How to trace Immigrant ancestors (German, Switz, Austria, French-Canadian)?

Question

I've traced all my American roots back to immigrants from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Canada (Quebec). Most arrived in the 1880s to Massachusetts or Vermont. How do I trace back further? Where can I find the most comprehensive immigration records?

Thanks

Answer 1

Your French-Canadian lines are hands down the easiest to track. The three resources you need are Catholic Church records from your current 1880s date back to 1799. One other resource to help you during that period is the Loiselle Marriage Index. It's never been transcribed online, but most major research libraries hold the films, as does the LDS/Mormon Family History Library. The Catholic Church was the keeper of all records in Quebec until 1820, except the Notary records and  a handful of early 1600s censuses.

The major resource is the PRDH at the University of Montreal. If you google it, you'll find both French and English versions of it. There is a free part and a pay part. I know people shy away from paying $30 to do research, but in this case it's a huge investment that reaps huge rewards. They have every line tracked back to the first family member to land in the colony. $30 to be handed 270 years of meticulously documented research is a gift.

I know people are all excited that the Drouin collection was licensed to Ancestry.com. The shortcoming is that they're 8 MILLION records short of completion. Unless you're going to use it from your local library, I don't recommend it just yet.

Switzerland is very specialized research. Email me with specifics and I'll walk you through it.

Germany and Austria are hit and miss as to how much you can find. It really depends on the year they arrived and their religion. Catholics and Lutherans are easy to research. Mennonites are frustrating because every family used the same 10 names over and over and over again. Evangelicals and Jews are difficult and require great patience.

If you need help with getting your bearings, I would be glad to help you. I love researching in Canada and Switzerland and am pretty well versed on Germany and Austria. I won't do it all for you :-) but I'm glad to get you started and help you find the records you need.