Sentimental Sunday: A visit with a 2nd cousin Monday, July 26, 2010

This past weekend I had a wonderful visit with a Fish 2nd cousin once removed. Our common ancestor is the elusive Victor Fish, born Hector Poisson (or Joseph Hector Poisson).

We swapped notes on ancestors, and strategized on how to determine which of three Hector Poisson entries in the Drouin records might be "ours".

My cousin was able to identify some people correctly in one photo that I showed her - that of Edna Fish and Bill Schragle whom she had met in person.

She gave me a book entitled "The d'Amours Family in Canada" written by Marbey Colburn Hornstein in 1961. Its a lot of fun to bone up on the history of French Canada.

The best surprise was when I turned to page 227 and saw my 9th or 10th great grandfather, Nicolas I Gamache, Seigneur of l'Islet listed as another of my cousin's ancestors too!

Its so great to live in SoCal - where everyone is bound to have a lot of distant cousins in the neighborhood - this most recent visit was to East of San Diego.

Good to meet you "Cousine"!

Get the scoop - read on!

A Maternal Mystery Sunday, March 21, 2010

Due to March being Women's History Month and my participation in the Burbank-based French-Canadian Heritage Society of California's (FCHSC) meeting today at the Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS) Library ... one particular 2nd great grandmother is on my mind. She is proving to be elusive.

Her first name is Flore or Flora as confirmed by both family lore and US Census entries (i.e., 1900, 1910, 1920). She was born in August of 1854 or 1855 somewhere in French Canada but came to the US circa 1870. She then married Antoine Gamache in 1871 in Oconto, Oconto, Wisconsin. The couple later moved to Escanaba, Delta County, Michigan and that is where Flore died in 1923.

Some time ago, I requested a copy of her marriage certificate from the Wisconsin Historical Society with the hopes of learning the names of her parents. Unfortunately, when the copy of the marriage record arrived - her father's name (Jean Courtois) was listed, but her mother's name was not. In addition, the name of the bride on the copy looked more like "Clare Wartoiz".

It was with these facts that I approached the expert French-Canadian researchers for assistance.

I learned about the comprehensive French-Canadian collection on-hand at the SCGS Library - from the Loiselle Marriage Index microfiche to dictionaries of dit names to historical sketches of Quebec's famous families in the mid-1600s. I also learned that the FCHSC maintains a database of about 35,000 French-Canadian related ancestral names, relationships, vitals, and King's daughters and Carignan Soldiers annotations.

With many sources to pursue, I look forward to my next visit to the SCGS library. With the aid of the French-Canadian Research Team, I am confident that the mystery of Flore will one day be solved.

Get the scoop - read on!

Wisconsin Historical Society Sunday, July 26, 2009

More on the WHS -- what records are located in this database?

• Pre-1907 vital records, including birth, death, and marriage records
• Wisconsin Name Index entries, including biographical sketches, obituaries, and newspaper articles published before 2000

Once you locate items in the Wisconsin Genealogy Index, you can then request a copy of that particular record directly from WHS.

Records I have requested to date include:

• Kluge, Carl Julius and Christiane Dobler marriage certificate
• Kluge, Christoph death certificate
• Gamache, Antoine marriage certificate
• Commemorative Biographical Record of the Fox River Valley plus addendum

Get the scoop - read on!

Easy Access to Ancestor Records in Wisconsin - Area Research Centers

A great resource, when I don't find records listed in the WHS - Wisconsin Genealogy Index, is the network of Area Research Centers housing the local and genealogical histories of Wisconsin. The particular ARC that I have used most to date is located at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay and is part of the Cofrin Library. Records in this database include:

	Births, Deaths and Marriages	Citizenship	Court Case Files	Probate	Land Records (Deeds & Mortgages)	Tax & Assessment Rolls
Brown	ca. 1823-1907	1829-1984	1823-1939	1821-1906	1820-1902	1859-1980

Manitowoc

ca. 1823-1907

1848-1955

1849-1943

1864-1959

Abstract of Title 1835-1889

Sparse Holdings

Oconto	ca. 1823-1907	1857-1952	1857-1923	1857-1923	No Holdings	1853-1970
Outagamie	ca. 1823-1907	1852-1963	1852-1981	1853-1923	No Holdings	1855-1980

The ARC has citizenship records for the following counties:
Brown County 1829-1984 with an on-line index available.

Here is a list of records I have requested to date:

• Kluge, Christoph probate records - none found 8/2009
  
• Kluge, Christoph naturalization certificate
• Kluge, Christoph declaration of intent
• Gamache, Antoine death certificate
• van der Donk, Cornelius Henry (1st) birth certificate
• Ziegler, Fred C. declaration of intent
• Ziegler, Fred C. naturalization certificate
• Ziegler, Fred C. probate records - none found 8/2009
  

Here is a list of records to be requested in the future:

• Appleton, Mary Ann probate records
• Kluge, Carl Julius and August Kluge probate records - 3 files 8/2009 (need to get copy)
  
• Ridgeway, John probate records
• Moravian Church, Freedom, WI books (for Kluges)
  
• Dobler, Johann (John) death certificate
• Dobler, Anna death certificate
• Kluge, Christiane Dobler death certificate
  
• van der Donk, Jacobus citizenship records (didn't find in on-line index)
  
• Berns, James citizenship records (arrival 1865 Oct, filing 1866 Nov 06)
• Fred C. Ziegler's run for public office and the results
  

Here are the forms to request records.

Special Collections (7th Floor) - (920.465.2539)

Monday ... By Advance Appointment Only
Tuesday May 18 - June 12... 12:00pm - 4:30pm
Tuesday June 13-September 4--12:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Wednesday-Thursday ... 9:00am - 1:00pm
Friday, Saturday, &Sunday ... CLOSED

Get the scoop - read on!