By Nathan W. Murphy of FamilySearch
Frenchmen into Peasants (Harvard, 1997) tells the story of Frenchmen, who had worked primarily as artisans in French towns, migrating to frontier Canada in the 1600s and 1700s. Once in America, these immigrants adapted to rural life as farmers – a generalization of the entire French migration to Canada. Do you have French Canadian ancestors? Most people with French Canadian roots end up being related to . . .
Frenchmen into Peasants (Harvard, 1997) tells the story of Frenchmen, who had worked primarily as artisans in French towns, migrating to frontier Canada in the 1600s and 1700s. Once in America, these immigrants adapted to rural life as farmers – a generalization of the entire French migration to Canada. Do you have French Canadian ancestors? Most people with French Canadian roots end up being related to . . .
one another, as the pool of immigrant ancestors is relatively small in comparison to the number of English immigrants to America.
As I’ve reviewed the information in FamilyTree about my own French Canadian ancestors, I’ve come to realize that some of my ancestors are literally in the database 100s of times. This is not surprising, as these folks have such large numbers of descendants all interested in the same lineages. Not all of the information agrees, again not surprising, as it has been entered into the system by hundreds of different people of all genealogical skill levels.
For those of you who have conducted immigration research, you know to be immediately suspicious of any information reported about the birthplace of an immigrant — it is often wrong.
Once you reach the immigrant generation in French Canadian families, I’ve discovered a very useful resource for determining if that ancestor’s immigrant origin is accurate – Fichier Origine. You’ll need to understand basic French to use the site. Plug in your ancestor’s Nom de famille (last name) and see what you find:
As I’ve reviewed the information in FamilyTree about my own French Canadian ancestors, I’ve come to realize that some of my ancestors are literally in the database 100s of times. This is not surprising, as these folks have such large numbers of descendants all interested in the same lineages. Not all of the information agrees, again not surprising, as it has been entered into the system by hundreds of different people of all genealogical skill levels.
For those of you who have conducted immigration research, you know to be immediately suspicious of any information reported about the birthplace of an immigrant — it is often wrong.
Once you reach the immigrant generation in French Canadian families, I’ve discovered a very useful resource for determining if that ancestor’s immigrant origin is accurate – Fichier Origine. You’ll need to understand basic French to use the site. Plug in your ancestor’s Nom de famille (last name) and see what you find:
