Laws of the King

by Robert de Berardinis, OMPL, August 1999

Those researchers with interests in the French colonies of North America will be pleased with the Clayton Library’s recent acquisition of resources related to that area. Two additional reference works recently came to the author’s attention, and he recommends that they also be acquired. One is currently in print; the other will soon be reprinted.

The first of these is the French reference work by Odile Krakovitch, Arrêts, déclarations, édits, et ordonnances concernant les colonies, 1666-1779: Inventaire analytique de la série Colonies A (Paris: Archives Nationales, 1993).1 This book will be a great benefit to individuals doing family history research on ancestors from French Canada, Acadia, the French Caribbean Islands, Guyana, and Louisiana (the French Mississippi Valley). In the work, Krakovitch lists all of the French monarchs’ laws and decrees that are preserved in the Paris and Aix-en-Provence repositories of the French National Archives for the period 1666 to 1779 (series A) and includes a 98-page index of people and place names (something that is very helpful for non-French-speaking researchers). Krakovitch should be used in complement with the equally valuable work by Lawrence C. Wroth and Gertrude Annan, Acts of French Royal Administration Concerning Canada, Guiana, the West Indies and Louisiana Prior to 1791 (New York: N.Y. Public Library, 1930).2 Together, these two books cover most of the known French laws concerning the colonies for the period 1540 to 1791.3

Why would lists of French laws be of interest to genealogical researchers? The most important reason is that official acts of the French monarch were, by definition, law. And such laws were used to accomplish even routine actions, e.g., to reimburse the expenses of military officers, to grant permission to trap, or to license trade with the Indians. In each such act, the King’s decisions were carefully recorded. Krakovitch’s Inventaire analytique and Wroth’s Acts provide abstracts and citations for these recordations. Although the abstracts provided by Krakovitch and Wroth may be limited to 20 or 30 words—usually just the title of the law or préambule—the text of the actual law can run as many as 40 or 50 pages. The provinces of Canada (Nouvelle France) until 1763; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine (Acadie) until 1705; Cape Breton Island (Louisbourg) until 1748; Haiti (St-Domingue) until 1791,4 and the Mississippi Valley (Louisiane) until 1763 were the French equivalents of English crown colonies. Thus, many administrative rulings and directions covering activities of individual colonists will be found in these two works. For researchers with ancestors who served in the French military or colonial government (as ordonnateur, intendant, ingéneur, etc.), the books are very important, as such officials are frequently mentioned in the acts. In Inventaire analytique, Krakovitch provides archival citations directly to the primary record, that is, the original document preserved in French archives. To obtain copies of acts listed by Krakovitch, researchers can write directly to the Archives Nationales5 or to that archive’s microfilm agent, the Société d’Ingénierie et de Microfilmage.6 In Acts, Wroth provides bibliographic citations to printed sources that contain full-text transcriptions of the laws. 7

Following are two examples that demonstrate how to use the Krakovitch and Wroth texts for family research. The first example concerns one Jean-Philippe Goujon de Grondel, lieutenant (later captain) of the 4th Company of the Swiss Regiment of Karrer/Hallwyl in Louisiana. In Krakovitch’s index, one finds nothing listed under Goujon, de Grondel, or Grondel. There are, however, on page 432, seven acts concerning the Swiss Regiment of Hallwyl, and on page 466, twelve acts concerning the Swiss Regiment of Karrer with three cross-references. On page 474, there are forty-five acts and five cross-references listed under “soldat,” and on page 479, there is a quarter page of references to troops.

Checking the first two sets of references (from pages 432 and 466), one finds the following:

Thus, the researcher has several candidate documents in which to search for Jean-Philippe Goujon de Grondel. There is the unexpected bonus of finding Acadians being transported somewhere in 1766. (An examination of the full act revealed that the person who was paid, Pierre Girouard, was also an Acadian.)

In the index in Wroth, there is also no mention of Goujon, de Grondel, or Grondel. There are, however, several references under “military.” These are:

Between Krakovitch and Wroth, the researcher now has a total of nine acts that may provide information on Jean-Philippe Goujon de Grondel. Note also that Wroth cites one act that is available, as a transcription, from the New York Public Library, a source that is more convenient and less expensive to deal with than the Archives Nationales.

The second example concerns Acadian research, an area that often frustrates researchers because of the relatively small amount of source material, aside from ship lists.10 Starting again with Krakovitch’s index, one finds twenty-one citations on page 397 under “Acadiens” and a cross-reference to “Canada.” Sixteen of these concern expenses incurred in moving Acadians to Louisiana from Beauséjour, Rivière St-Jean, etc. Several Acadian family names are found in the index, including those of La Tour (also de St-Étienne de la Tour), Le Borgne, Demuy, Hébert, Terriau (also Terriot), and Joseph Le Blanc. In Wroth’s index, one finds fifteen references under the word “Acadie” and twenty-eight additional references under “Isle de Cap Breton.” Wroth also mentions several Acadian families, including those of Aulnay Charnisay, Damours de Freneuze, and Saint-Étienne.

