This info taken from the Manuscripts of the Four Gouthro Brothers, Settlers of Frenchvale, printed in 1976 Frenchvale.... On 7th September, 1822, Sydney Cape Breton, John Gautereau and Ralph Peters petitioned land on the northern side of Balls Creek. In May 1823, four brothers were settled in the area which is now Frenchvale. They arrived in the spring of 1823 on a small sailing vessel from Rustico, PEI. The new Governor of Nova Scotia had made it possible for married men to obtain 200acre grants and single men to obtain 100 acre grants. By 1828, the Gouthro brothers, Pierre, John, Simon and Charles, had comfortable homes. They had built a 20 by 25 chapel before their houses were really finished. John Gouthro, an excellent carpenter and aided in building the chapel and shingling it with boards made in a say mill that Simon Gouthro built as soon as he settled. It is said that Simon was a well-educated man and a Latin scholar. He exported large quantities of lumber at a good price and was very well to do until his dam broke. The first priest to administer Frenchvale was Father Michael McKeigney from Saint Patricks in Sydney, of which Frenchvales St. Mary of the Assumption was a mission until about 1878. The name of the area has been French Settlement, Acadian Settlement, Frenchville. In 1838, it was Settlement of Acadians. John Gouthro took the census and signed John Gautraux. The church is appropriately named as Our Lady of the Assumption is the Patroness of the Acadians. The hymn Ave Maris Stella is they hymn. In about 1871, the copper mines opened, The first school was opened in 1847. When the area was first settled, there were Indians along the brook. The last Indian remembered by a Jessie MacLean, who lived in a dwelling with her daughter near McMullins Bridge. Around 1896 after her daughters death, Jessie left the area. More info taken from another Manuscript printed in 1972 Frenchvale.. The four Brothers Simon, John, Pierre and Charles settled in the area in May 1823 and petitioned in September 1823 for land. The settlement b became known as the Acadian Settlement until at least 1850. Around 1853, it began to be called French Settlement, In 1859, it was called Frenchvale. But in 1858, it was called Acadian Settlement. Frenchvale was part of Sydney as a parish until 1869 when it was united with Bras dOr. In August 1907, Frenchvale became a mission of Boisdale. The cemetery at Frenchvale was known as the Cemetery of the Assumption in 1856, 1860....in 1870 it was called the cemetery of the Parish of the Assumption. From the book ... Place Names and Places of Nova Scotia...1967 printing Frenchville, Cape Breton County... It is about six miles south-west of the head of the West Arm of Sydney Harbour and near Upper Leitches Creek. The early settlers were from France and the Island of Miquelon, and because of this the place got its name. In May, 1823, land was laid off for Simon, John, Pierre and Charles Gautereau, one of whom built a house before January 1824. John was a native of Miquelon who moved to PEI, and asked for land in Cape Breton in September 1822. By October, 1926, these four and Benjamin Martin had formed a settlement about six miles above the head of Balls Creek consisting of about 55 people and were asking that a lot be set aside for a chapel and a school. By 1875, a school-house and a Roman Catholic Chapel had been built. A new school-house was built at Rear of Frenchvale in 1874. A Postal Way Office was established on January 1, 1872 with Duncan McSwain as office keeper. Farming and lumbering are the basic industries. In 1856 the population was 157. From the book.....Place Names of Nova Scotia by Thomas J. brown 1922 French Vale Cape Breton County.. Nearly all the present settlers of French Vale trace their origin from four brothers who were French Acadians, and came from PEI early in the nineteenth century.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 16:53:32 +0000
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