It’s the third week of the month, and that means several branches of Ontario Ancestors will be busy hosting virtual presentations. The topics include online research, Newspapers.com, genetic genealogy, university websites, and the American Revolution.
Seven branches and one special interest group will host a free presentation. The Genetic Genealogy special interest group’s webinar is free to society members and $10 for non-members. All are open to the public.
The times below are in Eastern time.
Monday, April 15, 7:00 p.m. — Sudbury District Branch
Doing Family Tree Research in Your Pajamas by Ken McKinlay
The overarching focus of this presentation is to look at various online resources that can be used to find information on your family’s history. I start the talk by touching upon how one might organize the material (paper or electronic) and mention various software before diving into online resources and key types of records. Register to watch online.
Tuesday, April 16, 7:00 p.m. — Nipissing District Branch
Newspapers.com Tips & Tricks by Ann Smith
Ann Smith has been working daily with Newspapers.com for the last two years and has accumulated tips and tricks that she would like to share with you. She will give a basic overview of the site and then will dive into some of the ways she has discovered to achieve better search results.
Thanks to a generous donation from Newspapers.com, we will be offering a Newspapers.com one-year Publisher Extra subscription as a prize to a lucky person whose name will be drawn from those who watch the presentation.
This is a hybrid meeting. Attend in person at the North Bay Public Library or register before April 16 to watch online.
Wednesday, April 17, 10:00 a.m. — Scottish SIG
People Lie! How to unravel the truth when you are tracing your family history by Emma Maxwell
Genealogist Emma Maxwell will use case studies to demonstrate how to untangle truth from fiction. When you are tracing your family history, conflicting evidence can be very confusing. Perhaps an ancestor’s age fluctuates or a person’s parents just don’t seem to exist. Perhaps an ancestor says she is a widow but you can’t find a death certificate for her husband. It’s not unusual for facts to vary from one source to the next. Our ancestors may have been willfully deceitful to cover something up or they may just have been confused. Whatever the motive, the challenge for us is to unravel the truth and trace our family history accurately. Register to watch online.
Wednesday, April 17, 7:00 p.m. — Thunder Bay District Branch
My Ancestors in the Hudson’s Bay Fur Trade by Janice Nickerson
Janice will share captivating stories about her ancestors linked to the Hudson’s Bay Company and reveal how she discovered these tales through her research in the Hudson Bay Archives. She writes, “The archives of the Hudson’s Bay Company at the Provincial Archives of Manitoba are vast and rich with information. And much of their records are now accessible online if you know where to look and are willing to invest the time.” Register to watch online.
Thursday, April 18, 7:00 p.m. — Genetic Genealogy SIG
Genetic Genealogy DNA: Tips and Learn How to Get Organized and Introduction to The Ancestor Assessment Chart by Shirley Monkhouse
This presentation will provide ten tips and a method to organize your genetic genealogy DNA research using the DNA Research Binder. By working your way through the tips and the process of creating your own DNA Research Binder, you will be more organized, you will reduce time and effort in future analysis, and also have a better understanding of your family history research and DNA results.
There will be one case study to show how the system works and introduce the Ancestor Assessment Chart, which was created to help assign your DNA matches results to your ancestors.
This webinar is free to all society members. Non-members can purchase access to the live presentation and the recording for two weeks for a nominal fee of $10. Register to watch online.
Friday, April 19, 7:00 p.m. — Niagara Peninsula Branch
University Websites for Genealogists by Janice Nickerson
If you thought your university days were over, think again. University websites can help your research in countless ways, and you don’t have to be a student to use them. From farmer’s diaries to coroner’s inquests, this lecture will share a few of my favourite finds and introduce you to a whole new world of family history resources. Register to watch online.
Saturday, April 20, 10:00 a.m. — Kingston Branch
Iron Lungs and Wax Faces: A Journey Through the Museum of Health Care at Kingston by Rowena McGowan
The Museum of Health Care is devoted to telling the history of health and healthcare. But what does that actually mean? Curator Rowena McGowan provides a whirlwind tour of the museum’s exhibits, collections and programs/research, exploring what the museum does, how it can be a challenge and why it matters. Register to watch online.
Saturday, April 20, 1:00 p.m. — Ottawa Branch
Restorations of Biblical Proportions by Kyla Ubbink
Family bibles are the most common family heirloom, but it took centuries for them to come into being. The story begins with rebels, such as Wycliffe and Tyndale, and innovators including Gutenberg and Koberger, who brought bibles into the hands of the common man. Family bibles were usually given as wedding presents during the Victorian era, but were also often purchased at the arrival of a first-born child. Although many bibles have remained in the same family for centuries, “family bibles” are defined by having pages printed specifically for recording births, marriages, and deaths. If these pages have been filled in, they are a primary source of family history. But these books are also a tangible connection to the past. Your ancestors learned how to read from them, and their geography and history lesson were derived from them. They held, touched, and cherished these resources, as you are doing now. Family bibles fell out of fashion in the 1920s, but not out of use, rendering most of them in poor or even terrible condition today. Covers have become detached, the glues are failing, the pages are loose, and sometimes even the leather is rotting away, but family bibles can be saved. Old glues can be replaced with new glues, the pages secured, and tears repaired. Bindings are restored by inserting new material beneath the original leather, and dyes and leather dressings return luster and beauty. It takes technical knowledge, patience, an aptitude for meticulous work, and on occasion leads to uttering under your breath to an all-knowing deity.
This is a hybrid meeting. Attend in person at the City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive (Room 226), or register to watch online.
Saturday, April 20, 1:00 p.m. — Quinte Branch
Shades of Allegiance: Hidden Loyalties of the Gerow Family in the American Revolution by Jane Simpson
This family saga opens as Daniel Giraud, a Huguenot, escapes the French king’s clutches in the 1690s, in the southwest of France. Fleeing to New York City; he, his wife, and small child seek safety and religious freedom. The family joins other Huguenots on Long Island Sound. Now grown, his son persuades him to move north in Westchester County to become a tenant-farmer of the land-owning Van Cortlandt family. Hard work is rewarded by prosperity.
Years later, the grandson and inheritor, Daniel Gerow, serves in the Westchester militia in both the French and Indian War, and in the American Revolution. Life for Daniel and his family becomes one of chance and fate as Cortlandt Manor becomes a nucleus for both Revolutionaries and the British Army. Gerow family members perish or are exiled in the conflict.
Author Jane Simpson weaves fact and fiction as she traces her family’s history as tensions rise through the intricacies of deceit, loyalty, and dangers of the American Revolution. Register to watch online.
