The majority of people in my Family Tree lived in Ontario Canada, although ancestors were from England or the United States (having come from Europe in the 1600 or 1700's). Some branches did move from Ontario to the Canadian western provinces as well as into the United States (Michigan or Ohio for the most part).
While researching individuals, I therefore concentrate on the Ontario birth, marriage and death records. When an individual seems to 'disappear'from those records, it can be difficult to determine just where they may have gone: early death or moved to another jurisdication?
It can be difficult to do further research as some Ontario documents, or ledger pages, have not been digitized by Ancestry or FamilySearch. And common British names of the individuals make it difficult to verify a record is indeed the person in my tree.
I was recently researching Charlotte M. Ross, daughter of Joseph Wesley Ross & Hannah Maria Dales who married Arthur Joseph Alexander Cooper, son of James George Cooper and Mary Crombie.
I was about to give up researching the individuals as I wasn't finding any information for the couple beyond their 1906 marriage in Toronto. Arthur's name appeared with various versions in the documents I had found. Ancestry's Suggested Records will usually lead to other relevant records, but in Arthur's case there hasn't been the connections made between the various BMD records - probably because of the variations of the given names. However, one of the entries did provide a link to the Attestation Paper for World War I for an Arthur Joseph Alexander Cooper!
In checking that document, I saw that he had filed in Vancouver British Columbia in October 1915. The entry of next of kin was his wife, Mrs. Lottie Cooper and a street address was crossed out and 'Cookstown Ont' entered. The couple had moved to British Columbia!
But why was Lottie's residence listed as Cookstown (her birthplace)? If the couple had separated, why was she listed as next of kin? Furthur research found the 1911 and 1921 census records for the couple in Vancouver British Columbia. The couple were together in Vancouver before and after World War I, so I have to assume that her return to her birthplace in 1915 was to leave with family while her husband was overseas.
Once I knew they lived in British Columbia, I changed my focus of research from Ontario records to those of British Columbia. I found British Columbia Death record for an Arthur Joseph A Cooper, but the entry on both Ancestry as well as the British Columbia Archives did not provide an image, only a transcription with minimal information. In searching for his death certificate, I found records that matched up to his parents, so they must have migrated to British Columbia as well. I probably will never be able to determine whether the two couples migrated together or one couple joined the other.
When I located the Find a Grave entry, many questions were answered, but raised other questions. Not only had a photograph of the headstone been included, but an image of the death certificate as well! So I was able to complete my entry for Arthur Joseph Alexander Cooper to my satisifacation (although I still need to search Vancouver Sun newspaper for an obituary now that I have a death date).
The photo of the headstone lead to much more research needing to be done as Charlotte's name was listed as 'Charlotte Gauthier'. The Find a Grave entry for her also included an image of her death certificate, listing her husband as Arthur Gauthier.
Further research found a British Columbia marriage record for bachelor Arthur Gauthier to widow Charlotte Melinda Cooper. Not only did I verify a second marriage for Charlotte, I finally found the name for the middle initial 'M'.
As far as I can determine, Charlotte never had any children.
Feel much better now as I close off my research of this couple. Instead of having to leave off their record with a death date of 'after 27 June 1906', I now have not only an exact death date for both, but images of their death certificates and headstone photo as well as information on Charlotte's second husband whom I hadn't know existed before the discovery of the British Columbia records.
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Do-Over Process and Progress
Two years later I am still working on my Genealogy Do-Over, continuing with concentrating on what is available online - and there is a lot! For consistency with sources, I try to stick to the census and BMD records available via Ancestry. They have added alot over the years since I started my genealogy research. There are still many times that names have been so mangled when transcribed, I haven't found the individual. I am usually able to find the individual indexed on another database (FamilySearch, Automated Genealogy, etc) but I will then search another name on the census page to locate the record on Ancestry.
