Retour à la souche!
Guest Blogger! Today’s post comes to us courtesy of Mark Bradley, who has been a professional librarian for twenty one years, eighteen years with Windsor Public Library where he is currently employed.
… Returning to One’s roots!
English translation of the above plaque
French Settlement on the South Shore
Windsor is the oldest known site of continuous settlement in Ontario. The government of New France, anxious to increase its presence on the Detroit River, offered land for agricultural settlement on the south shore in 1749. That summer, families from the lower St. Lawrence River
relocated to lots which began about 6.5 km downstream from here. Along with civilians and discharged soldiers from Fort Pontchartrain (Detroit), they formed the community of La Petite Côte. Additional waterfront lots, including this site, were laid out in 1751. These extended
from the Huron mission, located in the vicinity of the present Ambassador Bridge, to the Ottawa village situated opposite the fort. When the French regime ended in 1760, about 300 settlers were living here.
Beneteau, Bergeron, Bezer, Campeau, Chauvin, Dufour, Dumouchel, De Hetre, Drouillard, Gignac, Godet, Gouyau, Janis, Meloche, Ouellet, Parent, Reaume, Riveau or LaJeunesse, Villers or St. Louis are just the first of the families to settle in this area.
In 1760, there were 300 French settlers here in Windsor or then La Petite Côte, those 300 went on to spawn a continent (the average family was two parents and ten children and each child had ten children, imagine the numbers now! I know I exaggerate but not far from the truth!) I don’t have the numbers for you but research into the origins and descendants of those families has generated a lot of continuing traffic for the library’s Genealogical section over the years, either by genealogists traveling here from all parts of the continent and beyond or accessing us through our Ask a Librarian service and enhanced research for a fee or going on-line to our catalogue to inquire what we have as holdings, then asking us how can we help them.
What I plan to demonstrate is that Genealogy Tourism or Ancestry Tourism (both searchable terms in Google) is a viable and a sustainable niche market tourist destination for the city of Windsor and Essex county and the fact that we are missing out in a growing billion dollar industry of Genealogy tourism! That promoting genealogy and historical tourism as a destination to this city and county will have the economic influence on other businesses, such as hotels, bed and breakfasts and restaurants as well.
Windsor Public Library’s Central branch on Ouellette Avenue is the main genealogical centre, along with its Local History collection for Windsor and Essex County. Although there are smaller organizations and groups such as the Windsor-Essex County branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, H.E.I.R.S (Harrow Early Immigrant Research Society), Windsor’s Community Museum, the City of Windsor’s Municipal Archives, Fort Malden, the Black Historical Museum in Amherstburg, The Church of Latter Day Saints genealogy centre in Windsor, it is the Central Library they come to for the records on paper and microfilm, family histories, local history books, indices and the Vital Statistics of Ontario (Birth, Death and Marriage records,) cemetery records, and Windsor Star obituaries.
The same holds true for people doing research into their African-Canadian and African-American roots. Last week in the library, we had an African-American woman who had flown from Los Angeles, California who came to Windsor to do research that she could only find here! Her brother came from Grand Rapids, Michigan to assist her. Both stayed over night in a Windsor hotel.
The week before a couple came from Florida, to get one microfilm copy of a birth from November 1938, Windsor’s Evening Record. One piece of paper! She was more than pleased to have come that distance to get that, it isn’t on-line, nor on Ancestry.com or any other internet genealogy site!
The above are just two current examples of what I have experienced at this Reference Desk for almost nineteen years!
So what if we had the largest family(ies) reunion on the continent and invited all those descendants of the original families to come home for a week in the summer to reconnect to their roots and families still here, to do genealogy research, with assistance from the Windsor Public Library and local genealogists doing French genealogy of the area and a weekend festival of Franco-Ontarian music! Retour à la souche!
In the dark winter months, genealogists all over the world are planning their trips backwards for the next year’s summer vacations, through towns and cities and their libraries that their ancestors lived in, many end up here as their finishing point.
Now the movement is for forward genealogy. Europeans doing genealogy find out that some family member immigrated and now they are researching forward, many come here to Windsor as their starting point for settlement in North America.
“Surprisingly, the most dedicated questors, according to a survey for American Demographics magazine, are 35 to 44 years old, a group whose nomadic days are over and who are often raising young kids. Stephen Young, a London, Ont., native now in charge of the Canada-U.S. reference section at the Mormon library in Salt Lake City, says those in that age group show a strong desire to reconnect to their roots. “People live farther away from their families,” says Young, 43, “so they lose contact with the older family members who typically pass on the oral history. They want to fill in the gaps.”
The Search for roots, John Nicol. Macleans. Toronto Sep 20, 199. Vol 112, Iss. 38: pg 42, 6 pgs
Statistics are now pointing to the Boomer generation doing genealogy research as the fastest growing segment of the population in this area.
Ancestral Scotland has an excellent four page document outlining what is Ancestry Toursim, as well as an explanation as to why ancestral tourism is so important to Scotand’s economy and why you should care.
