Gene-O-Rama March 21-22, 2014

The 30th Gene-O-Rama takes place only a week away on March 21-22.  If you haven't already registered, there is still time!  Registration information can be found here:  http://ogsottawa.on.ca/gene-o-rama/

We are really excited for this year's event!  We have lined up some great presentations for you.  Here are just a few you can look forward to:

• Excited to learn more about the largest collection of genealogical information on the planet at Gene-O-Rama?  Even if you have used familysearch.org before, Shirley-Ann Pyefinch will tell you about all the newest features! 

• Get ready to identify your genes!  Anglo-Celtic Connections blogger John Reid is ready to untangle your 'Genetic Genealogy'. 

• Local genealogy guru Glenn Wright and Ancestry.ca's Lesley Anderson will be educating us about the Military settlements in Richmond, Perth and Lanark - and since many Canadians can trace their ancestry to Eastern Ontario, there should be useful information for almost everyone! 
  

• Wherethestorytakesme.ca author Jane MacNamara from Toronto will be telling us about the evolution of women's property rights in Ontario - and the records associated with land ownership contain some of the richest genealogical treasures out there. 
  

• Hoping to learn more about your First World War ancestor? The work being done by volunteers at the Rideau Township History Society and the Rideau Branch of the City of Ottawa Archives should showcase sources you can use while learning more about the young men from Rideau Township who gave their lives during that global conflict. 

• Hoping to overcome your brickwall at Gene-O-Rama?  Ken McKinlay is ready to educate you about various ways to work around them, using real-life examples!  

See you there!

Latest additions to the Ottawa branch library

--from our Librarian, Grace Lewis

We’ve had 10 additions to the Library in February. Come in to 100 Tallwood Drive to have a look at these books or to check out the rest of our collection. You can access our database by going to http://ogsottawa.on.ca/library/ and typing in any keyword you want. The database searches the title, author name and description. Currently, only the more recently acquired books have descriptions but my aim is to have a description for the majority of the nearly 5000 volumes in our collection.

February’s acquisitions included:

1. As the Pages Turn... (donated by Friends of Library and Archives Canada)
   This signed volume covers the history of Athens, ON previously known as Farmersville (prior to that it was known as Wiltsetown), in the Young Township. The area was surveyed in 1783 as a possible site for the settlement of United Empire Loyalists. The Table of Contents includes: The First Settlers; Farmersville History; The Story of Education in Athens; The Churches; Bethuel Loverin Visits Farmersville Industries; Athens Oldest Businesses; Athens Fires and Athenian Builders.
2. Charlotte: The Last Suffragette
   Canada's “Woman Newsmaker of the Year” six times during the 1950s and 1960s, Charlotte Whitton made headlines regularly as mayor of Ottawa. But she was no stranger to the spotlight. Prior to becoming the first female mayor of a Canadian city, Charlotte had already made an international name for herself as a driving force in the developing field of social welfare. A determined feminist, Charlotte is famous for saying, "Whatever she does-- Oh! Doesn't every woman know it! -- She must do twice as well as any man to be thought just half as good." It was this attitude that propelled her from humble beginnings in the Ottawa Valley to become an advisor to and combatant of legislators and policy makers, at home and around the world.
3. Ontario Catholic Directory: A Guide to Roman Catholic Churches in Southern Ontario: 2006 (donated by the Friends of Library and Archives Canada)
   This booklet was offered to help locate Roman Catholic churches in Southern Ontario.
4. Organization for the Professional Genealogist (donated by Barrie Burns)
   The professional genealogist needs to have particularly well focused aims and well-developed techniques to deal with the logistical problems of dealing with many lines of research. This book shows you how to cope with these unique organizational challenges.
5. The Anglican Churches of Kingston (donated by Friends of the Library and Archives Canada)
   This book is really an account of the Anglican churches in the Kingston area. It began with an effort to set in order the dates pertaining to the various churches. Some confusion existed between dates of founding, laying the corner stones and consecration. The churches mentioned include: St. George’s Cathedral; St. Mark’s Barriefield; St. James; St. Paul’s; Wolfe Island; St. John’s; All Saints; Christ Church, Cataraqui; St. Luke’s; Church of the Good Shepherd; Church of the Redeemer; St. Thomas, Reddendale; St. Peter’s, Collins Bay.
6. The Parish Register of Kingston Upper Canada, 1785-1811 (donated by the Friends of Library and Archive Canada, 2014)
   This indexed Parish Register of Kingston kept by the Rev. John Stuart, the first missionary of the Church of England in Upper Canada, covers the years 1785 to 1811, the whole period of his rectorship. This volume contains large numbers of names of inhabitants of Upper Canada other than those whose domicile was in Kingston as he carried out his missionary work between Point au Bodet and the Onondaga reserve on the Grand River (now known as the Ottawa River), to preach and baptize, to perform marriages and bury the dead. In the marriages can be traced the beginnings of the famous “Family Compact”. Military men, naval officers, judges, magistrates, members of the Legislature, doctors, merchants, traders, farmers re all found, whether they were Loyalists or French-Canadians, immigrants from the British Isles or from the United States, or loyal Mohawk Indians. Among the loyalists appear German names in abundance with a few which seem to be of Dutch origin. The religious affiliations were probably as various as the nationalities and as the countries whence the settlers came.
7. Goulbourn Township Papers (this microfilm was donated by Jim Stanzell)
   This microfilm, which is a copy of MS 658 Reel 163 from the Archives of Ontario, contains the earliest land files for Goulbourn Township. If a document letter mentions a specific lot and contains nothing of general interest, it has been defined as a Township Paper. The Township Papers are arranged alphabetically, by township, village or town. The internal arrangement for Townships is by concession and lot. In villages and towns the papers are arranged alphabetically by name of location. The Township Papers contain copies of Orders-in-Council, location certificate and location tickets, assignments, certificate of settlement duties, copies of receipts, some correspondence, copies of Surveyor-General's descriptions and a few Letter Patents of Crown Leases and Grants.
8. Beechwood Cemetery Data, Old Format
   While clearing up some of the backlog, I came across this fiche and decided to keep it on our shelves for now. This fiche package was developed c.1989 from the transcription done by the Ottawa Branch, OGS.
9. Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register Master Index
   This fiche package is another item that I came across while doing some clean up and added it to our database.
   
   In June 1843, representatives at the Annual Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada resolved that a General Register (WMBR) of births and baptisms be kept at the Conference office in Toronto. Each year, every ordained minister was provided with a ruled book in which he was required to make uniform entries of births and baptisms. At the end of the year, the minister returned this book to the Conference Office and the entries were copied into the General Register. The original WMBR which includes baptisms primarily in Ontario but also in parts of Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan, is located in the United Church/Victoria University Archives in Toronto, ON, Canada. The Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register Transcription Project grouped the records geographically into Counties and Districts. Each publication includes an Introduction, Map, Users' Guide, Bibliography of Additional Sources, List of Clergy, List of Places of Baptisms, Baptismal Records Transcription and a Nominal Index.
   
   Area transcriptions are available for purchase from various Branches in OGS. The area transcriptions cover the counties of: Algoma District, Brant, Bruce, Carleton, Dufferin, Dundas, Durham, Elgin, Essex, Frontenac, Glengarry, Grenville, Grey, Haldimand, Haliburton, Halton, Hastings, Huron, Kenora & Rainy River, Kent, Lambton, Lanark, Leeds, Lennox & Addington, Lincoln, Manitoulin, Middlesex, Muskoka District, Nipissing, Norfolk, Northumberland, Ontario, Oxford, Parry Sound, Peel, Perth, Peterborough, Prescott, Prince Edward, Renfrew, Russell, Simcoe, Stormont, Sudbury, Victoria, Waterloo, Welland, Wellington, Wentworth, York and Yukon. As well, transcriptions are available for parts of the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Yukon. There are also some transcriptions from the United States.
   
   We have the Registers for the Counties of Russell, Renfrew, Prescott, Lanark and Carleton available on our shelves under Dewey # 971.3 WMBR.
10. Writing Family Histories and Memoirs
    This book is for people who want to give a lively view of themselves, the people in their family and the period in which they lived. It is for the genealogist who wants to add writing skills to their professional research expertise. It is also for teachers who would like to give students some purpose for writing other than to fulfill a grade assignment.

