The St. Jerome Bible Mystery

From the Archives – Mary Anne Ducharme  (February 2011)

Four Ryan familes came to Hemmingford beginning in the early 19th century. These Irish Catholic farmers, some with roots traced to Tipperary and Wexford in the old country, often married French Catholics.

An 1875 Bible of Catherine Fleming Ryan came into the possession of Edmond Priest who has Ryan ancestry. The earliest hand-written entry on the fly leaf is Joseph Ryan, born 1878, followed by the words “Parish of St. Jerome.” The last entry is the 1884 birth of Margaret E. Ryan, after which is written clearly “Parish of St. Jerome all in Hemmingford.”

In parish registers Flemming-Ryan children are recorded as baptised in the Saint-Romain parish which was named in the 1853 consecration on August 9, the feast day of St. Romain.

The present church, opened in 1895, replaced a fieldstone church built in 1840. Was the old name St. Jerome? Is there some other explanation?

Further information is requested on the Ryan families; the St. Jerome reference; and the history of the house on 462 Champlain Avenue.
Contact : mducharme117@sympatico.ca. or Edmond Priest at edmondpri@hotmail.com