Margaret R. Fortier, CG

Here's your chance to view my webinar, Andiamo! Finding Your Italian History, for free until July 25, 2023, on Legacy Family Tree Webinars.

Find out why your Italian ancestor had five cousins all named Vincenzo. Learn about Italian naming patterns and name changes, how to start your search and more.

https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/andiamo-finding-your-italian-family/

For those attending the Celtic Connection Conference, I will be answering questions about immigrant girls and the guy whose identity was proved by two words in one source.

Just presented "The French Canadian Identity of Alcina Furkey" for the Quebec Genealogical eSociety's Virtual Conference. I was impressed by the thoughtful questions from the attendees. The conference runs through 13 February and you can still sign up.

Join me at the Virtual Genealogical Conference next month. I'm presenting "The French-Canadian Identity of Alcina Furkey" for the first time. Alcina was her Anglicized name, and she had about a dozen others, but none was her birth name. I'll untangle her identity and identify her parents.

One month to go! Join us in the largest genealogical conference in Quebec! Over 28 webinar choices to select from our “à la carte” program schedule 9-13 February 2022 with a FREE Exhibitors’ Day. Includes participation RAFFLES for a chance to win MyHeritage 1 year subscriptions or DNA test kits, Ancestry DNA test kit, Québec Genealogical eSociety 1 year memberships, and a Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network 1 year membership. Go to the Conference 2022 main menu for more details at www.genquebec.com

Registration for the Applied Genealogy Institute 2022 winter courses is now open. Please go to https://appliedgen.institute to see the course offerings and to register.

The courses:
Catholic Records; Margaret R. Fortier, CG
Applied Genetic Genealogy; Leah Larkin, Ph.D
Foundations I: Using the Records; Lisa Gorrell, CG
Advanced Swedish Genealogy; Jill Morelli, CG
Learning from Ledgers: Diane L. Richard

You can review the dates, cost, class outlines on the website as well.
There is a Contact Us! page if you have any questions.

Hope you had a happy holiday and are looking forward to a great 2022! See you there!

Applied Genealogy Institute Learn by Doing

I am pleased to announce that I will present Catholic Records at AppGen in 2022.

Applied Genealogy Institute Learn by Doing

The Slave Ship and the Coffin Ship: Histories of Life and Death at Sea. This was a fascinating discussion.

Cian McMahon published the first full-length study of the Atlantic and Pacific crossings, The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine (NYU Press). McMahon’s study was inspired, in part, by Marcus Rediker’s tour de force, The Slave Ship: A Human History. McMahon and Rediker reconstruct in detail the lives, deaths, and terrors of enslaved peoples and immigrants at sea.

The Slave Ship and the Coffin Ship: Histories of Life and Death at Sea Earlier this year, Cian McMahon published the first full-length scholarly study of the Atlantic and Pacific crossings, The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea...

How did Daignealt become Lapree? For this and other thorny questions about French-Canadian genealogy, join me at the National Genealogical Society Conference 2021 for 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙝-𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙮: 𝙂𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙.

NGS 2021 On-Demand Speaker Spotlight - Margaret Fortier - NGS Family History Conference This lecture discusses research methods for untangling the roots of French-Canadian ancestors, including overcoming language barriers and name changes.

Great news! Catholic cemetery records in Massachusetts are coming online at American Ancestors.

Massachusetts: Catholic Cemetery Association Records, 1833-1940 Grave marker at Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden (photo by Claire Vail Photography) Today American Ancestors, the Archive Department of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston (RCAB) and the Catholic…

Margaret R. Fortier, CG updated their information in their About section.

My article on Alcina Forter is in the latest edition of the National Genealogy Society Quarterly with a family photo on the cover.

NGSQ December 2020 Issue is Now Online! Oscar and Alcina Fortier Family, Summer 1893 The December 2020 issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly , Volume 108, Number 4...

So delighted to discover this photo of the Thompson Nine (circa 1896-98), a baseball team of brothers from Wi******er, NH. The youngest, second from the right in the first row, is my aunt's grandfather. The team was famous and traveled to the Midwest for games. HT to Alan Rumrill, director of the Historical Society of Cheshire County, for the photo.

Fortier used to be Furkey (in 19C Vermont)! Thank goodness it reverted to Fortier. Find out all about your French-Canadian ancestry at my upcoming webinar at the Boston Public Library on 18 November, 6:00 pm.

French-Canadian Genealogy: Getting Started French-Canadian genealogy involves unique resources but also presents some thorny challenges. Learn the basics of how to research the records in the US and Quebec. We will explore dit names, variants, first names in Quebec, and the US, anglicized and translated surnames, and outline a step-by-step s...

On this day in 1922, my grandparents were married at Sacred Heart Church in Boston's North End. This was her wedding dress. The color was quite in fashion but it was a surprise to actually see the dress since we only had a black and white photo. Marguerite had eloped from her home in Pennsylvania and stayed with relatives of her fiance until the wedding. She was 15.

My grandfather, John Mastrantonio had a knack for landscaping. He picked up extra work by taking care of neighborhood gardens. His son had a green thumb which has sadly eluded me.

After serving in WWII, my father attended the Wilfred Beauty Academy, Boston, on the GI Bill. He was employed at Marvel Beauty Shop, Quincy, for his entire working life. He also taught at the Quincy Beauty Academy where I would visit him and cut off the mannequins' hair. I was an editor from my early days!

Cecelia Cain (standing in back) and her siblings, Manchester, England, about 1909-10. She emigrated in 1910. Two sisters also came, one brother died in WWI, the rest stayed in England. Cecelia was my husband's grandmother. I had the good fortune to meet her before we were married. She told me, "if he's the one I think he is, you've made a good choice."

Never assume. Being a city girl, I had a mental model of what size a city was. My hometown is a "small" city of 90,000. When I came across my grandmother's birthplace, Yatesville, PA, I assumed it was smaller but I had no idea how much smaller. Yatesville boasted 600 people and is less than a square mile, really a village in the city of Pittston. When I realized that, I was able to go through census records to identify family, friends, and associates.

John DeLuca, my great uncle, traveled with the circus through the South and up and down the East Coast as a musician in the 1920s. The photo is from his declaration of intent in 1931 (after his circus days were over).

Nicola Marra, my 2x great grandfather, emigrated from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on this day in 1931. He was born in Italy. At the age of 79, he was traveling to his daughter in Pittston, PA. I am so lucky to have a photo!

Qᴜᴀɴᴅᴏ ɪʟ ɢɪᴏᴄᴏ ᴇ̀ ғɪɴɪᴛᴏ, ɪʟ ʀᴇ ᴇ ɪʟ ᴘᴇᴅᴏɴᴇ ᴠᴀɴɴᴏ ɴᴇʟʟᴀ sᴛᴇssᴀ sᴄᴀᴛᴏʟᴀ. Iᴛᴀʟɪᴀɴ ᴘʀᴏᴠᴇʀʙ

Simone Weil (author of the quote in cover photo) in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴 defined uprootedness as a condition resulting from the destruction of ties with the past and the dissolution of community. According to her, people can feel rooted, culturally and spiritually, to their environment, to the past, and to expectations for the future. I think of genealogy as a way to restore the connection to the past.

Margaret, my grandmother, grew up in Yatesville, (pop. 573 in 1910), a borough in Greater Pittston, Luzerne County, PA. This 1908 postcard is near where she lived.

Great to see this celebration of the Four Nations: America, England, the Netherlands, and Wampanoag, especially as I'm doing a deep dive into at !

Welcome to my page! And happy birthday to my namesake, Marguerite DeLuca, born on this day in 1908.