John

Hi, The nobility post was more to amuse than anything else (because that article mentions that 3 pages of text were removed from the registry during the French Revolution so the information was lost forever). It is a large headstone, but per google its a 55 hour walk from where they lived in Pennsylvania to Azilum so I don't know that they were near Azilum at any point as the census only puts them in the same state. However, I had never heard of French Azilum (google maps calls it French Asylum) before (but there is quite a bit of info out on google using the name as you posted once you know what to search for), so if nothing else, this is a educating experience. John

Well http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=unclefred&id=I488 is interesting in that there were many French nobles with that last name who came to the USA to keep their heads during the revolution. Course per that website, with loss of 3 pages during the revolution years, one may never know. Lots of interesting things happened in France (I was looking for a list of those executed during the Revolution but stumbled onto this story); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_Garnier John

Hi, Interesting about Napoleon.  I was thinking my Great Great Great Grandfather came as a young man to the USA, but maybe his family came to the USA during the French Revolution when he was a child? I can find birth certificates going backwards up to my Great Great Grandmother. Hers says that "Francis L. Durand" was her father and that he was born in France.  Also, I have various U.S. census forms showing him, his children and wife and that his occupation was "Laborer" and that he was born in France (his wife and 3 children were born in Pennsylvania USA).  If being born in France wasn't true, it certainly was a story he stuck to every decade for the census. Also, he married in 1814 at the age of 24 (around when joining the military).  That's all I know. He was born around the time of the French Revolution but I don't know the exact day and month and I can see at least 3 with that name born that year so, if I can figure out some migration information, I might be able to narrow down a little to whom he was and that might let me get some other info to go back farther. But as of yet I've not found a source for that (I do pay for the international version of Ancestry, but I haven't found it that useful in this case). Thanks for any info, John

Hi, I saw them too. What I need though is an idea of who migrated away from France and who stayed. Problem is I just have birth year (and that is all that is printed on his headstone) and ancestry doesn't seem to have migration information. I know he was in the USA and enlisted for the war of 1812 (but he fought from 1814 to 1815), but that's all I know about his other than his wifes name. Any info would be greatly appreciated, John

Hi, I'm working on my family tree and seem to have run into a wall with one relative. Francis L Durand was born in France in 1790.  I pay for the international version of ancestry.com but haven't had much luck tracking him down (there are a bunch of trees that reference him, but they don't go any farther back in France them him).  I don't know exactly when he migrated but do know he fought in the War of 1812 (from 1814 to 1815) in the USA. Are there any sources in France I can find on the internet that might help in this search? Thank you for any assistance you might offer, John