France Gathering Information: Difference between revisions

A serious problem for some researchers is to determine the actual name of their immigrant ancestor. Some ancestors in their eagerness to be assimilated into American culture, traded their difficult foreign names for American names. This occured often with given names and to a lesser extent with surnames.  

In France, most records used in family history research are kept on a town or parish level. Therefore the exact town of origin must be known before research can begin. Most of the time, the place  of origin in France is found in sources created in the country of immigration. These records should be searched for the ancestor, possible relatives, and other associated persons. French place names may often be mispelled in American sources. Difficult names were shortened and diacritic marks ommitted. A gazetter, which is defined as a geographical dictionary, is an essential tool for identifying places. Look up your place name in the gazetteer to be sure that it is spelled correctly. As mentioned French place names are often mispelled in American sources. If you still cannot determine correct spelling of your locality even after you searched the gazetteers and the Internet, please post your query on [https://www.facebook.com/groups/SouthernEuropeGenealogyResearchCommunity/ Southern Europe Genealogy Research Community]. You will have to click on, "Join" on the Facebook page to post your question.