Save your family history for future generations by writing your own family history book.

Nancy Hendrickson, the author of  Finding Your Roots Online and Discover Your Family History Online: A Step-by-Step Guide to Starting Your Genealogy Search, is now available for one-on-one consultations on any aspect of writing your family history. Get started with new ideas, new strategies, new results. Click for more information.

Nancy is an expert author and Internet genealogy researcher. She has been interviewed in national publications on this subject, including the  New York Times, Better Homes and Gardens, and Kiplingers.

©2012 Nancy Hendrickson - AncestorNews. All Rights Reserved.

I have to admit it –  I’m not one of the world’s most craft-savvy people. But as klutzy as I am, I do have an interest in scrapbooking. And, like most people who are new to the hobby, I get hung-up with the “where do I begin” syndrome.

In the past, I’ve concentrated on creating scrapbook pages on a specific ancestor, including vital statistics, photos, obituaries, and other interesting information.

Recently, I’ve recently been thinking about theme albums (I know, this is old hat for you scrappers!), and how to best use them to preserve my family history AND prompt me to learn even more about my family tree.

For example, most of us probably have several ancestors who were farmers. In making a farmer-themed album, you’d include the usual photos, pedigree, and any vital statistics. But, more than that, wouldn’t it be interesting to research farming throughout the decades?

For instance, what farm implements would your 1790 ancestor use, and how did it differ from the ones on the 1850 farm? What crops would have been planted, how many cows would they have had (if any), what type of clothes did they wear? Clearly, the possibilities are endless.

Or, how about a military themed album—one that includes all of your ancestors who were in any branch of the military? Like the farmer album, the military one could show uniforms, weaponry, campaigns, first-person narratives, pay rates, battles, and regimental histories.

Researching the specifics of your military ancestors’ service will give you a wonderful opportunity to learn more about their everyday life ,and the conditions under which they lived.

Finally,  if your family has lived in the same area for several generations, how about a geographically-based theme album. Items to include would be old and new postcards, descriptions from a local or county history book, census statistics, newspaper clippings, or old maps.

I’ve always been more interested in the everyday life of my ancestors—those meaty, gritty true stories—than I have in collecting just names and dates. And, working on a theme album is an excellent way to preserve memories, and learn more about my family tree.

Would love your feedback, thoughts, suggestions

©2012 Nancy Hendrickson - AncestorNews. All Rights Reserved.

Cherchez Votre Famille

Beginning in 1792, birth, marriage and death records (naissances, mariages, décès) were kept by civil authorities, and continue still. Because of privacy laws, you cannot access birth or marriage records for the most immediate past 100 years; however, direct descendants can obtain a certificate if you can prove the relationship. The death records are not confidential.

Civil registers are kept at the city or village level town hall (mairie), which is somewhat like an in U.S. city courthouse. Once the record is 100 years old, it is transferred to the Departmental Archives (the equivalent of a U.S. county level).  There are 100 Departments (including some in former colonies), each administered by a prefet. If you do not find your family in the Department where you think they should be, remember that just as U.S. counties have changed boundary lines, French departments have also undergone some major boundary changes in the Paris area.

Civil records are kept in French, but with a good French dictionary and knowledge of basic terms, you should be able to read the record.  Additionally, French records can include margin notes that might indicate other records available relevant to a specific person.

Birth record (naissances) information can vary, and most often includes the date, time and place of registration, date and place of birth, parents’ names and ages, as well as given name and surname, age, and occupation of the informant. Fortunately, in France a woman maintains her maiden name “from the cradle to the grave”, so you will always have your female ancestor’s maiden name on the records. Some birth records also include the parents’ birthplace.

Civil marriage records (mariages) include full names, address and occupation of bride and groom, date and place of marriage, parents’ names, and occupations of at least two witnesses. The records will also note any previous marriage or children born prior to the marriage.

Tip:  Because the bride and groom were required to be married by civil authorities prior to marrying in the church, it’s possible the church and the civil ceremony may have taken place in two different locations.

Deaths (décès) were registered in the town where the death occurred. The information on death records will vary depending on the time span; earlier records may only have name, date, and place of death, while later records can include birthplace, parents’ name, as well as names, ages and occupation of witnesses.  Again, women are listed by maiden name.

