The thrill of the ancestor hunt can be so addictive that you can end up with dark circles under your eyes from spending hours on the Internet in hot persuit. If you have no plan of attack for your ancestor fetish, you could end up going around in circles until you drop in front of your computer screen too weak to move from its grasp. One group of ancestors in particular can drive you around the bend. I love them and I hate them. If you have never searched this group of ancestors, you may only have a glimpse into what it is like searching for this unique sector of forefathers and mothers of course, if you have confronted the challenge of name changes due to spelling, modification, mispronounciation, additions, deletions, translations, nicknames, shortforms and just plain old legal name changes. If you have not already guessed which bunch of ancestors sit on my shoulders, taunting me to find them as they hold on tight to the secrets of their names, birth, marriage and death information as well as census locations, I must admit they are the French Canadian Ancestors I so desire.

Where do I begin to tell you all the tricks these ancestors pull on me day in and day out. The reason for the love hate relationship I have with my French Canadian ancestors is the fact that records for French Canadians are so abundant and supply so much information, that it can be a joy most of the time to research this side of my family. On the other hand, it can be frustrating to look for my French side, especially when they carry so many names or don't end up on a census I know perfectly well they should be settled on. Do you have any idea how many ways a French name can be spelt, and that includes first and last names. Jumping from one data base to the next in case indexing missed my ancestor is mind boggling enough without having to figure out which parish goes with which town and in what county, sub district or district. Pulling atlases off my shelf sometimes help narrow down my geographical location, but other Quebec books are needed as well. Ancestry.ca has a unique breakdown of geographical locations in Quebec that helps make things easier and using the Libray and Archives website also helps and I believe Family Search also has a unique locator, but with out all that extra help, and when all else fails you will find me running to my favourite French Library Robert Boisvert of the North Bay Public Library for help with narrowing down my Quebec record searches. Most often he can help me out, and if not he certain puts in a good effort that tells me he has conducted an exhausted search.

As for the census records, some of those creative ancestors hide by moving to the US in 1891 only to return to Canada in 1902. I can't find them in the census for 1891 in Canada as they are already in the US and I can't find them in the US in 1890 because they are still in Canada. Not being home the night of the census is one thing, but when you know you have the correct family, but the wife's name is different, you want to just click the off button on the computer and pull your hair out. Unless, this is a second wife and the first one died and can be found on an earlier census. Ah but you found the wife on a later census still living with her husband. Perhaps she gave her middle name, a shortform of her name or a nickname just to add some confusion to the whole ancestor search. Or and there usually is an or, the enumerator marked down the wrong information or informant gave the wrong information. Needless to say, I can feel the weight of those ancestors pushing in line behind me and jostling with the others and mocking me. Am I starting to sound like Alice Through The Looking Glass who saw everything in distortion? Ah maybe, but I guess I need to take a break, eat something, get a good nights sleep and start all over again tomorrow.

Happy Hunting

"May All Your Genealogical Dreams Come True!!!"

Tammy Tipler-Priolo BASc, PLCGS
The Ancestor Investigator is also the Ancestor Whisperer!

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