Sunday, March 31, 2013

CANADIAN Newspaper Articles Every Monday Morning

Don’t forget to check my blog every Monday morning for my New/Updated CANADIAN Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles.

This week I have put Pictures and Story of the Week on the 96th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, story of a couple who were on their way to a Methodist revival meeting and died in a boating accident, and a Canadian blogger, Lynn Palermo, who has written and published a FREE e-book on writing family history.

So don’t miss the New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles blog on Monday April 1st.

It has been a regular blog since April 23rd, 2012.

Elizabeth

Happy Easter!


Spring is starting to remove all of the snow we had this winter, it is starting to turn warmer, and the genealogical conference season is starting again in Canada. Is there any better time than Spring?

May you have a lovely day, and may all of our thoughts turn to great times as we meet old friends at meeting and conferences, and discover new records over the coming months!

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Jill Ball and Dennis Brimhall of FamilySearch at RootsTech 2013


 
Whew! I think that I have read every blog, and viewed every video, available on RootsTech 2013!

Now I would like to say something about Australian Jill Ball's interviews for her blog, Geniaus.

She did over a dozen interviews with everyone from Alan Phillips and Alona Tester of Unlock the Past from Australia, to genealogist Else Churchill from The Society of Genealogists and Alec Tritton, Chairman of The Halsted Trust from London,  England, and so on. I especially liked the interview she did with Dennis Brimhall, CEO of FamilySearch.

During the interview, he said that they are always looking for indexers at FamilySearch. Right nw, they have 170,000 people, but they are always looking for more.

And on the emphasis of stories at this year's conference, Brimhall said that we, as genealogists, need to be "more than just dates": we need to be seen by the public as the tellers of stories about our families. This is the way to bring young people into the family search fields - tell the stories about their families.

So listen to the interviews, and see if you agree with me in saying that the people were interesting, and had lots of interesting things to say.

If you wish to see the Brimhall interview, go to her post entitled, "What an Opportunity", at http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2013/03/what-opportunity.html

Friday, March 29, 2013

AGM meeting of the PEIGS

The public is invited to the Annual General Meeting of the Prince Edward Island Genealogical Society on Saturday April 13 at 2:00 p.m. at Beaconsfield's Carriage House, located at the corner of Kent and West Streets in Charlottetown.

The guest speaker will be David Hooper, co-chair of the 2009 PEI Coles Reunion and descendant of George Coles who emigrated to PEI about 1809. His topic is Coles: Brash, Outspoken and Progressive, 200 years of a PEI family.

Questions and discussion will follow the presentation.

Information on the activities of the PEI Genealogical Society will be available to all, as will memberships for anyone wishing to renew or support the society by joining for a first time. Admission is Free.

For more information email fredchorne@gmail.com, ot go to www.peigs.ca

No Easter Databases

I have checked with Ancestry.ca, and there isn't any free access to their historical databases this weekend for the Easter holiday.

However, on their Facebook page, they do tell us that they still have available their Family Tree Sweepstakes.

If you haven't entered yet, you can start here at www.facebook.com/Ancestry.ca

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Spring Seminar Series - New Brunswick Genealogical Society

In April, the New Brunswick Genealogical Society is holding three Spring Seminars on the calendar, and they are –

Exploring the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick Website

On Saturday, April 13th, there will be a meeting at 10:00 am to 12:00 am at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, 23 Dineen Drive (UNB Campus) Fredericton, NB. The talk will be presented by Mary-Ellen Badeau. 

The Loyalist Collection (Harriet Irving Library UNB)

On Saturday, April 20th, there will be a meeting from 10:00 am to 12:00 am at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, 23 Dineen Drive (UNB Campus) Fredericton, NB, and it will be presented by Kathryn Hilder.

New Brunswick Court Records

On Saturday, April 27th, there will be a meeting from 10:00 am to 12:00 am at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, 23 Dineen Drive (UNB Campus) Fredericton, NB, and the talk will be given by Joanna Aiton-Kerr.

