Is your ancestor on this list?

As you probably know, Canada will celebrate its 150^th birthday in 2017.

And the OGS has a new Heritage Society Certificate on the Father of Confederation.

The certificate is open to anyone who can prove descent from one of these 36 officially-named Fathers of Confederation -

Sir Adams George Archibald

George Brown

Sir Alexander Campbell

Sir Frederick Carter

Sir George-Etienne Cartier

Sir Edward Barron Chandler

Sir Jean-Charles Chapais

Sir James Cockburn

George Coles

Robert B. Dickey

Charles Fisher

Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt

Col John Hamilton Gray

Sir John Hamilton Gray

Sir Thomas Heath Haviland

William Alexander Henry

Sir William Pearce Howland

John Mercer Johnson

Sir Hector-Louis Langevin

Andrew Archibald Macdonald

Sir John A. Macdonald

Jonathan McCully

William Alexander McDougall

Thomas D’Arcy McGee

Peter Mitchell

Sir Oliver Mowat

Edward Palmer

William Henry Pope

John William Ritchie

Sir Ambrose Shea

William H. Steeves

Sir Etienne-Paschal Tache

Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley

Sir Charles Tupper

Edward Whelan

Robert Duncan Wilmot


Go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/home/heritage_societies/Fathers%20of%20Confederation%20Society%20Application.pdf for more information on this society and an application form.

Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Records

Starting in 1843, Wesleyan Methodist ministers kept a book of entries for births and baptisms. Each year, they submitted their book to the Conference Office.

Entries were then copied into the General Register, arranged by township, town, village and circuit. The records of the Wesleyan Methodist Church are from 1826 to 1910.

The United Church of Canada Archives who hold copyright on these records, but they have allowed the OGS to transcribe and sell these records through its thirty Branches located throughout Ontario.

To obtain copies of these baptismal record indexes, contact the Branch in the area in which you are doing your family research.

You can go to the list of Branches within the OGS at http://www.ogs.on.ca/branches.php


Postscript: Remember that these are copies of the original baptismal record. It is best if you can get the original record so that you can be sure that there are not any mistakes in transcribing the copies. 

90th Annual Buxton Homecoming

What started as a one-day celebration back in 1924, has turned into a four-day heritage event which will take place this weekend (Aug 31^st to Sept 2^nd) at the Buxton National Historic Site and Museum, Buxton, Ontario. Organizers expect nearly 3,000 people will attend the events.

The event starts on the Friday with a U.S./Canadian history and genealogy conference at the museum. There will be three speakers and a panel of students from York University.

Saturday will feature a baseball tournament with the baseball teams in the form of a family tree, and Sunday there will be an afternoon church service and an historical re-enactments at the museum park grounds. There will also be a bronze marker that will be unveiled in the Buxton cemetery to commemorate Eliza Parker.

Parker was a historical figure with the Fugitive Slave Act in the US before coming to Canada and settling in North Buxton in the mid-1800s.

Then there will be the North Buxton Parade on Monday, and a midway fairgrounds.

If you want to find out more about the event, you can go to http://www.buxtonmuseum.com

I am on vacation … sort of

I will be on vacation until Sept 3^rd, so there won’t be a Canadian Week in Review until Sept 9th.

I am scheduled to take a week of workshops on the topic of genealogical research, with homework, so I will be busy.

I have put a series of posts on the blog to cover each day, so be sure to check back to see if there is anything which interests you.

See you on Sept 3^rd!

Find your Ukrainian ancestor at the LAC

The LAC site says "Do you ever wonder who your first Ukrainian ancestor was and when he or she left the Ukraine and arrived in Canada? Are you curious about your family’s Ukrainian heritage? 

If so, the Library and Archives Canada is a great place to begin your research. 

For instance, you will find a page specific to genealogical research at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-905.010-e.html

It provides you with historical background information, archival and published material from the collection, as well as links to other websites and records".

Toronto Ukrainian Genealogy Group http://www.torugg.org

Elgin County OGS monthly meeting

The Elgin County OGS meets on the fourth Monday of March, April, May, September, October and November in the Carnegie Room at the St. Thomas public Library at 7:30 p.m.

Martin DeKeyzer will talk about Elgin County Postcards & Postal Memorabilia on Monday, September 23, 2013.

For further information, contact info@elginogs.ca

While you are checking out the Elgin County site. Don’t forget to go to Ancestry Indexes at

http://www.elginogs.ca/Home/ancestor-indexes. There you will find cemetery, census, land records and much, much more!

Some land records are being digitized

Canadiana.org is a Canadian company in Ottawa which is preserving Canada's published history and is making it available online to everyone – free!

The part of Canadiana.org which interests me is the Heritage Project. 

The Heritage Project is going to take some of Canada’s most popular archival collections, such as 60-million pages of FREE primary-source microfilm images from the 1600s to the mid-1900s.

I have read the list and I am impressed! What would have taken me years to find these documents in the different institution across the country, will be appearing online right in my own computer.

One of the first projects that they have done is the Heir and Devisee Commission of the Upper Canada (Ontario) Land Records.

The second commission met in York, and they were restricted to claims to land made by heirs, devisees, or assignees, not by the original nominees themselves

This commission was established by provincial statute in 1797, to clarify the titles to lands in Upper Canada.

There were actually two distinct periods which the commission covered. In the first commission, they heard from people who had originally received the land, their heirs, devisees, and assignees.

Records can include (although not always) affidavits, bonds, location certificates, powers of attorney, orders-in-council, copies of wills, mortgages, deeds of sale, and testimonial letters.

The digitized copies of the microfilm reels onsite appear in the same order as on the microfilm reels themselves. Remember, unfortunately, there is NO index by name.

Alternatively, the records are arranged by district, then by type of document, then in chronological, alphabetical, or numerical order.

The list of microfilm rolls are on  http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_205142, just click on the reel you want to view, and it is there for you to research.