The Exodus of French Canadians to New England : The Story Behind the Story

[@ariadnedionysus6665]

i'm french Canadian from Montréal. Thank you for your work.

[@patriciamcdonaldfortier170]

My grandparents came from Quebec, Mother was born in Berlin NH last of 8 children. They settled in Woonsocket on Cumberland Hill Rd. Just a suggestion for those French Canadians looking to research your family tree, the F/C Priests kept the Best records. The French American Genealogical Society in Woonsocket has Amazing resources. Mother volunteered there for 30 + years. Translating French and Latin for nearby Ivy League Institutions. There may be online resources available now due to Covid-19 closures. Mother researched, over many years our F/C family tree with over 1400 names, dating back to 1500 France. Between my F/C and Irish ancestors, I feel their courageous and powerful survival skills running in my veins. These folks are some of the hardiest folks on Earth. Merci Boucoup !

[@ariadnedionysus6665]

T'es québécoise caliss :p c'est un bagage génétique pour le meilleur et pour le pire.

[@Dollgrl1]

@Patricia Fortier This has been my biggest brick wall in finding my Great Grandfathers family . He also settled in Woonsocket , he had come totally alone , his name was Frank Telesphore Bonaventure , he then married my Great Grandmother Carrie Sisson who was from a very old family in RI . I could swear I saw one item about him that stated born in the trenches but never found that particular item again , I’d love to find out more about this side but I have come to a dead end each time .

[@brianmonte9200]

Franco-American born and brought up in Rhode Island, now living in Montreal. I enjoyed your videoclip.

[@ahsanurr4219]

Vive les Français et la France

[@tonilee5912]

My French Canadien family is from there!

[@karengoebel2290]

My 2nd great grandfather left Marieville in the 1830s and moved to Dunham, QB, Vermont, New York, Ontario and eventually settled in Michigan in 1860. He assimilated so well it took us until last year to learn his French name and trace our roots back to Quebec. So many of my questions were answered in this talk and I have a few new ideas to explore. Thank you, Mr. Patrick White and the RIHS!

[@eringilroy5119]

Super grateful this is posted! I’m so fascinated by my family history and wish it was more written down! This work is amazing than you!

[@teddyduncan1046]

I live in Manchester, NH. My paternal grandfather came to the US in 1900.

[@ariadnedionysus6665]

Many people of my french Canadian family Move to Manchester New Hampshire...Pinard and Quintal. Today, my father told me that only one can speak french with difficulties and she is 96.

[@garyfrancis6193]

From where?

[@chauvettes]

@@garyfrancis6193 Nicolet

[@ultimatewafflegaming1018]

Woonsocket franco american here watching from Rhode island

[@jerrybirdwell7950]

Rhode Island here. I am French-speaking.

[@timothycote236]

Our family came from both Quebec, and Acadia, Some settled in the Dakota Territory (Ours primarily in the Bottineau County area). Some routed through Rhode Island.

[@AtariGrams]

my grandmother was born a french canadian from st. martin! shoutout the caron family

[@vinniechapman9549]

Mon arrière-arrière-grand-mère a déménagé de la Nouvelle-Écosse au Massachusetts en 1903.

[@rondesrosier4160]

I can trace my last name to a French soldier who came here when it was New France.

[@polarpalmwv4427]

This is so fascinating. On my mother's side, every last ancestor came to the USA (most to Massachusetts but I think one went to Connecticut briefly before landing in Massachusetts) from Québec: Octave Fluet arrived to the USA in 1902; Diana Labouliere in 1889. Emile LaFlamme in 1909. Ventant Paquette in 1873. and Exaré (possibly Exoree - not entire sure of spelling) Desmarais in 1891. On my Dad's side all but one ancestor came to the USA from Québec. Mathilda Durande in 1898. Phillipe Durande sometime between 1867-1870. Lumina Bergeron also sometime between 1867-1870. [The exception here - Mary Aloysis Clarke of Lancashire, England sometime between 1885-1898.] Marie-Columbe Brault sometime in the 1881-82 range. Cyrille Marcille (Marcille is my family name) in the same 1881-82 range. I am now 48 and I am suddenly very interested in learning about my French-Canadian heritage. I was raised without much of an awareness of just how recent my family's immigration to the USA was and not realizing the rich cultural heritage I was missing out on. My grandmothers both spoke French but never did around me except for one odd curse word from the one of them who had a hot temper. We did eat certain foods that I have come to realize are French-Canadian in origin, the most common of them being pork pie (cipate). I grew up Catholic so that's a connection (though I no longer cling to that particular cultural connection). There has been a lot of poverty in my family of origin and a lot of what I believe is generational trauma so I am enjoying learning more about French-Canadian emigration out of Canada to the USA and what that was like for those people. I think it will help to shed light on my family's mysterious past.

