File MUN #661738 at Memorial University of Newfoundland is a term paper tiled The History of Freshwater, which was written by Hyacinth Murphy of Freshwater Placentia Bay for the History 3110 course in which she was enrolled. The 27-page booklet makes numerous references to Argentia and most of the information in those references is extremely erroneous.

The two major misrepresentations of Argentia's history produced by Murphy pertained to health care and the last parish priest in Argentia. For example, in reference to health care on page four, Murphy wrote; “…the hospital was in existence in 1921. It contained two wards, one private room and an operation room.” There was no hospital anywhere in Placentia Bay in 1921. In 1935, the Commission of Government created a plan to build 13 cottage hospitals in central outport regions. Argentia qualified for one of the first six. Actually, the cottage hospital at Argentia was the first of the six to be started. It opened in April 1936. Since she was studying at the university level, it is strange that she had not known about that important piece of Newfoundland history.

Regarding church history, she wrote; “Previous to 1908, the communities [sic] had a temporary pastor, Reverend J. J. McDermott. In 1908, according to Church Records, Fr. Dee was appointed parish priest and remained so until his death in Freshwater on December 27, 1951.”

It was quite obvious that Murphy had never seen Holy Rosary Parish records. The records of Holy Rosary Parish that are maintained by the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation's archives in St. John's are quite detailed … and contradictory to the information in The History of Freshwater.

Holy Rosary Parish was started in Argentia by Father Pelagius Nowlan in 1831 — when the community was known as Little Placentia — and it had a full-time parish priest from that time onward. Father Joseph J. McDermott — who served at Holy Rosary Parish from December 1895 to April 10, 1896 — was the fourth of thirteen parish priests to minister to the residents of that part of Newfoundland.

The phrase “In 1908, according to Church Records,” was a false claim that proved Murphy did not conduct any research pertaining to Holy Rosary Parish. Information contained in Holy Rosary Parish records show that Father Dee became parish priest at Argentia on Thursday, January 12, 1922, and he stayed there until Argentia ceased to exist as a colonial community in December 1941 … after all the residents had been evicted to make way for a huge U.S. military installation. He then became the administrator of Holy Rosary Parish, which had been re-established at Freshwater after most of the Argentia residents moved there in 1941. His date of death, as presented in The History of Freshwater, was correct.