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Thank you for your moral support, Guy. The parish records for St. Germain L'Auxerrois, the locality from which Jacques parents were said to have been from [in the Notarial contract of marriage for Jacques Bernier and Antoinette Grenier] were lost or destroyed for the period in which Jacques was born. I doubt that civil records in Paris were kept for the period in which Jacques is alleged to have been born (about 1733). There may be a notarial contract of marriage for his parents, but I was given to understand, from conversations with several genealogists in France, that these are not indexed and that there were several hundred notaries operating in Paris in the early to mid 1600's. These records do exist but would need to be researched assidously,chronoligically (for there are usually no indices to these) one by one, for the period in which Jacques parents may have been marrried. Since we do not know whether Jacques had older brothers and sisters, we are looking at research which should cover several years prior to Jacques birth. This could be accomplished but it would be quite tedious, although immensely rewarding.
Genealogists in France are not allowed to be paid for their services unless they pay a hefty registration fee to the French Government which must be renewed each year. Their only other option is to "clerk" for a firm which is licensed, but one can only imagine how difficult that would be as you would have to work for such a firm on as a full-time employee. Therefore it is not feasible for many genealogists to be "legally recognized", and those whom we might enjoin to help us in this endeavor would charge a considerable sum for their labors.
I have a French genealogist friend in Paris who works for the German Embassy there. He comes to Salt Lake each year and I have broached the topic of bartering for his research skills (I perform so many hours of research for him and he does likewise for me). The first thing I would like him to do is to check out the L'archives Nationale in Paris to see if this phantom document concerning Jacques' lineage does indeed exist. There may be a chart linking older generations to "Francois dela Tour(s)" as indicated in Cyril Bernier's books. Since many of the ancient Bernier families hail from the City of Tours; no doubt Cyril was trying to tie us into these families vis a vis his dubious discovery.
Again, many thanks for your supportive e-mail. I hope that others will understand that genealogy or any type of historical research can only be accepted if each and every
"fact" contains corroborative documentation such as birth, baptismal, marriage, death, burial, census, land, probate, tax, family Bible records; and any other type of "primary source" materials with which to prove that which can only be called an genealogical "assumption" unless you have documentation to so prove. If one cannot find a single document to prove a genealogical assertion, then, and only then, can you use what attorney's call "a preponderance of evidence"; being a combination of documentary evidence to support a genealogical assumption.
This seemingly spurious claim of Cyril Bernier's has done so much damage which may have been averted if he had only "cited" the resource used. I'm not saying that this claim is completely without merit, nor that he intentionally lied or fabricated the "facts", but if such an authority exists, let him, or anyone else, come forward with some proof that this document is indeed "real". Without such valid documentary evidence, any and all genealogical "facts" should never be accepted as truth. This is difficult for many individuals to accept, but, everyone must question, question and question again, any resource which comes their way without first knowing the source of such data. It is very irresponsible for persons to take data from the Internet and apply it to their own pedigrees without any true geneaogical validation. When the "facts" are exposed as "false" or "misleading" at best, there will be many hurt feelings all around. Better that one should learn as much as they can from the "sender" or "source" of such information so that they can safely, and with some measure of certainty, apply these "facts" [ancestral names, vital statistical information etc.]to their own family history compilations. It is much better to be skeptical now, then to learn many years down the road that they are only perpetuating a myth. We owe this much to "history", our ancestors, and generations to come.
Kind regards, Ronald J. Bernier
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