[@landrover4444]

French Canadian from Florida here via Boston and France. Dion Giroux Vigneux Poissant Duclos Cousineau are a few of the names in my background. Love France. Vive La France que j'aime avec tout mon coeur.

[@crixusthenorman1603]

Great content! I'm From Toronto Ontario. My mother is from Quebec city and she is the first born of 11. My uncle married my aunt who was the last of 18 kids. We can trace our ancestry back to Zachary Cloutier who was a very well known carpenter that arrived in Quebec around 1634 or close to that. My sister did her ancestry DNA which really just proved what we already knew. We are descendants of the Normans. The DNA showed exactly 50% (mother's side) going back to Normandy and it also showed to be early St Lawrence basin origin. I've been completely facsinated with our history and genealogy for many years now. I'm trying to dig in deeper and really appreciate this video, channel and content. Thank you!

[@donblaise]

Listening from Georgia, USA

[@christinecoulombe6179]

I live in New York City, grandparents all from Woonsocket, RI

[@Pancho-villa666]

A true story; When my grand father retired and tried to collect his old age pension at 65 , he was turned down because they told him he was not Canadian citizen. He was actually born in Rhode Island . His parents moved back in Quebec when he was two years old. lived and went to school, worked for 38 years for Hydro Quebec but was actually American. At 65 he had to apply for his citizenship and was quite upset about having to go to the process. A true story !

[@thomasgosselin7358]

I'm french Candian. also known as Quebecer or Québécois. I live in the eater townships a town call Granby which is 1h30 from the Stanstead Derby Line border.

[@richardfaucher8395]

Very well done. Thank you for sharing your research. ❤

[@CanoeToNewOrleans]

True story:I worked with a French-Canadian who was from a family of 16. That's right, he had 15 brothers and sisters.

[@dansyw]

My grandmother had 13 children and my greatgrandparents 17. It was average back then haha

[@dinkster1729]

I taught in an outport in Newfoundland (Wareham, B.B.) where there were a couple of families with 19 youngsters. in the 1970s. When I tell people this, especially women, they always ask, "What did the mother look like?" LOLOL! She was a totally average 50 year old in very good shape. Her oldest child was 32 and youngest was still in diapers. This was a Protestant outport as well and the mother didn't seem very interested in religion so I guess she just had a lot of children for her own reasons.

[@iswhatitiskiddo5155]

Bother parents came from Quebec in 1923 with 2 babies at the time. I am the youngest of 15 children. My mother never weighed more than 110 pounds. Keep in mind that the Catholic religion, at the time, forbade birth control. My parents were good Catholics.

[@leecox6241]

Their job was to populate the new territory. The King was giving money to all families with ten children or more.

[@garyfrancis6193]

So?

[@iswhatitiskiddo5155]

I'm a first generation American. My parents came to the U.S. in 1923 . They were from Wotton and Hamsud Quebec. After a short time in the state of Maine, they settled in Connecticut. Thank you so much for your fascinating and enlightening information..

[@DanielLépine-k9o]

Hello ! I live in St Camille juste a few milles from Hamsud , my family name is Lepine .

[@gofishglobal7919]

I am fascinated by the Quebecois.

[@garyfrancis6193]

How many would you like?

