French Catholics in the United States.—The first Bishop of Burlington, the Right Reverend Louis de Goesbriand, in a letter dated May 11, 1869, and which appeared in “Le Protecteur Canadien”, a French newspaper then published at St. Albans, Vermont, made the following statement: “I am convinced from positive information, that when we say that there are 500,000 French-Canadians in the United States, the figures are far below the truth.” The sources from which the late prelate drew his information are unknown to the writers of this article, but it is a fact that today the Diocese of Burlington has a Catholic population of 76,000 souls, of which 50,000 at least are of French Canadian birth or on n. It is also a fact that the French Canadian element has increased, both naturally and by immigration, to such an extent that it now numbers nearly 1,200,000 souls in the United States, that it has made its influence felt throughout the Eastern States, in all walks of life, and furthermore that, in point of numbers, it is the predominant element in several dioceses, and an important part of the population in many others. However, except in their own newspapers, or a few little-known books, scarcely anything had been said of the part taken by these immigrants in the civil and religious life of their new country, until, very recently, they took into their own-hands the task of reviewing their history, of gathering statistics of their numbers, and of recording their achievements and the progress they have made in fifty years. The task is still far from complete, but enough has been done to demonstrate the progress of the French Canadians and their devotion to their Church and to their adopted country.
The immigration of French Canadians to the United States began before the War of American Independence (1775-83). French Canadians had then already immigrated to New England, and we find them in large numbers in the armies of Washington. After the war the American Congress, in recognition of their services and to prevent their being prosecuted in Canada on the charge of high treason, gave them land on the shores of Lake Champlain, where their descendants are still to be found. That concession of land, situated in the State of New York, has long been known as “the Refugees’ Tract” In 1837, after the rebellion in the Province of Quebec, a new immigration to the Eastern States took place, to the State of Vermont, more particularly, where the “Patriots”, vanquished in battle, sought refuge with their families. But the chief influx from French Canada to the United States took place after the Civil War. Not-withstanding the fact that they had at that time but few organized parishes, the French Canadians were here in sufficient numbers during the war to furnish 40,000 soldiers to the Union. The immigration at the close of the war has been ascribed to many causes, the most considerable of which are the unprecedented industrial prosperity that followed the Civil War and the inborn love of the French Canadian for travelling, together with the desire to earn the high wages and to share in the vast opportunities which the Republic offered to its citizens.
Some writers—and many of these in earnest—have given as the principal cause of this French Canadian immigration, three-fourths of which took place between 1865 and 1890, the necessity in which the farmers of the Province of Quebec found themselves of seeking a new home after leading a life of luxury and dissipation. Undoubtedly this was true of some, but the general moral character of the hundreds of thousands who crossed the border is the best proof that the true cause of this movement must be sought elsewhere. The Jesuit, Father Hamon, writing on this subject, does not hesitate to say: “The rapidity with which this immigration was accomplished, and the ease with which these Canadians transplanted into a foreign land, have immediately reconstructed the Catholic mould of the parish that made their strength in Canada; the energy shown by them in erecting churches and convents, in grouping themselves together, and in organizing flourishing congregations, supported within by all that nourishes Christian piety, protected without against pernicious influences by the strength of association, and a press generally well inspired; all these elements of Catholic life, organized within a quarter of a century in the very citadel of old Puritanism, seem to indicate a Providential action as well as a Providential mission, the importance of which the future alone will reveal.”
