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Joseph Gueguen (Goguen) co-founder of Acadie, New Brunswick, Canada

Joseph Gueguen (1741-1825)

Born in France, Joseph Gueguen left for Acadie at 12 years of age with Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre. During the Deportation, he fled to île Saint-Jean and then to Québec, where he apparently studied at the Petit Séminaire until 1758. That same year, he returned to Acadie and again escaped the Deportation taking refuge this time in the Miramichi region. After a difficult winter, Gueguen and other Acadians surrendered to the British and were imprisoned in Fort Cumberland, formerly Fort Beauséjour. He was appointed translator and interpreter, as he was fluent in French, English and Mi'kmaq. In 1765, Gueguen settled in Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, but was forced to leave two years later. He settled in Cocagne (N.B.), where he was considered one of the most prosperous Acadian merchants of the period from 1770 to 1790. The pioneers of Cocagne were Joseph Gueguen/Goguen, a Breton, born in 1741, the son of Pierre and Anne Hamonoz who arrived in Acadia at the age of 11 with the missionary Manach who sponsored his education in Québec.

Gueguen is an important pioneer of the Acadian reconstruction.