Good luck with the French . . .

Posted by jdemaris on October 24, 2008 at 06:13:30 from (67.142.130.39):

In Reply to: Re: Three cylinder engine?? posted by Ron Corkum on October 23, 2008 at 18:09:18:

Researching French lineage can be interesting and frustrating. Many of my ancestors came from the Brittany area of northern France, and - when living in Nova Scoita - had the family name of Préjean-LeBreton. The "LeBreton" is an indicator of families from Brittany, France.

Both my parents were French - but one side from Canada/Nova Scotia/Northern France, and the other side directly from rural southern France near the spanish border, Department of Ariege.

I suspect if you've been working with any Canadian records, you've discovered the "extra" or "false" name problem? Usually called a "dit" or "ditte" name (pronouced DEET)?

The problem is - many French people upon arriving in Canada, either changed their names, or took on dual-names. Some just plain lied and recreated themselves. To make the problem even worse, the Canadian government forced many families to take on new names due to a French name shortage. There were so many French families with the same names it was hard for the government to identify people - so many were forced to take on extra names - added to the original - to narrow things down a bit.

Subsequently, many people now - in Canada and the USA, have names based on many things - not all, and sometimes not AT all, related to the original family name. To make things worse, most got spelled wrong by English speakers, and recorded that way.

The best way to start to sift this stuff out is with records kept by French priests - like Loiselle's Index.

In regard to actually going to France and doing research? You've done a lot better than I have. I still have relatives living in southern France and they won't lift a finger to help their American cousin (me). That because they love our money, and love our health care, but can't stand us otherwise (in many cases). My cousin came here and was a personal cook for president Kennedy. He then became head chef for Pan American airlines. He left all his children behind in France while he made his money here.
Then, he went back to France and says he hates Americans. A few years ago, his wife had a stroke. What did he do? Sent her to Long Island, New York, and stuck her in a nursing home to get free health care. Then went back to France and is still chasing women - and he's 89 years old.

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