Life (and Genealogy) Can Throw Some Surprising Curves Sometimes

A Latin Record found in my research

Recently I've been working on a genealogy research project for a client. It's been a lot of fun with some very interesting and intriguing ancestors found. One ancestor helped guard Napoleon during his exile.

One wrote poetry and had a book published in 1857. I was lucky enough to find a few of his poetry online and have added that to the client's book which I am creating on Shutterfly. 

Along the research path I've encountered new areas of research that were unfamiliar to me. I've heard of them of course but had no previous experience researching in the specific location or time period. One was Acadians and I have found the history of the settlement fascinating! The Filles du Roi and Carignan Soldiers also popped up as part of his ancestry. I too have a Filles du Roi so I'm familiar with that history but it was still interesting to learn even more. 

I've had to decipher early records written in French and in Latin.  Luckily here in Canada we are taught French in school so I can read the important bits. And thank you Mr. Finley for your Latin classes in High School! You were a tough teacher but now I'm grateful. 

Jacques Hertel's death recorded in French

But here's the thing that blew me away. As I was carrying on with the research I found that my client and I share a common ancestor! Our shared ancestor is Jacques Hertel born 1604 in France and died in 1651 in New France (present day Quebec). 

Jacques is a very important part of my book The Van Slyke Family in America: A Genealogy of Cornelise Antonissen Van Slyke, 1604-1676 and his Mohawk Wife Ots-Toch, including the story of Jacques Hertel, 1603-1651, Father of Ots-Toch and Interpreter to Samuel de Champlain 

My line of descent is from Jacques' daughter by a Mohawk Indian woman, while my client is from one of Jacques'  children by his wife. 

My client's ancestry on his dad's side is solidly Quebec and Acadia. Mine is not. Mine on my dad's side is early Dutch settlers in New Netherland  (now New York) in the mid 1600s then on to Ontario after the American Revolution. How odd that the client and I should share an ancestor given that our ancestry does not take the same path.

And that's one of the many things I love about genealogy. It will always jump up and surprise you.