France Finding Town of Origin

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France

Finding Town of Origin

Finding the Town of Origin

In order to research your family in France, it is essential that you have identified the place where they came from. You must know the city, town, or parish that they came from. it will be difficult to identify the place of origin by going directly to France sources. Therefore, you will need to search in United States (or other country of arrival) sources first.

Important Tips

Before you can begin to search in the records of France you must find that one record that gives the name of his or her hometown. You must also know enough about the ancestor to positively identify him in the records. Dates (even if they are approximate), places, and familial connections are key to helping you decide if a person you find, who has the same name as your ancestor, really is your ancestor.

• Do you know the name of his/her parents?
• Do you know his/her birth, marriage, or death date or can you calculate an approximate range of years to search for his/her birth, marriage, or death?
• Do you know the name of the spouse? Did they marry before or after coming to the United States?
  
• Do you know the names of any of his/her siblings?
• Do you know the names of any children born in France?

Documents in the Home

Often the document you need to pinpoint the place of origin of your French ancestor is already found at home. These might include the following:

• Birth certificates
• Marriage certificates or licenses
• Death certificates
• Obituaries
• Funeral cards
• Journals
• Photographs
• Letters
• Family Bible
• Naturalization papers
• Citizenship papers
• Military service records

Emigration Questions to Ask Relatives

Find the oldest living relatives that you can and ask them:

1. What do you know about our first ancestor to come from France? (open-ended)
2. Have you ever heard mention of towns in France where the family lived?
3. Do you have contact with any relatives in France?
4. Do you have contact with other branches of the family in the U.S.?
5. When _____________ came from France, did he travel with other family members?
6. Do you know when _________________ arrived and which port city?
7. Did _______________ever become a citizen?
8. Did_________________fight in World War I or II?
9. When they first came, were there already family members here who they joined?
10. Did_______________ever mention their parents in France?
11. Were they Catholic or some other religion?
12. Do you have any old letters or postcards from France family?
13. Do you have any pictures of family members in France?

Search Genealogies Compiled by Others

• Collecting Previous Research by Others Part Two: Online Family Tree Collections
• Collecting Previous Research by Others Part Three: Digitized Books
• Collecting Previous Research by Others Part Four: FamilySearch Wiki Tools

Indexed Records Created in France

Make Sure You Found the Correct Entry for Your Ancestor

There may be many types of indexed records that cover parts, even large parts of France. Searching those indexes by name only can turn up several entries of the same name. Never jump to an immediate conclusion that you have found an entry that matches your ancestor. Study the information for other clues that verify the match.

• Make sure the person you found in French records left France. Look for them in marriage and death records of the same vicinity. See whether they have children a generation later in the vicinity. These things prove they remained in France and would rule them out as your ancestor.
• Match any other relationships. If you already know the parents' names, spouse's name, and/or siblings' names, make sure they match the parents' names, spouse's name, and/or siblings' names of the person you are considering in the French records. The parents and grandparents will usually be listed in birth records found in church records or civil records. Search for siblings' birth records and any marriage before leaving France in the same index.
• Study all available entries for that name born at the same approximate time, not just the first possible match you see.
• Consider the coverage of the database you are using. Does it cover all of France? Or could there be many other records not covered that could hold your ancestor's record. For example, if the database is for just one province, there are 110 other provinces which could have your ancestor's record.
• Make sure the details you have learned about the person after they immigrate have no discrepancies with the person you found in French records.

France Records Databases to Try

• France Guided Research
• France Civil Registration, government birth, marriage, and death records could be available from the early 1800s to the early or mid-1900s. These records can name grandparents in addition to parents, and towns for residence and/or birth for both.
• There are several France Church Records online.
• See France Emigration and Immigration for records of Frenchs immigrating, including some online digitized records and indexes.
• See France Online Genealogy Records for other databases that might hold clues.

Records of the Country of Destination

• Church Records: If your ancestor immigrated to a European or a South American/Hispanic country, church records can be detailed enough to identify a former residence or birthplace in the home country. These countries, unlike the United States, had state churches. In many countries, these state churches were used by the country to keep birth, marriage, and death records. Even though your ancestor was born in his former country, he may have married, and certainly died in his new country. Marriage and death records can state birthplace.
• Civil Registration: Eventually, most governments began keeping birth, marriage, and death records. These tend to be quite detailed. Again, if your ancestor was possibly married and certainly died in their new country, those records can state birthplace.
• Citizenship Records: If your ancestor became a full citizen, those records probably name birthplace and former residence.
• Online Genealogy Records: See Online Genealogy Records by Location and find the online genealogy record page for your country to see other indexed collections that can be consulted.

Records to Search Created in the United States

Census Records

• Search census records, available for the United States, Canada, England, and other countries. Censuses are often taken every ten years.
• Try to locate your ancestor in every census during which he or she was alive. This information provides a good framework for further research.
• The 1850-1880 U.S. federal censuses sometimes list a French state or province as birth place.
• The censuses for 1900 to 1930 ask for the year of immigration and whether or not the person was naturalized. This information can help you find naturalization records or a passenger list.
• Censuses can be accessed online. Links to both free and subscription websites are found at United States Census Online Genealogy Records.
• State census records vary in availability and the type of information they contain, but they are always useful as another source to document an ancestor in a specific locality. See U.S. Online Genealogy Records by State for links to online state censuses.

Example: This 1900 census gives the month and year of birth, the birthplace of the listed person and his mother and father, the year he immigrated, and how many years he has lived in the U.S. "Na" means that he is a naturalized citizen.

