Documents from the St-François-Xavier parish, covering St-François
and Connors, Madawaska Co., New Brunswick,
and the area west of the Fish River in Aroostook Co., Maine
1846-1858, mission parish of St-François-Xavier, under
Fr. Henri Dionne of Ste Luce parish
1859-1870, independent parish of St-François-Xavier
The parish itself was set off from Ste Luce in about October 1846. The chapel building was dedicated on February 14, 1847. It was destroyed by fire on 4 February 1886; a long and detailed description of the fire i in the parish register of St.François. The photo at right is of the current church, located in St.François, Madawaska Co., New Brunswick.
Father Henri Dionne, the founder and pastor of Ste.Luce parish, served both parishes himself until late 1858, when the Bishop sent Fr. Charles Swéron, a Belgian priest, to help Dionne with his very large parish. Swéron served the parishioners of St-François, and when the parish became independent in January 1859 Father Swéron became its first pastor.
By the end of 1857, at the time of the parish census, St-François served families in the current townships of St-François and Connors, New Brunswick, and St.John Pltn., St.Francis Pltn, Allagash, Twp.16, R.12, and the western part of Fort Kent Twp., Maine. In December 1857, when Father Dionne undertook the census of St-François parish, it contained 137 families, including 729 persons. Of these, about half lived on the Maine side of the border, and half on the New Brunswick side.
1846-1858: St.François-Xavier as mission parish of Ste Luce
From its establishment in about October 1846 until it became an independent parish in January 1859, all of the acts of baptism, marriage, burial, and confirmation of the families of St.François were entered into the parish registers at Ste Luce. To search these, go to the Ste-Luce main page. In these years, 337 children baptized at Ste-Luce were identified as living in St-François parish.
- Ste-Luce baptisms: List of Baptisms of persons from St.François, 1846-1858 (in chronological order)
- Ste-Luce marriages: List of Grooms from St.François, 1846-1858 (in chronological order)
- Ste-Luce marriages: List of Brides from St.François, 1846-1858 (in chronological order)
- Ste-Luce burials: List of Burials at St.François cemetery, 1846-1858 (in chronological order)
- Abjurations at St.François (two of the three abjurations conducted by Fr. Dionne took place in the chapel of St.François church)
1859 onward: The independent parish of St.François-Xavier,
From January 1859, when St-François was made an independent parish, it had its own set of registers of baptisms, marriages and burials. These will be put online sometime in the near future.
The following documents of the St-François parish, both as a mission parish and as a full parish, are online here:
Parishioners:
Documents:
See also the information on St-François's parent parish, Ste.Luce parish
Return to the Upper St.John Valley main page
Last revised 12 Jun 2007
©2006-2007 C.Gagnon