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If you want information about your French-Canadian ancestry, don't go away - you're at the right place - especially those who were married in the State of Maine.
It comes as a pleasant surprise to descendants of French-Canadians when they discover the true extent of the records kept by the Church and civil authorities in Quebec almost since the beginning of the first settlements in the early 1600s. For almost all persons who lived in Quebec since that time, records exist for baptisms, marriages, and deaths except for the occasional rare case when records of a parish or town were accidentally destroyed by a fire, flood or by deterioration due to poor storage conditions. Most of these records have been microfilmed and can be viewed at several places, including the National Archives at Laval University in Quebec, in Montreal, at some genealogical society libraries in Canada, at the Mormon's genealogical library in Salt Lake City, UT, or at any Mormon Stake in the US via a film loan from their main library for a small fee. Most of the marriage records of the Catholic Church in Quebec have been published and many of these volumes are available at genealogical societies in both the US and Canada as well as at various State libraries such as the one in Augusta, Maine. As far as completeness, the genealogical records of the French-Canadians are second-to-none in the world. If you want to find out about your personal French-Canadian ancestry, go to the "How to Begin" page below.
Over the past 10 years I have compiled computer listings of most Maine and many New Hampshire marriages of French-Canadians/Acadians consisting of over 700 different surnames. About 90% of these brides and/or grooms are traceable through Quebec or the Maritime Provinces of Canada back to early 17th century France. The compilation has about 250,000 marriages dating from as early as the mid-1500's in France up to the present in many cases. Due to it's size and the amount of work invested in it, I cannot publish it on the Internet.
ABOUT THIS WEB SITE
This web site currently consists of 87 web pages (including sub-pages) of information on genealogy, related subjects, history and links and uses 10 megabytes of disk space. You would need over 500 regular 8-1/2 by 11 inch sheets of paper if you wanted to print out all the pages of information, charts and photographs at this web site. The Halde Cemetery web pages alone total about 60 typewritten pages. Each subject page is listed alphabetically by category in the TABLE shown below. A short introduction about each page is directly below the table. Pages you have visited will change from a light blue to a dark blue (unless my background or your color preferences are different). Like some other web pages at this site, the French Surnames web page actually consists of four (4) subpages divided alphabetically. You can navigate between the subpages by clicking on the arrows at the bottom of each page. If you have sound with your computer, you will find that many of these web pages have music. I have used an HTML code for the music files that will create a MIDI control panel on the page that should allow you to turn the music on or off as you wish. Also, there are no advertisements, no commercial banners and no transfers to other pages or web sites. It is provided to you at my own expense and personal work (with the exception of a couple articles). Some have called it a "labor of love" on Franco-American genealogy. ENJOY!
Beauce county,
Quebec birth & death records 1738-1900 now available on CD-ROMS or DVDs
Dictionnaire Genealogique de Madawaska
Corrections & Additions: to the marriage catalogues of the Catholic parishes in
the following towns: Biddeford (St.Joseph & St.Mary), Jay/Chisholm,
Lewiston (all 4), Lisbon, Mexico, Old Orchard Beach, Rumford (St.John),
Winthrop.
NOTE: All NEW or recent articles/web
pages may only be initially accessible from the INDEX below.
CLICK on any link below to view that web
page
Brief Description of the Main Contents
18+-Generation PEDIGREE:
An 18 generation pedigree of my children. Provides an excellent example
of how much information there is for people of French-Canadian ancestry,
how to prepare a pedigree using the Ahnentafel numbering system (used also
in 4, 5 or 6 generation charts), and will provide many readers with useful
genealogical information on some of their early ancestors. In two parts,
this is now essentially complete.
1840 Waterville census:
Parts I and II. The French-Canadian families that appear in the 1840 US
census of Waterville, Maine. The method used to identify the individuals
and the marriages of their children in Part II.
Anglicized Surnames:
over 600 different French surnames that were Anglicized
Chenard Genealogy:
the known marriages of Chenards in Maine and New Hampshire linked to their
original
French immigrant; also some old
family pictures from one branch of this family.
Chenard fmilies of North America: All the known marriages of Chenards in the US and Canada
are listed in a GEDCOM-like file and over 99% are traced to the original
French ancestor.
Catholic Churches:
two tables containing all the major Catholic parishes in Maine listing their
name, date founded,
address, ZIP code, and county all
listed alphabetically by their town location.
Céline Dion:
A page dedicated to my favorite pop singer and a distant cousin of mine,
includes some photos, her Dion/Guyon lineage and one
of her songs in MIDI format.
Civil War Veterans:
an alphabetical list of all the known French-Canadians from Waterville who
served in this
conflict. It also gives some biographical
information on many of them.