Those who do not look higher than material considerations in studying the causes of national movements will not give much credence to this opinion of Father Hamon. Nevertheless it is today a fact recognized by noted economists, that the French Canadians, now better known in the Republic under the name of French Americans, are, as laborers and artisans, the most solid and reliable pillar of industry in New England. And New England has received within its borders, more than two-thirds of their total immigration. As Catholics, it is obvious that they have played a role no less important, as may easily be seen by the perusal of Catholic Directories. Father Hamon classifies the French Canadian immigration as temporary, fluctuating, and permanent. Figures show the relative importance of each of these classes and demonstrate the spirit which animated the whole movement. The temporary immigration comprised a class of farmers who came to the United States with the avowed intention of going back to their old homes as soon as they had saved enough money to clear their farms from mortgages and all other financial incumbrances. This class became less numerous from day to day; so much so, that it was practically unnoticeable, as early as 1880. In many cases the intention of returning to the old home was never carried out. Frequently this class, by revealing to their neighbors the opportunities offered across the border, induced many of them to follow in their footsteps. As to the fluctuating immigration, only a mere mention is necessary. Always on the move, from one country to the other, from city to city, from mill to mill, those who formed this class led that kind of life which relies, as Father Hamon says, on the Providence of God for its support. This roving class is still less numerous than the temporary group, and it is to be found not only in all classes of newcomers, but in settled populations as well. The permanent immigration has been the most numerous, and, naturally, the most substantial. It is these permanent French Canadian immigrants who have organized parishes and parochial schools, erected churches and convents, and now constitute the laboring power par excellence in all the industrial centers of New England. Most of them, if not all, came from the rural districts of Canada, especially from the Eastern townships, from the Dioceses of Trois Rivieres and Rimouski, and from the Counties of Beauce, Bellechasse, and others on the borders. Their farms had become insufficient to support large families; in the Eastern townships their titles to the land they occupied were disputed, and they were forced to give up the fruit of many years of labor; they were the victims of the indifference shown by their Governments, both Provincial and Federal, towards colonization and the opening up of new farming districts. The increasing population was thus compelled by circumstances, to look elsewhere, for more land and greater opportunities. At the same time, the reports sent home by those who had taken part in the earlier immigration had widely advertised throughout the whole Province of Quebec, the material advantages of the United States. This migration was called at the time “the desertion of the Fatherland”. But those who spoke thus were forgetful of the historical fact, that the French of America have from the very beginning felt perfectly at home in the whole northern part of the continent, on the soil of which their missionaries, their coureurs des bois, explorers, and warriors have left their footprints broadcast. In spite of all opposing efforts, hundreds of thousands of French Canadians, most of them farmers, between 1870 and 1890, left their rural occupation to adopt the more arduous life of the New England factories and the various industries of the Western States. This movement took place quietly, slowly, without creating any disturbance, and almost unnoticed. It was, in a certain sense, a repetition of that other movement which, advocated by Horace Greeley, sent toward the Golden Gate so many young men of the East.
Doubtless, this depopulation on a large scale was a great loss to Canada, where the emigrants might have founded families of colonists. But the nature of this emigration was such that it could not be checked by any special legislation. The movement had set in, and it was too late to forestall an event prepared by many years of economic conditions misunderstood or willfully ignored. The stream had found its way across the borders, where new industries, phenomenal opportunities, and advantages unheard of before, were ready to absorb and utilize this new and valuable power of production.
In order to present a strictly accurate idea of the importance of the French American element, both numerically and from a Catholic standpoint, the following sources of information have been used for this article: (I) the Twelfth Census of the United States (1900); (2) local enumerations made in New England since 1900, and as late as the present year (1908); and (3) the Catholic Directory of the United States.
The accompanying table, compiled from the first of these three sources, shows, first, the number of French Americans born in Canada and, secondly, this first class combined with those of whom at least one parent was born in Canada.
DISTRIBUTION OF FRENCH AMERICANS
Foreign born/Of Foreign parentage.
Maine: 30,908/ 57,682
New Hampshire: 44,420/ 73,359
Vermont: 14,924/ 40,097
Massachusetts: 134,416/ 244,586
Rhode Island: 31,533/ 55,771
Connecticut: 19,174/ 36,867
New York: 27,199/ 69,236
New Jersey: 1,118/ 2,140
