Musee

The archive of the Heritage Society at Annapolis Royal.

There is no point in coming back to the graveyard during the day to look for the ancestor's graves. The Acadians marked their graves with wooden crosses. The crosses, and all signs of the Acadians were banished or burned with the British expulsion of all Acadians begining in 1755.  If I want to find evidence of the ancestors I must go to the town Museum. 

 O'Dell House is an historic house exhibit downstairs and home to the Annapolis Heritage Society. The archive and genealogy library is in a

O'Dell House on St.George Street, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.

beautiful upstairs room overlooking the street and the river beyond. Light streams in from the tall windows, lighting up the memorial quilts on the walls and the amber wood floors. The young assistant asks what are you looking for? 

I ask, "what do you have?  Do you have... Acadians?… Heberts? Cormiers? LeBlancs? Bruns? Tibodeaus?"

I  am getting that  I-have-come-to-the-right-place feeling. I could stay for a long time, but I have only an hour before closing. I quickly skim the books that seem they will offer the most information on my family names. I request copies. It is a race with the clock.

The next morning I return for another hour. (Alas, my fellow traveler is no geneaology buff and there are not enough boats to keep him entertained for very long this morning). This time at the museum I am greeted by Cheryl Anderson, a volunteer at the library who really knows the resources. 

She asks, “Did you get the map?”

And the document that goes with it?  It is new. It describes the land grants of the first families on both sides of the river. Wow. I see it contains... Bruns. Heberts. Thibodedeaus.

Priceless. 

Cheryl says,"do you have a copy of the 1671 census?"

“Here are the rare books.  This one, the Jehn book, is hard to find. Sometimes it comes up on the used sources.  Do you know what happened to your families in the Deportation?”

She is a miracle. Now I really wish I had longer. There is much to be learned here. I tear myself away and begin scheming on when I might return.Still, the map she provided was a great companion as we drove up the Annapolis river valley. I chart the bends in the river, guessing where my first families settled.  

         
 

"Acadian Settlement Map 1707 shows families of Thibodeau, Brun, Theriault, LeBlanc, Giraourd, Heberts  settled along what was then called the "Riviere Dauphine".

Cheryl promises to send me a color version map in the mail. Genealogy angels (as my sister and I call them) sometimes intervene and when they do the results are miraculous. She is one of those angels. 

I thank her… and my good luck. 

Sources: 
Map: Acadian Settlement on the Annapolis River 1707, Annapolis Ventures

Annapolis Heritage Society: http://annapolisheritagesociety.com/genealogy/

Genealogy Centre | Annapolis Heritage Society