Pierre (Peter) Claude Bowdoin

The "Miles Files" states: Pierre 'Boudouin,' French Huguenot, who immigrated to New England, left sons James Bowdoin of Boston and John Bowdoin of who moved to N'hamp Co, VA. James amassed a large fortune and left descendants among whom was James Bowdoin who founded Bowdoin College. John became the progenitor of the Eastern Shore of Virginia Bowdoins.

Bowdoin gets further corrupted to "Bowden" in later years.

Much of the following on Pierre Bowdoin comes from the "Miles Files":

Pierre moved from France to Ireland in 1682; to Massachusetts Bay in 1686; to Casco Bay, Maine in late 1686 or early 1687; and finally settled in Boston in 1690. The family name may have originally been spelled Baudouyn, Boudouyn and Baudouyn, among other spellings. Pierre himself used Baudouin, Bauduion, Boudouin and Bowdoin and there is no evidence to connect Pierre to any of the illutrious Baudouyn families in La Rochelle or in other parts of France. Pierre's son James stated he, James, was "the eldest descendant … a family which I understand lived in affuence, perhaps elegance, upon a handsome estate in the neighborhood of Rochelle which at that time (in) 1685 yielded the considerable income of 700 Louis D'Or per annum." Thus Pierre's son is stating there was a rich Baudowin family estate, but he never says he and his father lived there or that it was their estate. Pierre was reportedly born in La Rochelle and was reportedly a physician with a sizeable annual income living in La Rochelle, France in 1685 on an estate on the city outskirts at the time of the revocation at which time he forfeited his estate when he left France. However, although Pierre and his family could have left France because of religious intollerance, they did not leave because of the 1695 revocation of the Edict of Nantes; the family was already living in Ireland several years before 1685. As opposed to making a living as a doctor, once he left France Pierre appeared to continuously make a living in the mercantile trade. Analysis shows there are six La Rochelles, all in different parts of France. The Atlantic coast La Rochelle in the Departement de la Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charentes was focused on for analysis because that city was a trading hub with the New World and a hot bed of Huguenot riots, wars, persecution and emigration, however no Baudouin / Baudoin (or other derivation) families were found in the currently available records of that city. Records for Baudoin families were located for central France and for the northern and northwestern coastal area, including for five Pierres and Claudes born between 1638 and 1642 in Paris, central France and the northern coastal area. Without additional data there is no way to ascertain whether our ancestor came from La Rochelle in the Atlantic area and the records were destroyed or whether he was one of the Baudoin men born in the central or northern region of France.

Pierre left France for Dublin, Ireland with his wife and family aboard his ship "Le Jean." On Jul 6 1682 the Mayor of Dublin, Sir Humphrey Jarvis, granted the Baudoin family refuge in Ireland. The family lived in the French Immigrant Colony of Dublin where the Baudoins were documented on Apr 1 1683. Pierre worked as a merchant and conducted much of his business with the British colonies. On Jul 17 1684, Pierre appeared before the Dublin officers of customs and proclaimed the ship "La Jean" as his. The vessel was deemed "belonging to Ireland" and became known as the "John of Dublin." He remained owner of his ship. Pierre eventually obtained a position with the Royal Customs Office of Dublin, but soon found himself without work when a political change of some of the royal officers deprived him of his position. On May 6 1686, he paid taxes on the cargo loaded on his ship "John of Dublin." From the port city of Wexford, Ireland he, his family and his friend Steven Bouiteau, who later became his son-in-law, sailed for the Pennsylvania Colony that month.