Pennsylvania: 1,468/3,603Totals for North Atlantic Division: 305,160/ 583,341
Delaware: 41/ 77
Maryland: 87/ 178
District of Columbia: 97/ 236Virginia: 104/194
West Virginia: 72/ 165
North Carolina: 36/ 69
South Carolina: 31/ 56
Georgia: 80/ 203
Florida: 88/ 200
Totals for South Atlantic Division: 636/ 1,378
Ohio: 2,903/ 7,034
Indiana: 948/ 3,242
Illinois: 9,129/ 24, 477
Michigan: 32,483/ 75,584
Wisconsin: 10,091/ 27,981
Minnesota: 12,063/ 32,406
Missouri: 1,059/ 3,536
Iowa: 1,519/ 5,613
North Dakota: 3,162/ 6,512
South Dakota: 1,138/ 3,516
Nebraska: 1,039/ 3,003
Kansas: 1,485/ 5,547Totals for North Central Division: 77,019/ 198,451
Kentucky: 136/ 397
Tennessee: 119/ 312
Alabama: 89/ 211
Mississippi: 75/ 141
Texas: 400/ 1,004
Louisiana: 253/759
Indian Territory: 48/ 173
Oklahoma: 179/ 702
Arkansas: 161/ 411Totals for South Central Division: 1,460/ 4,110
Montana: 3,516/ 5,725
Wyoming: 150/ 385
Colorado: 960/ 2,300
New Mexico: 84/ 270
Arizona: 153/ 264
Utah: 128/ 505
Nevada: 222/ 486
Idaho: 395/ 846
Washington: 1,899/ 3,862
Oregon: 874/ 2,169
California: 2,410/ 5,392
Totals for Western Division: 10,791/ 22,204
The figures given for Louisiana are, of course, exclusive of all other inhabitants of French extraction; those relating to California are exclusive of the large population of immigrants from France established in that State, more especially in the city of San Francisco. There were also, 115 persons of French Canadian parentage in Alaska, and 4 in Hawaii, besides 502 persons of the same parentage in the military and naval service of the United States, stationed abroad and not credited to any State or Territory. Combining with these small figures the totals for the five divisions given in the last column of the table, we get the grand total of 810,105 persons of French Canadian parentage living under the United States Flag. But these figures only represent the first and second generations, i.e. original immigrants still living, and their immediate descendants. In this connection the director of the census says: “A small number of the persons reported as of foreign birth, are themselves of native parentage, so that, to a very small extent, the number of persons of foreign birth reported at each census is not included in its entirety in the number of persons reported as of foreign parentage. The figures are sufficiently comparable, however, to show the large body of population which must be added to the foreign born element itself in order to ascertain, even approximately, the number of persons of foreign extraction at any of the census periods considered. Moreover, this is the best figure that can be given as expressing the element of our population which is of foreign extraction, as the census inquiry does not go beyond the immediate parents of each person enumerated, and it is impracticable, at least under present conditions, to endeavor to determine the origin of the people beyond a single generation.”
It is obvious, that an inquiry which does not go beyond the immediate ancestors of each person enumerated cannot convey an exact idea of the real number of those who may still be distinctly classified as French Americans, even though both of their parents may have been born in the United States. And when it is remembered that the French Canadians were early settlers in the northern part of the State of New York, that they were, practically, the first settlers of the State of Maine, and had found their way into Vermont as early as 1830; that French Canadians were the pioneers of the Western States, where they founded, or assisted in founding, great cities like Chicago, St. Louis, St. Paul, Dubuque, Milwaukee, and Detroit, it is not difficult to understand that in certain parts of the country at least three generations of French Americans have been recorded by the census of 1900 as native whites of native parents. How far short of the actual number of French Americans are the figures of the National Census, may be estimated by considering the local enumerations taken in the New England States since 1900, with the following results:
Maine 91,567
New Hampshire 84,011
Vermont 58,217
Massachusetts 366,879
Rhode Island 76,775
Connecticut46, 083
Total 723,532
These figures, compared with the total (508,362) of those given in the Census of 1900 for the same six States, show an excess of the local over the national enumeration of 215,170 persons, or more than 42.3 per cent, for New England alone. This excess, explained in part by the fact that the census inquiry of 1900 was limited to only two generations, is also attributable to the continuous flow of immigration and in greater measure to the large birthrate which is still maintained among the French Americans, it having been scientifically established that the French Canadians—at least in Canada—double their numbers by natural increase every twenty-six years. Taking into consideration the increase (42.3 per cent) shown by the enumerations in New England over the figures given by the National Census, and also bearing in mind the fact that the figures quoted above do 110t include the French from France (reported as being 265,441 by the census of 1900) and the French-speaking Belgians, scattered throughout other States than those of New England, we may conclude that the French Americans in the United States today number more than 1,500,000, of whom nearly 1,200,000 can be classified as of French Canadian extraction. As this immigration of French Canadians was almost exclusively an immigration of Catholics, we are led to inquire what provisions were made for them in the different dioceses.
