I am a Kreativ Blogger and so are others

It seems that people are thinking of awards at this time of year. I have been awarded the Kreativ Blogger Award from both Greta Koehl and Msteri. Thank you.

It is great to know that people visit your blog and appreciate your posts and hopefully, they find them interesting and helpful.

I present this award to
1. Delia
2. Gayle
3. Jennifer
4. Holly
5. Jane


I am breaking the rules here (I am not usually a rule breaker) and nominating only 5. Of course, there are many more deserving awards and this has been recognized by others.

1. Copy the award to your site.

2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.

3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.

4. Link to those sites on your blog.

5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominate

William King Family - more information

Yesterday, I posted a photograph of the King Family from Cochrane, Alberta. Although, I have never found any family connection, they must have been very good friends of my Great Aunt Margaret (Maggie) because she kept in touch with them after they left the Manitoulin Island.

I checked through the box again to find another photo. In the Smile for the Camera - Crowning Glory, I showed a photo of Billy King and his wife with daughters Lizzie and May.

When I want to know something about Manitoulin genealogy, I check two web sites:
Manitoulin Family Trees

Manitoulin Roots

The likely match was found on both. On Manitoulin Roots, there is an uncited transcription of the obituary for William King. It contains much useful information for further research for those researching hte family.

William King was born in Scotland in 1851 and came to Canada. He married in 1873 in Clanbrassil [Haldimand County] to according to the obituary to Agnes Helen. On both sites in the family information, they give her surname as Helm. I did not find a marriage registration for them.

The family moved to the Manitoulin Island, according to the obituary, in 1874. All their children were born there.

For fun, I just did a search on Google for "william king" manitoulin "cochrane alberta". The Manitoulin Roots site is shown but interestingly, there was a link to Archives Canada http://www.archivescanada.ca/ It gives a listing for the Glenbow Museum of the King Fond. The fond includes about 25 cm of textual materials and about 500 photographs.

The description of the fond gives good family information as well as the following

The fonds consists of photographs of the King family in Scotland, Ontario and Alberta, the Sunset Ranch and their Calgary home; political materials relating to William's term in the legislature; receipts and other materials dealing with the Calgary Prophetic Bible Institute; and a large collection of funeral notices of family and friends.

It shows that doing a search for a family can pay off.

Wordless Wednesday - King Family from Cochrane, Alberta

King Family - Cochrane, Alberta

I don't know too many details. The King family were friends of my Great Aunt Margaret. I will check on details to post later.

Favorite comfort foods

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote Around the Table - Kitchen Style, for the Canadian Carnival of Genealogy. This week's writing prompt is In your kitchen.


I told about some of our favourite foods when I was growing up. I have remembered a couple of other dishes that I didn't mention. These could be classified as comfort foods.


Creamed Salmon on Toast
It is years since I had it. I am sure my mother made a white sauce for it. It is a great family meal especially if you can buy canned salmon at a good price. If you don't wish to make a white sauce, use mushroom soup or comparable straight from the can.

Macaroni and Cheese
The way my mother made it is so easy. My brother says that I can almost make it as good as my mother did.

I do not know exact quantities. I never judge correctly. I usually cook too much macaroni.

Boil water with a little bit of salt. Cook macaroni (about 8 minutes). Drain.

While the macaroni is cooking, grate old cheddar cheese. If you can't be bothered with that just buy grated cheese, but honestly, I don't think it is as good. Grate lots so that you can have enough for about 3 layers of cheese.

Put the following in the greased casserole dish.
A layer of macaroni and then a layer of cheese. Alternate until the dish is almost full with a good layer of cheese on top.
Pour enough milk over the layers until it is almost to the top of the casserole dish. The milk will trickle down between the macaroni.
If your family likes tomatoes, put some drained canned tomatoes on top.

The oven should be pre-heated to about 325 to 350 degrees F.
Bake about an hour. You want the cheese to form a crust.

[As you can tell, there isn't a written recipe for this. I checked my mother's recipe book and it is not there. You make the size you need for your family, or the size of dish you are using.]

Happy Valentine's Day

A postcard from Grandfather during First World War to his wife. No date or details on the back except her name and Owen Sound Ont. Canada

iGene Awards for 2008

Announcing some of the best of the best for the iGene Awards for postings in 2008. In several categories, there were several nominees, so it was a difficult decision.



For best biography, the award goes to Women's History Month Salutes featuring Emily Lily Iles nee Dudley. I was able to tell about her life and show photographs of her from different time periods.



