Caton's Island | The Astrolabe
CATONS ISLAND
400th ANNIVERSARY
History | The Celebration | Agenda | Transportation
MANY NAMES
Originally the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) called the island Akmenhenik which meant “Island of Prayers” or “Meeting Place”. The French in 1611 used the name “Ile Emenenic” and then “Isle aux Garce”, possibly after a later French settler.
In 1765, the English were in possession of Acadia and planned to settle the St. John River. A grant including the island was given to Captain Issac Caton and his brother James. They had come from Pennsylvania and set up a trading post on the island.
After the American Revolution and with the arrival of the Loyalist’s in 1783, other families would take ownership of the island including Foster, Pugsley, Vincent and Lowell, but the name which remained was Catons Island.
HISTORY OF FIRST SETTLEMENT
The first European settlement in what is now New Brunswick was established on Catons Island in 1611. Catons Island is situated in the Long Reach section of the St. John River and lies about twenty-one miles from the city of Saint John.
Two Frenchmen, Robert Grave and Captain Merveille, both originally from St. Malo, France, set up a trading post on the island. Their intent was to trade furs with the local inhabitants, the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet). Grave was probably the first European to learn to speak the native language and he lived on the island until 1619.
This first Catholic Mass in New Brunswick was also held on the island by Father Baird (Jesuit) in 1611.
THREE FINGERS
Robert Grave, one of the leaders of the first settlement in New Brunswick did not start his relationship with North American inhabitants very well. In 1606 while travelling down the east coast with Champlain his musket exploded while shooting at attacking natives. He lost three fingers.
In 1610, Grave was imprisoned by the New France governor Sieur de Pontrincourt upon complaints from the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) that he had abducted one of their women. Grave escaped prison but was eventually pardoned.
Legend has it that although the Wolastoqiyik traded with Grave at his trading post on Catons Island, some were not pleased with the European presence and with Grave in particular. As a result, it is said there has always been and will always be a man living on or near Catons Island who must carry Grave’s curse, three missing fingers.
Do you know anyone missing three fingers?
THE OMEN
The first Holy Mass on the St. John River was performed in October of 1611 on Catons Island by the Jesuit priest, Father Pierre Baird. He described his arrival to the island and an unusual occurrence as follows.
"We were still one league and a half from the island when twilight ended and night came on. The stars had already begun to appear, when suddenly, towards the Northward a part of the heavens became a blood-red: and this light spreading, little by little in vivid streaks and flashes, moved directly over the settlement of the Malouins and there stopped. The red-glow was so brilliant that the whole river was tinged and made luminous by it. This apparition lasted some eight minutes, and as soon as it disappeared another came of the same form, direction and appearance.
There was not one of us who did not consider this meteoric display prophetic."
To commemorate the 300th anniversary of this first settlement, the New Brunswick Historical Society erected a cairn on Catons Island in 1911.
KINGSTON PENINSULA HERITAGE
Throughout a review of the early history of New Brunswick by the Kingston Peninsula Heritage Group and after contacting many of the current associated groups it is very apparent few people in New Brunswick realize that Catons Island was the first European settlement. The objective of this project is to bring the historical facts into the consciousness of New Brunswickers and to celebrate the meeting of two great cultures here 400 years ago.