Page 52 - Fortier Family History

Henriette Bigaouette (Thomas) & Larue Family Tree - Pedigree Chart Claude Thomas dit Bigaouette Continued Below (England) Born Claude Thomas, at about age 8 he was taken captive by Abenaki Confederacy Indians circa 1689 during a raid on Cocheco, New England (now Dover, New Hampshire). Claude was brought to Quebec where he was “adopted” and raised by an Abenaki “Squaw”. About a decade later he was ransomed by the King (English I assume) and he converted to Catholicism circa 1690 and became Claude Thomas dit Bigaouette, adding the name of his Abenaki “mother,” whose name was “Big8et”. There was no vowel in French for the English “w” so an elongated figure 8 was used at the time. I have not discovered a single instance of the surname “Bigaouette” in any early New France records nor in French Fur Trade records prior to Claude. I believe this is the true origin of the surname Bigaouette.