There is no registration fee for this seminar. There will be a donation basket in the room for donations to the Associates of the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.

Bring your own lunch. Research time in the afternoon.

To read about other programs available in April, go to www.nbgs.ca/events.php

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Bytown/Ottawa Settlers in the 1800s

Jim Stanzell, from the Ottawa Branch of the OGS, says today that he will post the settlers of three distinct settlements in the Ottawa area during the 1800s on the Ottawa Branch blogsite .

The settlements are –

1. Hull, Quebec settled by Philemon Wright in 1800

2. Richmond Military Settlement, mainly Goulbourn Twp, Richmond, Stittsville and Ashton area, which started in the fall of 1818 and consisted mainly of soldiers of the 99th/100th Reg't

3. Rideau Canal settlement started when Lt/Col John By came to the area [eventually Bytown ] in 1826/1827 to build the Rideau Canal

He says that he will post on alternate Wednesdays between visits to Ottawa City Archives where he will gather info/data to post and rotate thru the three settlements above.

In 2 weeks time, on the 10 Apr 2013, there will be data/info on Hull and Philemon Wright settlers.

To read the post, go to  http://ogsottawa.blogspot.com/2013/03/bytownottawa-settlers.html

Manitoba Genealogical Society is going to have online databases

The MGS recently made an announcement that they are planning to put online indexes of cemeteries, vital records information etc and it will be available to members and non-members alike.  The records will be on a pay-for-view basis.

They say that they will have indexes of historical records that even Ancestry.ca does not have!

Also, some time ago, I read that the Manitoba Genealogical Society was offering a discount on membership fees if you were also a member of the Ontario Genealogical Society and/or the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society.

I had an inquiry into the society about the amount of the discount before I reported it to my readers, and now I have the answer - the discount is $5.00 CDN.

Thank to the MGS for letting us know of their plans for 2013, and beyond. This sounds exciting, and I look forward to it as I have the family of Rev. Joseph Hogg from Nova Scotia in Manitoba at the turn of the 20th century.

To go to their website, go to www.mbgenealogy.com

2013 AGS Conference

The Alberta Genealogical Society invites you to join them in celebrating their 40th Anniversary Conference “Same Roots, Different Branches” at the Chateau Louis Conference Centre, Edmonton, Alberta on 20 & 21 April 2013.

The conference committee have the pleasure of bringing the most electrifying and diverse international, regional and local speakers to maximize your conference experience.

The lineup of presenters include:

Stephen Young

Lisa Louise Cooke

Dave Obee

Pat Ryan

Deanna Bullock

Lyn Meehan

John Althouse

Alison Freake

Vernon R. Wishart

The conference opens with Stephen C. Young, a project manager with FamilySearch. His topic will be FamilySearch: Genealogy at Your Fingertips. Stephen will explore features and services on FamilySearch, WIKI that provides valuable research guidance, and information about indexing—an opportunity to “pay-it-forward”.

Fot those who are new to genealogy, there will be A Beginner’s Track is recommended for those just starting, however all participants at any level are more than welcome to attend.

Numerous door prizes, vendor merchandise and publications from AGS Branches will be for sale. And attendees have the privilege of pre-conference tours to Edmonton’s diverse specialized libraries and archives on Friday, 19 April 2013.

Registrations are now being accepted at www.abgensoc.ca/events.html#agsconf

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Early bird special will end soon!


Ealy bird registration will end on March 31st, 2013 at the OGS Conference in Oshawa this year.

For all other questions, please email Anne Delong, Conference Chair, at conference2013@ogs.on.ca and she will either answer your question or direct you to someone who can.

To read all about the conference, go to www.ogs.on.ca/conference2013

Nova Scotia Genealogy Website Available in French

The website with nearly a million possibilities for people to search for their Nova Scotia roots is now available in French.

