Special Holiday Season Membership Gift

The Museum of Civilization and the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa are offering a special Holiday Season Membership Gift to you.

If you sign up for a standard membership, you will receive an extended Membership Level Membership, and your membership will be extended by one extra month. If you purchase a Plus Level Membership, your membership will be extended by two extra months.

Put in the promotional code AC138 in the printed copy of the sign-up form, and bring it to the box office, or you can call the box office at 819.776.7100.

To see the levels of membership, you can go to http://www.civilization.ca/about-us/get-involved/membership-program

OGS Conference - Hank Jones Jr interview

Steve Fulton, the Chair of the 2014 Ontario Genealogical Society Conference that will be held. May 1 to May 4, 2014 at Brock University in the Niagara region of Ontario, has posted an interview he had had with the keynote speaker – Hank Jones Jr.

His speech which is entitled How "Psychic Roots" became an "Unsolved Mystery" will be presented on Saturday evening at conference banquet.

The interview is about 8 minutes long, and is interesting to listen to at http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2014/hank_jones_interview.mp3

Two things which struck me was that he said “Genealogists are story tellers”, and “Document everything”. Family history is a series of family stories and we must document everything we write - that should be our mantra as genealogists.

You can go to their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NiagaraPeninsulaBranchOgsConference2014, and their website http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2014/index.php.

Postscript: Conferences are held every year in Ontario, and as a member of the OGS you are entitled to special discounts for the conference. December is membership month at the OGS. For the yearly rate of $61.20, you can join the provincial society.

November 2013 Families Part II

The Ontario Genealogy Society journal Families has issued its November issue, and here are the papers included in Part II.

The first paper More Than Dates: Lives Revealed Through Ecclesiastical Records by Ellen Paul, the 2^nd place Keffer Writing Contest winner.

In addition to the story she tells of Jean Baptiste Cotton, she demonstrates how to use the Drouin Collection when proving genealogy.

The surname keywords are Archambault, Beaudry, Cotton, DeGuay, Débussat, Dussault, Gauthier, Gauthier dit Landreville

“Up to Rawdon” Explained is a paper by Daniel B. Parkinson in which he explains how he came to write his 2-volume set of genealogies about the people from Rawdon, Quebec and their migration to such Ontario counties as Wellington, Huron, Grey, Bruce and Simcoe Counties.

The surname keywords are Burton, Bourne, Copping, Corcoran, Dugas, Eveleigh, Gray, Hamilton, Holiday, Holtby, Jefferies, Johnston, Keo, Mason, Norrish, Parkinson, Pearson, Scroggie, Rourke, Sadler, Smiley, Tiffin, Turner, Wade

“Feathers in the Family”: The Story of Magdeleine Pewadjiwonokwe by Lynne Duigou is the story of a ‘county marriage’ between Charles Denys de Laronde Thibaudiere and Magdeleine.   

The surname keywords are  Croteau, Pewadjiwonokwe, Laronde, Gaucher, piot, Langevin, Missosikwe, Tessepatikokwe, Gradmotagne, Okajagaw, MacFie, Douglas, Robinson

I Am a GOON: The Willox Search by Cathie Blackburn is the influence that the Guild of One-Name Studies has had on her study of her family name – the Willox.  

The surname keywords are Willox, Cole, Harper, Legge

  

Postscrpt:  December is the yearly membership drive by the OGS. This year the basic membership is $61.20 which is a deal for all the benefits that you can receive from the Members Only pages at http://www.ogs.on.ca/index.php                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

November 2013 Families Part I

 The Ontario Genealogy Society issued its journal Families for November, and here are the papers included in Part I this issue. Part II will continue tomorrow.   

With 2014 being the 100^th anniversary of the First World War, the papers about the people who fought in that war are starting to come into Families to be published.

The two papers are

Hart Leech: “A dog-gone good soldier … doing hid blooming job” by Catherine Whiteley tells the story of Hart Leech from Winnipeg, who, like so many others, went off to war as a young man, and like so many others died because of the war.  

But while he was fighting in the war, he earned the praise of his superiors, and when he died helping his fellow soldiers, he was given a burial in the Oville British Cemetery in France.

His mother received the Memorial Cross.

The keywords in the paper is Leech.

The ship on the front cover of Families and is the SS Olympic. It is shown in Halifax as it disembarked Canadian soldiers coming back from the First World War.

Blacks in the Great War by Jerry Hind is a paper which recounts the role that Blacks played in the First World War.

The men from the Chatham-Kent area who entered the 1^st Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and the discrimination that they faced.

