Marriage records show that extra-parochial marriages became progressively more common among the settlers of Minas Basin. One register belonging to the Saint-Charles parish of Grand-Pré indicates that among 164 marriages, 29 consisted of one partner from Grand-Pré and the other partner from either parish of Pisiguit.

Pisiguit’s houses, as those from the surrounding villages, had to be built using the available resources. For this reason, most had few rooms and little furniture, a wooden framework, and a chimney also having a wooden frame with a clay inner lining.

One may be wondering what exactly was the cause of Pisiguit’s prosperity? To start with, you must consider the age of the settlers. Since most were young, they were able to have large numbers of children. Also, there was abundant wheat production, large amounts of marshland available for cultivation, the rivers were full of fish and there were plenty of cattle. In fact, to support the notion that Acadians benefited from a healthy standard of living, they held the lowest rate of infant mortality in the western world.

Unfortunately, Pisiguit was unable to maintain its prosperity. Since it was the Acadian village closest to Halifax, its inhabitants were the first ones chosen by the English for difficult road construction, and they were often held responsible for Indian attacks. Not surprisingly, once friction from the English began to rise, many Acadians chose to leave their village.

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