"Indien" Connection of the Gory/Pitiot of Baynet

One surprising and random discovery made from examining the Baynet and Grand-Goave parish records is the find that the Prunier claimed "Indian" ancestry. Although we are missing adequate details on the origins of the Prunier, it would seem that two daughters of Michel Pitiot and Marie Victoire Gory married Prunier men. The earliest indication of a connection is the 1782 marriage of Christophe Prunier to Therese Anne Zabeth. Christophe Prunier's father's name is not given, but his mother was identified as a deceased "mestive indienne" named Marie Louise Petit. Christophe Prunier was thus claiming part "Indian" heritage or ancestry through his mother. This could have been something done at a time of increased racial prejudice against those of African ancestry. Again, to indicate what a small world Bainet and Grand-Goave were, our friend Jean-Baptiste Marillac was a witness to this wedding.

However, other sources from Baynet parish may elucidate this alleged "Indien" ancestry of the Prunier. There was indeed a teenager named Marie Louise, of the "Indian" nation, who died in in 1755. Marie Louise's father's name is difficult to read, but it looks like Don Pedre, Indien. She also died on the habitation of Peronneau (Louis?), which could be a useful clue. After all, the Perronneau habitation in 1764 appeared in a map, showing it to be on the coast and not too far from Baynet's bay. It was likely a cotton or indigo plantation. So far, however, it establishes that there was an "Indien" man with a daughter who passed away in 1755, supposedly around the age of 13. If that age is accurate, she probably is not the mother of Christophe Prunier. If the estimated age is off by a few years, and she was perhaps closer to 16, then perhaps she was indeed the mother of Christophe Prunier.

Another possible connection to the "Indien" origins of Prunier can be found in the death of a Pierre Petit, an "Indien." This Pierre Petit, who died in Jacmel in the year 1780, was around 50 years old and married to a Marguerite. Her surname is difficult to decipher and we have not figured out who she was. However, if this Pierre Petit was the same person as the "Don Pedre" identified as Marie Louise's father, this could be helpful. After all, Baynet and Jacmel were neighboring parishes and perhaps, by 1780, Pierre had moved there. 

Alternatively, in 1771, a Marie, with no name but designated as an Indien, died in Bainet. Said to have been around 40 years old, this Indian Marie could also have been the mother of Christophe Prunier. Unfortunately, the surname Petit does not appear. Moreover, no connection to the Pruniers or Pierre Petit is obvious from this. If Marie Louise Petit was from Baynet or Jacmel, then she may have been the one who passed away in 1755. Exactly where she came from is unknown, since they could have had Amerindian or Asian Indian ancestry. Alternatively, Christophe Prunier may have also called his mother a "mestive indienne"to just avoid the stigma associated with blackness?

Pitiot of Port de Paix Connection

Another family related to the Bainet Gory in the 18th century was the Pitiot. A swift perusal of ANOM's Bainet materials revealed that the first Pitiot in Bainet, Jean, was a native of Port de Paix who died in 1761. His son, a "grif" named Michel, married Marie Victoire Gory. Their child, Jean Joseph Pitiot, was baptized in 1781 and had the same godfather as our Anne Marie Joseph Gory. 

Marie Victoire Gory, the mother of Jean Joseph Pitiot, was also the godmother of Victoire Suzanne Monteise, the woman who appears to have been the mother of Anne Marie Joseph. Unsurprisingly, in a small place like Bainet, along the L'Islet River, every knew each other and those from the same family likely lived on the same habitation or nearby. The Pitiot connection surprised us in that Jean Pitiot came to Bainet from Port de Paix, on the other side of the colony.