French Roots project now official and accepting volunteers [closed]

+45 votes
3.5k views

The French Roots project is now official and ready to co-ordinate the efforts of Wikitree-ers who want to help improve the profiles of French people.

Want to be part of the project?

1. Be informed : start by reading the Project Page and follow the french_roots tag.

2. Contribute: there are lots of ways you can get involved (check the Project Page): correct errors, find sources (France has lots of great records available), categorize, improve profiles for French notables... Or participate in one of the sub-projects (Catherine de Baillon, French Notables, Presidents of France or the new Departments project).

If you are ready to help, please post an answer to this question to tell us what you'd like to do, and you'll receive one of our shiny new badges.

French Roots Project

(EDT: made this the new official join thread)

in Requests for Project Volunteers by Isabelle Martin G2G6 Pilot (566k points)
closed by Isabelle Martin
Would like to join. I am researching Alsace-Lorraine ancestors in my family and my wife's family.
To Thomas Warger. Which one of your ancestors was from Alsace-Lorraine ?
Hello WikiTree G2G
As far as I know, none of my ancestors was from Alsace-Lorraine.
My mother¹s family are descended from Decuirs and Barbins.
The first Decuir to arrive in the New World was Albert Decuir who was
baptized on February 5, 1673 in Macon, Provence Hainaut, Diocese of
Cambrai in
Belgium. One of HIS ancestors was Paul de Cuire who was possibly born
about 1480 in Macon, Diocese of Chambray Hainaut in
Belgium. He was the earliest person on record to carry the name of
Decuire.  
Another of my ancestors, was Louis Barbin de Bellevue (born 1698 in Paris,
France; died 1759).  He was
commissioned by Louis XIV, King of France to take charge of the government
store at La Balize,
just south of New Orleans.
One of His ancestors was Louis Antoine Barbin (born October 6, 1656-died
February 8, 1707) (born in Montereau-Fault-Yonne, France; died also in that
city), and his wife was Marguerite De Chambault.  They were married June
12, 1682 in Fontainebleau,
Ile-de-France, France.
Another ancestor was Jean Baptiste Rabalais I, who was born about 1666 in
the city of Rochefourant, Province of Poitou, France.
On the my father, Edgar Guillory¹s side, one of my ancestors was Simon
Guillory who was christened on February 16, 1646 at the church of St.
Sauveur in
Blois, department of Loir et Cher, France.  He was the first Guillory to
reach the New World (1664).
One of HIS ancestors was François Guillere de Corrobert who married
Elizabeth Thomas about 1597 in Château de Blois, France.
One of my Father's ancestors was actually English. John Whitmore was born
in  in Bristol,
Sommerset, England about 1589. John Whitmore arrived in this country in
1839. 
He resided in Connecticut and in Cambridge, Middlesex County,
Massachusetts.  
One of his ancestors was Robert Whitmore who was born about 1451 in
Nottingham,
Nottinghamshire, England and died in 1540, also
in England.  
So nobody from Alsace-Lorraine.
Keith Guillory, Guillory-632

HI all, please use the ANSWER button to reply to this thread so that each answer may be addressed separately. 

David's comment was intended for Thomas Warger. Thomas, could you please answer to the main post in this thread (and not comment here) so that David may continue the discussion with you? Thank you.

Please do not reply to this comment. Thanks for understanding.

The Alsace-Lorraine ancestors are actually in my wife's lineage. If you start with my son, Warger-10, my wife's tree merges with mine, of course.

See: Kimpflin-2 (François Joseph Kimpflln (1822-) and Kimpflin-3 (Jeanne Albertine Kimplfin).

My information about them (beyond word-of-mouth in my wife's family) comes from an email from a person in France who viewed church records in Merxheim, took notes, and sent the information to one of my wife's cousins.

I have at least 100 more names in their ancestry, going back another 5 generations, but only Ancestry.com "Family Trees" sources for them. For that reason, I've not put them in the Wikitree.

Some of those names: Kimpflin, Kauffmann, Bouillon, Heisser, Wild, Steiner, Dosch, Fleck, Klein, Steinbach, Schutz, Windstein, Lentz, Hertzog, Eich, Zabern, Dischinger, Gertenhauer, Fontaine, Mahieu.

Places: Merxheim, Raedersheim, Lambach, Volmunster, Griesbach, Zinswiller, Lorentzen, Domfessel, Lutzelstein, Volksberg, Minsinger, Dehlingen.

My interest in the French Roots Project is to find better information about these ancestors.
Hi! I'd like to join. I have a living great-uncle named René and live in St. Lawrence County New York one of the most French counties in the United States. I've traced my French heritage back to the 1700 hundreds in Normandy and Fontainebleau so far.
I also have Norman heritage and am particularly interested in that region.
Oui, s'il vous plait! :)

Hi Colleen,

Could you please make this an Answer by clicking the answer link on the question above? We really need this to be able to track what we're doing. Thanks!

Isabelle, you sent to wrong email address....

