On June 17, ten people (including seven members of our association) met at 10:00 a.m. at the Genealogy Department of the Centre d’Histoire de Saint-Hyacinthe (CHSTH) for a guided tour. After a welcome address, Ms. Marie-Marthe Bélisle introduced us to the various resources available to the genealogy researchers who regularly visit the CHSTH. Following the tour, participants benefited from Ms. Bélisle’s advice and expertise for over an hour. Among other things, she showed us how to easily and freely access the archives of more than 300 Quebec newspapers. All the participants expressed surprise that the resources at the CHSTH Genealogy Department are not better known—outside of Saint-Hyacinthe—by everyone interested in their ancestry.

The genealogy department holds an impressive collection of printed documents just waiting to be consulted. Regarding the available directories, suffice it to say that the department possesses records covering parishes in Quebec (6,000), Ontario (150), and Western Canada (20), as well as Franco-American communities (300)—including those in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. The service also holds « Family Genealogies (700), » « Genealogical Journals (20), » « Reference Works, » « Microfilms, » « Notary Indexes for the Saint-Hyacinthe Region, » « Newspaper and Funeral Home Obituaries, » « History Books and Parish Monographs (1,200), » and finally, a unique resource: the 250,000 family record cards compiled by Abbé Georges-Henri Cournoyer over more than 30 years.

In addition to printed materials, the service offers access to the following digital tools: PRDH, BMS 2000, BSQ, BMQ, Tanguay, Benjamin Sulte, Parchemin, etc.—and, above all, a knowledgeable and dedicated staff to assist you as you begin using these resources.

The Genealogy Service of the Centre d’histoire de Saint-Hyacinthe (CHSTH) is one of the most important in the Montérégie region, welcoming researchers from both Quebec and the United States. The Service also produces materials to facilitate the work of genealogists.

The CHSTH Genealogy Service is open at the following times: Tuesdays from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Thursdays from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and the last Saturday of each month from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

If you are interested, a CHSTH membership costs just $30 a year, giving you access to all these wonderful tools. Here’s a quick tip, by the way: registrations made from August onwards count toward the upcoming year. That means 16 months for the price of 12—a real bargain!

If you wish to contact Ms. Bélisle or any of her colleagues, you can do so by phone (450-261-9722), email (genealog@chsth.com), or by visiting their website (chsth.com). The CHSTH is located at 650 Girouard Street East in Saint-Hyacinthe, QC (at the Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe).

A big thank you to Ms. Marie-Marthe Bélisle for welcoming us so warmly and introducing us to all these treasures!

Réjean Messier, Secretary-Treasurer