the summer of 1669, the couple's five-year old daughter Marie was assaulted by a nearby landowner.   The assailant was hanged after a trial.

A year later a fire at the family home, claimed the lives of two-year old daughter Anne and her eight-year-old brother Jean.  Devastated but undeterred, the family soldiered on acquiring more land and moving to another home to escape the tearful memories of the lost of two children.

The LeRoy clan expanded as their children married and started families of their own. Noel LeRoy, the first member of the family to be born in the New World, fathered 13 offspring in two marriages. His oldest male, Jean Noel, became the first family member to immigrate to America in 1745.

No records exist about what prompted Jean Noel to leave Canada.  It can only be speculated that like many French people who endured brutal winters in Quebec, that he was seeking warmer weather. Louisiana had become a popular destination for its climate and budding French-speaking population

Although little is known of his journey, apparently Jean was 47 when he arrived near the Louisiana town of Opelousas.  He trekked to the area before the influx of Acadians began descending from Canada during the period between 1764 and 1784. These newcomers became known as Cajuns.

By the time of his death at age 92, Jean had dropped the "Le" from his surname which had been Anglicized to Roy.  Joseph Marie Roy, Jean's son and the grand-grandson of Nicolas Roy, was among the first colonists in Avoyelles Parish in the east-central part of Louisiana. 

In the decades that followed, the Roy family put down roots across Louisiana and their adopted country.  Roys served in the Revolutionary War, Civil War and World War II.  Their ancestors today carry on the family tradition of service to their country and community.

However, today's Roys owe a debt of gratitude to Nicolas and Jeanne LeRoy, who had the fortitude to embark on an dangerous journey paid with borrowed funds to explore the New World.  Their story, like that of so many immigrants, inspires future generations to follow their dreams.