Re: Lemaitre or Lemaistre - 1723

The ancestor mentioned in my inquiry is my earliest of that line and I regret that I do
not have the collaterals with which to assist you.
As you may know, the French used "dit names" up until 1850 in Canada
when the English-dominated government dictated that all of their
second-class French citizens cease using dit names.Originally, dit names
signified an area of origin in France and served to distinguish themselves from other
of the same surname from other regions.The problem is that sometimes
familes adopted the dit name as their primary surname and others made the
dit name their surname and attached as a dit name their former surname.The
practice plagues genealogists I am told.Also, records were frequently
created by English persons who were totally unfamiliar with the French
system of pronounciation, so you have to consider the phonetic equivalent of
the surname in your search.
Perhaps a request for assistance in tracing the line should be posted to
that same family message board and see what assistance you receive.Good
luck. R. Russell
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Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 6:57 PM
Subject: Re: Lemaitre or Lemaistre - 1723