War of 1812 Issue of OGS' Families

Cover page from the November 2012 issue of Families, the journal of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) www.ogs.on.ca

As most of you know, this year is the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, which involved British, Canadian, American, Black, and Aboriginal forces, as well as both Army and Navy personnel, in both Canada and the United States.

The papers in this issue include –

• Six Degrees of Separation from the War of 1812 by Fred Blair

• QMSSgt Joseph Legare/Legary: War of 1812 Veteran by Bill Amell

• The War of 1812 and Its Influence of North Simcoe County by Gwen Patterson 

In fact, Fred Blair of the OGS has a resource on the Resources webpage of the OGS website at www.ogs.on.ca/services/1812-militia.php. Here, he talks about “Ontario Records and Resources - War of 1812 Documents”, and has published such transcriptions as the 2nd Regiment of York Militia – Payroll, and the 2nd Regiment of York Militia and 5th Regiment of Lincoln Militia - Flank Companies and Others.

You may contact him at fredblairorillia@hotmail.com

You can also check the name of your War of 1812 ancestor on The Ontario Name Index (TONI) of the OGS. It is upgraded monthly, and may reach as high as fifty million entries when it is finished. Note that this is an index – it does not contain the information; it just tells you where to find the information.

The website for TONI is www.ogs.on.ca/integrated/toni_database1.php

The Borrow/Buy button on the website may take you to a screen which gives you purchase options - to buy the whole book of cemetery transcripts through the e-Store, or to buy that particular tombstone transcription  through Pay-Per-View (PPV).  

Question of the Day: The York Regiment recruited young men of a certain age to be in the regiment. Between what ages were the recruits mustered? Send your answer to Elizabeth at genealogycanada@aol.com by midnight, Eastern Standard Time. Please put “booklet” in the title, and remember to submit your full name and postal address. A winner will be chosen by random draw from every eligible entry received.

For details on the contest and the booklet prize—a research guide on both sides of the War of 1812 entitled The War of 1812: Canada and the United States—please visit http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2012/11/one-booklet-to-be-won-every-day-during.html

Good luck with the draw, and happy researching!

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

Animals in War

 Animals in War - http://veterans.gc.ca/eng/gallery-index/gallery/477

 http://aiwdedication.ca/news

Animals—such as mules who carried artillery; carrier pigeons who delivered messages; horses who hauled field guns; and dogs who worked as medical assistants, mine detectors, and in search and rescue—have always served in wars, and they had a monument dedicated to them on November 3rd in Confederation Park in Ottawa, Ontario. Dogs are still used today by the Canadian Armed Forces.

For more information, please go to the Animals in War Dedication Project website at http://aiwdedication.ca. Laureen Harper, wife of the Canadian prime minister, The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, is the Project's Honourary Patron. Both Mr. and Mrs. Harper are well-known animal lovers.

New Monument Honours War Contributions of Animals - http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/new-monument-honours-war-contributions-of-animals-1.1023339 CTV Ottawa’s Natalie Duddridge covered the dedication on Nov 3rd.

Mascots and Pets - www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/guerre/mascots-pets-e.aspx The Canadian War Museum has a short history on mascots and pets that Canadian soldiers had in the wars that they fought.

At the end of Valiant, an animated family movie about carrier pigeons in the Second World War, a list of recipients of animals who have won a Dickin Medal for wartime service is shown. Essentially, the Dickin Medal is the equivalent of the Victoria Cross Medal, but for animals, and it has been awarded to pigeons, horses, dogs, and a cat.

There is a Canadian connection to one of the recipients, and it refers to a pigeon named Beach Comber (Pigeon - NPS.41.NS.4230, Date of Award: 6 March 1944) “For bringing the first news to this country of the landing at Dieppe, under hazardous conditions in September, 1942, while serving with the Canadian Army.”

For more on the Dickin Medals, including a list of the animals and their citations for bravery, please visit www.pdsa.org.uk/about-us/animal-bravery-awards. A civilian equivalent, the PDSA Gold Medal, is also available.

Question of the Day: Winnie the Pooh, one of the most famous of animal mascots, was a young Canadian black bear cub that travelled overseas with an army unit in the First World War. What was his real name? Send your answer to Elizabeth at genealogycanada@aol.com by midnight, Eastern Standard Time. Please put “booklet” in the title, and remember to submit your full name and postal address. A winner will be chosen by random draw from every eligible entry received.

For details on the contest and the booklet prize—a research guide on both sides of the War of 1812 entitled The War of 1812: Canada and the United States—please visit http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2012/11/one-booklet-to-be-won-every-day-during.html.

