The French Canadian Connection
My mother, Jacquelyn Pilot Vogel, descends from hardy French Canadians who settled in North America on the shores of the wooded St Lawrence River in Quebec of the 1700’s. Her grandparents, the Pilottes and Emonds, migrated to Lowell, Massachusetts to work in the textile mills at the close of the 19th century. They came from the Kamouraska County area near Riviere du Loup, known as Fraserville until 1919. The Riviere du Loup tourism web site describes the natural amphitheatre overlooking the St. Lawrence River. It describes the pure salt air, beautiful sunsets, seal and whale watching on the beaches that make it a desirable vacation spot today.
“Kamouraska, a county in Quebec, lying south of the St. Lawrence river, opposite Murray Bay, and between L'Islet and Témiscouata counties. The name is an Indian word signifying "where there are rushes on the other side of the river." County town, Kamouraska. Pop. 25,535 [in 1948]. Kamouraska is also a village in Kamouraska county, Quebec, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, 29 miles south-west of Rivière-du-Loup. It lies directly in front of St. Pascal, on the Canadian National Railway, and is a popular summer resort. “
Source : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. III, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 396p., p. 320.
About 900,000 French Canadians immigrated to the United States between 1840 and 1930, according to a paper written by Claude Belanger of Marianopolis College. He writes that poverty, lack of credit, overpopulation and infertile soils pushed them off their small farms. In addition, the United States was going through a rapid period of industrial growth. Jobs were easier to find, wages were higher and the textile mills required no formal training. All members of the family could work and did so. My great-grandparents, the Pilotte's and the Emond's were part of that French-Canadian migration. Maurice Pilotte in 1890 and Remi Emond in 1899.
“The development of the railway stimulated migration. As Eastern North America’s railroad network became more complex and affordable, emigrating to the United States became simpler and cheaper. Indeed, while in 1840 a trip from Montreal to Vermont would have taken several arduous and expensive days in a cart, by the 1880’s it would only be a question of a few dollars and hours.” Belanger wrote. According to a history of Riviere-du-Loup, that city became the east terminal of Grand-Tronc's railroad in 1859. The inauguration of the Temiscouata Railway, linking Riviere-du-Loup and New Brunswick, occurred in 1887.
Lowell was the second largest Franco-American town of the New England area. About a quarter of its population originated from Quebec. Lowell had been an early planned city, and because of its situation had received some of the earliest textile industries in the 19th century. The founders of this city had intended it to be a model industrial city. It had deteriorated considerably by the time French-Canadians started to arrive between 1850 and 1860. Located along the Pawtucket Falls, where the Merrimack River plunges over craggy rocks on its path to the sea, Lowell, Massachusetts, is one of early America’s most important industrial cities. Beginning in 1820s, the nation’s largest textile factories were built in Lowell and thousands of women and men flocked to the city to find jobs in the booming textile industry.
The French Canadians followed a pattern of “chain migration” to Lowell. One or two members of a family would sound out a new home before sending for the rest of their families. They would be joined by cousins, uncles and nephews, who would in turn send home for their families. Thus large populations of the same village would transplant to the same community in the United States.
“As patterns of emigration began to fill certain American towns with French Canadians, neighborhoods began to acquire a French flavor. These neighborhoods were called “Little Canada’s“ and life in them was predominantly French and Catholic. Around their local church and school, life appeared much the same as it was in some parts of Quebec. In these “Little Canadas” Franco-Americans could often speak French to their priest, grocer or doctor.”
Belanger wrote that the Quebec branch of the Catholic Church followed their transplanted members. According to one study in 1927 there were 21 French-speaking priests in Lowell by 1927.
“ In Lowell, Franco-Americans enjoyed full-fledged French-Catholic institutions. By the 1920’s, there were no less than five Franco-American parishes, with 21 francophone priests. There were large parochial schools, an orphanage, various national societies and clubs. Most of the clergy was associated with the Oblate Fathers. Most of the teaching personnel were made-up of the Grey Nuns and the Frères Maristes.”