The French Canadians had left behind them in Canada a perfect Catholic organization, with parishes flourishing in all parts of the province, with episcopal sees in Quebec, Ontario, and the West—an organization comprising today many ecclesiastical provinces with archbishops, bishops, a numerous clergy, both secular and regular, as well as educational and charitable institutions of the highest order. It was not to be expected that the immigrants should find in their new country the religious organization they had possessed in Canada. Nevertheless, they had to be provided for, and it became a serious problem for the hierarchy, of New England especially, to determine how these newcomers should be cared for spiritually. The question of language stood in the way from the very beginning. The French Canadians, though willing to become staunch Americans, did not know the English language, and even when they had learned it, they still preserved a strong attachment for their mother tongue. That this problem puzzled the bishops of New England, is shown by the time taken for its solution, and by the fact that in some instances they were reluctant, or often unable, to deal with the situation in the only proper way, which was, to give to these people priests of their own tongue and nationality. Even today this problem is not adequately solved. It was feared at the beginning, as it is feared now in some quarters, that to grant to the French Canadian immigrants priests of their own tongue and nationality would encourage them to form a sort of state within the state, thereby causing great harm to the nation as a whole. Time has shown the fallacy of that argument. The patriotism of the French American element is undisputed. They possess the sterling civic qualities desirable and necessary to promote the best interests of the republic. As a matter of fact, the French Canadian immigration has created no new state in the state; and the French Americans have willingly learned the English language while remaining as closely attached as ever to their mother tongue, in which they see the best safeguard of their faith.
The progress accomplished for God and country through the organization of French American parishes all over New England is the conclusive proof of their excellency from every standpoint. It proves, at the same time, that further progress, religious and patriotic, can be accomplished by pursuing the same policy. At first, it was necessary to call priests from the Province of Quebec. That policy, inaugurated in the Diocese of Burlington in 1850, by the lamented Bishop de Goesbriand, has proved to be a blessing wherever it has been carried out. These early French Canadian missionaries, of whom many are still living, knew their people, understood their character and customs, had the same mentality as their flock, and easily succeeded in organizing parishes entirely devoted to the Church. As early as 1890 Father Hamon notes that these newcomers already possessed 120 churches and chapels, ministered to by Canadian priests, and 50 large schools, affording education to more than 30,000 children. Let us recall a few dates which mark the beginning of this new impulse given to the Catholic Church in the United States.
The first French American parish in the United States, after the foundation of Detroit, Michigan, was that of St. Joseph, at Burlington, Vermont, founded April 28, 1850, with the Rev. Joseph Quevillon as first pastor. In the same state, the parish of the Nativite de la Sainte-Vierge, at Swanton, was organized in1856, and that of St-Francois-Xavier at Winooski, in 1868. In the Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts, the parish of Notre-Dame du Bon Conseil, at Pitts-field, was organized in 1867. In all, 22 parishes were organized by French Americans from that date to 1890, besides 15 parishes of mixed population, wherein the French Catholics were associated with their English-speaking brethren. In the Diocese of Providence, R. I., the parish of St-Jacques, at Manville, was organized in 1872, that of the Precieux Sang, at Woonsocket, in 1873, and that of St-Charles, at Providence, in 1878. In the Diocese of Hartford, Conn., the parish of St-Laurent, at Meriden, was organized in 1880, and five other parishes between 1880 and 1889. In the Diocese of Boston, the parish of St-Joseph, at Lowell, was organized in 1869, and that of Ste-Anne, at Lawrence, in 1873. In the Diocese of Portland, Maine, the parish of St-Francois de Sales, at Waterville, was organized in 1869, that of St-Pierre, at Lewiston, in 1871, that of St-Joseph, at Biddeford, in 1872, and that of St-Augustin, at Augusta, in 1888. In the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, the parishes of St-Augustin, at Manchester, and St-Louis, at Nashua, were organized in 1872. Similar results were accomplished in the Dioceses of Ogdensburg, Albany, and Syracuse, and in the Western States. The accompanying table shows the actual religious organization of the French-American Catholics in New England—their clergy, parishes, etc. Diocese
Boston
Hartford
Burlington
Portland
Manchester
Providence
Fall River
Totals To complete these figures for the United States would necessitate a study of all the dioceses, as there are French Americans in every state and territory of the Union; a few statistics, however, of the priests of French extraction in the principal dioceses will help to give a more definite idea of the organization as a whole: Baltimore has 21; Chicago, 62; Albany, 19; St. Paul, 14; San Francisco, 3; New York, 25; Oregon, 5; Philadelphia, 3; Dubuque, 7; Milwaukee, 9; New Orleans, 96; Syracuse, 5; and Ogdensburg, 63.