Don't forget to get your Gene-O-Rama tickets!

I don't know about you, but we are getting excited about Gene-O-Rama!

Here are some details on one of the great talks you won't want to miss:

Ma owned the farm: Women as landowners in Ontario

Where the story takes me author Jane MacNamara from Toronto will be telling us about the evolution of women's property rights in Ontario - and the records associated with land ownership contain some of the richest genealogical treasures out there. If you haven't registered yet, there is still time - you can register online at http://ogsottawa.on.ca/gene-o-rama/.

Calling on the descendants of those buried at the Barrack Hill Cemetery, Ottawa

From the CBC:

"Human remains and casket material were discovered on Sept. 19 last year under Queen Street during preparation work for the city’s light-rail transit tunnel. The discovery stopped work on the LRT there.

The province informed the public of its intentions in a notice in newspapers last week.

'The individuals buried at the Barrack Hill Cemetery lived alongside the founders of the nation's capital, were its earliest inhabitants and some of them possibly helped build the Rideau Canal. Accordingly, these grounds can be considered to be of great historical and archaeological significance,' the notice read.

...

If descendants can't agree on what to do, the question goes to an arbitrator, said D'Mello.

If no family comes forward, the work falls to a minister who will oversee their respectful re-interment at an existing Ottawa graveyard"

If your ancestors are buried at the site please contact Ontario's Registrar of Cemeteries (email: michael.d'mello@ontario.ca, phone:416-326-8404) by March 21.

Ottawa Branch Library: 2013 year in review and latest additions for 2014

---from our Librarian, Grace Lewis

2013 was an active year for the Ottawa Branch OGS Library. We added over 300 new titles to our collection. We were fortunate to receive donations from several people, including Robert Campbell, Dorothy Relyea, Don Pounder and Wade and Maureen Lennox. Those volumes that were donated but did not fit with our collection policy were still valuable to us. If appropriate, we shared them with our BIFHSGO and UEL colleagues or sold them at our Library table during our monthly OBOGS meetings for members for a nominal donation. Some we also sold to dealers. The money raised in this manner was used to purchase more relevant material for our collection or to off-set the cost of supplies.

2014 promises to be just as busy and we have already logged the following books to the library:

• A Thousand Kin: The Bolgers of Shamrock, Ontario which was donated to us by the BIFHSGO library as it did not fit their collection as readily as it did ours.
  
  This indexed family history covers seven generations of Bolgers that have lived in North America, stemming from one set of Irish parents, native to County Wexford, Ireland and who had been transplanted to Renfrew County, Ontario.


• The Ottawa Sharpshooters: The Story of the Company and the men who served during the North West Rebellion, incorporating the Diary of Captain A. Hamlyn Todd
  In late March 1885, in reaction to proclamation of a Provisional Government by Louis Riel, thousands of volunteer militia soldiers set off for North West Canada to suppress the rebellion. This is the story of the Ottawa Company of Sharpshooters and the 53 men who served in the Company.
  
  The story of the Company's service during 1885 is told. Then, through original research, the diverse and sometimes strange histories of the men who served are revealed. You will encounter Canada's most famous racehorse, Northern Dancer; Impersonator Rich Little; Alice in Wonderland; a Senator who fell out of a train and much more.
  
  Transcripts of letters by Sharpshooter Herbert M. Jarvis and the Field Diary of Captain A. Hamlyn Todd, never before published, complete the picture.
  
  This tribute was researched, compiled and published by members of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa from local sources supplemented with information from Sharpshooter descendants and relatives. It honours the Company and the men on the 120th anniversary of the Rebellion.


• To be continued…
  The Historical Society of Ottawa was formed in 1898 and is thought to be the oldest such group in Ottawa. The contents of this signed book includes: A Good Beginning; A New Home; A Broader, Stronger Society; Doing the Colonel Proud; A remarkable Milestone; and A Society at the Crossroads.

