“ . . . a people’s bank is of such vital concern to the prosperity of agriculture, that it deserves every consideration . . .” Father Belcourt, 1873
The wide curve of Rustico Bay faces the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and is sheltered by Robinson’s Island and a thin spit of land along on the north shore of PEI. Small rivers that open onto the bay break up the shoreline farm fields and leave red cliffs, sandy beaches, and coves. The tiny village of Rustico seems perched on a rise across a stretch of farm fields and with a river leading out to the bay as a back drop. The substantial, two story Farmers’ Bank is built from the red brown island sandstone.
A brochure describes the bank as, “a building of national importance, a symbol of Acadian survival.” Father Georges-Antoine Belcourt and his French Catholic parishioners launched the Farmers’ Bank of Rustico to address the perennial debt local farmers owed to merchants. In order to give the farmers access to lower interest loans Father Belcourt initiated conversations through study clubs associated with the L’Institut Catholique de Rustico. Within three years, local families pulled together about $4,000 to establish the bank which was incorporated in 1863 and chartered by the English government in 1864 as “the first people’s bank in Canada” and “a precursor to the Credit Union Movement.” The Farmers’ Bank of Rustico was, in terms of capital, “the smallest bank ever chartered in Canada, possibly in the whole Union.” Local farmers and fisherman composed the first Directors of the Bank and its loans were usually in the range of $35-$40. An exhibit traces the thirty year history of the bank that closed in 1894. Father Belcourt left his mark in other ways, including the establishment of a parish library with a rich collection of books focused on practical skills as well as music, singing, and art. He is also said to have been involved in the first automobile crash on PEI in 1866 — but you’ll have to see the exhibit for that story.
The Farmers’ Bank Museum presents the prehistory of the area, the settlement and history of “a Nouvelle Acadie” and the local Acadian story. Before the Acadian settlements on the Ile Saint-Jean in the early 1700s, the region was home to the Mi’Kmaq people and the museum’s owes a rich archaeological collection to Howard Gauthier of Rustico. Intensive archaelogical study on Robinson’s Island indicates that fishing and gathering shellfish along with hunting “beaver, mink, waterfowl, seals and walrus” sustained the Mi’Kmaq.
The main exhibit is handsomely put together. Like many Island museums with new exhibits, it makes heavy use of digitally designed and printed panels that incorporate both images and, in this case, fairly extensive text. However, this exhibit is also rich in Acadian material culture. The exhibit briefly traces the area’s troubled history broken first by the Acadians appearance in the Mi’Kmaq world and then by the expulsion of the Maritimes’ Acadian population. When the “Grand Derangement” in Nova Scotia peaked in 1755, some took refuge on Prince Edward Island. (This story is memorialized in both Longfellow’s poem Evangeline and Robbie Robertson’s lyrics for Acadian Driftwood recorded by The Band and later covered by The Roches.) Others were forced out of Prince Edward Island as well. The detailed story of Alexis Doiron who, like many Acadians, was “destined to have a life of wandering” highlights the experience of an inhabitant expelled to France, who returned only to struggle, fail, then move once again to become established in Rustico.
The main exhibit gives the greatest attention to the Acadians’ lives, homes, work, institutions, faith, and families. The Acadian population, barred as Catholics from political participation and “treated as second class citizens” in the early 19th century, was isolated and focused around the local Catholic Church. The exhibit describes a people beset with poverty and illiteracy but characterized by self-sufficiency, tradition, and determination. The exhibit celebrates the brief tenure of Father Belcourt and his extensive impact on life in the region – which was followed by a gradual increase in integration with the larger Island economy and culture in the late 19th century. It also points in interesting and sometimes subtle ways to conflicts within the Catholic Church hierarchy, between population groups, and among community members over time.
Images of the Farmers’ Bank Museum exhibit and Doucet House interior courtesy of the museum.
Interest in Acadian genealogy brings visitors to Rustico from Nova Scotia, the United States – the Cajun population has its roots in the Acadian removal – France and elsewhere in Canada. The museum staff assists visitors with these questions while also working to strengthen the local sense of identity and community.
