I am looking for information on my husband's ggparents. The information I have is his grandmother Emily (Emilie) Mary Goulet was born in Lanoraie, Quebec, Canada abt. 1875. I have her marriage certificate (m. Thomas William Coutu on Feb. 7, 1904 in Watertown or Cambridge, MA). Her parents were listed as Joseph Goulet and Annie McKinstry.

I am hoping someone has information on Joseph and Annie, and Emily' birthdate. I also know that Emily (Emilie) and Thomas lived in Grafton, MA atleast until 1910. She died June 21, 1941 in Worcester, MA.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
V Coutu

Joseph Goulet (Prosper Goulet & Zoe Joly)
married
Marie Anne McKinstry (John McKinstry & Caroline Haynoran)
on 26 Aug 1868 St. Joseph, Lanoraie, Quebec

She was born and baptised on 20 Nov 1875 St. Joseph, Lanoraie, Quebec.
Marie Anna Emelie Anastasia Goulet.


David

Thank you so much! Too many names here, as I mentioned, the only document I have found so far is for the marriage, which had her listed as Emily, and her mother as Annie.

I recently found out that my father-in-law's name was Joseph, not Thomas. His parents passed before I met him. He grew up all his life thinking it was Thomas.

And, thank you for a little education in geneaology; I am rather new at this!

What was common in French Canadian catholic families was that male children were very frequently named Joseph first, then whatever name they would be known by, whilst the female children were named Marie first, the whatever name they were to be know by...

Often the first born, male or female, would be known as Joseph or Marie, while those born later would not.

Very confusing when you also have cousins in the same locality, of the same generation and, therefore, of similar ages.

HTH

Thank you for this information! This probably explains why I haven't had any luck trying to find information on my husband's mother.

I've been wanting to get a book on Canadian geneaology, do you have any recomendations?

Hi

I can't really recommend anything, since all of my knowledge comes from working online. All I can suggest is that you familiarise (and I do mean "really" familiarise) yourself with all the various forms of information available. Also, don't be afraid to ask folks for translations of pages in, for example, French.

You will find, as I have, that the same type of information (e.g. French Canadian Catholic church records) is presented in many different forms, some in latin, some in french, some in english, some in combinations.

Another useful point is that the spelling of names often depends on the primary language of the person completing the form, hence I have found a county death record for Mary King, when the person I was (initially) searching for was actually Marie Roi...

Sometimes you just get lucky - e.g. when you look at a search result, check out the pages either side for possible additional information. If you get stumped (and this is where the catholic church records are useful) try searching the god-parents names (as many will have been close relatives).

In the end, you may well develop a feel for the style of the records, at various periods in time, and will start to know where you are more likely to find a missing piece of information.

Above all, when you get stuck, ask.

good Luck.

Do you live in Mass?
There are a few French Canadian Genealogical Societies that can help you.

David

Yes, I am in MA. Thank you for the info. My aunt tells me that I may find lots of info in RI, too.

Thank you for the info. I see this can be a challenge, but I am always up for a challenge!

If you live near Woonsocket, RI. There is the American French Genealogical Society. They have almost everything from Quebec, you would love it there. www.afgs.org

David