Vital Records

Vital records, or civil birth, marriage, and death records document important events in an ancestor’s life. Many states have posted statewide indexes on the Internet. Understand that any birth, marriage, or death certificate gives information about other people besides the primary person it is about

• 1. It is important to remember that a birth certificate for a child might tell it's parents' birthplaces.
• 2. Marriage certificates might name birth dates and places of the bride and groom. They might also give the names and birth places of the parents of the bride and groom.
• 3. Death certificates are very important. Birth and marriage certificates might not have kept by a state during the earlier years of your ancestor's life. There is a greater chance that your ancestor died after detailed record-keeping began. Death certificates frequently state birth date and place. They also state the names of parents and their birth places.

There are wiki articles giving details on how to find vital records of each state.

• You can select the state of interest and the record (birth, marriage, or death) from this list:

How-To Articles.

• Many records may be online. See U.S. Online Genealogy Records by State, for online vital record databases.
  

Example: This marriage record gives the birthplace in France of the bride, the names of her parents, and the birthplace in France of her mother. You can estimate her year of birth by subtracting her age from the marriage date.

Example: This death record gives the birthdate and the birthplace in France of the deceased, and the parents' names.

Cemetery Records

Websites such as FindAGrave and Billion Graves are making it easier to get information from headstones, which frequently give birth dates, and occasionally give birth places. Each state has additional collections of cemetery records. See U.S. Online Genealogy Records by State for links to other online cemetery records. Every state also has a Cemetery topic page you can search, for example, California Cemeteries, Washington Cemeteries. etc. Funeral home records can also give great detail.

Example: This FindAGrave entry gives the birthdate and the birthplace in France.

Example: This funeral home record gives the birthdate and the birthplace in France.

Obituaries

Obituaries are an excellent source of biographical information about immigrants. In addition to names and death dates, you can learn about surviving family members, church affiliations, spouses, parents, occupations, burial places, and hometowns in the old country. Even if a place of origin is not given, an obituary may provide additional research clues, such as the date or ship of immigration or traveling companions. Much of this information cannot be found in other sources. For many immigrants, an obituary is the only “biographical sketch” ever written about them. See U.S. Online Genealogy Records by State for links to online obituary collections. If the town of death is known, Google newspapers in that town and contact them to see if they kept archives of their obituaries.

• U.S. Obituary Collection, 1930-2017
• U.S. Online Genealogy Records by State
  

Example:

Social Security

• The application for the Social Security card may also contain a town of birth. These records are available for deceased individuals who died after 1935 when Social Security began.
  • United States Social Security Death Index
  • U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ($)
  • U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, Incomplete ($).
• The Social Security Applications and Claims Index does not cover every application--it has sort of an eclectic mix of what got included. If you find your ancestor in the Social Security Death Index but not in the Social Security Applications and Claims Index, you can send away for a copy of the application.

Example:

Military Records

Draft records for World War I and II ask for birth place, which can be listed as just France or in greater detail.

• U.S. WW I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 Index and images.
• U.S. WW I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 Indexes and images. ($)
• U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 ($), index and images
• United States, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 Images with partial index.
• U.S., Alien Draft Registrations, Selected States, 1940-1946,($), index and images.

Example: This World War I Draft Registration gives the birthdate and the birthplace in France. |

Example: This World War II Draft Registration gives the birthdate and the birthplace in France.'

Passenger Arrival Lists

Passenger lists, especially in the 20th century, may list birth place, last residence in mother country, and name and residence of a close relative in the mother country. Study the records of fellow passengers, as frequently relatives and neighbors traveled together. United States Immigration Online Genealogy Records is a comprehensive list of passenger arrival databases that you can search right now from your computer. There are many, many databases. The following search strategy will make your search more efficient.

Suggested Search Strategy

1. Check the partner website indexes, as these cover many, many databases at once. The FamilySearch Historical Records databases is free to search with a free registered account. The other websites are subscription-based but can be searched for free at a FamilySearch Center near you. Try to search each partner site because their search engines can often bring up slightly different results.
2. If it is difficult for you to get access to the subscription databases, next try Additional Nationwide Collections Not Included in Partner Sites. These websites have a lot of overlap with the subscription websites.
3. Search a nationality, religious, or political group collection that applies to your ancestor.
4. Search the state collection for the first state where your ancestor lived.

Example:

Naturalization Records

• Naturalization records may also list an ancestor’s birth place.
• Prior to 1906 any U.S. court could naturalize foreigners. Many pre-1900 records only list “France” as the country of citizenship; however, there are notable exceptions, so these records should be checked routinely.
• The process involved two sets of papers: a declaration of intention to become a U.S. citizen, and a petition filed some time later.
• Beginning in 1906, naturalization records became more detailed, as the responsibility shifted to the Federal government.
• More information about naturalization records, along with helpful links, is found at Beginning Research in United States Naturalization Records and United States Naturalization Online Genealogy Records.

Example: This petition for naturalization (citizenship) gives the birthdate and birthplace in France of both the petitioner and her husband. It gives their marriage date and place and the birthdates and birthplaces of their children. It tells the port, the date and the name of the ship for when she entered the U.S. plus the names she entered under. It gives her last residence in France.

Passport Applications

• U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 ($), index and images

Example: This passport application gives the birthdate and birthplace in France, and the names of her parents.

Alien Registration

• Alien Registration Form: If your ancestor lived in the United States between 1 August 1940 and 31 March 1944. Search the index online, by entering the person's name and the term A-File. If you find a catalog entry for the person, then order the full file.

Example:

Church Records

• United States Church Records
• Catholic Church records

Example: This is a church marriage record, but it gives the birthdate and birthplace in France of the groom.