Acadians from a Normandy Frenchman's View

Sieur Diereville was a Frenchman from Normandy who arrived in Port Royal in 1699 and lived among the Acadians for one year. By this time many Acadians had grown up and moved and settled Beaubassin and



Grand Pre. When Diereville landed on the shores of the Dauphin River, there were around 501 settlers living


Along the river close to Port Royal. The following is the explanation he told France:

“Let me begin with, that there are only three settlements to divide so vast a territory ,and that the people of these places have the same occupations. The first is Port Royal ,the second is Grand Pre and Beaubassin is the third. I have never been to these two places and shall therefore give on description of them. I only know that Minas (Grand Pre) provides more wheat than all the rest of the country ,because its marshes, which are quite extensive have been drained and that the people of Port Royal have established their children there on concessions they have purchased in order that the land may be settled and rendered fertile; in this they are very successful. In regard to Beaubassin so called because of its situation it is the least populous settlement and also the least productive. The climate of all this region is like that of France and it lies in almost the same latitude; the summer is warm but the winter is colder; it snows almost continuously at this season ,and the winds are so cold that they freeze one’s face. “ Diereville described the country side around Port Royal as faultlessly beautiful although many of the houses were in poor condition because of the numerous raids and attacks Port Royal had suffered over the years. The parish priest did not live in luxury. Here is what he had to say; “ I asked for the church which I had been unable to identify y,because it differed in no way from the other buildings and I should have been more inclined to take it for a Barn than for the Temple of the true God. While I was on my way there to give thanks to him for his mercy in having brought me here in safety ,I saw Monsieur le Cure coming to meet me, we paid one another compliments after which he conducted me to the Church and honoured me by the offer of Holy Water. I said my prayer ,then Monsieur le Cure took me to his room,which was ill furnished ,and contrary to the rules concerning Presbyteries ,at the end of the church and adjoining it. Diereville did not criticize the Acadians for creating dykes here is what he said “ It costs a great deal to prepare the lands which they wish to cultivate. To grow wheat, the marshes which are inundated by the sea at high Tide, must be drained, these are called Lowlands, and they are quite good, but what labour is needed to make them fit for cultivation! The ebb and flow of the sea cannot easily be stopped, but the Acadians succeed in doing so by means of great Dykes called Aboiteaux.






I found this information in The Acadians of Nova Scotia by Alphonse Deveau and Sally Ross, a very interesting book to read. I do hope you enjoyed reading this little bit of information about the ways of the Acadians so very long ago.


Now I would like to change the subject and mention to all you readers, I have created more items in my store ,the latest are iPhone 4 Cases,iPad Cases and iPhone3/3Gs cases, if you are in the vicinity please stop by and look at my newest additions, I also have a couple of funny tee shirts added. Here are a few images. Here are two of my sites, http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*  
and   http://allicorshop.acadian-roots.com/     please tweet these sites if you go there?


Have a great day


Aline.

Genealogy and Humor

Funny Genealogy Shirt by allicor
View more Funny T-Shirts

Genealogy like anything else has it's funny moments, and that is a good thing it keeps us motivated in keeping on going. Sometimes we hit brick walls, then one day they come tumbling down. It might take a long time for that wall to break, but there are so many new resources that seem to appear, places we haven't looked through, places we don't think to look through and all of a sudden we hit a  gold mine, well to the researchers it is like a gold mine, or finding that pot of gold (lost ancestor).
I am at the present doing two different surname lines for someone and  I thought "Gee I have that line connected right to the first ancestor recorded " Not so !  Come to find out, I was barking up the wrong tree, same name, different line. groan. But that didn't stop me, back to the searching. Oh Boy! Here he is, now I am on the right track. So I am on my way, I know there will be roadblocks along the way but I will get through them.  Now I have decided that I needed to create some funny and some nice genealogy products. I have created some churches and will add more, and I have some funny tee shirt like the one above and more if you go to my genealogy folder at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*   you will see what I have so far also you can go to my new website at http://allicorshop.acadian-roots.com/     and look there.
So now I am off to to I don't know what or I don't know where to start things. grin.
Thanks for the visit and please come again
Have a great day
Aline

