My brother converted to Mormonism. Not the choice I would have made, but seems a good fit for him. The Mormons have the largest genealogical data base in the world. Every Mormon church in the world has a family research center that is open to the public. You can access the main database in Salt Lake City from any of these research centers. I used the one at a church near me and was able to locate what I believed were the civil records of the French town where my great grandfather originated. I could have had the records (microfilm) mailed to the local church but since my brother lives in Utah and was going to visit Salt Lake City, I gave the info to him. He found the records and they were in fact the correct ones. We not only found our great grand father but an additional 4 generations before him.
Anyone doing genealogical research should consider the Mormon church as a resource.
