What
is the Drouin Genealogical Institute ?
The Drouin Genealogical Institute (l'Institut Généalogique
Drouin) was for nearly a century the largest Quebec company producing
genealogical trees. Its internal data, which we call its genealogical
patrimony, was sold as family genealogy books to its customers. The inheritance
didn't include some 75,000 genealogical trees and more than 16,500 family
genealogy books. Actually, the books were written and shipped to the customers
and the Institute didn't keep a copy nor make a legal deposit.
In 1990, the genealogical patrimony was sold and the new company changed
its mission completely. Thus, this is a break between the Institute of
the 1950s for example and the Institute today. Instead of aiming at each
individual, the new Institute now offers its services to the community.
In other words, the company is now selling its internal material mostly
to libraries and societies. This corresponds to the major part of the
large collection catalogue. There is no more search made for customers.
Indeed, by making the internal material available to everybody (through
main libraries), it is now very easy for each individual to build his/her
own family and in those conditions, we have to focus on reselling the
assets to genealogical societies.
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Do
you still perform research ?
No. We won't perform new search for individuals However, one goal of the
Institute is to find a copy of each of the 16,500 family genealogies books
and tables sold by the Institute so as to gather them all and make a legal
deposit in public libraries to help this patrimony to survive.
On another hand, the activities of the Drouin Genealogical Institute are
now a part of the services available from Éditions historiques
et généalogiques Pepin. This allows the publication of new
genealogical works.
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My father had his family
tree made by you in 1955...
The Institute was selling three main products: a dictionary, linear ancestry
charts and family books.
The dictionary, called Dictionnaire national des Canadiens-français
(DNCF), was firstly a large book (11" x 17"), with an album
about our most famous ancestors (a part of it forming the no. PF-001 in
the numerical catalogue). This large book are later resized to 8,5"
x 11" with two volumes, with a third volume based on the most famous
ancestors. Those three volumes can be found in many libraries in most
Quebec public libraries and in many places in North America, as 75,000
copies were sold, often with a linear chart. There is now a fourth volume
made from the female index. The book number of that best-seller is PN-188
and the basic prix is $150 (with taxes and transport, it is $CAN 187,58
if shipped to Canada or $US 172,50 $US if shipped to USA).
The linear chart, bearing a parchment color, is the line of someone or the lines of the parents of someone (i.e. a couple). In the first case, we have each generation with the name of male ancestors and spouses until the first who came to Quebec or Acadia. In the second case, we have the lines from the spouses. About 75,000 of those trees were sold.
The family books were made for the customer from a series of internal files and included the genealogical tree itself with all known ancestors instead of only the male line. The internal files used for these books are now reproduced in a collection called Dossiers généalogiques Drouin (Drouin Genealogical Files). The same material was used to add a page about the client's family and inserted in the third volume. The books themselves, more that 16,500, were not kept by the Institute. They were made years before the photocopier and the computer existed and a new book was made for each customer. About 1,500 books were made by Joseph Drouin before 1938, all with a typewriter. From 1940, his son Gabriel Drouin reorganized completely the Institute and the 15,000 books he produced with the help of a large team of employees were handwritten because they were made after reading the internal marriages catalogue (later the Blue Drouin and the Male and Female series) or the microfilms. Those 16,500 books were not copied and we are now attempting to find and copy them. Some are already reproduced through this site. If you have one, please contact us and we will discuss about making a copy at our expense.
The Honorary Membership Certificate (certificat de membre honoraire) gives no special privilege.
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Who
is who ?
This section will help to figure who is who in this Web site or in the
Drouin Genealogical Institute of today. Sometimes, people are writing
at random.
Joseph Drouin was the founder of the Institute en 1899. He published 1,500 family books until his death in 1938.
Gabriel Drouin, the son of Joseph, replaced his father in 1938. He reorganized the Institute by microfilming Quebec vital records from the 1940s and later he included some notary records and some records out of Quebec. The operating was sponsored by the Drouin family. With his clerks, he published 16,500 family books until his death in 1980.
Jean-Pierre-Yves Pepin is the current owner of the Drouin Genealogical Institute, of the commercial rights of the various collections (except when the rights were resold), and of the trade marks like Institut généalogique Drouin. Mr. Pepin is a publisher and a genealogist. He takes care of buying and selling the books and of other products. .
Denis Beauregard is the webmaster of the Web site. His role, as far as that web site is concerned, is twofold: update the site and be the in-between for the English-speakers and customers out of Quebec. Mr. Beauregard is also a well-known genealogist.
La Société historique et culturelle du Marigot uses its expertise to create cd-rom, web design, and most of all to assure the development of the scanned pictures of the Drouin microfilms. It also creates, designs, and delivers some of the high quality publications for the Drouin institute.
L'AFGS (the American French Genealogical Society) has some commercial rights for the US territory. This is why we can't ship some products to USA. This is indicated on the concerned collections (vital records microfilms and the Men and Women series, formerly the Blue Drouin). This is an independent organism.
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