Tag Archives: NB

Francois and Marie-Luce at the Hammond River

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We’ve been there

high view

Looking down toward the Hammond River in the distance. The brook in the foreground drains into the Hammond. This was taken from the high ground above the bench where the farm buildings are  located today.

In 2011, Dave Violette, VFA #621, author of this article, visited the present-day farm that is on the lands that Francois and Marie-Luce Violet/Violette pioneered around 1769-70. They lived on that land for the next 19-20 years. The three photos here are from his visit. He got a chance to talk with Mike Steele, the current owner, and Mike gave Dave a tour of the property from the low lands along the river up into the forested high ground. Dave asked if there were any remains of the former Violette farm, but Mike said they had never found any signs of foundation or buildings. So while we don’t know just how François and Marie-Luce developed their property, from the description given here we expect that they probably built on the bench where the current farm buildings are located. Continue reading →

Early Violette land grants, St John River

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Figure 1

Figure 1: Original map of part of the original Soucy Concession map. Shows Tract 3 on the left with the lots pioneered by Francois and his son Augustin.

Let’s go back in time a bit – well actually back to around 1791 – and see where François and his family pioneered when they moved to the Upper St John Valley. They had felt forced out from the lands along the Hammond River where they had been settled for about 20 years, and with several other families sought land far away from the growing British influence in southern New Brunswick. Several families were granted land under what was called the Soucy Concession. Other families had recently been granted land under the Mazzerole Concession in the area where Madawaska ME is now located. Continue reading →