Description of Historic Place

Founders’ Cemetery is a rural cemetery with 8 visible tombstones and 2 commemorative monuments located on Saulnier Street East, near the Little Tracadie River, in Tracadie-Sheila.

Heritage Value

Founders’ Cemetery is designated a Local Historic Place in recognition of the first inhabitants of the former village of Tracadie who are buried there.

Although 170 persons were interred in the cemetery between 1798 and 1880, with 94 of those persons identified as having been leprosy victims, only 8 tombstones are still visible today. The existing tombs bear the names Basque, Losier, LeBreton, and Saulnier. A monument erected in 1992 by the Losier Foundation identifies the 41 members of the Losier Family that are interred there. The first person buried there was François LeBreton in 1799. The cemetery is located near the houses of the first inhabitants and the first church, none of which remain standing today. A wooden cross stands in the middle of the cemetery as a tribute to these founding families of the former village of Tracadie.

Source : Town of Tracadie-Sheila, Heritage file # 6

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe the location of Founders’ Cemetery include:
- location near the site of the first chapel in Tracadie;
- location near the site of the first houses in Tracadie;

The character-defining elements that describe Founders’ Cemetery include:
- wooden cross in the middle of the cemetery paying tribute to the founding families of Tracadie;
- stone path half hidden by vegetation leading up to the wooden cross;
- Losier Family monument;
- wooden fence on three sides of the cemetery;
- remains of 170 persons;
- remaining tombstones, some dating from the late 1700s and 1800s;
- open sight lines to the Little Tracadie River.