52 Weeks to Better Genealogy : Week 10 - the Challenge...

Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog (and hosted by GeneaBloggers) presents "52 Weeks To Better Genealogy", a series of weekly genealogy prompts / suggestions / exercises that (hopefully) will help anyone to become a better researcher.

The challenge for week 10:

Investigate Family Search Pilot, which is part of FamilySearch.org. This is a wonderful collection of records which literally grows every day. In the middle left of the page is a link that says “Browse our record collections.” Click it and pick a region. Search collections outside your research interest. Investigate the types of records collected all over the world and see how they differ from those with which you are familiar. If you are a genealogy blogger, pick a type of record from another country and share your observations about it.

I'll post my results later this week...

Please Note: This challenge was originally published the week of 6 March 2010. I'm continuing the series on my own after a lengthy (cough, cough) break from genealogy...

fM's Tradition of Blog Caroling: The Huron Carol

I've decided to participate in footnoteMaven's Blog Caroling, and from a bevy of favourite songs, I've decided on "The Huron Carol".

"The Huron Carol" is Canada's oldest Christmas song, written in 1643 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in Canada.  It was originally written in the native tongue of the Huron/Wendat people amongst whom de Brébeuf was stationed and the original song title was "Jesous Ahatonhia" ("Jesus, he is born") in Huron. The melody is based on a traditional French folk song, "Une Jeune Pucelle" ("A Young Maid"). [Brief history courtesy of Wiki]

There's a few different versions, but this is my favourite - in two languages! 
Enjoy!  Jenn



The Huron Carol ('Twas In the Moon of Wintertime)

'Twas in the moon of wintertime when all the birds had fled
That mighty Gitchi Manitou sent angel choirs instead;
Before their light the stars grew dim and wondering hunters heard the hymn,
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

Within a lodge of broken bark the tender babe was found;
A ragged robe of rabbit skin enwrapped his beauty round
But as the hunter braves drew nigh the angel song rang loud and high
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

The earliest moon of wintertime is not so round and fair
As was the ring of glory on the helpless infant there.
The chiefs from far before him knelt with gifts of fox and beaver pelt.
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

O children of the forest free, O seed of Manitou
The holy Child of earth and heaven is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant boy who brings you beauty peace and joy.
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy : Week 9 - the results...

Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog (and hosted by Geneabloggers) presents "52 Weeks To Better Genealogy", a series of weekly genealogy prompts / suggestions / exercises that (hopefully) will help anyone to become a better researcher.

The challenge for week 9:

Pick five genealogy blogs and read them every day. Meeting new people and networking within the online genealogy community is a great way to expand your own research and experience. Reading the blogs of others will help you get to know others. Try to find some blogs that are out of your area of expertise. Lists of genealogy blogs can be found at Geneabloggers.com and Genealogue’s Genealogy Blog Finder. If you already subscribe to many genealogy blogs, find five new ones that are “outside the box,” perhaps in history or archives. If you have a genealogy blog, write about the blogs you discover and introduce others to them.

The results:

Since I am a (relative) newbie on the geneabloggers circuit, I have been exploring the listings of blogs on both Geneabloggers and the Genealogue, especially those with a Canadian bent (for obvious reasons) and adding to my blog feeder.  Likewise with history blogs, especially those that deal with either Canadian or World War I subjects.  But outside my comfort zone?  This took some searching...

And this is what I've come up with:

Swedish Genealogy @ Of Trolls and Lemons

My step-great-grandfather was supposedly Swedish, but with a name like Frank Johnson, it's going to take some fancy research two-step to track him down! In the meantime, I'll start by reading about Swedish (along with Norwegian and Italian!) genealogy, of which I am completely in the dark.

Podcasts @ The Genealogy Guys Podcast

Isn't it sooo cute!  ;-) 
(And please ignore the cat food in the bottom right corner...)

At this years' staff Christmas party, I was the lucky winner of an iPod Nano! While I have an MP3 player (and will probably keep that for music as well as the handy built-in recorder), this new piece of technology (and thus the exploration of the Apple iStore) led me straight to podcasts and (of course) genealogy podcasts in particular.

I had never paid much attention to podcasts (bad genealogist!), but now I'm listening to the back issues? (shows?) of The Genealogy Guys and while there is a lot of useful information, I also find myself tuning out during the American-specific material (as well as the dated stuff - I've just started 2006).