Good luck with the draw, and happy researching!

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

Article for Veterans' Week on Geneabloggers

If you have Canadian or American ancestors, you will be interested in my article on GeneaBloggers called “Canadians in the American Civil War" at www.geneabloggers.com/canadians-american-civil-war.

In part, I discuss lists of people who  went to the United States to fight on both sides of the war – with the Union and Confederate troops.

I hope to write an article every two weeks, concentrating on Canadian genealogy and the cross-migration between Canada and the United States.

Library and Archives Canada has published a blog post, “From Enlistment to Burial Records: The Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First World War”, and in it, they discuss how to use their finding aids, and offer research tips. For example, you can find how to access attestation (enlistment) papers, war diaries, service files, and published histories.

A new LAC Podcast Episode called, “Lest We Forget: Guide to Sources Relating to Units of the CEF”, is now available online at http://thediscoverblog.com/2012/11/06/from-enlistment-to-burial-records-the-canadian-expeditionary-force-in-the-first-world-war.


Question of the Day: How many Canadian received the American Medal of Honor? Send your answer to Elizabeth at genealogycanada@aol.com by midnight, Eastern Standard Time. Please put “booklet” in the title, and remember to submit your full name and postal address. A winner will be chosen by random draw from every eligible entry received.

For details on the contest and the booklet prize—a research guide on both sides of the War of 1812 entitled The War of 1812: Canada and the United States—please visit http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2012/11/one-booklet-to-be-won-every-day-during.html.

Good luck with the draw, and happy researching!


© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

Canadian Museum of War Finally Has Victoria Cross Medals

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8d/ValourRoadMonument.jpg/800px-ValourRoadMonument.jpg

(Source: Photo taken by Gabriel Hurley (Munchkinguy) on 11 November, 2011). 

Valour Road (a west-end street in Winnipeg, Manitoba) was originally known as Pine Street, and three men from the 700 block of the street—Corporal Leo Clarke, Sergeant-Major Frederick William Hall, and Lieutenant Robert Shankland—all received Victoria Cross Medals as a result of the First World War.

Recently, the Canadian War Museum received all three medals, and they are on display at the museum. They will be on loan to Manitoba in 2014 when Canada commemorates the 100th  Anniversary of the beginning of the First World War.

The Valour Road Website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valour_Road gives a short history of Valour Road.

Valour Road Victoria Cross Medals Find New Home at War Museum - www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Valour-Road-Victoria-Cross-medals-find-new-home-at-war-museum-177329951.html The online edition of the Winnipeg Free Press reports that the collection was completed with the recent acquisition of the medal awarded in 1915 to Company Sergeant-Major Frederick William Hall.

War Brides of the First World War - Annette Fulford has a very good blog on the Canadian War Brides of the First World War at ww1warbrides.blogspot.com. As she says, “This web page was created to promote and preserve the history of the war brides who made Canada their home during this era”.

By reading the information, I learned where many English women came to Canada after the First World War, which I never knew about before seeing this website.

Question of the Day: In what year was the name of Valour Road given to Pine Street in Winnipeg? Send your answer to Elizabeth at genealogycanada@aol.com by midnight, Eastern Standard Time. Please put “booklet” in the title, and remember to submit your full name and postal address. A winner will be chosen by random draw from every eligible entry received.

For details on the contest and the booklet prize—a research guide on both sides of the War of 1812 entitled The War of 1812: Canada and the United States—please visit http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2012/11/one-booklet-to-be-won-every-day-during.html.

Good luck with the draw, and happy researching!

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

The Great War Album

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/6813487822/in/set-72157629317219955

Canadians searching captured German trenches for hiding Germans at Vimy Ridge, during the Battle of Vimy Ridge (Source: William Ivor Castle. Canada. Dept. of National Defence. Library and Archives Canada, PA-001129)

Help Canada's History Magazine ensure that Canada's First World War generation is never forgotten, Send in scanned copies of photos, letters. or other ephemera from the period of 1914 to 1918. If you cannot scan the photos, letters, or other documents, then prints of original photos, or good quality photocopies of letters and ephemera, will suffice.

They are planning to publish a book in 2014 called The Great War Album, and they will accept submissions until August 2013.

Images that are not included in the book will be published online at CanadasHistory.ca. All of those who contributed to the book will have their name entered into a draw for a free, signed copy of The Great War Album, and there will be three winners.

To read about the project, go to
www.canadashistory.ca/Magazine/The-Great-War-Album.aspx

The homepage of the Canada History Magazine is at www.canadashistory.ca/Magazine.aspx

Question of the Day: In 2010, Canada’s History Magazine underwent a name change. What was its former name?