Mother Told Me

Well a few days ago , I went to visit my Mom, and when I go I  usually ask her about her past,she is now 92 and her memory is unbelievable, oh she does repeat some same stories but just the same she is one amazing lady.
Anyway this paticular visit, I went in and she was reading the newspaper which she does every morning faithfully. Then she began talking ,she said her father was a jack of all trades and he was a teacher in Maine before he met my grandmother and when they married and had their family,Mom said he used to tutor them at home when he was there,because by then he travelled a lot seeking work. He used to file saws and axes.
Mom said she remembers that he used to read to them by the candlelight from a book by Robbie Burns. Yes the poet. Now this would be back in the mid 1920s.
Mom said her father thought education was very very important and he wanted his children to be educated. Now Mom said her mother (my grandmother )went to grade three in school  and her spelling was not good ,but she wanted to write to my grandfather when he was away, so Mom told me, my grandmother would sit by the candlelight and Mom would sit next to her and  Grandmother would ask Mom how to spell a certain word and Mom  helped her or if she made a mistake in spelling Mom would be by her side correcting her. Now I found this very interesting because it made me feel like I was there, it made me feel  good knowing about my grandparents, how they lived, if you are into genealogy or family trees you probably understand what I mean. Our ancestors were much more than names and dates, they were human like you and I, they lived, they loved, they cried, they laughed. So these  are things for us to know and cherish and pass down to our children and their children. If you have some relatives who can share stories like these, visit them, ask them questions,and write down all that you can find.
Now changing the subject, I created that Bingo Shirt above, I sort of like the poem that I changed the words to what I wanted to say. You can find that shirt in my tee shirt folder at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*   I also want to say, I bought one of my  shirts I created, it is being shipped so when I get it (I hope it fits grin) I will wear it, and show you. Oh and I also created quite a few childrent-shirts with Nursery Rhymes on the front. I will probably add more, you can see those in my children folder.  I do hope you enjoyed today's blog and will stop by another day.
Have a great day
Aline

St Bernard Church in Moncton and Tee shirts

Today I shall discuss two topics, the first will be the tee shirts because I could not add the images at the bottom of this blog.I shall continue about St Bernard after.

The reason for the t-shirts is because there is a 15%sale on this weekend and there is only tomorrow left, I have created lots of tee shirts the two here are some you can personalize, you change the names to your choices. I also have funny tee shirts, animals tee shirts,children tee shirts, so if you want to save on the tee shirts they are great for birthdays, St Patrick Day,Reunions and much more. The mugs are ten percent off too . I even have a ball team tee shirt for ladies you personalize it to, so now would be a great time to buy. Go to http://www.zazzle.com/allicor* click on tee shirts, or acadian cajun, or children they all have tee shirts and the humor page also.

Now getting to Saint Bernards Church in Moncton New Brunswick:

Saint Bernard is the Mother Church of Moncton City, and the cradle of its Catholic community. There were no Catholics among the first who settled in what was to become the city of Moncton after the Exile of the Acadians. A first church had been built by the Acadians near the site of the actual Bore Park called La Chapelle and the surrounding area was called Terre Rouge.(translation Red Earth). This whole area was plundered and burned by the ravages of Scott at the time of the deportation in 1755. Thomas Cocoran an Irishman who arrived in 1810 was maybe the first of many others of his catholic faith in the Moncton area. As the population grew the Mass was said in private homes and in the Free Meeting house on Steadman Street. This prompted Father FX Lafrance of Memramcook to buy in 1851 a lot of land for the building of a church. However twenty years had passed before a first church was built by Father John Murray pastor of St Anselme. Five years later Father FX Cormier began building a bigger church which was finished April 20 1879 by Father William Foley,Moncton's first resident priest. Three years later in 1882 with the appointment of Father Henry A Meahan as Parish Priest Moncton City became the parish if St Bernard. The families of Irishtown were also served by the new parish. The 3rd St Bernard cornerstone was laid in 1888 . The first Moncton native ordained as a priest was Francis Walker 1916. Father Meahan was replaced in 1905 by Father Edward Savage pastor till 1938. The Moncton Cathedrale was built in 1914 . My father was baptized in St Bernards, his father was born there and his grandfather Jake Williams married Osite Leger in St Bernards so that church is special to me. My grandparents married in the Moncton Cathedrale in 1914 .So they were among the first to marry there.

I found most of this information in a book I bought today called 50th Anniversary of the Moncton Diocese. Very interesting book.

Hope you liked today's blog, be sure to check out my tee shirts and mugs. Thanks for the visit and do stop by again

Have a great day

Aline