Of the distinguished clergymen whose names are associated with the work already described, the following have already been called to their reward: Norbert Blanchette, first Bishop and first Archbishop of Oregon City; J. B. Lamy, Archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Monsignor Magloire Blanchette, Prothonotary Apostolic, of Walla Walla, Washington; the Rev. P. M. Mignault, of Chambly, Quebec, who in the fifties was vicar-general of the Diocese of Boston, with the special mission of caring for the spiritual needs of his compatriots in the United States; the Rev. Joseph Quevillon, of Burlington, Vermont; Monsignor Brochu, of Southbridge, the Rev. J. B. Primeau, of Worcester, the Rev. L. G. Gagnier, of Springfield, and the Rev. J. B. Bedard, of Fall River, Massachusetts; the Rev. J. Roch Magnan, of Muskegon, Michigan. Mention should also be made of the Right Rev. Bishop Michaud, lately deceased, whose father was a French Acadian, and who had been for many years at the head of the Diocese of Burlington, proving himself a worthy successor to Bishop de Goes- Rhode Island and Massachusetts; the Peres Maristes briand. Among the living there are scores of others who have been true pioneers of the Faith, and to whom is due great credit for having so well organized a new and loyal membership of the Church in the United States. Recently one of their number has been elevated to the See of Manchester, New Hampshire, in the person of the Right Rev. George Albert Guertin, consecrated March 19, 1907.
The religious orders of men and women have been worthy co-laborers with the priests in the building-up of parishes. To them have been entrusted the education of children and the care of the sick and orphans. This mission has been especially well fulfilled in the French American parishes, where the convent of the sisters and the school of the brothers are the necessary complements of the church itself. One does not go without the other, and as a rule the school is built before the church and is used for a church also. The number of members in the different religious communities of women is given in the accompanying table.
Female Religious is New England.
Diocese Total in All Communities In French Communities
Boston………………………..1567…………………………………………………200
Burlington……………………..268………………………………………………….115
Fall River……………………..322…………………………………………………..254
Hartford………………………1115………………………………………………….219
Manchester……………………435…………………………………………………..300
Portland………………………..482…………………………………………………..355
Providence…………………….551…………………………………………………..222
Springfield……………………..792…………………………………………………..320
Totals…………………………..5532…………………………………………………..1985
These 1985 women are distributed in 30 different orders, bearing the following names: Congregation de Notre-Dame de Montreal, Filles de Marie (France), Scours de Ste-Croix de Montreal, Soeurs de la Providence de Montreal, Scours de la Presentation de Marie de St-Hyacinthe, Soeurs de Ste-Anne de Lachine, Soeurs Grises de Montreal, Soeurs de la Merci, Scours Crises d’Ottawa, Soeurs de l’Assomption, Soeurs du Bon Pasteur de Quebec, Soeurs Dominicaines, Soeurs Franciscaines Missionaires de Marie, Soeurs Crises de St-Hyacinthe, Soeurs de Jesus-Marie de Sillery, Ursulines des Trois Rivieres, Congregation Notre-Dame (Villa Maria), Soeurs de la Sainte Union des Sacres-Coeurs, Soeurs du Saint-Esprit, Soeurs du Saint-Rosaire, Filles de la Sagesse, Petites Soeurs des Pauvres, Soeurs de St-Joseph (Le Puy), Soeurs du Sacre-Coeur, Soeurs de St-Joseph (Chambery), Soeurs Servantes du Coeur Immacule de Marie, les Fideles Compagnes de Jesus, Soeurs du Bon Pasteur (Angers), Petites Soeurs Franciscaines de Marie (Malbaie), Dames de Sion. The most important of these_ are: the Soeurs de Ste-Croix, with 18 convents and 149 members; Scours Crises, with 17 convents and 268 members, Soeurs de la Presentation de Marie, with 16 convents and 193 members; Scours de Jesus-Marie, with 19 convents and 171 members.
There are a few communities of brothers: Freres de la Charite de St-Vincent de Paul, 27 members; Freres Maristes d’Iberville, 47; Freres de St-Gabriel, 7; Freres des Ecoles Chretiennes, 7; Freres du Sacre Coeur, 31—making a total of 119 members. Besides these orders entirely devoted to education, the regular clergy has been given charge of a number of parishes which stand today among the most numerous and flourishing. For instance, the Dominican Order has two parishes, Ste-Anne, at Fall River Massachusetts, and St-Pierre, at Lewiston, Maine. The Oblates are established at Lowell, Mass., and Plattsburg, N.Y.; the Peres de la Salette, in Connecticut and Massachusetts; the Peres du Sacre-Coer, in Rhode Island and Massachusets; the Peres Maristes in Massachusets.
