FRANCE, Capital, Paris
In identifying ancestors, genealogical researchers need the answers to four key questions regarding record sources:
     1. What types of records exist that will aid in identification of ancestors?
     2. What periods of time do the existing records cover?
     3. What genealogical information do they contain?
     4. What is their availability for searching?

These questions are answered in the research paper, "Genealogical Record Sources of France" Series G, No. 1, published by the Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 50 East North Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150.

This paper lists 36 types of records, the periods they cover, type of information given and availability. According to the above paper, "The most important sources for France will be found in the Civil registration"(etat-civil) from 1792 to present:
Parish registers 16th century to 1792; Notarial records 14th or 15th centuries or later to present.
"Guide des Recherches Genealogigues aux Archives Nationales" (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1956) and "Que saisje?" series No. 917,
La Genealogie by Pierre Durye (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1936) are excellent aids for those searching the records of France.
An index to names of about 48,000 French sailors and soldiers who participated in the American Revolution can be found in "Les Combattants Francais de la Guerre Americaine, 1778-1783, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1905.

The earliest parish registers of baptisms, marriages and burials were written about 400 years ago. These registers were kept by the parish priest who, beginning in about 1700, deposited copies of his registers with the Clerk of the Court. At the time of the revolution (1789) the task of recording births, marriages and deaths was transferred to the Mairies (town halls) where the parish priests were compelled by law to deposit all the registers in their possession. The new registers (since 1789) are known as Registres de l'Etat Civil. It is, therefore, to the town hall that one should write to consult the records of births, marriages and deaths either prior to or subsequent to the year 1789. Occasionally the Departmental Archivist has insisted on the transfer of the old parish registers to his archive when they have not been carefully preserved in the town halls.

The National Library and the National Archives together with the various departmental and town or city archives supply inexhaustable sources of information.
In these public archives are preserved millions of manuscript volumes extending into the middle ages where the researcher might spend many months and still continue to find new data.

Departments of France:
Departments are listed alphabetical with the map index and the Department Capital following.

FORMER PROVINCES OF FRANCE:
8, Alsace; 23, Angoumois; 14, Anjou; 2, Artois; 21, Aunis; 25, Auvergne;
29, Beam; 16, Berry; 20, Bourbonnais; 9, Brittany; 12, Burgundy;
6, Champagne; 33, Comtat; 26, Dauphine; 1, Flanders; 30, Foix;
13, Franche-Comte; 28, Gascony; 27, Guyenne; 32, Languedoc;
5, Lle de France; 24, Limousin; 7, Lorraine; 25A, Lyonnais; 10, Maine;
19, Marche; 17, Nivernais; 4, Normandy; 11, Orleanais; 3, Picardy;
18, Poitou; 34, Provence. 31, Roussillion; 22, Saintonge; 15, Touraine;

Valuable Sources:
Atlases, Gazetteers, Maps Denis-Papin, M., Martin, J.L., and Bonnard. Dictionnaire National des Communes de France Paris: Editions Albin Michel. (G.S.Ref.944E5di).
Atlas Bottin, 2vols. (G.S. Staff 944 E3b)

Place Names:
Chevin, M. I'Abbe. Dictionnaire Latin-Francais Des Noms Propres de Lieux. Paris: 1897 (G.S. Film 1,070,223)