I started my Do-Over with a new database, copying my pedigree from the databases put on hold, deleting any sources included so that I would have a fresh start. I changed the colour for these individuals to Brown to be able to identify which individuals have not yet been researched in the Do-Over. As I "finish" off with an individual, I change the colour to Blue which I had been previously using for direct ancestry. As I add other children to each family, I colour them Aqua - again as a way to identify individuals requiring further research. When I feel that I have researched the individual as much as I can, I change the colour to green for blood relations, purple for in-laws and red for other spouses and offspring of an in-law.
Any individual in black would be someone that is a relation of an in-law and entered into the database because they appeared on a document along with the in-law. I have found that recording the names of the individuals has been beneficial in locating the in-law in other records, or verifying that an individual listed on a document is indeed the in-law. And in many cases, the parent or sibling ties into another branch I eventually come to research.
There have been times a name appears on a document that I suspect belongs somewhere in the Family Tree, but is not directly related to the individual currently being researched. To avoid having to revisit the document, I will enter the individual into the database, colour coding them Yellow as a possible relation. I will also consult my old databases to see where the individual fits into the tree. If found, I will take a few minutes to enter the lineage of that individual to tie it into my Do-Over tree, leaving any entries I enter unsourced until I come upon that branch in my Do-Over research. But I do colour code in Aqua to identify the individuals that more research is needed.
Family friends, as well as clergy or doctors frequently appearing on documents, are also entered and colour coded in Grey.
When I start on a family, I search for the relevant census records of that family as well as the birth, marriage and death records. I also make use of the Suggested Records provided by Ancestry. Information on each record will lead to other names to be research as spouses and children are added to the database. Again, colour coding new additions to keep track of individual requiring additional research.
I also try to locate a photo of the individual's headstone (Find a Grave, Canadian Gravemarker Gallery, Canada GenWeb Cemetery Project, BillionGraves) as well as obituary (ProQuest Historial Newspapers, OurOntario.ca, Legacy.com, YourLifeMoments as well as Google). Which of course may provide names of "new" family members, requiring more research.
When I have difficulty locating relevant information on an individual, I will search an inividual on Ancestry's Public Member Trees for HINTS. There have been times that I have no idea when an individual may have died after appearing on the 1921 Canadian census, or possibily some of the Canada Voter's Lists available on Ancestry. Someone's tree may indicate a death date for an individual, or other relevant information (ie spouse, in-laws, children) which leads me further research for proper verification of the newly found information.
Once I feel that I have exhausted readily available online records (official birth, marriage, death records as well burial information and obituary), I will change the colour of the individual to the appropriate colour (green/purple/red) and move on to the next individual to be done. Repeat and repeat!
I started my Do-Over with a new database, copying my pedigree from the databases put on hold, deleting any sources included so that I would have a fresh start. I changed the colour for these individuals to Brown to be able to identify which individuals have not yet been researched in the Do-Over. As I "finish" off with an individual, I change the colour to Blue which I had been previously using for direct ancestry. As I add other children to each family, I colour them Aqua - again as a way to identify individuals requiring further research. When I feel that I have researched the individual as much as I can, I change the colour to green for blood relations, purple for in-laws and red for other spouses and offspring of an in-law.
Any individual in black would be someone that is a relation of an in-law and entered into the database because they appeared on a document along with the in-law. I have found that recording the names of the individuals has been beneficial in locating the in-law in other records, or verifying that an individual listed on a document is indeed the in-law. And in many cases, the parent or sibling ties into another branch I eventually come to research.
There have been times a name appears on a document that I suspect belongs somewhere in the Family Tree, but is not directly related to the individual currently being researched. To avoid having to revisit the document, I will enter the individual into the database, colour coding them Yellow as a possible relation. I will also consult my old databases to see where the individual fits into the tree. If found, I will take a few minutes to enter the lineage of that individual to tie it into my Do-Over tree, leaving any entries I enter unsourced until I come upon that branch in my Do-Over research. But I do colour code in Aqua to identify the individuals that more research is needed.
