Friday, February 13, 2009

Valentines for Vets

Although it is too late for this year's Valentine's Day, how about next year - making Valentines for Vets?

Started 20 years ago by the late American newspaper advice columnist, Ann Landers, it was officially adopted by Veterans Affairs Canada in 1996, They have been collecting and distributing Valentines across Canada for the past 13 years.

On the Veterans Affairs Canada website at www.vac-acc.gc.ca/youth/sub.cfm?source=feature/valentine, one can view Valentines going back to 2002, and the cards that have been sent to the veterans.

On the website, there is a special meaning giving to the word "Valentine" -

V is for Valentine for Vets

A is for All of Canada's brave Veterans

L is for Living in freedom

E is for your heroic Efforts

N is for the New Veterans Charter

T is for Teaching youth

I is for students, organizations and Individuals sending valentine tributes

N is for the Numerous ways we appreciate you

E is for thanks for Everything

S is for your valiant Sacrifices

For next year, please send your Valentine to: Valentines for Vets, Veterans Affairs Canada, Communications Division, P.O. Box 7700, Charlottetown, PE C1A 8M9 information@vac-acc.gc.ca

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Ancestry.ca Celebrates Black History Month

"In honour of Black History Month, historical records allow almost 800,000 black Canadians enhanced opportunity to uncover their heritage," says the first sentence of their press release, which was issued the 4th of February.

One of the interesting things to note is the First World War's Second Construction Battalion, the first and only all-black military battalion in Canada's history.

When the First World War began, black men who tried to enlist were turned away from recruiting stations. After lobbying the government, 605 men from across Canada formed the first segregated unit in Canada, at Pictou, Nova Scotia, on July 5, 1916. Their attestation papers can be found in the Canadian Soldiers of World war I Collection.

Karen Peterson, Marketing Director of Ancestry.ca, says that "Historical records such as attestation papers, censuses and marriage records, to name a few, are surviving documents that paint a picture of accomplishments of black Canadians and the important role they played in this country."

Ancestry.ca reminds researchers that records through the African American Research Center, www.ancestry.com/aahistory, are available for the Freedman's Bank Records (1865-1874); Slave Schedules (1850 & 1860); Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy (1718-1820); and Slave Narratives.

Ancestry is also offering visitors a free 14-day trial at www.ancestry.ca.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

The Canadian Census of 1891

The 1891 Canadian Census is fully online now at the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1891/index-e.html.

The 1891 Census was taken in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories (which, at the time, covered modern-day Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northern Manitoba, Northern Ontario, Northern Quebec, Labrador, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut).

The census was taken on April 5th, 1891, and very little change was made to the collection of the data from previous censuses. Information was gathered for 4,833,329 individuals in 1891.

Unfortunately, only Schedule I remains (a nominal list of the people in the country) - all of the other schedules (there were 8) were destroyed - and only Schedule I was microfilmed.

There are 25 columns, and you can read their definitions and explanations at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1891/001081-2000-e.html.

There are three things which struck me about this census, and I think they are really good - it's free; you get to view the complete image of Schedule I; and you can add a comment, if you wish.

Congratulations and "Thank yous" go out to the LAC and to Ancestry.ca for this much-anticipated release.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Journal of the Quebec Family History Society Arrives!

Full of good articles, as usual, the Winter 2009 issue of "Connections" was in my mailbox the other day.

The first article was about the "Hochelaga School Fire". The school was situated just north of St. Catherine's Street, hosted 170 children.

There is a picture of the school,and the text gives a full description as to the condition of the school and the fire, which took place in 1907. The names of the teacher and sixteen pupils who perished is also published.

Another story is one that is told first-hand - "A Child's Wartime Journey" by Jane Atkinson.

It tells the story of her and her sister coming to Canada in 1940 and staying at Cobourg, Ontario, and spending her school holiday as a War Guest at the home of head girl Dagmar Hertzberg in Kingston.

And the last two articles — "Lower Canada in the 1790's and Early 1800's" and "Montreal Demography: An Historical Summary to 1900" — are ones you should not miss, especially if you are new to Quebec research.

The first article gives a summary of the original counties in Quebec. The second one gives a summary of Montreal and discusses the Lachine Canal; Railways and Bridges; the American Revolution & American Invasion; the Cession of French Canada to Britain; and in 1790s: "The French" Revolution, among other topics.

The society has a number of "Genealogy Days" this winter and spring, such as "A Genealogical Day in the British and Canadian Armies, 1660-1945" and "A Genealogical Day in Ireland", and so on. They run the full day from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and are $30.00 each.

Copies of "Connections" from 1977 to 2005 have been scanned and are now available on CD from the Society.

Theie website is www.qfhs.ca.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Ottawa Branch News is here!

The Jan/Feb 2009 newsletter arrived on my desk the other day, and as usual, it is full of news about the Branch, news about the spring and summer convention season, and some articles onfamilies within the Ottawa area.

"The Joseph Lanthier Family" is covered, as is "Early Residents of Ottawa's Sandy Hill Neighbourhood (Henry James Friel and Felix Charbonneau)", "Documentary Evidence of a Catholic Cemetery in Cumberland Village in the 1860s and 1870s", and a "Genealogy Disaster Plan: A Precaution Worth Taking".