The Historical Vital Statistics website, maintained by the Nova Scotia Archives, has a searchable database containing nearly one million personal names. Each is linked to a corresponding birth, death or marriage registration, digitized and available online. The earliest records date from the mid-1700s and the most recent from the 1960s.

"One of the ways the province is making life better for Acadian and francophone families is by creating more access to bilingual services online," said Communities Culture and Heritage Minister Leonard Preyra. "The Historical Vital Statistics website is an invaluable genealogical tool for Nova Scotians to explore our family history and learn more about our culture and heritage."

The website is the only one of its kind in Canada that people can browse for records about their genealogy free of charge. The website is a popular destination for family history researchers and community historians from Nova Scotia and around the world.

To search for records on the Historical Vital Statistics website go to www.novascotiagenealogy.com. People can also purchase electronic or paper copies of the documents by ordering online and paying via secure credit card transaction.

The Historical Vital Statistics website includes records transferred from Vital Statistics after 100 years for births, 50 years for deaths and 75 years for marriages.

Monday, March 25, 2013

The United Church of Canada’s Toronto Archives Is Moving

This is a press release that was released on their website on March 6, 2013, and may be of interest to my readers -

Toronto: The United Church of Canada announced today that its Toronto-based archives will be moving this summer from its current location at the United Church’s national office in west-end Toronto to the Toronto Christian Resource Centre in the Regent Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto.

In announcing the decision on the new location for the archives, Nora Sanders, General Secretary of the General Council, said, “I am pleased that this move will mean not only that we will be saving a considerable amount of money but also that as a tenant we will be financially supporting a local United Church ministry.”

Sanders says that in addition to being able to house the United Church’s archival collection now located at the General Council Office at 3250 Bloor Street West in Toronto, the new location at 40 Oak Street offers more than enough space to accommodate records that are currently stored off-site at an archival facility.

She explains the decision to move the archives ahead of the anticipated relocation of the General Council Office to Bloor Street United Church in 2018 was an opportunity that made financial sense for all parties to the five-year lease agreement.

The United Church of Canada supports a network of archives situated in eight different locations throughout Canada. The archives in Toronto manages the records of the General Council and the Central Ontario Conference records of Bay of Quinte, London, Hamilton, Manitou, and Toronto Conferences and their respective presbyteries and pastoral charges. The church’s archives outside of Ontario are not affected by the move.

The United Church’s Toronto archives moved to its current location in 2008, after more than 50 years on the campus of the University of Toronto’s Victoria University. No decision has been made about whether the Archives will move again when the General Council Office relocates to Bloor Street United Church.

Nichole Vonk, General Council Archivist, will oversee the monumental task of moving close to 20,000 boxes of records to the new site. The church will be contracting specialized movers, the new location will meet the institutional standards set by the Canadian Council of Archives, and all the records will continue to be administered by professional staff.

Although not located directly on a subway line, the Archives’ new location at 40 Oak Street is easily accessible by public transit, will have on-site parking, and is closer to the United Church’s theological school at the University of Toronto.

While planning and preparations are underway to move the collection from its current location,

•the Archives will remain open during regular public hours until June 6, 2013.

•the Archives will not receive any records deposits after April 30, 2013. Records can be donated to the Archives when it reopens in September 2013.

•the Archives will be closed to all researchers June 10–September 15, 2013, reopening in the new location September 16, 2013.

•the Archives will continue to provide reference service for certificates or legal requests while it is closed to the public.

Vonk emphasizes that, throughout the transition, the church remains committed to providing continued uninterrupted, open access to its archival records related to residential schools for the purposes of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

For up-to-date information about The United Church of Canada’s archival programs and on the move, see the Archives webpage. Questions and concerns about the move should be directed to Nichole Vonk, General Council Archivist.

