While seeking financial backing for his colonization Company in France, Chicoyne met the abbot of the Trappist monastery at Meilleraye, who at the time was considering moving the monastery to escape heavy taxation by the French government. Chicoyne tried to persuade the abbot to purchase part of a 4,480-hectare British American Land Company block near La Patrie. He felt that these excellent farmers would serve as models for the local colonists, as well as enhance the value of the block, making it a valuable investment for his projected company. The monastery did buy 340 hectares in 1880 and the Canadian-born Father Jerome was sent with two Trappist brothers to start developing the property. Within two years the three men had performed the formidable task of clearing 34 hectares and constructing a road, as well as purchasing a mill and moving the former chapel of La Patrie to their site, which they christened BethlΘem. This photograph shows how the basic log cabin structure was adapted to become a miniature monastery, with a second floor for living quarters as well as a steeple and a statue of the Infant Jesus in a niche over the door. When the abbot arrived to inspect the property in 1882 he expressed great disappointment with the climate and the condition of the roads in the area. He was particularly alarmed at the expenditure of $8,000 (Father Jerome had contracted a $2,000 debt) for a property barely worth $5,000. It was subsequently sold at a loss by the hard-pressed religious order, which eventually established itself at Oka, near MontrΘal.
Courtesy: La SociΘtΘ d'Histoire des Cantons de l'Est, Sherbrooke