The French Americans have 133 parochial schols, in which 54,983 children receive Christian education. To these must be added the secondary (high-school and university academic courses) college established by the Peres de l’Assomption from France, at Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1904, and 14 small academies, commercial colleges, and boarding schools in which there are about 1000 pupils of both sexes. In connection with the subject of higher education, it may be well to remark that about 3500 French American children attend annually the commercial and secondary colleges in different cities of Canada. French religious orders, both of women and men, also have charge of 2618 orphans in New England. French nuns have charge of 1865 sick and aged adults, wayward women, and working girls.
Besides their religious work, vast and praiseworthy as it is, the French Canadian immigrants have also displayed industry and activity in other walks of life, and in their closer relations with their fellow-citizens they have shown qualities and traits found only in the best of citizens. In other words they have stood well up to the standard in the body politic and in many ways have exercised over their surroundings an influence for the general good of the community such as to fully justify, at least so far as it refers to them, the statement made by Vice-President Fairbanks, that in the American Nation “flows the richest blood that courses in the veins of all the peoples in all quarters of the globe.” In fifty years, they have built up a press that is not surpassed, from the Catholic point of view, by that of any other group of immigrants in the United States. That press is composed today of seven dailies—”L’Independant”, of Fall River, Mass.; “L’Opinion Publique”, of Worcester, Mass.; “L’E-toile”, of Lowell, Mass.; “La Tribune”, of Woonsocket, R. I.; “L’Avenir National”, and “Le Revell”, of Manchester, N. H.; “L’Echo de la Presse”, of New Bedford, Mass.; two papers issued every other day—”Le Messager”, of Lewiston, Maine; “L’Impartial”, of Nashua, N.H.; one semi-weekly “Le Jean-Baptiste”, of Pawtucket, R.I.; and the fifteen weeklies—”L’Union”, of Woonsocket, R. I., official organ of L’Union St-Jean-Baptiste d’Amerique; “Le Canado-Americain”, of Manchester, N. H., official organ—of L’Association Canado-Americaine; “La Justice“, of Biddeford, Maine; “La Justice“, of Central Falls‚Äû R. I.; “La Justice“, of Holyoke, Mass.; “L’Esta fette”, of Marlboro, Mass.; “Le Progres”, of Lawrence, Mass.; “Le Courrier”, of Lawrence, Mass.; “Le Courrier de Salem“, of Salem, Mass.; “L’Echo de l’Ouest”, of Minneapolis, Minn.; “Le. Courrier Franco-Americain” of Chicago, Ill.; “L’Independant” (weekly edition), of Fall River, Mass.; “L’Independant”, of Fitchburg, Mass.; “Le Proticut and Massachusetts; the Peres du Sacre-Coeur, in gres”, of Woonsocket, R. I., and “Le Citoyen”, of Haverhill, Mass. These newspapers are thoroughly Catholic in spirit, as well as sincerely American. Their editors and publishers met in convention, at Woonsocket, R. I., on September 25, 1906, and organized the Association des Journalistes Franco-Americains de la Nouvelle Angleterre. At that meeting they adopted resolutions asserting their loyalty to the republic, and advising the French Americans to show themselves true and sincere American citizens, to promote naturalization, to preserve their mother tongue, to learn the English language, to maintain parochial schools, wherein both languages should be taught on an equal footing, and to ask for priests of number appearing on April 23, and the last on October 15. The editor and publisher was Paul Joseph Guerard de Nancrede, later a bookseller and stationer at Boston, and instructor in French at Harvard University from 1787 to 1800. The next French American newspaper was published in 1825, at Detroit under the title of “La Gazette Francaise”, which issued only four numbers. In 1817, the Detroit Gazette published a French column during four months and then abandoned the venture. The second French American newspaper in New England was “Le Patriote”, published at St. Albans, Vermont, in 1839. Since that time nearly 200 newspapers published in the French language have appeared and disappeared, leaving only those mentioned above.