Using the de St-Étienne de la Tour reference from Krakovitch, one finds:

Using the de Saint-Étienne de la Tour reference from Wroth, one finds:

An English translation of this latter document is found in the Sabin Collection at Fondren Library, Rice University (E 12.L68).11 Descendants of Charles de St-Étienne de la Tour will find the act to be especially interesting, as it gives genealogical and biographical information on de La Tour and on Emmanuel Le Borgne, père, and Charles de Ménou d’Aulnay.

As is evident from the examples shown above, a few minutes of research using the indexes to Krakovitch and Wroth can give the researcher many new leads to follow in investigating ancestors in French speaking North America. CLF members wishing to contribute funds for the purchase of these reference works are invited to contact John Dorroh, CLF acquisitions coordinator, at (713) 781-2741.

End Notes

  1. In translation, Acts, Declarations, Edicts, and Ordinances Concerning the Colonies, 1666-1779: Analytical Inventory of Colonies Series A.
  2. Provincial Press of Lafayette, Louisiana, is preparing a reprint of this book for release this summer or fall. Locally, a copy of Wroth is on the shelves at Fondren Library, Rice University (Z 2187.C7 W8).
  3. For the period 1743 to 1753, during which Vaudreüil was governor of the Province of Louisiana, researchers should also consult Bill Barron’s The Vaudreuil Papers (New Orleans: Polyanthos, 1975) (976.3 B277LA). Barron’s work includes a detailed calendar of the Vaudreüil papers plus an index that actually includes many of the names found in the papers themselves. Originals are archived at The Huntington Library, and copies of individual documents can be obtained by writing to the library (The Huntington Library, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108).
  4. French control of St-Domingue continued for another ten years or so, but the nature of France’s monarchy changed after 1789, the year of Revolution.
  5. When writing to the Archives Nationales, it is important to do three things: 1) write the letter in French, 2) enclose enough International Response Coupons (IRCs) to cover the administrative expense of the (hoped for) reply, and 3) provide an exact citation for the document you need, enclosing a photocopy of the citation from Krakovitch circled in red. IRCs can be purchased at most U.S. post offices for $1.05 each. Typically, five coupons will cover the cost of returning up to about 10 photocopied pages. The author usually sends more coupons than are necessary, as the French return those that are in excess of their costs. Write to one of the following addresses (either will suffice): Les Archives Nationales, 29-31, quai Voltaire, 75344 PARIS Cedex, FRANCE; or CARAN, Service de la Recherche, 60, rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 75141 PARIS Cedex 03, FRANCE. It has been the author’s experience that less than half of the requests made to the Archives Nationales actually produce copies of requested documents. With this in mind, be sure to cite very specifically the document you want copied. The staff at the Archives Nationales will not do research for you.
    Sample Letter:

    Cher Monsieur,

    Je voudrais une photcopie de cet acte entier (ci-joint), A 21, Fo 85, no 72, 20 MAR 1703. J’espère que vous auriez les temps me rendre ce grand service. Si la somme de mes coupons n’est pas suffite, combien est-ce? Je vous prie d’agréer, Monsieur, l’expression de mes sentiments distingués,

    [signature]

  6. The Société d’Ingénierie et de Microfilmage follows a different process than that of the Archives Nationales. First, in response to your specific inquiry, they will usually return only a cost quote (in French Francs). After you receive the quote and return payment, they will send the requested material. Occasionally, if the item you are requesting is small (under 10 pages), the Société will simply send the material and enclose a payment-due invoice. When writing to the Société it is not necessary to send IRCs; however, as with the Archives Nationales, it is very important to provide an accurate citation. If possible, enclose a photocopy of the citation from Krakovitch, circled in red. Write to: Société d’Ingénierie et de Microfilmage, 174, rue Paul et Camille Thomoux, 93330 NEUILLY sur MARNE, FRANCE. For the past several years, microfilm costs have been about 50¢ per page.
    Sample letter:

    Cher Monsieur,

    Je voudrais combien est-ce pour microfilm de cet acte entier (ci-joint), A 21, Fo 85, no 72, 20 MAR 1703? Je vous prie d’agréer, Monsieur, l’expression de mes sentiments distingués,

    [signature]

  7. Many of the published works cited by Wroth are available through inter-library loan. Clayton Library staff members can provide details on how that process works.
  8. The archival reference notation, “Fo,” is often written in bibliographies and footnotes or endnotes as “fol.” and means folio. Similarly, no is often written in bibliographies and footnotes or endnotes as “No.” and means number [of the document].
  9. Capitulations will sometimes give the names of officers or the names of both officers and soldiers, but they will always give a breakdown of how many officers and soldiers are authorized. A capitulation sent from the colonies to Paris is almost always a complete listing of officers, sometimes officers and soldiers.
  10. Although Clayton possesses as fine a collection of published material as anywhere, including Salt Lake City, much of the original material needed for direct evidence is not available. For more on original and published translations of direct evidence for Acadian genealogy, see Robert de Berardinis, “Introduction” to Winston De Ville, F.A.S.G., The East Coast of Acadia in 1708 (Lafayette, Louisiana: Provincial Press, 1999).
  11. The Sabin Collection (on microform) contains a large number of public documents from the colonial period in North America, and researchers should check this source first when looking for older printed material related to the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.
    END


    Originally published as:

    Robert de Berardinis, "Laws of the King,"
    The CLF Newsletter XIII (August 1999): 9-11.

    All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

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