La Nouvelle France

Emile Charles Adolphe Stehelin sat in his chair...his mind was not on his surroundings but rather on the years to come...his sons future. From his comfortable chair a dream was being born and in the years to follow he saw his dream of the future become a reality. However...as faith would have it...the wars and uncertainties he wanted so badly to escape in his beloved France crumbled his dream in this new and distant land...it was to be the rise and fall of "Le Village de la Nouvelle France"...

At the age of thirteen I became an "adopted" member of the Stehelin family...however...New France was no stranger to me. My grandfather Willie Lombard had told me many stories of "les Stelon de la Nouvelle France". As a young child he had visited the village with his father Cyriac to deliver milk. I had already paddled some of it's lakes and rivers and to a lesser degree had trekked some of it's old trails. La Nouvelle France for many years had a very special place in my heart...not based totally on it's history...but rather due to the many peaceful and happy memories it held...along with some not so happy times. In all...it was a sanctuary to escape the reality of life...a place to be alone if one wished to...it was for me want Emile Charles Adolphe Stehelin had envisioned..."la vie tranquille..."

I will not go into the history of La Nouvelle France as it is impossible to tell it's story as brilliantly as was accomplished by my late uncle...Paul Hans Stehelin in his book The Electric City - The Stehelins of New France. Any one who ever had the pleasure of knowing this wonderful man will agree he was a true "story teller" and this is seen in his writing. He researched his work like the professional he was...with an open mind. He spoke and listened to the sources who lived there and to those who were actually born there. He wrote not want they simply said...but rather want they felt. Not an easy task but uncle Paul...you did it...

This page will focus mainly on the people who played a part in the “Village de la Nouvelle France” in a humble attempt to place faces to the names so often heard and seen in the articles in regards to New France.

I was very fortunate to have known one of the original members of the founding family of New France...Germaine...lovingly know to me as "Tante Germaine". Whenever she was visiting us I would spend as much time as possible with her and to my mom’s "high brow" reactions...at time I would ask her ALL kinds of questions about her life as a young girl in the wilderness and later about her experiences as a captain’s wife on the high seas. More about "Tante Germaine" later.

I was also very fortunate to have known one of the children born at New France...Jacqueline...the daughter of Emile Jean Stehelin and Annie Baldwin...and my “adopted aunt”.


La Famille Stehelin de la Nouvelle France

Le Village de la Nouvelle France

The Mystery of the Lost Twins of La Nouvelle France

Easy Run in Back of La Nouvelle France