For best picture, the award goes to the photo of our family at Sauble Beach in the article Bathing Beauties? Although it is not a real old photo, it is still special (okay it is from more than fifty years ago). The photo reminds me of the fun we had at our cottage.

For best documentary of a place, the award goes to the Kemble Women's Institute Parkette.

Although. it is a place that my sister and I visited just last year, it is a reminder of a day trip we took where we had fun visiting the parkette, going to an Art show in a garden and having lunch at a restaurant in Wiarton.

This has been written for the 66th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy

Another Blog, Another Website

The last little while, I have been busy with the creation of a new website and blog. I didn't do the design of the website but I was involved with a committee that worked on the content and concepts for the site. Dr. Steve Briggs donated his time and his expertise in website creation to bring our ideas together. The website is the Grey County Historical Society site. I will be the webmaster. The blog is Grey County Historical Society Blog.

Since, I started this blog, Janet the Researcher, I have been posting notices of meetings, etc. here but in future these announcements will be on the Society's blog. I will be the main contributor to the Society's blog.

So now I have four traditional websites that I manage --
Stiver/Stober family
Knox United Church, Owen Sound
Markham Berczy Settlers Association
Grey County Historical Society

I now have three blogs where I am the author --
Janet the Researcher
Graveyard Rabbit of Grey County, Ontario
Grey County Historical Society

I will need to use my time management skills to keep everything up to date and to remember to schedule breaks, to step away from the computer to do other things on my to do lists. You can get very absorbed with what you are doing on the computer whether it is writing an article or doing research. The time passes so quickly.

Now, it is time to step away from the computer for awhile. Oh, but first, I must check my email.

Smile for the Camera - 1905 wedding photograph

Thomas Wagg and Jane Hodgson pose for the camera on their wedding day. I thought her dress was beautiful. (They are not relatives but are part of the collection of photographs that belonged to my great Aunt Margaret. )

Thomas Maxwell Wagg, age 27 born in Mindemoya, Ontario and resident in Mindemoya, Ontario and son of Francis Wagg and Elizabeth Ann Cook married Jane Hodson, age 25 born and resident in Mindemoya, Ontario. and daughter of George Hodgson and Jane Williamson.

The date of marriage was either the 15 or 18 of June 1905 (I think it is 15 and the indexer says 18). It was not registered until 18 July 1905.

The photograph was taken by a Gore Bay photographer.

Thomas Wagg - Jane Hodgson Ontario marriage registration #004151 (18 July 1905) Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca/ ; accessed 8 February 2009); citing Archives of Ontario microfilm MS 932 reel 117, Toronto.

Thomas Wagg's father Francis Wagg - 5th marriage married my great great aunt Sarah Hillborn nee Vincer 1 November 1921. So although not related there is a family connection. My great uncle Isaac Maurice Johnston married Thomas' sister Frances Margaret Wagg.

For more about the Wagg and Hodgson families check Manitoulin Roots This site led me to the following information.

1906 was a very sad year for the Wagg family on the Manitoulin. This beautiful couple both met an early death. On 21 May Jane's baby boy was still born. Six days later Jane died of confinement. On about 24 November Thomas drowned on the Steamer Jones.

Information on the sinking of the J.H. Jones

When I chose this photograph, I didn't know the story was going to have a sad ending.

Jane Wagg Ontario death registration #005059 (5 June 1906) Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca/ ; accessed 8 February 2009); citing Archives of Ontario microfilm MS 935 Reel 124, Toronto

Stillborn Wagg Ontario birth registration #unknown page not digitized (date death 21

May 1906); citing Archives of Ontario microfilm MS 929 Reel 177, Toronto

Thomas Wagg Ontario death registration #005052 (25 December 1906) Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca/ ; accessed 8 February 2009); citing Archives of Ontario microfilm MS 935 Reel 124, Toronto

Around the Table - Canadian Style

I don't know if our family ate anything that was typically Canadian that was not enjoyed elsewhere.

Maple syrup - My mother grew up on a farm that made maple syrup and my cousins still live on the family farm. The last time I heard they were still producing maple syrup every spring. My mother served maple syrup with home made tea biscuits. I don't buy maple syrup but my brother loves maple syrup; so much so that he asks visitors from Canada to bring maple syrup when they go to visit him.

Pea Soup - When I had the French club at the library, I made them home made pea soup. I haven't had it in many years.

Saturday at noon was our day to have the "big meal" of the week. This was usually a roast generally alternating between beef and pork. This was a great meal to have on Saturdays. Mom could put it in the oven to cook while she worked on the payroll for the supermarket staff. It was easy to keep warm if dad didn't get home right at noon for the dinner.

