[Raymond] THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF NEW BRUNSWICK 423 



in 1755, returning to the River St. John after the peace in 1763. This 

 was the case with members of the Cormier family, as is related by the 

 Abbé Casgrain in the extract from his book shortly to be quoted." 1 

 There was a tradition to the same effect in Madawaska in early days. 

 Edward Kavanagh, a member of the Maine State legislature who 

 made a tour of inspection of that settlement in the summer of 1831, 

 makes the following statement in a letter written after his return: — 

 "I deem it material in treating of the history of the Acadian, or neutral 

 French, to present in prominent relief the facts attending their several mi- 

 grations When their settlement was broken up in Nova Scotia, 



a few families escaped from the troops and settled themselves on the Kenne- 

 beckasis and others near the Baye des Chaleurs; but the young men who were 

 not encumbered by wives and children fled to Quebec, then under French rule, 

 there they remained until the cession of Canada to England in 1763. This 

 event caused them to quit Canada and they removed to a place which they 

 afterwards called St. Anne, where the town of Fredericton has been since built. 

 It was at that time a wilderness. 2 " 



Of the families whose names appear in the Abbé Bailly's register 

 the Cormiers, Daigles, Cyrs and Héberts were from Beaubassin at 

 the head of the Bay of Fundy, the Martins from Port Royal, the 

 Mercures and Theriaults from Isle St. Jean (Prince Edward Island), 

 the Violettes from Louisburg and the Mazerolles from Rivière Charles- 

 bourg. 



Father Bailly returned to Canada in 1772 and was subsequently 

 coadjutor Bishop of Quebec. 



The records of the provincial government in Fredericton enable 

 us to fix approximately the location of the majority of the Acadians 

 in the little colony above Sainte Anne. They were scattered along 

 the banks of the Saint John for a distance of ten or twelve miles. A 

 few of them lived on the islands below the mouth of the Keswick 

 stream. The principal locations, however, were at and near the 

 mouth of the Keswick, on the north side of the Saint John, and at the 

 upper and lower villages on the south side of the river. A few of their 

 descendants live at these villages at the present day. During the 

 American Revolution most of the Acadians were loyal to the govern- 

 ment of Nova Scotia, and some of them rendered important services 

 as couriers and in other ways. It is worthy of note that in spite of 

 the vicissitudes and hardships they endured there were instances of 

 great longevity among them. Michel Vienneau, who lived at Mauger- 

 ville (below Sainte Anne) in 1770, died at Memramcook in 1802 at 

 the age of 100 years and 3 months. Thérèse Baude, his widow, 

 died in 1804 at the age of 96 years. Their son Jean died at Poke- 

 mouche in 1852 at the extraordinary age of 112 years, leaving a son 



1 Un Pèlerinage au Pays D'Evangéline, Duxième Edition, 1888, p. 494. 



2 Collections New Brunswick Historical Society, No. 9, 1914, pp. 483, 484. 



