For those of you who don't get this, note the PRDH section... Dick has expressly allowed me forwards before, so I "assume" he will this time...<g> Regards, ListUncle ----- Original Message ----- From: "Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter" <[email protected]> > > Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter > > A Weekly Summary of Events and > Topics of Interest to Online Genealogists > > Vol. 7 No. 6 - February 11, 2002 > > This newsletter is sponsored by Ancestry.com, > a leader in providing print and electronic > research information to genealogists. > > To learn about Ancestry.com's > state-of-the-art online genealogy databases > and other fine products, > visit the company's three Internet properties, > MyFamily.com, Ancestry.com, and RootsWeb.com > > > Past issues of this Newsletter > are available at: > http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/eastman/eastman.asp > > ========================================================== > > Copyright (C) 2002 by Richard W. Eastman. All rights reserved. > > If you do contact any of the companies or societies mentioned in > this newsletter, please tell them that you read about their > services in this newsletter. > > ============================================================== > > IN THIS ISSUE: > > - Programme de recherche en démographie historique > - Finding Answers in U.S. Census Records > - Society of Genealogists' 10th Family History Fair in London > - NGS Conference in Milwaukee > - Dr. Gary B. Mills, R.I.P. > - Free Photo/Image Editor > - Roots At The Olympics > - Home Pages Highlighted > > ============================================================== > > - Programme de recherche en démographie historique > > Are you researching French-speaking ancestors from Quebec > province? If so, you absolutely need to spend some time on the > award-winning Web site of Programme de recherche en démographie > historique. You don't read French? No problem, as the information > on this site is available in both French and in English. > > Programme de recherche en démographie historique, or PRDH, is a > comprehensive site of Quebec French-Canadian genealogy before > 1800. It contains biographical files on all individuals of > European ancestry who lived in the St. Lawrence Valley of Canada > prior to 1800. A grant from the Government of Quebec's Fonds de > l'autoroute de l'information made possible the creation of this > Web site. Produced in collaboration with Gaëtan Morin Éditeur, the > site is hosted at Université de Montréal's Departement de > Démographie and is run by Bertrand Desjardins, assisted by Denis > Duval. > > When researching my own French-Canadian ancestry, the relatively > small number of immigrants has always fascinated me. Unlike the > waves of immigrants that arrived in what is now the United States > or the later arrivals of thousands of immigrants in Canada, the > early immigrants to New France consisted of only a few thousand > individuals. Many of the immigrants married and raised large > families. Even after the English acquisition of Canada, these > French-speaking citizens remained a separate community; they > rarely married English-speaking, Protestant neighbors. Their > descendants intermarried time and again, resulting in a large > population with intertwined relationships. > > Actually, this is good news for genealogists. With a smaller > "pool" of ancestors, previous researchers have documented almost > all available facts and published their results time and again. > However, access to these printed books, most of them published in > French, has not been easy for researchers outside of Quebec > province. The Web site of Programme de recherche en démographie > historique provides a valuable service that is unavailable > elsewhere online. > > The PRDH Web site identifies the origin of each French-Canadian > family name and provides original information on their descendants > through the 1600s and 1700s. The PRDH database contains > information from parish registers and other nominative documents. > According to the database description found on the PRDH Web site, > the information comes from more than 710,000 certificates, > including all baptisms, marriages and burials contained in Quebec > Catholic parish registers up to the year 1800. > > Go back and read that last sentence again. Yes, it really does say > "ALL." The PRDH Web site contains information about ALL the > surviving records of baptisms, marriages and burials for those > years in Quebec. If the record survived, it is listed in the PRDH > database. Indeed, French-Canadian genealogists have found that > most of the records of the 1600s and 1700s have survived and are > available today. It is rare that a genealogist finds any source > that holds all the available records for such a large number of > people. > > The information on PRDH is contained in three interrelated > databases: > > A REPERTORY OF VITAL EVENTS, 1621-1799 > > The Repertory of Vital Events includes the some 690,000 > baptismal, marriage, and burial certificates registered in > Catholic parishes prior to 1800. Added to these are more than > 20,000 certificates of various other types: census records, > marriage contracts, confirmations, lists of immigrants, and so > on. The repertory reproduces, in a standardized form, the > basic information contained in these documents: type, place of > registration and date of the certificate; and the family name, > first name, and characteristics of the individuals cited. > Sophisticated search tools make it possible to find > certificates by name of person (individuals or couples) and > certificate characteristics (type, date, or parish). > > A GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF FAMILIES, 1621-1765 > > The Genealogical Dictionary offers a reconstruction of the > history of all families who settled in the St. Lawrence > Valley, or roughly the current territory of today's province > of Quebec, from the beginnings of French colonization to the > year 1765. > > The dictionary is based on the linking of individuals to their > baptismal, marriage, and burial certificates from Catholic > parish registers