On Nov 2 1686, in Salem, Essex Co, Massachusetts, Pierre created a bill of sale for one quarter interest in his ship "John of Dublin" that was held by the ship master John Chadeayne. Pierre sold the quarter interest for forty pounds and on Nov 15 1686, the bill of sale was officially recorded: Pierre sold/mortgaged 1/4 part of his twenty-ton ship "John" on Nov 2 1686 in Salem, MA:

"Know all men by these pr'sents I Peter Bowden in my owne right & as true & lawfull atturney unto John Chadwine being both late of ye city Wexford in Ireland & now residentery in Salem in ye county of Essex & colony of ye Massathusettes in New England, for & in consideration of ye full & just sume of fourty pounds lawfull & currant money of New England to me in hand paid by Capt. John Price, one forth part John Ruck one forth part Lt. Thomas Gardner one forth part, & Charles Redford one forth part at & before ye signing sealing & Delivering of these presents, wherewith I confess myselfe fully sattisfied contented and payd have in my owne right three quarters bargained & sold .... unto ye aforesd .... merchants one barque or small ship of burdhen about twenty tuns, be she more or less, caled ye John lately of Dublin & there recorded according to instrument baring date in Dublin July 17th Anno: Dom: 1684, To have & ()n, sales, cables & anchors, with all other appurtenances of any kind belinging unto ye sd. barque or att her first arrival in ye harbour in .... further I ye sd Bodouin for myselfe & as atturney to J()Chadeayn aforsaid ... will give possession ... I have he() sett my hand & seale this 2nd November Ann: Domm: 1686, Annoq() Regni Regis Domini nostri Jacobi Secundi Secundo. Signed: Peter Baudouin & a seale. Signed, Sealed....... in ye pr'sence of us: Samuell Beadle and Robert Bartoll."

Before Jan 12 1686/7, Pierre then sailed with his family to the Casco Bay area, a district of the then Maine Province in the Massachusetts Colony. On Jan 12 1687 LtCol Edmund Tyng, an influential member of the Casco Bay community, petitioned Edmund Andros, governor of the Dominion of New England, for confirmation under the territorial seal of his five land grants totaling about 157 acres near Falmouth (north of present-day Portland) and Ft Loyal, including land on "...Barbary Creek Marsh the Whole Containing Eight Acres Next next adjoining to the land of Peter Bodwin...." Whether Pierre went to Maine because he had relatives or fellow exiles there is unknown. Of note, an Ambrose Bowdin senior of Scarborough, Maine, south of present-day Portland, petitioned the governor on Mar 14 1687, noting that he had lived on his 120 acres in Maine for over thirty years and was petitioning for an additional 300 acres.

On Jul 28 1687, He filed a petition in French for 100 acres of land from Gov Andros; roughly translated into modern English the petition read: Petition of Pierre Baudoin. To his excellency the Governor in Chief of New England. Pierre Baudoin humbly requests, saying he appeals to your excellency to grant him 100 acres of land in the neighborhood of Falmouth, province of Maine, and place an order to Sir/Mr Richard Clements to authorize a survey of this property to divide it up, after which to make a report for the purpose of having granted to the supplicant a piece of the above-mentioned land. And especially that by the flight of the supplicant from the kingdom of France, country of his birth, caused by the severe measures that France exercises against religious apostasy, he has lost almost all that he possessed that remained to him to transport himself and his family to these territories, being numbered six people having four little children who are not yet of an age to earn a living; in consideration of this, may it please your excellency to continue your favor toward the supplicant by granting him the above-mentioned plot of land, by for some years exempting him from the taxes that are levied against landowners. And the supplicant continues to pray to God for the prosperity of your excellency, having already paid to the above-mentioned Clements thirty-four shillings and two pennies in silver (i.e., silver currency, i.e., cash), both for the sale of 90 acres of the above-mentioned land and for such certificates as seemed to be necessary, having been obliged to sell some effects (i.e., belongings), for which the petitioner was given only half of the fair price, in order to have cash for the above-mentioned Clements. Signed, Pierre Baudouin. Apparently Pierre's petition was endorsed on Aug 2 1687. The wording of Pierre's petition was cited in 1849 as reason to believe Pierre was a well-educated man.

