Oral History and Franco Tradition

This from Lisa Desjardin at the Franco American Center of the University of Maine

Our project consists of digitizing the Oral Histories that have already been captured and to continue to gather more.  Also making them available to be viewed by all Francos wherever they may be via the Internet.  Our website which is currently under construction will house all this.  Check it out for a sneak peek, http://www.francoamericanarchives.org  

These are interesting memories and give pause for thought.  My grandparents were quite old when I knew them.....and I did not ask the questions I would now as a person trying recreate history.   If you have older family members who can impart family history I suggest you capture it as soon as possible.  Create your own archive. It will lead you to interesting places, people and events that have shaped your family

LaRochelle and the church

I just got an interesting email form Marc Pembroke in response to the LaRochelle post. There are several pieces in Marc's note that I will include in other postings but this particular section is a brief history of religious reformation and the central role of LaRochelle. Thanks Marc.

"........I found it interesting that La Rochelle was a starting point for so many immigrants to New France. As you might know, the town was once a hub of the French Hugenot movement. Samuel de Champlain married at a Reformed Church there where his wife was clearly a member. There is little other indication of Champlain’s beliefs, but apparently, he and Du Mont were both Calvinists. In fact, the nearest French equivalent of the Presbyterian/Calvinist Westminster Confession is known as The Confession of La Rochelle. That confession is still a constituent document of l’Église Réformée Évangélique Indépendante in France (a denomination where I served as pastor-evangelist in Perpignan 1978-79) and of l’Église Réformée du Québec, where I served as professor of theology and supply pastor 1998-1999. I am still a member of the ERQ church in Saint Georges"

The movement of families from France to Quebec.......from Quebec to New England is a fascinating journey. Where they lived....how they got there......why the stayed or moved on is a journey worth following.

Make the trip here with us or make the trip as a vacation during this year of Quebec celebration. Either way make the trip....for yourself....your children and your grand children. It is fun, informative and addictive. A detective story and a history lesson all in one.

Cat de Hollande

Often the name of a ship and passenger lists are available for review as historical documentation of immigration. My ancestors left LaRochelle on the Cat de Hollande in the mid-1600's. Searching on that ship name landed me at: http://racinesrochelaises.free.fr/cat.html ......a wonderful Canadian site about the ship and its passengers. Some pictures of the Cat or a similar vessel and even the offices of the notary who supported the out-migration documentation.

Passenger lists are available at: http://www.migrations.fr/departure_of_la_rochelle.htm We will follow this journey and the journey of the families involved as well as the journeys of Samuel de Champlain as part of this blogging effort.

LaRochelle France

In this year of celebration of the 400th Anniversary of the founding of Quebec it is interesting to follow the travels of the founders as well as our ancestors.

LaRochelle, France is of particular interest to a great many Franco-Canadians and Franco-Americans because about 40% of the immigration from France to the New World originated at the Port of LaRochelle. Wikipedia has a good entry for LaRochelle and it is a great starting place for a family journey: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Rochelle

LaRochelle celebrated the Quebec journeys this year with parades and the launching of a fleet to re-enact the voyage of Champlain.: http://limousin-poitou-charentes.france3.fr/emissions/quebec/42199914-fr.php#para42901474 LaRochelle is of particular interest to my search for family routes since my family originated in Ile de Re an island just of the coast of LaRochelle.....now connected to the mainland by a magnificent bridge. See the Wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_de_R%C3%A9

FranceGuide resources

Search you ancestry in France via the tourist bureau of France.....FranceGuide at:

http://us.franceguide.com/home.html?NodeID=1649 Search by family name and get a list of possible relatives...as well as a pdf file sent to you by email.


One last note. The University of Maine Franco-American Center is not open during the summer months as we had thought/hoped in a previous post. Funding does not allow for extended no school times for the Center. But you can always endow!!!

Finding family in Maine

Go to Quebec this summer through Maine and do some local research for your family roots. These resources are on the way and offer valuable help for genealogists.

Maine Franco-American Genealogical Society

Auburn, Maine http://www.avcnet.org/begin

University of Maine at Fort Kent
Fort Kent, Maine http://www.umfk.maine.edu/infoserv/archives

Franco American Center / Centre Franco-Américain, et Le FORUM University of Maine
Orono, ME http://www.francomaine.org/index.htm