Family friends, as well as clergy or doctors frequently appearing on documents, are also entered and colour coded in Grey.
When I start on a family, I search for the relevant census records of that family as well as the birth, marriage and death records. I also make use of the Suggested Records provided by Ancestry. Information on each record will lead to other names to be research as spouses and children are added to the database. Again, colour coding new additions to keep track of individual requiring additional research.
I also try to locate a photo of the individual's headstone (Find a Grave, Canadian Gravemarker Gallery, Canada GenWeb Cemetery Project, BillionGraves) as well as obituary (ProQuest Historial Newspapers, OurOntario.ca, Legacy.com, YourLifeMoments as well as Google). Which of course may provide names of "new" family members, requiring more research.
When I have difficulty locating relevant information on an individual, I will search an inividual on Ancestry's Public Member Trees for HINTS. There have been times that I have no idea when an individual may have died after appearing on the 1921 Canadian census, or possibily some of the Canada Voter's Lists available on Ancestry. Someone's tree may indicate a death date for an individual, or other relevant information (ie spouse, in-laws, children) which leads me further research for proper verification of the newly found information.
Once I feel that I have exhausted readily available online records (official birth, marriage, death records as well burial information and obituary), I will change the colour of the individual to the appropriate colour (green/purple/red) and move on to the next individual to be done. Repeat and repeat!
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Putting my Genealogy Do-Over skills to the test
When I discovered the Genealogy Do-Over project, I decided to participate in Cycle 2, after lurking on Facebook during the later part of Cycle 1.
I wanted to start a fresh database which will be the only one for all of my lines instead of splitting my tree into several databases. Over the years I found there was too many intermarrying between the various branches, or an allied family marrying into two different branches. Which led to the dilemma as to which database do I enter their information and then cross references in the other.
When I started with Week 1 of Cycle 2 of the Genealogy Do-Over, I did set aside my genealogy research to do a complete start over. However, I couldn't just sit on my hands and not start working on my new database. And of course, I needed to use 'place holders' and enter basic information (ie names and undocumented birth/death dates) of ancestors to connect lines when entering names from obituaries, etc. Rootsmagic does allow colour coding, so as I enter individuals who still need to be properly researched and documented, I mark them with a different colour (aqua) from what they will eventually be (green). That way, I can at any time spot someone whose research has not yet been "finalized".
But now that I have "graduated" from the Genealogy Do-Over, it is time to put my newly honed (hopefully) skills to the test and concentrate on my direct lines instead of meandering along the collateral lines.
When I had started inputing information into the newly created database, I did start with myself and started working my way up the tree on my father's side. When I reached my great-great-grandmother (Mary Ann Widdis), I went sideways and started researching siblings and their descendants. She was from a large family and several of her siblings had large families. Haven't finished working on those lines, but I'm getting antsy to work on my direct lines. Since the branches I am abandoning for now are colour coded, I will be able to return to those individuals at some point in the future.
My guinea pig (and long time brick wall): James Widdis and Jane Thompson, the parents of Mary Ann Widdis. Suggested death dates for James should have his death certificate available as part of the Ontario Death records available on both Ancestry and FamilySearch. But earlies searches have not found him in the index on either site. Although numerous Public Member Trees on Ancestry are consistent with their information, I believe the death date usually listed is incorrect and none of the trees document their facts - so there's no link to an image. The couple also seem to be missing from the 1861 census. I'm sure its just a matter of a bad transcription, but just how bad was the named mangled? Cluster searching needs to be done, as well as a Research Log.
I wanted to start a fresh database which will be the only one for all of my lines instead of splitting my tree into several databases. Over the years I found there was too many intermarrying between the various branches, or an allied family marrying into two different branches. Which led to the dilemma as to which database do I enter their information and then cross references in the other.