Guides To Genealogical Research:
Law, Hugh T. "How to Trace Your French Ancestors" The Genealogical Helper, January-February issue 1978, Pages 5-8
Law, Hugh T. "How to do French Gemealogical Research" Salt Lake City; Genealogical Society, 1973 (G.S. film 908,366 Item 5)
Law Hugh T. "Tracing Huguenot Ancestors Back to France." Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society 1901. '
Genealogical Society: "Major Genealogical Record Sources in France" Series G No. 1 Salt Lake City, 1976.
Wolff Christian. "Guide des recherches genealogiques en Alsace." Strasbourg: Oberlin 1975 (Guide to Genealogical Research in Alsase. G.S. 944.383 D2g)
World conference on Records - Lecture Papers (G.S. film 897,215 items 19-29)
Genealogical Sources:
Arnaud, Etienne. "Repertoire de Genealogies Francaises Imprimees." 2 vols. (G.S. Europe 944 D23A)
Boyenval, Abbe R., Berger, R. and Bougard, P. "Repertoire des Nons de Famille du Pas-de-Calais en 1820." Arras: Archives du Pas-de-Calais, 1960.
Card index to emigration records of Europeans traveling through the Alsace Region of France (G.S. film numbers: Surnames A-C on film 1,125,002 D-G-1,125,003 H-K-1,125,004 L-P -1,125,005 Q-S -1,125,006 T-Z -1,125,007 Genealogical Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has microfilmed French Departmental Records Check the Dictionary Card Catalog (DCC) and the International Genealogical Library Catalog (IGLC). Societe de I'Histoire du Protestantisme Francais. Bulletin de la Societe . . . (Bulletin of the Society of History of French Protestantism) Vols. 1 to 115 (1852 to 1969) on films 885753 to 885,729. (G.S. 944 B2sp; index 944 B2sp Index or on film 1,045,348)

French - History:
Guerard, Albert. "France, A Modern History." New Edition. Revised and Enlarged by Paul A. Gagnon Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1959,1969.
Roche, 0. J. A. "The Days of the Upright, The Story of the Huguenots". New York 1965 (G S 944K2ro) 

SARRETT:
I have studied the "SARRETT" (and various spellings) for over (1973) 31 years and have accumulated some 46,000 (in America) records from Census, Tax Rolls, Deed Records, Land Grant's, Will's & Testament, Marriage Records, SSD Benefits, etc. [prs]

The surname SARRETT appears to be "Locational" in origin, and believed to be associated with the French, meaning, "one who came from Sarrett". The "Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famile et Pre'noms de France", by LAROUSSE, published in Paris, 1951, there are several villages/hamlets in the South of France with the name of SARRE; SERRES, SARRE; SERRET; SARRAT. These names meaning "high-rising ground" or "high hill elongated"
and associated with the Spanish word Sierra and long ago found in the Pyrenes-Orientals area of France. They are identified as belonging in the modern De'partment of Haute-Garonne and to the larger area known as Languedoc.

In the "Dicionnaire Topographique du De'partment de La Haute- Garonne", published in 1882 list 103 villages/hamlets with Sarrat attached to them, some in the Pyrenees near Spain and some near Luchon, France, which is not far away from Toulouse and the Sarrat name was in the early history of Toulouse, France.

The SARRETT Coat of Arms can be found in RIETSTAP ARMORIAL GENERAL. The following description is the translated of the SARRETT Coat of Arms:

• The shield is "Blue; with two Gold lions facing
• each other, supporting together a Silver star,
• which supports a Gold mound, moving from the bottom."
• Motto: None.

The Helmet shown on the top of the shield indicates the rank of the user. The Family Motto's is believed to have originated as battle cries in medieval times, its not recorded for this SARRETT Coat of Arms.

Here in America the spelling of the SARRETT Family name has taken many forms. Most likely, clerks copied it down the way they heard it. Therefore, British Clerks (which the early Colonial Clerks usually were..prs) began to add a second "t" and to use every vowel for the first syllable of our name. Perhaps the (some could not spell themselves) first family members of the SARRETT family would correct this, but as they fanned out into the expanding frontiers of America, spelling became less important. Thus, first cousins are found to use different spellings of their surname in the same County. Some of the most prominent surnames which, derived from the Progenitor SARRAT in the United States, are:

Who was the first SARRATT/SARRETT progenitor in United States? The case is still not closed. The first recorded documents found by this writer are of JOSEPH, 1 SARRAT born c1665, possibly in France; died before 1715, in Prince George's County, Maryland. He married before 1700 to a KATHARINE (Unknown Maiden Name) and had at least three children,
The 1st. Child 1st Dau: SUSANNA SARRATT; b. c1700 MD
The 2nd. Child 1st Son: SAMUEL, 1 SARRATT; b. c1708 MD -----My Branch
The 3rd. Child 2nd Son: JOSEPH, 2 SARRETT; b. c1710 MD
all in what now is Prince George's County, Maryland. My branch migrated down into the early Carolinas, later Tennessee, then on into Missiouri.

