So what was the result of David’s research in the Country of his Ancestors? The answer is, it was amazingly fruitful. He has been able to get the Abry family back to about 1550; the only record of his earliest known ancestor, Claudot Abry, is the presumed birth year of his son Jehan in 1572 and the death of Claudot’s widow Jehannette Jardon in 1632. From this David has deduced that the latest birth year for Claudot would be 1556.
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| David's Great-Great Grandfather Jean Nicolas Abry Who Emigrated to The US in 1852 |
Why so much success on this project, undertaken in what is a second language for David? First, he started with the knowledge of where his great, great grandparents Abry came from, their birth places and birth years, and also the names of their parents. This gave him a definite starting place. The second plus is the fact that the archives of Haute-Saone, the Region his family came from, were put on line in France in May 2010. Thirdly, there exists a group of people in that part of France who have transcribed many of the relevant records and put them on line in a free, searchable, database. Fourth, David’s ancestors came from a Protestant area that did not become part of France until after the Revolution in 1789, thus the parish records were largely preserved. Fifth, David reads French and has been able to read the original records and find his family connections after putting in at least 750 hours of work this past year. Sixth, Abry is a rare family name, and his ancestors often held positions of minor civic responsibility meaning that births, deaths, and marriages were well-enough documented to allow a complete tree to be constructed. And finally, for about 200 years, all the relevant Abrys lived and died in the small village of Mandrevillars.
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| The Village of Mandrevillars |
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| Marriage of Jehan Abry [ca 1572-1667] and Thiennon Lambelin [ca 1600-1630] October 14, 1617 |
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| Birth of Above Couple's Son Jehan October 8, 1623 |
Why did he do this? He and his sister Ellen have suddenly realized they were now the 'older gerneration', plus he found it interesting and challenging. It also seemed an opportunity to learn about his roots that seemed too good to pass up. The Haute-Saone archives were put online just months before; the group that put over one million records transcribed and on line, the fact that David could actually read 400-year old records – everything seemed to align perfectly for the project. And, he needed something to keep him busy and out of Anna’s hair during the rainy, blustery days this past fall and winter.