Send your answer to Elizabeth at genealogycanada@aol.com by midnight, Eastern Standard Time. Please put “booklet” in the title, and remember to submit your full name and postal address. A winner of the will be chosen by random draw from every eligible entry received.

For details on the contest and the booklet prize—a research guide on both sides of the War of 1812 entitled The War of 1812: Canada and the United States—please visit http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2012/11/one-booklet-to-be-won-every-day-during.html

Good luck with the draw, and happy researching!

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles – 05 November 2012

In keeping with Veterans’ Week 2012, here are some military websites, blogs, and newspaper articles that I have come across that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too –

New Historical Records Offer Glimpse Into The Lives Of Canada’s Military Heroes Ancestry.ca
      A press release received by GenealogyCanada says, “Ancestry.ca announces more than 1.5 million new historical Canadian military records spanning more than 100 years.
      “Remembrance Day is such an emotional time for Canadians to reflect on the people who made the brave and often ultimate sacrifice for this nation and its ideals,” says Lesley Anderson, a genealogist and Content Manager at Ancestry.ca. “We are so happy and proud to be able to provide a forum for Canadians to discover more details about their military ancestors and the lives they lived through the preservation and digitization of these rare historical records.”
      The collections, which launched on November 1, 2012, include -
      Canada, Military Honours and Award Citation Cards, 1900-1961 contains almost 70,000 records documenting awards and honours received by Canadian service personnel, both men and women. Some records include valuable and rare information on the soldier’s next of kin, a physical description, their home address, and a description of the meritorious action.
      Canada, Nominal Rolls and Paylists for the Volunteer Militia, 1857-1922 contains more than one million records that provide detailed information about a soldier’s everyday life, including payroll. The records also include travelling expenses, battalion or regiment, rank, pay for the use of a horse, and signature of the member for received pay. These small details can help paint a richer picture of the day-to-day routine of Canada’s servicemen and women.
      UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 & 1939-1947 contains more than 500,000 records and includes information from both World Wars. The records list names of gravesites and memorials maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and document who is buried in a cemetery and where, names of people with no known grave, next-of-kin, and a history of military action in the area. The collection includes burial and memorial sites in about 150 different countries.
      Canada, War Graves Registers: Circumstances of Casualty, 1914-1948 contains almost 30,000 new records added to the existing collection already available on Ancestry.ca. The collection includes military burial documents from Canada, as well as casualty records from the U.S., prisoners of war and members of the Australian Air Force, Polish Air Force, and Royal New Zealand Air Force.
      Ancestry.ca is also providing FREE access to select military records from some of the most popular collections, from November 8th to November 12th at www.ancestry.ca/11remembrance, including records covering Soldiers of the First World War, the Rebellion of 1837, and the War of 1812.”

Last Post: Death Notices www.legionmagazine.com/en/lastpost The Royal Canadian Legion has over 190,000 deaths of veterans listed on its website, giving their rank, their first and last name, their unit, plus other information, if known.

Welcome to the Maple Leaf Legacy Project www.mapleleaflegacy.ca/wp The Maple Leaf Legacy Project is a volunteer project aiming to photograph every Canadian War Grave from the South African War (1899-1902), World War 1 (1914-18), World War II (1939-45), Korean War (1950-52), all United Nations Peacekeeping Missions, and to the conflict in Afghanistan, in which 157 Canadians died.

Learn about Canada’s History from The War Amps Military Heritage Series http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/10/31/77852 Jenny Fredenburgh tells us about The War Amps Military Heritage Series. More information is available at www.waramps.ca

Question of the Day: In what year did the Legion Magazine of the Royal Canadian Legion first honour those members with military backgrounds, Canadian war veterans, and Legion members with police service who had died with short death notices in a special column known as the “Last Post”?

Send your answer to Elizabeth at genealogycanada@aol.com by midnight, Eastern Standard Time. Please put “booklet” in the title, and remember to submit your full name and postal address. A winner will be chosen by random draw from every eligible entry received.

Good luck, and happy researching!

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

One Booklet To Be Won Every Day During Veterans' Week

This year, I will be giving away a copy of my booklet—a research guide on both sides of the War of 1812 entitled The War of 1812: Canada and the United States—every day during Veterans’ Week (November 5th to November 11th) to lucky readers who correctly answer questions about Canada’s military history.

A new question will be available daily, and a winner will be picked randomly each day from all entries with the correct answer.

For a description of the booklet, please visit www.genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2012/01/booklet-1-war-of-1812-canada-and-united.html

Please place “Booklet” in the subject of the email, and do not forget your address!

Good luck!