Primary Source Analysis: Letters between an Acadian Mother and Son, 1849–1852
- Colby Gaudet
- 4 days ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
The following is a series of letters between Cécile Melanson (née Murat) of Pointe-de-l’Église, Nova Scotia, and her son, Stephen (or Étienne) Melanson of Boston, Massachusetts. As I’ve written for the Acadiensis blog, Cécile Murat was not Acadian by birth. Born in 1780, she was a child of French parents living in Boston and was later adopted by an Acadian couple in rural Clare. In 1800, Cécile married an Acadian, Jean-Baptiste Melanson (brother of Samuel Melanson in my previous post), with whom she had a large family of thirteen children. All of Cécile’s children were eventually married and started families of their own, except her oldest and youngest sons, Armand and Étienne-Rémi, respectively, who each remained single. Born in Church Point in 1826, Étienne was Cécile's last child. He became a sailor and went off to Boston as a young man in the 1840s.[1] From Boston, he voyaged multiple times to the Caribbean. According to Placide Gaudet’s genealogical notes, Étienne (or Stephen as he was known in Boston) died at sea of a fever while returning from the West Indies. The date of Stephen’s death has not been recorded, and he was likely buried at sea. Cécile died in 1855 at Church Point, age seventy-four. Her surviving letters to her son thus reflect her maternal concerns toward him during her final years of life. Cécile’s letters also shed some light on the dire economic state of Clare in the early 1850s, and the resulting emigrations of Acadian young people to the United States – including her son Stephen’s expedition to California for the 1848 gold rush.

The letters between Cécile and Stephen are contained in the Fonds James Valentine Stuart at the Centre Acadien, Université Sainte-Anne.[2] Stuart was married to Cécile’s daughter, Marguerite-Sophie. The letters represent a rare surviving correspondence between an Acadian mother and son from a time when literacy among rural Acadians wasn't commonplace, especially for women of Cécile's generation. The letters also reflect bilingual communication in the family, with Stephen writing in French, Cécile in English. As already noted, while Cécile wasn't an Acadian, she was adopted when young into the Acadian community, and she married an Acadian man. At the time of these letters, she had been living in the village of Pointe-de-l’Église for over fifty years. For these reasons, I’ve called Cécile and Étienne/Stephen an Acadian mother and son.

To Mr John Bte Melanson
Church Point
Clare N.S.
Boston oct 20th 1849
Cher Pere et Mere
Ses aujourd’hui Que je pren ma plume a la main pour vous lesser assaivoir de mes nouvelle Que je suis au Bansantes et gespair [a shipping company?] Que la presance vous trouvera aussi je Perte dans le Brig frank pour philadelphie et de la A geori goergis towns [Georgetown?] et de la Au sus [Sud?] au Bien Ici dans 5 ou 6 semene je serer de Retour au Bien dans 8 mois je finie an fesants des Compliments pour tous le village dans cous au vous Presantant mes plus Bos [beaux?] Respect je Reste votre servit fis
Stephen R [Rémi] Melanson


Mr Stephen E [Étienne] Melanson Mariner
In Care of Louis A Surette Esqr
Boston Mass
Clare 22 June 1850
Dear Son
This is to inform you that we are in receipt of your last Letter as well as the Flour for which we have to express our gratitude especially as it was much wanting. We have not been well by no means this Spring and your Father is yet unwell. The times here are very dull more so then they have been in this place heretofore. We have feel very desirous of seeing you and hope that you will come on this Fall but however if you fall in with good employment we advise you to embrace the opportunity as it is impossible to do anything here and if time do not take a turn for the better the Township of Clare is done and should the Crops fail this fall it will produce an absolute Famine. Not having received your first Letter in which you detailed the Accounts of your California expedition we wish to give us the a repetition of them in your next and hope that you will not be follish [sic] as to attempt it again at all event not without advising both us in the first place. Patrice Thibodeau & wife sends their respects to you and their Love to Bodeau you will tell him that his folks are all well excepting his Mother who is no worse than when he saw her. Justine Lace [?] was published last Sunday. We have nothing further to communicate that is worthy your notice excepting that your Brothers and Sisters are all well and joins in Love with us to you.
Your affectionate Parents
John & Cecilia Melanson
20 May 1851, Cécile to Stephen: “I am very happy to hear that Your health is perfect & reestablished and also that You are still with Your former Captain I have now to inform You that I have been very ill all winter and am not entirely well Yet that Your Father has enjoyed good health since Your departure that all the rest of the family are well But at the same time that we are now about to throw Ourselves on the hands of Some one or other of our Children For our future Maintenance as we are no longer able to take care of ourselves if you Wish to undertake that Obligation for the one fourth of the old Farm of in other word[s] La moitie de notre reserve it will be at Your option, however if You think that it will not be to Your interest to do so we dont wish to Obligate you to do so as their [there] is enough of the Children who will, but if You think that it will serve Your purpose You must come home immediately and remain home & Settle for life, on the receipt of this Letter You must send us Your immediate answer wether You will or not. Wether you do or not Your inheritance as you know will always remain … Your ever Affectionate Mother Cecile Melanson.”
10 April 1852, Cécile to Stephen: Having “embrace[d] with Maternal affection the Present opportunity of thus addressing” her son, Cécile informed Stephen that “all has not been Sunshine here Since Your departure It become my painful Duty to inform You of the Domestic affliction of Your Sister Margaret & Husband [Marguerite-Sophie and James Stuart] By the Death of 2 of their Children the Oldest and the Youngest poor little John is no more him and Nancy having Both Died in one week the Youngest of Croup & poor John of a Severe cold terminating in a Kind of Brain fever the time here have been very Sickly this winter. Your Brother Augustine’s wife lay at the point of Death for a long time But she is now perfectly recovered Your Sister Magdalen’s little John Your Godson has Also Died Since your Departure of nearly the same Disease as little John Stuart.”
Besides these travails, Cécile wrote that “we are happy all that renders us unhappy is the absences of Your Self & Brothers roveing on the Sea You will naturally Supose that this causes Some moment of painful though[t] & reflection the disposition of the maternal Heart will ofttimes arise and bring with it Ses enquiet more on Your Acc[oun]t than Your Brothers they being Older and men of Families consequently in a capacity to be more Solid than a Young man who has no charge on his mind more than tak[ing] care of himself.”
Cécile, an observant Roman Catholic, advised Stephen to keep his heart “replenished with the love of God” and “do not then forget my Dear Son the Author of existence and in all the hardships & trial through life You will be always happy.” Cécile wrote that her husband “Joins in love with me to you And longs as well as I do to See You once again and enjoy Your Presence whenever you may think proper pay us a visit … I remain My Dear Son Your affectionate Mother - Cecilia Melanson.”

