The Official Website of the Surname French

Last Updated by Mara French on 4/6/08. Back to FFA Home Page.

From the Editor

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¡ I am a descendant of FFA Chart #6, Richard French of Cambridge, MA. This is my father’s father’s side, and from this side come most of my relatives in the U.S. (CA, NY, NC, MA). Only one cousin remains on my father’s mother’s side (surname Anderson) from Denmark. My mother was born in Vienna, Austria, and only one cousin remains in her line. I enjoy working on my line and all other Frenches.

¡ In 2003 I retired as a writer/commercial artist. Those skills come in handy now when I create this website. I also did research in my job as a computer technical writer for a software online help system. I got a minor in art and my first job was as a commercial artist before computers existed. I did all work with pen and ink. It was the Chinese immigrant engineers who opened the doors for me to become a writer, and the East Indians who spoke English who took away my job. Both events came at precisely the right time in my life as if God planned it that way.

¡ Researching genealogy combines all my hobbies and skills: writing, research, web design, photography, travel, meeting people, computer skills, history, ingenuity, adventure, perseverance, preservation, and a tribute to the surname French. I believe these skills are what is needed to be the coordinator for the French website. I actually have no real knowledge about being a genealogist, but I’ve gathered so much French data since I was 20 years old from libraries and in my travels that I hope I can put it all online before my body gives out. You can help by volunteering to edit any of the information on this website to make it as accurate as possible for 100+ years to come. Another way to help would be to participate in the French DNA project administered by Julia French Wood.

I'd like to ask help from the lawyers out there. I put a copyright notice on most of the FFA pages, but I don't claim ownership to this data. All the data is not from me but from census records, other researchers, etc. I'm just the administrator. My goal would be to have one central depository for French data (or links to this data) that is as correct as possible so that it will be more credible than any of the false information stuck on the net. Then I'd like to turn it over to someone who also has these same goals. I don't plan to charge a fee for anything except items that I cannot put on the web, such as books not published by me. So, my question is, should I remove the copyright notices on the FFA website, and if not, what good are they anyway?

On another issue, I plan to correct any data on the FFA website that has been proved incorrect by YOU. I trust the compilers of the FFA charts will do their part to correct their gedcom files or warn me if something is incorrect on the FFA pages. I'm so thankful for such great researchers as Julia French Wood and Jeanette S. French. They are very credible people. 

¡ I’ve added a little house to the top of most of the FFA website pages. This house resembles my home in Sutter Creek, CA. Clicking it will take you to the FFA Home Page.

Regards,
Mara French