Histoire illustrée du canton de Potton

Schools

The early settlers of the Township brought with them the diversity of their religious confessions and their way of occupying the land.

The first school, built in 1807, was located on Vale Perkins Road just east of the Missisquoi River. Additional schools were opened in various locations in Potton and made schooling accessible to most children. They were one-room schools and were also used for church services.

They were identified by a number; at one time there were 18 Protestant schools in Potton.

A major Protestant school was built in Mansonville in 1825 and was situated where the cenotaph is now. After burning down in 1893 a new school was built, called the Academy, which was renamed the Model School in 1901.

In 1953, this school was tom down and replaced by a new modern one called the Intermediate, which in the 60's changed its name to Mansonville Elementary School.

The first Catholic school was built in 1880 on the site where the Centre de Service is located today; it burned down in 1922 but was rebuilt and became the convent of "Les Filles de la Charité" who taught there from 1924 to 1956.

Churches

The pioneers of Potton, primarily Baptists, Methodists and Anglicans, relied on visiting missionaries or "circuit riders," who held religious services in private homes or schools for the first 40 years or so.

The Baptists were instrumental in building a nondenominational meetinghouse near Meig's Corner in 1844 and the first church in Mansonville in 1848. This church building was sold to the Church of England in 1856, but was replaced in 1902 by the present Anglican Church.

The Baptists built their present church in 1891.

Dunkin had a "Union Church" and an Anglican Church, which are still standing today and are now private properties. The Methodists established a mission in Mansonville in 1873 and built a church in 1879 on the site of the present United Church. This church was destroyed by fire but rebuilt in 1894.

The first Catholic Church was established in 1880. To allow the construction of a larger church, the building was moved across the street in 1919 and became a private residence.

The new church burnt down on March 17, 1950 and was replaced by the present Saint Cajetan Church.

Cemeteries

Cemeteries are silent but eloquent witnesses of the past and can provide a rich harvest of family and local information.

Some tombstones tell about early child deaths, caused by poverty and disease.

In 1797 Hendrick Ruiter established the Ruiter Settlement Cemetery in Dunkin to bury his two-year old son.

This was the first of several family cemeteries still in use today with 7 others, while 10 are abandoned.

There are also today two major public cemeteries located on opposite sides of Main Street at the northern fringes of Mansonville.