QUEBEC-L Archives
Archiver > QUEBEC > 2002-05 > 1021112323
From:
Subject: Re: [QUEBEC] "Little Canada" .. in Lowell, MA, USA ... in early 1900's ......
Date: Sat, 11 May 2002 06:18:43 EDT
In a message dated 5/10/2002 12:54:06 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
writes:
> orphanages .. in the City of Lowell, MA (USA)
This part of Mass. was a magnet for the French Canadians who came to find
work in the textile mills. Fall River was the "Textile Capital of the World"
in the 1880's and 1890's, and into the new century. Saint Joseph's Orphanage
located in Notre Dame Parish, cared for children who were orphaned or
sometimes after loosing their mother, would be placed there by a father who
was unable to work and raise the children alone.
Fall River had several "Little Canada" neighborhoods, each spreading from the
Catholic Church at their center. A difference in Fall River was that each
French parish generally represented folks from a certain area of Quebec
Province.
If you are searching for someone from the Rimouski / Matane area [like my
family], you should begin your search at Notre Dame Parish in the "Flint".
The parish roster at the turn of the century reads like a history of my
family....they were baptized, married and buried from this parish. My father
and his siblings and cousins all attended the Notre Dame Parish School. This
carried down to the following generation, we had half a day in French and
half in English. We all spoke French, we thought everyone did
There was Sainte Anne's Parish with lots of folks from the Montreal area.
Saint Mathieu's with folks from Trois Rivieres, Saint Jean Baptiste, again
the Trois Rivieres/Montreal area.....and other parishes as well. Most had a
parish school where the children were taught in French.
Fall River was a great city back then, and the French Canadian immigrants who
came to this area, carried their traditions and language with them to pass
down to future generations. One of my favorite memories of Ecole Notre Dame
in the 1950's was Mère Saint Philias - already an "old" woman - and her
wonderful stories of Canada and how her mother made Boudin.....
Paula
This thread: