Genealogy SOME CONSIDERATIONS…and thoughts on End
Product
When I first embarked into to the world of genealogy over forty years ago it quickly became apparent that it was inextricably linked to history, and that realization greatly influenced my research, study, views, and end product…
I made a conscious decision to limit my work to a specific branch of an Acadian family from its progenitor to the eleventh generation. I was supported in this decision by the late Father Clarence d’Entremont (a quite distant cousin) who said, in effect: “John, if everyone would do that thoroughly and well for every branch of every family we would have the history of the Acadians.” Note that he mentioned history, not a dictionary of names; I have no ahnentafel, no Family Tree Maker, no data base of names. I do have a large collection of names on 3”x5”cards based on searches of original sources, notes from interviews with the elderly, letters of relatives dated as early as 1901, 19th and 20th century photographs, and my personal library holds over 200 volumes pertaining to genealogy and Canadian and Acadian history. Over the years, papers prepared by me on lineages and the history of the times in which my ancestors lived provided the basis for my recently (1999) published “Devoe-deVaux Family History 1691-1991” which has been well received by a number of critics of the genre. While I have included some significant data on a number of my matrilineal connections, it is basically limited to the grandchildren of women born of the name Devoe-deVaux. I first became somewhat computer literate only in 2000 and while somewhat appalled at the disinformation I found on my Acadian family (and others) I none-the-less enjoy assisting folks interested in the family history and its lineage, observing, in general, that “on the web” the interest in history is something less than one might have expected, for without it our ancestors are strangers; collect the names, collect the history. Whatever your approach…and the depth of it…I offer here some thoughts for your consideration.
TALK TO THE OLD FOLKS CONTACTS BEWARE THE WEB SOURCES ETHICS FINALLY
THE
OLD FOLKS…In retrospect, there was no single act of research undertaken during
my years of study that reaped more significant reward than the conversations I
had with the oldest relatives and other knowledgeable elderly. I became early
aware that any extant records would be protected and preserved for future
reference, the elderly would be in Other Hands…and we should remember, they
take a lot of truth with them when they cross over the river. While not able to
describe family fortunes much beyond those they had witnessed or had had
described to them, those I interviewed had experienced the latter years of the
19th century and many of the events relayed to me were later
substantiated with a variety of records; records likely not sought had I not
been guided to them. Truth, tradition, folklore, memory and myth, write it all
down, sort it out at a later time. Engage in conversation, now, today. From the
beginning it had been my wish to put together a family history, not simply a
group of genealogical charts bereft of any sense or understanding of the world
in which my ancestors had lived. The reading of history obviously provided much
of what I needed to do this, but the real treasure came from…The Old Folks.
BEWARE
THE WEB…The days of endless letter writing as I experienced (as I have said, I
began in 1961) are today put to limited use by those involved in family
research…most will never have a delightful letter from an archivist, a scholar,
a great-uncle, a great aunt. These machines have taken over; ubiquitous, yes,
free of error, hardly. Of value? Of course, but only if used intelligently. As
I write this I have less than a year’s experience with “Confusers” and have
observed little that would have given me the accuracy I achieved by driving
many miles in search of the hand-written records of the last century to say
nothing of the microfilms of the records of previous centuries. You say it is
all on the web? If it is I have yet to see it. Allegedly accurate
transcriptions of the material in many cases, yes…I have yet to see a microfilm
of an original source, perhaps there are some. Family histories abound,
thousands of them; lineages aplenty, millions of them; names, billions on these
wires, the majority at least suspect. When I first got the machine I poked
around every site claiming to reveal the historical facts relating to the
progenitor of my Acadian family, Michel DeVaux of Beaubassin. I found not a
single site that got it right when compared to the original sources (or
microfilms thereof) I have seen. Experiment: Click in the name Charlemagne
Deveau (a misspelling of the original surname by the way) in the “expert” site
of your choice and you will to this day find dozens of examples of his birth
being given as 1698 and a son of Michel and Marie-Magdeleine Martin. My
ancestor, he was in fact the grandchild of Michel via son Pierre; the
Beaubassin registers record his birth as 20 JUL 1719. There is no excuse
for such frivolous “findings” being posted and many such errors are copied and
re-copied on site after site. Do a little work on your own. If you observe
something that appears to make sense, make a note of it but follow up with
research that can verify or eliminate as valid the posted material. What is
left of value on the web? Some “raw” data is beginning to appear, census
reports, burial ground inscriptions, extracts of church registers…but remember
these are transcriptions, thus prone to error. What else of value? Once again a
trusted contact, and I can assure you they are out there and can render meritorious
assistance if you ask the right questions.
Use the web…judiciously.
