The Chapel of Sainte-Anne de Beaumont is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

place of worship, classified as a provincial historic site, located in the hamlet of Beaumont,

Memramcook Memramcook, sometimes also spelled Memramcouke or Memramkouke, is a village in Westmorland County, New Brunswick, Canada. Located in south-eastern New Brunswick, the community is predominantly people of Acadian descent who speak the Chiac de ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is a

Georgian-style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover, George I, George II, Ge ...

wooden building, built in 1842 by the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

of Fort Folly. The site also includes a presbytery,

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

and monuments.

Etymology

The hamlet of Beaumont takes its name from Jacques Bonnevie, known as Beaumont, an

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

who lived in the area around 1740. The chapel was named Sainte-Anne when it was built in 1842. Sainte Anne, mother of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, is the patron saint of the

History

A cemetery was used on the site from 1829 until 1938. Around 1830, the sale of alcohol and bad weather affecting the crops made life difficult for the

. In 1837, Memramcook priest Ferdinand Gauvreau was appointed Indian Commissioner for Westmorland County. In July of that year, at a general meeting of the region's Mi'kmaq presided over by Gauvreau, those present elected Peter Bernard as chief. Bernard and Gauvreau discussed a fixed community settlement where the Mi'kmaq could do more farming. In June 1838, Chief Bernard, armed with a letter from Gauvreau, talked to

Edward Barron Chandler Edward Barron Chandler (August 22, 1800 – February 6, 1880) was a New Brunswick politician and lawyer from a United Empire Loyalist family. He was one of the Fathers of Confederation. Early life Edward Barron Chandler was born in Amherst, ...

about ways to stop the sale of alcohol. He also told him about the community project. In subsequent meetings, they agreed that the county should purchase land. The land chosen was on the banks of the

Petitcodiac River The Petitcodiac River () is a river located in south-eastern New Brunswick, Canada. Local tourist businesses often refer to it as the "chocolate river" due to its distinctive brown mud floor and brown waters. Stretching across a meander length o ...

, just south of Beaumont. The , purchased for £50 on July 15, 1840, had been owned since 1820 by Amasa and Sally Weldon, who had bought the land from Joseph Frederick Wallet Desbarres. The reserve became known as Fort Folly 27. The population probably moved shortly afterwards, in late summer or autumn. In 1840, the Acadians of

Saint-Anselme Saint-Anselme () is a village in the Bellechasse Regional County Municipality, part of the Chaudière-Appalaches administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is the second biggest municipality in the RCM, after Saint-Henri. The Etchemin River go ...

and

built large churches. In 1841, the people of Beaumont decided to build a chapel to better serve their community. The chapel was built in 1842, making it the oldest Catholic place of worship used by Micmacs in New Brunswick. The Mi'kmaq supplied the wood, and the Acadians helped with the work free of charge. According to an article by P. William Bourque, the church was built by the government to avoid Mi'kmaq solidarity with the Acadians. Master carpenter Hilaire Arsenault oversaw the construction. Born in

Barachois A barachois is a term used in Atlantic Canada, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Réunion and Mauritius to describe a coastal lagoon partially or totally separated from the ocean by a sand or shingle bar. On Diego Garcia in the British Indian Ocean Ter ...

, he built several churches in the region, including the one in his native village. Chief Peter Bernard designed the plans for the building. The chapel was consecrated in autumn 1943 by Abbé Gauvreault. Chief Bernard's house was later converted into a presbytery. The chapel interior was restored in 1900. The pews and

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

date from this period. The Beaumont reserve was sold to Father Massé on August 21, 1965, and the Mi'kmaq moved to the new Fort Folly reserve near Dorchester. Father Massé then gave the reserve to the Holy Cross Fathers, who eventually ceded it to the Archdiocese of Moncton. Robert Léger of the Memramcook Valley Historical Society developed the chapel restoration project in the 1980s. Thanks to donations and a grant from the federal government, over $10,000 was raised to pay for the work. The work, which lasted just over a year until 1989, involved repairing the roof of the chapel and presbytery, the foundations and gallery of the presbytery, redoing the

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

window and reinstalling the lamp. The chapel and its site became a provincial historic site on June 19, 1989, making it the first protected Amerindian place of worship in the province. A ceremony presided over by Lieutenant-Governor

Gilbert Finn Gilbert Finn (September 3, 1920 – January 7, 2015) was a Canadian businessman and was the 26th Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick from 1987 to 1994. Born in Inkerman, New Brunswick, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Laval Universi ...

and attended by 300 people took place on July 23, and a commemorative plaque was installed. The "Burial Place of the Ancestors" project was then initiated by the Fort Folly First Nation, with the aim of creating a historical park. An archaeological dig was carried out in 1992, clearing the land, recovering artifacts and demarcating the cemetery. The Memramcook Historical Society proposed building a historical village near the chapel. In 1996, the floor was redone and the interior repainted. The presbytery was renovated in 1997, and a new bell tower was installed in May of the same year.

Architecture

The chapel's style is simple and Georgian. The exterior walls are clapboarded. The windows have neo-Gothic pointed arch surrounds set in Romanesque semicircular frames. The façade features a bull's eye above the main entrance and is topped by a bell tower. The façade also features an entrance drum, an addition to the original plan. A

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

bears the inscription "1842". The chapel seats around 50 people. The wooden altar may be the work of sculptor . The interior is decorated with wooden moldings and a painted

halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

on the ceiling. Several objects are displayed in the chapel, including traditional

costumes, dream catchers and a statue of

Kateri Tekakwitha Kateri Tekakwitha ( in Mohawk), given the name Tekakwitha, baptized as Catherine ("Kateri" in Mohawk), and informally known as Lily of the Mohawks (1656 – April 17, 1680), is a Mohawk/ Algonquin Catholic saint and virgin. Born in the Mohawk v ...

Cemetery and monuments

A cemetery was located on the chapel grounds, slightly to the east. Most of the headstones have disappeared, but the names of 79 deceased were preserved at the Pré-d'en-Haut church. Sixty-nine headstones were installed in the 1990s by the

to commemorate their ancestors. The white cross at the back of the cemetery commemorates Henriette Bernard, known as Mercure, daughter of the Chief of Beaumont, who drowned while saving her friend René Belliveau. The old bell tower is on display in the cemetery. A

grotto A grotto or grot is a natural or artificial cave or covered recess. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden fea ...

dedicated to Sainte-Anne was installed in 2006.

The culture

Part of the film Acadieman vs CMA 2009 takes place on the chapel grounds.

Bibliography

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