The archival website is at www.united-church.ca/local/archives/on

New/Updated CANADIAN Websites, Blogs, Facebook, and Newspaper Articles - 25 March 2013

I have come across the following Canadian websites, blogs, Facebook, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too –

Websites

There were no new/improved websites this past week.

Blog

If you want to get the Canadian viewpoint of RootsTech 2013, John D. Reid was there and reported on the events is his blog Anglo Cektic Connections at
www.anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com

And Diane Rodger was there also, and you can check her blog at CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt' at http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/03/canadagenealogy-at-rootstech-2013.html

Facebook - Video – You Tube

Have you been to DearMrytle Facebook page yet, and seen her Genealogy Community? Lots of Canadians listen every Monday to DearMyrt.

Today at noontime (Eastern), she will have her weekly meet-up, and if you want to be up-to-date on genealogy happening around the world, she will have it. As she says, it is “A newsy, "across Myrt's desk" event, exploring all types of genealogy research techniques, challenges, technology and such”.

Go to her Facebook page to catch up on the latest news, www.facebook.com/DearMYRTLE, and her YouTune page to hear her Monday at noon (Eastern) www.youtube.com/user/DearMYRTLE

Newspaper Articles

Public Libraries Under The Gun: Long-time neglect is catching up, say advocates
http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/blog/robert-devet/16796 Read how the libraries in rural Nova Scotia are struggling to maintain service to sparse and dwindling populations.

Rare Manitoba photos of Louis Riel found in Aus www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2013/03/08/mb-rare-photos-louis-riel-austrialia-manitoba.html Rare, historic photographs of Louis Riel and Manitoba, taken in the 1860s and 1870s, were found amongst civil war memorabilia at a recent auction in Australia!

Discovering Sudbury's history http://www.thesudburystar.com/2013/03/23/ent--discovering-sudburys-history Nancy Vaillancourt of the OGS Sudbury Branch has written a column about the town’s history.

Rosa Harris-Adler: Listen carefully to heed call of long-gone forebears www.timescolonist.com/life/rosa-harris-adler-listen-carefully-to-heed-call-of-long-gone-forebears-1.96655 Learn how the writer sees her grandmother in the story she tells of her life.

Pictures and Story of the Week

The story this week has been RootsTech 2013 in Salt Lake City.

You can re-visit RootsTech and watch Live Streaming of some of the talks that were given at the conference. Go to www.RootsTech.org

You can see all three Keynote addresses, and two panel discussion session that I particularly liked which were The Future of Genealogy with Thomas MacEntee and panel, and The Genealogists Gadget Bag - Jill Ball and panel.

Both of these sessions really honed in on the “genealogy community” by discussing what genealogists would be looking for over the next five years (more records, ‘how-to-do’ websites, more crowd sourcing projects), and Jill Ball and her crew gave a good run through of what the genealogists carries with them when they go to cemeteries, reunions, and meetings.

The next conference will be held February 6, 7, and 8th, 2014 in Salt Lake City.

Look for more articles next Monday April 1st.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

CANADIAN Newspaper Articles Every Monday

Don’t forget to check my blog every Monday morning for my New/Updated CANADIAN Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles.

This week in the section Pictures and Story of the Week, I have put RootsTech 2013. So be sure to read the Canadian happenings at RootsTech.

So don’t miss the New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles blog on Monday March 25th.

It has been a regular blog since April 23, 2012.

Elizabeth

The Nova Scotia Genealogist Fall 2012 Issue




This will probably be the last printed The Novas Scotia Genealogist, as they are going to electronic newsletter shortly.

In this issue, they have Immigrants and Newcomers Married at St Johns Church, Lunenburg, 1817-1851 by Terry Punch. The church was founded in 1753, and is an Anglican Church.

There have been additions to the 42 marriages that were put on index cards by Heather Long. The additions include children who were baptised in the church.

Andrew White the Planter – an Update by W. Warner to an article submitted in 2011, in which he discussed the problem between Andrew White of Sudbury, Massachusetts and Andrew White of Marshfield, Massachusetts. Who was the Planter in Nova Scotia?

