| Notes |
- The official record of our family in the New World currently starts with the 1671 census of Port Royal, Acadia where found listed are Roger, age "35"; Marie, age "25"; and their first child Marie, age 2. The quotes are added since you will see how the ages of Roger and Marie (as well as everyone else) varies throughout the records. The origins of Roger Kuessy are currently shrouded in mystery as no earlier record of Roger prior to 1671 are known to exist. However, later records show he stated he was of Irish origin. Bona Arsenault, in his book "History of the Acadians" states: "Roger Kuessy (Caissy and Quessy), an Irishman captured by the English, wound up in Acadia around 1665 where he started that family tree." However, Arsenault does not cite any sources for the statement, so one is left to ponder if this is partly speculation. So whether Roger came to Acadia as a prisoner or crewmember who elected to stay is subject to debate. The census of Port Royal in 1678 does not show an entry for the family so it is possible the move to Beaubassin occurred between 1671 and 1678. In total, Roger and Marie Françoise had a total of seven children, 4 sons and 3 daughters. Records showing Roger and Marie Françoise span from 1671 to 1714, no known later record exists.
Perhaps the best documents to tell us what kind of a man was Roger and what kind of relationship existed between him and Marie Francoise, are the depositions made by witnesses at the trial of Roger Campagna who had been accused of sorcery. There were four accusations but only one directly concerns the Caissie's. Campagna was single, 45 years old in l684, and on Easter Sunday of that year went calling on Roger to seek Marie's hand in marriage; she was 16 years old. Roger answered that his wife was away on that day and that he should return another day when she was there. The next day Campagna came over, and when he was seen approaching with his gun he was met at the door by Marie Francoise. The deposition of Roger and Francoise state that Roger had gone asleep on his bed when Campagna was seen approaching, and that Marie had gone upstairs. There followed a dispute between Francoise and Campagna where sharp words were exchanged and threats made by Campagna. Another great page telling this tale can be found at a wonderful collection of stories by Father Clarence J. D'Entremont
One of the most interesting comment in Francoise deposition later was one in which she claims that Campagna had said "I have been told that you would be the cause of this marriage not taking place". That was in answer to a statement by Francoise that what "Roger had promised yesterday, today she was un-promising it."
First, it is not believable that Roger would have gone to bed, much less fallen asleep while this was going on. Marie, as was shown later was not at all afraid to face Campagna and, in my view would not have willingly gone upstairs leaving her mother alone to face a man with a gun. I rather think that Francoise, on seeing Campagna approaching, would have told both Roger and Marie to disappear while she took care of the bachelor. Now that would make Roger anything but a fearless individual, unless he had by then become accustomed to Francoise's total domination of the household, and had more to fear from Francoise's temper than from Campagna. The two comments quoted in the previous paragraph, would tend to confirm that in the village, Francoise was seen as the 'boss'. Francoise's 'un-promising' and the general tone of the deposition would support this theory. [2]
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Abt 1636 - Yes, date unknown
d. Beaubassin, Cumberland, New Brunswick, Canada 