Tag Archives: St John River

Nationality of our ancestors

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NOTE: This story is drawn from Chapter 15 of A Violette History, published by the Violette Family Association, and available from Amazon using this link.

What was the nationality of our ancestors François Violet and his wives (he was married three successive times), children, and grandchildren? François came upon this continent in times of great turmoil, when national interests were in a flux and not consistently defined. His time on this continent spanned the period 1749-1824, and in that period he moved a distance or no more than 500 miles or so. But during that time the various lands were claimed by Britain, France, and the United States.

Part of the area was described as being Acadia, though “Acadia” was not a nation. Though large parts of that area are now part of Canada, Canada as an entity did not exist until 1867, long after he died. 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 →