To go with the Families paper, there is a website called    

Gathering our Heroes at http://www.gatheringourheroes.ca/ at which there are bios of many of the Blacks who were in the No. 2 Construction Battalion.

The keywords are Jones, Hosey, Lucas, and Mills.   

Postscrpt:  December is the yearly membership drive by the OGS. This year the basic membership is $61.20 which is a deal for all the benefits that you can receive from the Members Only pages at http://www.ogs.on.ca/index.php

Niagara Branch of the OGS is host this year to the 2014 Conference whose theme is Genealogy Without Borders . It will be held May 1 to May 4, 2014 at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario.

They have just released who they will have as speakers and the schedule, and it is quite an impressive group, such as - 

Chris Paton, the Scottish Genealogist will conduct workshops, and will give the Houston Lecture Genealogy Without Borders-Technology on Friday evening.

Hank Jones will be the keynote speaker on Saturday evening  when he gives the talk

How "Psychic Roots" became an "Unsolved Mystery".

To see the rest of the speakers, go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2014/speakers_info/Conference%202014%20Schedule.pdf

You can also go to the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NiagaraPeninsulaBranchOgsConference2014

Like the organizers say "Genealogy Without Borders" is genealogy research that does not require a passport!

Location! Location! Location!

Have you been involved in doing Ontario research lately, and have come across a town, and you are having a hard time to find what county it is in - where it is located?

Now, you can go to the Ontario location website at http://www.ogs.on.ca/branches/ontariolocator.php.  It lists every municipality in Ontario (city, town, village, township, regional municipality) and all of the geographic townships which have belonged to a municipality.

You can find the township, and there are two types of townships –

1.     A geographic township (G Twp) is a piece of land. You need to know this to find land records and to find where people lived.

2.     An administrative township (A Twp) is a form of government, often administering several geographic townships. You need this to find local records.

And you can find out what county you are in, and the Ontario Genealogical Society Branch the municipality is in.

Snow!

We are in the middle of the first major snowstorm of the season here in Ottawa today, and the Museum of Civilization will soon open its exhibit about snow which will run from December 6, 2013 to September the 28th 2014.

The exhibit will feature some 300 articles, and more than 400 photos that Canadians have taken of snow.

To find out more about the exhibit, go to http://www.civilization.ca/event/snow/

Canadian Immigration Records

I see where FamilySearch has added Canada Immigration Records from (1881-1930) to their holdings.

It contains records for the parts of Quebec City (1900-1921), Halifax (1881-1922), Saint John (1900-1912), North Sydney (1906-1912), Vancouver (1905-1912), and Victoria (1905-1912).

There are also records from New York City (1906-1912), and Eastern US parts from 1905 to 1912.  These are records of those names of passengers who had the intention of going directly to Canada.

To go to FamilySearch Canada Immigration Records , go to https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1823240?ET_CID=45833734&ET_RID=genealogycanada@aol.com

York Region Ancestors Newsletter

The York Region Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) has just issued its November newsletter, and in this issue they have an article A View of Markham Township in 1799 in which Surveyor Augustus Jones lists the people in the township and the land they held.

There is also an article on the Early Lutheran Deaths in the Twp of Markham (1834 – 1841), and Confirmations in the Lutheran Church 1834 and 1836.

There is the family tree of John Stiver and Mary Ann Shutz, and a list of
Tavern Licenses Granted from 1855 to 1860, and a list of innkeepers for Whitchurch Township from 1803 to 1841.

Please be reminded that they have all the back issues of Ancestors from 1996 to 2006 which includes a subject index for sale, in addition to over 150 cemetery transcripts on their publications page at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onyrbogs/pub_001.htm

You can visit their webpage at www.rootsweb.com/onyrbogs

Postscript: December is the yearly membership drive by the OGS. This year the basic membership is $61.20 which is a deal for all the benefits that you can receive from the Members Only pages at http://www.ogs.on.ca/index.php

PEI Genealogical Society upcoming event

The PEI Genealogical Society will hold its next general meeting on Saturday November 23 at 2:00 pm at Beaconsfield's Carriage House, located at the corner of Kent and West Streets in Charlottetown.

Guest speaker Dr. Ed MacDonald will present a talk on Our Fathers: A Brief Introduction to PEI's Fathers of Confederation. He will answer the question - Who were the PEI Fathers of Confederation? The public is invited to attend and find out more than just a name.

Admission is free.

If you would like more information, go to http://www.peigs.ca/

WWI Memorial Wall at OGS

Have you checked the WWI War Memorial Wall at OGS lately? It is starting to get populated with photos from the First World War, but the Ontario Genealogical Society is looking for more photos.

