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We are changing our address May 24, 2026 When these latest blogs arrive for your perusal, you will notice that the email from which they were sent has changed. My traditional contact at gwood@olgchs.org will no longer be available by mid-June. There will now be two ways to contact the author: Acadie1661@gmail.com or gwood@gmail.com. OfContinue reading

A Deeper Look at St. Gabriel May 22, 2026 Although we do not always have the opportunity to revisit distant places, we definitely grow in wisdom and understanding when allowed to do so. I think of the many times that I have had the good fortune since the 1970s to stand on ground that myContinue reading

Notable Tools that Researchers Do Not Want to Miss May 11, 2026 This past March, I received an announcement from Amy Simon, associate archivist of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, that 22 volumes of their church records from 1707 to 1900 were now free to the public online on their website, http://www.diobr.org/archives. While my personalContinue reading

News from Acadie du Nord to Louisiane May 1, 2026 In the summer of 2025, incredible scholars from the Université de Moncton were very much on my mind – the loss of Antonine Maillet and further consideration of the collective work of Stephen White, Paul Delaney, and Ronnie-Gilles LeBlanc. Sadly, the season would not endContinue reading

Lafayette in America June 23, 2025 As we approach the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, a strange, seldom-used word is becoming part of our discourse. “Semiquincentennial” is a mouthful to say, but it is already appearing in the press in an era more used to bicentennials. I stated in an earlierContinue reading

[With the collaboration of Sherry Northington]  July 2, 2024 Over the years, I have been blessed by contributions and communications from a number of Acadian descendants.  It is such a pleasure to “talk shop” and share experiences with individuals in Louisiana, Texas, and here in the Chesapeake region.  Family and regional research has no particularContinue reading “The Deschamps in the Chesapeake and Louisiana”

May 6, 2024  For several months, I have been researching a de Gournay reference that was passed on to me by Francis O’Neill, reference librarian at the Maryland Center for History and Culture.  Francis often shares various tidbits of interest that pass through his hands.  In this particular instance, he was intrigued by the mentionContinue reading “The Saga of the Paul F. de Gournay Family in Baltimore”

February 10, 2024 Ann Guthrow Renaudet Daub(e)court Groc (Revised) The Gauterots (or Guthrows) stand out among Acadian exiles who remained in Maryland.  Joseph Mosley’s marriage records are very limited, but exiles Joseph and Ann Tibodot were married in Newtown, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, by the Rev. Joseph Mosley on 9 February 1766; Laurence, to Françoise BabinContinue reading “Ann Guthrow Renaudet Daub(e)court Groc”

October 10, 2023  We all enjoy the really big events that fall under the categories of jubilees, centennials, and bicentennials.  Our expectations are high beforehand as nations, cities and towns, and organizations plan on pulling out all the bells and whistles and appeal to our deepest emotions. Here in America in 1976, everyone put onContinue reading “The Baltimore Oriole and Yorktown Celebrations of October 1881”

July 28, 2023 Today is known in North America as the Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval.  It has already been twenty years since my friend Warren Perrin, of Lafayette and Erath, Louisiana, was successful in having Queen Elizabeth II acknowledge and apologize for orders issued on July 28, 1755 that set off manyContinue reading “Thoughts on the Grand Dérangement”