Researching French-Canadian ancestry in Michigan

Question

For F-C researchers in Michigan there are some finding aids and research centers which could be of help: the Loiselle marriage index (+ supplement) which covers a large number of parishes in Quebec and a few adjacent areas of Ontario, Nova Scotia and New England. There is also the Rivest marriage index, it is a bride index and overlaps Loiselle but also covers some parishes he doesn't. Both are available on film through your local Family History Center.

These films are on indefinite loan at the Lansing Family History Center in East Lansing http://lansingfhc.org/about.html . They are master indexes and can help in determining location of ancestors. There is also a microfiche version of Loiselle at the Michigan State Archives. Then there is the Fabian marriage index which covers parishes along the St. Lawrence seaway but is only available at the Canadian National Archives as far as I know. There are also published marriage repertoires (or listings) of various parishes of Quebec, Ontario, and New England at the State Archives, as well as some baptisms and burials, see - http://35.8.7.98/search~S37?/dRegisters+of+births%2C+etc.+--+Quebec+%28Province%29./dregisters+of+births+etc+quebec+province/-53,-1,0,B/browse . The Burton Collection at the Detroit Public Library also has a large number of the repertoires. I believe one of the Family History Centers in the Detroit area has some if not all of the Loiselle index, perhaps someone can comment on that.

The State Archives also has the Drouin Collection - http://35.8.7.98/search~S37/?searchtype=X&searcharg=drouin&searchscope=37&sortdropdown=-&SORT=D&extended=0&SUBMIT=Search&searchlimits=&searchorigarg=adrouin

and

http://35.8.7.98/search~S37/X?searchtype=X&searchscope=37&searcharg=drouin+collection&submit.x=0&submit.y=0

See: http://35.8.7.98/search~S37/?searchtype=X&searcharg=prdh&searchscope=37&sortdropdown=-&SORT=DZ&extended=0&SUBMIT=Search&searchlimits=&searchorigarg=Xdrouin for a summery on using the various sources.

 

See also: http://35.8.7.98/search~S37?/Xfrench-Canadian&searchscope=37&SORT=DZ/Xfrench-Canadian&searchscope=37&SORT=DZ&extended=0&SUBKEY=french-Canadian/51%2C129%2C129%2CB/frameset&FF=Xfrench-Canadian&searchscope=37&SORT=DZ&96%2C96%2C

 

For non-French speakers, the church records usually follow a format and the essentials can be determined, the handicap being the sometimes illegible handwriting:

http://www.genealogywise.com/group/frenchcanadiandescendants/forum/topics/parish-register-entries

http://www.habitantheritage.org/french-canadian_resources/parish_records

 

The earliest generations have been researched:

DICTIONNAIRE GENEALOGIQUE DES FAMILLES CANADIENNES by Fr. Cyprien Tanguay

Also online - http://www.genealogie.org/tanguay/ For a critique and how to read Tanguay see Michigan’s Habitant Heritage, v.4 #3 (Jul 1983), pp.60-63, published by the French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan. It should be noted that this set is considered out-of-date and essentially replaced by –

DICTIONNAIRE GENEALOGIQUE DES FAMILLES DU QUEBEC DES ORIGINES A 1730 by Rene Jette, however note that Jette only goes to 1730 while Tanguay goes to 1760, so don’t dismiss Tanguay completely. For on-line (not Jette or Tanguay) see: http://www.francogene.com/gfna/gfna/998/

For those with Detroit ancestry see:

GENEALOGY OF THE FRENCH FAMILIES OF THE DETROIT RIVER REGION, 1701-1936 (revised) by Fr. C. Denissen. Various additions & corrections have been published in Michigan’s Habitant Heritage, by the French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan (http://habitantheritage.org/).

Answer 1

Thanks James, this is an incredible reference guide for those with FC roots in Michigan. Though my own ancestors made their way to the Territory of Michigan from New York, I will explore these links and keep this post accessible, referring those with future inquiries to it.

Answer 2

Take care with Cyprien Tanguay, he did have many errors, not least of which was his writing names in the spelling used in his own time, so a given name like Marie Josephe for a girl got transformed to Marie Josephte.  Similar but wrong era.

For on-line access to Tanguay though, here's the link:

http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/dicoGenealogie/?language_id=3

Note that Détroit, aka Ste-Anne de Détroit for the parish, should not be listed as Michigan before 1760, since it was part of New France.  Correct listing for it on profiles would be ''Détroit, Pays d'en Haut, Nouvelle-France''.  (I'll pardon you the absence of the diacritical accent, since not everyone has the right keyboard and it can be a hassle doing it manually).

Comments

Thank you. That's what I get for not checking links for updates (and the one thing I hate about using the internet for sources).

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The link is through the Quebec provincial main libray and archives:  Bibliothèque & Achives Nationales du Québec (BanQ).