There is information concerning the Beginners Course in Genealogy to be held March 21st and on Gene-O-Rama 2009, to be held March 28th and 29th in Ottawa.

There is the "Electronic Notebook", "Interesting Web Sites", "Gleaning from Newsletters in the Ottawa Branch Library" and "Historic Plaques and Monuments" to fill out the edition.

There is also a notice in this edition that all issues of the Ottawa Branch News from 1970 to 2008 have been digitized and will be made available on a CD early in 2009.

The address of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) is: <www.ogsottawa.on.ca>.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

LAC Launches Black History Month

The Library and Archives Canada (LAC) launched Black History Month today (Sunday, February 1st), and they are calling it "The Courage to Make a Difference."

As Ian E. Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada says, "I invite researchers, historians, educators, genealogists and students to delve into our vast array of material and resources to learn more about the rich heritage of Black Canadians."

This year, the LAC is paying special notice to Abraham Doras Shadd, who played a major role in the Underground Railroad, and to Rosemary Brown, the first Black woman to be elected as a member of a Provincial Legislative Assembly in Canada. The website is www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/black-history.

You can go online to to read about the Anti-Slavery Movement in Canada at
www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/anti-slavery/index-e.html. An article about this will be in the February issue of the Ontario Genealogical Society's newsletter, NewsLeaf.

The Port Roseway Associates Database at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/port-roseway/index-e.html gives access to a listing of 1,498 Black Loyalists Refugees who settled in Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

As stated on the website at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/northern-star/index-e.html, "Under a Northern Star presents seven unique collections held at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) that document the diverse historical experience of African Canadians."

There are other resources to check, including Achievements and Contributions, Literature, Music, and Sports.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

OGS Conference information is now online!

I was just going around my weekly check of things on the Internet recently, and I said to myself, " I wonder if they have put anything about Conference '09 on the OGS site?" - and by gosh, they had!

In fact, they have put the whole thing on - so you can go ahead and check the program, see who's coming, and what special events will be happening.

One of the features will be the celebrating of the 300th anniversary of the Palatines, with features by prominent Palatine researchers on the Irish Palatines who settled in Ontario.

I will be there Thursday evening, and starting Friday, I will be on the tour of the new Ontario Archives and will cut it a bit short to come back and see the Graduation Ceremony of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies, as well as the Opening Ceremonies of the conference.

Kory L. Meyerink is slated to speak at the J. Richard Houston Memorial Lecture that evening, and a reception will follow.

On Saturday, it's off to an early start. At 8:00 a.m., Brian Gilchrist will start the day off by giving his talk at the Plenary Session entitled, "Pedigree and Progress: Making Connections in the Digital Age from the Printed Page".

The rest of the day I am going to hear a couple of lectures and go around the "Marketplace" and say my "Hellos!" to old friends and new acquaintances.

Saturday night, I will go to the banquet and hear Charlotte Gray speak, and on Sunday, I will be going around taking pictures and getting more news for the OGS NewsLeaf and e-NewsLeaf. There will be the closing ceremonies in the afternoon.

I plan to blog while I am there, and after the conference I hope to stay in Toronto for a couple of days and visit around to see what has appeared since I was there last summer.

If you want to see the material that has been put on the OGS website, please go to www.ogs.on.ca/conference.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Online Obituary Database - U of Toronto

Charmaine Lindsay — Supervisor, Reference & Outreach of the City of Toronto Archives — has sent me a notice that the Canadian Necrology Database Index at the University of Toronto Library is now online.

The majority of records in the Canadian Necrology database index obituaries for distinguished Canadians whose death notices appeared in newspapers such as the Globe and Mail, Toronto Daily Star, Gazette, and Mail and Empire between 1934 and 1977.

There are 20,000 such records.

The second set of records in Canadian Necrology contains death information for over 4,000 early inhabitants of Toronto and the surrounding areas, between 1853 and 1920. This collection is the result of a lifetime hobby of William Henry Pearson (1831-1920).

Beginning in 1853 and until his own death in 1920, Pearson maintained a ledger where he recorded the deaths of friends, acquaintances, and prominent members of Toronto society.

The site gives a short, yet very good history of the two men who put together the two record databases - William Henry Pearson and William Stewart Wallace — and how the obituaries were used to compile the database.

The database gives the name of the person, his/her sex, the age at death, the cause of death, the occupation, and the residence.

It also will tell you which record group the person was found and the record ID.

A bibliography of sources is included, as well as a related links page.

They have included a page of "Diversions" at the end of the website in which you are asked to identify the person in the photo because they have as yet been identified.

The informaiton can be found at http://link.library.utoronto.ca/necrology/index.cfm

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Anglo-Celtic Roots arrives

The latest issue of Anglo-Celtic Roots (ACR) arrived the other day. It is the journal of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO), and is published four times a year.

