(You may download this document for general distribution.)

The TERRIOT Acadian Family Society is a volunteer organization which exists for the benefit of all descendants of Jehan and Perrine Terriot. The goal of the organization is to 

(1) consolidate the existing genealogy for all descendants of Jehan and Perrine Terriot, and
      to 
(2) form a family organization of delegates who each represent their respective
      'Great-Branch'. 

The Great-Branch. One of the key aspects of our organization is that it is based on the 'Great-Branch' structure of the family. The 'Great-Branch' is a copyrighted concept devised by the Terriot Acadian Family that is used to make it easier to organize our family genealogy and to manage the large number of branches. 

The basis for a ‘Great-Branch’ is the ninth generation married male descendants of Jehan and Perrine Terriot and the married female descendants of the 2nd through 9th generations. We distinguish between the two types of Great-Branches because the first category (those for the ancestral grand-sons) are the branches that are still 'growing' and therefore must continue to be kept up to date. On the other hand, since the second category of branches (those of the ancestral grand-daughters) identify all of the families that are related to the Terriot family by marriage, those are important as well. However, the documentation for those branches are not nearly as extensive. Once we have identified the immediate family of the ancestral grand-daughter, no further additions or revisions need be made to that branch.

We chose the 9th generation as the basis for our organization because to most of us today, the 9th generation represents our great-grandfathers which is very meaningful to most of us. It is a little more difficult to relate with ancestors beyond the 9th generation. 

Our Business Plan.  The TERRIOT Acadian Family Society is a non-profit organization that is privately funded by the Director. The organization is directed by the Founder, on the advice of the Delegates of which there are about 85 at this time. No dues or fees are required to participate in this organization. As you may already know, the organization currently has several websites, one for the greater Terriot family (www.terriau.org/) and others for the great-branches, such as the Joseph/Théogénie Great-Branch (www.terriau.org/joseph-theogenie/), one dedicated for use by our delegates and then many others that are produced for special projects. Through the websites, the Delegates exchange news, information about our genealogy, family history, music, food, language and other cultural matters. We encourage you to visit the Joseph/Théogénie Great-Branch website that exists today as an example. Our organization was also honored in 2003 and again in 2007 when we were selected to publish and maintain the Theriault family websites for the World Acadian Congress (CMA2004) in 2004 held in Nova Scotia, Canada and in 2009, held in New Brunswick, Canada. 

Founded in 1999, the organization is an experiment to determine whether an Internet-based organization can succeed in consolidating and integrating the genealogy of the descendants of Jehan and Perrine Terriot. In addition to its genealogical goal, it also has a social aim to see how far we can go to 'pulling together' the various branches of the family so that they will at least be aware of each other, and hopefully, begin to know each other and perhaps even begin to undertake family genealogy-related projects together. We use our website as our main tool for informing each other and the world about each of our respective Great-Branches and to raise the awareness of these Great-Branches by documenting the genealogy, history and photos of our branches and by sharing news of our Great-Branches.

Some of the projects that we have begun to work include investigating the ways and means for restoring the tomb of Pierre Theriot in Convent, Louisiana; working together to resolve the biography and genealogy of some of our ancestors such as Jean Baptiste Terriot [6267], son of Charles Terriot and Angélique Doiron; resolving the confusion between Joseph dit Le Bonhomme Thériot (1728-1759) and of a second Joseph (1732 - before 1796), husband of Madeleine BOURGEOIS, and other more minor inconsistencies. Another very significant project was the Terriot Surname DNA Project (see the Terriot DNA Surname Project section of our family website (http://www.terriau.org/dna.htm). Through this project, we are able to help members of the family to determine whether their genetics matches the genetics of the Terriot family when their genealogy documentation cannot be completed.

Our Membership. The membership of this organization is limited to two delegates per Great-Branch. A member of the Terriot family whether direct or indirect descendant or member by marriage, may apply for membership if:

1. the genealogy of his/her Great-Branch is not included in the Jehan Terriot Archive and the individual has some information on the genealogy for the branch, the individual is willing to work with the Society to research, develop and integrate the branch genealogy into the Archive and is willing to represent the Great-Branch in matters pertaining to the Society including visitors to the Jehan and Perrine Terriot website; or

2. the genealogy of his/her Great-Branch is included in the Jehan Terriot Archive, an opening exists in the delegates are currently representing the branch and the individual is willing to represent the Great-Branch in matters pertaining to the Society including visitors to the Jehan and Perrine Terriot website.

TERRIOT Acadian Family Society
Harvard, Massachusetts 01451
E-Mail: terriot@terriau.org
 

• to foster a better understanding of The Acadian story and especially of the Terriot/Theriault/Theriot family,  and

• to improve communications between family members about its genealogy.

ON INTEGRITY. We pledge to exercise care in our notation to specifically distinguish fact from opinion whether it be our own or someone elses. In using someone else's information, we will be careful to give credit to the researcher and if the source of the data is not recorded, we will try to reflect this in our data. If we use someone else's intellectual property (i.e., it is not public domain), it will be with their consent and we will credit them (in the Credits page) with their generous contribution.

Similarly, we expect our visitors to respect the intellectual property of this site and to observe the following simple rules of common sense and courtesy:

• you may use any property on this site only:
• if it is used for your own non-commercial and non-profit purposes. You may copy the material for members of your family and friends but you may not copy the material for re-sale, and
• if you properly mark the property as copyrighted with the following phrase: "Copyrighted by the TERRIOT ACADIAN FAMILY SOCIETY / TERRIAU.ORG".
• if you use any property that we have borrowed from someone else, please contact the owner(s) of the property as listed on the Bibliography and Credits page;
• most amateur webmasters do their work because they love doing it. They also love receiving a note of thanks and acknowledgement from their visitors.


ON  CONFIDENTIALITY. We well recognize that by making this information available to the world,  some may try to misuse the information. Therefore, our pledge to any living person whose name may appear on these pages or in our Archive, is that we will take care to not reveal to the general public any information beyond personal names and family relationships.

ON FAMILY VALUES. Consistent with our main goal of fostering family communication, our websites subscribe to high moral values and clean, wholesome information suitable for viewing and listening by all members of our families and our visitors. Our websites will be free of all commercial advertisements to avoid any possiblity of inappropriate advertisements.