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Buy-a-Brick Campaign
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Sainte-Famille Cemetery Falmouth, Nova Scotia For the past three years, the Committee for the Preservation of Sainte-Famille Cemetery, has been working to preserve a little corner of Acadia in Falmouth, Nova Scotia! It is well documented that before the Deportation of the Acadians from the Pisiquid area, there existed two parishes. The one on the East side of the Pisiquid (Avon) River was la paroisse de l'Assomption and the one on the West side of the river was the paroisse de la Sainte-Famille. The remains of la paroisse de l'Assomption have disappeared with the development of the town of Windsor, however, the Sainte-Famille Cemetery, still remains. It also was in danger of disappearing in a fast growing new subdivision. At the request of various organizations, a committee was formed and steps were taken to preserve this unique and important archaeological and historic site, located at 419 Gabriel Road, Falmouth. While visiting the site, you can well imagine the peaceful Acadian villages that existed here. The fertile land, conducive to good farming, overlooks the Pisiquid River where remnants of Acadian dykes still remain. Here lived the Comeau, Landry, Boudrot, Richard, Trahan, Thibodeau, Forest, Doiron, Gaudet, Hebert, Melanson, Saulnier, LeMire, Roy, LeBlanc, Vincent, Daigre, Babin, Benoit, Duon, Bourgeois, Brun, Breau, Broussard, Pellerin, Rivet, and LeJeune, among many others families. These ancestral families, whose members are buried in
the Sainte-Famille Cemetery, have waited since 1755 to have this
sacred burial ground accessible once more to their many descendants. It
is a place for Acadians to
AS IN ALL CASES FUNDS ARE NEEDED FOR THE COMPLETION OF
THE IMPROVEMENTS OF
With generous donations from individuals and associations and assistance from all levels of government, much has been accomplished. This year an interpretive panel was commissioned. It will educate visitors and tourists on the rich history of the area. A commemorative plaque will also be erected and a ceremony will be held in August to re-bury bones accidentally unearthed during an excavation that led to rediscovery of the site. Partial funding for development of the site and for a re-interment ceremony is being provided by Nova Scotia Government agencies and the "Canada Millennium Partnership Program". "Nova Scotia's Acadian past will be celebrated and its ancestors honoured by the beautification of this rediscovered burial ground and the erection of a monument" said the Honourable Herb Gray, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister responsible for the Government of Canada=s millennium initiative. "The Government of Canada is proud to have supported for this project with a contribution of $10,450 through the Canada Millennium Partnership Program." Partial funding of up to one third of the eligible costs
of millennium projects that meet its criteria is provided through the Canada
Millennium Partnership Program. With communities, non-governmental and
governmental
Immediately following the discovery of the cemetery site, Barbara LeBlanc, president of "la federation acadienne de la Nouvelle-Ecosse", formed "The Committee for the Preservation of the Sainte-Famille Cemetery" to oversee the preservation and development of the site. The committee consists of representatives from various
organizations ie:
The committee is urging Acadian descendants such as you who are interested in the preservation of this important site to make a contribution and/or become members in the organization. As part of a fund raising project, the committee is also selling a 50x70 inch 100 % cotton, two layer color-fast and machine washable "coverlet" in order to raise money for the project. A flyer with a diagram of the coverlet and bi-lingual copy on the reverse side entitled "Introducing the 'Acadie' Coverlet. If you feel this is a worthy cause, a contribution from your organization will be appreciated. Please forward any donation, or order for the "coverlet"
to one of the following addresses:
Barbara Leblanc
1-902-769-2114, extension 318
Payment for the coverlet and/or donations to the committee
should be made by check or money order payable to "Sainte-Famille - Couverture
de l'Acadie" or "The Committee for the Preservation of the Sainte-Famille
Cemetery", and mailed to: Les Ami(e)s de Grand Pre - c/o Lucille Amirault
- 500 Ward Road East - RR #6, Kingston, N.S. - B0P 1R0 - 1-902-765-4740
, or West Hants Historical Society - C/O John D. Wilson - P.O. Box 2335
- Windsor, N.S. - B0N 2T0 - 1-902-789-2823, or Ronnie-Gilles LeBlanc, Archiviste
- Centre d'etudes
Donations made to the Committee for the Preservation of the Sainte-Famille Cemetery are tax deductable and income tax receipts will be issued to the contributors by the committee. According to John Wilson, there will be a re-burial of the skeletal remains that were unearthed in the summer of 1966 and a dedication of a memorial to the Acadians who settled the area known as "La paroisse de la Sainte-Famille de Pisiquid" sometime in the summer of 1998. Anyone interested in assisting the committee's fund raising effort can do so by making a contribution and/or purchase the "Acadie coverlet". For a donation of as little as $20, more if you would like, you can become a "Friend of Sainte-Famille"! Sale of the "Acadie coverlet", which is a 50x70 inch 100 % cotton, two layer color-fast and machine washable coverlet. The cost of the coverlet is $70 Canadian, plus $10 Canadian for shipping and handling for a total of $80.00 Canadian. This amount converts to about $55.75 in US currency. Payment for the coverlet and/or donations to the committee should be made by check or money order payable to "Sainte-Famille - Couverture de l'Acadie" or "The Committee for the Preservation of the Sainte-Famille Cemetery", and mailed to: Les Ami(e)s de Grand Pre - c/o Lucille Amirault - 500 Ward Road East - RR # 6, Kingston, N.S. - B0P 1R0 - 1-902-765-4740 Since donations given to Canadian organizations may not
qualify for U.S. tax deductions, U.S. Citizens who would like to make a
donation should Make out a check or money order payable to:
You will receive an official tax receipt for your donation. For more information contact Loubert Trahan at: 1-337-893-2084
Email: lgtrahan@eatel.net
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They have begun a fund-raising campaign to pay off the mortgage of about $34,000, which was used to purchase the property and the associated legal fees, and an additional $50,000.00 in order to complete the project, return the skeletal remains to the site with a reburial ceremony. And as John D. Wilson, president of the West Hants Historical Society and a member of the committee states, "develop the site into a tasteful monument or memorial to the first European settlers in this country". Lucille Amirault, member of the Committee for the Preservation of the Sainte-Famille Cemetery, says the group expects people from Louisiana, New England, Eastern Canada and Quebec to visit the cemetery once the site is cleaned up and a memorial erected. Many residents of those areas can trace their ancestors to Pisiquid, an area where the communities of Windsor and Falmouth now stand. She also stated that the names of some families that lived in the area are known, and some bearing these names are probably buried there. Unfortunately, there is no way of identifying those for whom this may be a last resting place, and it will be impossible to identify their remains, because to our knowledge, no document exists that lists the persons interred in the cemetery. Most of the descendants of these Acadians returned to other parts of "Acadia" to regions in the provinces of New Brunswick, Quebec and in Louisiana, and some effort is being made, by carefully studying traditions, oral history and help from the Acadian family associations, to identify most of those who were buried there and to preserve the location of their burial. |
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Copyright © 1997-2000 Tim Hebert