French American activity, while effectively applied to the enterprises of religion, education, and the press, has not neglected provident organizations. The first French institution of this kind was the Societe de Jacques Cartier, founded in St. Albans, Vermont, in 1848, while the Societe St-Jean-Baptiste of New York, organized in 1850, is still in existence. In 1868 they had 17 benevolent societies, and since then they have organized more than 400 others, of which about 142 are still in existence. Moreover they have established federations, which have more than four hundred and fifty councils or branches, with thousands of members. To these organizations are due, in a great measure, the existence and prosperity of the most of the parante, and, without exception, they provide for sick benefits. Millions of dollars have been distributed by them to the widows and orphans of their members and to their sick fellow-members. The Societe des Artisans Canadiens-Francais, though a Canadian Society, and the Societe L’Assomption, a society of French Acadians drawing the greater part of its membership from the maritime provinces, also have members in the United States and are therefore included in the accompanying table, which shows the number of councils or courts and the membership of the four national societies in New England. L’Union St Jean Baptiste d Amerique
Association Canado Americaine
Ordre des Chevaliers de Jacques Cartier
Ordre des Forestiers Franco Americains These societies are all Catholic, and in 1905 the Union St-Jean-Baptiste d’Amerique and L’Association Canado-Americaine were instrumental in organizing the Societe Franco-Americaine du Denier de St-Pierre, whose sole object is to collect funds for the Holy See. The Societe Historique Franco-Americaine, incorporated under the laws of the State of Massachusetts, was organized at Boston in 1899, “for the purpose of encouraging the careful and systematical study of the history of the United States, and especially to bring forth in its true light the exact part taken by the French race in the evolution and formation of the American people”. With this end in view this society has met regularly twice a year since its organization. Noted American historians and writers, as well as several from France and Canada, have delivered before it addresses which have contributed in no slight measure to enrich the store of French American historical literature. Another organization which seems destined to play an important role, at least among the French Americans of to-morrow, is the Association Catholique de la Jeunesse Franco-Americaine, which was formed at Baltimore, Maryland, January 4, 1908, by twenty-two young French Americans who were students in various universities of that city. This organization aims first of all to form true sons of the Catholic Church and useful citizens of the American Republic. Piety, study, and action constitute its threefold motto. Its first congress, held at Worcester, Massachusetts, 23 and August 24, 1908, was attended by delegates from circles formed in different New England localities.
Besides the admirable work they have accomplished by means of their parishes, press, and societies, and in order to render their efforts more effective, the French Americans have held at different times conventions called for various purposes. The first of these gatherings, destined to promote the interests of the mutual benefit societies then existing, and held under their auspices, took plat New York city, in 1865. Thereafter similar conventions were herd annually, the year 1877 excepted, until 1881, as follows: 1865, New York; 1869, Detroit; 1873, Biddeford, Maine; 1866, New York; 1870, St. Albans, Vermont; 1874, New York; 1867, Troy; 1871, Worcester, Mass.; 1875, Glens Falls, N. Y.; 1868, Springfield, Mass.; 1872, Chicago, Ill.; 1876, Holyoke, Mass.; 1878, Troy, N. Y.; 1879, Boston, Mass.; 1880, Northampton, Mass.; 1881, Lawrence, Mass. Since 155O there have been six general conventions of French Americans, to which all the groups of this element, as well as all their societies, were invited to send delegates. These national gatherings took place as follows: 1880, Springfield, Mass.; 1882, Cohoes, N. Y.; 1884, Troy; 1886, Rutland, Vermont; 1888, Nashua, N. H.; 1893, Chicago, Ill. In October, 1901, delegates (to the number of 742) of the various groups and societies of French Americans in New England and the State of New York met in a “Congress” at Springfield, Mass. The four great subjects of deliberation were naturalization, benevolent societies, education, and the religious situation, and the spirit of the numerous and forcible addresses made on these heads is fittingly and admirably reflected in the resolutions. This congress, undoubtedly the most successful gathering of French Americans held up to that time, appointed a permanent commission consisting of the president of the congress and two delegates from each state represented, authorizing it to take all necessary measures for putting the resolutions of the congress into effect, and giving it the power to call another congress, local or general; according to its discretion.