What can these letters tell us historically?
They describe the nature of early transnational migration among the Acadians of the Maritimes. By 1850, when the young generation of Acadians in rural Clare and Argyle wanted to go off to the 'big city', their destination was Boston – and, from there, the greater Atlantic. Stephen Melanson, like many young Acadians of the mid-century and later, went to New England in search of better work opportunities. Cécile's remark to her son that, at the time, it was "impossible to do anything" in Clare attests to this. In Stephen's case, Boston was a launching point to further destinations. First, he went overland to California (and returned unsuccessful) before embarking on a career as a mariner. Sea voyages took him to American hubs such as Philadelphia and Georgetown [Washington, DC]. Stephen also sailed to the Caribbean, as did so many Maritime men of his time.
No less important, the letters illustrate the historical terrain of familial concerns, gender roles, and emotional relationships amid separations and transregional movements. Cécile's letters reflect the intimate concerns of a mother for her son (and likely multiple sons) away from home and "roving on the sea." She expressed to Stephen concerns about her and her husband's health, and her details about home life in Clare show that child mortality took an emotional toll on families. While describing misfortune, Cécile also discerningly advised her son and encouraged Stephen to remain abroad if employment was available, despite her maternal desire to have him close. His pursuit of happiness was in her thoughts when she discussed filial obligations. Cécile mentioned that she and her husband soon needed permanent care in their old age. Considering the size of the Melanson family and Stephen's numerous married siblings back home, however, Cécile didn't insist he return. She had other children, more well-established, who could look after her and her husband. Yet, Stephen's unmarried, unsettled personal state did cause her to worry. Cécile's feelings were akin to those felt by many mothers, wives, and sisters whose male loved ones sought their livelihoods in seafaring,[3] an occupation that would claim Stephen's life, but only after his mother had already passed, having fulfilled her duties to her large family.
[1] On such immigration, see Neil Boucher, “Acadians and Emigration: The Case of the Acadians of Southwest Nova Scotia,” trans., Madeleine Rivard Bérard, in Steeples and Smokestacks: A Collection of Essays on the Franco-American Experience in New England, ed., Claire Quintal (Worcester, MA: Assumption College Institut français, 1996), 52–68; Betsy Beattie, “The ‘Boston States’: Region, Gender, and Maritime Out-Migration, 1870–1930,” in New England and the Maritime Provinces: Connections and Comparisons, eds., Stephen Hornsby and John Reid (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005), 252–263. On the recent 'transnational turn' in Acadian Studies, see Clint Bruce and Gregory Kennedy, eds., Repenser l’Acadie dans le monde: Études comparées, études transnationales (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2025), especially Carmen d’Entremont and Stéphanie St-Pierre, “‘That’s where the roots are’: acadianité et sentiment d’appartenance dans le discours d’immigrantes et d’immigrants d’origine acadienne en Nouvelle-Angleterre,” 322–361.
[2] Centre Acadien, Université Sainte-Anne, MG-4, Fonds James Valentine Stuart, boîte 6, dossier 43.
[3] Lisa Norling, “‘How Frought with Sorrow and Heartpangs’: Mariners’ Wives and the Ideology of Domesticity in New England, 1790-1880,” The New England Quarterly 65, no. 3 (September 1992): 422–446.