ANTECEDENTS
The Stories of Us!
"Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands.”
― Linda Hogan, Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World
Building Churches, Raising Faith
Image Courtesy of St Francis Xavier Church, Winooski VT
Joseph Niquet Story & The Founding of St. Francis Xavier Church
Sit down, bow your head, and give praise to God as you click on the Soundcloud music button and listen to this hymn. While praying, read about our antecedent, Joseph Niquet, and his spiritual journey at the heart of the founding of Saint Francis Xavier Church in Winooski VT. Building Churches, Raising Faith is the story of emigration, community, and belief, one that is deeply rooted in faith. But, most of all, it's Joseph's story and his contribution to the formation of French parish life in Vermont. Rejoice!
The 1800s brought increased immigration to Vermont for many reasons. Canada could no longer sustain its French Canadian population with its high birth rates, bad harvests, and limited available farm land to raise families and crops. In Vermont, the decline of local populations to work the land increased the demand for more migratory workers. The French Canadians and our antecedent Joseph Niquet were happy to oblige. By providing a steady supply of labor, these French Canadians planted roots in Vermont and established their ethnic permanence, building towns and churches along the way.
For immigrants in Burlington,Vermont including our antecedent Joseph Niquet, faith was central in their lives and they brought their Catholicism along with them when they established their lives in Vermont.
"The building of St Joseph Parish in Burlington began before a church building or the creation of the Diocese of Burlington. The growing French Canadian Catholic congregation in the greater Burlington area—with the support of the clergy who spoke their language and understood their customs—became the driving force behind the creation of the first French Canadian national parish in New England." ~Kathleen Messier, Diocese of Vermont, Vermont Catholic
Parishioners of St. Joseph Church were mostly poorer, French speaking immigrants while the parish leaders were predominately literate and skilled French businessmen. Together, their contributions and their sacrifice would secure the establishment of a French Catholic community in Vermont. By the end of 1850, the building of the brick and wood St. Joseph Church was completed with a solemn blessing in 1851. In no time, the church became too small for its rapidly growing congregation, and a larger parish was built and blessed in 1887, present-day St. Joseph Church.
Born in 1817 along the northern bank of the St. Lawrence River in Canada, Joseph Niquet grew up in a rural village in County Berthier, called Lavaltrie, located in the larger area of Lanorie just north of Montreal. Joseph Niquet was one of seven children of Joseph Niquet and Marie Anne (Annette) Langlois dit Lachapelle. In 1841 at the age of 24, he emigrated to Vermont and in November 1844, he married Josephte Odile Hayot Aillot Ayotte in St. Joseph's Church in Burlington, Vermont. They had 11 children including our antecedent and great grandfather, Dr. Louis Barthelemi Niquette.
Welcome to Joseph's Story
Emigration to Vermont
Building a Catholic Community
Meet Joseph Niquet
Image: Histoire de la Congrégation Canadienne de Winooski Au Vermont (French Edition) [Audet, Jean Frederic
Founding of Onion City -Winooski
The year was 1787. Called 'winoskik' or wild onion land by the Abenaki Native peoples, Onion City was founded by Ira Allen and Remember Baker of the Green Mountain Boys. fame. They were attracted to the potential of the river’s lower falls. in what was the beginning of the establishment of mills along the Winooski River. Onion City would remain its designated name for almost a century, eventually changing to Winooski Village as part of Burlington, and finally designated as the city of Winooski in 1922.
With numerous advantages: such as available land, water power, and railroad access., Winooski was an ideal place for birth of manufacturing in Vermont. Factories and mills soon dotted both sides of Winooski River and cemented the city's reputation as the textile hub of Vermont. These mills employed hundreds of immigrants including children who provided a strong labor force and spurred the economic—and spiritual growth—of the city. You can read more about Winooski's mill history on the Winooski Heritage Society's page here.
