Kent Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society "virtual" meeting

Just a reminder of the Kent Branch monthly meeting this coming Friday night in Chatham. They would like you to join them, and if you are not in the area, then please join them "virtually" via live streaming.

Here are the details -

The meeting will held January 9, 2015 Friday at 7:00 PM on the topic "CK Library - Digital Collection". The Chatham-Kent Public Library recently launched its new digital collection. Staff from the library will tell the attendees all about this valuable resource.

Public is welcome at St Andrews Residence at 99 Park St, Chatham. Please join us live online at this link http://ogs.on.ca/kent/?page_id=688

The society’s website is http://ogs.on.ca/kent/

Their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/kentbranchogs/

I will be joining the meeting by live streaming because I want to learn about the Chatham-Kent Public Library's new digital collection.

The genealogy page (which is great, by the way) of the Chatham-Kent Public Library is at http://www.chatham-kent.ca/PublicLibraries/Genealogy/Pages/Genealogy.aspx.

If you haven’t done so already, remember to check the Canadian Week in Review Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/canadian-week-in-review-05-january-2015.html 

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

 

Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy - Session 1

As I promished in my blog on 06 January 2014 at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/beginning-genealogy-study-group.html, I watched Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy yesterday. It passed my test of ‘Was it worhwhile?” with a resounding “Yes!”. I will continue to watch the rest of the study group as it proceeds.

 

There were a couple things that I learned, and they were -

 

She is taking the FamilySearch Wiki as the basis of the study. The Wiki is at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Principles_of_Family_History_Research and is called Principles of Family History Research. She went through Step 1, gave examples, and had good interaction between herself and the comments that were made on Dear Myrt’s Genealogy Community at https://plus.google.com/communities/104382659430904043232 

 

She went over how she organises her computer folders by colors using the program Folder Marker at http://foldermarker.com/index.php. I think that I wll use that method because right now I don’t use any method. For example, I have my genealogy divided into surnames starting with Andrew Barclay, George Barclay, John Barclay, Cecil Barclay, and my father, Harold Barclay. But I will start to use file folders now. She also has a folder of paper which she had yet to put into appropiate surname folders.

 

So if you want to watch this seesion, it is on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UskxuqHfJ4I 

 

Remember to make yourself a member of Dear Myrt’s Genealogy Community before watching the YouTube Google+ Hangout on Air at https://plus.google.com/communities/104382659430904043232 

 

If you haven’t done so alreay, remember to check the Canadian Week in Review Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

 

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/canadian-week-in-review-05-january-2015.html 

 

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society

 

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the following family history courses and workshops in the winter of 2015 -

Publish Before You Perish

Saturday, 21 February, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

This half-day course is intended for those who have already done a lot of family history research. It will outline the steps required to publish your family history in a printed book format.

Instructor: Nancy Conn

Where: Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto

Welcome to Our World: A Day with Top Toronto Genealogists and Family Historians

Saturday, 21 February, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

 

This interactive forum is intended for people who are thinking of getting involved in genealogy or who are beginners in this fascinating field. Some of Toronto's top genealogy and family history experts will share their perspectives and experiences.

 

Speakers: Carol Nichols, Janice Nickerson, Guylaine Pétrin and James F.S. Thomson

 

Where: North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge Street, Toronto

 

Using Digital Newspapers for Genealogy Research

 

Wednesdays, 4, 11 and 18 March 2015, 6:15 – 8:15 pm

 

This three-week hands-on course will examine the uses of historical newspapers for genealogy research as well as where to find them online.

 

Instructor: Marian Press

 

Where: Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto

 

Introduction to Genealogy and Family History

 

Saturday, 28 March 2015, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

 

This fast-paced one-day course will introduce some of the types of records and techniques needed to research your family tree, with a focus on vital records, census and probate records, and how to extract and evaluate data.

 

Instructor: Linda Reid

 

Where: North York Memorial Community Hall, 5110 Yonge Street, Toronto

 

Registration is also now open for the first course in our spring 2015 lineup:

 

Hands-On Early Ontario Land Records

 

Tuesdays, 31 March, 7 and 14 April 2015, 4 - 7 p.m.

 

This three-week course is being offered in partnership with the Archives of Ontario. Designed for both family and local historians, it will provide a hands-on introduction to the land granting process in Ontario and the main types of Crown Land records. Participants will work in small groups following actual case histories through the records.

 

Instructor: Jane MacNamara

 

Where: Archives of Ontario, York University, 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd., Toronto

 

For program details, speaker biographies and information on how to register for these events, visit http://torontofamilyhistory.org/learn/courses.

 

Their Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/TOFamilyHistory

If you haven’t done so already, remember to check the Canadian Week in Review Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/canadian-week-in-review-05-january-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012

Relatively Speaking "Stories"

On the Alberta Genealogical Society (AGS) website at http://www.abgenealogy.ca/, there is an intriguing webpage called Stories, that I had to take a look at to see what it was all about.

 

Stories is series of 12 different articles from their Relatively Speaking magazine which includes—according to their website—“fact-finding and methodical articles for the gumshoe genealogist - the opportunity to purchase issues singly or by volume.’’

 

In addition to the specific article, sometimes they also give three or four related articles for you to read on the subject in the other editions of Relatively Speaking.

 

Some of the twelve articles are -

 

“Beware of Oral History” by Ken Millions (February 2012). Unverified oral history should always be taken with a grain of salt by the budding genealogist. How true that statement is!

 

"The Payzants of Edmonton” by Allen Jess (May 2006). A bloody hand print in Falmouth Township, Nova Scotia, the family’s migration route to Alberta, and the history of the ‘penny farthing’ ridden in Edmonton’s Exhibition parades. Wow! All of this in one article!

