Robichaud Stories

Data from old Acadia indicate that there were 62 Robichaud families before 1780. The Robichaud then held the position of the 27th biggest family. It seems that the Great Upheaval least disturbed the Robichaud than other families or that they had a higher birth rate. According to a census of 1938 by Geneviève Massignon, Robichauds occupied the 10th place in the Maritimes, with 759 familles.1

 

According to figures obtained from telephone directories on CD-ROM, there were about 6775 Robichaud families in North America, including 4,602 in Canada (Canada Phone, 1995) and 2173 in the United States (Pro-Phone, 1992). Nearly half of the Canada Robichaud families are in New Brunswick (2122), followed by Quebec (1526), Ontario (477) and Nova Scotia ( 313).

 

95% of Robichaud in Canada write their name "Robichaud", except in Nova Scotia where more than half (169) write "Robicheau". Louisiana and the southern United States, write "Robichaux" or "Robicheaux". In the United States, there are Robichaux families primarily in Louisiana (775) and Texas (155) and in New England, where the New Brunswick spelling of "Robichaud" is more common : Massaschusetts (376), Maine (163), New Hampshire (108). Louisiana and the southern United States, write "Robichaux" or "Robicheaux". There are Robichaud in almost all U.S. states with a significant number of families in California (80), which is more than Florida (59), which is the retirement destination of choice for Canadians.

 

Taking into account the number of occupants per household, 2.8 in Canada and 2.7 in the United States, and a growth rate of about 1%, it is estimated that by 2000, there were about 20,000 descendants of Etienne Robichaud in North America. Probably close to 25,000 people on the planet have the surname Robichaud. There are more descendants of Etienne Robichaud since, statistically, there should be as many women as men, so the direct descendants of Etienne should be about 50,000. An even larger numner of persons have Robichaud blood in their veins.

 

At the Robichaud family gathering during the Acadian World Congress in August 1994, 1,133 people have registered. These people came mostly from Canada (93%), but also from 12 U.S. states, with large representations from Massachusetts (37) and Louisiana (15). Robichaud from seven canadian provinces registered, mainly from New Brunswick (801), Quebec (179), Ontario (43) and Nova Scotia (17). A couple travelled from Costa Rica. Here's what Mark Robichaux, from the New York Wall Street Journal, has written about this memorable party in Cocagne NB "We came to this Canadian coastal village from all over the globe. I flew here from New York, pulled by a gnawing curiosity. And to my amazement, nearly 1,000 other Robichauds came too… (…) We Robichauxs met in an empty hockey arena. Amid the strains of Acadian songs played by a worn violin, Robichauxs from Belle Chase, La., and Boston, Mass., reminisced with Robichauds from Quebec and Cocagne. Everywhere Robichauds – most of them strangers – laughed and hugged and talked as though they had bumped into old friend. "2

 

The Robichaud capital of the world is probably Moncton, New Brunswick. Not only is there a large number of Robichaud in this city, which is the metropolis of the Acadians, but Robichaud are also found in various nearby communities in the counties of Westmorland and Kent.

 

The more one reads, the more one realizes that the history of families and peoples are intertwined and that we are part of one large family, one people, trying to draw a destiny on this planet. Disputes, adventures and love affairs of a family are not ephemeral in this process. A few French peasants abandoned on the shores of America have forged an identity as Acadians that war, depravity and misery have been unable to erase. In the words of Roland Gauvin, of the bands, 1755 and Méchants Maquereaux, “Be proud of who you are” !

 

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References:

1. Lists prepared by Stephen White, genealogist at the Centre d’études acadiennes, Université de Moncton, in preparation for the first Congrès mondial acadien, 1994.

2. Mark Robichaux, A Rink Full of Robichauds Celebrate Acadian Heritage,Wall Street Journal, New York, November 8, 1994.

 

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Translated from ROBICHAUD, Armand, Des histoires de Robichaud, du Poitou à la mer Rouge, Éditions de la Francophonie, Moncton, 2002, p. 341-343.