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St John Valley Parishes
The St John Valley Parishes section of our site is in tribute and honor to the religious faith of our ancestors, who were pioneers in Northern Maine, New Brunswick, or parts of Québec, Canada from the late 1790s and early 1800s, and to their descendants who settled in the Saint John River Valley and Fish River Valley in Northern Maine. Because of the consolidation of several parishes in the Northern Maine region, the history of the original parishes has disappeared from the Portland diocesean web site. This site is an attempt to preserve some of the history of the original parishes that served our ancestors.
Researching in the parish registers in the St John Valley When researching in the parish registers in the St John Valley, whether it be in the St Basile or St François-Xavier registers in Canada, St Bruno in Van Buren, or in the Ste Luce parish register in Frenchville, Maine, one must be aware of the history of those parishs in the valley. The parishes cross both sides of the Canadian and American border. Finding marriage, baptismal, and burial entries in these parish registers that span the border of both Canada and the United States does not mean the person(s) lived in those communities. It only means that they lived in that parish. One must find other documentation to determine where the person actually lived whether it was in Canada or in the United States. The US Census and Canadian Census can potentially be used to find the location where your ancestors lived. I say potentially because sometimes the index for the census does not have the correct spelling for the names, either because it was written phonetically or because the transcriber misinterpreted the written name, in which case you might not find them doing a search. For example, my Nadeau family is shown as Nodean in the 1930 US Census Veteran Burial records Another challenge as a result of the parish consolidations, is that U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Burial Services Death File records now shows the current parish that requested the veteran plaque or headstone instead of the actual cemetery where the veteran is buried. St Basile St Basile was the first church establish in St Basile in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada. It may have been Victoria County, New Brunswick at the time. St Basile is the mother church in the valley founded in 1792 which served the communities on both sides of the US and Canadian borders. Some entries for the St John Valley shown as Madawaska might be found in the St Louis or St André in Kamouraska parish registers as performed by missionary priests. Ste Luce, originally a mission of St Basile, was built as a chapel in 1826 in Frenchville, Maine and became a parish in 1843. The St Basile parish registers contain the entries for baptisms, marriages, and burials performed at the Ste Luce chapel but do not indicate that as the location of the event. Ste Luce served communities on both the Canadian and American sides. St François Xavier in St François, Madawaska County, New Brunswick was a mission of Ste Luce parish until 1859 when it became a parish in its own right. St François served communities on the American side as well, including Fort Kent and communities as far south as Portage until parishes on the American side of the border were established. St Hilaire, sometimes shown as St George in the Drouin Collection, also was a mission of Ste Luce until 1869.St Bruno St Bruno was built as a chapel in 1828 in Van Buren, Maine and became a parish in 1838. St Bruno also served the communities of St Leonard until 1868, Ste Anne until 1872, and Grand Falls on the Canadian side of the border. For example, the children of Alexandre Roy and Marguerite Cormier were baptized and married at St Bruno in Van Buren but they lived across the river in St Leonard, New Brunswick, Canada Both Ste Luce and St Bruno can lay claim to being the oldest churches in the American side of the St John Valley. Ste Luce because it had a chapel in 1826 and St Bruno because it became a parish in 1838. See the map of the United States, Québec, and New Brunswick. When you scroll your mouse over the map sections. it will display a popup showing some of the early parishes in the United States, New Brunswick, and in the early Québec counties. Aroostook County, Maine The following parishes in Northern Maine were formed in the indicated years.
In the summer of 2006, Ste Luce in Frenchville, Maine ceased to exist as a separate parish. Ste Luce, Ste Agathe, and St Joseph in Sinclair were merged into a new parish, Our Lady of the Valley. In the summer of 2007, St Louis in Fort Kent, St Mary in Eagle Lake, St Joseph in Wallagrass/Soldier Pond, and St Charles Boromeo in St Francis, Maine all ceased to exist as a separate parishs and were merged into a new parish, St John Vianny. The St John parish in St John, Maine and Holy Family in Daigle, Maine had previously been closed and merged into St. Louis parish in Fort Kent, Maine. Merged ParishesThe following are the merged parishes that combined several parishes in Northern Maine starting in 2006.
Some of the other early parishes in Maine include
Madawaska County, New Brunswick Some of the early parishes in Madawaska County, New Brunswick are
From the Files of Geraldine ChasséIn the summer of 1978, Geraldine Chassé and Rachel (Chassé) DeFarges took pictures of the various cemeteries and churchs in Northern Maine and across the border in Canada. In the summer of 2007, Geraldine Chassé and Rachel (Chassé) DeFarges provided these photos to me. The following photo pages are published here with their permission as a tribute to all the work Geraldine (1923-2015) has done over the years to preserve Our Acadian and French-Canadian Heritage. Northern Maine cemeteries and churches
Canadian cemeteries and churches
Some Parishes The following are some of the parishes that contain additional information on this site Ste LuceThe Ste Luce Parish portion of our site provides the following information:
Holy Family The Holy Family parish portion of our site provides the following information:
Notre-Dame du Mont-Carmel See the Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel (Mont-Carmel Cultural Museum) web site for additonal information on the original church of Notre Dame du Mont-Carmel and the historical and cultural preservation effort accomplished by the museum through the efforts of Don Cyr. |
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