SOURCES…Ah,
the sources. Just the other day, on a List, I read of a “source” following a lineage: “Source, LDS records” What records? LDS records (accuracy?)
or extracts from a microfilm (obtained though an LDS library) of a church
register? If so, what church register? (click
for discussion) Now professional genealogists have devised a language to describe degrees of evidence used in judging sources, and I need not go into detail except to make a distinction between an original document and anything else that purports to be that. When, in 1962, the
late Father Flavian Samson of St. John the Baptist Church in River Bourgeois
invited me into the glebe house to look at his registers I had an original
(primary) source in my hands. Strictly speaking, that document alone can be so
described with respect to the records of that church: not a microfilm of those
records (did the recorder miss any pages, was he limited in any way by the
guardian of them?); not a transcription of those records; not information from
them sent to a diocesan repository; not a recently published genealogy; nothing
on the web; nothing in Steve White’s DGFA. That does not mean we all must gain
access to such original documents for responsible recordings have been made by
responsible people…only if there is a question, a conflict with other data,
should it be necessary to do so. The examination of the original might well not
resolve a problem of course, and then we are left to compare data either with
other entries in that register or other sources. As cherished as are such
things as an original register, an original copy of a census, it should be
remembered that what is entered is no more accurate than what written by, or
was given to, the recorder. Did the couple about to be married really know the
names of their parents? In my experience, not always. The priest at baptism
presumably would know the date of that act, but did the parents give the
correct date of birth? Did the place of birth given to a census taker reflect
fact or belief? Death records, while likely accurate with respect to the
person’s name and the date, are notoriously inaccurate with respect to other
data pertaining to the deceased, often guesses on the part of a survivor. In
genealogical research today much is made of the collection of microfilmed
records in the hands of the Latter Day Saints. Apart from the caveat concerning
such film mentioned previously, this collection is recognized as the single
greatest collection of genealogical fons
et origo in the world and thus of extreme value to researchers. It does not
however follow that the end products of the members of this organization have
any more validity than that of other researchers…their work should be as critically challenged (some say more) as
that from any other unknown source. Be aware that the work of Bona Arsenault
(both editions) is much flawed with respect to many lineages Any thing found there, or where his work is
used as a “source” should be verified in some other way.
ETHICS…Unless you have personally done the research from original sources, you owe recognition to the sources you used: A transcription, some correspondence, a book, an article, a website, an individual; CREDIT! An advantage lurks in this approach; if the data is in error…it is not your error! Incidentally, a few amateurs are quickly recognized by those of us who have been at this for thirty or forty-plus (in my case) years. After having sent considerable accurate information in response to a query from an obvious novice (perhaps wishing to be thought of as an old hand) one gets the following response: “Thank you, that confirms what I have in my files”…the word “integrity” comes to mind…acknowledge new and accurate information as such. Not infrequently I have been asked by one who has read my book: “What source should I use for that information?” Answer: “My book.” This Family History I wrote makes sufficient general reference (I was often intentionally non-specific) to the sources I used for an intelligent researcher to verify what I have found. I am always willing to engage in more detailed discussion of those sources should it appear to have merit.
END PRODUCT…Here
it is a matter of choice, and I elected to write what is more a family history
than a genealogy. I have no impressive “Fan Chart” nor extensive lineages for
all my ancestors, perhaps no more than four generations on all of them. My
primary interest and research in genealogy has been concentrated on my
grandfather Matthew’s Acadian heritage beginning with progenitor Michel of
Beaubassin and it includes considerable coverage of the descendants of his
grandfather Pierre who located in the Little Bras d’Or area around 1847-8. It
was my wish to write the history of my direct Devoe-deVaux ancestors in my
book, and thus the format does not adhere to any standard but those I established
for the effort. Again, my listings do not go beyond the children of those women
born of the family name, albeit certain matrilineal connections beyond that are
included. The format is somewhat narrative in that as each person is listed
facts known about that individual are incorporated following the name and
family, a similar treatment is given to the children. As I have said, I have
not a single name in any “data base” on my newly acquired computer (nor will I
ever have). The book is divided by generations, with considerable history
(through the 19th century) of the times in which each generation
lived. Do it as you will, but get beyond the mere collection of names and BMD
dates. Perhaps reconsider the extent of your goals, particularly if you are
inclined to devoting your time to ascending genealogies for it is likely you
will never “finish” the work; the descending genealogy has a better chance of
reaching a satisfying result, the completion of a task. For the benefit of your
descendants spend some time on history and put it down on paper along with your
“data base” stuff; if not in a published work at least in manuscript form
providing copies for a few of the many repositories of things genealogical.
Beyond an occasional bit of curiosity research I am no longer actively engaged.
I have done what I set out to do and done it well, clarified beyond the efforts
of any other the beginnings of my Acadian family, gained more than a passing
familiarity with Acadian history and genealogy in particular as it applies to
the Isle Madame and Little Bras d’or areas; the latter likely first
identified as a minor Acadian enclave
on Cape Breton Island as a result of my research in 1961. Though my serious
“digging days” are done, I stand ready to assist any person inclined to believe
that my experience and knowledge of the areas mentioned could be of benefit. If you believe you
might benefit from my experience of having published a family history, with
respect to creating an “audience” (potential buyers), putting it together,
paper recommendations, having it printed, having it bound (soft or case-bound),
costs, financing, shipping, please go to WRITE
AND PUBLISH
Join
me in an Ancestral Pilgrimage CLICK ON BLUE ITEMS FOR
ACCESS
FINALLY…For
the individual researching an Acadian family today we have the beginning
volumes (2001, soon the remainder) of Stephen A. White’s DGFA, the dictionnaire which makes obsolete all previous attempts
to identify our Acadian ancestors…this time with sources for virtually every
entry. It can’t get any better than that.
Back
to Salut Table of Contents Back
to Acadian Grandfathers Introduction
Comments welcome, contact
me John Brooks Devoe, Stratham NH USA See
History