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P.EI. COLLECTION

U.P.EI. ROBERTSON LIBRARY

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ST ALEXIS PARISH;"
ROLLO BAY

A BRIEF HISTORY.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ST ALEXIS FARISH

When in 1755 the dastardly edict went forth which commanded the
the expulsion of the Acadians from Grand Pre on the shores of
the Bay of Fundy, six families, more fortunate than the others,
managed to keep together.  They suspected treachery underlying
Captain Murray's proclamation which was set for them at Grand Pre,
They did not repair to the church, but concealed themselves in the
woods and from their hiding place they witnessed their homes burned
and their flocks scattered,  Having prepared some large canoes,
they made their way across the strait to "lie St Jean" and
landed at Point Prim.  These people were John and Ambrose Bourque
and their families, Joseph Pitres and family, Honore Michel (Black
smith) and wife, no family, — Leblanc and family, — Chaisson
and family.  When they arrived at Point Prim, they knelt down and
gave thanks to God for having delivered out of the hands of their
enemies, and for bringing to a place of refuge.  After which, so
tradition says, they made the best feast they could to cheer every-
body.  Finding after a short sojourn at Point Prim that they
were net safe from the English, who at that time were stationed
at Port-la-Joie, they took their canoes and paddled up to 3ay
Fortune where they were joined by five or six families from
St Peter's Harbour.

These people had been suffering from the measles when their
unfortunate countrymen were shipped from St Peter's, and, being
too ill to be moved, escaped expatriation.  A few families of
Chlveries, D'Aigles, and others who were concealed or lived at
Savage Harbour removed later to Little River to the south of
Bay Fortune(Now Little Pond).  During the first few few years
that these Acadians spent in Bay Fortune they refused to take the
oath of allegiance and were regarded as prisioners of war,
Every Spring officers from Port-la-Joie would come in the name of
the king to take account of the seed that they sowed and in th«.
Autumn thes same licensed oppressors would arrive to relieve the
poor Acadians of their hardly won crops, leaving them barely
sufficient to sustain life throughtout the cruel winter.

Some of the women of Bay Fortune determined to evade the injusticej
as fast as the grain was threshed, they would conceal a portion
of it in their clothing and carry it away to the woods where they
would hide it and thus secure an extra store.  After some years,
seeing that there was no other course open to them they submitted
to the inevitable, took the oath of allegiance and wer$graciously
permitted to have undisputed possession of the fruits of their
industry.  They, however, made one proviso, that they should
never take up arms against the King of France,

In the year 1798, the proprietor of Lot 43, William Townshend,
an Englishman, came to claim the land surrounding Bay Fortune,
The Acadian settlers refused to acknowledge Mr Townshend's claim
to the land on the grounds of their being possessed of a letter
of recommendation from the British officer xvho had administered
to them the oath of allegiance.  This paper specified that they
were re-instated in their property as securely as when they held
it under Louis XVT of France,  The matter was taken to the courts
and Mr Townshend wonj the Acadians were forced to leave Bay Fortune,

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The greater number -went to Cape Breton, but about fourteen families
3ourques, Pitres, Chaissons and Peters removed to Rollo Bay
wh(;re they purchased lands from the late John Cmmbridge upon
which they settled in the year 1801 or 1802.  Two families of
Longue-epee went to Souris, where the Chiveries of Little River
removed some years later.  The old burial ground at Bay Fortune
is still discernible on the property of Mr Charles Aitken,

There had been in the time of the French Occupation a Catholic
Church at Bay Fortune, but it fell into ruins and was never
replaced by the Acadians,  'Travelling missionaries frequently held
stations in thesettlement in the house of Honore Michel who was
a prosperous blacksmith without a family.  The first priest of
whom there is mention made as having served these Acadians is
Monsieur Magdandj then came a Monsieur Ledru whose letters to
the Bishop of Quebec may be seen in the Archives of the Diocese
of Charlottetown.

After Monsieur Ledru's departure the next priest to visit Bay
Fortune was the Abbe de Calonne who, sent by the Bishop of Quebec
to make Inquiries as to the state of the Church in lie St Jean,
established himself near Port-La-Joie, on what is now called
the Warren Farms, whence he started on various missions throught-
out the Island.

Soon after his arrival it chanced that  one, Germain Chaisson, of

Bay Fortune fell ill of the small-pox,   A messenger was dispatched

to Fort-La-Joie and the priest set out  to administer the consol-
ations of religion to the sick man.

