INTRODUCTION TO THE CAISSY FAMILY

CAISSIE  CAISSY CAISSEY  CASEY QUESSY ROGER ROGERS

A variant of the Casey coat of arms

Dedicated to the memory of Richard, Noel and Carol and Jimmy, who started this journey with us, we miss you all...

WELCOME

Thank you for visiting our site! If this is your first visit, you have discovered an on-going work by a collective of Caissy family cousins and researchers who strive to make this website the authoritative place to discover the origins and history of the differing branches of the Caissy family, descendants of Roger Kuessy and Marie Françoise Poirier. As we start our historical journey, we first focus on Roger and Marie Françoise, their immediate family and the place they called home, a farm on a hill known later as Butte á Roger.

BEGINNINGS

    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. 

Roger and Marie Françoise had a total of seven children and moved to Beaubassin where they settled near the village on a small hill near what is known today as the Fort Cumberland Ridge. This we now know was Butte á Roger.

Butte á Roger  2001           photo by Vincent Caissie

We are fortunate because we have a pretty good idea where Roger and Marie Françoise settled and carved a home that for several generations was home to Caissy descendants until the residents of the Beaubassin area were exiled in late 1755. This hill, located approximately three-fourths of a mile from Fort Beausejour lay between it and the Missaguash River, which now marks the border between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. This is not coincidental as the river also marked the front lines between English and French forces during the war which led to disastrous consequences for our family and the other Acadians.

Another view of Butte á Roger, straddled by the old two-lane and new four-lane highways (photo by Vincent Caissie)

Butte á Roger has a distinctive tree near the summit (photo by Vincent Caissie)

An extract from the 1/50,000 scale topographic map of the Amherst region showing the Butte's location. It is located just north of the letter "E" at the end of the word "Site"

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