When you began researching your French-Canadian ancestry, it probably wasn’t long before someone pointed you to the Drouin collections: either the Blue Drouin, the Red Drouin, or the Little Drouin, the microfilmed or digitized versions, the online Lafrance database, or the many other records found in the Drouin Collection....
The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” couldn’t be truer than when we see our ancestor’s face for the first time. We can’t help but look for a resemblance to the features looking back at us. Who in the family has those eyes, that nose? But finding...
Many genealogists go straight to online trees when they encounter a new surname in the family tree. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s part of the initial literature search we should all do. We need to see if someone else has already researched that particular line before we spend...
Do you have a voyageur in your ancestry? A coureur de bois? How about an engagé? Huh? So what’s the difference? Suzanne Sommerville will help you to distinguish between them as she takes you through the history of the fur trade in New France and into the British Regime....
Margaret Fortier, CG®, walks you through what’s available in Catholic church records and where to find them online. Included is a 5-page handout packed with resources, charts, and tips. Find the link in the show notes at http://maplestarsandstripes.com/89. Have yourself a safe, healthy and happy Christmas and New Years, and...
The Drouin Institute recently had a major increase in its NBMDS database. These church records come from four major regions of Quebec. Bertrand Desjardins helps us to get the most from our searches. Learn what’s included in the collection, tips for initial searches and extended searches, and how to...
When you search for a marriage in the PRDH, you may find a link to a marriage contract instead of the marriage itself. The clue in the record below is the format of the date, 1738-07-04, which is in italics. Normal print is a marriage record; italics indicate a...
We all have them. Piles of notarial records that need translating. Among them is arguably the most important notary record of all–the marriage contract. This document gives us an intimate look into the lives of our ancestors. Yet many of us haven’t tackled them yet due to the language...
Moving on…to eleven more record sets from the Drouin Collection records. These records span the United States, Quebec, Ontario, and the Eastern Townships. They cover Catholic as well as Protestant records. They begin with the settlement period, and some go into the 21st century. Bertrand Desjardins joins us again...
It’s difficult to get the younger generation interested in genealogy when you show them a list of names, dates, and places. But stories of adventures and misdeeds can really spark an interest. So where do we get these tales of adventure and misdeeds? A good place to start is...
