In episode #13, we delved into the components of a French-Canadian baptism record. Today, we dissect a marriage record, the backbone of our reconstructed ancestral families. Lengthier than either a baptism or burial record, the marriage record contains more variation and complexity. So in this episode you’ll learn common,...
Wikipedia describes a taphophile as “an individual who has a passion for and enjoyment of cemeteries. This involves epitaphs, gravestone rubbing, photography, art, and history of deaths. …” That certainly describes today’s guest, Bill Fleming. Bill is a frequent contributor to Rootsweb’s Quebec-Research list, perhaps best known for his...
Have you ever thought of taking your research and writing the stories of your ancestors? If you haven’t yet, what’s stopping you? Time? Don’t know where to start? Can’t read French? Author Susan McNelley will take us on her journey, one that resulted in the publication of Hélène’s World:...
Once arriving back to the eighteenth century, many French-Canadian researchers will find an Acadian or two in their ancestry. That is because, after the deportation, some of these unfortunate folks escaped to or returned to French-Canadian settlements and eventually intermarried. Every five years a celebration of Acadian heritage takes...
New Hampshire saw a large influx of French-Canadians in the 19th century, and the American-Canadian Genealogical Society and its library have helped many descendants trace their roots back to Québec. President Jim Gaudet fills you in on the history and happenings of the ACGS. Then in Language Tip #18, you’ll...
Thanks to the hard work of hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteers across Canada and the United States, those of us who were researching our French-Canadian ancestors a decade or two ago were very grateful to have a multitude of repertoires at our disposal. Once we discovered to which...
When entering data into your genealogy database, have you ever asked yourself: Do I enter Nouvelle France or Canada? Is St-Charles the parish or the village? Where is the Pays d’en Haut? With the help of our guest Suzanne Boivin Sommerville, we will attempt to answer some of your...
Marriage records are the backbone of your French-Canadian research upon which you build your family structure. Before we dissect a marriage record, it helps to understand what’s behind the parts that make up the whole. In preparation, today we will discuss the history of marriage in New France, as well...
After reviewing common French terms found in baptism records and learning some less-common terms, you should then be ready to try your hand at reading a record from start to finish on your own. Test your skills and revel in your accomplishment! In the main segment, we are treated...
If you are not fluent in French, then tracing your ancestors in Québec records is a daunting task. In the last episode, we determined that we could use gender clues to answer some questions. Today we’re going to begin to recognize the words that make up French dates since...