Australian History @ Yarra Plenty Library Local History Blog

I know zip about Australian history, so when I stumbled upon this library's local history blog, based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I knew it had to make the list. As far as I know, I only have one connection to Australia: a first cousin, 3 times removed, whose sister-in-law was apparently born "somewhere" there.

Wisconsin Genealogy and History @ Midwestern Microhistory

I (finally) found the same first cousin (3 times removed) mentioned above in Wisconsin (though he was born in Carleton county and is buried - or at least has a headstone - in Wellington county) with his wife. So in an attempt to education myself about the records available, I'm now reading "Midwestern Microhistory" (and learning about Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan to boot!).

Forensic Genealogy @ Identifinders International

I am a fan of C.S.I. (the older seasons, especially), but I tend to avoid anything DNAish as it pertains to genealogy - it holds no interest for me. However, when I found the Identifinders' Blog while searching GeneaBloggers for "outside-the-box" ideas, I couldn't help but be hooked!

Please Note: This challenge was originally published the week of 27 February 2010 at GeneaBloggers. I'm continuing the series on my own after a lengthy (cough, cough) break from genealogy...

Tabloid Thursday: 1910 BMDs & A "cheerful spinister" Wanted...

Tabloid Thursday: Where yesterday's news is today...

T.T. is an experimental weekly meme I'm trying here at "Roots & Stones" (please let me know if there are any themes/memes already around like this - I don't want to reinvent the wheel!). 

I wanted a weekly feature where I could showcase articles, those lovely little social news items (i.e. "Mrs. X and daughter visited Mrs. Y this weekend and will be returning home on Thursday..."), and other interesting newspaper "stuff" I've come across in the course of my research.  Thus, Tabloid Thursday...

~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~ 

Source: "Ottawa Citizen" 1 October, 1910, evening edition, p. 4, column 8
Accessed through Google News archive, 7 December 2010
Note: [?] indicates the word/entry could not be read

[Click to enlarge]

MARRIAGE AND DEATHS, 50C BIRTH NOTICES, EACH 25 CENTS.

BORN.
SHEARER-On Sept. 29, 1910, to Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Shearer, 61 Sherbrooke Ave, a daughter.
HYLAND-On Sept. 27, 1910, to Mrs. and Mrs. Robert Hyland, of 97 James St., a son.

MARRIED.
FISHER-ANDERSON On Wednesday, Sept. 28, 1910, at Christ church cathedral, Victoria, B.C., by Rev. W. W. Boulton, Alice Gwendolen, eldest daughter of W. J. Anderson, of Ottawa, to William Edward Fisher of Prince Rupert B.C.

DIED.
DEVINE-On Sept. 30, 1910, at 74 Baird St., Florence Mary, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Devine, aged 2 years, [?] months.
Funeral Saturday at 3 p.m., to Notre Dame cemetery.

IN MEMORIAM.
In loving memory of the late Richard Hatton, who died Oct. 1, 1906.
Gone but no forgotten.
--Sister, Mrs. R. T. Lyon.
In loving memory of Mrs. Wm. [?], who died Oct. 2, 1908.
Two years have passed and still we miss her,
Friends may think the wound has healed,
But they little know the sorrow
Lies within our hearts concealed.
--Family

Source: "Ottawa Citizen" 1 October, 1910, evening edition, p. 4, column 8
Accessed through Google News archive, 7 December 2010
Note: [?] indicates the word/entry could not be read
From the classified ads to eHarmony: some things never change (except the language!)... ;-)  [I wonder if he got his "correspondence"?]

[click to enlarge]

PERSONAL.
BACHELOR, 37, wishes correspondence from spinster, 20-30 (English preferred), must be thoroughly domesticated, cheerful, tall and attractive.  Photo (to be returned), highest references.  Only those offering same need apply, as this is straight.  Address Box 13, Citizen.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy : Week 8 - the results...

Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog presents "52 Weeks To Better Genealogy", a series of weekly genealogy prompts / suggestions / exercises that (hopefully) will help anyone to become a better researcher.

The challenge for week 8:

Discover online map collections. Historical maps are wonderful tools for historical research. Fortunately for genealogists, many map collections are located online. Some of the more prominent collections are: the American Memory Collection at the Library of Congress, the David Rumsey Map Collection, and the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin. Take some time to browse each of these collections. You may also want to check the library web site of your local university (or one near your ancestral home) to see what maps they may have online. If you have a genealogy blog, write about any special maps you find during this activity.

