I prefer the narrow definition of “genealogy” which is the account of the ascent of a person to an ancestor. Conversely an “ancestor” is a person from whom one is descended. Some suggest that ancestors are those that came before grandparents. I guess that their thinking is that grandparents are considered “family” as opposed to ancestors. I am interested in all of my ancestors, for instance the mother of my mother’s mother’s, mother. In fact I trace my matrilineal lines as far back as I can. However, except for aunts, uncles, siblings of grandparents and anecdotes concerning interesting siblings of an ancestor, I do not research the siblings of ancestors unless it is necessary to locate an ancestor. Neither do I collect names. I could care less that there is a Lesperance in Arizona to whom I am not related.

Most of the French migration to Quebec occurred in the 17th century, much of it in the first half of that century. Compared to most countries, New France (Quebec) did an outstanding job of recording baptisms, marriages and burials. Typically the parents of the bridal couple were included in marriage records. Often the parish of the parents was also included. Thus if you find a French-Canadian marriage record you’ll usually have an excellent start on the preceding generation. The marriage record included at least two witnesses, typically they were male and either related to, or friends of, one of the bridal couple. Also many of the early Quebec marriages were preceded by a marriage contract which included the bridal couples’ parents and usually their origins. In addition to the parents and their parish, baptismal records included the Godparents. Godparents were often the grandparents or other close relatives of the infant. It is excellent practice to record the Godparents at baptisms and the witnesses at weddings.

Most researchers will find that it is easier to proceed from what you know in the near present towards what you don’t know in the past. The easiest way to trace ancestors is to proceed marriage by marriage.

Throughout the 17th, 18th and most of the 19th Centuries, married French-Canadian women kept their maiden name throughout their life. This eases the task of finding the correct marriage. For instance it is easier to match a John Doe with a Mary Jones than it is a John and Mary Doe.

Since the beginning of the English regime in Canada starting about 1760, the Quebecois have been fiercely protective and proud of their culture, religion and language. Genealogy is a part of their culture. They have gone to extreme lengths to make it easier for people to trace their ancestry. Marriages and often the baptisms and burials of all parish registers have been indexed in repertoires that are readily available. Further a number of excellent French-Canadian genealogical dictionaries and province-wide marriage indexes have been published. Practically all of the Quebec marriages in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries have been indexed in the blue Drouin series and the Loiselle Index, both of which can be entered with the bride’s surname as well as the groom’s. In addition to the full names of the bridal couple, the names of their parents and the date and place of the marriage are given in Drouin and Loiselle. These indexes can be accessed for a small fee through the Research Services of the Vermont French-Canadian Genealogical Society of Burlington, VT and the American-Canadian Genealogical Society of Manchester, NH .

In both Quebec and the U.S. probably the most difficult century for tracing French-Canadian ancestry is the 19th Century. The Quebecois became more mobile with a shift from rural to urban areas. Emigration to the western provinces of Canada and to the United States especially New England accelerated in the 19th century. Further complicating research is that the Catholic hierarchy banned dual surnames about 1860 with many Quebecois electing to retain their “dit” or “also known as” name and dropping the original family surname.

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