The Provost Family View Family Tree

This family surname has been spelled a variety of ways, such as Prevost, Preveau, Probot, Peters and Provo. John Provost came to Prince Edward Island from Nova Scotia, settled in the Tignish area and married Mathilda (Baltide) Arsenault. John and Mathilda had thirteen children, ten of whom were baptized at the St. Simon and St. Jude Roman Catholic church in Tignish. Their first child, Philomena, was born in November of 1857. The baptismal record of their second child, Joseph, reads as “On the 13 April 1860, I have baptized Joseph, born of John Provost, colored man and Baltide Arsenault.”

The 1861 census lists John Provo as living in Lot 1. He was a “Laborer” living on land owned by Palmers. There were five people in his household. There were three children under the age of five, who were Philomena, Joseph and Maxime. The 1890 Roman Catholic census of PEI have the Provost family documented as “Peters.” Joseph was listed as a “Farmer” with “Good Conduct.” Living with Joseph and Baltide were Joseho, Augustina - who was probably Philomena, and Sophia, who was probably Matilda, their youngest child.

In the 1891 census, Mathilda Provost appears as “Isabella Provo” and is listed as a widow. This indicates that Joseph died circa 1890-1891. Isabella was the head of the household and eight of her thirteen children were living with her. The children’s father’s birthplace was listed as Nova Scotia. In this census return, Maxime was listed as a farm laborer, Minnie (Philomena), a servant, Gilbert and Charles were listed as fisherman, John as a copper, and Isabella and Mary Ann as general servants. Also living in the household was Josephine, then only seven years old, and two grand daughter’s, Maggie Handrahan and Katie Gallant. This census return also documents that the family were no longer living in Tignish, but had moved to Lot 2.

The 1901 census again lists “Baltide Provost” as the head of the household with her occupation listed as a servant. Living with Mathilda were her daughters Baltide, Josephine, and Minnie. Here, Minnie is documented as “Minnie Rupert” and living with her were her two sons, George and Ernest. Another grandson of Mathilda’s, Joseph was living with her, but it is not certain who his parents were.

On a tombstone in the St. Simon and St. Jude cemetery in Tignish, is written “Bella Arsenault, wife of John Provost, died 23 April 1927 aet 90 years. She had outlived her husband John by approximately thirty-three years.

A marriage record documents Joseph Peters of Carlottetown marrying Josephine DesRoches of Miscouche on the 4 November 1904. The witnesses for this marriage were John and Albert A. Mills. In the 1901 census, Maxime and Mary Provost are listed as living in Lot 1. Maxime was documented as a Laborer. They had four children at that time. McAlpine’s 1904 Directory list Maxime Peters as a Laborer living in St. Louis. McAlpine’s 1900 and 1904 Directories for PEI lists Gilbert Provost as a farmer living on the Palmer Road. The 1901 census documents Gilbert and Sarah as living in Lot 1 where Gilbert farmed. Living with them were three children, Bridget, Mary an John Theriault, which indicates that Sarah had been previously married.