Oldest Catholic cemetery in Miramichi region was in use from 1688 to 1949
CBC News: It’s a windy afternoon at the Sainte-Anne Cemetery in Esgenoôpetitj First Nation, and volunteers are probing the ground for remnants of gravestones dating back to the late 1600s.
Sharon Brideau is one of about 10 people gently pushing metal rods into the ground to try to locate long-lost stones in this northeastern New Brunswick community on the edge of Miramichi Bay. She hits something hard just beneath the surface of the earth. “There’s a lot of rocks but we just found a little piece of tombstone, so that’s very special. It’s all part of the work we’re doing here to try and find what has been lost so many years ago,” she said.
Brideau is part of a group working to uncover and restore headstones at the burial grounds. The site is the oldest Roman Catholic cemetery in the Miramichi region, established in 1688. Records show both settlers and Indigenous peoples were buried here, of Mi’kmaw, Acadian, Irish and Scottish ancestry.
Until recently, the site was largely neglected. Significant coastal erosion crumbled part of the land into the bay, there was no fence and few tombstones were visible. The grass was so overgrown, many people didn’t know a cemetery existed in the area. The cemetery is one of likely dozens of abandoned or overgrown cemeteries in New Brunswick. Without a dedicated group of volunteers and no new revenue, historic graveyards can fall by the wayside.
Recovering history
Jean-Claude Robichaud, originally from Neguac, learned while doing genealogical research that two of his ancestors were buried at Sainte-Anne. The retired teacher taught at school in Esgenoôpetitj, previously known as Burnt Church, for 36 years, located right across the street from the cemetery.
A few years ago, local resident Theresa Bonnell spearheaded an effort to restore the site. A fence and a new cross were erected and a seawall was built to stop erosion. The community also hired a contractor to regularly cut the grass and maintain the grounds.
Unearthing history: restoring a 338-year-old New Brunswick cemetery
WATCH | Volunteers probe the ground to search for hidden headstones: Duration 2:20
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Volunteers are working to recover and repair headstones at a long-neglected cemetery in Esgenoôpetitj First Nation. Robichaud’s great-great-great-grandfather and his great-great-great-uncle were laid to rest here. “There’s a lot of people that didn’t know their ancestors were buried here,” he said. “We’re helping to recover history.”
Vernon Mitchell, also a member of Esgenoôpetitj First Nation, believes several of his ancestors are buried in the cemetery. He hopes a map will be created so he knows where they were laid to rest. “I’m happy, I’m very excited. Seeing the headstones exposed is good,” he said.
Mitchell said growing up in Esgenoôpetitj he knew the land was an old grave site and remembers people finding bones on the beach as the shoreline eroded. He said the mix of cultures shows how Esgenoôpetitj has long been a welcoming community. “I would like to see it all marked who’s here,” he said. “Everybody will have that full disclosure as to where our ancestors were.”
Tombstones to be repaired
Brideau, who was born a Breau, said the first Breau to arrive in the area after the deportation of the Acadians in 1755 is buried in the cemetery. His tombstone has not been found yet. “It would be very nice to be able to find it. And at the same time it’s very special to be able to walk the same grounds that my family walked all those years ago, to come bury a loved one,” she said.
Robichaud has located records from 1796 to 1847, which show 154 burials at the site. He is now looking for the list of burials between 1848 and 1949. The cemetery closed after that and a new one was built. One of the headstones recovered is for the daughter of Charlotte Taylor, an early settler described as the mother of Tabusintac.
The broken tombstones are being transported to Monuments Sainte-Anne in Caraquet to be repaired and restored and will be returned to the cemetery by next spring. The volunteer group plans to do fundraising to cover the costs.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandre Silberman, Video journalist
Alexandre Silberman is a video journalist with CBC News based in Moncton. He has previously worked at CBC Fredericton, Power & Politics, and Marketplace. You can reach him by email at: alexandre.silberman@cbc.ca