While researching French Canadians in US Census, I noticed a lot of newcomers in Vergennes and Ferrisburgh just before 1840. It struck me how many people—whole families—from Marieville, Saint-Mathias (Pointe-Olivier), and Yamaska, among others, had to leave their village to go to work in Vermont. While some only spent the winter season, others never returned. Available lands being far from enough for the ever-increasing demand, same clearly led families to take the road. With 900,000 people emigrating between 1830 and 1920 to the United States, some say that the Quebec population would be much larger today.
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