So they are asking “Do you have family members who served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during WWI? As we approach the 100th Anniversary of the Great War, the Ontario Genealogical Society invites you to share their stories and photos on our newly created WWI Memorial Wall on the OGS Soldphotos flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ogsphotos/sets/

If you would like to share your scanned photos, letters, diaries, or require more information, please contact our Digitization Manager at scanning@ogs.on.ca

We also welcome photos and stories from all of our Canadian War Veterans, and as always, those popular Mystery Photos”.

The Chinese Labourers

There is an article on the Manitoba CBC site this morning that a Winnipeg student - Kelsey Omaga has received a Governor General's History Award.

She is a Grade 7 student at Holy Ghost School, and she wrote and illustrated The Chinese Labourers, a story told through the eyes of a Chinese worker in the 1880s.

You can read about her and the book at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-student-wins-governor-general-s-history-award-1.2431554

One Day Symposium on Scottish Genealogy Research

Plans are starting to come together for a one day symposium on Scottish Genealogy Research to be held Friday August 22, 2014 at the Spring Hill Suites by Marriott in Vaughn, Toronto. They have four speakers confirmed, and each one will speak on a different aspect of Scottish Genealogy Research.

In addition, plans are being made to have a marketplace with a combination of genealogy vendors, clan representatives and hopefully a couple of Scottish vendors. More on this as this part of the day gets confirmed.

The topics will be Basic Scottish Research by John Thomson, DNA by Linda Reid, Scot Irish by Ruth Blair, and Tracking our Scots Emigrant Ancestors by Christine Woodcock.

Registration will open in February for the Scottish SIG Symposium. Hotel reservations are on a first come, first serve basis and are open now. More information will be sent to the SIG members on the market place and pricing details have been confirmed. The Symposium will be open to the public, with a reduced registration fee for OGS members.

For more information, please contact Christine Woodcock at genealogytoursofscotland@gmail.com

The passing of Bob Crawford of the OGS

Late yesterday, I received the sad news of the passing of Bob Crawford of the OGS on November the 13th.

Bob was the Past-President of OGS, having served in that role from 2006-2008, as well as Past-President of the Halton-Peel Branch. He was also the Corporate Secretary since 2010.

Services will be held at the Jones Funeral Home in Georgetown, Ontario, 11582 Trafalgar Road, Georgetown, ON L7G 4Y5 Phone: 905-877-3631

Viewings are scheduled for Friday November 15, 2013, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm.

Funeral Services will be held Saturday November 16, 2013 at 2:30 pm.

Expressions of sympathy may be sent to the OGS Provincial Office to be forwarded to Bob's family.

I have known and worked with Bob since 2005 in my capacity as editor of Newsleaf, and Families. He was always most helpful, and he had a vast knowledge of the daily workings of the OGS. We are all appreciative his service in the work that he did in the preservation of cemeteries in the province.

He will be missed.

Two workshops at the Windsor Public Library

The Central Branch of the Windsor Public Library in Windsor, Ontario invite people who have an interest in family history at two workshops presented by Tom Vajdik, WPL Genealogy and Local History Librarian.

The two workshops are –

Introduction to Genealogy will take place at 7:00 pm on Monday, October 28 in WPL’s Fred Israel Auditorium (lower level of Central Branch, 850 Ouellette Avenue) This workshop will be an introduction to the methodology and cover the basics of genealogy as well as offer resources that assist in learning to trace your family history.

Genealogy on the Internet will be offered at 7:00 pm on Monday, November 18, in WPL’s Computer Lab (main floor near Dufferin Entrance at Central Branch, 850 Ouellette Avenue). This workshop will examine the many free web sites devoted to genealogy.

“At Windsor Public Library, we have noticed there’s been a resurgence in people’s desire to know their ancestors as people and learn more about their roots,” says Vajdik. “People visit us from far and wide to avail themselves of our resources. Solving puzzles and being the Sherlock Holmes of their own family stories satisfies a desire to tie their past to their present. Windsor Public Library is pleased to offer these genealogy workshops. All are welcome to attend and there is no fee to register.”

For more information and to register for either of these free workshops, please call 519-255-6770, ext. 4434 or email tvajdik@windsorpubliclibrary.com.  

Please register early for the November 18 workshop to ensure you get a seat!

Remembering the Fallen in Canada

A new app for the iPad has been created for Remembrance Day as an interactive experience, giving Canadians a way to remember those who have given their lives in service to our country.

Click on the red poppy (I clicked on the poppy on Halifax, and discovered the story of The Sisters of Mercy – the Canadian Nursing Sisters, part of the Canadian Army Medical Corps of the First World War), but they have graves from the Boer War, through the World Wars, Korean War, our Peacekeeping Missions and Afghanistan.