The French Canadian emigrant to New England was a factory worker, particularly in the huge cotton mills that dotted the area. In this respect, the French Canadian immigrants played a significant role in the industrial expansion of the New England area in the last half of the 19th century. Some of these textile mills had as many as 10,000 workers and employment was often readily available, as upwardly mobile English and Scots moved out of the area and were replaced by the Irish, French Canadians, Southern and Eastern Europeans.
In these factories, wages were low, although higher than in Quebec, and work related accidents were frequent. The factory bell summoned men and women to the mills where they toiled long hours at the various tasks—carding, spinning, and weaving—to produce cotton cloth. The heat created by the machines, and the lack of proper ventilation, was stifling; the noise of dozens of machines all working at the same time was deafening and could be heard hundreds of meters away from the factories; cotton dust was everywhere and coated the workers’ lungs. Working hours were from 10-12 hours a day, up to six days a week, and much of it was spent standing while keeping an eye on several machines. These conditions were commonplace at the time and not restricted to New England. The newcomers were frequently victims of discrimination, as immigrants with a different language and religion often were at the time.
“The living conditions and the socio-economic status of the inhabitants of the "Little Canadas" were very poor. Based on the data presented by Father Hamon, in his book Les Canadiens-Français de la Nouvelle-Angleterre, published in 1891, the percentage of proprietors among Franco-Americans in 1889 was rather small in the large cities ranging from a low 4.2% in Manchester to a high of 21% in Worcester. Thus, as they rarely owned property, they lived in tenements that are described as lacking comfort and amenities, and usually far too small and overcrowded. Built around the most uninteresting part of the town, in shabby surroundings, the "Little Canada’s” had a considerable population density, among the highest in the United States. Thus, one should not be surprised that health conditions were also poor”
Although conditions were difficult, the French Canadians worked their way into prosperity. As members of the community bettered their lives, the entry-level jobs were filled by new French Canadian immigrants and subsequently by new arrivals from other parts of the world, such as Eastern Europe and the Mid-East. The United States closed the border to new Canadian immigration in 1930. The Depression affected Lowell as severely as the rest of the nation. A search of city directories showed vacancy after vacancy in the areas where the factory workers formerly resided.
“Kamouraska, a county in Quebec, lying south of the St. Lawrence river, opposite Murray Bay, and between L'Islet and Témiscouata counties. The name is an Indian word signifying "where there are rushes on the other side of the river." County town, Kamouraska. Pop. 25,535 [in 1948]. Kamouraska is also a village in Kamouraska county, Quebec, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, 29 miles south-west of Rivière-du-Loup. It lies directly in front of St. Pascal, on the Canadian National Railway, and is a popular summer resort. “
Source : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. III, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 396p., p. 320.
About 900,000 French Canadians immigrated to the United States between 1840 and 1930, according to a paper written by Claude Belanger of Marianopolis College. He writes that poverty, lack of credit, overpopulation and infertile soils pushed them off their small farms. In addition, the United States was going through a rapid period of industrial growth. Jobs were easier to find, wages were higher and the textile mills required no formal training. All members of the family could work and did so. My great-grandparents, the Pilotte's and the Emond's were part of that French-Canadian migration. Maurice Pilotte in 1890 and Remi Emond in 1899.
“The development of the railway stimulated migration. As Eastern North America’s railroad network became more complex and affordable, emigrating to the United States became simpler and cheaper. Indeed, while in 1840 a trip from Montreal to Vermont would have taken several arduous and expensive days in a cart, by the 1880’s it would only be a question of a few dollars and hours.” Belanger wrote. According to a history of Riviere-du-Loup, that city became the east terminal of Grand-Tronc's railroad in 1859. The inauguration of the Temiscouata Railway, linking Riviere-du-Loup and New Brunswick, occurred in 1887.
