Did You Know?

1. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre and Charles Mellanson had a sister as well as a brother?

2. DID YOU KNOW - that the father of Pierre and Charles Mellanson appears in various historical records in London, England?

3. DID YOU KNOW - that celebrated singer Anne Murray is a descendant of Charles Mellanson?

4. DID YOU KNOW - that retired Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien is a descendant of Pierre Mellanson?

5. DID YOU KNOW - that hockey great, Jean Belliveau, is a descendant of Charles Mellanson?

6. DID YOU KNOW - that film star, Genevieve Bujold, is a descendant of Pierre Mellanson?

7. DID YOU KNOW - that Lamothe Cadillac, who founded the city of Detroit and after whom the Cadillac automobile was named, was an acquaintance of Pierre and Charles Mellanson and their mother?

8. DID YOU KNOW - that Charles Mellanson's granddaughter, Elisabeth (Basset) Waterman, was the stepgrandmother of the American traitor, Benedict Arnold?

9. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre and Charles Mellanson consistently spelled their name "Mellanson"?

10. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre and Charles Mellanson were English?

11. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre and Charles Mellanson were educated in England?

12. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre and Charles Mellanson arrived in Acadia in 1657, three years after it came under English control?

13. DID YOU KNOW - that Acadia comprised present-day New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and a large part of Maine?

14. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre and Charles Mellanson were Protestants and that they turned Roman Catholic and married French girls?

15. DID YOU KNOW - that Charles Mellanson was also called La Ramée or Sieur de La Ramée, and Pierre Mellanson was also known as La Verdure or Sieur de La Verdure?

16. DID YOU KNOW - that the father of all Melansons and Melancons was a Frenchman and a Protestant named Pierre Melanson de Laverdure?

17. DID YOU KNOW - that the mother of all Melansons and Melancons was an English woman named Priscilla?

18. DID YOU KNOW - that Priscilla's maiden name is unknown?

19. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre and Charles Mellanson had a brother called John and known as John Laverdure?

20. DID YOU KNOW - that before the French repossessed Acadia in 1670, Pierre, Priscilla, and John Laverdure moved to Boston to be under a Protestant government?

21. DID YOU KNOW - that John Laverdure was arrested for abducting Native Indians?

22. DID YOU KNOW - that John Laverdure disappeared while out on bail?

23. DID YOU KNOW - that John Laverdure's disappearance left his parents responsible for repaying the £100 he had borrowed for his bail?

24. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre Laverdure sailed to Acadia in the hope of finding John with his brothers, Pierre and Charles Mellanson, and bringing him back to Boston?

25. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre Laverdure did not find John in Acadia and died soon after, leaving Priscilla to deal with John's debt?

26. DID YOU KNOW - that Priscilla appealed to the Boston court to reduce or waive John's bail, but her petition was refused?

27. DID YOU KNOW - that Charles Mellanson's eldest daughter Marie was sent to Boston to live with her grandmother Priscilla?

28. DID YOU KNOW - that Marie Melanson became known in Boston as Mary Laverdure?

29. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre and Charles Mellanson's mother, Priscilla, remarried in 1680 ? Her new husband was Capt. William Wright, Sr.?

30. DID YOU KNOW - that Priscilla compiled an inventory of the household goods she brought into her new marriage? She signed it with the initials "PM."

31. DID YOU KNOW - that Priscilla said that when she died, all of her goods were to go to her granddaughter Mary Laverdure (nee Marie Melanson)?

32. DID YOU KNOW - that when Priscilla died, her second husband refused to give her goods to Mary Laverdure?

33. DID YOU KNOW - that Mary Laverdure (Marie Melanson) sued Capt. Wright for her grandmother's goods?

34. DID YOU KNOW - that Mary Laverdure (Marie Melanson) married a well-known merchant and privateer named David Basset?

35. DID YOU KNOW - that David Basset, who is widely believed to have been murdered on board his ship in 1724, died long before then?

36. DID YOU KNOW - that Charles Mellanson was an English agent?

37. DID YOU KNOW - that three letters written by Charles Mellanson to the Massachusetts lieutenant-governor still exist in the Massachusetts Archives?

38. DID YOU KNOW - that Charles Mellanson died around 1700? He was about 57 years old.

39. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre Mellanson moved from Port Royal to the Minas Basin area around 1680?

40. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre Mellanson was commander of the militia and the most important person at Minas?

41. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre Mellanson is today considered founder of Grand Pré, Nova Scotia?

42. DID YOU KNOW - that Pierre Mellanson lived to about 90 years of age? He died sometime between 1721 and 1723.????????

43. DID YOU KNOW - that Charles Mellanson's homestead is now The Melanson Settlement National Historic Site of Canada? It was officially opened on August 3, 2004.