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Every family has stories. Some are well-worn tales passed down through generations, while others are fragments — half-remembered, scattered like leaves caught in the wind. My book, Gathering More Leaves, Volume I, was born out of a desire to collect those fragments, to preserve them before they were lost, and to weave them into something meaningful for both my family and anyone who values history, … Continue reading Gathering More Leaves
(see Using AI in Genealogy and Family History for a detailed description of how this was created with Google Gemini) This post contains two parts. In the first part I present a novel-like view of the events in Montecheroux during the start of the Napoleonic Era. The second part provides a detailed analysis of both the form and content of the records extracted from images … Continue reading The Continuing Chronicles of Montécheroux (1797-1799) – Pt. V
(see Using AI in Genealogy and Family History for a detailed description of how this was created Google Gemini) This post contains two parts. In the first part I present a novel-like view of the events in Montecheroux during the early years of the Republique. The second part provides a detailed analysis of both the form and content of the records extracted from images of … Continue reading The Continuing Chronicles of Montécheroux – Pt. IV
(see Using AI in Genealogy and Family History for a detailed description of how this was created Google Gemini) This post contains two parts. In the first part I present a novel-like view of the events in Montecheroux during the years of the Terror of the French Revolution. The second part provides a detailed analysis of both the form and content of the records extracted … Continue reading Part III: The Continuing Chronicles of Montécheroux
(see Using AI in Genealogy and Family History for a detailed description of how this was created with Google Gemini) Chapter VII: The Cold Ash and the New Dawn The winter wind that blew across the high plateau of the Jura in February 1791 brought no mercy to the stone hearths of Montécheroux. Within the low-ceilinged farmhouse where the Voisards had worked the soil for … Continue reading Part II: The Continuing Chronicles of Montécheroux
(see Using AI in Genealogy and Family History for a detailed description of how this was created with Google Gemini) Book I: The Elders and the Dual Altars (1740–1764) In the high, limestone foothills of the Jura Mountains, where the breezes from the Swiss border stirred the pine forests of Franche-Comté, the village of Montécheroux lived by the tolling of church bells and the scratch … Continue reading The Chronicles of Montécheroux (Pt. I: 1740–1789)
I have access to a set of records that focus on a specific branch of my father’s family tree – our Franco-Swiss ancestors. These are the Montécheroux BMD records, which cover a period of 50 years from 1740 to the very eve of the French Revolution in 1789/90. In addition there are other sets of these records, one that covers a period from 1791 to … Continue reading Using AI in Genealogy and Family History
Digging deeper on Montecheroux BMD records (1740-1790), I noted that there was a sudden increase in the Lutheran Swiss population of Montecheroux between 1740 and 1743. Then I remembered once reading that there was a peasant uprising in Western Switzerland in the late 1730s. I asked Gemini for background on the uprising and if there was any connection to the population changes in Montecheroux. Here … Continue reading Swiss Peasant Uprisings of the 1730s
After examining all 188 images of the Montecheroux BMD records from 1740 to 1790 multiple times, I believed my five years of French and basic Latin had allowed me to extract all relevant information about my ancestors, their siblings, and their close descendants. Nevertheless, a few unanswered questions lingered: I wondered about the purpose of the annual French declaration introducing each year, the reason behind … Continue reading Montecheroux BMD Records Redux
Almost 25 years ago, a fellow researcher in Belgium shared with me some information regarding my 6x great-grandfather, Jacques De Backer (1686-1764) who became a Bourgeoisie foraine by buying his citizenship in the town of Ronse. My correspondent told me that the source for this information was “familiearchief de backer” (De Backer Family Archive) records that were digitized by Herman Van Isterdael in 2001. I … Continue reading Familiearchief de Backer
About twenty years ago, I corresponded with a fellow researcher over in Belgium. He was a descendent of Andreas Mollaert, the brother of Marie Catherina Josepha Mollaert, first wife of my 4x great-grandfather, Andreas De Backer. (I am a descendent of Andreas and his 2nd wife). In one email he sent to me the images of a three page document written Flemish and explained to … Continue reading Agreement Between Andreas De Backer and Andreas Molleart (1788)
Gathering Leaves 