THE FRENCH CANADIAN COMMUNITY OF

In the early 1800's, there was a slow migratory movement from Lower Canada into the United States. The major causes for this flow of immigrants were first: a flourishing Republic adjacent to the Canadian border which offered economic opportunity; second: the existing colonial dissatisfaction or ethnic difficulties between the French Canadians and the British rulers; and third: the dismal economic outlook within Canada. Most of Waterville's early French Canadian immigrants were led to this locality by one or all of these motives. They came a few at a time and some occasionally returned to their Canadian farms or villages. Several developments quickened the migration. The first was the building of the `Kennebec Road ' in 1830. Twenty-five years later, the construction of railroads made travel ever easier. Then came the Civil War in 1861 with its many offers of employment. However, it was the building of the cotton mills in 1874 and in 1882 that attracted the greatest number of French Canadian immigrants into Waterville. These people, generally poor and largely illiterate, suffered many hardships. Many of these were common to industrial communities of the Northeastern section of the United States in a period when laisson-faire was the prevailing philosophy. However, under the guidance of the church, parochial schools and national societies, some of the bitter edges were worn off and the social and economic status of these people wa