The Headless Nun of French Fort Cove, New Brunswick, Canada

Sep 19

During the 17th century, many Europeans traveled and settled in Northern America at a place that became known as New France. But in the 18th century, wars between the British and French for that land created a tragic tale of a nun who still haunts the area today.

The Acadians

After the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, France was forced to surrender much of its land in present-day Nova Scotia to the British. Much of the French colony of Acadia was forced to move into the area presently known as New Brunswick.

Over the next several decades the mainly Protestant Great Britain sent settlers to live in Nova Scotia nearby the mainly Catholic Acadians. Unsurprisingly this caused heightened tension and finally a war, known as Father Le Loutre’s War in 1749. By the end of the war, the British had won and enacted what would be known as the Expulsion of Acadians.

Over ten thousand Acadians were forced out of their homes and deported to either the American colonies or France. Over five thousand died on the rushed perilous journeys from starvation, disease, and shipwrecks. Still, around two thousand other Acadians eluded capture and stayed in the New Brunswick area hoping they wouldn’t be found.

Sister Marie

Hearing the news of the treatment of the Acadians, the French nun, Sister Marie demanded she be sent to the remaining colony to help the sick and wounded. Her superiors agreed and Sister Marie was on the next ship to Acadia. Arriving in present-day Miramichi, she immediately became an integral part of the community.

Sister Marie was beloved by all and put together a community fund to help the families in need when and if the time came. Unfortunately, the time came sooner than anyone wanted. Word reached the small community that the British had been told of their existence and were now out looking for them.

Fearing their valuables would be stolen by the British forces if they arrived, the community gathered up all their gold and jewelry and gave them to Sister Marie for safekeeping. Along with the funds she had built up over the months, Sister Marie buried the items in a secret place.

The Headless Nun

Several days later, in the dead of night, while returning to her home Sister Marie was attacked near some woods by several men. One of the men revealed a large sword and demanded she tell them where the valuables were buried. Sister Marie refused and she was beaten as she cried out for help. Realizing she wasn’t going to reveal the location, one of the men held her down as the other chopped off her head.

Having heard her cries for help, several from nearby homes came running but they would only see two men tossing Sister Marie’s head into a nearby lake as they ran off. Over the next few days, several of the community searched for her head but it was never found. The Acadians shipped Sister Marie’s body without her head back to France for burial and the men responsible were never found.

Almost immediately after Sister Marie’s body was sent, some in the community started to report seeing someone walking along the same path she took every night. One night, a man was walking along the path and noticed someone emerging from the forest wearing what appeared to be a nun’s habit.

As he approached her, he let out a scream when he realized the nun was without a head. The man quickly turned and ran, later claiming to have heard a ghostly voice ask, “Where is my head?”

Over the next several centuries others have claimed to see the headless nun wandering around Miramichi and the area known today as French Fort Cove. The stories say you can spot her walking around in the dead of night under a full moon looking for someone to help her find her head.

Other Versions

There are other versions of the Headless Nun’s tale, though they mostly follow the same origin. Some say Sister Marie was already living in the community when the Acadians were forced out of their homes.

In this version, Sister Marie didn’t have a secret fund and was killed by a trapper who had gone insane. Other versions say the men who killed her were pirates, or part of the British forces, or even some from her own community.

One particular version claims that Sister Marie’s ghost has become malevolent over the centuries. If one refuses to help her search for her head, she’ll follow them to their homes and kill them in their sleep.

Regardless of what the original version of the legend is, we may never know if the story ever even happened at all. Records of that time are impossible to get especially given the war. Sister Marie is often given the last name Inconnue which is French for ‘unknown’ because even in some versions no one knew her actual name.

As far as the legend, researching its origin leads me to Doug Underhill’s 1999 book “Miramichi: Tales Tall & True”. In the book, he attributes the legend to historian Harold W.J. Adams who supposedly wrote it in the Miramichi Leader, but we’re not given a publication date.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any archives for the Miramichi Leader newspaper nor could I find any other sources that give a specific date for when the story was first published. Oddly enough, I also couldn’t find any information on Harold W.J. Adams anywhere, it’s almost as if he, like the headless nun, never existed…

Because of all this, it’s hard to prove or disprove the story of Sister Marie, The Headless Nun. Today, some who go to the French Fort Cove claim to experience something supernatural but, like many ghost stories and haunted places, most have never experienced anything supernatural at French Fort Cove.