My Life As A Web Ghoul...

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As a Special Education teacher, I know how important documentation is. In combination with my insatiable passion for history, you end up with an obsessive amateur genealogist. Such has been the life of this web ghoul, a name given to me by my husband, for the past twenty years. In my case, amateur refers to someone who pursues a study for the sheer love of it as opposed to the financial recompense.

Old genealogists never die; they just haunt cemeteries and lose their census. There are days when this just about sums up my genealogical undertakings.

I am proud to say that I am able to trace my roots, on both sides, back to the original Acadian settlers of early Acadie. All individuals of Acadian and Cajun descent will find themselves able to retrace their roots back to this same earliest group of hardy men and women who were willing to brave a new world for themselves and their families.

As shared within A Travel in Time to Grand Pré: My maternal grandparents were wed on September 1, 1930. They honeymooned at Grand Pré. Long intrigued with the pictures that were part of the family photo album, I knew that at one point in my life, I, too, would make the trek to Grand Pré. A premonition, if you will, it was something that I felt deep within my bones.

I found myself there the summer of 1998. Traveling with an Acadian cousin, I was dressed as Evangeline and he was dressed as Gabriel. Able to feel the enchantment of the park, I was drawn to the ancient willow trees that surrounded the pond. When I went looking for a visual for the cover of A Travel in Time to Grand Pré, I knew exactly what my heart was looking for.

I continue to receive compliments on the cover design of this book.

As I was exploring my maternal French Acadian ancestry, I discovered that I had some most intriguing connections back to New France (today known as the province of Québec). My 9th great grandmother, Catherine de Baillon, a fille du roi of minor French nobility, has proven connections all the way back to Charlemagne.

There are many who can also lay claim to Charlemagne as an ancestor, meaning that I, too, am related to them. Céline Dion. Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Napoleon. Sigourney Weaver. When I first shared this information with several family members, they thought that I was making it up. Remember, Matt? Feel free to visit one of my favorite websites in keeping with Royal Descents.

I provide many genealogical charts in A Travel in Time to Grand Pré that connect with several historical personages; namely,

[1] William I (of England) de St. Clair (7th Duke of Normandy) and Matilda (Maude) of Flanders, daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flanders and Princess Adela (Alix) Capet of France. Winning the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William (also known as The Conqueror) was crowned King of England.

[2] King Alfred (The Great) (of England) and Ealhswith (Alswitha) of the Gaini.

[3] Count Baldwin II of Flanders and Ælfhryth (Elfrida), daughter of King Alfred.

[4] King Charles I (Charlemagne) and Hildegard.

[5] Clovis I (The Great), of the Merovingian kings, and St. Clothilde of Burgundy.

Not listed in order of significance, all of these individuals figure into my maternal ancestry. While I shall be publishing my paternal ancestry within the year (Germain Doucet, Sieur de LaVerdure: Ancestry of Michele Doucette), I am not sure if I shall ever get a chance to finish researching my maternal roots. However, I continue to endeavor to try.

For those who are also addicted to genealogy, I am afraid to share this pertinent fact: we all belong to the geneaholic club. It is an addiction for which there is no cure. Until next time, thanks for stopping by.

Michele