When I started with Week 1 of Cycle 2 of the Genealogy Do-Over, I did set aside my genealogy research to do a complete start over. However, I couldn't just sit on my hands and not start working on my new database. And of course, I needed to use 'place holders' and enter basic information (ie names and undocumented birth/death dates) of ancestors to connect lines when entering names from obituaries, etc. Rootsmagic does allow colour coding, so as I enter individuals who still need to be properly researched and documented, I mark them with a different colour (aqua) from what they will eventually be (green). That way, I can at any time spot someone whose research has not yet been "finalized".
But now that I have "graduated" from the Genealogy Do-Over, it is time to put my newly honed (hopefully) skills to the test and concentrate on my direct lines instead of meandering along the collateral lines.
When I had started inputing information into the newly created database, I did start with myself and started working my way up the tree on my father's side. When I reached my great-great-grandmother (Mary Ann Widdis), I went sideways and started researching siblings and their descendants. She was from a large family and several of her siblings had large families. Haven't finished working on those lines, but I'm getting antsy to work on my direct lines. Since the branches I am abandoning for now are colour coded, I will be able to return to those individuals at some point in the future.
My guinea pig (and long time brick wall): James Widdis and Jane Thompson, the parents of Mary Ann Widdis. Suggested death dates for James should have his death certificate available as part of the Ontario Death records available on both Ancestry and FamilySearch. But earlies searches have not found him in the index on either site. Although numerous Public Member Trees on Ancestry are consistent with their information, I believe the death date usually listed is incorrect and none of the trees document their facts - so there's no link to an image. The couple also seem to be missing from the 1861 census. I'm sure its just a matter of a bad transcription, but just how bad was the named mangled? Cluster searching needs to be done, as well as a Research Log.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Ancestry vs Family Search
I have had a subscription to Ancestry for a number of years. When they initiated the Canadian site, I quickly signed up as much of my family tree is Canadian. I was surprised that most of the databases, at least at that time, was fairly Ontario centric. But that was okay as the majority of my Canadian ancestors remained in Ontario with only a few migrating out west.
As time went on, I started researching branches that were located in the United States or United Kingdom. I attempted to make use of the the Library Edition of Ancestry at the Kingston Public Library, but having gotten accustomed to searching Ancestry any time day or night when I had an individual's record on the screen, booking a hour or two at a public library just wasn't cutting it. Especially when the branch closest to my house only allowed downloading to 3.5" floppy. (Yes, I was doing the research that long ago!) Not many images could be saved to a disk.
So I upgraded to the World edition of Ancestry and have continued to allow my membership to be renewed each year - viewing it as a birthday gift. It averages out to approximately a dollar a day - well worth it to my research.
At the same time as I was exploring Ancestry, I was also exploring free sites, including FamilySearch. But I have continued to use Ancestry as my prime source for Birth, Marriage, Death and census records as the records are indexed (albeit sometimes questionable) with links to images of the actual document. Even if the link was to Library and Archives Canada site, LAC usually does not provide an index. To locate the specific image on the LAC site, one would need to search in the same fashion as one would do on microfilm but without having to load and crank the microfilm roll.
Sometimes, an image would be available on FamilySearch via a link from the index but not always. Genealogy "experts" are always stressing the need to view the original source. So I continue to be willing to pay a subscription to Ancestry for that priviledge.
BUT....
At the Ontario Genealogy Society conference this past weekend, it was announced that FamilySearch.org now has an arrangement with the Archives of Ontario to provide digitized copies of the Birth, Marriages and Deaths. When I read the announcement, the dates listed for the three databases did not cover the most recent years available via Ancestry. So I figured I would continue my current search methods with Ancestry as my priority.
One negative with Ancestry (beside the previously mentioned questionable indexing) is that sometimes only the left side of the double page ledgers were digitized. Quite often, I have only been able to get part of the information for the event. I would make note of that in my records, but it was frustrating: marriage records with only the county and not the city/township information, the actual record number, witnesses, etc. Similar if the event was birth or death.
