Madame Chateauneuf
Taken With Her Children
Of about forty signs across Castine, this sign is one of only five still in place that name Wabanaki peoples or stories. And still, it misses important pieces of this woman’s story.
Though the sign mentions her father, Jean-Vincent d’Abbadie de Saint-Castin, it does not name her mother Pidianiske, a Penobscot woman. Typical of the time the sign was made, it further obscures the story by identifying this individual only by the last name of her supposed husband “Chateauneuf.”
Archival research shows that the woman who was taken captive with her children was likely Pidianiske’s and Jean-Vincent’s daughter, Claire. Claire was married to a French man, Paul Meunier, while her younger sister Cecile was married to François Meneux dit Châteauneuf. Cecile did not have any children at the time of Church’s raid, but Claire did, and in fact, this was the second time Claire was captured.
Benjamin Church (c. 1639-1718) was widely known for his brutal violence against native peoples throughout the region.
Claire’s Penobscot lineage gives critical context for why she was taken captive by Benjamin Church in 1704. Church (c. 1639-1718), an English colonel from Plymouth Colony, was widely known for his brutal violence against native peoples and communities in the late 1600s and early 1700s, especially those who were allied with the French, as Pidianiske’s children were.
We must consider, then, why the original signage positions “Madame Châteauneuf” as separate from the “Natives taken at the time” and does not share her Penobscot identity.
Reflection Questions
Why do you think this sign does not identify “Madame Chateauneuf” as Penobscot, or share her first name?
How do these choices reflect the context in which the sign was made?
This research was compiled as part of the Mači-pikʷátohsək: A Wayfinding Walk which took place in Castine on October 5, 2025. For more information about this walk, click here. For more research related to this area, click on the tags below. To download a hi-res version of the posters below for educational use, please contact where@atlanticblackbox.com.
This event was a collaboration between Castine History Partners (CHP) and the Walks for Historical & Ecological Recovery (WHERE), a series convened by Atlantic Black Box.
Castine History Partners is a collaboration originally established to create virtual history tours for Castine. CHP supports a variety of learning opportunities around the history of Castine. The partners include Castine Community Partners, Castine Historical Society, Castine Touring Company, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Maine Maritime Academy, Wilson Museum, and Witherle Memorial Library.