As well, we purchased eight CDs:

1. A Rideau Jaunt in 1872 or a Sketch of the Rideau Navigation from Ottawa to Kingston, Ontario
   On a July Thursday in 1872, William Mills, a Civil Servant took a couple of days off work to make a jaunt down the Rideau Canal from his home city of Ottawa to the busy St. Lawrence port of Kingston. He took his note book with him so that he could record the memorable events and sights of his journey, much in the manner that we would take a camera with us today. The resulting book is extremely interesting.


2. Hudson Bay: or Everyday life in the Wilds of North America
   Here is a narrative of firsthand experience in the service of the Hudson Bay Company during the 1840s.


3. History of the Ottawa Valley (first published in 1986 by J.L. Gourlay)
   Sub titled "A collection of facts, events and reminiscences for over half a century" this rare book is actually two separate and distinct books within one cover. The second book is titled “The difficulties of religion.


4. Ottawa & Kingston City Directory – 1875
   Far more than just the cities of Ottawa and Kingston, this directory covers most of the (in 1875) significant communities in Ontario lying North and East of Kingston, including Almonte, Arnprior, Barriefield, Brockville, Bryson, Carleton Place, Cornwall, Edwardsburg (now Cardinal?), Gananoque, Garden Island (Nr. Wolf Isl.), Iroquois, Kemptville, Kingston, Landsdowne (now Lansdowne), Lyn, Mallorytown, Merrickville, Morrisburg, New Edinburgh (now part of Ottawa), Ottawa, Pakenham, Pembroke, Perth, Portsmouth (now part of Kingston), Prescott, Renfrew, Richmond, Rochesterville (was part of Nepean Township), Sand Point, Smith's Falls, Westport, & Wolf Island. Also included are the Quebec communities lying along the North shore of the Ottawa River including Aylmer, Buckingham, Gatineau Point, Hull, Peche, Portage du Fort, & Shawville.


5. The Gazetteer & Classified Business Directory of Canada including Newfoundland – 1930
   This is a wonderful book with a truly misleading title. Of the almost 2000 pages in this book the gazetteer takes up 70 while the rest are devoted to a wonderfully complete directory of Canadian businesses and professional people and their advertising. This is a great resource in a country where early directories are so scarce. Both the gazetteer and the Business Directory are indexed by Province but the Business Directory is also sub-indexed by trade or profession.


6. The Might Directory of Ottawa, Hull and 7 Suburbs – 1926
   A very complete and useful directory of Ottawa and Hull for 1926 (which was the year Ottawa celebrated its centennial) and also including the (then) outlying districts.


7. The Ottawa City Directory – 1909
   A very complete and useful directory of Ottawa and Hull for 1909, including the (then) outlying districts of OTTAWA including Billings Bridge; Eastview (Old Cummings Bridge, Janeville [Vanier] & Clarkstown); Mechanicsville; and Rockliffe Park.
   
   The directory gives an alphabetical list of all business firms and private citizens.


8. Ottawa City Directory 1861-1862
   Here is an early directory of Ottawa/Bytown published by Boyd & McDonald. It advertises itself as containing, "..the names and residence of the Citizens; also, a subscribers Business Directory, classified according to trade." Examination seems to indicate that it also contains the names and addresses of business who were not "subscribers."

Gene-O-Rama 2014

                           

Ottawa Branch

Ontario Genealogical Society

Presents the 30th

GENE-O-RAMA

21-22 March 2014

Confederation Education Centre

1645 Woodroffe Avenue, Ottawa

(corner of Hunt Club and Woodroffe)

Speakers, Marketplace, Computer Room

Featured speaker: Jane E. MacNamara

(http://www.dundurn.com/authors/jane_e_macnamara)

For the latest details as they become available: http://ogsottawa.on.ca/geneorama/ 

For more information e-mail: conference@ogsottawa.on.ca

Register On-Line at  http://ogsottawa.on.ca/ottawa-genealogy-event-registration1/

New Ottawa Branch Banner unveiled at Heritage Day in Ottawa

A photo of the new Ottawa Branch banner at Heritage Day in Ottawa. The two distinguished gentlemen are Doug Gray and Mike More.