Roger dit Jean Caissie: The Irish Acadian Ancestor Who Planted a Legacy

Roger dit Jean Caissie

Roger dit Jean Caissie—whose surname evolved into Caissy, Kuessy, Quessi, and Quessy—is recognized as the founding patriarch of the Caissie family in Acadia. His story, rooted in resilience and migration, is one of cultural blending and early settlement in the French colonial world of 17th-century North America.

🌍 Irish Origins, Acadian Roots

According to historical research, Roger dit Jean Caissie was born in Ireland, possibly around 1648, and came to Acadia during or shortly after the English occupation of 1654 to 1670. Some sources suggest he may have arrived as a soldier in the English garrison stationed in Port-Royal (present-day Nova Scotia).

Roger is believed to be the first bearer of the Caissie name in Acadia, and his arrival marked the beginning of a now widespread Acadian lineage. Interestingly, early censuses do not record anyone with his surname before his time—supporting the idea that he introduced it to the region.

💍 A Founding Family

Around 1670, Roger married Marie-Françoise Poirier, an Acadian woman born at Port-Royal. She was the daughter of Jean Poirier and Jeanne Chébrat, two of Acadia’s earliest settlers. Together, Roger and Marie-Françoise had several children and became deeply rooted in Acadian society.

Their family is first recorded at Port-Royal in the 1671 census, where Roger (listed as "Roger Caissy") was a laborer with one gun, 3 cattle, and 6 sheep. By 1686, they had moved to Beaubassin, one of the key Acadian settlements of the time, located at the edge of present-day New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

🏡 Settlement in Beaubassin

In Beaubassin, Roger became a central figure in the growing Acadian community. The 1686 census lists him as 38 years old with his wife and seven children: four sons and three daughters. They were building a life from the ground up—with 12 cattle, 10 sheep, and 12 arpents of cultivated land.

His presence continues to appear in census records up to 1714, which places him among the last generation of Acadians to experience the region before the tragic upheaval of the mid-1700s.

🧬 Legacy and Lineage

Roger and Marie-Françoise’s children carried the Caissie name across Acadia and beyond, especially into Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Louisiana. Their son Jean Caissie dit Roger, born around 1676, is particularly noted as the next major figure in the family’s genealogy.

Today, descendants of Roger Caissie can be found throughout the Acadian diaspora. Communities like Caissie Cape (Cap-des-Caissie) in New Brunswick are named in honor of this foundational family.

✨ A Name Etched in Acadian History

Though much about Roger’s early life remains a mystery, his name has become synonymous with Acadian heritage. Whether he came to Acadia as a soldier, settler, or adventurer, his marriage into the Acadian community and the family he built left a legacy that continues to this day.

📜 In His Footsteps

For anyone tracing Acadian ancestry, Roger dit Jean Caissie represents more than a name—he is a symbol of perseverance, integration, and identity in a land that would become home to generations of Acadian families.

He is not just a branch in a family tree—he is the root.