Genealogists who cannot find the whereabouts of their Quebec ancestors may want to look south in New England, especially Maine.
In the Bangor Daily News, Juliana L’Heureux writes: “It was 100 years ago when the Old Canada Road from Quebec into Maine, now Route 201, was the rugged terrain many immigrants took, traveling on foot, horseback, wagons and trains, to enter the United States. These immigrants were enticed and, often, even recruited to find employment in manufacturing mills.”
Ms. L’Heureux’s article features the book, Immigrants from the North: Franco-Americans Recall the Settlement of Their Canadian Families In the Mill Towns of New England, published by Hyde School in 1982. Unfortunately, the book is long out of print and it is hard to find used copies.
A point of interest in the article is the percentage of Franco-Americans in each of Maine’s counties, with York (south of Portland) having the highest number — almost 20 percent.
You can read the article here.
This 63-page book is available from half a dozen booksellers, but it’s expensive. Use bookfinder.com to find it. It’s also available in eighteen libraries. Use worldcat.org to find them.
Thanks for the tip, Dave. I had only checked Abebooks and Googled. BookFinder is new to me. I must check it out. Good idea about WorldCat too.