Wilmont Kreis

Quebec records and the fire of 1650: On a winter night of 1650, the Ursuline Convent caught fire, and in spite of the efforts to extinguish it, the building was severely damaged. A treasure of the convent was the collected records of Québec: births, deaths, marriages, etc. At great risk to themselves, the nuns led by Marie de l’Incarnation collected the records and threw them out into the snow and escaped to retrieve them. Thereafter, it was deemed to keep all records in two separate locations, Generally the parish and the Convent, today in the Archives of Québec. If a fire occurred at one, the records could be found and copied at the other location and returned to the facility built after the fire. In the English colonies, a fire at a church or government facility generally meant loss forever of the records. Read More 

French Canadian records: I am constantly hearing from readers who are searching their American ancestors. “I’m searching for my great grandmother’s history and can’t even find information about her birth or marriage. How can you know so much about French-Canadians in the 17th century? Well, the answer is in the intact nature of the record, and the odd event that started this accurate record is interesting. I’ll tell you about it next week. Read More 

October 6, 2017
Double names: I have had an increasing number of readers wondering why I use so many double names, i.e. Agnes-Anne in my last two books. They ask, for example, “My ancestor is Anne Langlois b. Sept. 2 1637. However you call her Agnes-Anne. I can’t find this name anywhere else. What’s up?” Well, gentle reader, you are correct! ‘Agnes’ is my addition. In previous books I have received concerns from readers that there were too many François, etc. to keep straight and sometimes families have two children with the same name. This is merely my way of keeping the various Annes and François straight. Keep the questions coming. I love them! Read More 

Governors in early Canada. I thought it might be useful to explain a little about the various Governors. Not only does Canada itself have a Governor appointed by the King of France, for example: Montmagny (who served longest) but also Maisonneuve, Ailleboust, de Lauson, de Voyer, Davougour, de Mézy, de Tracy and de Courcelles. But there are also Governors of certain areas, such as, Maisonneuve in Montreal (who was also once Governor of all Canada) and Guillemont, and of course the famous Pierre Boucher in Trois Rivieres. I don’t know if this avoids any confusion, but at least you know how confusing it is (was). Read More