On Oct 8 1687, Pierre 'Peter' Claude Bowdoin's land was surveyed in Falmouth, Maine Province, Massachusetts. It was then that the governor ordered Richard Clements, Deputy Surveyor, to survey and lay out 100 acres for Pierre Baredouin / Baudoin as directed by Edmund Ting, Esquire, of His Majesty's Council, Pierre's neighbor discussed above. Pierre's patent was temporarily withheld by the surveyor, and in autumn 1688 Pierre was compelled to seek redress. His letter to the Governor is on record in the Archives of Massachusetts, and it is said the letter shows Pierre was a man of intelligence and cultivation. It is said that Pierre finally obtained his land grant near Falmouth, but the record of such has not been found. Before his grant at Falmouth was executed however, Pierre obtained a few acres on what was in 1849 called the high road from Portland to Vaughan's Bridge, a few rods northerly of the house of the Hon Nicholas Emery. By about 1829 a solitary apple tree and a few rocks which apparently formed the curbing of a well were all that remained to mark the site of the original Bowdoin home. Pierre and his family apparently remained at this location two and a half years. One researcher stated one reason Pierre left Maine was because of a problem with the title to his land.

On May 24 1689, while the Baudoin family lived in Maine, skirmishes increased between the British and the French and Indians and LtCol Tyng was instrumental in dealing with these incidents. Then, the inhabitants of Falmouth signed a petition requesting LtCol Tyng's removal citing his arrogance and scamming of the residents. Finally fearing for their safety because of hostile attacks by the French and Indians, Pierre and his family left Casco Bay on in May 1690. A day after they sailed from Cosco Bay the French attacked the English at Fort Loyal at Cosco Bay on 16 May 1690, and after the fort fell apparently most of the people were massacred. Apparently having heard of the establishment of a church in Boston by fellow refugees from France the Baudoins had decided to move there. Arriving in Boston as a ship's captain Pierre became successful merchant. He apparently acquired considerable wealth, and it is said Commonwealth records testify to his character and influence.

In 1695, Pierre was paid two pounds 16 shillings for the "fetching home of the English prisoners that are in the hands of the French soldiers" in Canada. From July to November of that year Pierre brought home the prisoners. On Jul 16 1700, he was named godfather to Peter Faneuil in a French church ceremony in Boston. The Faneuil family gave the now famous "Faneuil Hall" to Boston in 1640.

Pierre made a will on Jun 16 1704 at Boston, Massachusetts (as Pierre Bauduion). In 1705, Pierre was described as having a dark complexion and bright, dark eyes. The book Ancestral Records and Portraits has a picture of a portrait of Pierre, his son James and a few other members of the Baudoin family. Who the artist was or where the painting is hanging is unknown. His signature is recorded in the New England Historical Genealogy Register, Jan 1856, p.79. Among his descendants were James Bowdoin II , governor of Massachusetts; James Bowdoin III, a benefactor to Bowdoin College; and Mr Bowdoin, a Minister to France in 1804. He had died by Sep 1706 in Massachusetts.

Baudouin de Leigue et de Beloeil of Poitou-Charente, France, a region that includes La Rochelle, has a very detailed Baudoin family genealogy online showing descent for Pierre from a Sir Pierre Baudouin (circa 1480-after 1513), through intermarried Baudet and Vian famiiles; however, although the genealogy includes Pierre Claude Baudoin, as the son of Nicholas Baudouyn II (born 1570 and married 1602) and Suzanne Bizet, the impossibility of Pierre's supposed mother having Pierre when she was age 60 as well as other issues therein show this ancestry for our ancestor Pierre to be erroneous. (http://www.audcent.com/audcent4/baudouin.htm, 2015.)

Pierre married Elizabeth Fixe about 1674 in France. (Elizabeth Fixe was born about 1643 in France and died on 18 Aug 1720 in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA.)

Traditions for where Pierre Bowdoin married, where his children were born and to whom his children were born vary between France and Boston. However, Pierre's request for land in Maine in 1687 show he transported "... himself and his family to these territories, being numbered six people having four little children...." Thus Pierre evidently married and the children were born overseas; family traditions state he first transported his entire family from France to Ireland but do not say which members were transported, thus it is assumed he married and his children were all born in France.