The author, Judge Felix Birney Voorhies, was 60 years old when he wrote and originally published this book in 1907, so he would have been born around 1847. It gives you somewhat of an idea on what the Acadians went through during the deportation and their travel overland from Maryland to Louisiana. It would have been nice if his Grandmother would have dropped some other names in the group she travelled with.

This is the story of the true Evangeline, a.k.a. Emmeline Labiche, depicted in the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, as told in the voice of his grandmother, who was one among those exiled from Acadia to Maryland. Emmeline was set to be married to Louis Arceneaux on the day of the Derangement. They were separated, and she believed him to be dead. Their group were deported and lived in contentment in Maryland for 3 years, thanks to Charles Smith and Henry Brent who took them into their household and cared for them, before deciding to journey overland by foot to Louisiana to meet up with other deported Acadians and live under French rule. There, Emmeline saw Louis Arceneaux, but it was too late. He had found another and was married. She never was the same again. She died broken hearted, and mentally ill, and was "buried by a tall oak tree near the little church at the Poste des Attakapas" (p. 29). [NOTE: I wonder if there really is a grave marker in remembrance of her somewhere, besides the statue at St. Martinville church?]
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PERSONAL NOTES: Rene LeBlanc, the leader and adviser, was with this group who deported from St. Gabriel, Acadia. This group of about 200 lived contented lives in Maryland for 3 years before embarking on the journey to Louisiana. Rene died of old age enroute to Louisiana. They were camped out somewhere on a hillside on the Tennessee River where a small creek runs into the river, when he passed overnight and was buried "at the foot of the hill, in a grove of walnut trees" (p. 33).

Could this be my 7th great-grandfather, Rene LeBlanc, son of Daniel LeBlanc, married to Anne Bourgeois? Maybe not. Records show that both Rene (d. about 1737) & Anne (d. about 1747) died and were actually buried in St. Charles, Acadia. Both Rene's were prominent figures in Acadia. The deportation began in 1755 and continued until 1764. I know that Rene and Anne had a son also named Rene, but he is not my direct lineage. More research is in order. Unfortunately, this work does not contain names of other people or dates. ( )