Luckily, Civil Registration records are indexed.  To obtain records you’ll need to either write to the appropriate Department, or visit your local Family History Library, which has filmed most French records.  Addresses of Departmental archives (Archives Départmentales) can be found from this Web site

You will need to hire a French researcher, or writer letters to access these records. You’ll find a valuable guide on writing French letters on the Family Search site.

It’s important to remember that French records are kept locally; there is no master index for France nationally.

Registres Paroissiaux
A second source of family records are parish records (registres paroissiaux). The Royal Decree of Villers-Cotterêts in 1539, required priests to record baptisms, and later marriages and burials. A later decree required records to be kept in duplicate, but it wasn’t until 1736 that second records were routinely kept.

Baptism records will typically include the date of baptism, parents’ name (including mother’s surname), child’s name, residence, and godparents’ name. In church marriage records, you’ll find the date, place of origin, bride and groom’s names, name of parents, and name of witnesses. At times, the relationship of the witness to the marriage parties is also noted. Church death records will note place and date of death, name of deceased and name of the deceased’s parents or spouse.

There are a few baptismal records that date back to the 1300, but most are from the mid-1600s on. After 1792, churches still continued to record baptisms, marriages and deaths; these church records are not subject to the 100-year confidentiality law.

What about finding records for Protestants in this Catholic nation?  Those registers may also be found in Departmental archives, the Protestant Historical Society in Paris (Societe d’Histoire du Protestantisme Francais), or the National Archives (Archives Nationales)

Because Catholicism was the national religion, almost all your research prior to 1792 can be done in church records. An interesting side note is that special permission was needed for close relatives to marry; when a record says that dispensation (permission) was needed because of consanguinité (same blood line), you can probably track down the common ancestor because the record will reveal the degree of relationship.

Keep in mind, though, that parish records are not indexed.  But, many church records were filmed by the LDS church, and are available on microfilm.

D’autres disques de généalogie
Among the other records available for research are:
o Military records, some dating from the 1600s, are held by the Army and Navy Historical Services, located in Vincennes, France; conscription records in the Departmental Archives.  Military records are challenging unless you know French; they are not indexed, and are alphabetical by year.
o Notary records (actes notariés) more than 125 years old can be found in the Departmental archives; some date to the 1300s. Notaries prepare documents like marriage contracts and wills. Excellent for genealogists because they are arranged chronologically, and often appear with other records for the same family.
o Land and property records National Archives, mairies, or Departmental archives
o Census with names began in 1772, but until 1836 contained the number of people living in a household, not by name.  Censuses were taken every five years in France beginning in 1836.  A census was also done in 1872 and 1916 (delayed because of World War I).

Because Civil Registration records are kept in an easy-to-follow format, even though they’re in French, other records like military, notary, and land can be much more difficult to read. If you can find your ancestor in these records, and can’t read French, this is a good time to find someone who can help you translate. My own genealogy society has fluent French and German speakers, or you may want to check with you local Family History Center.

Bibliothèque D’Antécédents Familiaux
Once you are on track with your family’s place of origin, you can begin searching the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, or order microfilms via your local Family History Center (FHC). You can find the closest FHC by clicking on the link.

The first thing to pull from the FamilySearch site is the French Research Outline. Located under Research Help, the outline will lead you through the maze of researching in a non-English speaking country. Use the site, too, to track down research that might have already been done on your family. Check the International Genealogical Index (IGI), Ancestral File, and the Family Group Records Collection.

Next, check the Family History Library catalog to see what information is available. Do a place search on your ancestor’s town or parish. Most items on microfilm can be borrowed from the FHL.For example, a search of Verlans (included in the Haute-Saône Department) found a listing for census and civil registration. The Library has microfilms of the 1841, 1851-1856, 1866-1876, and 1886-1906 censuses.  Microfilm also exists for the civil registration from 1793 to 1902.

While on the FamilySearch.org site, go to the Research Outline for specific search strategies. As a sample of what you’ll find, clicking on French Church Record Marriage 1564 -1791, the site suggested how to find a marriage record, how to document your results, and how best to analyze the information you find.

If you have French ancestry, you’re lucky because your family history is part of the grand European tapestry. Once you discover that little French village that your arrière grandpère called home, you’ve won half the battle.

Dit Names

Don’t worry if you run across ancestors with two last names, and the word “dit” in the middle. These are called French “dit” names (translated, “called” or “said”), i.e. Jacques Demet dit Beaulieu.  This second surname was used to differentiate between branches of the same family. Dit names were a handy way to keep track of a particularly large family.

