Secondary Sources:
Published genealogies, family histories, city and town histories.

When I speak of Published Genealogies, I am referring to genealogies of an area which include many different surnames. Genealogies of a particular surname are called family genealogies and may or may not be published. Town and county histories are included here because they not only give you a glimpse of the life your ancestor was living in a certain area, they may also provide you with some genealogical information.

Published Genealogies
Most of the standard Maine and New England resources for genealogy and biographical information are not very useful to us, because they were published too early, or cover an early time period when our ancestors were either still in Canada or were poor mill workers, lumbermen or farmers and thus not considered biography worthy. Browsing through the index of one such source, Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine by George Thomas Little, published in 1909, I found only a handful of French names, and only one, Bonneau of Biddeford, proved to be of French Canadian descent. One 30 volume set of books, Our French-Canadian Ancestors, by Gerard Lebel and translated by Thomas J. LaForest, is a biographical resource which includes some genealogy and history of our early ancestors. Once you reach the point in your research where you can connect to these families, you will find it very useful and charming.

Family Genealogies
Histories of families come in a variety of shapes and sizes and also vary in the amount of information they provide, the reliability of the information and the ease with which they can be used. In recent years, the Franco-American community in Maine has produced a number of family histories associated with the annual Madawaska Acadian Festival. Each year a different Acadian or French Canadian family is honored and a genealogy book is published for that family. There has also been a surge of interest in genealogy in general in the last couple of decades and our Franco cousins have also caught the bug. I can't possibly list them all, but there are a couple that I have found especially helpful because they are not exclusively of one family and include many surnames that I have found in my ancestry.
A History & Genealogy of our Family, A Branch of the Sire (Cyr) Family in the New World by Leo G. Cyr.
History of a Lavoie/Leavitt Family by Robert E. Leavitt

To find out if a genealogy is available for your family, seach URSUS by subject, and enter [surname] Family. Remember that surnames can be spelled many different ways, so be prepared to try several spellings to get to the information.

This might be a good time to talk about Franco surnames. Names were changed for several reasons, and even if they weren't changed they were probably recorded incorrectly on official records, so you sometimes have to think creatively to locate your ancestors. Many Franco Americans anglicized their names, Leblanc became White, Desjardins became Gardener, etc. My Grandfather, Archie Sirois, was the only one of 5 brothers who kept the name Sirois. The others all changed the name to King. Many of the people in the community referred to my mother and her siblings as King, even though they were legally Sirois. Some names were changed to reflect what the English ear heard. I've seen Sirois spelled Searway and LaVoie spelled Lavway and Pelletier spelled Pelkey. After a generation or two, the new spelling becomes the name. When looking through census records, you really have to think about how the name sounded to the enumerator - Nadeau becomes Nado, Beaulieu becomes Bolier, etc. So don't get too hung up on how you think the name should be spelled.

City and Town Histories:
A published history of a town will often include vital records, biographical sketches of prominent citizens and/or genealogical information. Maine communities with large Franco-American populations are well represented in this genre. In some cases the smaller Franco community has created its own history. Here are a few:

History of Madawaska: According to the Historical Researches of Patrick Therriault... by Thomas Albert.

Sands, Spindles and Steeples: A History of Saco, Maine by Roy Fairfield.

Nos Histoires de L'ile: History and Memories of French Island, Old Town, Maine.

Van Buren History by Martine A. Pelletier

Historic Lewiston: Franco-American Origins by the Lewiston Historical Commission

A History of Rumford, Maine by John J. Leane

This concludes the basic lessons. Tonight is the program and we'll see what direction this takes after that. I'm sure you folks will have some suggestions about topics to cover and sources to add and discuss. We've only touched on some of the resources and methods that can be utilized while exploring your Franco-American ancestry.

Church Records
Fortunately for all of us doing research on our Franco-American, French-Canadian and Acadian ancestors, the church of our heritage, the Roman Catholic Church, required parishes to keep vital records from as early as 1539 in France and 1621 in Canada. Published Canadian parish records are called Repertoires and there are hundreds of them. Most of these published repertoires provide marriage records only, but the information in these records includes the names of all parties involved in the wedding, bride and groom, parents and witnesses, and maiden names of the women are provided. Some of these books, including this many volume set, Repertoire des Actes de Bapteme, Mariage, Sepulture et des Recensements du Quebec Ancien, includes baptism and deaths as well .
Here are some other publications of this type that are available in local libraries:
Dictionnaire genealogique des familles canadiennes depuis la fondation de la colonie jusqu'a nos jours by Tanguay.
Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec by Rene Jette
Dictionnaire national des Canadiens-français, 1608-1760
Répertoire des mariages au Nord-Ouest du Nouveau-Brunswick, Canada
Répertoire des mariages (Catholiques) du comté Mégantic (20 paroisses) 1845 à 1925
Mariages de Cap Saint-Ignace, 1669-1973
Répertoire des mariages de Louiseville (Paroisse Saint Antoine de la Rivière du Loup)

This is just a sample of the publications available. The Maine State Library has a large collection of these volumes.
Church records for many Maine communities have also been published. Robert Chenard and Youville Labonte are both contributors to this genre as are several genealogical and historical societies and churches.