[@ProvocateuAstrology2]

I am a descendant of the Franco Americans from New England. The Corriveau family settled in Caribou Maine with a potato farm. My grandmother from that family moved to Lawrwnce in tge 1930s. She started at Converse Shoes and retired in the 1970s from Converse as an accountant. Pauline Corrivesu Champagne.

[@gatheringleaves]

My great grandparents Oscar and Aurora Laviolette emigrated from Alfred, Ontario to Newport, Vermont in the 1920s where my grandma Hermine Laviolette was born.

[@ericbeliveau9369]

I have a friend, à laviolette that Her ancestors also come from Alfred ontario

[@dinkster1729]

@@ericbeliveau9369 In the U.S.? There was lots of emigration from Ontario and from the Maritimes during this period before emigration became limited due to federal U.S. laws. Even up until comparatively recent times, you could enter the U.S. legally without showing much identification,right? After 9/11, that changed and, today, you need a passport to go and come and re-enter the U.S. My aunt in the 1940s or early 1950s entered the U.S. with her husband and never entered legally or was naturalized. The last time she went back from Canada apparently the border crossing official warned her that next time to enter she'd need an American passport. She'd lived in the Boston area for 50 years at that point. I'm not sure if her only daughter was born in the U.S. or not. The daughter had 2 children.

[@thereselesperance9126]

From Montreal

[@christinecoulombe6179]

GREAT presentation! Thank you so much. 😊😊😊

[@ProvocateuAstrology2]

I don't know what year my Champagne side came to Lawrence, MA. My grandfather worked in the tool and dye o industry and owned his own 3 family home. His father made furniture..

[@stevenlast2168]

My 2nd Great Grandfather John Lozo (Lauzon) in 1872 settled on Pownal Vermont. John Lozo (Lauzon) 2nd Great Grandfather Birth 7 Apr 1849 Terrebonne, Lanaudiere Region, Quebec, Canada 2g Gilles Lauzon 7th Great Grandfather Birth 1630 Bayeux, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France 7g Gilles Lauzon, born in 1630, son of Pierre and Anne (née Boivin), travelled from Normandy (French: Normandie) to Canada in The Great Recruitment of 1653. After arriving in Quebec he married Marie Archambault, daughter of Jacques and Françoise (née Toureau), in Montreal on 27th November 1656. They remained there together until Gilles passed away on 21st September 1687. Jacques Archambault dug the first well in Montreal. A plaque commemorating this was erected. Jacques Archambault 8th Great Grandfather BIRTH 1604 Departement de la Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charentes, France

[@TimothyCote]

In our family, most of the migration went from Quebec to the North Dakota Territory around the mid 1800. Most in Bottineau County, ND area. On my fathers side, a few ended up around Woonsocket, RI. From there went to MN - ND. Always wondered how they ended up in Rhode Island. This explains quite a bit. Thanks.

[@sonnybrakes8496]

Checking in from Kapuskasing, Ontario

[@bobstone5325]

So interesting both my wifes family and my family came from quebec in the mid 1800s before the civil war in the USA. We now live in NH

[@ordyhorizonrivieredunord712]

⚜

[@bapi6643]

I now live in Exeter NH but was born in West Warwick. My grandparents all lived in Quebec, primarily in Kamouraska and Laval.

[@beabee256]

I have a letter from my great-grand-mother's sister recounting the many times they went to the US to work (father, mother and two children at first). It is incredible what they went trough. Quite a story. The parents were Joseph Couture and Sophie Labrècque. They first went to North Adams Mass in 1868.

[@maryloumoran1723]

Joining from R.I.

[@gregsurrell598]

My great great grandfather Francois Cusson dit Surrell came down to New Hampshire to join the Union Army during the Civil War. He later married Celena Riquet, whose parents emigrated to Vermont during the 1840s.

[@stevenlast2168]

Aboriginal roots The name “Canada” likely comes from the Huron-Iroquois word “kanata,” meaning “village” or “settlement.” In 1535, two Aboriginal youths told French explorer Jacques Cartier about the route to kanata; they were actually referring to the village of Stadacona, the site of the present-day City of Québec. For lack of another name, Cartier used the word “Canada” to describe not only the village, but the entire area controlled by its chief, Donnacona. The name was soon applied to a much larger area; maps in 1547 designated everything north of the St. Lawrence River as Canada. Cartier also called the St. Lawrence River the “rivière du Canada,” a name used until the early 1600s. By 1616, although the entire region was known as New France, the area along the great river of Canada and the Gulf of St. Lawrence was still called Canada.

