The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1906-08-16
Real Story Of Evange|ine

The characters Of Evangeline and
Gabriel in Longfellows famous poem,
"Evangeline, are not mere creations
Of the poets brain, as many suppose.
Instead, they were real persons, With
warm, red blood in their veins, who
We're actually living in Acadia in that
fateful year of 1855, when the English
banished all the French from the land
Capt. John T. Worrel of Clayton,
Ind, well known throughout Indiana
and other states, has met and talked
with persons whose grandparents were
living at the time of the events de-
secribed in the poem, and were ac-
Quanted with EvanGeline, Gabriel and
other characters in the tale. From ac-
curate knowledge obtained from talk
ing with these persons, Capt. Worrel
has been able 70 trace Eyangellnes
wanderings from the time she arrived
in Philadelphia, after her exile from
Acadia, until many years afterward
when she, an old woman, found Ga
briel an old man, dying in Philadel-
phia hospital.
The Punishment of the French set
tiers from Acadia by the English be-
gan in September, 1855. The appear
ance of the ships in the harbor OF
Grand Pre- to bear the Acadians away
and the summons to the men and large
boys to assemble in their church in The
village, where the decree of expulsion
was read to them, are all wildly de-
scribed in ''Evangeline.'
One OF the most highly respected
farmers of Grand Pre- was Benedict
Bellefontaine. the father of beautiful
girl, Evangeline by name. Many a
sutton, indeed, came to her door. But,
among all who came, young Gabriel,
only. was welcome; Gabriel Lajeu-
nesse, the son of Basil, the black
smith" These were the real names OF
the two unfortunate lovers.
Neither Longfellow nor history tells
on what ship Evangeline was placed
VIXEN eXilel on the Atlantic coast, says
Capt. Worrel. The first that we hear
of her exile is in Philadelphia. There
in the City of Brotherly Love she wan
dered. with other homeless, hopeless
friendess women and girls, searching
for relatives and friends and lovers
from whom they had separated and
upon whom they were dependent for
a living.
Meanwhile, what became of Gabriel?
After leaving Acadia he wandered for
some time from town to town on the
Atlantic seaboard, searching for his
father Evangeline. Finally, some
how, he heard that his father was in
Louisiana. And to Louisiana Gabriel
went, abandoning for the time being
his search for Eyangelne.
There he wound his father. Instead
OF being Il village blacksmith, as he
had been in Grand Pre- Basil Lajeu-
nesse was rich in great herds of cattle
Father and son united Gabriel soon
became manager of these herds.
During all these years-a decade and
Evangeline knowing absolutely
nothing of Gabriel's whereabouts, but
ever urged on by Il restless longing,
searched diligently for him.
Sometimes a rumor, a hearSay, an
inartculate whisper, would come 10
point and beckon her onward. Some
times by chance Evangeline would
meet some one who had known Gabriel
in Acadia But she never could meet
one who knew where he had gone, I'll
nally, she met one who said: ooh, yes;
we knew him Gabriel LajeunesSe,
Why, he is with his father They arc
on the rich grazing lands of Louisi-
ana
1t was in the springtimr, early In
May, when Evangeline and few other
Acadan exiles OF Philadelphia started
for Louisiana in "cumbrOus rowboNt
or raft"
When Evanegllne reached Louisiana
she learned that Gabriel had left his
home but four days before. Despond-
ent, she rested in Jesuit mission
Along in the summer Il rumOr
reached Evangeline's ears. 1t said:
Far to the north. northeast. In the
pine forests of bleak Michigan, on the
banks of the Saginaw river, Gabriel Is
lodging" After many weeks Of long
and perious marching, over weary
ways and through q dense wilderness,
Evangeline finally reached the depths
of the Michigan forest along the Sag
inaw river, and found the hunters
lodge deserted, where Gabriel, only a
short time before, had been staying.
When the fruitless search for Ga
briel ended there in that deserted hun
ter's lodge, to recommence no more
upon earth, Evangelne was at n loss
to know what to do, or where 10 go
1t was then that her thoughts were
turned TO the suffering and sorrowing
of humanity, to those in need OF com