Guide to the Pierre Garcelon Papers, 1747-1773, undated
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Cite as: Pierre Garcelon Papers, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine
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Pierre Garcelon was born in May 1685 in Mauriac, France to Pierre Garcelon and Marie La Garige. He became a Catholic priest in the diocese of Clermont, France. During the persecution of the Huguenots (French Protestants), Pierre became disillusioned with his faith and country and fled around 1721, at age 35, to London, England.
On January 14, 1722, Pierre married Anne La Rue, with whom he would later have one son, Pierre. A few months later, he renounced the Catholic faith to join the Church of England. From 1739 to 1772, he served as first curate and then rector of the Episcopal Church at St. Pierre du Bois on the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel. He was an acquaintance of Apollos Rivoire, who emigrated from Guernsey to Boston and was the father of Paul Revere.
Shortly after the death of his first wife in June 1734, he married Jeanne Bedat, and the couple had four children: Peter, Jeanne, Louise, and James. Born in 1739, James came to the United States as a cabin boy on a ship in 1752, and was the great grandfather of Maine Governor (1879) Alonzo Garcelon (1813-1906, Bowdoin 1836).
Pierre's second wife died in 1742, and the following year he married Anne Le Large, with whom he had six children: Martha, Anne, William, Marie, Susanne, and Judith. Pierre died in 1772, at the age of 87, in Guernsey.
The collection contains twelve letters (1750-1773), eleven from Pierre Garcelon to his son, James, and one from rector Jean Godfrey to James concerning his late father's estate; one poem by Pierre Garcelon entitled "Mon adieu a mes chers enfans"; and fourteen sermons also by Pierre Garcelon. All of these materials are in French, although English translations are provided for the letters and poem.
Consists of twelve letters written between 1750-1773. The first eleven are from Pierre Garcelon to his son, James, and the last is from rector Jean Godfrey to James regarding his late father's estate. In the earliest letter, Pierre expresses severe displeasure with his eleven-year-old son's conduct while serving an apprenticeship in London ("you have always had a heart of stone and a natural cruelty") and threatens to book him on a ship to the New World. By the second letter and therafter, James has settled in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, and recieves only kind words from his father (especially after he reports a marriage to a well-born woman). Two letters (12 September, 1753 and 20 April, 1754) mention Apollos Riviore. Each letter is in French and is accompanied by an English translation.
Arranged chronologically.
Rev. Pierre Garcelon to James Garcelon, St. Pierre du Bois. 4 January, 1750 [3p.]
Rev. Pierre Garcelon to James Garcelon, St. Pierre du Bois. 9 June, 1753 [3p.]
Rev. Pierre Garcelon to James Garcelon, Guernsey. 12 September, 1753 [2p.]
Rev. Pierre Garcelon to James Garcelon, St. Pierre du Bois. 20 April, 1754 [2p.]
Rev. Pierre Garcelon to James Garcelon, St. Pierre du Bois. 2 January, 1762 [3p.]
Rev. Pierre Garcelon to James Garcelon, St. Pierre du Bois. 20 June, 1764 [2p.]
Rev. Pierre Garcelon to James Garcelon, St. Pierre du Bois. 20 April, 1765 [2p.] [facsimile]
Rev. Pierre Garcelon to James Garcelon, St. Pierre du Bois. 18 May, 1767 [1p.]
Rev. Pierre Garcelon to James Garcelon, St. Pierre du Bois. 12 March, 1770 [1p.]
Rev. Pierre Garcelon to James Garcelon, St. Pierre du Bois. 13 November, 1770 [2p.]
Rev. Pierre Garcelon to James Garcelon, Guernsey. 12 October, 1771 [1p.]
Jean Godfrey to James Garcelon, St. Sauveur, Guernsey. 12 March, 1773 [3p.]
Consists of one poem and fourteen sermons, all written by rector Pierre Garcelon. The poem, entitled "Mon adieu a mes chers enfans" was written about 1766 in French. Included is an original manuscript, a printed version in French, and a typescript translated into English. The fourteen sermons are all undated except for one written after his daughter's death in July 1747. The sermons do not include English translations.
Arranged by material type, with sermons arranged by biblical passage.
Poems: "Mon Adieu A Mes Chers Enfans" [orginal mss.; typescript (in English) and printed copy (in French)]
Sermons: Proverbs: 3, 7; "Be not wise..." [16p.]
Sermons: John: 5, 39; "Search the scriptures..." [18p.]
Sermons: John: 5, 39; "Search the scriptures..." and Hebrews: 1, 1; "God, who at sundry times..." [seven sermons] [94p.]
Sermons: Titus: 2, 11-12; "For the grace of God..." [sermon one] [18p.]
Sermons: Titus: 2, 11-12; "For the grace of God..." [sermon two] [14p.]
Sermons: James: 4, 3; "Ye ask, and receive not..." [sermon one] [14p.]
Sermons: James: 4, 3; "Ye ask, and receive not..." [sermon two] [16p.]
Sermons: Revelations: 20, 6; "Blessed and holy is he..." [written July 1747, Guernsey] [18p.]