UMFK site has rare Franco manuscript

On a visit to the University of Maine at Fort Kent, I learned more from Lisa Ornstein and husband Nicholas Hawes than I could begin to share in one column.

Ornstein and Hawes run the Acadian Archives, upstairs at the Blake Memorial Library on the UMFK campus, 25 Pleasant St. (A round of applause, please, for the legislators who approved the archives in 1989.)

One rare item in the archives is a microfilm of a manuscript titled “Premieres Familles Acadiennes et Canadiennes.”

“The manuscript consists primarily of French-language genealogical and biographical notices about Acadian and Canadian families settled in the upper St. John Valley prior to 1831,” Ornstein and Hawes wrote in a paper that describes this wonderful resource.

In addition, the work includes baptisms, marriages and burials from the St. Basile, New Brunswick, parish register for 1792-1830 – St. Basile being the parish that took in the entire area at the time.

The manuscript is not signed, but there is much evidence to indicate that it is Peter Charles Keegan’s transcription of the two missing chapters of Prudent Mercure’s work on the history of Madawaska. Most of Mercure’s work was incorporated in Thomas Albert’s “Histoire du Madawaska,” but not those chapters.

The story of Albert’s work and Keegan’s probable transcription of Mercure’s notes is longer than we can relate here, but suffice it to say that it is amazing to have this resource available to the public.

The manuscript itself is privately owned, but fortunately the owners generously allowed the Acadian Archives to microfilm it.

It’s worth mentioning again, too, that UMFK history professor Roger Paradis spent 25 years compiling Mercure materials from the Public Archives of Canada.

“Papiers du Prudent L. Mercure: Histoire du Madawaska,” is available at Bangor Public Library, Fogler Library at the University of Maine, Maine State Library in Augusta, and UM libraries in Fort Kent, Presque Isle and Augusta.

The Acadian Archives is generally open 8 a.m.-noon Monday through Thursday, and by appointment. If you are traveling any distance, do call ahead, 834-7535, to make sure the facility will be open.

In addition to resources such as the microfilm, you will find Ornstein and Hawes extremely knowledgeable about Franco-American genealogy and what’s where in the Valley.

Another one-of-a-kind resource there is Beatrice Chevalier Craig’s “reconstitutions” of families in the St. John Valley. Craig, who is a professor at the University of Ottawa, wrote up these notes – family sheets – when she was a graduate student at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

The material covers the Valley from 1785 to the 1850s – the period before Aroostook County was formed. In fact, the border between Maine and Canada wasn’t even established until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842.

Craig used parish registers, census records and property transfers to compile her work.

The archives also has the St. John Valley Times on microfilm from 1957 on, as well as the French-language newspaper Le Madawaska on microfilm.

And, as I’ve said before, this is a most beautiful time of year to visit the St. John Valley. While you’re there, stop by the public libraries in Madawaska and Van Buren, the Mont-Carmel center in Lille, the Tante Blanche Museum in St. David, the Acadian Village in Van Buren, and the historical societies in St. Agatha and Frenchville.

In Piscataquis County, the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society is working to identify portraits it has of members of the Class of 1922 from Foxcroft Academy. If you can help, drop by the museum in the old Observer building, or contact Madelyn Betts. The museum is open 1-4 p.m. Sundays through September.

Want to join and receive the newsletter? Send $3 to the society, c/o Madelyn Betts, 11 Harrison Ave., Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426.

The 59th Bell Family Reunion for descendants of Alex and Sylvia Bell will be held at noon Saturday at Wanda Creed’s home at 8 Elm St., Dover-Foxcroft. Baked beans, rolls and punch will be served. Bring a salad, casserole or dessert to share. RSVP to Rosalie Leighton, 62 Lawrence St., Dover-Foxcroft 04426, or call 564-3992.

The Sweetland-Swetland Family Reunion will be held July 27-29 at the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport, Pa. Barbara A. Boudreau, whose mother was a Swetland, said the contact person for the reunion is Mark Swetland, 13 Raymond Rd., Bluffton, SC 29940; e-mail MWSwetland@compuserve.com. She also suggests checking Jason Swetland Fair’s Web site, http://swetlandfamilytree.hypermart.net.

3121. PACKARD. Seek name and ancestry of wife of Joseph Packard Jr., b. May 30, 1725, at Bridgewater, Mass. Their children were: Daniel, b. 1749, Bridgewater, d. 1835 or so in Woodstock, md. Elizabeth Connelly on Aug. 12, 1773; Anna, 1751-1833, md. Samuel Crafts; Elijah, b. 1753, md. Thankful; Abigail, 1756-1837, md. Jacob Whitcomb, 1753-1842; Bethiah, b. 1758, md. Simon Record; Job, 1761-1848, md. Eunice Babb or Bray. I believe the mother’s name was Abigail Alger, but have no other information. Sandra B. Leighton, P.O. Box 703, Mars Hill, ME 04758, or e-mail leightos@hotmail.com.

Send queries and family reunion notices to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04401, or e-mail familyti@bangordailynews.net.