If you don't find a published transcription of church records from the area in which your ancestors lived, you can contact the church or you may have to visit the church or diocese to peruse the records in person. Here is a list of Catholic Churches in Maine and a directory of diocese in Canada which includes history and contact information.

To find out if there is a book available for the area you are researching, search URSUS for the subject Marriage records - Maine or Registers of births, etc - Maine to find what is available.

Interlibrary Loan services are also available to you if you don't find what
you are looking for at your local library. MaineCat is a library catalog which
includes the State Library, the University system, Bowdoin, Bates and Colby, and
many of the public and community college libraries in the state. You can
request these items at the library or from home if you have an internet
connection. If you don't find what you are looking for in MaineCat, there
is still a chance that the staff at you local library can get the book for you,
so don't give up. It can be frustrating because many libraries don't
circulate local history and genealogy materials, but every once in a while you
get just what you needed and saved yourself a trip.

Where do you go from here?
Now that you have found out all you can about your parents and grandparents from your own records and by asking relatives, and recorded that information, it's time to start digging for more information and more people. In this post, I'm going to talk mainly about three resources:
Vital Records
Obituaries
Census Records

Vital Records
Maine Municipalities have been required to report vital records to the state of Maine since 1892. Prior to that time any birth, marriage and death records that were created were kept by the towns or cities. Some of these early records have been lost in fires and some have just disappeared. In small towns and townships the records were often kept in the home of the clerk and some were eventually discarded. In the 1920's the state made an attempt to collect older records, but only 20% of the towns and cities provided copies. Some of those records were published by the Maine Historical Society in the mid to late 20th century and those volumes are available in many libraries throughout the state. In recent years, Picton Press in Rockland has also been publishing vital records for many Maine communities and they vary in the time fram that they cover Records from 1892 - 1922 are available in the Maine State Archives and microfilm copies of those records have been deposited at several locations in the state. The Maine Office of Vital Records maintains the records for 1922 to present, though you will find that 1922-1955 are also available at the state archives on microfilm. Indexes to Maine Marriages from 1892 to 1996 (with a 10 year gap from 1966-1976) and Maine Deaths from 1960-1996 are available at the Maine State Archives. These indexes will help you narrow down your search in the actual records, but will not provide you with the information that the record will. (Another source for death information is the Social Security Death Index. This resource covers the period from 1960 to present -within a few months - and covers the whole country.) For more information about the Maine vital records see the Genealogy Resources page of the Archives website.

Canadian Vital Records
Most of us have French Canadian ancestors who came to Maine in the late 1800s and early 1900's, so recent (20th century) vital records for Canada are of little use to us, but this site provides information about where to go for records in each province and what years the records cover. Unfortunately, it doesn't include web sites, but you can use your web browser to find any of these provincial offices.

Obituaries
Another good source of family information, particularly from the mid to late 20th century, is an obituary from the newspaper. Many obits include date of birth, date of death, name of parents, spouse, children and siblings and place of burial. There aren't obituaries for all deaths, and sometimes they contain little useful information, but it's always worth taking a look. Bangor papers are available at Bangor Public Library and at the University of Maine - Fogler Library. Look at the Maine Newspapers at Fogler Library list to see what other papers are housed at Fogler. Historical societies and libraries are beginning to transcribe or scan obituaries into computer databases, so you may have some luck doing an online search, but so far, a very small percentage of this work has been completed, so if you have access to the papers for the town or city where your ancestor died, and have a death date, going to the source is your best bet. If you don't know a death date or place then you will want to look at one of the available indexes mentioned above. Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter has created an Obituary database that currently includes obits from 1944 to present.

U.S. Census
The first federal census taken in the U.S. was in 1790 and for the first 6 decenniel censuses, the only names recorded were those of heads of each household. All other household members were indicated by a tally mark in the appropriate age range and gender. In 1950 they started to record every member of the household, though relationship to the head of the household was not indicated until 1880. The most recent census available is 1930 and 1940 will be available in 2010 - something to look forward to.
Bangor Public Library has two resources that provide access to the U.S. Census, Heritage Quest, which you can access from home, and Ancestry Library Edition, which you can use only at the library. Ancestry is more complete and therefore a better resource, but it is sometimes good to look at both if you are having trouble finding someone or reading something.

Canadian Census
Using the census records for Canada is much more complicated than using U.S. records. A good guide to these records can be found at the Canadian Genealogy Centre and some online census data is available at ArchiviaNet from Library and Archives Canada. Microfilm of some of the Canadian Census are available at the University of Maine Fogler Library in the government documents area. Ask at the Reference desk for assistance.

