This family tree is "growing" around the heritage and legacy of your host's eight great-grandparents: four of Galician / Ukrainian / Polish origin, and four of French. They ALL left their homes in parts of Europe to seek a new and better future for their family... for their descendants. For the people I am sharing this with, all or some of these adventurers were our very own pioneers!

We stand on the shoulders of giants.

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*** First though… an acknowledgement:

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This tree attempts to help all their descendants better understand their shared heritage and the ways they might be connected to so MANY other people. For, in the end... in the very pertinent words of Henry Louis Gates, Jr:

"We are ALL... cousins!"

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Your host is available to discuss all of the information reflected in this site. He has only been able to develop it with the help of many others and is always open to learning more. Please get in touch with any suggestions, offers of corrections, or, most decidedly, new information.

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AN IMPORTANT NOTE:

Your host has been able to extend the heritage of his French great-grandparents several generations back, revealing connections to other immigrant families in Canada and elsewhere. As is reflected in the "Most Wanted" section of this site, this HAS NOT yet been possible for three of his Ukrainian / Polish / Galician / Ruthenian lines. Until now, all previous efforts to research these lines have met with numerous barriers.

Your host will be continuing his work in this area, leveraging the on-going efforts in Europe and in North America to digitize and index the available (YES!... available!) records.

When he has been able to do so, he will make another announcement to those who may be interested.

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The Future of This Site:

I will continue to research. The site itself and the documents via reference elsewhere or as part of this site itself are all subject to change for a variety of reasons. Thus, it is advisable to check back regularly. A summary of the changes as they occur will be available in the "What's New" area, however, in general, the research process is messy and these lists will be but hints about the results of on-going work.

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I suggest you sit down in a comfortable place with your favorite beverage at hand while exploring this site. May your experience be a warm one and may you learn something, in fact, may you be surprised as you wander through our shared and continuing story.

*** Most importantly, ***
*** please share this ***
*** with your children ***
*** and grandchildren. ***

If there is one thing I want to avoid in the future, it is that these stories are not made available to the newest generations of descendants of these children of pioneering couples.

My work has been, and continues to be, driven by a singular ambition… to be able to show any living relative their (normally) 16 great-great-grandparents. In some cases, I have overachieved. In others, I have work left to do. I am hoping this will begin a collection of conversations that will help us ALL to understand the unexpected ways we are connected to people we may meet.

Enjoy! And I look forward to hearing from you.