The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: VA
Qualifying Service: Civil Service
Author: Raymond Joseph Duquette
Benjamin Allain was born circa 1757 in Acadia, today Nova Scotia. His grandparents immigrated to Acadia around 1686 where Benjamin's father, Louis Allain, was born in Grand-Pré, Acadia on May 16, 1722. Louis wed Anne Léger in Beaubassin on June 24, 1748. Benjamin, one of their children, would later fight in the American Revolution.
Benjamin was recruited by Capt. IsaÏe Boudrot along with French Acadians, Anglophone Acadians and Indians to attack the English at Fort Cumberland, formerly Fort Beauséjour. The group was under the command of Col. Jonathan Eddy with orders to attack the English from the Massachusetts Court. It was the intention of this group of men to claim Nova Scotia with the hope of it becoming the fourteenth colony. How different the United States map would be today had they been successful. Cpl. Benjamin Allen enlisted in November 14, 1776 and served until February 14, 1777.
It may seem strange that men, so far away from the revolution of the Thirteen Colonies, would be involved in that war. Actually the Acadians hated the English following the deportation of the Acadians to France, England and the Thirteen Colonies. In 1755 the Governor of Nova Scotia, fearing an uprising of the Acadians to aid France in reclaiming New France, gave orders to put them on ships for deportation. From the decks in the harbor the Acadians saw their homes and barns go up in flames destroying their villages. Livestock and goods of value were taken by the English.
Benjamin's family escaped exile but not the family of his future wife, Elizabeth LeBlanc, who was born in Stoughton, MA, on March 5, 1761 while her parents, two brothers and four sisters were located there after their deportation from Nova Scotia. Mrs. LeBlanc died in Stoughton leaving a baby daughter, Elizabeth, in the care of her husband and children who were planning to return to New Brunswick. The trek through forests, mountains and rivers was a difficult one. The misery experienced by his fiancée's family added to Benjamin's hatred of the English. When the opportunity arose to join a group to attack the English he willingly joined it.
Patriot Benjamin Allain's daughter, Marie-Blanche Allain, wed the son of Patriot Joseph Bastarache. These families moved away from the English and the Loyalists who went to Canada to claim the lands cleared by the Acadians. Being mistreated by them many Acadians fled further away from the major settlements of the region. Joseph Bastarache became one of the founding fathers of the village of Bouctouche, New Brunswick. His friend Benjamin Allain immigrated to Bouctouche later with his family. It was here that Marie-Blanche Allain met and married Placide Bastarache, son of Patriot Joseph Bastarache.
Both Patriots, Benjamin Allen (Allain) and Joseph Bastarache, were buried in the parish cemetery in Bouctouche, Kent County, New Brunswick, Canada.
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