Discovering their past: Genealogy group meets in Biddeford

BIDDEFORD — Every wonder about your family history? Want to know how deep your roots are in the community?

The York County Genealogical Society of Franco-Americans was formed in 1982 with the mission of preserving the area’s French heritage.

The society has about 25 members, and meets monthly for workshops at the McArthur Library.

“The library over the years has been very generous to us,” said member Raoul Goulet.

 The group has an extensive collection of genealogy books housed at the library, many of which are rare and hard to find. Members are also knowledgeable about online resources which the group has access to.

Most of the members are from Biddeford and Saco or surrounding communities, but there are a few from Florida who have roots in Biddeford and wanted to know more about their ancestry.

President Fred Soucy said that there are many young people who are “French in name,” but don’t know much about their genealogy.

Member Barbara Corbeil agreed.

“The younger generation, it’s not their thing. They see genealogy as an old person’s thing,” she said.

Soucy and Corbeil and the rest of the society encourage young people to seek out information about their heritage, and are more than happy to help newcomers with research.

People think that genealogy isn’t about the future, but “you need to build a bridge to the future,” said Soucy.

The members of the group are all very passionate about preserving local history, said Goulet. He has embarked on an ambitious local history project researching the names on gravestones at St. Joseph Cemetery, scouring old newspapers and other documents for information.

“Every stone has a story to tell,” he said.

For more information on the York County Genealogical Society of Franco-Americans, check out the group's website.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.