Yes, the title of this blog post is correct. This is the March update, released only a couple of days ago.
The Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec went into pandemic lockdown with everyone else in mid-March, which had been only a matter of days after the February list of new family histories had been released.
This is the first update since the lockdown and gradual reopening. It’s nice to have the librarians back.
The Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal catalogued in March five Quebec families histories for its genealogy collection and one history book about the War of 1812 that are worth noting.
The Grande Bibliothèque is the flagship library facility of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ). All books published in Quebec, including family histories, must be deposited at the Grande Bibliothèque. They form part of the national collection.
Although most of the family histories at the Grande Bibliothèque are written in French, if you find one about your ancestors, you will probably figure out a way to use it in your research.
If interested in learning more about the books listed below, contact BAnQ by completing the online form. (Click on English in the top right corner of form to see the English-language form.) The people at BAnQ will respond in English or French, depending on the language of inquiry, within a couple of days.
Family histories
The family names in the following new books have been highlighted in bold.
To help, I have provided a brief description in English after each title below.
Conversations avec Armande : histoires de familles / album familial by Guy Deschênes and Lorraine Hacquard. Châteauguay, Quebec : Gestion et formation GDLH, 2019. 100 pages.
About “conversations with Armande — family histories/family album.” Names on the cover are Turgeon, Fluet, Deschênes, and Dumont.
La mémoire du temps, du temps perdu… retrouvé by Nichole De L’Orme. Acton Vale, Quebec : Nichole De L’Orme, 2018. 222 pages.
Recollections about a time long gone… and now rediscovered. While no family names appear in the book title or description, this book would interest someone researching their family’s history in Acton Vale, Quebec.
D’Antoine Cassé à Vitaline Lacasse : histoire et notes généalogiques d’une lignée by Robert Lacasse. Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec : Robert Lacasse, 2020. 234 pages.
This book follows the history of one family line, from Antoine Cassé to Vitaline Lacasse. Antoine Cassé dit Lacasse lived from 1641 to 1709.
Pierre Miville : un Suisse en Nouvelle-France by Raymond Ouimet. Quebec City, Quebec : Septentrion, 2020. 155 pages.
About Pierre Miville, the first Swiss to settle in New France. He had six or seven children with his wife, Charlotte Mongis, a woman from France.
According to the publisher, if you have researched your Quebec ancestry, you may have discovered you descend from Pierre Miville, 1602-1669 — like more than half of the eight million people who live in the province — and that number doesn’t include his descendants elsewhere in North America. Probably for that reason, the biography about Miville, written by Raymond Ouimet in the early 1990s, was popular.
Since the first book was written, the author has discovered new sources and written a revised and expanded version.
This latest edition includes the story of two of Miville’s sons, François and Jacques, who were coureurs des bois and one of them was also a mine explorer in the Gaspé.
You can take a brief look inside on Amazon.
Nos Thibault à nous : de Michel à Ronald, André, Jacques et Nicole… (comprenant une courte rencontre avec Émeri Bellouin) by André Thibault. Second edition, updated. Quebec : André Thibault, 2020. 874 pages. Includes bibliography and index.
About the author’s Thibault family history.
History book
Among the new history books catalogued is the following that may interest family historians.
A Mohawk memoir from the War of 1812 by John Norton – Teyoninhokarawen; introduced, annotated, and edited by Carl Benn. Toronto; Buffalo; London : University of Toronto Press, 2019. 351 pages.
This book presents the story of John Norton, or Teyoninhokarawen, an important war chief and political figure among the Grand River Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) in Upper Canada.
Norton saw more action during the conflict than almost anyone else, being present at the fall of Detroit; the capture of Fort Niagara; the battles of Queenston Heights, Fort George, Stoney Creek, Chippawa, and Lundy’s Lane; the blockades of Fort George and Fort Erie; and a large number of skirmishes and front-line patrols.
Norton’s account, written in 1815 and 1816, provides nearly one-third of the book’s content.
The remainder consists of Carl Benn’s introductions and annotations, which enable readers to understand Norton’s fascinating autobiography within its historical contexts.