SARRETT Family Name in America
In the first Federal Census of 1790, list SARRATTS living in only three states: Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina. In all the United States of 1790, we have 12 men who were "Head of Household", (H/H) and one (Thomas Serrett, Northhampton Co., NC.) Died soon after with no heirs of his own.
Maryland, list One:
FRANCIS "Alphonus" SARRATT, Prince George's Co., MD.
North Carolina, list Seven:
THOMAS SARRAT, Rowan Co., NC.
ALLEN SARRAT, Rowan Co., NC.
JOSEPH, Sr. SERATT, Montgomery Co., NC.
JOSEPH, Jr. SERATT, Montgomery Co., NC.
LEONARS (Leonard) SURAT, Lincoln Co., NC.
JOSEPH SURRATT, Caswell Co., NC.
THOMAS SERRETT, Northhampton Co., NC.
South Carolina, list Four:
JOHN SURRAT, Spartanburg, SC.
ALLEN SURRAT, Spartanburg, SC. ------My Branch
SAMUEL, Sr. SURRAT, Spartanburg, SC.
SAMUEL, Jr. SURRAT, Spartanburg, SC.

Information from census suggest that in 1971 there were approximately 150 heads of households in the United States with the old distinguished SARRETT name. This same census show that there were approximately 3.1 persons per household in America which, would yield an approximate total of 465 people which, carry the spelling of the SARRETT name, but in 1982 there were 26 states that listed only 143 SARRETT families, 26 of these in the state of Texas alone, with West Virginia 2nd. with 14 and California 3rd. with 13:

   AL - 02      FL - 9    LA - 4    NY - 7     SC - 02
   AZ - 02      GA - 6    MS - 6    OH - 5     TN - 01
   AR - 05      ID - 1    MO - 2    OK - 8     TX - 26
   CA - 13      IL - 4    MT - 1    OR - 6     VA - 07
   CT - 01      KY - 2    NJ - 4    PA - 1     WV - 14

Some "French" born SARRATT/SERRATT's in U.S. Census: Fed. #, Reel# Estate Page:
Pg.	F.V.	FName	MName	LName	Age	Born	b.Yr.	Race	Remarks
		Joseph		SARRATT	50	FRA	1665	W	m. Katherine Unk., 3Ch.
0114	27	Benjamin		SERRETT	35	FRA	1795	W	(30 to 40)
0039	759	Antoine	(Unk)	SARRAT	42	FRA	1808	W	d/o France Parents
0305	1026	Emil		SIRRETT	39	FRA	1811	W	m. Catherine, c1834 NY
0398	974	Louis		SRET	39	FRA	1811	W	City Editor
0422	128	Michael		SURETT	60	FRA	1790	W	l/w Henry & Lery SMITH
0422	129	Michael		SURETT	60	FRA	1790	W	s/o France Parents
0036	241	Catherine	(SEAMAN)	SERETT	28	FRA	1832	W	w/o Augustus SERETT, c1854
0698		Celetin		SARRAT	49	FRA	1811	W	s/o France Parents
002a		Emil		SERRETT	33	FRA	1847	W	m. Mary CLANSON, c1873 OH
064a		Henry		SURRATT	34	FRA	1876	W	m. Frances Unk., c?
002a		Virginia	(Unk)	SARAT	53	FRA	1867	W	w/o Henry J., c?
002a		Henry	J.	SARAT	59	FRA	1861	W	m. Virgina Unk., c?
004a		Henry		SURATT	44	FRA	1876	W	m. Frances Unk., c?
030a		Katherine	(Unk)	SAURET	45	FRA	1875	W	w/o Joseph SAURET

THE FRENCH CONNECTION
As of now no connection with France, has been established, of my Branch of "SARRETT", family line, but family tradition suggest, they were part of the Huguenots of France which, were part of the Reformation which, swept throughout Europe. It's said the Huguenots Cross, which is the "Cross of Languedoc", signifies the Erasmian Spirit of Humanism. They also adopted the flag of Henry of Navarre with its "fleur de lis" as an emblem.