As we drove across the bridge, the wind gusted
off the St. Lawrence and the impending
rain clouds hung over the quiet oblong-shaped
island. Making our way down the single road that encompassed the isle on this
dark and rainy fall evening, it had become apparent; time had stood still on
this tiny parcel of land of 76 square miles. The flat agricultural landscape
known as the birthplace of New France housed a mere 7000 residents in six
charming villages. Our arrival on the L'île d'Orléans,
just outside Quebec City marked the second day in our family history vacation.
Hoping this trip would provide me, my sister and our parents with a connection
to our French Canadian history, it became clear and quickly, we wouldn’t be
disappointed.
The next
morning, we leisurely sat at the breakfast table of our B and B, the clouds
were still hovering and threatening, but they did not distract from the spectacular
view of the St. Lawrence, only steps from our table. We meandered over our scrambled
eggs, fresh from the chickens in the backyard, vegetables grown locally on the
island and cranberry juice hand pressed by our lovely hostess, LouLou. We had
all the fuel needed for a day of exploring our ancestral village of St.
Francois on L’île d'Orléans. Discovering a copy of Dictionnaire National
de Canadiens Francois by the Drouin Institut on the bookshelf of our living
quarters convinced me, I was immersed in a culture that knew and embraced its
past. I opened the book flipping to the pages noting my ancestor's name. LouLou
was educated onthe history of the island; her family had been here almost as long as mine,
one of the reasons I often proclaim the benefits of bed and breakfasts in family
history travels.
Despite the grey clouds and with a flick of button, our
umbrellas popped and we strolled to the yellow brick house a few doors down.
The building with its sparking metal roof and brilliant red flowerpots hanging in a neat row across the front porch gleamed like a jewel against
the backdrop of the rich green lawn that stretched to meet the waters of the mighty
St. Lawrence. The Maison de nos Aïeux houses the history of the first
300 French colonists who settled on the island during the French Regime. My 8th great-grandfather, Robert
Vaillancourt (1644-1699) one of those colonists arrived over 400 years ago, but this morning, we too had
arrived. Opening the doors of
the
historical society, I was excited to step inside and see just what I would
find.
Local
historical societies have become the heart of my family history studies. They
have been a worthy extension of my online research and necessary in my
writings. Although, I spend much time on
my computer with you here, in research and writing my family history stories, I
try to travel and explore the paths and villages of my ancestors, as I did this
past fall. My travels to ancestral towns as well to the neighborhood societies
that house the stories of these towns have provided me with a rich social and
local history I could not have imagined from the documents I have attained online.
Where do you find local histories?
Local
histories are best found in small museums and genealogical societies, in the
communities of your ancestors. Usually they have a website allowing you to contact
them or arrange for a visit. They provide knowledge of the community that you
cannot replace with online research. Not only do they house the history of the
area, the staff and volunteers in these societies, have an intense
understanding of the region that no Internet search engine can possibly
duplicate.
You could
declare I was fortunate to find such wonderful rich history of my ancestor. However,
the reality is most of the facts about his life I had already obtained
online. What I found was a social and cultural history that gave me a deeper, richer perspective of his life, his struggles,
his triumphs, and his everyday living. What I found in L'île d'Orléans was the soul of his life.
The local
historical society provided me with details of my ancestor’s arrival and
activities in the area. I was able to purchase a book that had a chapter
devoted to my great-grandfather. I toured the museum and got an up-close
education on the history of the island alongside the regional and world events
that shaped the community and directly affected the lives of my ancestors. We
then set off to explore the island first-hand, I saw monuments with my family
name on it and businesses baring the surname today, we ate the cuisine and for a
few short days we inhaled the history and community of Robert Vaillancourt. It
left us changed.
I have visited many societies across Ontario
over the years. If I could offer you
some words of advice:
- Cast your net wide, take in everything the society has to offer, including the social and cultural history as well as the data particular to your ancestors.
- Give yourself plenty of time, don’t rush, scampering on to your next appointment. Take some time to get to know the town and the people who inhabit it. Spend a few days if you can.
- Make your query in advance, give them time to dig their heels in and find all that they can on your ancestors, providing you with the best possible visit.
If you
think my experience was one off, let me share with you another example from my
local society, The Norfolk Historical Society. On my last volunteer shift, I
helped a woman scan a dozen or more letters that her uncle wrote home to his
family, during WW1. They revealed so much more about this brave young man than
any documents she may have found on the Internet. She didn’t walk in that day knowing
we had a box of letters but she walked out with the heart of her uncle in her
hand. Those treasures are possible, you have to ask, and you have to go get
them.
What societies hold in their collections?
What each museum
and historical society houses will vary from location to location. For instance,
in my historical society we contain a database of over 10,000 digitally scanned
photos. We have a digital database of all objects in our museum, a vast paper
archive and library of rare books. This does not begin to include our reference
books or microfilm files. Most of these items will never be seen by family
historians on the Internet.
Most historical
societies provide a variety of resources from pioneer history, church histories
along with school, club and organization histories, family bibles, family
biographies, photographs, maps, artifacts and transcribed records. Do not under
estimate the value of local historical and genealogical societies in the
advancement of your research.
When I
visited L'île d'Orléans, I walked away with a breadth and depth about
Robert Vaillancourt that I could not have rendered from my online research. My
sister and parents enjoyed getting to know their 8th great-grandfather’s
history, his community and the daily events that filled his life. The 400 years
that separated his life from ours when we crossed that bridge on a rainy
September evening is now nearly wiped away.