Last night when I encountered this situation in the case of a birth record, I decided to search that individual in FamilySearch. Lo and behold, the individual's birth record was at the top of the list of hits and with fingers crossed, I clicked on the link for the image. Not only was the right side of the ledger digitized, but the image of the left side was a clearer copy than what Ancestry offered.
For now, I will still continue with my subscription to Ancestry. There are many other databases offered on that site that I do not believe are offered by FamilySearch. But it is nice to know that "missing" information may be obtainable from FamilySearch.
As time went on, I started researching branches that were located in the United States or United Kingdom. I attempted to make use of the the Library Edition of Ancestry at the Kingston Public Library, but having gotten accustomed to searching Ancestry any time day or night when I had an individual's record on the screen, booking a hour or two at a public library just wasn't cutting it. Especially when the branch closest to my house only allowed downloading to 3.5" floppy. (Yes, I was doing the research that long ago!) Not many images could be saved to a disk.
So I upgraded to the World edition of Ancestry and have continued to allow my membership to be renewed each year - viewing it as a birthday gift. It averages out to approximately a dollar a day - well worth it to my research.
At the same time as I was exploring Ancestry, I was also exploring free sites, including FamilySearch. But I have continued to use Ancestry as my prime source for Birth, Marriage, Death and census records as the records are indexed (albeit sometimes questionable) with links to images of the actual document. Even if the link was to Library and Archives Canada site, LAC usually does not provide an index. To locate the specific image on the LAC site, one would need to search in the same fashion as one would do on microfilm but without having to load and crank the microfilm roll.
Sometimes, an image would be available on FamilySearch via a link from the index but not always. Genealogy "experts" are always stressing the need to view the original source. So I continue to be willing to pay a subscription to Ancestry for that priviledge.
BUT....
At the Ontario Genealogy Society conference this past weekend, it was announced that FamilySearch.org now has an arrangement with the Archives of Ontario to provide digitized copies of the Birth, Marriages and Deaths. When I read the announcement, the dates listed for the three databases did not cover the most recent years available via Ancestry. So I figured I would continue my current search methods with Ancestry as my priority.
One negative with Ancestry (beside the previously mentioned questionable indexing) is that sometimes only the left side of the double page ledgers were digitized. Quite often, I have only been able to get part of the information for the event. I would make note of that in my records, but it was frustrating: marriage records with only the county and not the city/township information, the actual record number, witnesses, etc. Similar if the event was birth or death.
Last night when I encountered this situation in the case of a birth record, I decided to search that individual in FamilySearch. Lo and behold, the individual's birth record was at the top of the list of hits and with fingers crossed, I clicked on the link for the image. Not only was the right side of the ledger digitized, but the image of the left side was a clearer copy than what Ancestry offered.
For now, I will still continue with my subscription to Ancestry. There are many other databases offered on that site that I do not believe are offered by FamilySearch. But it is nice to know that "missing" information may be obtainable from FamilySearch.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Research Plan
As I participate in the Genealogy Do-Over I am recreating my database for several reasons:
1) Merging the multiple databases back into one massive file.
As time went on, I was finding I was frequently having to do 'see references' as there was more cross-covers of branches than I thought I would fine.
2) Correcting/improving source citations.
Many of my citations are from the old FamilyTreeMaker files imported into RootsMagic and were in a free-form format rather than a more appropriate template. And no information included.
To ensure better citations, I am re-doing the research. Now that all available census for Canada, US and England are now available on Ancestry, I can search in one spot for the lifespan of each individual. By starting with census searches for an individual, it provides information as to the parents and siblings as well as age. If the birth falls during the time period covered by Ontario Births, search for the individual, as well as marriage and death.
When a marriage is confirmed, the birth and census records for the spouse will need to be searched. Census records of the couple will provide names for children. Birth, marriage and death records for those children will need to be searched.
