Our French-Canadian Ancestors, Volume I

Thanks to these volumes I was able obtain a great of information on my French-Canadian ancestors corroborating material I had found before and filling some missing blanks.

"Our French-Canadian Ancestors" by Thomas J. Laforest is an excellent resource on the early French Canadian history. It includes genealogical information of the early settlers and a little about the lifestyle of about 20 different families. It's got a great historical reference about the King's Daughters. I was fortunate enough to find many connecting links to a family tree of my ancestors. Excellent resource to begin a collection of French Canadian information.

This series offers a very readable translation of the original French Canadian-language series, adding drawings, historical briefs and appendices that are especially of interest to American-born descendents of Quebec's pioneer families. For history buffs, this series also offers insights into the motivations of New France's immigrants and portrays highlights of daily life, social activities and civil actions among the colonists. Some of the profiles were prepared by family historians, who often wrote longer works on the same subject. My ancestor, Jean Le Brodeur, is featured in Chapter 13 by Clement Brodeur of Quebec. The information is valuable on its own merits and as a starting point for further research. Most French Canadian descendents are related to many of the persons portrayed in this series, due to the close-knit society and intermarriages among relatively few families. So several volumes may be of interest. This series extends general and specific knowledge of the Quebecois pioneers. - Gary Brodeu