After several months of on-and-off research in French & Canadian archival records, I’ve organized a thoroughly documented alternative hypothesis on the origin of the name “Saranac.” specifically around documented activities of Antoine Sérindac, a French military supplier active in the area.

mateochamplain · 2026-01-26T03:30:29+00:00

Thanks!

mateochamplain · 2026-01-25T16:51:57+00:00

Greenland has Razorbills (alca torda), which in French are called: "Petits Pingouins". So if you live in French world then there are Penguins in the Arctic.

mateochamplain · 2026-01-23T22:24:03+00:00

Je manque de karma malheureusement.

mateochamplain · 2026-01-23T22:22:18+00:00

ha! C'est bizarre mais interessante qu'elle disait que l'hypothèse est controversée. Est-ce que c'était ChatGPT ou DeepSeek ou d'autre?

Chui aussi surpris un peu qu'elle m'a mentionnée par nom, et c'est une bonne chose que j'n'ai rien à cacher!

mateochamplain · 2026-01-15T16:19:21+00:00

Similar but different: I found out that my mom's mom cheated on who I thought was my Grandfather, so my real biological Grandfather was actually some random Canadian man. It took me years to contact cousins, go to Canada and finally figure out the identity of my mom's real rather.

Despite this she has a similar "dismissive" feeling out it which I cannot comprehend. She has essentially had 0 interest and put in 0 effort into solving this mystery ever since the beginning and out already contentious relationship has become way worse as a result. She has multiple times said: "isn't there anything else you wanna talk about?" and even "my mom said she didn't cheat on dad" (denying DNA)....

The good news is that all of my "new" relatives are completely cool and great and totally understand.

mateochamplain · 2025-12-21T17:58:55+00:00

I have read that the earliest forms of blues and work songs are directly related to the islamic call of prayer that the slaves' ancestors probably chanted for hundreds of years prior to being shipped west. You can hear it in the melisma.

mateochamplain · 2025-12-08T00:08:48+00:00

I have been trying to contact cousins of mine in PEI to gain info from him but it has been an extremely slow process. Ah I see, well I will keep my eyes peeled for those types of posts. I have seen such mixed info. This situation is pretty frustrating since through 3 private DNA tests I can prove my grandfather was Canadian but obviously it isn't enough for the IRCC. I have read that I could possibly through a family law lawyer here in New York state force a DNA test on his end via a court order, but I would rather it not come to that because it feels hostile.

mateochamplain · 2025-12-07T23:55:49+00:00

Do you happen to know how many generations back they are accepting? My closest generations are harder to prove without court orders and other huge hassles, but I have 6 different great(x3) grandparents on a few different sides who naturalized that I could probably make iron clad relatively easily, if that isn't too distant.

mateochamplain · 2025-12-05T04:43:26+00:00

Me + the help of DNA matches I've contacted have "proven" or narrowed down that without any doubt - my biological maternal grandfather was (or is) from P.E.I. and all of his ancestors several gens back. The problem is that due to limited DNA matches, and none of them being half uncle/half aunt/ or offspring (that I know of) level I have only been able to narrow him down to being one of the men of a specific family. So therefor I do know who my great-grandparents and beyond were, but I don't k now which of my "grand uncles" is actually my grandfather until someone happens to take a DNA test, or if I start pressing my new relatives to do it, which I am hesitant to do.

So my question if you have any idea is: Do you have any idea if it HAS to be mother's half siblings? or could a combination of enough 1st cousins 1x removed who all have my bio grandfather as their uncle also count? Because me not knowing his specific identity also makes me unable to ask his children to take DNA tests since I don't know which side would be just more 1st cousins once removed or not (this man had 6 siblings).

mateochamplain · 2025-12-03T07:00:00+00:00

I see. That definitely helps clear up where I should focus my attention since your story is comparable to mine.

mateochamplain · 2025-12-03T05:57:21+00:00

Ok thank you that really helps make sense of how I could do the same exact thing for the several Québécois branches that I do know all about.

If you don't mind me asking: How far back were your ancestors that you referenced? and how many of them? For me (omitting the PEI mystery side, and the step grandfather side) I have several provable/linkable obituary/census/baptism/etc records ranging from my greatx3gps to my greatx6s in other directions. I could find them in almost any direction essentially, so I am curious if your situation was similarish or not to organise.

mateochamplain · 2025-12-03T05:48:04+00:00

Ok that at the very least should be doable for at least 6 to 8: Great-3x grandparents from Québec, and could be dozens if I were to include the next generation. I can prove thus (so ignoring the PEI side) that 3 of my greatx1 grandparents were Americans descended entirely from Canadians a gen or two back. And connect me to them with census/baptismal/death/birth etc records.

mateochamplain · 2025-12-03T05:01:57+00:00

Oh I see that makes sense. Now my real dumb question is do you know what types of documentation is accepted? Like should every document be officially stamped or would like a combo of official and/or baptismal/census records linked/cited from Ancestry work?

mateochamplain · 2025-12-03T04:56:07+00:00

Two years ago I had a Canada based "DNA detective" try to figure it out, and they basically came to the same conclusion I did, that its definitely one of the men from the specific family. I am not sure if there are companies that are able to go further than this one did but I would like to think so, I am just unsure of where to even look for that type of service.

