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Episode 096-January 1, 2021

Today we are going to break our bad habits. We are going to get away from our reliable go-to databases and look at some lesser-used ones at Ancestry.com.

Lesser-Used French-Canadian Resources at Ancestry.com-Part 1

Ancestry’s old reliables

We genealogists tend to be creatures of habit. When we go to ancestry.com, our first stop, and sometimes our only stop, is to the Drouin parish registers. Then occasionally we’ll venture into the notarial records. And while both of those databases are extremely valuable, it’s good to extend beyond the basics and fill out our ancestors’ stories.

Because of COVID–19, many libraries which offer Ancestry’s Library Edition are allowing patrons to use the databases at home. Check your local library. For a list of potential US libraries, see Genealogy Bargain$’s post Get FREE Online Library Access for Genealogy & Family History Research. For Canadian libraries, check out Genealogy à la carte’s article, Public libraries extending free at-home access to Ancestry beyond initial April 30 deadline.

Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records, 1621-1968 (from the Drouin Collection): old faithful #1

Ancestry’s parish record collection consists of images from the civil copy which was sent to the courts.

Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637-1935: old faithful #2

After searching for an ancestor, look under the Images Available column. Acte et répertoire means that both the act and the répertoire are digitized. The act is the actual notarized document, and the répertoire is like an index. If the act is available, click on View Record to the left. You can view the répertoire if you would like, or you can go directly to the notarial record itself. When you download the record, be sure to get all the pages. Hint: Every record has the number of the act in the upper left-hand corner. Copy every page until you get to one with a new number at the top.

If only the répertoire (index) is available, follow the 4 Steps For Finding Quebec Notary Records Online at the My Genealogy Life blog. It shows you how to take the index information on Ancestry.com and find the actual act at FamilySearch.org. Hint: If you type in the notary’s full name and nothing shows up, search again using only a portion of his name.

Lesser-used resources

Military

Canada, British Army and Canadian Militia Muster Rolls and Pay Lists, 1795-1850

-post-conquest
-muster rolls and pay lists for French Canadians, British Canadians, and some Swiss mercenaries
-Upper and Lower Canada militia units, especially for the years during and immediately following the rebellions in 1837-1838

Canada, Nominal Rolls and Paylists for the Volunteer Militia, 1857-1922

-members of the Militia who were required to drill once per year for a specified number of days
-per diem allowance recorded on the acquittance rolls and pay lists

Canada, Fenian Raids Bounty Applications, 1866-1871

-The Fenian Raids (Irish nationalists who, in their fight with Britain, conducted raids at various points along the Canadian/US border) took place from 1866 to 1871.
-The Canadian militia was called out to deal with these raids.
-The Fenian Raid Volunteer Bounty Act of 1912 provided a grant or bounty of $100 for those who participated in the defense of Canada during the raids.
-Hint: Check subsequent pages for other documents such as witness statements.

 

Land/residency

Quebec, Canada, Land Grants, 1763-1890

-Index only (you can get the original from BAnQ)
-Earliest record from 1788
-The head of a family could receive 100 acres, and other members could receive 50 acres.
-Had to build a home and clear a certain amount of land depending on lot size

 

Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1906

-Use the Browse this collection drop down to the right to filter by province, then city, and year.
-Directories include much more than just names and addresses

Migration

U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960

-Covered people who entered the United States from Canada
-Included citizens and aliens

Canada, Border Crossings from U.S. to Canada, 1908-1935

-Official immigration records for Canada
-“… if at least one parent in a family was born in Canada or previously resided there, then the whole family was considered as returning citizens instead of immigrants, and were therefore not recorded.”
-A great deal of genealogical information was especially collected on Form 30, used generally from 1919 to 1924.
-Hint: Be sure to download both sides of Form 30. Be careful because the back side may sometimes appear before, instead of after, the front.

Announcements

Book #3: Almost a half century in the making

At the Brimfield Fair (a huge flea market held three times a year in Brimfield, MA), I found a shoe box filled with more than a hundred letters. These letters had been collected for a half-century by Luther S. Mansfield, a professor at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Between 1925 and 1975, members of his family from across the United States sent what they knew about their portion of the family history. His goal was to write a book covering many lines of his family, including the following:

• • • • • Barber
        • Coulter
          

          Luther S. Mansfield

        • Davy
        • Downs
        • Eliot
        • Glover
        • Halldorson
        • Mansfield
        • Moore
        • Peters
        • Peyton
        • Ray
        • Rosa or Roosa
        • Saunders
        • Stearns
        • Westerman

 

He died before achieving this goal. I consider this one of those serendipitous moments that genealogists often run into. My goal now is to publish his book for him. Please contact me if you have any connection to any of the above mentioned lines.

AFGS Moments

Annette Smith of the American French Genealogical Society reminds us about the vagaries of dit names. Check out the AFGS’s downloadable Dit Name Excel spreadsheet.

Journal Rundown

Volume 41, #4 of the French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan’s journal, Michigan’s Habitant Heritage, includes the following articles:

-Establishing a Trade Network in the 18th Century – Lessons Learned from the Chevalier Family –2: Esther and Charles Chevalier
-List of Lenders to Voyageurs to le Détroit du Lac Érié from 1701-1710
-A Parisian Woman in Colonial Ste. Geneviève
-Jean Baptiste Cadotte’s First Family: Genealogical Summary – Part One
-Confirmed in the Chapel of the Seminary by Monseigneur L’Ancien: Part 1 (May 16 and 17, 1701)

French-Canadian News

 

The French Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan

Zoom meetings only, 11 AM

January 9: How to Establish a Trade Network in the 18th Century: Lessons Learned from the Chevalier Family with Loraine DiCerbo
February 13: Manoomin: The Story of Wild Rice in Michigan with Barb Burton

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