Today is the anniversary of the Normandy Landings known as D-Day when the Allied (American, British, and Canadian) forces stormed the beaches of Normandy during WWII. No soldiers from the Vidrine Family are known to be among the nearly 10,000 Allied causalities on June 6, 1944. However, there is one

This morning, Mardell Sibley and I gave a Presentation entitled “Voyage au Pays des Illinois” at the Evangeline Genealogical and Historical Society’s quarterly meeting where we shared the history and relevance of the Fort de Chartres and surrounding area through photos of our trip there in October 2016. How wonderful

Elisabeth Tisserand de Montcharvaux (1744–1816) Birth April 22, 1744   Tomorrow will be the 273rd anniversary of the birth of Elisabeth de Moncharvaux, the young bride of Jean Baptiste Lapaise de Védrines and matriarch of the Vidrine family in LA. Elisabeth was born on April 22, 1744 at the Arkansas Fort

This is a cool video of the cemetery of St. Joseph Church at Prairie du Rocher, IL. It’s one of the oldest parishes still in existence in what was the Pays des Illinois or Upper LA (before the French lost to the British in 1763). Margaret Kimbrall Brown who is

It was on this day 386 years ago – March 29, 1631 – that the French Marines were established. Of course, this birthday of the French Marines is a good occasion to recall the military service of the Father of all Vidrines in LA – Jean Baptiste Lapaise de Védrines

We often say that the world is small. I think we discover more and more through genealogy how small it really is. This was a discussion that took place yesterday at the Fort de Chartres page on Facebook. I asked a question on a random post, and this is the