Corrections & Additions:
to the marriage catalogues of the Catholic parishes in the following towns:
Auburn (all three), Augusta (St.Augustine), Biddeford (St.Andre), Brunswick
(both), Jackman and Madison, Saco (both), Sanford (both), Skowhegan and
Bingham, So.Berwick, Berwick, and Springvale, Waterville (ND & SH),
Westbrook (both). IF YOU KNOW
OF OTHER MAJOR ERRORS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME WITH THE PARTICULARS AND I WILL
ADD IT TO THESE PAGES. (added June 1, 1999)
Corrections & Additions:
to the Dictionnaire Généalogique de Madawaska (includes all
the parishes of the diocese of Madawaska, NB which includes all of northern
Aroostook county, Maine. (added 21
Aug 1999)
Dictionnaire Généalogique de Madawaska:
An updated version of this large genealogical
work is now available in book form or CD.
Family Associations:
A list of French-Canadian/Acadian Family Surname Associations, with their
snail-mail addresses. ADD YOUR FAMILY
ASSOCIATION BY E-MAILING IT TO ME. (added March 27,
1999)
Family Reunions:
attached at the bottom of Josée's page are some forthcoming family
reunions.
Franco-Americans of the State of Maine: A 1915 "Who's Who" of Maine Franco-American
business men and professionals. Original volume contains short biographies
and many photos.
French-Canadians of Waterville(WTVL): A historical perspective on the early French-Canadian
immigrants.
French Surnames:
a four-part table listing nearly every French-Canadian name in Maine. Many
of the surnames
in these tables contain one or
more links to web sites that concern some of these names (underlined ones
are links).
Genealogical Books of Maine:
Father Youville Labonte's numerous catalogs (répertoires) of Maine
Catholic parish marriage records may be purchased directly from him.
Genealogical Resources for Quebec: A list of all published major French-Canadian genealogical
reference works, microfilm and microfiche records, and CD-ROMs.
Genealogy Links:
a listing of general and special genealogy links by category or region.
Genealogy Information:
for those who seek help or assistance with their French ancestral research.
Giroux Genealogy:
the known marriages of Giroux in Maine and New Hampshire linked to their
original
French immigrant; also some old
family pictures from one branch of this family.
Given Names in
French, English and some other languages for men and women. Did you know
Jacques in French means James in English or that Thomas in French can be
Damase and William can be Guillaume? Find them all here.
Halde Cemetery:
all the information published about this cemetery in a 1995 booklet is presented
here in five (5)
parts. The introductory page is
also in French.
History of Waterville:
a chronological capsule history of Waterville up to 1904. Includes some
photos.
How to Begin:
useful tips on how to begin your own family genealogy research.
Ils se souviennent:
The quiet presence of New England's Franco-Americans by Michael Kenney of
the Boston Globe - a 21 October 1999 newspaper article of interest to Franco-Americans
of New England.
Josée Vachon:
Popular New England French folksinger and TV personality.
King's Daughters:
also known in French as "Les Filles du Roi" gives as brief introduction
to these 17th century
ladies to whom all pre-19th century
French-Canadians are descendants of several of them.
Madonna: A web
page dedicated to my 8th cousin, Madonna, which gives her French-Canadian
Fortin lineage connecting to my Fortin ancestor.
Old Town Update:
an update to the volume "St. Joseph of Old Town, Maine" giving
those who have a copy of
this book all new findings, corrections,
and additions.
Old Canada Road:
An index of the French-Canadians who migrated to Central Maine via the Old
Canada Road prior to 1860 -- their towns of origin in Quebec; when and where
they settled in Maine.
Origins: Towns
of origin of our early French-Canadian ancestor immigrants with maps. Many
other useful files such
as hundreds of the first immigrants to Quebec, various
maps of France at different periods, and other interesting facts.
St. Francis History:
an unabridged history (and pre-history) of St. Francis de Sales parish of
Waterville, Maine.
Includes numerous photos, a listing
of pastors and assistants, some observations, and a bibliography.
St. Francis Update:
an update to the three (3) volume set of books on this parish for those
who have these.
The Acadians:
A brief history of the Acadians - who they were, where they lived, their
expulsion from their own homes and land, and then scattered.
The Celts: Traces
the Franco-Americans genetically through history to pre-history and from
Canada to ancient Europe.
Town Records Pre-1892:
French-Canadian marriage records from pre-1892 Maine town registers of Frenchville,
Fort Fairfield, Houlton, Presque Isle, Wallagrass, Winn and Winthrop.
Author & Webmaster
Over 129,000 page hits in 2001
This web site was initially
launched on December 15, 1997
Also go to: Argus'
top genealogy sites
This web site is listed at
languages-on-the-web
for Canadian French
http://www.genealogyforum.rootsweb.com/gfaol/bsp.htm
In 1999, this web site was listed as the 25th of the top 100 genealogy web sites on the Internet.
On September 20, 2008, the author and webmaster was proud
to receive the most prestigious award for
Excellence in Genealogical Service
from the Maine Genealogical Society at their annual conference which was
held in South Portland, Maine.
THANK YOU MGS
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(Joined 5/6/98)
EXCEPT BY PERMISSION, REPRODUCTION OF ANY
ARTICLES AT THIS WEB SITE
THAT WERE WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR OR WEBMASTER IS STRICTLY
FORBIDDEN.
HOWEVER, COPYING FOR PERSONAL USE IS GRANTED. ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED.
NAMES, DATES AND PLACES IN RECORDS ARE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
This page revised 29 June 2011