“WHY IS ANCESTRAL TOURISM SO IMPORTANT TO SCOTLAND? (And Windsor!)
• Firstly, the market is ‘non-competitive’ – either you have Scottish ancestry (or French in this case) or you don’t!
• Secondly, research indicates that visitors undertaking genealogy activities spend at least 10% more per day than the average tourist to Scotland, providing an estimated market value to Scotland of over £150m per annum.
• Thirdly, ancestral tourists also stay longer than other visitors. The average length of stay of an ancestral tourist is 10 nights, compared with an average trip duration of 4.5 nights for all tourist visits to Scotland.
• It is anticipated that the number of ancestral tourists to Scotland could in the future increase from the current estimate of 200,000 to between 300,000 and 800,000 trips annually.
• Ancestral tourists also have a greater propensity to travel out with the traditional main tourist season, leading to a real opportunity to develop tourism to Scotland in off-peak periods.
• Patterns of emigration from Scotland in previous centuries means that ancestral tourism also offers the potential for good geographic dispersal of visitors throughout Scotland, and in particular to rural areas – for example over 40% of ancestral visitors currently travel in the Highlands.
• Given the diverse nature of ancestral resources and attractions on the ground, there is a real opportunity for local communities to benefit.
The above is just one country, England, Ireland, Wales, France, Germany, Sweden and Finland of just what I can think of right now have gotten on the map pushing Genealogy/Ancestry tourism as a prime destination target for their tourist industry.
These are the organizations or cultural groups that I would like to see come forward in working out this idea: The Francophone community organizations and cultural groups of Windsor and Essex County, Windsor Public Library, the City of Windsor and city council, the city’s Department of Culture and Heritage, Windsor-Essex County branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, Windsor’s Community Museum, Municipal Archives, Olde Sandwich Towne, Convention & Visitors Bureau of Windsor, Essex County & Pelee Island., Heritage Canada and Heritage Ontario.
I don’t know how or if all this can fit together all at this time but I do know that we in this city and county are missing out on a very sustainable industry during peak times and off peak seasons.
Where do I fit in all this? My fourth great aunt Marianne (Polly) Wilcox married a Thomas Drouillard a captain in the British Army in Sandwich on February 2, 1815, both eventually dying in Marine City, Michigan.
From this website by Mark Drouillard of Windsor; The “All Drouillard” tree. This is just one example of the breadth of these families in settling North America. Check it out!
I need help with contacts, I don’t have any contacts in the Francophone community, if you like my idea I can be contacted at mbradleydotwindsorpubliclibrary.com
Please share this!
Tags: culture, Entrepreneurs, local economic development, travel and trourism, Windsor Public Library
Post Feedback
The family that built my house has also used the main PUBLIC LIBRARY BRANCH, as has myself, to find out who the man was who built it, what was the family name, how long did they live here, obituaries…I gained a wealth of knowledge that couldn’t be found on Ancestry.com or any other site. We even found out that the man used to be an “alderman” (city councillor to the PC folks) and was well respected in the community.
I am now giong forward with heritage designation to which I hope this house get it (especially with the looming canal stupidity…err plan).
When we go back to Wales to visit, we try to get as much information as possible on our ancestors since my grandparents are gone and my great aunts/uncles are in their 80s. My one grandma did have a lot of photos and info and so my dad drove us around and we took pictures of where different people in his family used to live. We wouldn’t have visited those areas without a purpose, but we did and stopped at the local pub and spent money in that area, etc.
My sister-in-laws went to England last year JUST to find info on their grandmother who died many years ago. They got some info online but were told that the local church had more records and then they got to visit the town and areas where their grandmother grew up and worked as a nurse during the war.
Another reason people like to actually visit where their ancestors are from is to see the areas/buildings that they have heard about or read about before they are removed/bulldozed for other purposes.
THis would be a great idea for Windsor to push!!
Digital exhibits:
Bienenue a Windsor: History of the French in Windsor
http://www.windsorpubliclibrary.com/digi/index.php
Les Progres: a French language daily newspaper in Windsor:
http://209.202.75.197/digi/progres/
My family has lived in one of the original french farmsteads in Windsor for the past 15 years..I have done some research on my own home … I am a staunch believer in recognizing the french fact in history…I grew up in a small town in Northern Ontario that is about 90% french…I am not french…just a history buff………My daughter however, attends french high school here, E. J. Lajeunesse…..we have many routes into french community here and would be happy to do our part to assist. Since you are a librarian, I am assuming that you are familiar with “Le Rempart” and Fr. Lajeunesse’s book on the Windsor/Detroit region.
Finding Fr. LaJeunesse’s book is difficult on a good day as I belive it has gone out of print (someone told me there was to be a revised edition printed).
Anyway, Victoria Rose, not to rain on your parade but Windsor has torn down so much past history most buildings don’t exist anymore. Too bad as it would be a great idea to connect people with a burgeoning interest of their geneology.
