In genealogy, 'ascendancy' means to move backwards in time, from yourself to your parents and from your parents to your grandparents, as far back as possible. In that sense, the Barils of North America are among the luckiest genealogy buffs in the world.
Thanks to meticulous records kept throughout New France, first by the Roman Catholic Church and later by the Government of Québec, Barils in North America are usually able to trace their lineage back to 1665.
If you can establish the names of your two Baril grandparents and the Town where they were married, you are ready to begin. If not, start by asking your oldest living relatives for that information. If you can also learn the names of your Baril great-grandparents, your success is virtually guaranteed!
We find it difficult to adequately express our gratitude to those tireless souls (mostly women) who painstakingly transcribed our parish records for over 300 years. As you begin the search for your own seminal roots we hope you will experience a little of the awe that inspires us at the very thought of those women producing the thousands upon thousands of annual indexes you will draw upon. They did it all by hand, or using ancient manual typewriters.