Lowell was the second largest Franco-American town of the New England area. About a quarter of its population originated from Quebec. Lowell had been an early planned city, and because of its situation had received some of the earliest textile industries in the 19th century. The founders of this city had intended it to be a model industrial city. It had deteriorated considerably by the time French-Canadians started to arrive between 1850 and 1860. Located along the Pawtucket Falls, where the Merrimack River plunges over craggy rocks on its path to the sea, Lowell, Massachusetts, is one of early America’s most important industrial cities. Beginning in 1820s, the nation’s largest textile factories were built in Lowell and thousands of women and men flocked to the city to find jobs in the booming textile industry.
The French Canadians followed a pattern of “chain migration” to Lowell. One or two members of a family would sound out a new home before sending for the rest of their families. They would be joined by cousins, uncles and nephews, who would in turn send home for their families. Thus large populations of the same village would transplant to the same community in the United States.
“As patterns of emigration began to fill certain American towns with French Canadians, neighborhoods began to acquire a French flavor. These neighborhoods were called “Little Canada’s“ and life in them was predominantly French and Catholic. Around their local church and school, life appeared much the same as it was in some parts of Quebec. In these “Little Canadas” Franco-Americans could often speak French to their priest, grocer or doctor.”
Belanger wrote that the Quebec branch of the Catholic Church followed their transplanted members. According to one study in 1927 there were 21 French-speaking priests in Lowell by 1927.
“ In Lowell, Franco-Americans enjoyed full-fledged French-Catholic institutions. By the 1920’s, there were no less than five Franco-American parishes, with 21 francophone priests. There were large parochial schools, an orphanage, various national societies and clubs. Most of the clergy was associated with the Oblate Fathers. Most of the teaching personnel were made-up of the Grey Nuns and the Frères Maristes.”
The French Canadian emigrant to New England was a factory worker, particularly in the huge cotton mills that dotted the area. In this respect, the French Canadian immigrants played a significant role in the industrial expansion of the New England area in the last half of the 19th century. Some of these textile mills had as many as 10,000 workers and employment was often readily available, as upwardly mobile English and Scots moved out of the area and were replaced by the Irish, French Canadians, Southern and Eastern Europeans.
In these factories, wages were low, although higher than in Quebec, and work related accidents were frequent. The factory bell summoned men and women to the mills where they toiled long hours at the various tasks—carding, spinning, and weaving—to produce cotton cloth. The heat created by the machines, and the lack of proper ventilation, was stifling; the noise of dozens of machines all working at the same time was deafening and could be heard hundreds of meters away from the factories; cotton dust was everywhere and coated the workers’ lungs. Working hours were from 10-12 hours a day, up to six days a week, and much of it was spent standing while keeping an eye on several machines. These conditions were commonplace at the time and not restricted to New England. The newcomers were frequently victims of discrimination, as immigrants with a different language and religion often were at the time.
“The living conditions and the socio-economic status of the inhabitants of the "Little Canadas" were very poor. Based on the data presented by Father Hamon, in his book Les Canadiens-Français de la Nouvelle-Angleterre, published in 1891, the percentage of proprietors among Franco-Americans in 1889 was rather small in the large cities ranging from a low 4.2% in Manchester to a high of 21% in Worcester. Thus, as they rarely owned property, they lived in tenements that are described as lacking comfort and amenities, and usually far too small and overcrowded. Built around the most uninteresting part of the town, in shabby surroundings, the "Little Canada’s” had a considerable population density, among the highest in the United States. Thus, one should not be surprised that health conditions were also poor”
Although conditions were difficult, the French Canadians worked their way into prosperity. As members of the community bettered their lives, the entry-level jobs were filled by new French Canadian immigrants and subsequently by new arrivals from other parts of the world, such as Eastern Europe and the Mid-East. The United States closed the border to new Canadian immigration in 1930. The Depression affected Lowell as severely as the rest of the nation. A search of city directories showed vacancy after vacancy in the areas where the factory workers formerly resided.
posted by Cliff Vogel | 7:27 PM
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