UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1988, a special cancel for Fr. Rasle Days
featuring the Father Sebastian Rale SJ historic monument in St. Sebastian Cemetery, Madison, MaineSebastian Râle (Rasle) was born at Pontarlier, France in 1652, entered the Jesuits at Dole in 1675, and after finishing his studies in 1688, sailed as a missionary to the New World. He worked mostly among the Abenaki Indians on the Kennebec River in Maine. New England colonists suspected him of turning the natives against them and the British, and he was eventually shot by an English force that attacked his headquarters at Norridgewock Mission, Maine, 23 August, 1724. Râle left behind a dictionary of the Abenaki language. The cancel above marks the 1988 Madison-Anson Father Rasle Days, a annual celebration begun in 1976 with street dances, road races, golf tournament, fishing derby, queen contests, carnival games, street sales, barbecues, sometimes fireworks, and a parade as the grand finale.
