There are 8.3 million Americans who claim French ancestry in the 2000 U.S. census (3% of the total population), and 2.4 million Americans (0.9% of the population) who claim French-Canadian ancestry. Comprised mostly of Huguenots (French Protestants), Acadian refugees, political exiles and their progeny, the French contingent in the states has always been viewed as a distinct element in the population and is most concentrated in New England, the Midwest, and Louisiana. The so-called Quebec diaspora of the 1840s-1930s, in which one million French Canadians moved to the United States, accounted in great part for the distribution of Franco-Americans outside of Louisiana. The origins of Louisiana’s cajun culture, on the other hand, go back to the forced exodus of French inhabitants of Acadia (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island), following the British capture of Louisbourg in 1755, and their ensuing migration to the Gulf. Still other Louisiana immigrants were the white and mulatto survivors of the turn-of-the-19th century revolution in Haiti.
Our finding aid,Genealogy at a Glance: French Genealogy Research, by Claire Bettag, conveys the basics of French genealogy in just four laminated pages. Prepared by the former editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, French Genealogy Research instructs the reader that French research starts with the vital records of birth, marriage, and death. These records fall into two categories: parish registers before 1792 and civil registrations after 1792. Because most records used initially in French research were created at the town level, identifying an ancestor’s town of origin is critical. Once determined (with tips given here to make it easier), research is generally conducted in the rich collections of departmental archives, including notarial records and censuses that are gradually being digitized and placed online. Municipal archives and libraries are rapidly digitizing their records as well, and the final section of our latest Genealogy at a Glance concludes with a list of helpful websites.
In short, the four specially laminated pages of Genealogy at a Glance: French Genealogy Research are designed to provide as much useful information in the space allotted as you’ll ever need. No research tool in French genealogy is as effortless and as convenient.
Persons with demonstrated French-Canadian ancestors, should also consider Denise Larson’s Genealogy at a Glance: French-Canadian Genealogy Research, which focuses on the settlement of French Canada and its genealogical resources. (Ms. Bettag’s publication is concerned with France itself.)
Check out these other titles in the “Genealogy at a Glance” series that cover countries or ethnicities of origin:
