Acadian Genealogy Homepage; Madawaska, Maine Acadian Place Names

 

Home of Acadian-Cajun & French-Canadian Family Resources, Surnames and Historical Information... since 1991.

 

 Click the image above to visit the Acadian-Cajun & French-Canadian Online Boutique...
 [Once at CafePress, enter "Acadian-Cajun" in the blank portion of the SEARCH BAR]
 

 

 

Be sure to scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page, to view its entire content.......

In a Hurry?

Want a copy of all the pertinent information on this web site, on a CD-ROM?

Click here for a Great Genealogy Gift Idea!
 

Sign up to receive our Boutique Newsletter!

 

Subscribed to my Newsletter?

On a periodic basis, I (infrequently) send out Acadian Genealogy resource information on a complimentary basis to those folks who have subscribed to receive same. If you want to be added to my mailing list, just sent an email to newsletter@acadian.org with the single word "subscribe" (without the quotation marks) in the SUBJECT portion of the message. Please include your complete name (first AND last) in the BODY of the message, otherwise, your request CANNOT be validated.

 

Click here or the image above, to view your Family Crest
 

Old Place Name Map of the Upper St. John River Valley

[ Based on a map by Walter Fournier, Sinclair Maine ]

 

 

Allagash: from Wallegoseoegwam, a Maliseet word meaning “Bark Cabin”, probably indicitive of a hunting
camp; or, possibly meaning “north flowing water”.

Aroostook: “Beautiful or shining river”, from w’alustuk, the Maliseet name for the St. John River. The Maliseet
called themselves the W'olastiquiyik, meaning “the people of the shining river”.

Audibert Brook: named after Willette Audibert, who had a farm there.

Beaulieu Brook: for Benoit Beaulieu, who owned a farm there.

Belanger Settlement: named after first settler Antoine Belanger.

Bossy Mountain: named after Jim Bosse.

Brise cullotte Lake/road: French name meaning “broken pants”. The story is that the men who worked the
lumbering in that area often came out at the end of the season with their pants in tatters.

Buggy Brook: named after Edward “buggy” Michaud, and for the swarms of bugs that inhabited the area in
the summer.

Buffalo: Named for the men who lived in the area who let their hair and beards get shaggy in the winter. OR,
named after a troop of soldiers marching to Fort kent during the Aroostook war who were from Buffalo NY.

Carriveau Mill: For the Corriveau family, owners.

Connors Brook: For John Connors, logger.

Cross Lake: The Natives named it “Nentinagamick”, meaning Cross Lake. Named because one had to cross
a projection of land to get to it from the St. Francis River, and/or because one had to cross this lake to get
from Mud Lake to Square Lake.

Cyr Mountain: Named for Maxime Cyr.

Daigle Brook: In Grand Isle, for Joseph Daigle. In New Canada, for Vital Daigle. In Fort Kent, for an unknown
Daigle.

Debouillie Mountain: Acadian “the bowl”, or named after a logger named Debouillie?

Dickey Brook: for William Dickey

Dionne Corner: for Eloie and Joseph Dionne

Dubay Point: for Clement Dubay

Eagle Lake: Named by Major Hastings Strickland in 1839 on his way to Fort Kent, for eagles seen there. The
Maliseets called it “Quesawaimuique”, ‘Place of Maple Trees’.

Fall Brook: Was called “Madawecopawiak” by the Maliseets, for the “waterfall at the mouth of the river”.

Factory Brook: Named for the starch factory there owned by Michael Michaud.

Fish River: Named after Ira Fish, early 1800’s explorer. The Maliseet called it Unquillops, meaning ??

Five Mile Brook: Brook which enters Big Black River 5 miles from where the Big Black River enters the St.
John River.

Fort Kent: Named for Maine Govenor Edward Kent. The Americans built a Fort there at the mouth of the
Fish River during the Aroostook War against England/Canada.

Frenchville: named for its large French population.

Gagnon Brook: Named for Hippolyte Gagnon, who owned a lumbermill there.

Gagnon Hill: named after Horace and Donat Gagnon.

Germain Lake: Named after Germain Soucy

Gilbert Brook: Either named after Edward Gilbert or Zeno Jalbert.

Glazier Lake: Named after the Glazier family of loggers.

Grand Isle: Named for the large island in the St. John River.

Joe Dubay Brook: For Joe Dubay, Logger.

Kelly Brook/Mountain: In St. Francis for James Kelly, in Allagash for the Kelly Family.

Ketch Pond: For Joseph Ketchum

Labbe: For Mill on Fish River owned by George Labbe.

Labbe Pond: for George Labbe.

Lagasse Brook: For G. F. and R. Lagasse, Acadian Farmers

Lavoie Brook: for Joseph Lavoie.

Les Trois: misappelation of “les etroits”, or “the narrows” of the St. John River.

Levesque Island: for Damase Levesque

Long Lake: Descriptive. The Maliseets called it Waisquetche, meaning ‘the last’ or ‘the end’, as it is the last
lake in the Fish River chain of lakes heading northward.

