When Cardinal Richelieu authorized a stronger French presence in the New World, he commissioned Isaac de Razilly to be lieutenant-general of Acadia.
[2] French administrators, including nearby Port Royal's lord, the Sieur Charles de Menou d'Aulnay, thought little of the colonists' reclaiming tidal marshlands.
This greatly aided peaceful co-existence with their neighbors, and Mi'kmaq trade, friendship and intermarriage was and is an immensely important part of the Acadian identity and heritage.
His son Thomas appears in the 1671 census as a carpenter at Port Royal, aged 35, married to Magdelaine Girouard, with a 2-year-old daughter and possessing 7 cattle, 7 sheep and 6 arpents (2 ha) of land.
Rather than sprawling the colony outward, the Acadians established villages in several distinct core areas, such as the Minas Basin and Beaubassin.
The 1686 census shows him and his wife now with 9 children, 4 guns, 40 arpents (14 ha) of land, 30 cattle, 10 sheep and 15 hogs.