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This Family Archive CD is composed of images of the pages of eleven books originally published by the Genealogical Publishing Company, all of which are accessed on this CD by means of a single integrated index. Covering some of the most difficult records to find in all of American genealogy, including early census records, family histories, military records, marriage records, immigration records, and more, it identifies approximately 60,000 Louisiana settlers of the 1700s and early 1800s, including many people of French and German extraction, as well as a mixture of Spanish, English, and Scotch-Irish.

This compilation is particularly noteworthy because the majority of the data is otherwise inaccessible and covers a period of time when Louisiana was under French and, later, Spanish control. Among the books assembled here are compilations of Louisiana's earliest census records and a complete roster of soldiers who participated in the Battle of New Orleans and the War of 1812. There is also a collection of newspaper articles from the New Orleans Times Democrat focusing on early French and Spanish families and a list of the settlers of the "German Coast," west of New Orleans. In addition, there are ships' passenger lists, military rosters, and vital records of births, marriages, and deaths. The following books are included on this CD:

*The Census Tables for the French Colony of Louisiana from 1699 Through 1732
*Louisiana Troops, 1720-1770
*The New Orleans French, 1720-1733: Marriage Records Relating to the First Colonists of the Louisiana Province
*Louisiana Colonials: Soldiers and Vagabonds
*Gulf Coast Colonials: A Compendium of French Families in Early Eighteenth Century Louisiana
*The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana and Creoles of German Descent
*Old Families of Louisiana
*The Canary Islands Migration to Louisiana, 1778-1783
*Louisiana Soldiers in the War of 1812
*Louisiana Census Records: Avoyelles and St Landry Parishes, 1810 and 1820
*Louisiana Census Records: Iberville, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, and Rapides Parishes, 1810 and 1820

System Requirements: You must have a CD-ROM drive, and in order to read the CD you must use either the Family Archive Viewer (version 4.0 or higher), which is available as a free download at http://www.genealogical.com/content/dlfav6.html, or Family Tree Maker for Windows, version 4.0 or higher (Family Tree Maker software can be ordered from www.FamilyTreeMaker.com).

To access information on our Family Archive CDs using the Family Archive Viewer:

1. Install the Family Archive Viewer CD or download it from http://www.genealogy.com/dlfav6.html.
2. Start the Viewer if it is not already running
3. Insert the CD you wish to view into the CD-ROM drive. If you have 2 or more CD-ROM drives, the CD must be placed in the first one.
4. The CD should open automatically, but users of later versions of the Family Archive Viewer must click the CD/magnifying glass icon in the top toolbar (above the template in some versions) to read the CD.
5. When the screen entitled "About this Family Archive" appears, click OK where prompted.

To access information on our Family Archive CDs using Family Tree Maker:

1. Start your Family Tree Maker and open a Family File. (If the program is already running, skip to Step 2.)
2. Insert the CD in your computer's CD-ROM drive. (If you have 2 or more CD-ROM drives, the CD must be placed in the first one.)
3. From the View menu, select Family Finder, or select the Family Finder icon from the toolbar.
4. For FTM 2005, FTM 2006, or Version 16, you must go to the View menu, select Data CD, then View CD. For FTM 2008 or higher, you must download the Family Archive Viewer.

To search the CD for names, select the Search Expert button in the top right of your screen, then select "Search this archive for someone NOT from your Family File." You can also search for names by using the Index.

Note: If a window opens that contains a list of files on the CD, simply close it.