French-Canadian immigration: Prof. unveils new research

PLATTSBURGH | Immigration of French-speaking Canadian families occurred in waves as America entered the Industrial Age. Some Quebec-based entrepreneurs came to work as clerks and merchants. Others made vital contributions to the milling and lumber workforce. Wages in the North Country and New England states were generally higher than in their provincial homes. And once a pattern of migration began, incoming residents relocated to be near family members. History shows that, between 1830 and 1930, nearly one million francophone families relocated to the United States. Academic research on numbers and details about why Quebecois settled here in northern New York is sparse. But Plattsburgh State University professor Mark Richard, PhD, published a new book this year detailing the North Country migration pattern. The work "Catholics Across Borders: Canadian Immigrants in the North Country, Plattsburgh, New York, 1850-1950" is a continuation of Dr. Richard's ongoing research, which is based on original source materials, such as early French-language newspapers, church records, meeting minutes and journals. Professor of History and Canadian Studies at PSU, Richard presented an overview his findings on French-Canadian resettlement in the North Country at the Plattsburgh Public Library Speaker Series in December. An engaged group of area residents asked questions and shared family history and experiences they had growing up with French-speaking heritage. French missionaries had established Catholic roots in this stretch of North America the 17th and 18th century. But resettlement of French language speakers from Canada reached a critical mass between 1840 to 1850. "Plattsburgh was home to a large community of expatriates in the early 1840s. We have evidence of Canadians enlisting to fight in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) throughout New York State," Richard said of the emerging community. Industrial development in Keeseville and in Plattsburgh before the Civil War created opportunity for workers. Farming, the lumber trades, mining and local commerce drew many French-speaking families to New York's northern towns. "By 1850, French-Canadian immigrants made up 32 percent of the Village Plattsburgh households," Richard said. (Plattsburgh did not become a city until 1902.) The French-speaking immigrant community formed their own Catholic parish based in Plattsburgh in a process led by Oblate priests who worked with the Grey Nuns, the d'Youville order of the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa. The Grey Nuns eventually came to Plattsburgh to care for the sick and to open a boarding school and convent here. In 1853, a survey of French-Canadian households found French-speaking Catholics wanted sermons given in their language, Richard said. And in July that year, Roman Catholic Bishop of Albany John McCloskey authorized a religious order to serve the Canadian immigrants in Plattsburgh. The St. Pierre Parish census in 1854 tallied 600 French-speaking families, 200 in the Village of Plattsburgh and 400 in surrounding communities within 15 miles. Their occupations were primarily farm and labor, lumber, timber and mining with women working at housekeeping and in laundry services. The St. Pierre parish bought property for their new church from Roswell Reed in August 1853 for $1,418 and arranged a mortgage at $1,218, including a $200 gift from Weed, Richard said. Parish fundraising began in earnest. The women held a bazaar and raised $320, Richard found in the records. Rev. Jean-Pierre Bernard raised $1,700 in a month-long trip to Catholic parishes throughout Quebec. What happened in Plattsburgh, Richard said, was unique from other more urban areas of New England that had seen a migration of French-speaking Canadians. The Irish Catholic community here supported their French-speaking counterpart, sharing church services at St. John's delivered in both English and in French. Irish families, in particular Elizabeth and Bernard McKeever, donated money, labor and supplies for the new St. Pierre church, Richard said. A central premise emerged, he said: "Inter-ethnic cooperation rather than conflict served as the prevalent pattern in upstate New York from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century." The cornerstone for St. Pierre Church was laid in July 1854 in a ceremony with prayers delivered in both English and French. Rev. Louis de Goesbriand, Bishop of Burlington, delivered his blessing at the ceremony in English. Historic data shows that, by 1860, the French-Canadian population in Clinton County reached 36.5 percent of the population in the Village of Plattsburgh; 34.3 percent of the population in Champlain; 28.7 percent in Mooers; and 29.9 percent in Black Brook. It was in 1860 that the Grey Nuns formally arrived at the behest of Oblate Fr. Andre Garin, of Plattsburgh. D'Youville Academy was founded and run by the Grey Nuns. Still located beside St. Pierre (St. Peter's) Church on Cornelia Street, its stately structure is now housing. Richard found many instances of cooperation between French and English-speaking clergy. In 1861, he said, the nuns brought their school children to celebrate St. Patrick's day at the Irish Catholic church only to find Rev. Moloney had provided candy for all of them. "Ethnic isolation, then, did not characterize the development of Plattsburgh's French-Canadian parish, as it did in some northeastern industrial communities," Richard said. "This ethnic intermixing in Plattsburgh can be attributed in large part to the orders of women and men religious who served in the village. "By their various efforts, the religious and laywomen proved instrumental in helping establish French-Canadian institutions in Plattsburgh," Richard wrote. By 1903, the Grey Nuns had organized the early Champlain Valley Hospital and opened its doors in 1910. The facility later merged with the nearby Physicians Hospital to become Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, which remains in existence to this day. Richard's book details the immigration pattern and close cooperation between Irish and French Catholics and their religious leaders in great detail. ............................................... LIFE-LONG LEARNING FOR ALL Plattsburgh Public Library continues its Speaker Series into the new year. It is held in the library auditorium on the second Wednesday (usually) from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Upcoming speakers from Plattsburgh State University include: Jan. 8, 2025: Michelle St. Onge, life coach. (Note this is the second Wednesday in January.) Feb. 5, 2025: Dr. Meg Pearson, dean of the Plattsburgh State School of Arts and Sciences Mar. 5, 2025: Dr. Daniel Lake, associate professor of political science Apr. 2, 2025: Dr. Connie Shemo, professor of history May 7, 2025: Dr. Jan Plaza, associate professor of computer science The community lecture series is free and open to all.

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French-Canadian immigration: Prof. unveils new research

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