67 Answers

+12 votes
C'est magnifique, Isabelle!! Woo hoo :-)

I hope to work on the project by helping with categorization, correcting errors and improving profiles and supporting our fearless leader of course.
by Emma MacBeath G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
Thanks Emma. And thanks for all your help in building the project!
+13 votes
Thank you, Isabelle! I plan to continue my work on Martinique and the Comté de Nice. I plan to work on correcting errors, writing and polishing bios, and so on. As well as researching and adding family lines.
by Duane Poncy G2G6 (8.7k points)
Thanks again Duane, And welcome! (officially, this time).
Fantastique Duane!!
+13 votes
horray! badge please :)
by Kyla H G2G6 Mach 5 (54.4k points)
Welcome again Kyla! And thanks for great work you've already done with Catherine de Baillon's ancestors !
+12 votes
I plan to contribute in the following ways:

1.  Tag all of my French glass and crystal makers with the new category.

2.  Act as a resource for anyone with French glass and crystal makers as I am an officer in an international organization dedicated to the preservation of information including genealogy and craft making techniques (genverre).  We maintain databases and publish a magazine twice a year that contains genealogical studies of various families.

3.  Help with research as I have access to many of the Moselle records including some not covered by the regional archives.

4.  help with pre-1500 French research as I am pre-1500 certified

5.  Help with Departments Project I just put my name on Moselle

I have several profiles I need to add hopefully after the US Thanksgiving this coming Thursday.  I am booked up until then...
by Laura Bozzay G2G6 Pilot (829k points)
Hooray! Five times thank you Laura !

Hi Laura, one of my ancestors Hervé Danemont would be in your area of interest, do you have anything on him?

Chris

Chris,  I looked in the glass and crystal maker index and did not find that surname.  There is a Danne but that was the closest to it...

I also looked in a database for surname distribution in France and it did not show up on it either  http://www.geopatronyme.com/

To look him up in archives I need a place and a time period.  I did a quick search on Family Search and only user trees came back.  Which can be wrong but they do give clues sometimes.  8 trees came back with a lot of the same info  https://www.familysearch.org/search/tree/results?count=20&query=%2Bgivenname%3AHerve~%20%2Bsurname%3ADanemont  All of these would need to be verified.  

There were 291 in Geneanet which is the French version of Ancestry with user donated trees... but sometimes you get lucky and they list sources at the bottom!  https://en.geneanet.org/fonds/individus/?go=1&nom=Danemont&prenom=Herve&prenom_operateur=or&with_variantes_nom=&with_variantes_nom_conjoint=&with_variantes_prenom=&with_variantes_prenom_conjoint=&size=10

This one for example has sources listed https://gw.geneanet.org/dhauchard?n=danemont&oc=&p=herve
+12 votes
Sure- I have plenty of ancestors from Alsace Lorraine that I am actively researching.
by Beth Stephenson G2G6 Mach 6 (68.5k points)
Great ! There are already many profiles for people from Alsace Lorraine and your help with be most welcome.
My husband's original Bartholow ancestor is reportedly from Alsace-Lorraine.  We have no information on him and wish to learn how to better research his arrival and his prior life data.
+12 votes
I'm in. I can do work on the department of Vienne (I just added my name in the table), maybe on a few notables, correct errors and add sources when I find them.
by Julien Cassaigne G2G6 Mach 6 (66.6k points)
Thanks Julien, I've awarded you a badge.

I've mentioned you can help translating records, since you've already demontrated your skills with that.
+11 votes
Hello Emma,

Thank you for getting this project up and running. I am very interested in finding out more about my French Canadien ancestors, in particular some ancestral information about the men who married the descendants of my Filles du Roi 7x gr-grandmother, Anne Masson (1642-1710). I do know Pierre Blanchard (Abt. 1734-Aft. 1767) was my 4x gr-grandfather and he emigrated from La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, France circa 1754. He married Anne Masson's granddaughter, Marie Louise Julienne Clement (1737-1795) in that year, However, I have no information for the men who married Anne's daughter (Marie Louise Giraud, 1719-1757) or granddaughter, Marie Louise Julienne Clement.

I look forward to more discoveries!

Barbara (Blanchard) Petepiece
by
+11 votes
Willing to help with research,  correct errors. Would love to find family records
by Michael Sabot G2G6 Mach 1 (12.7k points)
Welcome Michael. We certainly need help with errors! Thank you.
+11 votes
I am glad to be part of this project.  I have L'Acadian roots,  plus those from France.  I seem to have royal blood. i don't know if it is true,  but it is worth finding out.
by Fritz Maher G2G5 (5.3k points)
+12 votes
Happy to be part of this !
by Living Calonnec G2G6 (8.6k points)
Thank you Michèle! I believe you would like to focus on the ancestors of immigrants to New France? I see you've already helped with a few of them.
Bonjour Isabelle,

J'ai effectivement  l'intention de travailler sur les ancêtres français des nouveaux québécois.  J'avais déjà bien des données avant de me joindre à Wiki et je dois maintenant y mettre de l'ordre pour respecter la manière de faire.  Je voudrais compléter la lignée des "Dugon" et de leurs alliés, ce qui n'est pas une mince tâche, mais aussi participer avec le groupe  pour faire de la recherche et traduire, le cas échéant.

