Loyalist Weekend in Shelburne Nova Scotia Sept 21-23

Stephen Davidson UE of my former hometown of Shelburne, Nova Scotia tells us that the Shelburne (Nova Scotia) Re-enactment Association will be hosting a living history/Loyalist history weekend from Friday, Sept. 21-23rd featuring guest speaker Todd Braisted.

The event begins with a wine and cheese meet and greet at the Shelburne County Museum from 7-9 pm. The remainder of the event gets underway at the Shelburne Regional High School on Saturday, September 22nd with sessions running from 9 - 4 pm and again on Sunday with sessions running from 10-5 pm.

Information sessions include: Bergen County 101, History of the 4th Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers, New Jersey Volunteer Material Culture, Who Do You Think They (men of the NJV) Were? Land Settlement and Heritage, military Drill sessions, Mannerisms and Deportment, Personal Development, Choosing Period Correct Fabric, Basic Minuet and English Country Dancing lessons.

Lunches and nutrition breaks are included. Registration for this event is $20. To register please contact Sam Brannen via Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Shelburne-County-Archives-Genealogical-Society/145848502093215, email at sambrannen@b-wauctions.com or by phone at 1.902.637.3422. Registration deadline is Sept. 18th. Some members of the association have offered rooms at their homes for out of town attendees. Please ask when registering. Period clothing is encouraged!

A separate event within the weekend will be the New Jersey Volunteers, 3rd Bt. Regimental dinner. This will take place at the Shelburne Lions Hall on the Saturday of the event. Cost of this event is $25 and registration is required by Sept. 15th. Please contact Mary Lee Gonzaga at 1.902.875.3291 and state meal preference - pork or chicken. 6 pm appetizers, and at 7 pm there will be dinner. Period dress please.

To go to the Shelburne County Archives & Genealogical Society, go to http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/shelburne.

New Website, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles

I have come across the following website, blogs, and newpaper articles this past week, and I thought you would be interested in them too -

Your Link to the Past www.yourlinktothepast.com $ A Professional Genealogy Research site that searches ancestors in Canada.

That’s Relative! http://thatsrelative.wordpress.com Krista Moore is back from an absence to writing her blog again, and this time, she is starting to explore Gills and Beatons surnames in Dominion Point, Exploits, Newfoundland.

Federal government calls for War of 1812 national monument
www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Federal+government+calls+1812+national+monument/7226903/story.html Chole Fedio from the Ottawa Citizen writes that is looks like the NCC is going to put up a monument on Parliament Hill in 2014.

Group tries to get Kingston Penitentiary heritage status www.ottawasun.com/2012/09/11/group-tries-to-get-kingston-penitentiary-heritage-status Peter Hendra writes in the Ottawa Sun that a group is being formed in Kingston (Ontario) to save the Kingston Penitentiary as an heritage site.

Digging through Stouffville's history www.yorkregion.com/opinion/columns/article/1501715--digging-through-stouffville-s-history Jim Mason, the editor of The Sun-Tribune of the York Region, writes about what Chris Burkholder found while renovating a house.

Culture Days in Canada

Culture Days will take place in Canada on September 28, 29, and 39th, and it is “A collaborative coast-to-coast-to-coast volunteer movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities for three days.”

There will be a special event in Ottawa on the weekend of September the 29th, and it will be Genealogy on the Internet.

A hands-on introduction to some of the most important online genealogical research sources. Internet experience is required, and will be presented by Genealogy Librarian, Diana Hall.

The events will be at the Ottawa Public Library - Main Library, and it will be Saturday, September 29, 2012 from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM. The library is at 120 Metcalfe, Ottawa, Ontario.

To see events all across Canada, go to www.culturedays.ca/en

The second event (not associated with the Culture Days) is that The Friends of The Beechwood Cemetery Foundation will be hosting a historical lecture on the early history of Beechwood and Ottawa, given by local historian Glenn Wright (the president of the British Isles Family History of Greater Ottawa) on Sunday, September 30, 2012.

The event will take place at Beechwood, the National Cemetery of Canada, 280 Beechwood Ave. The talk will begin at 2:00pm, and will be followed by light refreshments.