The Results:

Even before I surfaced into the world of genealogy, the one resource I loved to look at were the hardbound county map books that are held by the main branch of my public library.  These measured 14" x 18.5" and were published for counties in Ontario originally in the 1870s-1880s.  They were reprinted in the 1970s-1980s by the Belleville company, Mika Publishing, which reprinted a lot of old Ontario books and atlases.

The books were held in a specially-built open-front cabinet with a sloped viewing top - much like a podium (which is, incidently, probably gone; the main branch has been recently undergoing renovations and though I have yet to have a peek, it definitely doesn't fit with the "modern" look of the architect.  Sigh.).  I remember pulling out a book at a time and slowly fliping through the large pages, peering at the tiny names printed in the various lots and reading the general histories and biographies.  I would have loved to take one home, but they were reference copies only.

Fortunately for me (now), there's the Canadian County Atlas Digital Project, provided by the Digital Collections Program, Rare Books and Special Collections Division, McGill University, and hosted through McGill library's website.  Originally launched in 1999, the site offers a short history of the county maps and their publishers, a short list of abbreviations, and the ability to order high-resolution copies.  Viewers can search the collection by either a last name (alone or with further qualifiers) or by place (generally by county, by either a clickable map or a list, or more specifically with pull-down lists by county, township, and/or town).

Fitzroy Township, Carleton County, Ontario, Canada.
Map originally published by H. Beldon & Co., Toronto, 1879. 
Image from The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project, McGill University, 2001. 
Accessed 8 December 2010.  Click to enlarge.

View of Concessions III and IV, Lots 5 and 6,
Fitzroy Township, Carleton County, Ontario, Canada.

"Thos. Granger" (blocked out in red) was my great-great-grandfather, "D[avid]. Story" (blocked out in green, but with his Story brothers all around) was Thomas' father-in-law and thus my great-great-great-grandfather, and "R[ichard]. Barber" (blocked out in blue) was also my great-great-grandfather.  Thomas' daughter Linda and Richard's son Michael were my great-grandparents!

For me (a city gal) to not only be able to see the extent of land that my forefathers owned (coupled with descriptions from the agricultural schedule of the 1871 census), but also the proximity that these families lived within each other has always been quite special to me.  Not only were their farms close by, but they most likely attended the same church (St. Mark's Anglican, ironically in the next township and the next county!) and went to the same social functions.  My "people" were farmers, descended from poor protestant Irish, who left Ireland before the famine to eke out a new life in a strange new country.  They didn't get much mention in the "official" record, and I have very little personal artefacts, so any little link to their lives is, for me, quite precious.


Please Note: This challenge was originally published the week of 20 February 2010 at GeneaBloggers.  I'm continuing the series on my own after a lengthy (cough, cough) break from genealogy...

Wordless Wednesday: Valcartier Picture Postcard, W.W.I

"Valcartier Camp - Canada. Cleaning the Dinner Dishes"

Original in possession of F. Crago, as of 2010.  Reverse of postcard is blank, except for pre-printed description.

Distractions (Research Diary, No. 3)

After an unexpected absence of almost 10 months, I (think) I'm back... ;-)

Life, work, and other distractions got in the way of any genealogy-ing.  But in the midst of my final week of vacation (and with the impending holidays), I've decided to dust off my research and my blogging...

I've changed the background (since my old background was gone anyways and Blogger changed its layout...), fiddled around with a few odds and ends, while otherwise contemplating my next major move. 

Changes to the sidebar:

• added a Welcome message
• got rid of the profile pic and blurb...while adding a link to my blogger profile in the welcome message
• added decorative dividers (to break up the text)
• added a brief label legend (it began brief, anyway...)
• separated surname labels from the rest of the labels

I was also thinking of separating out the location labels from the rest of the labels, but I haven't quite decided yet...

Changes elsewhere:

• the background and format
• added the "share buttons" (facebook, email, twitter, etc.) to the bottom of posts

Let me know what you think!

As for the "52 Weeks to Better Genealogy" feature (hosted by Geneabloggers), I am planning to start where I last left off (since it's a very useful series...).

Therefore, I need to finish weeks 8 and 9 (which I both posted initial entries for, but never got around to finishing...ahem).  Since I began initially with week 6, I also think I'll head back to the first and work through weeks 1 thru 5...eventually. ;-)


I think that's all for the moment.  It's getting close to 11 p.m. and my brain shut down for the night about an hour ago...

Jenn ;-)