Also the Archives are not in the best of shape and really need a new home if they are to survive another 10 years. Kudo’s to the volunteers and Head of this wonderful department. Too bad the city has neglected that as well. If only they could “neglect” their weekly dinners and their legal budgets for things this city really needs.
ME, Father Lajeunesse book; The Windsor Border Region isn’t that hard to find, Windsor Public Library has 28 copies of the book in our system.
Rusalka, yes I am familiar with Le Rempart and Father Lajeunesse’s book, read it twice, since I have had family settled in this area since 1789. That is why I want this city and the county to start promoting our culture and heritage, we are missing big bucks in a sustainable matter, if we only get off our butts and learn our history.
Oh, I know….we’re terrible for tearing things down! That’s why some people travel to different sites though, to see buildings that may only be significant to them before they are removed to make way for “progress”. Maybe Windsor’s heritage tourism wouldn’t push this too much… “Well, this is the location where your great-grandfather’s house WAS, and that’s the parking lot that used to be the church where he got married.”
Mr. Bradley, sorry I meant to buy. : ) I always want a good book for my own shelves as well ; )
WHAT I WANT For Windsor:
Look at what is to be included in the New Ottawa Public Library besides just a library: Archives, Cultural/Heritage muesum!
The synergy would be fantastic for the city, I would include the Wood Carvers museum, Art Gallery of Windsor salon or displays, and a Genealogy Centre
Dare to dream!
Board OKs $25M to buy land for library
Council must approve plan before purchase can occur
Patrick Dare, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Ottawa Public Library board has approved spending up to $25 million on downtown land for a new main library branch.
For years, it’s been the dream of library supporters in Ottawa to have a large new main library branch to replace the uninspiring building at Metcalfe Street and Laurier Avenue; critics have argued that Ottawa might need a better central library, but any plans need to be constrained by the city’s difficult financial position.
Ms. Harder stressed that the whole project is very much in early planning stages, with financing and possible partnerships still to be explored and decided.
But she said a new library would have to be about 300,000 square feet to accommodate all the things the city wants.
Those include:
- a children’s library,
- meeting rooms,
- an auditorium,
- space for the city’s archives,
- retail,
- a showcase for the city’s heritage, and
- space for public receptions.
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=1357da7d-cca3-412d-82ef-f50ced4092f7
The above would do more for this city than a canal that is only speculative asking the question; If we build it. Will they come?
Mark, they could even build condo’s on top of a new library thus increasing the density that theDWBIA wants! They could also build row houses across from it as well bringing in families which is sorely needed downtown.
I have yet to hear anyone say they would live across from a library. Since it would be across from the”funky” new bus terminal “all roads will lead to the main library”. Everyone wins!
No Way! ME! That is what Ottawa Public Library is trying to get out of. Their main library is stuck in a corner of a federal office high rise!
I would like four stories with a green roof, street level windows for viewing in and out, so that people can see each other. Most libraries have done or are doing what Ottawa is doing by including cultural and heritage museums, to create synergies for both, since libraries are open longer than museums and art galleries both can feed off the traffic from the library.
Montreal North, is planning something great:
City’s library investments pay off
$125 million Montreal North loans more than average
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=1ed7f590-8d39-46e8-b0c7-73729c9389f5
“”Unfortunately, in the past, not enough funds were available.”
Since the city conducted a devastating assessment of its own public library network in 2005, the Tremblay administration has embarked on an improvement plan to increase hours of service, build or modernize libraries, add librarians and expand the book collection.
The 2005 study estimated the city’s network would need a minimum investment of $183.9 million just to raise local library service to the Canadian average.
The study prompted the city to immediately inject $4.7 million to make library memberships free across Montreal, and to extend library opening hours to a minimum of 53 hours per week from an average of 35.
Now, under a 10-year plan that runs to 2017, the city is working on adding 16 new libraries to the current network of 44, insert 1.5 million more books and increase the number of librarians to 227 from 94. The goal is to raise the proportion of library users to 60 per cent from 35 per cent.
To that end, Tremblay and Quebec Culture Minister Christine St-Pierre announced last fall the province and the city will invest $125 million over 10 years.
The building boom has begun, said Louise Guillemette-Labory, a city assistant director who is in charge of the library network.
The city is using the construction as opportunities to apply a new approach to designing libraries, Tremblay said. They’re being integrated with another type of service, such as a community centre, he said.
“If you integrate a library in a cultural or community centre, then you get greater exposure,” Tremblay said.
Take Montreal North’s newest library. The Maison culturelle et communautaire, a $12-million community centre complex that opened in the middle of 2006, is being credited for the borough’s dramatic increase in library activity.”
And here is the clincher!
The city is using the construction as opportunities to apply a new approach to designing libraries, Tremblay said. They’re being integrated with another type of service, such as a community centre, he said.
“If you integrate a library in a cultural or community centre, then you get greater exposure,” Tremblay said.”"”
Now, included an Ancestral/Genealogy research centre with that and you could draw out of town genealogists all year round.