Haldimand County Branch OGS Meeting

On March 5, 2013 at 1:30 p. m. there will be a meeting of the Haldimand County Branch OGS at the Haldimand County Museum & Archives, 8 Echo Street, Cayuga, Ontario.

The title of the talk will be "Open House Dead Ends", and the speakers will be members of the branch who will help in any way for those looking up information both from the branch library & museum archives.

Please bring any information that you would like help with in tracing family members in Haldimand County. Sometimes we had dead ends, brick walls & find we are at a lost of how to continue doing research for these people & places.

Go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/haldimand to get more information

Obituary on Joan Miller’s Blog

There is a note from Kevin Miller, in honour of his mother Joan Miller, whom we noted, had passed away last week.

The post contains her obituary, and he says that he will “ continue to manage and maintain this blog for as long as I can”, which is good news to fellow genealogists.

The blog is Luxegen Genealogy and Family History, and is at http://www.luxegen.ca

Land of the Morning Calm: Canadians in Korea 1950 – 1953

The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs has declared the Year 2013 as the year in which Canadians honour the 26,000 Canadians who served in the Korean War, with more than 1,550 casualties, including 561 who dead.

The Veterans Affairs site, called the The Land of the Morning Calm – Canadians in Korea 1950-1953 says that it “presents Korean War history and archival footage, interviews with Canadian Veterans of the Korean War and a comprehensive history calendar using an interactive format in either HTML or Adobe Flash formats.

Presented in broadcast style, complete with news anchor and video footage, this feature delivers a multimedia-rich experience for Canadians of all ages, especially youth, to better know and be thankful for the sacrifices of our Canadian men and women in uniform”.

Go to www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/korea

A DAY AT THE ARCHIVES

This notice from Mike More shoulf be of interest to all Ottawa area genealogists -

Want to learn more about the collections in the libraries of the Ottawa Branch, the Sir Guy Carleton Branch UELAC, the British Isles Family History Society and the corporate Archives of the City of OttaArchives of the City of Ottawawa?

Come and visit the City of Ottawa Archives at 100 Tallwood Avenue on
Saturday, February 2 between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. There will be specialists on hand:

 To explain generally how archives work

 To show you all the genealogical materials available

in the libraries housed at the Archives

 To give you tips on researching military ancestors

 To outline the best strategies for using Ancestry.com

 To provide general information on records in the United

Kingdom and Ireland

 To help you search for your Loyalist ancestors

 To illustrate how the Guild of One Name Studies can help you

 To inform you about local resources, particularly in former

Goulbourn Township

 To guide you in choosing genealogy software

 To assist you with your genealogical adventure!

So mark Saturday, February 2, 2013 on your calendar and plan to visit the City of Ottawa Archives on Tallwood between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.

More details are available at www.ogsottawa.on.ca

The Ontario Name Index (TONI) Needs Indexers

The Ontario Name Index (TONI) reached 1-million entries last fall. This is a remarkable milestone but there are many more items that could be added with a larger team of indexers preparing the materials.

A larger TONI indexing team can help us make more information available such as the following:

» Diaries and letters from the Cobourg area

» Information about visitors to a hotel in Kirkland Lake

» Road Petitions from Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Counties

» Archival information from the Ottawa Valley

» Obituaries from London- Middlesex

» Documents from Cornwall

» Newspapers from an old Toronto area village

and,  By-Laws and assessment rolls from villages in the Peterborough area

Everyone is welcome to be a TONI indexer and you can do it in the comfort of your own home. You will need your own computer, the software to read pdfs (downloaded for free), and you will need to be comfortable working with Excel.

If you’re interested in helping get this information online, contact the Provincial Office at provoffice@ogs.on.ca, and we’ll connect you with the project.

To ust TONI, go to www.ogs.on.ca/integrated/toni_database1.php

Biggest Events of the Year Coming to the St. Lawrence Area

The Event Centre of the St. Lawrence War of 1812 Bicentennial Alliance has put out a press release which tells us their plans for the year 2013 -

“While the War of 1812 Bicentennial has raged for nearly a year, the biggest events to hit the St. Lawrence are just coming up. 2013 will mark some key historic events, including the 200th anniversaries of the Raid on Ogdensburg (February 22-24), and the Battle of Crysler Farms (November 11).

Yet what makes next year a once in a lifetime opportunity for regional tourism is a month of unique historical experiences that could draw unprecedented numbers of cultural tourists.

The St. Lawrence War of 1812 Bicentennial Alliance invites all interested parties to attend a special information session at the Red George Pub in Prescott on Sunday, January 20th.

We will unveil upcoming events, our joint marketing plans and suggestions for individuals, groups and businesses alike, looking to be a part of this major tourism initiative for 2013.

The presentation is part of a regular 1812 Dinner Series, featuring fine period cooking. Join us for dinner or a drink, but be sure to reserve your space each month in advance - as there are only 30 spaces available.

Dinner begins at 5:30. The presentation will start at 7:00”.

Call +1.613.925.8800 to save your place, or go to http://celebrate1812.ca

Release of a New Version of the Census of the Northwest Provinces, 1906 Database

This notice was just received by me from the LAC –

“Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce the release of a new version of the Census of the Northwest Provinces, 1906 database.

In 1906, the Canadian government called for a special census of the Prairie Provinces (Manitoba, and the two newly created provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta) in order to track the high rates of population growth in Western Canada.

Previously, users could search only by geographical information such as province, district and sub-district. It is now possible to also search by nominal information such as name, given name (s) and age for an individual.

This research tool contains 802,442 records that are searchable by name”.

You can go to www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1906/Pages/1906.aspx