The Farmhouse

Right now, we are standing in front of  a typical Québécois farmhouse from circa 1875. During the pre-industrial period, families who lived in farmhouses like these centered their lives around three things: their Catholic faith, their family, and their farming lifestyle. 

The average farm family in Québec, Canada, produced everything they needed on their own land, such as crops and livestock. What they couldn’t make or grow on their own, they traded for with other farm families.

Farm life was difficult and required a lot of chores and labor. In order to help with the tasks that needed to be done, French-Canadian farming families often had as many as twenty children and sometimes more. The farmhouse was often built by the father and sons of the family, along with other male relatives or neighbors. There were very few rooms in the farmhouse, which meant that there was very little privacy. The mother, father, and infants would sleep in a separate room, while the rest of the children would sleep in a loft upstairs. The steep roof of the house was ideal for dealing with the heavy snowfalls in Canada. A wood stove provided the heat, and the stove pipe would have added heat to the loft. The furniture in this house is authentic, and was handmade in Québec. 

In the 19th century, the population of Québec increased rapidly (between 1815 and 1844, the population doubled in size), while the amount of cultivated farmland did not. The farmland was already not suitable for growing crops that were in high demand, and the strain of subdividing farmland among large families meant each generation saw smaller and smaller plots. This meant that low-yielding farms were becoming less profitable. These factors often resulted in high debts and desperation, leading families to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Meanwhile, in New England, mill owners were desperately seeking a workforce for their mills. The American Civil War had led to the Americanization of existing immigrant populations, such as the Irish, who returned from fighting to seek greater opportunities for themselves within the community. Mill owners therefore turned to the French Canadians because of their reputation of being obedient, non-unionized workers who were accustomed to working with their children. In order to increase their workforce, mill owners sent recruiting agents into villages and towns in the Province of Québec to encourage immigration. Those who chose to immigrate also helped in the recruiting process by writing back home to friends and family and telling them to come to “Les États,” or “the States.” 

As an example, the Museum has on display a reproduction (and translation) of a letter written by a recent arrival, Emile, to his brother Basile, extolling the virtues of his new life as a factory worker in the United States. Emile’s letter talks about long hours worked in the mills, similar to farm labor; however, Sundays were no longer a working day, as on the farm, but were designated for family time and church attendance. Sunday is now a free day for church and family. Most importantly, Emile writes that he makes more money in a month at the factory than he did in a year on the farm, and that the family makes “more money than we can spend.” In addition to plentiful work for all, money added to the appeal of New England mills, which often offered significantly higher wages compared to Canadian factories. 

Of course, not everyone was supportive of this southward migration to New England. French-Canadian priests, journalists, and politicians attempted to stop this movement. They argued that the Protestant New Englanders were going to use the French Canadians as a form of exploited labor and would force the migrants to lose their culture, language, and religion. Others thought that leaving Canada for New England was simply unpatriotic. To combat the population loss, Québec began offering incentives to stay, such as cheaply priced land on the northern frontier, and increased infrastructure to make transporting crops easier. But overall, these attempts failed. Between 1840 and 1930, more than 900,000 of Québec’s citizens left their homes and farms behind for a new life in New England.