How to Find Ancestors in France
Researching your family history in France has become easier in recent years, with the digitizing of documents and the establishment of websites for even the smallest villages in France. With the Internet and some phone calls, you may be able to trace family records back for many generations.
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Instructions
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Ask your family members for information. If your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles or other relatives are still living, ask them what they can remember about family names and locations the family lived in in France. Make a record of each family member and her full name, birth date and birthplace, as well as her parents' information where available.
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Search American records through the census department for documents that testify to your ancestors' arrivals from France. This kind of documentation often lists the names of individuals' relatives and hometowns, as well as occupations and sometimes ages. You can also search the records of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormon Church) for free; they have an enormous database of genealogical information online.
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Get a subscription to Ancestry.com and research there. This site posts newly digitized documents from Europe and the rest of the world almost daily, including birth, marriage and death records from France. Use the materials available to locate the hometowns of your ancestors, their siblings and other extended family, their occupations and even photos.
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Contact the records department of the town or city your family came from in France. Most French cities and small towns have websites set up with email addresses for contacting record keepers. Write in simple English asking for records on particular names or businesses from the region. You can also contact the Cercle Généalogique for the area your ancestors came from. See Resources for Links to these groups.
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