Other resources
These are all records to consider when looking for your ancestors. Later on, when we get into more detail and look at specific topics, we'll hit on these again. For now, here is some basic information about each record type.

Military records
Lest we forget: The value of military service records
How to Trace Your US Military Ancestors

Cemetery and funeral home records
All About Cemeteries and Funeral Homes
Access Genealogy: Cemetery records

Municipal reports
Annual reports for all Maine cities and towns are available in the Maine State Library and Fogler Library, University of Maine. Check URSUS for holdings. Search for the subject "Town Reports - Maine - [town name]. Early and mid 20th century reports often include births, deaths, and marriages for the year in each volume.

Court records
Probate and land records in Maine are kept at the county level and are available in the courthouses of each county seat.
How to Read Probate Records

Immigration records
French Canadian Emigration to the United States, 1840-1930
Maine's French Communities
French in the United States


You've probably noticed that we haven't talked about church records yet. These records are very important to doing Franco-American research and we'll talk about those in the next post, so stay tuned.

Getting Started
The first step for anyone interested in tracing their family is: Start with yourself and work back. Get a basic family chart like this, and start filling in the blanks with you as number 1. Fill in as many dates and places as you can, because this information will be helpful to you down the line. Talk to family members, and look at family records that you or they might have. Keep in mind that any information, particularly dates, that you get from family members will have to be verified with primary documents, but this information will ususally get you headed in the right direction. Primary documents that you or family members might have include birth, marriage and death certificates, military records, copies of wills or property deeds. Look also for photographs, especially useful are those that identify the subjects, newspaper clippings of family events or obituaries (two of my great-aunts clipped and saved obituaries of family members and I have found them to be a great source of information), family bibles, church records or certificates, family correspondence, diaries and any other documents that record the life events of your family members.

Once you have gathered and recorded all of the information that you have readily available to you, you can start filling in the blanks. You will want to record information about more than just your direct ancestors. You will find that siblings are equally important and in Franco-American and French Canadian families, there were often many children. In order to record all of these children, you will need a different form, a family group sheet.

At this point, I should mention that I don't use either of these forms any more. I have a computer program that I find a great time saver and a much more efficient way to keep my family information in order. I think filling out the forms is a great way for a beginner to get an idea of what information is important, and there are some genealogists who still prefer to use the paper forms, but I always recommend using a computer program if you have the resources available to you. I use Family
Tree Maker, but there are several others and even one you can download for free from the LDS website, Personal Ancestry File. Here is a site that compares and reviews the various genealogy software products that are available.

The family group sheet will give you space to record information about each child in a family including spouses and marriage dates. You will fill out one of these forms (either in paper or electronically) for each family that you encounter on you way back through the history of your family.

The next step is to learn some history of your ancestors.

Our French-Canadian ancestors came from two different areas of Canada. The Acadian settlement of Port Royal in what is now Nova Scotia began in 1604. In 1755, these ancestors were forced to leave their homes by the English and many were dispersed along the eastern seaboard of what is now the United States. Some moved west into Canada and Northern Maine and others settled in Louisiana. In 1608, another French settlement was established in what is now Quebec City. These ancestors (called French Canadians then, Quebecois now) populated the St. Lawrence river valley and when economic times were bad, started moving into New England, searching for work, first as traders, trappers and lumbermen and later as factory workers. Along the way they met up with the Acadians and married and had children. Certain surnames are associated with each group, though you may have to go back several generations to find an ancestor who is pure Acadian or French Canadian. Here are the Acadian surnames as recorded in various census years and another comprehensive list can be found here.

I recommend looking at some of these resources to familiarize yourself with the stories of the Acadians and the Quebecois.

Books:

French-Canadian Sources: A Guide for Genealogists The first four chapters of this book provide an easy to read brief history of the early French settlements in Canada.

History of the Acadians by Bona Arsenault

The Acadians of Madawaska, Maine by Charles W. Collins

Samuel De Champlain: Father of New France by Samuel Eliot Morison

The Franco Americans in Maine by Kenneth Carpenter

Other books of fiction:

Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather

Pelagie by Antonine Maillet

Web sites:

Discovery and Exploration of Canada from "The Quebec History Encyclopedia"

The Upper Saint John River Valley

Les origines Françaises des premières familles Acadiennes Early Acadian History and First Settlers (In French)

Acadia and the Acadians by Robert Chenard

Acadian and French Canadian Ancestral Home This site contains history of both Acadia and Quebec.

Well, that looks like plenty for this post. Next time I'll tell you how to find more about your grandparents and their parents in Maine and Canada.

Welcome to my Franco American Genealogy Blog. This blog is being created primarily for a presentation I will be doing at the Bangor Public Library in Bangor, Maine on Tuesday, 16 Jan 2007, as part of Penobscot Reads. I'll be putting information, with links where appropriate, about searching for your Franco and French Canadian roots, so stay tuned.