The Family History Center will be reopening this week, so it will be back to chasing down our Polish ancestry. But for the month of August, I decided to switch attention to the French-Canadian side of the family, specifically the Chamberland and Blanchette families.
The manner in which you retrieve vital records from the State Archives for Vital Records is an interesting one. You have no direct access to the records. You enter what they call a research room where there is a large box of photocopied slips to record what you're looking for. The Indices are available where you can locate the Year, Volume, and Page Number of the interested party. Records are for Birth, Marriage, and Deaths. Once the slips are filled out, they are then handed to an attendant when they call for "research requests".
The guy working the counter the day I visited was helpful in explaining the process, but I wasn't prepared for the mad rush to the counter when the window opened for the first time and a researcher announced "I'll take the next 7 research requests". Fearing that I missed my first opportunity because I was towards the back of a line 10 or so deep, I stood in line thinking "this is going to take a long time." When I got the window I learned that he was taking 7 requests from each person. Big sigh of relief. I realized after I sat down and looked at what I had left to research that the important research, the reason I went there in the first place, were still in my hand. Not to worry though, there was one more research call while I was there.
After about 15 minutes, the guy wheels a large cart with the volumes of vital records that were requested. I found the 7 volumes I had requested and quickly went to work transcribing the information into my binder for entry into my computer later on. The next call, about 30 minutes later, was for 3 requests. I handed in one for Josephat Blanchette, one for Ophilia Chamberland, and one for the Szacik twins that died at birth in 1920. When these volumes were brought up to the research room, I was a bit disappointed. I had the wrong year for Josephat Blanchette and the records for the Szacik twins record were listed as "RESTRICTED". What I did get, the death record for Ophilia Chamberland, would result in a month long research endeavor and the eventual tracing of those ancestors back to France in 1610. Several critical pieces of then missing information were recorded from that death record, her father Hermenigilde Chamberland, her mother Desanges Latylip, and her age at the time of death 79 yrs, 7 months, 25 days.
The first thing I did was to check the Canada Census records and within a few moments of the search completing, I found them listed in the 1881 Census of Canada living in Bellechasse, Quebec, Canada. Other searches, particularly in the Quebec Vital and Church Records (The Drouin Collection), revealed that what was recorded as Latylip is actually LaTulippe and that Ophilia's mother name was really Marie DesAnges Queret dit LaTulippe. Do a Google search on Queret and LaTulippe and you'll discover a large extended family with lots of history. Dit names, pronounced "dee", were used by families to help differentiate themselves from their father, brothers and sisters, by location, trade, or some other local reference from which they came. The name Latulippe has a long french heritage and originates from the northwest region of Brittany in France.
I'm still locating and finding the actual church records for each of the direct line of Chamberlands but I've located well over 30 individual church records dating back to the 1680's so far. Nearly all of the Chamberlands came from Bellechasse, Quebec, Canada. I'm still trying to find exactly when Ophilia's family entered the United States. The only mention of it is on the 1930 US census I found for Ophilia and her husband Josephat Blanchette. It lists 1890 as the year of entry. Records for Canadian border crossings exists but starts in 1895. The Chamberlands do not appear in the 1891 Census of Canada so its likely that they left Canada between 1881 and 1891. Here's a few samples of what I've found so far, the oldest record is the marriage record for Ignace Chamberland, my 7th Great Grandfather:
Off to Boston to the Department of Vital Records and Archives
The manner in which you retrieve vital records from the State Archives for Vital Records is an interesting one. You have no direct access to the records. You enter what they call a research room where there is a large box of photocopied slips to record what you're looking for. The Indices are available where you can locate the Year, Volume, and Page Number of the interested party. Records are for Birth, Marriage, and Deaths. Once the slips are filled out, they are then handed to an attendant when they call for "research requests".
The guy working the counter the day I visited was helpful in explaining the process, but I wasn't prepared for the mad rush to the counter when the window opened for the first time and a researcher announced "I'll take the next 7 research requests". Fearing that I missed my first opportunity because I was towards the back of a line 10 or so deep, I stood in line thinking "this is going to take a long time." When I got the window I learned that he was taking 7 requests from each person. Big sigh of relief. I realized after I sat down and looked at what I had left to research that the important research, the reason I went there in the first place, were still in my hand. Not to worry though, there was one more research call while I was there.
After about 15 minutes, the guy wheels a large cart with the volumes of vital records that were requested. I found the 7 volumes I had requested and quickly went to work transcribing the information into my binder for entry into my computer later on. The next call, about 30 minutes later, was for 3 requests. I handed in one for Josephat Blanchette, one for Ophilia Chamberland, and one for the Szacik twins that died at birth in 1920. When these volumes were brought up to the research room, I was a bit disappointed. I had the wrong year for Josephat Blanchette and the records for the Szacik twins record were listed as "RESTRICTED". What I did get, the death record for Ophilia Chamberland, would result in a month long research endeavor and the eventual tracing of those ancestors back to France in 1610. Several critical pieces of then missing information were recorded from that death record, her father Hermenigilde Chamberland, her mother Desanges Latylip, and her age at the time of death 79 yrs, 7 months, 25 days.
You say Latylip, I say LaTulippe
The first thing I did was to check the Canada Census records and within a few moments of the search completing, I found them listed in the 1881 Census of Canada living in Bellechasse, Quebec, Canada. Other searches, particularly in the Quebec Vital and Church Records (The Drouin Collection), revealed that what was recorded as Latylip is actually LaTulippe and that Ophilia's mother name was really Marie DesAnges Queret dit LaTulippe. Do a Google search on Queret and LaTulippe and you'll discover a large extended family with lots of history. Dit names, pronounced "dee", were used by families to help differentiate themselves from their father, brothers and sisters, by location, trade, or some other local reference from which they came. The name Latulippe has a long french heritage and originates from the northwest region of Brittany in France.
A goldmine of Chamberland History in the Quebec Vital and Church Records
I'm still locating and finding the actual church records for each of the direct line of Chamberlands but I've located well over 30 individual church records dating back to the 1680's so far. Nearly all of the Chamberlands came from Bellechasse, Quebec, Canada. I'm still trying to find exactly when Ophilia's family entered the United States. The only mention of it is on the 1930 US census I found for Ophilia and her husband Josephat Blanchette. It lists 1890 as the year of entry. Records for Canadian border crossings exists but starts in 1895. The Chamberlands do not appear in the 1891 Census of Canada so its likely that they left Canada between 1881 and 1891. Here's a few samples of what I've found so far, the oldest record is the marriage record for Ignace Chamberland, my 7th Great Grandfather:
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