GREAT-BRANCH PHOTO HISTORIES...

We recently have re-doubled our efforts a few weeks ago to focus on the histories of our Great-Branches. In my opinion, much of the fun of being involved in genealogy is that it allows us to understand the history of our ancestors. Aside from knowing who they were, it's also alot of fun perhaps more, to learn what they did and when. But it's a thousand-fold better for most of us if we can find some photos of our ancestors. That really puts a face on those 15,000 names that we currently have in our JEHAN TERRIOT ARCHIVE.

So, we have redesigned our BILINGUAL  'Great-Branch Photo Histories' section of our Terriot website so that each branch has a full page of 'real-estate' to present its story and its photographs. We have complete faith in our delegates and their ability to do a little digging and a little research on their respective branches. Many have been very enterprising in contacting other members of their branch to identify family stories, photographs and other documents that shed some light on the history of their branch.

To help the delegates, we have written up a short history of the migration of each branch which is interesting in itself. So, now, we are asking our delegates to 'fill in the blanks' in that history and to at least document what we collectively know about our individual branch histories. I promise you that if and when you succeed in doing so, you will appreciate your Great-Branch so much more but more important, you children, grand-children and great-grand-children will be forever be grateful to you for having taken the time to bring that history to life.

In my opinion, those of you who succeed in documenting your branch history to whatever extent that you can, will have succeeded in bringing that history back to life. Because in many cases, if you had not done so, it probably would not have ever been done and would have thus been lost forever. So, by documenting our Great-Branch histories, we are leaving a legacy for your children that they will forever appreciate over the generations.

So, take a look at our new 'PHOTO HISTORIES' section, I hope that you will like what you see. We make it very easy to switch from the English side (ENGLISH VERSION) of the website to the French side (VERSION FRANÇAISE) throughout the section.

If you are a Great-Branch delegate, let us know if you need help or have any questions. If you are not a delegate, contact your branch delegate and offer your help or better yet, if you have any photo that you think has some historical value, offer to send it to your delegate. From our viewpoint, any material, photo or information about our parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents would be most welcome and would historically be very valuable.

NOVASCOTIAN: 'Acadian Diaspora' lacks argument...

Just received a note from Gérard Theriault, our delegate of the "Léo F. & Marguerite R.Theriault" Great-Branch from Petit Ruisseau, NS about an op-ed piece that he read in his local Chronicle Herald. The information was very timely, Gérard, because while I did get a copy of Christopher Dodson's book titled "The Acadian Diaspora: An Eighteenth Century History", it has been on my book shelf in my pile of reading.

I  will let you read the article and you can make your own decision about the book. I will eventually read it and perhaps later, we can compare notes. By the way, thanks Gérard for thoughtfully sending a scan of the article. I trust that the Chronicle Herald won't mind too much if we make it available here.( We're also giving them some good advertising.)

TERRIOT WEBSITE GETS A FACELIFT...

It's hard to believe but we are approaching our 12th year with our Terriot family website. Over the years, we have gradually worked on improving the 'touch and feel' of the site to try to keep the site interesting, up-to-date and useful. So, we've recently made one or two changes, come by for a visit and let us know what you think.

ACADIA LOST: A Novel

Just received word about a new book titled "Acadia Lost", a novel. The author Anita Flanagan, aka A.M. Hodge had just visited our family website and wanted to tell us about her book that was recently published by Grand Oak Books. She explained in her e-mail that she had come to know some Theriault's in Plymouth, Massachusetts some years ago.

The book tells a story that is often repeated as many of us would vouch. A family, whose present generation member is set on a course to find more about her Acadian ancestors, and to tell the story of their lives in 18^th century Acadia."...the novel is intended to add texture to the historical facts by fleshing out the kinds of things that the people of 18^th century Nova Scotia experienced."

I will certainly give the book a read. I thought you might be interested in doing the same. . There’s an excerpt from the book and a word from the author, on its website, www.acadialost.com.