Madawaska: Maliseet-“where one river runs into another with watergrass”, or MicMac- “place of the
porcupine”.

Martin Brook: In Madawaska for Pea Martin. In Wallagrass for the Martin family.

Martins Siding: For Joseph Martin who owned land bought by the Bangor Railroad.

Michaud Hill: for Damus Michaud, OR, generally for the Michaud family who owned the land around
Wallagrass Stream.

Michaud Island: for Romain Michaud, Captain (for the English) in the Aroostook War.

Michaud Mill: for Michaud family mill owners.

Michigan Settlement: named for a group of women who started a knitting business in the area and called
their merchandise “michigan”.

Montangue Platte: descriptive, “flat mountain”.

Morin Mountain: For Joseph Marin.

Negro Brook: Named for a Black logger who drowned during a log drive.

Ouellette Brook: For Joseph Ouellette

Paradis Brook: For the Paradis family of loggers.

Perley Brook: Named after an Englishman named Pearle whose nickname was “pearley”

Petite Brook: misappelation of “Pitook Brook” named after Pitook Cyr.

Pinette Hill: named for Charles and Phydime Pinnette.

Poche D’our: Acadian for “bear pocket”.

Quaggy Joe: A mis-spelling of “quaquajo”, Abenaki meaning ‘boundary mountain” for the boundary between
the Micmac and the Malecite territories.

Regiest Daigle Brook: for Regiest Daigle.

Riviere Des Chutes: “river of falls”, however there are no falls on this brook. May have applied to the
turbulence of the spring watershed where the brook enters the St. John River

Rossignol Brook: for Honore, Fortunat, and Denis Rossignol.

St. Froid: Unlike the other place names actually named after parish patron saints, St. Froid was a surveyor’s
misunderstanding of the Frenchman Sefroi Nadeau’s first name.

St. Francis River: Was originally called Amilcungantiquake by the Maliseets, meaning “the banks of the river
that abound with meat for drying”.

St. John Brook: For a local St. John family who pronounced their name “Sin Jin”.

St. John River: named by Samual Champlain when he arrived at it’s mouth on St. John the Baptist’s Day.
Called the W’alustuk by the native Maliseets.

Savage Brook: for a soldier named Savage who remained in the area after the Aroostook War.

Savage Island: Named for Daniel Savage, initiator of lumber operations in St. John township.

Sinclair Brook: In St. John Town, named for D. Sinclair. In T14 R12 for a soldier named Sinclair who
remained after the Aroostook War. It is unknown who the town of Sinclair is named after.

Six Mile Island: Named as it is six miles from Van Buren.

Sly Brook: Descriptive of its winding course.

Soldier Pond: For the soldiers who built a temporary quarters there on the banks of the Fish River during
the Aroostook War. On Dec. 24, 1839 the quarters caught fire and two soldiers were killed.

Soucier Bog: For Fred Saucier, who had a logging operation in the area.

Square Lake: The Indians called the lake “Petquamick”, their word for “round”, however, it was at one point
given the opposite translation to “square” by les Anglais.

Thibodeau Brook: so named due to the number of Thibodeau’s living there.

Thibodeau Brook (Grand Isle): For Baptiste Thibodeau, Acadian settler 1785.

Three Mile Island: For its location 3 miles from where the Allagash meets the St. John River.

Three Mile Pond: For its location three miles from the Allagash River.

Umsaskis Lake: Maliseet for “linked together like sausage”

Van Buren: named for Martin Van Buren, U.S. President during the Aroostook War.

Violette Settlement: For the Numerous Violette families living there.

Wallagrass: Maliseet/MicMac “good river”.

Wheelock: for Walter Wheelock, early lumberman.

Yankeetuladi Brook/Pond: Blend of English “yankee” and Maliseet “tuladi” meaning tongue, OR, Maliseet
for “place where they make canoes”



Rainbow Line

I am very grateful to my good friend, Ken Theriault, webmaster of the Madawaska Historical Society web site and Vice-President of the Maine Acadian Heritage Council [2006], for having provided me authorizarion to reproduce the above-noted, here.

Rainbow Line

 


Click here for details on the "Apecific Surnames Acadian-Cajun Family Genealogy" CD-ROMs, now available

 


 

Click on the button above, to View more Acadian-Cajun "Place Names"

 

 

Click on buttons below, to view more Maps of Acadia

 


 

 

 

 
Link Machine. Reciprocal link exchange management software that makes it easy to find and contact quality link partners, generate custom link pages that match your site, and keep track of reciprocal links. LinkMachine automatically updates your link pages the instant they're changed - no uploading required. Link exchanges increase a site's targeted traffic, search engine ranking, and sales.


Comments about this Page? E-Mail me at: my E-Mail address.
 

 
Acadian Genealogy Homepage URL address: http://www.acadian.org
Webmasters: Click here to download graphic images.