If an individual or family "disappear" from Ontario, check the US census records as many people migrated from Ontario to various areas of the United States. This would lead to checking records available for that state, as well as military and SSDI.
If an individual/family migrated from Ontario to the Canadian west, they should still be found in Canadian census, including the special 1906 and 1916 censuses done in the Prairies (but not British Columbia). Many of the provinical archives BDM records are now available via Ancestry, so there may not been the need to check the various archives online records.
If census and BMD records not located on Ancestry, check FamilySearch as well as sites bookmarked. And then google.
It is recommended that Research Logs be used to document where and what one searches. But records change so quickly on the internet, I don't see a problem with repeating a search at a later date.
Personally, I don't see the need to maintain a Research Log documenting what I do find as the information is immediately entered in the database. Using split screens when checking for online records, data is entered into Rootsmagic on the spot as well as cut/pasting transcriptions or saving and linking digital images.
More forma Research Plans will need to be developed come the time I venture out to physical repositories. But for now the plan is in my head with evaluations being done of the fly.
1) Merging the multiple databases back into one massive file.
As time went on, I was finding I was frequently having to do 'see references' as there was more cross-covers of branches than I thought I would fine.
2) Correcting/improving source citations.
Many of my citations are from the old FamilyTreeMaker files imported into RootsMagic and were in a free-form format rather than a more appropriate template. And no information included.
To ensure better citations, I am re-doing the research. Now that all available census for Canada, US and England are now available on Ancestry, I can search in one spot for the lifespan of each individual. By starting with census searches for an individual, it provides information as to the parents and siblings as well as age. If the birth falls during the time period covered by Ontario Births, search for the individual, as well as marriage and death.
When a marriage is confirmed, the birth and census records for the spouse will need to be searched. Census records of the couple will provide names for children. Birth, marriage and death records for those children will need to be searched.
If an individual or family "disappear" from Ontario, check the US census records as many people migrated from Ontario to various areas of the United States. This would lead to checking records available for that state, as well as military and SSDI.
If an individual/family migrated from Ontario to the Canadian west, they should still be found in Canadian census, including the special 1906 and 1916 censuses done in the Prairies (but not British Columbia). Many of the provinical archives BDM records are now available via Ancestry, so there may not been the need to check the various archives online records.
If census and BMD records not located on Ancestry, check FamilySearch as well as sites bookmarked. And then google.
It is recommended that Research Logs be used to document where and what one searches. But records change so quickly on the internet, I don't see a problem with repeating a search at a later date.
Personally, I don't see the need to maintain a Research Log documenting what I do find as the information is immediately entered in the database. Using split screens when checking for online records, data is entered into Rootsmagic on the spot as well as cut/pasting transcriptions or saving and linking digital images.
More forma Research Plans will need to be developed come the time I venture out to physical repositories. But for now the plan is in my head with evaluations being done of the fly.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Online Research sources
The internet has been very beneficial to people doing genealogy research. Yes, the internet provides access to only a fraction of genealogy resources available and allows a log of inaccurate information to be upload and spread by innocent people. BUT depending on what records are relevant to your ancestors, it may be feasible to do alot of research without physically leaving your chair at home.
I am lucky that a large portion of my branches have lived in Ontario for over 100 years, in some cases closer to 200 years. Schells (my maternal grandfather's line) since about 1800; Bates and Mumbersons (my maternal grandmother's lines) since about 1850; Allens (my paternal grandfather's line) since 1830s. The Coopers (my paternal grandmother's line) are the newcomers having only been in Canada since 1902.
Although several branches of the Schells left Ontario to go to Michigan and further west, the families were large, so many Schell branches are still in Ontario. Most importantly, my direct line has stayed in Ontario. My other lines have had some members depart Ontario to migrate to the Canadian west, but again, my direct lines have stayed in Ontario.