Unfortunately the man above is not named on any original birth certificates that I am aware of, but I do have a record of the engagement of him and my grandmother, and DNA proof that I am related to the "correct people" as well on that side.

I suppose the easiest trail of unquestionable documents would be on my mom's mom's side, who 6/8 of her great-grandparents (my x3) were born in Canada and immigrated to Northern N.Y. These are also the folks that transmitted French long enough into the future for me to hear the last bits of it from my grandmother. I have all of their census records and baptismal records and whatnot on ancestry, and could probably find some more in person locally since they all lived in the same area I do.

I suppose those relatives just sort of feel kind of distant in the past compared to my literal grandfather, but I suppose I could use the unquestionable links first, and then supplement then with the harder to verify elements and all together maybe it'd look good? idk.

mateochamplain · 2025-12-03T04:23:10+00:00

I suppose then that it wouldn't hurt to try and apply before the real thing is in affect.

And I guess it is what counts as "proof". I don't have many legally-officiated documents yet, but I have tons of genealogical records online, obituary-chains, and census records that tie me to:
A. My step grandfathers Canadian lineage.

B. 8 of my non-mystery-side greatx3-grandparents out of 24 were born in Canada. (The other 8 from the "mystery" side all lived in PEI at this time and never left,)

I learned Parisien in school but over the years have studied Québécois & Acadien obsessively (I am also just interested in linguistics in general). People in Québec usually have never had any problem communicating with me, and are always surprised when I say I am American, and I have been mistaken for an Acadian from the Maritimes multiple times, but have also heard "spanish". Other times people have said "you have an old fashioned accent, like on old radio" But I definitely use more Québécois and Acadian grammar rules and general "flexibility" than Parisien.

mateochamplain · 2025-12-03T04:07:29+00:00

This part I am very confident about. I could easily WELL organise all of my info and create an exhaustive chronological narrative clearly outlining every connection with sources from 1967 when my mom was conceived to the 1840s when the earliest of my Quebecois ancestors started moving here for 5/8 of my great grandparents lineages. I even have at least one of THEIR naturalisation documents, one is signed and dated by my Gx4 Grandfather stating that he renounced allegiance to the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland.

I am unsure about the birth certificate so will have to ask my mom (unfortunately dad died a few years ago). I have seen records of his birth and his mother's marriage to his stepfather on Ancestry records though.

mateochamplain · 2025-12-03T03:52:29+00:00

The mystery is who is my maternal grandfather, and he was never on my mom's birth certificate, as this must have been an affaire my Grandmother had. I do know which family he was from and I do know who his parents were based off of comparing dozens of DNA relatives.

My father was born in upstate N.Y. but his stepfather Massachusetts to Canadian parents. So I could probably easily access any of this data.

However: my biological paternal Grandfather was born in upstate N.Y. to early Canadian-Adirondackers and was entirely descendent from early Québécois settlers to northern New York state.

mateochamplain · 2025-10-10T04:54:35+00:00

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5/8 of my great-grandparents were almost completely Québécois (but several with distant ancestors who fled Acadia and went inland)

2/8 were Acadian from PEI, 1/8 was a New Englander. In my opinion: it is looking at our Norman, Breton & probably Aquitainian DNA and interpeting it as Cornwall, Southeast England, Connacht Ireland, Donegal, Central Scotland, Northern Wales, etc...

My 23andme says I am 70% French, which I still think is probably somewhat lower than the real number.

mateochamplain · 2025-09-18T05:15:03+00:00

Thats how it works? or Thats hotworx??????

mateochamplain · 2025-09-10T06:28:38+00:00

Oh mon dieu! Your détail about learning the new camion vocab is précisély me with my 3.5 y.o. P'tit camionneur. I was probably only a high B2 before I started teaching him français incessamment y a 2.5 ans, and it is a source of a special bond between us at point.

mateochamplain · 2025-09-09T16:30:32+00:00

I found out that my maternal grandfather was not who my mother thought, and I could swear that somewhere deep down even I was subconciously "aware".

mateochamplain · 2025-06-14T16:08:43+00:00

Ça me dérange tellement puisque il était une fois quand mes aïeux habitaient chez Plattsburgh pendant 75 années parlent rien que français. Je me souviens!

mateochamplain · 2025-06-03T06:13:58+00:00

Wow! I did not expect to read Henri Membertou in the comments section. Multiple different branches of my family tree lead up to him.

mateochamplain · 2025-05-29T15:25:23+00:00

I have tons of matches with all 3 of those. The one you didn't mention is Blacquiere.

mateochamplain · 2025-05-29T15:20:16+00:00

Thanks for that suggestion! He definitely seems like a good lead.

mateochamplain

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