The writer disproves through the Massachusetts Archives that Andrew White of Marshfield was not the Planter who settled in the Annapolis Valley.

The third article in the newsletter is The Hillcrest Mine Disaster and the Nova Scotia Connection by M. Bole .

The mining disaster occurred in Hillcrest, Alberta, and 189 miners were killed in 1914. Twenty-three miners were from Nova Scotia and the author gives a brief history of each of the minters.

The names of the miners were –

BARBER, James (Barbour)

BAINBRIDGE, Sidney H.

BINGHAM, Frederick Seymour

EMERY, David

GREY, James F.

HOOD, John

HUNTER, Hugh

JOHNSTON, Alfred and William

McISAAC, Roderick

McKAY, Angus H.

McKINNON, John B.

McKINNPON, Stephen

McNEIL, Pius

McQUARRIE, John A.

MEGENCY, Nicholas (Megeney)

MOORHOUSE, Frederick (Moorehouse, Muirhouse)

NEATH, William Henry

QUIGLEY, James S.

QUIGLEY, Thomas

ROBERTSON, George

WALKER, John (Donald John)

WALLACE, Rod

The writer has three other name of miners who may hace spent time in Nova Scotia, and they are Frank Bostock, Prosper Days, John Pearson, and she needs information on the following – August Fougere, William Miller, and William G. Miller.

The website for GANS is http://www.NovaScotiaAncestors.ca

Saturday, March 23, 2013

FamilySearch Indexing Update – Who will index or arbitrate the billionth record?

Here is a message from FamilySearch -

Since the launch of FamilySearch indexing in September of 2006, over 984 million records have been indexed and arbitrated! The advances of technology and the dedication of our volunteers have increased the speed with which we can process and deliver records for publication. We are so close to reaching one billion records indexed and arbitrated! Join us in a global effort to reach this goal. Who will be the one to index or arbitrate the billionth record? Will it be you? Start indexing today!

Special prizes will be given to the indexers and arbitrator of the billionth record.

To view a list of currently available indexing projects, along with their record language and completion percentage, visit the FamilySearch indexing updates at www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/FamilySearch_Indexing_Updates. To learn more about individual projects, view the FamilySearch projects page at https://indexing.familysearch.org/projtab/current_projects.jsf

Anglo-Celtic Connections Spring 2013 Issue

Once again, the BIFHSGO’s journal is full of news about the society, and the articles in this issue are of interest to me because two of them take place in Halifax, Nova Scotia, my home city and province.

The first article is by Faye Kert and is entitled Prize-making in the War of 1812, Relatively Speaking.

It concerns the privateers who lurked around the Nova Scotia coast to catch ships that plied cargo and people (immigrants) back and forth to England. And one of the ships that was caught in the war was the Magnet on their way from Ireland to New York, and it was a ship full of Irish immigrants.

The ship was captured, and had to put into Halifax, where it was auctioned in April 1813.

It so happen that a person in Nova Scotia, Amanda Lightbody, who saw Faye’s notice about the talk that she gave at BIFHSGO’s monthly meeting on exactly the same topic that was covered in Spring edition of Anglo-Celtic Roots. Amanda got in contact with BIFHSGO, and another article was born - The Search for James Lighbody and the Magnet’s Passesger List.

She couldn’t find any information on the ship Magnet until she saw the BIFHSGO notice on the website, and then it all fell into place.

James Lightbody, one of the 100 immigrants, who landed in Halifax, spent most of his time between Maine and Nova Scotia, but other members lived in the Truro area of the province.

The remainder of journal include In Search of Hugh by Christine Woodcock, and Genealogy: the Motivations, the Investments, the Rewards by Leighann Neilson and D.A. Muise.

To go to BIFHSGO, click on to the www.bifhsgo.ca

Friday, March 22, 2013

WANT TO WIN A "GLEANINGS"?

