The Portland daily press., 1866-09-25
The French i'm Maine

The French im Maine.
Throughout the middle and Northefh pol-
lions of the State of Maine are 10 De iouha'
scattered here and there in little settlements
of their own. o, eat numbers of French Catho-
lies who have wandered over the border from
various parts ofLower Canada. Unlike the
Irish immigrants among us, these Canadian
settlers do not gather into the cities or effect the
busy sea-board towns. They prefer rather the
more quiet and rural localities, lowering usu-
ally on the outskirts of the larger villages, or
establishing themselves in little colonies about
some remote centre of manufacturing or lum-
bering interest. Wherever found they are
quiet and peaceable race, too cheerful and
contepted with little to be noticeable for thrift
industrious enough for the supply other re"
and simple wants, but in the main more de-
s:rous Of enjoying the present than OF secur-
ing provision for the future. They are gay
and social among themselves, yet NOT gwen 10
drunkenness or riot; civil and courteous to
their neighbors of different blood and Ian
guage, vet showing little disposition to inter-
mingle with the latter, or to adopt their modes
of life Indeed the tenacity with which they
cling to their old habits is one of their most
striking characteristics. Their children, born
and reared here, naturally assimilate in some
degree to the children of natives, but of those
who have reached adult age before being
ransplanted to this new soil the numbers are
few who rellnquish in any essential degree the
habits of their home. In food, in speech, in
af+ II
has often seen in the shingle built French
suburb of Kennebec river town respecta-
BILE, silver-haired mataon clad in the pictur-
esque costume of the peasant women OF Nor
mandy, including even the quaint high peak
ed cap SO beloved by the French and Flemish
painters.
To all who have been for any length of
time in the interior of Maine. this simple class
we have been describing must be more or less
familiar. But the traveller who visits the ex-
IRENE northeastern border OF the State may
perhaps be surprised to find in various locali-
ties a class of French 'habitans" not only
much more important in point of numbers,
but displaying peculiarities which mark them
in much more eminent degree as distinct
and peculiar people. On the American side
of the st. John river, in the upper portion of
the county of Aroostook, lies tract of coun-
try, some sixty or seventy miles in length,
which is peopled almost exclusively by de-
scendants of the Acadian French who more
than two hundred years ago settled at the
mouth of that river, and who have gradually
worked their way up along its banks, carrying
with them almost unchanged the habits and
manners of the early colony from which they
sprung. Those who delight in the pictures OF
simple rural life which Longtellow has drawn
SO exquisitely in his Evangeline, may find
them to great extent reproduced in the ac-
tral everyday life of this remote and pastoral
people. Into this far-off and slumberous re-
gion the spirit of nineteenth century progress
has not penetrated. Here year after year
goes quietly by, bringing little or no change in
the garb, the manners or the ideas of the peo-
pie. The domestic utensils, the agricultural
implements in use to-day are the rude and
simple inventions Of a century ago. The
sewing machine, the patent churn and the
horse-reaper are unknown. An Aroostook
paper relates how the agent for mandatory
of moving machines took one of these i'm
plements into the French settlements and
tried to induce the farmers to appreciate its
merits, but they could not be prevailed on to
sanction such an innovation. Crinoline has
notpenetrated to this happy region, and the
fashionable bonnet is never seen. Indeed, the
bonnet, itself, is an article of dress not affected
by these Acadian women; a snowy cap with
wide frills and a broad ribbon band is the
matronly substitute for it, while the nnaidens
crown their black, shining tresses with jaunty
little hats which have a most coquettish eff
feet.
The occupations of these people ale as sim
pie as their modes of life. They have a rich
and fruitful soil, which despite the length and
severity of the winters, produces abundant
crops fthe chief cereals, and of hay, potatoes
and buckwheat. Their forests yield plenty of
cedar, from which they manufacture shingles,
and these with the surplus of their crops they
carry down the river and exchange at various
points where agencies have been established
for groceries and such other small articles as
they need. The wool of their own sheep fur
nishes the fabrics of which most of their
clothing is made.
The language of these people is wholly
French; form of la belle langue not in
deed precisely the same as that sanctioned by
the Academy, but far purer than the barbar-
Gus patois of the Canadians. Very few of
them have any knowledge of English, and this
circumstance doubtless has much influence in
perpetuating the peculiarities which continue
to make them distinct people In religion
they ale Catholics, and several priests of that
church reside among them.
AS railroads increase and other means of
communication open up these remote regions
to the tide Of progress and civilization the
more salient characteristics of this peculiar
people must of course gradually disappear
But at the present time there are few locali-
ties in the State which offer SO manv attrac-
tions to the curious traveller or the thoughtful
student OF human nature as do these French
settlements Of the remote Arcostook.