The authors organized this study around two ancestors (great-great grandsons of Gabriel Annance and great-great grandfathers of the authors) who were born nearly two centuries ago at Odanak (St. Francis), the Abenaki Indian Reserve in Quebec, Canada; by name Francis Brazille and his brother, Peter Braziel.
Having these two ancestors at its center, the authors relate the history of the two brothers, their ancestors and siblings, including the family of the Great Francis Joseph Annance born in 1759, who was one of the first Abenaki to attend Moor’s Indian Charity School and Dartmouth College. The book then moves forward from Francis’ and Peter’s own lives, to essays, which recount some history of the St. Francis Indians and Odanak as it related to this family, including stories and genealogy of their children and grandchildren.
Indigenous genealogy can be very difficult to prove. The originating author of this volume, Frank Alexander Grant III, was raised on the Hoopa Indian Reservation in California, graduating from their schools after which he went on to Stanford University. Frank spent decades researching his Abenaki heritage from California back into the original homelands of New England and Odanak, utilizing family records, stories, documents, and vital records. Along the way he was joined in this project by his cousin Cheryl Beck of Oregon, a retired school teacher. Cheryl grew up with Frank in the Hoopa reservation and is a genealogist and author in her own right. Later the two cousins were joined by a distant cousin, Jane Barber, who lives in New York. Jane is a graphic designer from Ohio, and was just beginning her research into her recently discovered Abenaki roots. The result is a singular book of the Lagrave family, their ancestors and cousins, with lots of good Abenaki history, and overflowing with maps, photographs, and documents.