for the period 1621-1765. It contains the > names of individuals who were born in or came to Quebec > between 1621 and 1765, along with the names of their parents, > spouses, and children. For each person, the dictionary gives > date and place of birth, of marriage(s) (if applicable), and > of death, if it occurred before 1766. You can easily search > the data base using names of people (individuals or couples), > and you can further define your search by year of birth or > marriage. > > A REPERTORY OF COUPLES AND FILIAL RELATIONS, 1621-1799 > > The Repertory of couples specifies for each spouse the names > of his or her parents and the names of his or her other > spouses, if applicable, with a link to these couples. In > addition, a list of the couple's children who married before > 1800 is supplied, with a link to their first marriage. Thus, > not only is the ancestry of the spouses throughout the period > established automatically, but married descendants are also > listed. Couples are accessed on the basis of their first and > family names, using a search you can further define by year of > marriage. > > One point to note is that the information on the PRDH Web site is > copyrighted and remains the intellectual property of the Programme > de recherche en démographie historique. > > The PRDH Web site has a mixture of free information and "for pay" > information. However, the free information available is very > limited. To properly utilize this site you will have to pay for a > subscription. The free access simply allows you to check whether > or not the database contains information on the ancestor(s) you > are interested in. Free access will not provide any details, not > even locations. Paid subscribers will receive full information > from the three separate sections listed earlier. > > The fee structure is a bit complex. First of all, there are three > classifications of subscribers: > > 1. Quebec residents > 2. Canadian residents, excluding those of Quebec > 3. The rest of the world > > In addition, the subscriber pays for the number of "hits" or > successful retrieval of records. The more "hits" purchased in > advance, the cheaper the price per "hit." A Quebec resident can > purchase 150 hits for $17.20 (Canadian funds) or up to 10,000 hits > for $287.50. A bit of work with a calculator shows that these > prices equate to 11.5 cents per hit for the smaller purchase, > scaling down to less than a penny per hit for those who elect to > pay $287.50. > > Canadians from other provinces pay $14.95 for 150 hits and then > have an equal number of options, up to and including $267.45 for > 10,000 hits. Those outside of Canada pay $17.95 for 150 hits and > $287.95 for 10,000 hits. Again, those prices are in Canadian > dollars. At today's exchange rates, anyone outside of Canada would > pay $11.24 U.S. dollars for 150 hits and then scale to $180 U.S. > dollars for 10,000 hits. > > Regardless of your location, you must register and make payment in > advance. After your payment is validated, you will receive a > notice (usually by e-mail) telling you that you can activate your > subscription whenever you want. All you have to do is go to the > site and enter your username and password when the identification > window is displayed. The subscription ends when you have used up > all your hits. > > Programme de recherche en démographie historique received the New > England Historic Genealogical Society's "2002 Technology > Excellence Award," presented at the recent GENTECH2002 conference > held in Boston. Anyone who is researching Quebec ancestry on this > site will soon discovery why this award was made: the PRDH online > database contains high-quality information about tens of thousands > of individuals. > > If you are researching French-Canadian ancestors in Quebec > province prior to 1800, you need to go to: > http://www.genealogy.umontreal.ca/en/main.htm > > DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is being written and sent via e-mail > at no charge. I expect to write one new issue on a more or less > weekly basis. However, life sometimes interferes, and the need to > earn a living may create an occasional delay. > > ========================================================== > > COPYRIGHTS: The contents of this newsletter are copyright by > Richard W. Eastman with the following exception: > > Many of the articles published in these newsletters contain > quotes or references from others, especially from other Web > sites, software users manuals, press releases and other public > announcements. Any words in this newsletter attributed to > another person or organization remain the copyrighted > materials of the original author(s). > > You are hereby granted rights, unless otherwise specified, to re- > distribute articles from this newsletter to other parties > provided: > > 1. You do so strictly for non-commercial purposes > 2. Your re-distribution is limited to one or two articles per > newsletter; do not re-distribute the newsletter in its > entirety > 3. You may not republish any articles containing words attributed > to another person or organization until you obtain permission > from that person or organization. While you do have permission > to republish words written by Richard W. Eastman, you do not > have automatic authority to republish words written by others, > even if their words appear in this newsletter. > > Also, please include the following statement with any articles you > re-distribute: > > The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy > Newsletter and is copyright 2002 by Richard W. Eastman. It is > re-published here with the permission of the author. > > Thank you for your cooperation. > > ========================================================== > > About the author: Dick Eastman is the forum manager of the three > Genealogy Forums on CompuServe. He also is the author of "YOUR > ROOTS: Total Genealogy Planning On Your Computer" published by > Ziff-Davis Press. He can be reached at: [email protected] Due > to the volume of e-mail received, he is unable to answer every e- > mail message received. > > ==========================================================