Acadian WikiTree

A Collaboration of Cousins, Part 1

I once asked my mother What was your mother like as a person when you were growing up?

The look on her face suggested she’d never considered her mother as anyone other than her mother.

“I don’t know,” she said, “she was just always there.” She did remember she once caught her mother crying in her rocking chair because she missed her people.

So much story that could have been told. What was the story of a person who was always there?

It’s kin to the situation I was in until recently with the Acadian WikiTree.

wikitree.com

This repository of Acadian family lineages was always there. If I needed to dip in and rummage around, I could, without cost or thought. Sort of like rummaging around the refrigerator in a parent’s or grandparent’s kitchen. Always something there for you, though you hadn’t thought much about why, when, or how that happened.

And then, one day, I found a document I thought would be worth adding to an Acadian WikiTree profile. While scanning FamilySearch files for the name “Morris,” I came across a 1758 bill from a Dartmouth, Massachusetts selectman to the Massachusetts legislature requesting payment for taking care of a family of French Neutrals (Acadian bits and pieces: Finding a personal history across the documents Part 1).

Though a bill for supplies, it spoke poignantly about the destitution experienced by Jean-Baptiste Vigneau (known by the surname Morris in colonial Massachusetts), Agnes-Anne Poirier, and their eight children. Here they were, three years after their removal from Baie Verte (now in New Brunswick), in desperate need of food and clothing. Perhaps some of the other descendants might be interested in seeing the document.

But I felt daunted at adding that to Jean-Baptiste’s Acadian WikiTree profile. Which button or tab do I click? How do I get the document in there? What if I mess up something someone else has already added?

The abundant instructions are clear enough. It’s just that my mind begins to wander if it needs to read a list larger than 10 simple steps. All I wanted to do was add a document and then go back to a world in which “The Acadian WikiTree is always there.”

istockphoto.com

So I sent an SOS to Gisèle Cormier. She and Cindy Bourque Cooper manage the Acadian Project on WikiTree. Could Gisèle please walk me through it, or, even better, do it for me?

That’s when Ralph Geer showed up. “If you let me, I can help you,” he wrote in his first email.

I was a bit nervous about that. What if he was the genealogical equivalent of the scamming Nigerian prince? “Sure,” I answered.

Happy to say, it’s one of the best risks I’ve ever taken. Ralph is an absolute gem of a teacher — patient, thorough, knowledgeable. He even produces YouTube videos to walk me through the steps needed to do a task. Who does that for a stranger?

Apparently, a good lot of the teachers, mentors, and genealogists of the Acadian WikiTree. These folks deserve an award. They’re all volunteers. They love our shared history. But all the work of monitoring, documenting, teaching, fixing? Why would they do that?

So I asked them.

Acadiann: Why are you doing this?

Gisèle: I found WikiTree by chance while searching for a free site to share my uncle’s research and old family photographs. I was immediately impressed by the quality of the Acadian profiles. As a history lover, I’m constantly learning something new, and I find it incredibly rewarding to help others explore and connect with their family’s past.

Cindy: I started out like many, wanting a place for my family tree. My father developed it on paper. I chose WT because it was free. But then when I connected to Acadians and Quebecois who were already on the tree, I realized the value of collaboration, so no one person has to do all the work. Nice.

Then I got involved in some real problem-solving collaboration with others. It was amazing how several people could contribute (and not necessarily agree at first) but develop the story with facts and sources. I'm still friends today with the key person I worked with on that first one years ago - lots of respect there.

Now I want to see all Acadian families documented, and their stories told. Most of those in the deportation times are heartbreaking, and the documentation of the cruelty of the British is shocking. Take a look at the Bergeron family story in Rivière Saint Jean.

Ralph: I never knew my ancestry beyond my great-grandmother until I was 14 when my father stopped at a dairy farm with Geer on the mailbox. We were on a Sunday drive through the country roads in Lebanon, Connecticut, on our way from home in Manchester to the beach at Rocky Neck.

They introduced us to The Geer Genealogy Book which was an eye opener and showed my roots back to George Geer in Connecticut in the 1600s. Outside of visiting Heavitree, England, where George Geer lived before coming to America, I did little for 60 years until computers allowed me to search more easily for more of my tree.