Space is limited, so please register by calling 613.741.9530 or emailing info@beechwoodcemetery.com

The website is at www.beechwoodcemetery.com

The Fall Edition of Anglo-Celtic Roots

The fall issue of the Anglo-Celtic Roots (Autumn issue), is out, and it is absolutely full of interesting articles.

For instance, the first article is called “Bound for Canada” by Andrew Frownd in which he recounts the letters from his grandmother (Augusta Mary Oates) that she wrote as she travelled across Canada to Saskatoon right before the Great War broke out. In this part of the journey, you follow her across the Atlantic Ocean to Montreal.

“The Rowe Family Bible – a Link to Their Newfoundland History” by Robert P. Woodland writes about his family from Somerset, England to Trinity, Newfoundland, and the fortunate discovery of a family Bible which helped him to do the family’s genealogy.

Betty Warburton writes about ”Searching for Uncle Percy’s Naval Records” , and by reading the article you get a very good idea of what a treasure trove members of the family can be – she discovered the information she needed to know from Uncle Percy’s grandson so that she could uncover his service record at the Library and Archives Canada.

The article by Helen Garson writes about “A Mystery Solved in South Africa” tells us that by researching in South Africa, she found her Watson ancestors, and Glenn Wright writes about the War of 1812 resources in “Discover the War of 1812: Websites, Archives and Books for the Discerning Researcher”.

As the postscript to this edition of Anglo-Celtic Roots, it should be noted the Glenn Wright has been re-elected president of BIFHSGO for another two year term. Congratulations, Glenn.

Go to www.bifhsgo.ca

Family History & Genealogy Seminar

Pamela Wile, the editor of the Nova Scotia Genealogist of the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia, writes to say that there are only a few seats left at the Family History & Genealogy Seminar being held by the DesBrisay Museum in Bridgewater. 

As a sponser of the event, GANS will present the following talks -

Every Gravestone Tells a Story - Deborah Trask

Historic Maps a Great Resource - Joan Dawson

Oral History - A Wealth of Information - Barb Cullen

Inter-Generational Research - Joan Parks-Hubley

Turn Your Research Into Artwork - Dawn Josey

The cost is $20.00 for the day, and includes refreshments and lunch.
DesBrisay Museum at 902.543.4033 for further information. They can accept payment by VISA or Mastercard over the phone.

The Seminar will be held from 8:45 am to 5:00 pm, and the day will wrap up with a walking tour of the Brookside Cemetery, a municipal heritage site.

The GANS website is at www.chebucto.ns.ca/recreation/GANS

What is a ‘Reasonably Exhaustive Search? A Webinar

Michael Hait, a very renowned, and respected genealogists from Delaware, gave a Webinar Wednesday (sponsored by Legacy Family Tree) in which he gave a lecture on doing an exhaustive evidence search in using the Genealogical Proof Standard to do genealogy.

Michael discussed what a “reasonably exhaustive search” is, why it is necessary, and how to conduct a search.

He gave a case study of his own family who lived in Stanford, Connecticut, and New York. This is where he used the Genealogical Proof Standard – was his ancestor born in Connecticut or New York.

See how he used “direct evidence” and “indirect evidence” to solve the problem.

He has put three articles on his website that you may like to read http://michaelhait.wordpress.com  

•“How to conduct a ‘reasonably exhaustive search’ for relevant records”

•“Finding what you are not looking for”

•“Does a ‘reasonably exhaustive search’ include online family trees?”

This was the 83rd Webinar that they have given at Legacy Family Tree website. They have been giving them for 2 years, and they had 1,500 participants this time on Wednesday.

I encourage you to take part in these Webinars. He has some of the most important genealogists in the world who participate. They are very informative, and they are FREE!

Go to www.legacyfamilytree.com/webinars

New Digital Family History Books

An update to the list of digital books that FamilySearh.org is putting online has just been released.

They have added 1,200 family history books to the list reports Nathan W. Murphy in his blog, during the month of July. These books are now accessible to everyone for free at Family History Books.

In addition to 700+ family genealogies, right now they have United States and Canada Books, British Isles Books, Compiled Genealogy Books, and International Books.

I checked and there are book on Alberta, and on the Red River Settlement in the United States and Canada Books section.

Go to their website at https://familysearch.org/blog/en/digital-family-history-b