Poitou.
La Pierre-Levée, a large slab of stone sitting on five rocks, lays on the outskirts of Poitiers. Said to be a dolmen or burial chamber, it was a tourist attraction in the late 1500's as young men, including several famed cartographers, carved their names into its face. George Braun described the scene as having "a gently burbling little stream [which] makes the view of the city even more attractive."
Having been subject to English rule for periods in its history, it was home to a number of Protestants who were hard hit during the Wars of Religion (1562-1598).
Many who emigrated from this region settled in Acadia (Nova Scotia). This group was deported when the English invaded in 1755 with a good number ending up in Louisianna.
Our ancestors who emigrated from Poitou are listed below. The dates reflect the year they arrived in Canada if known, otherwise it is the date of their earliest appearances in the records there:
- Marie Riton (1650) of La Roche-sur-Yon.
- Marguerite Landreau (1654) of Fontenay-le-Comte.
- Jacques Ménard (1657) of Mervent.
- Antoine Daunay (1659) of Bessay.
- Pierre Roy (1666) of Saint-Michel-le-Clouq.
- René Beaudin (1673) of Niort.
- François Bourassa (1683) of La Roche-sur-Yon.
- François Laurent (1717) of La Chapelle-Achard.
- Detail from Civitates Orbis Terrarum, Pierre Leuee, Pictavia, Braun and Hoganberg, 1598, author's collection
- https://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/11530/la_pierrelevee_poitiers.html
- https://www.britannica.com/place/Poitou
- http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/other/donkey/poitou/