To celebrate the official return of Spring, Malcolm and Chris Moody of Archive CD Books Canada, are running a competition for you to win one of five Gleanings that the Archive CD Books Canada are going to give away.

All you have to do is make your way to their Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/ArchiveCDBooksCanada “LIKE” their page, scroll down to their posting announcing this competition and “LIKE” that posting, and you are entered. They will let the competition run for a week and on the 28th of March they will message the winners via. Facebook telling them how to collect the prize.
The easiest way to review all of their Gleanings is to go to their web site www.archivecdbooks.ca/acdbcanada.html and navigate to the “Search Page”.

In the “Product Number” slot enter “CAG” (without the parenthesis), click on “Search” and you will get a list of the almost 100 titles they have available. Clicking on the “More” button to the right of each entry will take you to the page for that Gleaning in their catalogue so you can read more about it. Make a note of your selection so you can tell them which one you have chosen when you win.

Gleanings are a downloadable files containing a complete digital (PDF) image of a short publication, or an extract from a longer one, which contains some useful information about subjects of value to genealogists and historians. By eliminating the “transport media” (the CD) they can offer these valuable “snippets” at affordable prices and deliver them almost immediately, directly to your computer.

Go to www.archivecdbooks.ca/acdbcanada.html

RootsTech Is Growing!

FamilySearch has just announced that the RootsTech  conference is expanding this fall into 17 centres in 16 countries.

And the year following that, they will hold 600 RootsTech Conferences around the world – it is going global!

They expect 120,00 people to attend these conferences.

You can go to RootsTech 2013 at www.rootstech.org

Thursday, March 21, 2013

New Logo for FamilySearch

It looks like there is going to be a 'new look' for FamilySearch, with a new logo and landing page to be debuted in April of 2013.

The news of this happening come from DearMyrtle, having witnessed its unveiling at a supper the other night at RootsTech 2013.

Pictures from the people who attended the dinner is on her Facebook page at https://plus.google.com/s/%23RootsTech

Thanks, DearMyrtle!

RootsTech 2013 – Live Streaming Day 3




March the 23rd will be the last day of Live Streaming of the RootsTech 2013 Conference.

It is reported that there are 6,800+ people who have registered for the conference- which starts today! And that doesn’t count ‘walk ins’. So it should be a well attended conference.

Here is the schedule for Saturday –

Saturday    

10:30 AM Eastern  Keynote - David Pogue and Gilad Japhet

11:45 AM Eastern Using Technology to Solve Research Problems - Karen Clifford

1:00 AM Eastern Digital Storytelling: More than Bullet Points - Denise Olson

Join the conversation at #RootsTech

Like on Facebook Follow @RootstechConf on Twitter

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Ancestry UPDATE: Find A Grave Index




Find A Grave has been updated, and now has 5,012, 693 records online. Find A Grave was started a few years ago, and as the website says its mission “is to find, record and present final disposition information from around the world as a virtual cemetery experience”.
    
If you want to view the original data, go to Find A Grave at www.findagrave.com

          

RootsTeck 2013: Live Streaming Schedule Day 2



 
By now, you will understand that I will watch all of the Streaming Video sessions,  and here is the schedule for Friday -  

Friday 22 March 2013       

10:30 AM Eastern  Keynote - Jyl Pattee and Tim Sullivan

11:45 AM  Eastern Researching Ancestors Online - Laura Prescott

1:00 AM Eastern FamilySearch Family Tree - Ron Tanner

3:45 PM Eastern Google Search… and Beyond - Dave Barney

4:00 PM Eastern From Paper Piles to Digital Files - Valerie Elkins

And Pat Richley-Erickson  of  DearMYRTLE blog fame is going to be a roving reporter at RootsTech.

Go to DearMYRTLE Live! at RootsTech 2013, and check her ‘schedule’.


RootsTech 2013 is at www.RootsTech.org