Huguenot-L Archives

Archiver > Huguenot > 2001-08 > 0996838606


From: "Elizabeth DuBois Russo" <>
Subject: List purpose; Ways to help
Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2001 07:43:14 -0400


As a list member for over three years, here are some thoughts for this year. Hit the delete key if you think this boring or off-topic or too long:

----This list (Huguenot-L) does indeed cover a lot of American territory by virtue of the fact that the great majority of subscribers are, well, American. Non-Americans are always welcome to post. If you don't get responses it is simply because no one else is researching your ancestor. But don't give up. My incessant posting for over a year finally turned up some valuable leads.

----The list is an excellent rootsweb list for those who want "serious" research about Huguenots who migrated out of France to other European countries. I believe that other non-American research is welcomed there as well, such as those who migrated to Australia or South Africa.

----The members of present-day Huguenot churches, such as the one in Charleston, SC, may disagree that they are not Huguenots here in the 21st century. But for most of us, it might be more accurate to say that we are Huguenot descendants, or probable/possible Huguenot descendants.

Now, if you are one of those who wants to see the list get back on track, why not try doing one of these things:

1. Volunteer to do lookups from, or post excerpts from a Huguenot-related source. Lookups from Baird's "Huguenot Emigration to America", for example, nearly always turns up interesting info.

2. Post your most-wanted Huguenot ancestor. Tell us about him/her. What have you found out so far? What migration patterns have you found?

3. If you have not "proven" that your ancestor was Huguenot, give your theory as to why you think yours was/is. (Few of us can absolutely "prove" that an ancestor was a Huguenot. Many can show Protestant ancestry as of a certain date, but coming up with verifiable documents showing first of all, lineage, and then that they left France or French territory as a Protestant who feared or suffered from persecution during the appropriate time period may be impossible for most, given especially the many reasons why people migrated. But most societies have fairly loose standards so finding an ancestor with a French surname who shows up in a Protestant church record sometime during a two hundred year period will probably qualify you.)

4. List the resources that have been helpful to you so far in your Huguenot research. Include libraries (and librarians), books, articles, websites, lists, places to put queries, etc.

List managers have some discretion about what to post and what to allow. Managing a list can involve a lot of time and effort if one wishes to keep the list active and interesting. Managers can also just sit back and let rootsweb do the management. I am grateful for lists such as this one where the role is taken seriously and conscientiously. If you find the subjects not to your liking, then start posting subjects that are.

Hats off to our "List Mom"!

Elizabeth DuBois Russo
Looking for
JOHN DUBOIS who shows up among many Huguenot neighbors in Carolina in 1696 (and probably before but no records yet); whose descendants were staunch Protestants; who is thought to have come by way of Barbados (family legend) from England (strong hunches), who may have had connections to the New Paltz DUBOIS group (pure speculation) who in turn descend from CHRETIEN DUBOIS who was Catholic just outside of what was then France (he was Walloon and his town is in current-day France) with no proof of persecution whose widow and descendants nonetheless show up in Protestant churches outside of France during the appropriate time period.....

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