NOTE: This story is drawn from Chapter 15 of A Violette History, published by the Violette Family Association, and available from Amazon using this link.

What was the nationality of our ancestors François Violet and his wives (he was married three successive times), children, and grandchildren? François came upon this continent in times of great turmoil, when national interests were in a flux and not consistently defined. His time on this continent spanned the period 1749-1824, and in that period he moved a distance or no more than 500 miles or so. But during that time the various lands were claimed by Britain, France, and the United States.

Part of the area was described as being Acadia, though “Acadia” was not a nation. Though large parts of that area are now part of Canada, Canada as an entity did not exist until 1867, long after he died.

Perhaps the cleanest way to look at it is by generation:

• François was born in France and his parents remained French, so he was French. Though he lived in Acadia, he was not Acadian. He did pledge allegiance to Britain in order to be able to live in British North America and own land, but there is no evidence that he “became” British.
• Marie-Luce was born in Acadia, of Acadian parents and grandparents, so she was Acadian. Similarly, there is no evidence that she “became” British – we do not even have evidence that she pledged allegiance to Britain, but of course as a woman she would not have been asked to.
• Their children prior to 1789 were born in New Brunswick, in the St John area, and their mother was Acadian so they could be considered Acadian. François was born in France but subsequently came from Acadia, so his children would not be considered French. However, their citizenship was probably British.
• Children born after the move to the Upper St John might be considered Acadians as well, since their mother was Acadian. But the area in which they were born was under British North America – the land grants to their parents were from the British. We could say they were British, but the families kept their French-based culture. One could go by church records, since these were the only records being kept at the time, except that the only church was in St. Basile, on the New Brunswick side of the river. However, as the only church, those records covered those born on both sides of the river.
• Marie-Luce and François’ grandchildren were born to families on both sides of the river and only the last three or four were born after the border was established in 1842. So their citizenship was probably determined by that of their parents.
• Their great-grandchildren and those beyond would have either US or New Brunswick/British nationality since the border was officially established in 1842.
• Canada did not come into existence as a nation until much later (Confederation in 1867, autonomous in 1982), so none of those first generations could have been Canadian. In fact, it was probably not until about the fifth generation that any could be called Canadians. It was in the years of François Violette’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren that four provinces of British North America entered into Confederation. Rita V. Lippé’s Violette Family Genealogy names 108 grandchildren of François I (1744-1824) and Rod Violette’s genealogical research has expanded that number to 151. François never lived to see them all. The eldest was born in 1793 when François was forty-nine years old. The youngest was born in 1873, forty-nine years after his death.