This blog is living document that continues to develop out of a desire for knowledge of the genealogical history of my fathers family line (French/ffrench) and my mothers family line (Grace).  As the name of the blog implies (FRENCHINO = FRENCH In Name Only), any true french connection of the surname French to France occurred far, far in the past.

(Update – April 2020) As I have delved further into my paternal family history, I have discovered that I do indeed have a French connection!  This connection extends back 10+ generations to the De Forest, de la Montagne and Bastieans-Kortwright families who settled New Amsterdam in the 1630’s.

The surname “French” is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is from an ethnic name for someone from France, derived from the Middle English (1200 – 1500) “frennsee, frenche” a development of the Olde English pre 7th Century “frencisc”, meaning french.

Besides providing names, dates and locations, I plan to use the blog to tell short stories to open a window on the history of the United States and Canada through the migration of these families.  My family includes European settlers arriving from England as early as 1621 to what would become the United States of America and from Scotland and Ireland to Nova Scotia, Canada by the mid-1800’s.

My research continues to uncover previously unknown branches of our family.  I learned that my 5th g-grandfathers, Joseph Simonds and Joel Viles, where two of the seventy-seven men of Captain John Parker’s Company of Lexington Militia who engaged the British on the Green and were part of the “shot heard round the world.”

The painting used in the header, “Lexington Green 19th of April 1775” is by Don Troiani, a skilled American academic realist painter known for his Civil War and American Revolution paintings. I am grateful for his permission to use his amazing painting!

Under our Foster family line, William Hilton was one of 35 brave colonists sailing on the ship Fortune who came to the rescue of the Mayflower colonists just after the “first thanksgiving” in November 1621.

Due to the tilt of history, my research frequently turns up historical records (wills, deeds, military service) on the men in my family tree.  Sadly, there is often scant information provided on the women.  I will endeavor to shine a light on the women in my family tree whenever possible, a great example is a post about a snowshoeing midwife, titled, “Special Delivery – Nova Scotia.”

I have discovered during my research is that genealogical records are often imperfect and are subject to questions about validity and accuracy of information. With this noted, I consider this blog and my research to be an ongoing process and will make corrections and add (hopefully) new information as it becomes available.

– David R. French

image_pdfimage_print