[@TheProactivecs]

Very informative. I often have thought of what prompted the migration. My family migrated from the UK in the early 1900s. The Canadians French were already here. My wife and I often walk at the nearby cemetery and you can see by the dates on the headstones what years that the Canadian French came in.

[@victorlikesmetal3662]

Proud Woony-Burrillville Quebecois!!

[@chiefjoseph8154]

My grandmother worked the mills in Woonsocket. She returned to N.H. I’m 3rd generation American. All my ancestors are Canadian. Both sides. Nova Scotia/ Three rivers Quebec. DNA shows Mi’kmaq and also a 5th great grandfather who was a black man. Surprise, surprise.

[@chenette500]

Joining from Rio de Janeiro

[@fantabuloussnuffaluffagus]

3 years later and they're still not all gone. Promises, promises.

[@eatrulaklakquetoi]

CUỘC PHIÊU LƯU CỦA NGƯỜI CANADA GỐC PHÁP ĐẾN NEW ENGLAND.......BẠN CHIA SẺ HAY QUÁ [ SUB 118 OK OK

[@marcafterdark1003]

I'm from Lewiston maine the largest Franco American population in the US 🇺🇸 the town next to Lewiston is auburn maine and in 1920s auburn had the largest klan membership and that French catholic hating mentality was alive and well as a child so growing up I heard every ignorant French slander joke possible 🙄😂🤣

[@dinkster1729]

You haven't lived in Kingston, Ontario. We keep our francophobie pretty hidden, but it is there! The authorities just don't want to create a bilingual city although they are doing better than they were 40 years ago and bilingual education is flourishing.

[@spotinc1]

Joining from the panhandle of Florida

[@stevenlast2168]

This is New England: New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick to the northeast and Quebec to the north. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound is to the southwest. Boston is New England's largest city, as well as the capital of Massachusetts. Greater Boston is the largest metropolitan area, with nearly a third of New England's population; this area includes Worcester, Massachusetts (the second-largest city in New England), Manchester, New Hampshire (the largest city in New Hampshire), and Providence, Rhode Island (the capital of and largest city in Rhode Island).

[@donblaise]

I am interested in why the exodus is happening. I do not speak French, nor is my background French.

[@auntyeat1746]

Bristol, Rhode Island

[@hirampriggott1689]

Same here. Of French descent in Bristol and Warren.

[@jasoncroteau2742]

The museum is about immigration but my m'ikmaq grandmother was hiding in the mills she was also Irish never granted citizenship in Canada and fake papers in usa. She got a fake marriage and died without a death certificate of obituary. I am a member of Romani union and applicant of first nations Canada and Aroostook band of Micmacs

[@janicenyman259]

Seattle

[@hirampriggott1689]

Providence & Bristol/Warren represent.

[@jasoncroteau4953]

canadians are not all french just like americans are not all stupid

[@jasoncroteau4953]

there are native americans (immigration did not like natives there are irish immigration did not like irish there are romani portugese and many others ) your history is whats called an insituational setting

[@jasoncroteau2742]

@orangeshirtday #louisriel #mikmaq #metis #romani Congress bill hr 292

[@jasoncroteau2742]

But now they are folded up. It's unfair to call every person french that's simply not true. Canada has a french civil law but it's not a race and it's not always non minorities or non tribal

[@jasoncroteau2742]

@@TheProactivecs the British and Jesuits are french and also British. If you remember east India company

[@sharonperry5213]

English language is 45 percent French. Our language evolved from Norman French who invaded England in 1066 and. No Anglican but Norman French. . . Get the information right.

[@sharonperry5213]

English language is 45 percent French. Our language evolved from Norman French who invaded England in 1066 and. No Anglican but Norman French. . . Get the information right.