Besides these general conventions, others have been held at different times and places for the purpose of considering a particular question or the interests of the French Americans of a particular state or diocese. For instance, the French Americans of Connecticut have held eighteen conventions in the last twenty-three years. Political organizations have also flourished among citizens of French Canadian origin, and naturalization clubs can be found in every city, town, or village where they are sufficient in number to maintain such institutions. In June, 1906, there was organized in the State of Massachusetts the Club Republicain Franco-Americain, with headquarters at Boston, at the first banquet of which, in April, 1907, Hon. Charles J. Bonaparte, a member of the Roosevelt Cabinet, was the guest of honor. The French Americans, in 1890, had 13 representatives in the Legislatures of Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, besides numerous public servants in the city councils and the municipal administrations; in 1907 they elected senators in Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island; their representatives in New England numbered, in 1907, as follows:- Massachusetts ..
Rhode Island…. -a total of 5 Senators and 35 Representatives. In many instances their candidates for high political honors have been successful at the polls. Such has been the case with the Hon. Pierre Broussard, Congressman from Louisiana; the Hon. Aram J. Pothier, of Woonsocket, R. I., elected governor of his state in November, 1908, after having been its lieutenant-governor and mayor of his city; the Hon. Adelard Archambault, also of Woonsocket, and who has like-wise filled the offices of lieutenant-governor and mayor; Judge Joseph A. Breaux, of Louisiana; Pierre Bonvouloir, of Holyoke, Mass., whose service as city treasurer covers a period of fifteen consecutive years; Hugo A. Dubuque, of Fall River, Mass., ex-member of the Massachusetts Legislature, and city solicitor; Alex. Granger, of Kankakee, Ill., district attorney; Aime E. Boisvert, of Manchester, N. H., district attorney; and Arthur S. Hogue, of Plattsburg, N. Y., also district attorney. Studying an earlier period, we find the names of Pierre Menard, first Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois; the Rev. Gabriel Richard, second Congressman from Michigan (the only Catholic priest who ever sat in Congress), and Louis Vital Bougy, United States Senator from Wisconsin. At the present time, prominent among those who serve the country abroad are the following French Americans: Arthur M. Beaupre (Illinois), Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Netherlands; Alphonse Gaulin (Rhode Island), Consul-General at Marseilles, France; Eugene L. Belisle (Massachusetts), Consul at Limoges, France; Pierre P. Demers (New Hampshire), Consul at Bahia, Brazil; Joseph M. Authier (Rhode Island), Consul at Guadeloupe, West Indies.
In civil life, belonging to the generation departed for a better world, though their names are still present to the memory of their fellow-citizens and compatriots, were Ferdinand Gagnon, of Worcester, Mass., the father of French American journalism; Dr. L. J. Martel, of Lewiston, Maine, his worthy associate in the advancement of the French American element in the New England States; Major Edmond Mallet, of Washington, D.C., recognized as an authority upon the history of the North-West, and whose library (preserved intact by L’Union St-Jean-Baptiste d’Amerique) is the largest and most complete collection of documents relating to the French Americans ever gathered; Frederic Houde and Antoine Mousette, pioneer journalists; Judge Joseph LeBoeuf, of Cohoes, N. Y.; Pierre F. Peloquin, of Fall River, Mass., and a score of others who for years had been foremost among their compatriots as champions of their rights, both civil and religious.
To sum up, the record of the French Americans in their new country has been such that prominent men of native origin, writers and politicians of note, have sung their praise on more than one occasion. In this respect, one will readily remember the homage paid them upon different occasions by the late Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, as well as the marks of high esteem shown them by governors and members of Congress. As recently as March 20, 1908, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts, speaking on “Immigration” before the Boston City Club, made the following statement: “Later than any of these (movements of immigration) was the immigration of French Canadians, but which has assumed large proportions, and has become a strong and most valuable element of our population. But the French of Canada scarcely come within the subject we are considering, because they are hardly to be classed as immigrants in the accepted sense. They represent one of the oldest settlements on this continent. They have been, in the broad sense, Americans for generations, and their coming to the United States, is merely a movement of Americans across an imaginary line, from one part of America to another.” In truth, the sentiment of hostility and suspicion, which rebuked the French Americans at their arrival in the republic, has subsided before their splendid conduct and magnificent spirit, and is replaced today by that tribute of respect which mankind acknowledges as due, and never fails to grant, to men of talent, industry, generosity, and patriotism.
J. L. K. LAFLAMME, DAVID E. LAVIGNE, J. ARTHUR FAVREAU.