Dit names could be based on locale, a nickname, physical quality, or any other differentiator. According to French genealogy expert Jessica Hacken the practice of taking a second surname is seen more commonly in French-Canada than in France itself.

Click here for English-French common words and phrases

French Genealogy Part 1

©2012 Nancy Hendrickson - AncestorNews. All Rights Reserved.

Numbers

un one
deux two
trois three
quatre four
cinq five
six six
sept seven
huit eight
neuf nine
dix ten

Months

année year
mois month
Janvier January
Fevrier February
Mars March
Avril April
Mai May
Juin June
Juillet July
Aout August
Septembre September
Octobre October
Novembre November
Décembre December

Relationships

arrière grandpère great grandfather
arrière grandmère great grandmother
cadet youngest son
épouse  wife
épousée bride
époux husband
famille family
fille daughter
fils son
grandmère grandmother
grandpère grandfather
héritiers heirs
l’aine eldest son
mère mother
oncle uncle
orphelin orphan
père father
soeur sister
tante aunt
veuf widower

French Genealogy Part 1

French Genealogy Part 2

©2012 Nancy Hendrickson - AncestorNews. All Rights Reserved.

Isn’t is fascinating to see how many different religions our ancestors followed?

Moravian Church Bethabara North Carolina

I’ve enjoyed reading about the Quaker faith practiced by my Chapman family, the Dimmett’s Huguenot background, and now am researching more about Moravians via the Shore family.

A quick search on Google for “Moravian” sent me to the home page of the Moravian Church in North America. There, I found an interesting set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) which detailed Moravian history, position on social issues, and  the origin of the Moravian Christmas Candle, and the Moravian star.

Unfortunately, San Diego doesn’t have a Moravian church, so I don’t have the opportunity to witness it first-hand.
However, there are info-rich Web sites for nearly every religion so I’ll learn as much as I can.  Also have begun re- reading The Moravians in North Carolina.

Don’t you think it would be an interesting addition to your family  history  book (or report generated by your software) to include a sketch of each line’s religious heritage?

Religious Heritage – Websites to Explore

Baptist Roots
Quaker Corner
Moravian Church in North America
National Huguenot Society
Catholic Church and Family History Genealogy Guide
Lutheran Roots
Jewish Genealogy
Mennonite Research Center
Lutheran Records in Virginia (thank you to @FranEllsworth for this tip)

Do you have other church sites you’d like to add to the list.  Leave a comment below and I’ll do an update.

©2012 Nancy Hendrickson - AncestorNews. All Rights Reserved.

While working on a research project for a client with Canadian ancestors, I learned that the family origins were in France. This took the work in a totally new direction – and into a new world of French genealogy. Here’s a little of what I learned:

Les Cevennes hills, France

Parlez-Vous Généalogie?

Think “France” and it’s likely the images swimming in your mind are of the Eiffel Tower, chocolate desserts, high fashion, and world-renowned wine. For most of us, it’s easy to forget that France has a long and often turbulent history.

Originally part of what was known as Gaul (the area comprising most of today’s western Europe), France has been home to a wild array of ethnic groups, including Celts, Germans, Romans, and Greeks. In the 1st century, Gaul was conquered by Julius Caesar who brought both Roman culture and the Roman language (Latin) to the region.

A few centuries later, part of Gaul was conquered by the Franks, (a Germanic tribe), and eventually became part of the Carolingian Empire, ruled by Charlemagne. From that time onward, until the French Revolution in 1789, France was a monarchy.

After the Napoleon years, France became a republic, and today has a bicameral legislature, a president and prime minister.

During the years of the monarchy, France was a religious battleground, torn apart by warring elements of the predominantly Catholic population and its much smaller Protestant congregation. Although religious tolerance was legislated for a time, a large Protestant migration emptied the country of talented craftsmen including weavers and silversmiths.  One of those smiths, Apollos Rivoire, anglicized his name to Paul Revere, the same name given to his son, the famous American revolutionary.

Many Americans with French roots are came here thanks to a Huguenot (Protestant) ancestor who left France following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,

In delving into French genealogy, I quickly discovered that France has excellent records, particularly those found in civil registrations (from 1792 onward) and parish records (pre-1792). But because my high school French is pretty hazy, I did make extensive use of an online French-English dictionary, as well as a free online translation service.