The website is http://www.thefallen.org/

Canada Remembers – 30 Ways to Remember

A fellow Canadian blogger has started a new blog called The Rising Village and it’s about her family – John and Lizzie McCluskey who settled in the St. Andrews East area of Quebec in the 1800s. Today the area is known as Saint-André-d'Argenteuil - just south of Lachute.

And she has started a new project to coincide with Canada Remembers – 30 Ways to Remember, and she is taking one person per day who is listed on the Honour Roll at Veterans Affairs Canada and is telling their story.

She is asking anyone who has more information on the people she has put on the blog to write her, and if you have information on her family to do the same – she would like to hear from you.

The address is http://therisingvillage.blogspot.ca/

Contribution of Aboriginal Peoples in the First World War (1914-1918)

Above is the Attestation Paper of Private Henry Norwest, a Métis from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, was one of the most famous snipers.

The Library and Archives Canada has sent this email to me so that I could alert my readers that they have a new post called the Contribution of Aboriginal Peoples in the First World War (1914-1918).

In part, the post says that “Aboriginal peoples have a long tradition of military service in Canada dating back several centuries. Although not legally required to participate in the war, an estimated 4,000 Status Indians, and an unrecorded number of Métis and Inuit enlisted voluntarily and served with the Canadian Corps in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF).

Almost all of the young men on many reserves enlisted for service. For example, approximately half of the eligible Mi’kmaq and Maliseet from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia volunteered for overseas duty. In other provinces, the number was even higher. In the small Saskatchewan community of File Hills, nearly all of the eligible men signed up to fight.

The exact number of Aboriginal soldiers who lost their lives during the First World War is not known. It is estimated that at least 300 men were killed during battles or died from illness, such as tuberculosis”.

Read the full blog post at http://thediscoverblog.com/tag/aboriginal/

Postscript: Am I correct in thinking that the LAC is changing the design of its website again? I am starting to get frustrated as I flip back and forth between the old-old site and the new site. Some records are still at the old-old site, and then some are on the new site, and …

Military Great Moments in Genealogy

The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) is having a special monthly meeting in honour of Remembrance Day on Saturday November 9th, when they will feature seven 15-minute talks.

The meeting will take place at Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa.

Come early and browse the Discovery Tables, and meet with family history experts.

9:00 to 9:15 am
Over the Top: Researching our First War Ancestors in Fifteen Minutes Glenn Wright

9:15 to 9:30 am
Finding a Family Member on the Western Front Jane Down

9:30 to 10:00 am
Discovery Tables — Military Memorabilia Helen Garson

10:00 to 10:15 am
BIFHSGO Monthly Business Meeting Glenn Wright

10:15 to 10:30 am
Sam Cromie: Canadian Private to British Officer Wendy Croome

10:30 to 10:45 am
A Family in Service Mark Lloyd

10:45 to 11:00 am
Slipping Backward: A Canadian Prisoner of War, 1915-18 Brian Watson

11:00 to 11:15 am
William Sterling Lamb (1894-1918): A Promising Life Cut Short Anne Sterling

11:15 to 11:30 am
What Did He Do for Armistice? By Brian Glenn

If you want to hear speakers Glenn Wright, and Anne Sterling as they are interviewed by Dave Cross about the subjects of their talks, go to http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=106


The BIFHSGO website is http://www.bifhsgo.ca

Discover your family’s hero this Remembrance Day,

Ancestry.ca is offering free access to their Canadian military records in honour of Remembrance Day.

They say that “In honour of Remembrance Day, Ancestry.ca, Canada’s leading family history website, is giving Canadians the chance to discover the military hero in their family by providing free access from November 7 to 12 to more than 4.4 million online military records from some of its most popular collections, some of which are available free for the first time.

Our Canadian Military records include details such as rank, home address, salary and more, and can connect your family to the front lines of Canada’s most historic wartime battles. With these records that date back to as early as 1710, you may follow an ancestor’s journey from enlistment, to their post overseas, to awards received and, in some cases, to their final resting place".

The records are

Canada, Military Honours and Award Citation Cards, 1900-1961, containing almost 70,000 records

Canada, Nominal Rolls and Paylists for the Volunteer Militia, 1857-1922, contains more than 1.6 million records

Canada, War Graves Registers: Circumstances of Casualty, 1914-1948, contains almost 30,000 records

Canada, CEF Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1919, contains over 56,000 records.

Canadians looking for information about their ancestors, or for those who want to start their family tree for free can visit www.ancestry.ca.

Those who want to explore the military heroes in their family tree can do so by visiting www.ancestry.ca/honouryourheros.