I tried several genealogy sites as I searched for ancestors. I had a chance to compare answers from all the site searches and discovered that the answer on WikiTree was always the right answer. At this point, I joined WikiTree and with the help of a couple of volunteers connected my tree on both the English and Acadian sides to the Big Tree.

I made a lot of mistakes when I started because I wasn't afraid to jump in. Volunteers suggested I take the Profile Improvement Course and the Data Doctor course which I did.

My father died before finding his mother's birth certificate even after driving from Connecticut to New Brunswick in his 80's. His mother, before she died, told him she was born in St. John's when she was really born in Restigouche. This was my brick wall in the beginning because his grandfather, Fabian, went by the name Joseph and his grandmother, Elisabeth, went by the name Lizzie.

I realize that not everyone in my family is interested in their roots, but I am doing this for those, maybe not even born yet, who might appreciate the work I am doing now.

photo by Acadiann

Acadiann: What three things would you tell someone who wants to start adding to WikiTree?

Gisèle:

• Join the Profile Improvement Project (PIP) Voyage. You’ll be assisted by a friendly and knowledgeable guide. You’ll learn how to create interesting, informative, well-sourced profiles that adhere to WikiTree standards, styles, and guidelines.

• Use reliable sources and family trees. Here is a list of Acadian resources

• Read, read, read, especially the New Member How-To Page.

Cindy:

• We want only one profile per person. This is totally different from other sites where everyone builds their own tree. You need to look to see if someone already has a profile and connect to that. This is especially important for way-back ancestors where many people are descendants and share those ancestors. Start with yourself and build up to a known person with a profile.

• It takes a while to learn WikiTree. But there are many people, tutorials, guided learning, and other ways to learn. Please ask questions! Be patient. Don't worry - every mistake can be corrected.

• It’s fun and addicting! Everyone can participate regardless of skill level. You get to know people around the world, and there are plenty of places for humor. You’ll want to spend lots of time to add information, improve accuracy, expand families, solve problems, read and contribute to the discussion forums, play games and more.

Ralph:

• This is absolutely the best genealogy website out there. I know; I've tried the others.

• If you like accuracy, this is one site that demands it by requiring everyone to use sources.

• It’s free.

Okay, this sounds fun. Where do I start?

Ralph suggested I start by putting in my own family tree.

What?! “I don’t have enough time left of my life to do that.” Which could be an exaggeration, but maybe not, even with all the endogamy of Acadian and Quebecois heritage. One never knows. I was ready to unpack the box of SOS flares to Gisèle.

“No, no. You just need a name and a birthdate,” Ralph said.

What a weight off my shoulders.

But first he taught me to how to put the tag next to my name.

Ann Forcier is a descendant of an Acadian

I made myself a profile, then added in names and dates from me to my father to my grandmother (Angeline Chenevert) to my great-grandmother (Marie-Louise Belisle-Chevrefils) to my great-great grandmother (Marguerite Benoit) who is the daughter of Marie Victoire (Bourgeois) who is in the Acadian WikiTree. She’s the daughter of Marie Vigneau, the focus of my obsession and the eldest of the children listed in the Dartmouth selectmen’s 1758 bill.

And just like that, I became a profile manager.

Then WikiTree revealed that Ralph and I are 7th cousins once removed. We share many times great-grandparents Marie Poirier and Francois Doucet.

And Gisèle and I are 7th cousins once removed, sharing Michel Haché m. Madeleine Leblanc, and Marguerite Bourgeois m. Michel Poirier.

And Cindy and I are 6th cousins, twice removed — on our Québécois sides. And further back somehow cousins in the Acadian lines of Bastarache, Gaudet, and Richard. Richard sits darn close to an Arcand branch in Cindy’s tree. My maternal grandmother — the one who rocked and cried because she missed her people — was born an Arcand.

The Acadian WikiTree is, simply, a collaboration of cousins.

“Don’t worry about feeling clumsy,” Gisèle said. “We’ve all been there. You're not alone, and we’ll always be here to help you out whenever you need it.”

Next time we visit these WikiTree-ers, they’ll tell us why they think the Acadian WikiTree matters and suggest a few more things that will help if you use the site.