This issue contains a message from the president, a full report on Conference 2008, and Saturday Meeting Reports - which covers five talks given at the Saturday morning meetings- such as "A Tale of Two Families" by Glenn Wright, "Lieutenant John Henry Kennedy" by Caroline Herbert, and "An Emotional Moment in Genealogy" by Bill Arthurs.

The president, Mary Anne Sharpe, reports that the society is doing very well, and BIFHSGO is—unlike other genealogical organizations—actually gaining in membership ... and the reason for that is very simple - they have intriguing ideas for meetings, interesting people who give talks, and always hold an annual conference that keeps a person coming back.

It is, as the president puts it, "a vibrant society."

Included in the journal is a questionnaire entitled "2008 Volunteer Survey", in which the society is interested in hearing your views on the society. If you would like to volunteer for the many divisions of the group - monthly meetings, research projects, workshops & courses, annual conference, website, etc, plase fill out the form and send it back to the society.

The calendar of events is covered on the back cover of the ACR - and be sure to follow the events as they are posted on their website at www.bifhsgo.ca.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Happy Chinese New Year!




The Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is celebrating the Chinese New Year with a collaboration of the information and databases they have compiled over the past years
in an exhibit entitled "The Early Chinese Canadians, 1858-1947" at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/chinese-canadians/index-e.html

They have divided the site into five different areas of interest to genealogists, and they are -

- The history of Canada's early Chinese immigrants - explores why and how they came to Canada.

- Photos, government documents and letters that have been collected by the LAC

- Head Tax Records - You can search the General Registers of Chinese Registers online from 1885 to 1949.

- Chinese Canadian literature and historical research

- Coming soon will be educational resources for classroom study for secondary school teachers.

By the LAC's own admission, the General Registers of Chinese Immigration is the most important part of the history because it represents the payments made by the Chinese when they came to Canada. The Chinese were the only ones who paid the head tax when they came into the country.

Over 95,000 immigrants are recorded on these rolls.

There is also personal essays on the site, as well as family histories and suggested websites.

I have written about the Chinese-Canadian immigration in an article entitled "Uncovering Chinese-Canadian Records" in the January 2009 edition of Internet Genealogy, pages 20-21.

For an interesting look at the Chinese New Year, please visit www.chinapage.com/newyear.html

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Canadian Civil Servants List (1872-1900)

Ancestry.ca has made the announcement that they have put on the fully-indexed Canadian Civil Servants List (1872-1900) "which features more than 78,000 records of those employed in departments of the Canadian Government during the country's early days of Confederation."

The press release says that this database gives the "family researcher a unique opportunity to find out how an ancestor's career might have progressed and how much they earned, as well as offer personal individual information such as birth date, age, date of first appointment, years at post, promotion to present rank, creed or religion and nationality of origin."

There are 22 government departments in the database including the Post Office Department, Department of Finance, and the Department of Public Printing and Stationary.

Karen Peterson, Marketing Director for Ancestry.ca, comments that "Collections such as the Canadian Civil Servants, which includes information on occupation, salary and career development, are vital as they enable family history enthusiasts to better understand how their ancestors lived by providing historical, factual context to their lives."

The Canadian Civil Servants Lists, 1872-1900 is available to Canada and World Deluxe members, and through a free 14-day trial at ancestry.ca.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

"The British Columbia Genealogist"

The Christmas edition of The British Columbia Genealogist is last one in which "BC 150 Years: The Best Place on Earth" is celebrated.

As usual, it is a good mix of articles, photos, BC Genealogical Events & Activities, and Queries.

Some of the articles include "A Roll of Honor, American Can Co. Ltd, Vancouver, BC"; "Greek Soldiers Off to War, 1912-1913, BC - Cokkins, Dapoulos"; "Canadians World War I War Medals", and "In Quarantine: Life and Death on Grosse Ile, 1832-1937", and the ever- popular "Salt Lake City Research Trips, 2008".

I see where Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak will give an all-day seminar on the 7th of March at the Surrey Arts Centre. She will give four seminars ("Trace Your Roots with DNA" and "Cases That Made My Brain Hurt:, to name two of them). For more, go to www.bcgs.ca/Event-Brochures.htm.

Even though I don't have a relative native to the province, I like to read the Genealogist because it has lots of information in it which interests me.

And which, hopefully, will interest you.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Aboriginal Records Requested

Researcher and writer Janice Nickerson needs help gathering illustrative examples for a soon-to-be published guide to Aboriginal genealogical research in Central and Eastern Canada.

She will pay $25 per document to anyone who can send me a copy of a civil registration, will or estate record, newspaper Item, school record, land and property record, notarial record from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfoundland and Labrador, in which an Aboriginal person is featured, preferably explicitly identified as such.

She also needs non-church documents from Quebec, and newspaper items, school records, or land and property records for Ontario.

She only needs one of each type of document for each province.

The deadline is January 25th.

Please contact Janice directly for details at janice@uppercanadagenealogy.com, or call 416.920.2206.

She can also be contacted by mail at:

Janice Nickerson
Upper Canada Genealogy
Suite 2807, 33 Isabella Street
Toronto, Ontario M4Y 2P7
www.uppercanadagenealogy.com