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Between
1847 and 1855 various branches of the Leblanc family, from Margaree,
settled in the region; some of these had lived in the Magdalen
Islands before settling for good in St. George's. Between 1846
and 1860, another branch of the same family settled in Stephenville
where its members, who had brought with them cattle and equipment,
became prosperous farmers. Other Acadians reached Newfoundland
in the fifties, notably branches of the Longuépée, Chevarie, Chiasson
(written Chaisson in Newfoundland), Poirier, Deveau, Muise and
Madore families, as wellas more Aucoins, Gallants and Cormiers.
These
are typical Acadian family names. If there were metropolitan French
men in the area, they must have been few in number and quickly
assimilated. The Acadians alone were able to maintain their identity
, at least until the arrival of American armed forces in Stephenville
in 1940. On the other hand we are certain, despite the almost
complete lack of documents (and the available documents are not
always easy to interpret) that the French villages of the Port-au-Port
Peninsula were founded in large part by settlers from France,
in which the Breton input was not insignificant.