ACGS: Research: For Beginners

How do I find my Acadian, Franco-American and French Canadian ancestors?

Getting started in genealogy may seem like a daunting task at first. The key to a good start is building upon the information that you can easily gather.

List the information that you do know. Your parents' names, marriage date and location, where and when they were born are all useful information.

Gather as much information about your grandparents as possible. Again, their names, marriage date and location and birth information will be useful.

Go as far back as possible with the information available from relatives. Once your ancestors can be traced back to Canada you will likely be able to go back through all subsequent generations to France.

Record this information on a four-generation pedigree chart.

With this information in hand, we invite you to come to ACGS where experienced volunteers will be happy to assist in getting you started on a memorable odyssey - that of finding your ancestral heritage.

Many records can be found at the ACGS Library. If you take a look at the Library section, you will see the holdings of ACGS that provide you with ample materials that will allow you to do your family research.

You will find that the ACGS library can provide you with copious amounts of parish records from New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, the Provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario, as well as others, that will help you to find the marriages of your Acadian, Franco-American and French Canadian ancestors. Some State vital records are also available for some of these states and some census records are available.

The fee to visit our library for one day is only $5.00. If you decide to become a member, the $5.00 is deducted from the modest annual fee.

Can't get to our library? We offer reasonably priced research services to get you started or fill in those empty branches.

We also offer a wealth of reference material for sale in our catalog as well as Information Sheets that provide a quick tutorial on various genealogy subjects.