 

"Searching for Charlotte” by Marilyn Lappi (February 2012). Read more about “Searching for Charlotte” by Marilyn Lappi in Relatively Speaking, a three-part sequel featured in the February, May, and August 2012 issues. What an interesting read!

 

So if any of these stories interest you, you can receive Relatively Speaking as part of your membership to the AGS. The membership page is at http://www.abgenealogy.ca/memberships 

 

They take a yearly research trip to Salt Lake City, they have the Homestead Index onsite, branches, the bi-annual GenFair, a yearly conference, workshops, and educational courses.

If you haven’t done so already, remember to check the Canadian Week in Review Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/canadian-week-in-review-05-january-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012

New Book at the Genealogy Services Collection

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has released the titles of new Family Histories and Ethnic and Local Histories of the Genealogy Services Collection, and they are available at the LAC.

You can go to the Genealogy and Family History Room located on the 3^rd floor at 395 Wellington in Ottawa. 

Family Histories

De nos ancêtres Houallet en France aux descendants Ouellet-te en Nouvelle-France, de François Houallet et Isabelle Barré, à leur fils René et son rêve américain by Jeannine Ouellet

Généalogie ascendante de Maurice Fortier by Lise Lefebvre

La descendance de Pierre Gilbert, capitaine de vaisseau: Petite-Rivière-Saint-François à partir de 1756 by Jules Garneau

André Marsil dit Lespagnol: l'ancêtre des Marcil et Mercille d'Amérique (1642-1725) by Denis Marsil

La famille Miville-Dechêne, Julie: l'arrivée en Nouvelle-France et les pérégrinations à Québec et dans les environs du 17^e au 21^e siècle by Michel Émond

Larocque family by Charles G. Clermont

L'histoire de la famille acadienne des Lejeune dit Briard: les sept premières générations et plus by André-Carl Vachon

Looking back: a history of the Robert and Hannah (Swinton) Williamson family, 2013-1783 by M. Yvonne Brown

The Amos B. Weber family history by Tim Campbell

The legacy of Peter Martin by Tim Campbell

The Noah B. Martin family history by Tim Campbell

The scent of oil: a Nicklos/Perkins family saga by Gary May

Ethnic and Local Histories

Atlas généalogique de la France ancestrale: pays des migrants vers la Nouvelle-France by Micheline Perreault

Dictionnaire des souches allemandes et scandinaves au Québec by Claude Kaufholtz-Couture and Claude Crégheur

Irish presence: the protestant religious history, volume 1: Villages et visages en Lotbinière (includes cemetery transcriptions), research and writing by Sylvie Bernard; translation by Claude Crégheur and Mélanie St-Jean

La colonie nantaise de Lac-Mégantic: une implantation française au Québec au XIXe siècle by Marcel Fournier

Le pays des filles du Roy... au confluent du Saint-Laurent et de la Richelieu by Louise Biron, Danielle Mailloux and Louise Pelletier

Les Filles du roi au XVIIe siècle: orphelines en France, pionnières au Canada by Yves Landry

Les sépultures du coteau des Cèdres, 1750-1780 by Jean-Luc Brazeau and Isabelle Aubuchon

Patriotes, reformers, rebels & raiders: tracing your ancestors during the troublous times in Upper and Lower Canada, 1820-1851 by Kenneth Cox

Pour que rien ne s'efface: Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, 2014 by Robert Charbonneau, Mario Cyr and Huguette Plourde

Répertoire des naissances, des mariages et des décès de la paroisse de Saint-Émilien, Desbiens, 1926-1941 by Société d'histoire du Lac-Saint-Jean

The Irish Catholic families of Puslinch Township, Wellington County, Ontario: a genealogy by Marjorie Clark

The website of the LAC is http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/genealogy/Pages/introduction.aspx 

Remember to check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/canadian-week-in-review-05-january-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Beginning Genealogy Study Group

Dear Myrt, of the Dear Myrtle Your Friend in Genealogy website, https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DearmyrtlePage/posts/Y2MgdSmFpqi?cfem=1uis, will be hosting the Beginning Genealogy Study Group, a 20-week genealogy class starting on.

Wednesday, 07 January 2015.

The class will use an online syllabus and materials, with sample documents from each record group discussed. Sounds like a good idea!

I have known Dear Myrt when I was first on the Internet in 1995, and have wondered why she hasn’t done this before, because she is certainty capable of leading a study group in this regard.

So if you are just starting genealogy, go to the site at noon on Wednesday (there is a time zone converter on her site), or if you have been at it a long time, take a look because I find that there is always something new to learn.

I will be there on Wednesday. Will you?

British Columbia and Ontario Cemetery Finding Aids

Although these two sites have been on the Internet since 1998, were last updated in 2000, and have been surpassed by Find-A-Grave and other cemetery sites, they still hold information that these other sites may not have.

The reason why I go back to them is because Ron Demaray—who was the webmaster for these two sites—and his many volunteers went through the cemetery transcriptions that the genealogical societies had, and put the name of the deceased on the internet, plus the name of the cemetery, where it is located, and a reference number of the genealogy society.

For example, the British Columbia Cemetery Aid can tell me that there is an Agnes Barclay buried in the Royal Oak Burial Park (Section J) on Falaise Drive, in Victoria, on Vancouver Island, and the reference is VCS-ROBP-MRK, which is the Victoria Genealogical Society. Unfortunately, it does not tell me the dates of the burial, but it does give me the reference where it can be looked up. 

The British Columbia Cemetery Finding Aid is found at http://bccfa.islandnet.com//homepage.html

And for the Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid, it is found at http://ocfa.islandnet.com

From this information, you can then see exactly what’s available to you in their resources.

So the two sites can give you a clue to search further … and that is what we are looking for, right?