Other historic sites surround the bank; a visitor, looking around the cluster of buildings that makes up Rustico, gets a great sense of local history. In such a small community, the imposing St. Augustine’s Church, built first in 1838, and Rustico Convent, now the Belcourt Centre but once a Catholic girls’ boarding school, signify the importance of the Catholic Church. The 1720s era Doucet House, “certainly the oldest house in the Rustico area and possibly in the whole province,” was moved to its site next to the Farmers’ Bank. Restored and furnished, the Doucet House and its outbuildings present the sparse material lives of Acadian farmers in the 18th century. The second floor of the Farmers’ Bank Museum also housed a detailed exhibit about moving and restoring the Doucet House. You can learn more about this preservation story on the Farmers’ Bank website as well. The Barachois Inn is a dramatic, wood-frame 1880 Empire style house built by a local merchant; it is now a working Inn. Looking across the river that leads out to the bay, the gently rising farm fields are divided by fences and trees into the long narrow strips that characterized Island settlement.
When you drive to Rustico, be sure to stop at the A.P. Gallant Country Food Market at the intersection of Route 6 and Route 243 to see the work of one of my favorite local artists. Karen Gallant, a local designer and painter, keeps a gallery above the family store. Her dream-like island landscapes are saturated with color. She evokes the Acadian cultural heritage, gracing appropriately the cover for George Arsenault’s Acadian Legends, Folktales, and Songs of Prince Edward Island. Explore Karen Gallant’s extensive online portfolio.
In 2005 and 2006, we came to Rustico for the Rustico Rendez Vous, a two day festival of Acadian cultural heritage celebrated in concerts and local food. Set under a large tent, with a view of farm fields and the river, the Rendez Vous reunited local Acadians with their far-flung families. The emotional pull of the event surfaced in stage performances by extended, multi-generational family bands whose members were drawn back by the occasion from Toronto and Edmonton.
The larger provincial Acadian Museum in Miscouche presents the broad story of Acadians on Prince Edward Island and their material culture in more detail. Home to the Centre for Acadian Research of Prince Edward Island with a collection of oral history and folklore interviews, this museum offers genealogical resources as well as a heritage trail.
For more on Acadian history visit “1755: L’Histoire et les Histoires” which you can tour in either French or English.
In my next PEI post, I’ll tell you about my favorite museum devoted to Lucy Maude Mongtomery and Anne of Green Gables.
A Prince Edward Island genealogy and Acadian researcher, also a Gallant, elaborated on and corrected some of my comments above:
- Father Belcourt and his parishioners (the majority of whom were Acadians) launched the Farmers Bank of Rustico by studying their financial problems in the sudy clubs of l’Institut Catholique de Rustico. Although the Acadians of the Maritimes and the French of Quebec came from France, we differentiate between the two because their history in the New World is different.
- Since we were still a colony of England, the act of incorporation drawn up in 1863 had to be passed by our legislature (passed in 1863) and had to be signed by the Queen ( took one year – signed in 1864) to become law.
- The Acadian settlements on Ile Saint-Jean began in 1720.
- The Acadians did not appropriate the lands of the Mi’Kmaq; in fact, the Mi’Kmaq were great friends of the Acadians. In many cases, the Mi’Kmaq were responsible for their survival.
- The forceful removal of the Acadians from Nova Scotia, some of whom escaped to Ile Saint-Jean is correct; however, you failed to mention the forceful removal of the Acadians from Ile Saint-Jean three years later, some of whom also escaped. The two expulsions have some similarities but there are differences. This year we are commemorating the 250th anniversary of the 1758 expulsion from Ile Saint-Jean.
- Alexis Doiron was expelled to France in 1758 and later returned to the eastern end of P.E.I. and eventually made his way to Rustico – he DID NOT return to France. Rustico is said to be the oldest community in P.E.I. settled after the expulsion of 1758 that still has descendants of the original settlers living there.
- Rustico Convent began as a girls’ school in 1882; some boarders provided some financial assistance for the operation of the Convent. In 1920, boys were allowed to attend the Convent.
Many thanks!
One more correction — the Doucet House dates to the 1770s, not the 1720s. It’s a fine example of post-1758 deportation Acadian vernacular architecture, and is indeed the oldest documented house on the Island.
Your photos are wonderful — thanks for your article and interest in my favorite spot in the world!