We are following in the footsteps of giants
Isaac Newton coined the phrase in 1675: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."
As researches we have a responsibility to use all of the information available to us to create good solid data and turn it into valuable information. That said, there are some considerations; who gets credit for the work? and how can we ensure that our data is clean?
This in itself is not a small undertaking. This is hard, tedious, and painstaking work to ensure we do the best job we can. But the results are extremely fulfilling when we get it right.
Family History
History is a passion and Family History is a path into human history itself. In genealogy, this refers to both the certified documents that testify to your family's activites, and to the tall tales that have been passed down from generation to generation.
Every family has its saints and sinners, its wizards and fools, its princes, paupers and grinches; and they all come together in the genealogist's narrative.
Once again we are so lucky to have resources like the Parchemin project which has set about indexing every notarized document in existence, both in France and in Québec, involving any connection between those two jurisdictions. Land titles, contracts, inventories, wills, and court transcripts, etc.
On a more personal level, no matter how shy or nervous you might feel, begin immediately to tape every Baril you know over the age of 80!!! Photograph them and do their ascendancy. All you have to do is review that ascendancy with them and they will regale you with amazing stories! The best ones will be about your own parents and relatives, leaving you laughing one moment and sobbing the next with new-found sympathy and understanding.
The following emails are representative of the kind of connection one can make that will fill the gaps in your quest.
Subject: Fw: Re: Baril family information/ question From: "Peter BARIL" [xxxx@xxxxx.ca]
Date: 2016-09-04, 4:15 a.m.
To: xxxxxx@xxxx.com
CC: xxxxx@xxxxx.ca
Greetings,
I have spent considerable time at the archives in La Rochelle and am currently living in France for a few years while my son attends school.
Jean Baril did not leave "with Champlain" so to speak. He arrived in New France during the summer of 1665 as an 'engagé' (an indentured worker) contracted to the Jesuits in what is now Trois-Rivières, Québec. By the time he completed his indenture, he could read and write well, quite an accomplishment for that period. He was married three times during his life (common at a time when women died frequently in childbirth and men doing dangerous work in the wood, farm and fur industries.) His many children make researching our family even in North America a passionate undertaking.
Unfortunately, his first marriage contract was lost to fire in Québec and with it, the precise location and date of his birth in France. You will see quite a number of claims on the Internet of people claiming to have this information, but they are all false.
Our one hope of resolving this long standing puzzle is in the Admiralty Archives in Rochefort, not far from La Rochelle. The records there from 1665 have not yet been accessioned, (sorted, classified and entered into the collection), and there is a good chance they will contain passenger lists and even indenture contracts for all those traveling that summer of 1665. Given there were relatively few crossings to Nouvelle France in those days, even the most serious researchers remain hopeful of finding our beloved Jean eventually.
In the meantime, it is a great pleasure to visit the towns and villages in France where Baril families live to this day. You will not regret the trip. Other than major cities, the French populace is a phenomenally sedentary people and the places where Baril families live today are almost certainly where they have been all along, and this is confirmed by the national archives in Paris.
If you are in the La Rochelle area this fall, I recommend a short drive inland to such villages as Muron, Balon, Saint-Germain-de-Marencennes, and especially Genouillé. They are all Baril villages with many of the old spellings from that period such as Bareil, Barreil, Barry, etc. and all within 20 - 30 minutes of each other by car.
1 of 2 2020-02-09, 3:43 p.m.
Fw: Re: Baril family information/ question
If you are able to travel a couple of hours further inland, the other rich cluster of Baril families is in the Corrèze region, especially villages like Objat, Yssandon, Ayen, Chanteix, La Graulière, Seilhac etc., again, all within barely twenty Kms of each other. The cemetary at Yssandon is a treasure. There are several Baril monuments and the view of the region is a spectacular 360 degrees. It's varying moods depending on weather can really tug at your heartstrings.
In either case, even without knowing for certain which village Jean was born into, yet, you will find it very worthwhile to drive country roads and visit villages so close to where he took the extraordinarily courageous decision to leave as a teenager. He must have felt terribly lonely at times for family and loved ones and you will feel this even more intensely when you see the quality of life and family intimacy typical of rural families in this region.
All the best. pb
------ Original Message ------
From: "L. Katherine Baril" [lkatherinebaril@gmail.com] To: rbarilsr@msn.com; pbaril@baril.org; suzanne@baril.org
Sent: 2016-09-04 12:21:01
Subject: Baril family information/question
Bonjour, . ... Jean Baril is my seventh great grandfather and my grandfather is Wellie born in Narcissus in l896 and moved to North Dakota where our family immigrated i l924. ..
I am planning a trip to la Rochelle in October 2016. . where I understand that Jean Baril left with Champlain to New France- My hope is to visit the Maritime museum for two days and do some family research
I wonder if you have any leads- information- people that you think I should be sure to check in with while I am in that part of the country. I will have a car at my access. . .
thank you in advance
Lynda Katherine Baril
Port Townsend Washington cell xxxxxxxxxxx
2 of 2 2020-02-09, 3:43 p.m.
Research Sources
Introduction: .............. Where to begin
R. P. Baril: .............................. Pierre
Suzanne Baril: ...................... Suzanne
Benoit Baril: .......................... Benoit
Thérèse Rocheleau-Baril: .... Thérèse
Jacques L'Heureux: .............. Jacques
Others: ....... with many more to come
[ Few of the above links still work. They will get updated over time. SB]Répertoires and Archives
Sadly, very few people any longer get to touch the original documents that testify to the haunting and sometimes bittersweet lives of our Baril ancestors. In both France and Québec, the oldest volumes of most parish records have now been sequestered by archival authorities in order to preserve and protect this invaluable shared treasure.
Interestingly, most of us who began studying Baril genealogy and history long ago support this conservationist trend, even if it is only to protect the documents from our own smudging tears when we first track down a long lost member of the family.
Instead, virtually every parish register, for Marriages, Baptisms and Death, has been copied, indexed and made available to us all through large comfortable reading rooms dedicated to genealogy. You will find them in libraries and archives in almost all Barilian regions.
Montreal has its wonderful Salle Gagnon in the basement of the Central Municipal Library. In La Rochelle in France, almost the entire second floor of the Departmental Archives building for Charante Maritime. In almost every other community of some size in North America, the local Mormon reading room (LDS) can obtain interlibrary loans for you if they don't have the particular micro-filmed register you are looking for.
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(Your next step might be to read some simple introductory essays on how to do genealogical research. You will find several mentioned in the Sources postings and more will be pointed out to you once you begin corresponding with other Baril researchers. Once you have a feel for the informal atmosphere of this work and for how much of a collective effort it is, leave an introductory message at info@baril.org letting us know you have arrived. We will arrange as soon as possible for another Baril to begin corresponding with you.
Before long, hopefully you will be asking us to add you to the list of genealogically aware Barils willing to help others.)
Last Updated: February 3, 2002 - 2002 Famille BARIL Family
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