Joachim (Bénoni) dit Bénoni Lemire
Joachim , known as Bénoni, was born in 1736 in
Pisiguit, Nova Scotia, Acadia, Canada.
- Birth Notes
- Three Mire brothers, two twins and an older half-brother, were among the earliest Acadian immigrants to Louisiana. Joachim dit Bénoni, son of Pierre LeMire dit Mire and his first wife, Marie-Josèphe Foret, and his twin half-brothers Joseph and Simon, son of his father's second wife, came to Louisiana from Halifax via St.-Domingue, today's Haiti, in 1765. They settled in the Acadian community of Cabanocé/St.-Jacques, now St. James Parish, on the river above New Orleans. Joachim dit Bénoni married Madeleine, daughter of Jacques Melançon, at Cabanocé in June 1768. He and his wife remained at Cabanocé. ...
He died at the age of 52 in 1788 in
Louisiana, USA.
- Death Notes
- Born 1736 in Pisiguit, Acadia; died 1788 in Louisiana.
born c1736; probably Pigiguit; called Bénoni; son of Pierre LEMIRE dit MIRE & his first wife Marie-Josèphe FORET; half-brother of Joseph & Simon; married (1)_______; on list of Acadian prisoners at Halifax, Aug 1763, called Beleaunie MIR, with wife & 2 children [who may have been his younger brothers]; arrived LA 1765, age 29, probably a widower, with brothers; in Cabanoce census, 1766, left [east] bank, JUDICE's Company, Cabanoce Militia, called Bellony, age 30, with no wife or children, only orphan Francois PARRE age 14, 0 slaves, 6 arpents, 0 cattle, 0 sheep, 0 hogs, 1 gun; married (2)Madeleine MELANÇON, daughter of Jacques MELANÇON & Marguerite BROUSSARD of Grand-Pré, 9 Jun 1768, Cabanoce; in Cabanoce census, 1769, occupying lot number 101, left [east] bank, next to brother Simon, called Belhonny MIRRE, age 33, with wife Magdelaine age 25, daughter Collastie age 3 mos., brother-in-law Francois PART age 16, mother-in-law Margureritte BROUSSARD widow MELANCON age 50, sister-in-law Isabelle MELANCON age 23, & sister-in-law Marguerite MELANCON age 21; in St.-Jacques census, 1777, left [east] bank, called Belhonny MIRRE, age 43, with wife Magdelaine age 33, sons Benjamin age 5, Jean-Baptiste age 1, daughters Scolastie age 8, Marie age 7, Felicitee age 7, & Rozallie age 4, & brother Joseph MIRE age 34; in St.-Jacques census, 1779, called Belhonny MIRRE, with 10 whites, 2 slaves, 3 qts. rice, 60 qts. corn
Wall of Names, 23, calls him Joachim dit Bénoni MIRE, & lists him with brother Joseph; "Arsenault, Généalogie, 2558", calls him Bénoni-Joachim MIRE, says he was born in 1736, gives his parents' names, says that Madeleine MELANÇON was born in 1741, that he married her c1760, gives her parents' names, & lists their children as Scholastique, born 1769, Marie-Madeleine, born 1770, Félicité, born 1771, Benjamin, born 1772, Rosalie, born 1773, & Jean-Baptiste, born 1774 . Arsenault's birth year conforms to the Cabanoce census of 1766. See Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 167. Arsenault's claim that he married Madeleine c1760 is refuted by his listing in Wall of Names, followed here, which shows him unattached when he reached LA with half-brother Joseph. However, the British report at Halifax in Aug 1763 indicates that Joachim dit Bénoni was married to someone if not to Madeleine before he came to LA. See Jehn, Acadians Exiles in the Colonies, 249. The record of his marriage to Madeleine calls him Joachim MIRRE & calls her Marguerite BROUSSARD, the surname of her mother. See Bourgeois, p. 172; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth Century Louisianians, 425.
Pierre Lemire & Marie Josèphe Forest 