Saturday's supper traditionally was Slop. Both my sister and I still like to make it.

Sunday evening supper meal was often served on TV tables. The menu could be sloppy joes, hamburgers, or TV dinners. In the summer, of course, it would be barbecues at the cottage. When my mother was growing up, you didn't cook on Sundays. I don't remember my dad commenting on this, but I am sure that was true for them too. The food was prepared the day ahead and reheated on Sunday for serving. I remember my great aunts continued this practice in their latter years.

I still love leftovers. Now, leftovers are often popped into the microwave; in the past, you'd fry them up with leftover bacon grease. Now I am more likely to use a little oil or oil spray. One favourite was fried up mash potatoes and turnip (really rutabagas but we always called them turnips). My English cousin introduced us to bubble and squeak (potatoes and cabbage). I like that too but I don't think we ever had it except when he was here to visit.

This was written for the 3rd edition of the Carnival of Canadian Genealogy.

Blogging for Genealogists - the Presentation

Here is the presentation that I gave several weeks ago about Blogging for Genealogists.

Blogging for Genealogists (revised)

View more presentations from researchergal. (tags: genealogy blogging)

Of course, you do not get the benefit of my comments but it will give you an idea of what I talked about during my presentation to the Bruce Grey Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. Thanks once again to all the fellow geneabloggers who gave me permission to use screen shots of their sites in this presentation.

Wordless Wednesday - Warning Sign

Warning Sign Created with Warning Sign Generator (Created sign for my presentation on Blogging for Genealogists.)

GPS - exhaustive search necessary

Genealogical Proof Standard - Why do we need to know what it is? Why do we need to follow its principles?

If we want to have credible information in our family histories and our historical research, we need to follow these principles.

Mark Tucker at ThinkGenealogy has a very useful one page Research Process Map that summarizes the key elements of the Genealogical Proof Standard. He also has a slide presentation Navigating Research with GPS

The following illustrates why it is necessary to undertake an exhaustive search and to write things out and to cite and evaluate your sources. At this point, I am not able to give specifics of the home in question and the individuals invovled. I will try not to confuse you.

Back in November, a friend from the historical society started researching one of the homes in the city and its early owners. I got involved and did some searching of census and vital registrations. I realized that there were two men in the city at the same time with the same name who died about two years apart. As I read my friend's information that she had gathered from a number of sources and I related it to what I was finding, I decided that the two men with the same name were being confused. This confusion had not started with my friend's research.

Time to look at land records to see if that would help sort things out. We looked at the abstract indexes for the property in question. We noted the names of the principal players.

The Bruce-Grey Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society have prepared the "Surname Collection" on microfiche organized by surname. It primarily consists of obituaries but it includes some articles on individuals that appeared in the newspaper. We checked on the family in question and found several articles that helped clarify things.

Not content to leave it at that, I checked to see if the men in question were listed in Surrogate Court Index, 1859-1900 volume 27 Grey County 2nd ed indexed by Elizabeth Hancocks, CG Campbellville, ON : Global Heritage Press, 2005.

Yes, the two men were listed. One where the record was probated in 1885 and another that was probated in 1887. This matched the death dates of the two men. But who was the third one shown for 1900? Since I was curious, I ordered all three films through my public library from the Archives of Ontario.

Well after a wait of two months, the microfilm finally came in this week. Yesterday, my friend and I headed to the library. I decided that since the 1900 record was the mystery person of the same name, let's look at it quickly so that we could spend our time on the other two films.

To our surprise and delight, this record related to the man who died in 1887 (the one who owned the property). A daughter was petitioning the court because the original estate had not been settled before the death of the executrix (widow of the man deceased in 1887). The widow had remarried and her new name was provided. The children were all named in this document.

Next we looked at the probate record from 1887. Yes these were the original documents from when the will was probated. Lots of good details to be gone through here concerning his business and his partnership with his brother.

We then looked at the microfilm for the man who died in 1885. Yes it too was matching up with our previous research. It gave his occupation, his wife's name and the name of his children.

The library was closing soon but there was still enough time to do a little more work. In the daughter's petiton, it said that the widow had died with a will. Could it be listed in the index? Yes it was. It was also in 1900 and it was on a reel that we had brought in. The documents added some more interesting information.

So where do we stand now? What do we need to do?

• The estate papers need to be studied.
• The handwritten documents transcribed. (The writing is faint in places. I will scan them.)
• Key land records should be consullted.
• Finally, a carefully documented paper needs to be written that shows who owned the property.

I will work with my friend on this project. I want to see this brought to a conclusion.