Cordialement

Michèle
Merci Michèle!
+11 votes
I would definitely like to help and volunteer to contribute.  Thanks, Isabelle.
by

Hi Ann, do you have a more precise idea of how you could help? It is better to have an idea of this before I award the badge, since we use the badge report to see where everybody is helping. Taking a look might help you find ideas, too. Thanks for volunteering !

+11 votes
I see my name on the list so I'm in.  The badge would be fine, too.  I work on items 1-9 (would be afraid to touch famous people), but enjoy learning how to better source with French records.  One of my personal to-do tasks is to mark all my immigrant ancestors with the French Immigrants tag.  I could do that for others as well.  How about having our own mini-challenge for a weekend - might help people like me who need to get more comfortable with French sources?
by Cindy Cooper G2G6 Pilot (328k points)
I like the challenge idea, Cindy.  I would join you ;-)
Also like the challenge idea! And there would be plenty to do with fixing locations, cleaning up GEDCOM junk from profiles, adding categories and stickers...

I'm adding you for overall profile improvement. Thank you !
+10 votes
Many thanks to Isabelle for launching the French Roots project-she's been very dedicated to seeing this through and it's exciting now that it's 100% official.  

I've been working on the first three mini-projects for some time now, and will continue to do so.  For French Notables, I've been able to connect the Edgar Degas, Jean-François Millet, and the Landrieu family.  Hopefully, I'll be able to have continued success in those endeavors.  I'm also looking forward to beginning work on the department pages for Seine-Maritime and Eure.
by Greg Lavoie G2G6 Pilot (370k points)
Not to mention coordinating the effort to clean up all those puzzling French-Canadian early ancestors ! Thanks for all your hard work, Greg.
+11 votes
I would like to work on the Departments area for Guadeloupe, will Saint Barthélemy eventually get it's own page or remain part of Guadeloupe? Either way, I'm still interested in helping in this area.

I currently live in Department 38 and willing to help in this area as well.
by Lynnette LaPlace G2G6 Mach 2 (24.2k points)
A special page for Saint-Barthélemy would be great! Thank you, Lynnette, and welcome.
+10 votes
Mais oui!  Would be able to help with research
Please add the badge to my profile
by Barbara Cutter G2G6 Mach 1 (10.7k points)
edited by Barbara Cutter

Thank you Barbara! Any more specific ideas of where you'd like to help? Or just general sourcing? It is more interesting to have the info before I give the badge so the badge report is accurate. I know sometimes it's not easy to say beforehand, but it would be very hepful. Thanks !

I already started working on Henri Matisse - just looked at the to do list and I love his work sooo - hope that is ok
Oh that's great - lots of French notables need some tender loving care. Thank you!
+10 votes
I am ready and willing to assist
by Living Stephen G2G Crew (500 points)

Hello Gershwin! As with Ann and Barbara, do you have any more specific ideas? there are lots of ideas on the project page, or you could have a look at the badge report. Thank you !

+11 votes

So glad this project is happening! I wasn't too sure about becoming an active member, because my free time over the next month-and-a-half will be very limited. I could start by searching for documents at the Archives Départementales, for my friends' families or for "French Roots" WikiTreers who need un coup de main.  And more involvement as time goes on.

(I don't have any French roots, but I live here so that's a root.)

 

by C Ryder G2G6 Mach 8 (88.2k points)
Welcome! Everybody who wants to help the project is welcome. We'll be happy to have your help.
+10 votes
Salut bonjour mes cousins,

Would love to join since most of my roots are French, and sprawl considerably.

Au plaisir de travailler ensemble.
by Bruce Codère G2G6 Mach 1 (18.4k points)

Bonjour Bruce,

I am right in supposing you are looking to correct errors? We have lots of those !

FYI, the French Roots project does not cover people of French origin who lived in New France, those are under the Quebecois or Acadians projects. We do cover the ancestors who stayed in France and more recent immigrants.

Bonjour Isabelle,

De rigueur. Since I'm just starting at Wiki there's lots to learn, and lots of correcting, starting with profiles I manage, car, bon, voila, euh... ahem, bien, oui. So the further I dig the more I find cousins who wandered far or not at all. Seeing who stayed in France will be another level of digging I'll enjoy.
+11 votes
Ready to Help .. Happy to Serve .. Pleasure to Learn .. Thank You Isabelle Rassinot ..

Baraboo et Barbeau et Barbot et Barbu et Barbeaux et Barbaut et Barbaud dit Boisdore dit Poitevin dit LaForest dit Burren dit Bruyere .... etc
by Stanley Baraboo G2G Astronaut (1.4m points)
Thank you Jerry, welcome!
+11 votes
I'm late but please, give me a badge quand même ! I will categorize my numerous french ancestors and contribute to the departments project (and invite my french cousins to join Wikitree !). Encore une fois, thank you Isabelle, Emma and Greg for the work !
by Stéphane Wendlinger G2G1 (1.8k points)
Bienvenue ! Et merci pour votre travail.
Ah! Bienvenue encore Stéphane.  Vous n'êtes jamais en retard!

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