Issue #113, Vol. 33, 3rd Quarter, 2007

Table of Contents
President's Letter	Gerard Savard, #4972	98
Editor's Page	Pauline Cusson #2572	99
From Other Publications	Laurent Autotte #3505	100
Book Review		56
Finding Adonijah:  After the August 1704 Mourning War Raid on Westborough - Part III	E. P. Rice-Smith, #9077	104
Ancestral Charts	Elizaeth Rice-Smith and Adonijah rice	115
French-Canadian Emigration	William F. Kane, #6950	117
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online	Cavelier de La Salle	120
Book Review - Homemade Biography		138
Queries and Answers	Mary Anna Paquette, #2378	139
New Members	Jeanne Boisvert, #6394	139
Research Services/***Catalog & Order Form***	We have a new publisher for our Répertoires	142
Fall Conference Brochure/Registration Form		Center Inserts

 

President's Page

Gerry Savard #4972

Today I read an interesting discussion on “Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter” [www.eogn.com] questioning the need for and, more importantly, the practicality of maintaining a bricks and mortar library facility given the general decline in paid memberships, the increased costs for patrons to travel to their favorite library and the wealth of information available on the internet. An excellent argument is made for digitizing the library’s collection and making it available, for a fee, on a website.

I certainly hope that this is something that can be avoided for a long time to come. Don’t get me wrong, I think that research conducted on the internet is convenient and with the excellent resources available from web sites such as Ancestry.com some trips to the library can be avoided.

Unfortunately, we are turning into a population that is losing the ability to get out and interact with people. For me, genealogy has been about meeting people, going to the library and getting and sharing information, maybe running into someone from my hometown. It’s about seeing the satisfaction on someone’s face when they’ve connected with a long lost ancestor. Doing genealogy in a vacuum amounts to name collecting, whereas collaborating with fellow genealogists turns genealogy into a rewarding hobby.

Having used our facility to do my research and having been involved in some of our past conferences both as an attendee and as a lecturer, I can certainly attest to the fact that a living, breathing library facility is a great asset to have. This is what the American-Canadian Genealogical Society is about, to provide research material, to educate, to provide a sense of community. With continued support from our membership, we plan to continue acquiring research material, producing our repertories, and maintaining our little genealogical gem.

In 1608, Samuel de Champlain and 32 colonists founded what would later become the city of Quebec. Of the group, only nine survived the brutal winter to welcome new settlers in the spring. But trade alliances with native tribes led to prosperity and Champlain's Quebec colony flourished. Many of us in the United States owe our very existence to these courageous individuals. We can quickly trace our roots to the Quebec region. Over 900,000 of our ancestors left this region to leave their mark on various areas of the United States, particularly the New England area.

Next year, 2008, marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. There’s a lot of excitement in both the Quebec Province and the New England states over the celebration of the city’s founding by Champlain. The celebration, named Quebec 2008, will host many events on both sides of the border. Hopefully, this will be a great opportunity for all French-Canadian cousins to brush up on their French language skills and to get reacquainted. It’s an excellent reason to venture out and visit the old family homestead. It’s a beautiful country. Please visit the Quebec 2008 website www.myquebec2008.com for more details.

Planning for major genealogical events often begins as much as four years before the event. Convention facilities and hotel rooms have to be booked, and speakers that will appeal to a wide audience have to be lined up. In 2009, Manchester, NH will be host to the tenth New England Regional Genealogical Conference, Discovering Family Treasures. The conference will be held on the 22nd to the 26th of April. ACGS will be an active participant in this event.

And finally, I invite all of our members to our Fall Conference, to he held on the 29th of September. Besides the annual meeting, our three speakers will surely give us an interesting helping of genealogy tidbits.

Editor's Page

Pauline Cusson #2572 - editor@acgs.org

You are not dreaming – Yes, you did just receive the very-late second issue of the year. This issue puts us back on schedule with The Genealogist.

In my haste to get the last issue out, I forgot to include a very important citation for the original article on Francois Bélanger - « François Bélanger à Beauport », L'Ancêtre, numéro 277, volume 33, hiver 2007, p. 119-132. It turned into such a good piece, and I was so late with the issue, I forgot to add the citation at the end of the article. I apologize to the author, Raymond Bélanger, to the society in whose journal it first appeared, “Société généalogique du Québec,” and to Jim and Armand Bélanger who did the translation for us.

With great relief, I am pleased to present the third and final part to Elizabeth Rice Smith’s article on “Finding Adonijah Rice”. Elizabeth shared a great e-mail she received from Prof. Roger Lawrence #1, marvelling at the depth of her research. He too is convinced that Elizabeth has found Adonijah. Our readers, whether or not connected to this ancestor, can learn many new skills from this kind of in-depth research. Thank you Elizabeth.

I took the liberty of including a biography of one of our more notable French Ancestors. In the last issue, I reviewed Phil Marchand’s book “Ghost Empire” with its main character being the explorer, LaSalle. That nudged my curiosity so I went back to the wonderful website, “Canadian Biography Online” and copied his biography. When space is available, I will do one biography in each issue.

Because our conference is coming up so soon, I needed to get this issue out quickly. It includes the conference registration form and brochure. Please be sure to mention our conference to other genealogists – you never know who might be coming to New England at the end of September!

Bill Kane has submitted another well-written article on some of the migration patterns of our French-Canadian and Acadian ancestors that he has uncovered as a result of his own research.

Mel Surette has been ill since the spring. I did not have the heart to nag him [and that is what I do sometimes] for another article so soon after the last issue. I apologize to our Acadian members for not providing an article for you in this issue.

Again we seek your input as to how to handle some issues we mentioned at the annual meeting a few years ago regarding the printing of The Genealogist. In 2008 we would like to begin a slow migration to digital copies of the journal. Each member would have the opportunity to choose whether to receive the print version or a CD version. To begin, you would receive the CD at home and could print any or all the articles to read at your leisure. If that doesn’t work for you, we can e-mail a PDF version of the issue to you at no cost to your society. We are currently spending about $20,000 per year to print and mail the journal to our members. Please let us know your feelings about this by sending an e-mail to editor@acgs.org or acgs@acgs.org or write to us at our P.O. Box. If you are willing to try it right now – don’t hesitate to let us know if you want a CD or an e-mailed PDF version.