An Acadian Family’s Historical Journey in New Brunswick - The Legacy of Maurice Roy 1875-1960

It was August 2021, the second summer of the COVID 19 pandemic, in the quiet community of Merrickville ON where LCol John By completed the Rideau Waterway construction in 1832. A fitting place for a Royal Canadian Engineer to meet with Otter Squadron classmates for a spontaneous get together which included a discussion of Stephen Kelly’s first effort to self-publish a story about the early years of the Acadian side of his family’s life in New Brunswick. From the author’s description, it was a journey well worth reading.

Absent from the picture is one of the regulars, John Britten, affectionally referred to as the Brit and sometimes the Great Brit (in his imagination). At a previous get-together near Col By Lake, located on the outskirts of Kingston ON, at the beginning of the Rideau Waterway, the Brit, noted for his subtle comments, purchased a book under what he considered peer pressure. In self-defense, he quipped, “This is a book? A book is over a hundred pages in length, so this is essentially a 72-page pamphlet and it’s not even bilingual, and you want me to pay $25!’’ Larry, the mediator, always the calming influence, replied “John, it’s only $22.50. I get a 10% kick back because I am the inspiration for the story, so lighten up.”

So, why is Larry Richardson the inspiration of the story? A long time ago, back in 1979, he scribed the following for the Royal Military College of Canada Review (1979):

The author’s grandmother on his mother’s side (Grandma Carew) was a 2nd generation descendant of the protagonist, Maurice Roy (Head, 1st generation). Grandma Carew had stated to Stephen several times when he was a youngster, “There is no Indian bloodline in our lineage, and we do not speak French!” Shortly before she passed, when the author visited Grandma Carew in the hospital, she asked: “Who was this Larry guy that commented in the yearbook?”

Decades later, when Stephen was in Kingston ON studying for his MASc in environmental engineering, he returned to Newcastle (now Miramichi) NB as his mother, Mary Rose, was on her deathbed. In her last hours, Stephen witnessed his mother speaking French. Her mind had returned to her youth. Later, one of Stephen’s first cousins informed him that she had once overheard Grandma Carew speaking French to a customer in the Roy store, located in the front of the Roy family 1st and 2nd generations household located in Newcastle. She thought that was quite odd because she had heard the same dictum stated by Grandma Carew her 3rd generation family household located upriver in Millerton on the Southwest Miramichi River, “There is no Indian bloodline in our lineage, and we do not speak French!”

That Larry guy, author of Stephen’s yearbook entry in the RMC Review, was also present at Stephen’s MASc defence. It was at this juncture that Stephen realized that he had to become a Raconteur and tell the story to his extended family. But when would he ever find the time?

After a globe-trotting career as an Army combat engineer, the author transitioned to a contracted environmental engineer. Employment that extended from coast to coast (only two) over a five-year period included environmental clean-up due to industrial pollution at Sydney, Cape Breton. The author learned from this experience that Cape Breton has a long Acadian history that began more than 400 years ago. When administering set-aside contracts, defined as works allocated specifically to Mi’gmaq contactors, the author realized that many of, if not all the contractor surnames when the Mi’gmaq pen touched paper, were French names. This significant mixing of races indicates that mixed marriages were commonplace, although not condoned by the Catholic Church unless both parties were baptized. During an environmental inspection of airfield fuel tanks on traditional native land in Prince George BC, the author became familiar with Lheidli T'enneh First Nation, known as the Fort George Indian Band by the colonist. The traditional name means "The people from the confluence of the two rivers". Similar indigenous naming of geographical places can be found across Canada. Tobique First Nation, for example, located in NB, was named by the early European colonist after the Maliseet chief. It is part of the Wolastastoqiyik (translated as the beautiful river people) community. Nequtuk is the traditional name for the Tobique First Nation community. The Tobique River flows west past Nequtuk where it meets with the Wolastoq River and its confluence is with the St John River. Nequtuk means “where two rivers meet”. Coincidence as to the Prince George experience of reverting to traditional names or simply historically similar languages on opposite sides of the landmass between the oceans before Canada was named? The true coincidence is that one of the five settings for the Raconteur’s story is Tobique.

The author decided to spend some of his leisure time in retirement investigating the family pedigree. His cousin Ron Roy, a Royal Canadian Air Force veteran, and a member of the 1st Canadian Army Veterans biker group has another persona as Master Ron, a black belt Tae Kwon Do instructor. In his spare time, Ron is the administrator for a Facebook Group Page in memory of Maurice Roy, the protagonist of the novel. Stephen discovered the site during the COVID 19 pandemic, and they partnered to produce a collaborative genealogical history of their collective family ties.

The research that resulted in The Legacy of Maurice Roy was a meandering exercise in digital history centering on both Maurice and his wife Rose Ann. There were many random telephone encounters with clergy, government officials in the land grants departments, Wolastastoqiyik elders and administrators at Nequtuk, and academics at the Mi’gmaq- Wolastastoqiyik Institute, a department of the University of New Brunswick. Most interesting were the online discussions with relatives, many of whom the author had never met, and some who never even realized that they too were related to the Irish Kelly clan. The end-result follows.

The essence of the story is when Maurice, the Acadian from Petite Rocher, and Rose Anne were married in 1897, the wedding certificate stated that Rose Anne was born in 1874 on the Maliseet First Nation Reserve of Tobique, Victoria County NB. Her parents were French homesteaders from Quebec who were homesteading in Balmoral, Restigouche County from 1889 onwards. When the geography is considered and the math is done, there appears to be a significant gap in the timeline. According to most of the 2nd generation, the family pedigree does not have any indigenous lineage, just as the author’s 2nd generation grandmother had stated about the Roy household, but many could speak at the minimum pidgin French. Once settled in Newcastle NB at the end of the journey, the children were educated in English, and most did quite well in their studies. Mary Kelly, 3rd generation, was top of her class in many subjects at St Mary’s Catholic School. Grandma Carew was extremely proud of her eldest daughter. Thus, this is a story about English-speaking Acadians, albeit with an indigenous twist. The story is as much about Rose Anne as about Maurice. It is the story that had to be told for she was the epitome of Atlantic Canada colonization and women’s rights, an unfortunate casualty of the Indian Act. In the early 20th century, in Northumberland County NB, Maurice and Rose Anne confronted many challenges. Together they survived socio-economic challenges of geographical bilingualism, race discrimination, raising a family in the extremely harsh living conditions of the picture province, and most sadly, the loss of a child due to unknown causes. The story of her pedigree remains at the time of writing, unresolved. The ancestors of Maurice Roy have been severed from both their Acadian and aboriginal heritages, if only temporarily, until additional research uncovers the secrets of the past.

Despite the Brit’s acidulous review, in July 2021 the Raconteur, a first-time author / publisher wrote, formatted, and had the First Edition printed. Although a family genealogy is not the most popular genre, the author advertised, sold, and distributed the lot. The Raconteur met the demands of first contact with the economics of publishing: sales exceeded expectations. The second printing was in August.

Stephen also received a death-bed review through the family grapevine. Stephen’s cousin, Joan Savoy, went contently to her grave so said her sister Donna to Stephen’s brother (Major Dan, Royal Canadian Engineer, M0155 Class of 81) when Dan was passing on his condolences. Joan had said to her sister, “It was an enjoyable read, and tell Stevie that I’m happy to have finished it before I pass.” Powerful motivation for a sequel, but will the Brit buy a copy at the 50th Reunion, even if it’s not bilingual? Perhaps the Great Brit will relinquish his pennies due to empathy for the author’s generational linguistic trauma? Just a thought but that Larry guy probably agrees.