Since most of the trees in my forest have remained in Ontario, the databases available on Ancestry are very beneficial to me. Some of the databases are available on free sites, but may not include images (FamilySearch) or provide indexes (Library and Archives Canada). And saves me a trip to the Archives of Ontario in Toronto. Most public libraries provide access to Ancestry but usually require one to reserve time on a computer and limited that access to one or two hours.
Yes, one can do alot of searching in that amount of time and I tried that for US and UK records at a time when my subscription was only for the Canadian site. But as time went on, I found it so efficient to have ready access at my fingertips to the Ancestry databases that I upgraded my Ancestry subscription to world-wide.
So now when I'm working on an individual, I can have Ancestry and my database on split screens going back and forth. I can determine at a glance that the record is my ancestor, enter the information in my database, click and save a copy of the image and attach it to the record in my database.
As I participate in the Genealogy Do-Over, I started a new database and redoing all of my previous research, starting with what is available on Ancestry and other online resources before I start consulting books or venturing out into the field to repositories and court houses (I hadn't even gotten to that stage before the Do-Over).
It is slow going, but it is amazing all of the informaton I have been able to find. Ancestry now provides access to indexed, digitized images of all of the Canadian censuses as well as Voters Lists from 1935-1974. Ancestry also provides indexed, digitized images of Ontario birth, marriage and deaths for several decades. What I cannot find on Ancestry, I will check FamilySearch as they offer some different databases, as well as having used different transcribers than Ancesty to index the databases that are duplicated.
Google searches help to locate newspapers, funeral homes and cemeteries as well as genealogy societies or public library sites that make various databases available through their websites.
When I started with the Do-Over, I intended to refrain from accessing and using public member trees uploaded by individual on Ancestry and similar sites. However, I have to admit that I will search a name and make use of information in the entries on those trees. Using the information from those trees, I have been able to discover maiden names, names of parents of an in-law, children, etc which has assisted me to redo searches to find records verifying that information.
By the time I feel that I have exhausted all available online resources for an individual, I have fleshed out an individual's record as well as providing more foliage in my forest.
I am lucky that a large portion of my branches have lived in Ontario for over 100 years, in some cases closer to 200 years. Schells (my maternal grandfather's line) since about 1800; Bates and Mumbersons (my maternal grandmother's lines) since about 1850; Allens (my paternal grandfather's line) since 1830s. The Coopers (my paternal grandmother's line) are the newcomers having only been in Canada since 1902.
Although several branches of the Schells left Ontario to go to Michigan and further west, the families were large, so many Schell branches are still in Ontario. Most importantly, my direct line has stayed in Ontario. My other lines have had some members depart Ontario to migrate to the Canadian west, but again, my direct lines have stayed in Ontario.
Since most of the trees in my forest have remained in Ontario, the databases available on Ancestry are very beneficial to me. Some of the databases are available on free sites, but may not include images (FamilySearch) or provide indexes (Library and Archives Canada). And saves me a trip to the Archives of Ontario in Toronto. Most public libraries provide access to Ancestry but usually require one to reserve time on a computer and limited that access to one or two hours.
Yes, one can do alot of searching in that amount of time and I tried that for US and UK records at a time when my subscription was only for the Canadian site. But as time went on, I found it so efficient to have ready access at my fingertips to the Ancestry databases that I upgraded my Ancestry subscription to world-wide.
So now when I'm working on an individual, I can have Ancestry and my database on split screens going back and forth. I can determine at a glance that the record is my ancestor, enter the information in my database, click and save a copy of the image and attach it to the record in my database.
As I participate in the Genealogy Do-Over, I started a new database and redoing all of my previous research, starting with what is available on Ancestry and other online resources before I start consulting books or venturing out into the field to repositories and court houses (I hadn't even gotten to that stage before the Do-Over).
