HOW TO OBTAIN YOUR

FRENCH-CANADIAN LINEAGE

My compuer records consist mainly of French-Canadian/Franco-American marriages and the direct ancestors of these individuals in a lineage format tracing each generation back through Quebec/Acadia to France (or other country in some cases) with date and place of marriage of each couple. If your ancestors were married in Maine I most likely have a record of them. Also, if you wish me to help you with your genealogy, e-mail me and request to see my price guide.

A SURNAME listing consists of a systematic (numbered) listing of all persons in my file with a particular French or Anglicized French surname who married in Maine and traces most of them back to France similar to Eloi Talbot's volumes of Quebec. From this listing you can determine the relationship you have with others with the same name. Each surname listing or family file can vary from a single page to as many as 80 or more pages containing upwards of 4,000 marriages (e.g., the prolific families of Poulins and Roys).

A PEDIGREE consists of all your known direct ancestors as far back as records are available. Typically, for a Franco-American/French-Canadian with all ancestors that originated from Quebec Province or Acadia, this may include upwards of 3 to 6 thousand or more individuals, in 12 to 15 generations with a few tracing back to as early as the 12th century. This is a formidable task and amounts to almost a book-sized volume. As an estimate, this might cost upwards of $750. This may sound expensive, but the usual fee for having a so-called "professional" genealogist do this for you (such as at the Genealogical Library of the Church of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah) would cost upwards of $10,000. At the same location, a simple lineage could cost you more than $500. I began with my own pedigree nearly 20 years ago and have been doing this for many others ever since. I have also published some genealogy books and other records, some of which are still available (e.g., St. Joseph's Parish of Old Town, Maine), I have had a genealogy column in LE FORUM published by the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine in Orono since 1989. I also wrote a regular column called "French Connection" a few years ago in the Central Maine Sentinel and have spoken to a number genealogy groups on this subject. Copies of my books are at most French-Canadian genealogy  society libraries both in the US and Canada, the Maine State Library, the LDS Library in Salt Lake City, some local libraries and many private individuals from Maine to California who are interested in their contents.