Based on family knowledge or family lore, try your best to discover your ancestor’s hometown and/or date of immigration. French records are kept at the French equivalent to a U.S. county, so knowing the place of birth is critical.
If you’re unsure of what French “Department” the family called home, check the “regular suspects” like family Bibles, letters, naturalization papers, and obituaries. If you’re not the keeper of the family goodies, contact the family members most in the know and explain what you’re looking for. Even if you have no documentation, there’s  a chance that a village name might be part of a well-known family story or legend.

Next, try to track down the family name (or name of allied families) on a ship’s passenger list. The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild has French manifests as early as 1820, most of which traveled from French ports to New Orleans. Keep in mind, however, that your Protestant (Huguenot) ancestor would not have traveled to New Orleans.

If you can’t still can’t find a place of origin on early ships, check the 25-million names on the Ellis Island site. There, you may find your ancestor, their ship, and town of origin.

The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has several volumes that could also be of help in tracking place of origin.  These titles include:

• Les combattants français de la guerre américaine, 1778-1783 (French soldiers who fought in the American Revolution 1778-1783). Name index containing about 46,000 names. FHL Europe Ref. 944 M2cf; FHL Europe Microfilm 0547088 and 0962689
• L’emigration des Alsaciens et des Lorrains du XVIIIe and XXe siecle, by Norman Laybourn  Strasbourg: Association des Publications près les Universités de Strasbourg, ISBN 2-86820-376-4, 2 volumes in French. FHL EUROPE 6001613–4 fiches and 6001614–6 fiches. (Immigration from Alsace-Lorraine)
• The Acadians in France, 1762-1776: rolls of the Acadians living in France distributed by town for the years 1762 to 1776. 3 vols, by Milton P. Rieder. FHL Europe Ref. 944 W2r.

Immigration au Nouveau Monde

The first permanent French colony was formed in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain at Quebec.  If you remember your grade school history, you may recall the 1673 exploration up the Mississippi River by Marquette and Joliet, and a later expedition mounted by LaSalle. The region explored by LaSalle was claimed for France and named Louisiana in honor of Louis IV.

La Nouvelle France was established in a line of settlements along the Mississippi (St. Louis, Natchez, New Orleans) and their Canadian base. Because New France was a Catholic-only region, the Protestants who fled France settled in British colonies. By the time of the American Revolution, it’s estimated that New France had a population of 80,000, compared to 1.5 million English in the 13 colonies.

Acadia (Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and parts of modern-day New England) was settled early on by the French, but in the 1750s, the British expelled everyone who wouldn’t pledge allegiance to the British crown. This ousting sent several thousand Acadians to the English colonies, back to France, or south to Louisiana.

Following several French-English-Spanish hullabaloos, the Louisiana Territory of La Nouvelle France was eventually sold to the United States (1803) and is considered one of the biggest land grabs in history.

During the French Revolution, thousands of political refugees immigrated to the United States–enough that a French-language newspaper was published in New York, Charleston, and Philadelphia. Another wave of immigration occurred during the Franco-Prussian war when France lost the Alsace-Lorraine region. Many in this wave eventually settled in New York, New Orleans, and Chicago.

The post-Civil War era saw an increase in French-Canadians to the U.S., most frequently into the northeast, including Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and Rhode Island. The 1930 census revealed there were more than 135,000 French natives living in the United States, with a total French immigration from 1820 onward weighing in at about three-quarters of a million. Compared with immigration from the United Kingdom, the total percentage of French-born immigrants is minimal.

Part 2 coming soon, including vital records, parish registers and ‘dit’ names.

You might be interested in:

The Course of French History

Books About French History

©2012 Nancy Hendrickson - AncestorNews. All Rights Reserved.

If you love historic sites, now’s the time to get out and visit them as many are under threat of closure due to budgetary concerns.

Yuma Territorial Prison

A year and a half ago, Arizona closed several state historic sites, including the Hopi/Anasazi ruins of Homolovi, as well as the Yuma Territorial Prison and Fort Verde.  Thankfully,we’re seeing re-openings, although with reduced hours of operation.

Now, 70 California state parks are slated for closure Spring 2012, including Fort Tejon – located north of Los Angeles. Tejon was first garrisoned in 1854, to provide protection from the Paiutes and other desert tribes.

Also on the closure list is the San Pasqual Battlefield, just north of San Diego. It’s here that an 1846 battle raged between  U.S. soldiers and and Californio forces  in the midst of the Mexican-American War. Kit Carson was the guide for the Army troops, who had traveled all the way from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Just a Few Thoughts About Homolovi

If you’re in the Winslow, Arizona area, get up to Homolovi.  It’s  located just north of town, on the Little Colorado River, and dates to three main periods of population:  AD 620-850, AD 1050-1225, and AD 1260-1400.    Members of the Hopi Nation consider this area an important ancestral site and return to Homolovi for religious purposes.

The ground around the ruins is littered with broken piece of pottery, with designs ranging from a simple polished yellow surface to the intricate black and white designs of the Anasazi.  If you’ve never been to this area, it’s hard to describe the sky; standing up on the ruins you have a 360 degree view of the world.  Look north and you’ll see the Hopi Mesas.

It’s the pottery that intrigues me, though. It’s so easy to imagine the people who crafted each pot or bowl – living out their lives in this place of unimaginable beauty. I look at the broken pieces and wonder about the people who made them, used them, and broke them. Who were they?  Not my ancestors, but definitely someone’s – these places always make me want to know more.

Homolovi also contains a small cemetery from a group of 19th century Mormon settlers who founded the city of Sunset.  Sunset Cemetery  still stands, but on one of the most wind-blown pieces of real estate I’ve ever seen. I’ve posted a short video of Sunset Cemetery – I apologize for the poor sound quality – the wind just about blew me off my feet! If you’re interested in the cemetery, you can download an information guide and list of interments at the cemetery from the official Homolovi website.

If you have time this summer, get out to those local historic sites – I know we’d all hate to see important places in the country’s history closed to future generations.

©2012 Nancy Hendrickson - AncestorNews. All Rights Reserved.

Although you can’t hear me say it, at the beginning I was talking about the reason the settlers chose this area was to be close to the Little Colorado River.

©2012 Nancy Hendrickson - AncestorNews. All Rights Reserved.

Thank you to Jessica, who sent along this information about the Ship Island Civil War prison:

Fort Massachusetts Ship Island

Did you know that the Union forces put their black soldiers on ship island and left them during the war? Two troops of 63, I think . . . it’s been awhile since I read the history.  I think I was looking up information on the lighthouse and found it.

The white union soldiers couldn’t tolerate the black soldiers so their commander left them and went on to New Orleans .

“Only seven regiments from Banks’s expedition disembarked on Ship Island because most of the ships carrying Banks’s men continued on to New Orleans. Furthermore, that portion of Banks’s expedition that landed on Ship Island stayed for only a few days, leaving the two companies of the 13th Maine on their own. Finally, on January 12, 1863, seven companies from a new regiment of African Americans, the 2nd Louisiana Native Guards, arrived for garrison duty.

The mixture of black and white troops created an explosive atmosphere, and a racial dispute between the men from Maine and the black soldiers from Louisiana broke out within a week. Banks quickly decided to withdraw the two companies of white soldiers, and the 2nd Louisiana Native Guards remained as the primary garrison for Ship Island.”

©2012 Nancy Hendrickson - AncestorNews. All Rights Reserved.

I had lunch today with my friend Phyllis, Past-President of the San Diego Genealogical Society.  She brought along her new Nook color and her Flip-Pal – - the ultra-light, portable scanner you’ve probably been hearing all about about. (Yes, that’s chips and salsa in the background – click the images to enlarge).

Phyllis bought her Flip-Pal for several reasons -

1.  When scanning at a high resolution it can bring out details that a low res scan doesn’t pick up

2.  It’s very lightweight and portable (battery operated)

3.  You can scan large documents or images, then use the included software to automatically stitch the images together.

Better than anything, though, is the ease at transferring data from the Flip-Pal to the computer. Capture images on an SD memory card (it pops into the side of the scanner).  Then, put the SD card into the side of the included USB memory stick and then the stick into the computer.  Really easy, works well, and it’s no hassle.

If you follow the links at the bottom of this page you can read other articles about Flip-Pal - – just thought you’d like to know about the high resolution issue as well as the USB memory stick feature.

Forgot to mention – when you’re scanning a large document or photo you can take the cover off and actually watch your progress through the glass window.  Now that’s a well-thought out feature for genealogists on the road.

©2012 Nancy Hendrickson - AncestorNews. All Rights Reserved.