Enemond Masse

Enemond Massé

One of the first Jesuits sent to New France; born at Lyons, 1574; died at Sillery, l2 May, 1646. He went to Acadia with Father Biard, and when it was found impossible to effect any good there, they established a new mission at the present Bar Harbor, Maine, which was soon after destroyed by the English -- Massé being set adrift on the sea in an open boat. He succeeded in reaching a French ship and returned to France. In 1625 he again set sail for Canada, and remained there until the fall of Quebec. He returned a third time in 1632, but, as he was in advanced in age, he no longer laboured among the savages, but lived mostly at Sillery, which he built as a reservation for the converted Indians. A monument has recently been erected to his honour at this place on the site of the old Jesuit Church which stood on the bank of the St. Lawrence a short distance above Quebec.

T.J. CAMPBELL