AUBURN — The Maine Franco-American Genealogical Society plans to hold its fall meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at the Auburn Public Library, 49 Spring St.

There will be a brief business meeting followed by light refreshments and a presentation by guest speaker Anna Faherty from 11 a.m. to noon.

Maine families may be surprised to learn why some of their Canadian ancestors ended up in Northern New York State and Vermont instead of Maine, according to a news release from Ann Nadeau, society board member.

Faherty will discuss the history of Fort Ticonderoga and the Adirondack region as it relates to French-Canadian immigration, and how genealogy enthusiasts may find more information about family members from Northern New York and Vermont.

She will begin with an overview of the Lake Champlain region and discuss the movement between Canada and the U.S. in the French and Indian War. This will include the different groups and settlements in the area that were French Canadian. Websites and resources for research will be covered, too.

Faherty, the archivist at the Franco-American Collection, is a graduate of Simmons University’s dual Master’s program in history and archives management. Before working there, she worked at Fort Ticonderoga, an 18th-century military site integral in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution.

Her historical background is in labor and immigration in the U.S. from the 19th to early 20th centuries. She is an appointed member of the Maine Historical Records Advisory Board, a group of records professionals with a mission to coordinate and encourage the preservation of and access to historical records in a variety of ways.

Faherty also serves as the secretary of the Maine Library Association, a professional association for librarians in Maine.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit auburnpubliclibrary.org.

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