It is slow going, but it is amazing all of the informaton I have been able to find. Ancestry now provides access to indexed, digitized images of all of the Canadian censuses as well as Voters Lists from 1935-1974. Ancestry also provides indexed, digitized images of Ontario birth, marriage and deaths for several decades. What I cannot find on Ancestry, I will check FamilySearch as they offer some different databases, as well as having used different transcribers than Ancesty to index the databases that are duplicated.
Google searches help to locate newspapers, funeral homes and cemeteries as well as genealogy societies or public library sites that make various databases available through their websites.
When I started with the Do-Over, I intended to refrain from accessing and using public member trees uploaded by individual on Ancestry and similar sites. However, I have to admit that I will search a name and make use of information in the entries on those trees. Using the information from those trees, I have been able to discover maiden names, names of parents of an in-law, children, etc which has assisted me to redo searches to find records verifying that information.
By the time I feel that I have exhausted all available online resources for an individual, I have fleshed out an individual's record as well as providing more foliage in my forest.
Got a few minutes?
Genealogy research can be done anywhere, anytime, for a few minutes, or lengthy periods of time. Of course it all depends on what resources are available to you at any given time.
Most of my working career was in academic libraries. What a perfect place for a genealogy hobbyist! Not only were print and microfilm documents available at my fingertips, but so was the internet from its infancy.
Pre-internet, lunchtimes were spent checking census microfilm, usually one reel at a time. By the time the reel was located, loaded and started scrolling through the images by the time I located the family in question I barely had time to record the informtion before having to return to work. How I wish the technology existed then to download the image to a thumbdrive. I could have got a lot more done in less time. Of course when I stayed after work, I didn't have the same restraints.
Yes, one can find many relevant records during their 15 minute break, surfing the internet in one's cubicle. Download images to a thumbdrive, cut & paste text into a word processor and save to the thumbdrive. And of course, if one ate one's lunch at said cubile, even more records can be found, saved and/or transribed.
But all this found data still needed to be incorporated into the database on the home computer, although I have been known to take my laptop to work to use on break/lunch/afterwork. But that changed when a new release of RootsMagic included "To-Go". This enabled me to synch from my home computer to a thumbdrive. All I had to carry to work was that thumbdrive and not only was I able to consult my existing tree, I could update my database on the spot! More efficient as I could then spend the evening at home surfing the internet for new records rather than entering data found earlier in the day. When I would synch the thumbddrive to the laptop, I would have to remember to copy images from the thumbdrive to the computer.
Over the years, I found a lot of relevant information in chunks of 15 minutes at a time.
Most of my working career was in academic libraries. What a perfect place for a genealogy hobbyist! Not only were print and microfilm documents available at my fingertips, but so was the internet from its infancy.
Pre-internet, lunchtimes were spent checking census microfilm, usually one reel at a time. By the time the reel was located, loaded and started scrolling through the images by the time I located the family in question I barely had time to record the informtion before having to return to work. How I wish the technology existed then to download the image to a thumbdrive. I could have got a lot more done in less time. Of course when I stayed after work, I didn't have the same restraints.
Yes, one can find many relevant records during their 15 minute break, surfing the internet in one's cubicle. Download images to a thumbdrive, cut & paste text into a word processor and save to the thumbdrive. And of course, if one ate one's lunch at said cubile, even more records can be found, saved and/or transribed.
But all this found data still needed to be incorporated into the database on the home computer, although I have been known to take my laptop to work to use on break/lunch/afterwork. But that changed when a new release of RootsMagic included "To-Go". This enabled me to synch from my home computer to a thumbdrive. All I had to carry to work was that thumbdrive and not only was I able to consult my existing tree, I could update my database on the spot! More efficient as I could then spend the evening at home surfing the internet for new records rather than entering data found earlier in the day. When I would synch the thumbddrive to the laptop, I would have to remember to copy images from the thumbdrive to the computer.
Over the years, I found a lot of relevant information in chunks of 15 minutes at a time.
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