Raising Faith & Joseph Niquet
Almost two hundred years ago, Joseph made the life decision to emigrate to Vermont in 1841 and resided in Colchester, Chittenden, Vermont, a rural area of Burlington settled by working class immigrants. On the 1870 census, his occupation was listed as a railroad engineer and his personal wealth valued at $400, a modest sum even back then. He became a naturalized citizen on September 6, 1864. In one of the late 1800 censuses, it indicates he spoke and could read but not write English. Despite his humble life, this French speaking immigrant who lived in a poorer section of Burlington was influential in building churches and raising the Catholic faith in Winooski.
"Joseph Niquette, a railroad engineer on the Burlington-Essex Junction run, had served on the building committee for S1. Joseph's church and subsequently became a trustee of S1. Francois Xavier parish....Peter Desautels, Charles LaFountain, Joseph Niquette, Bruno Pepin, and Peter Villmairee, as a group, these [church leaders] were not exceptionally wealthy. In 1870 only Charles LaFountain and Francis LeClair had real estate worth over two thousand dollars or a personal estate worth over eight hundred dollars."
"What these men had instead was experience in leadership, organization, and community service. They had been trustees or building committee members for St. Joseph's church and were active in the affairs of St. Francis Xavier parish. In addition, all but one immigrant had been living in the area for a while.....While it is impossible to measure their influence on Vermont's French community, their legacy lives on in their contributions to the formation of a national parish identity in New England."
-Betsy Beattie, Migrants and Millworkers: The French Canadian Population of Burlington and Colchester
Building St. Francis Xavier Church
Fr. Jean Audet, the first pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church, provided an insightful, first-hand account of the formation of French parish life in Vermont in his narrative called. Histoire de la Congrégation Canadienne de Winooski Au Vermont (French edition only), for those who want to learn more about building churches and raising faith in Winooski.
In brief, construction of St. Francis Xavier Church began in May 1870, and the first Mass was celebrated in the church on Dee. 18, 1870. By 1898, Saint Francis parish had a church, a rectory, a school serving 450 children, and a cemetery where its founding pastor Fr. Jean Audet and our antecedent Joseph Niquet are buried. Photos were taken on a recent visit to St. Francis Xavier Church and cemetery.
As a church leader, organizer, and faith-filled man, Joseph Niquet remained an active parishioner throughout his life. He served notably on St. Francis Xavier Church's first council as one of 3 advisors who oversaw the temporal administration of the church, advising on current affairs of the church and in matters of construction, improvement., and finances. Those were just a few of his many contributions to the formation of French parish life. Now, he now rests in the church cemetery he helped build while the nearby Winooski River flows gently through the land that inspired his immigrant soul in building churches, raising faith in Vermont.
Joseph's Legacy
Rejoice!
19th Century French-Canadian Immigration to Vermont From Hyppolite Prunier to Fred Plumtree by Michael F. Dwyer. Retrieved from: Bennington Museeum - Walloomsack Review 21: https://benningtonmuseum.org/library/walloomsack/volume-18/from-hyppolite-to-fred-plumtree.pdf
Building St. Joseph Church: French-Canadians in Burlington by Kathleen Messier. Vermont Catholic: Diocese of Burlington. Retrieved from:
https://vermontcatholic.org/vermont/building-st-joseph-church-french-canadians-in-burlington/
Winooski History by William E. Wargo, Esq., former City Attorney & Professor of Vermont History. Winooski Historical Society. Retrieved from: https://winooskihistory.wordpress.com/
Saint Francis Xavier Church: Our History. Retrieved from: https://stfrancisxavier.vermontcatholic.org/our-history
Vermont History: Winooski Mills. Retrieved from: https://vermonthistory.org/winooski-mills
Winooski Heritage Society: https://winooskihistory.wordpress.com/
Migrants and Millworkers: The French Canadian Population of Burlington and Colchester, 1860-1870 The high level of political activity of Colchester's French Canadians contrasted sharply to that of Burlington emigrés by Betsy Beattie. The Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society. Retrieved from: https://vermonthistory.org/journal/misc/MigrantsMillworkers.pdf
Histoire de la congrégation canadienne de Winooski, au Vermont by Audet, Jean-Frédéric, ptre, 1842-1917; Saint-Paul University (affiliated with University of Ottawa), French edition. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/histoiredewinoosk00aude
Select Images: Gail Cruise & Karen MacIver