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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
I requested a comprehensive textual analysis from Gemini, synthesizing the Montécheroux Birth, Marriage, and Death (BMD) Records spanning an eighty-six-year period from 1740 to 1826. This extensive demographic dataset chronicles the community’s transition across major historical epochs—from the Ancien Régime under King Louis XV and King Louis XVI, through the turbulent secularization and decimal timekeeping of the French First Republic, to the Napoleonic Empire and … Continue reading The Chronicles of Montécheroux 1740-1826
I found this book at Google Books. The book titled “Le bailliage de Baume-les-Dames en 1789” by Robert Jouvenot (1985) was a preview-only edition written in French. I was able to grab four pages that contained the list of grievances (Cahiers de Doléances) of the town of Montécheroux in 1789. The cahiers de doléances (lists of grievances) were official registers compiled across France in the … Continue reading 1789 Montecheroux Grievance Registers
In Montécheroux, a small village located in the Doubs department of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, the simultaneum has a fascinating, turbulent, and deeply hyper-local history. [1] Because of its geography in the Jura foothills near the Swiss border, Montécheroux became a Protestant stronghold. When French troops enforced the simultaneum here, it played out as a direct conflict between the local population and the French crown. [2] … Continue reading Montécheroux and the Impact of the Simultaneum
The following is in regard to one of my father’s Franco-Swiss ancestors who lived and died in Montecheroux. It appears that he was one of many French Catholics who were not fans of the Revolution and Napoleon. He was a large landowner in the area and his name appears frequently as a witness to the births, marriages, and deaths recorded in the Montecheroux BMD records. … Continue reading The Life & Times of Jean Germain Voisard
In Mel Brooks’ classic comedy Young Frankenstein, one of the film’s most memorable comedic moments occurs when Dr. Frederick Frankenstein discovers the hidden library of his grandfather, Victor Von Frankenstein. Expecting a complex, highly academic scientific treatise or detailed journal explaining the secret behind bringing reanimated flesh to life, he instead uncovers a surprisingly straightforward instructional manual. Lifting the leather-bound book to his face, he … Continue reading How I Did It
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 