There was no "royal road" to duty for the brother of a first
minister of France,  Through dense forests and treacherous togs,
over meadows on which the summer sun beat piteously, across bays
and rivers, on foot and by canoe the good priest pursued his
weary way.  When he arrived at Chalsson's house, he found the sick
man almost smothered for want of air, and proceeded to give a
lesson In hygiene by opening all doors and windows.  Having revived
the patient,  he heard his confession and remained with him until
his death which occured shortly after.  This Germain Chaisson
was considered quite a scholar in his day and was also a very
good man, one who made a point of collecting the inhabitants of
the settlement and reading the prayers of the Church to them on
Sundays and rloly Days when they were without a priest. Naturally
he was much esteemed and all his neighbours, protestant as well as
catholic flocked to his funeral.  The Abbe de Calonne seized the
opportunity to preach a very clear and practical instruction
over the grave, one which made a deep impression upon all who heard
it, and of which their descendants talked about for years,

After the Abbe Calonne, came Abbe Gabriel Champion and then
Father Aeneas Bernard MacEachern, afterwards first Bishop of
Charlottetown, under whose direction was built the first log
chapel in the year 180^.  At this time there were but eighteen
families in the parish and they all assisted in the building of the
little church which was but thirty feet in length by twenty in

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breadth and twelve feet high,  it was dedicated to St Alexis by
Bishop Plessis on July 17, lgi2, and stood down close to the shore
beside the old burying ground where sleep the pioneer settlers of
Hollo Bay,  There are no very old tombstones to be seen in this
ancient cemetery5 those placed there in the early days were made of
old red sand stone and have crumbled away.

The second church was built in 1824,  The builder was Bartlett Dunphy.
The third church was built in I653 by Lawrence Murphy and Lawrence Peters
It stood on rising ground overlooking one cf the fairest landscapes
of Prince Edward Island until it was replaced by the present inspiring
structure in 1930.  On this spot, the line of vision is broken by
two beautiful bays, the points of land that separate them being high
and well wooded in parts, while the farms thereon give evidence of
great fertility.  This church was sixty feet in length by forty-two
in widths the height of the wall was twenty-two feet.  Between 1870
and I872 a sanctuary and vestibule were added to it.
The high altar which came from Montreal was delicately though
profusely colored in blue and gold with touches of pink, grey, and
brown,  The frontal was carton plerre, a representation of the
Last Supper In bas-relief,  Above the altar was a fine stained-glass
window representing the Holy Family,  (Ihis window is now above the
altar in New Zealand Mission Church which was built in 1932 to servo
the people of that area,).

The cemetery of Hollo Bay is considered oy  some to be one of the
most beautiful on the Island,  It lies to the east of the church and
is shaded by many graceful white birch trees.  The monument to
Reverend Edward Walker, D,D. who served as pastor for forty-six years
adds grace and beauty to this city of the Dead,

This parish possesses several relics of the past, the dearest among
them which is the bell,  Long ago in the dim past the English govern-
ment being determined to get rid of the French Inhabitants of the
then populous little town of St Pierre situated on the harbour of that
name, sent three hundred of the French adrift in a leaky vessel
avowedly with the intention of transporting them to France,  Before .
leaving, these poor people as was the custom of the Acadians buried
such things as they considered too sacred to fall into the hands of
the English, among which was their church bell.  In 1870 a Mr Garret
Barry of St Peter's Harbour while ploughing in his field struck some
object that gave a metallic .soun^ and which proved to be the bell
of the old church of St Pierre which had lain unharmed in the earth
for ome hundred fifteen years,  Mr Barry presented his treasure trove
to the parishioners of Morell who exchanged it for a new bell with
the people of Rollo Bay,  The old relic was rapturously welcomed by
the descendants of its first owners and was trilled by kindness.
Everybody wanted to ring it and everybody did ring it; in consequence
it was oroken and had to be  ecast.  In 1882 it was placed in the
tower of the old church and, when the present church was built, it
was placed in its tower there to call the faithful to Mass and
devotions,

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■The bell has *he following Inscription!

I  5 3

-.

Jesu + fene + Joseph
nP, Cosse n*a faite, Tdchelin, 1723.  + En 1870 J »al ete retiree
des ruir.es d'un acien village Acadien, I. P. E.
'in  1882 les paroissiens de Hollo Bay m'ont fait refrondre par
.leneely et cie de West Troy, jj, y   on SOuvenir de leurs Ancetres
dc l'Acadie."

The Priests who have served in the parish of St Alexis since the
tine of Bishop Aeneas Bernard fecSachern arei
Reverend Jean Louise Beaubien

Joseph Etienne Cecile
Antoine Gosselin
Williar: Bernard MacLeod
John 1-ss.c Donald
R. IficFhee
Francis MacDonald
Dugald IJacDonald
Donald P. MacDonald
Edward Walker

Reverend Reginald MacDonald
Louis Callaghan
Alphcnsus L. Slnnott
David McTague
Wilfred A. Keefe



The Reverend Dr. Edward Walker was the first resident priest and he
built the present parochial house.  There is in this day no vestige
nor nark of the trials through which the pioneer settlers passedj°
their descendants live in peace and plenty, drawing harvests from
land and sea and adhering strictly to that faith for which their
forefathers suffered in the cruel days of old.

The following were the first settlers of the mission of St Alexis,
Hollo Bay,  Paul Fitres, Joseph Pitres, William Pitres, Joseph Bourke,
61son bourke, L'Aumant Chaisson, Raphael Ghaisson, Jean Chaisson.
Jean Longue epee, Jean D»Aigle, Charles D'Aigle

N« B,  This was copied from a history of the Church
written by Rev, A. E. Burke, D,D,,   in 1885, and
updated by the lat« Profess or Henri Blanchard, of
Prince of Wales College, and published in the
Charlottetown Guardian in 1954,
A few words have been added.

A. M, D. G.

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