What am I expert on?

This week's blogging prompt is to write about what you are an expert on in genealogy? An interesting question.

I won't bore everyone with a list of things that I am not an expert on. With genealogy, there is always something to learn even when it is your specialty.

So my expertise? - public library research. Trained as a library technician at Sheridan College Oakville, I worked all my library career at the Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library (30+ years). I was a very happy person when local history and genealogy cataloguing became part of my many responsibilities and duties. It is doing that work that really sparked my own interest in genealogical research. I had my degree in history that I earned on a part-time basis as I worked full-time at the library.

I would like to share a couple of things that I have learned from both sides of the desk.

Be prepared when going to research.

• If you have never done genealogical research, perhaps a good place to start would be to borrow and read some basic how to books. There are good resources on the Internet too, but I like to get comfortable and read a book.
• If you are venturing into a new area of research, check to see what resources your library has on learning about that area.
• If you are travelling to your ancestors' home area, research what repositories are in the area -- libraries, archives, etc. What can you research from home so that you can make use of your time while you are away?
• Find out, if you can, what a repository has to offer before you go. Does it have any specialties? From the library's online catalog and the library's website you may get a good insight into what is available. The collection may be strong for the local area but have very little about other provinces/states or countries.
• If a community has a library and an archives - check what does each have to offer. You will want to make the best use of your time at each place. When are they open?
• Have a goal of what you would like to learn before you go.
• Take your needed material -- pencils, list of surnames, laptop, and a chart with key names and dates, etc.
• If you are not familiar with all the resources of a collection, plan on how you are going to word your request for help. Library staff do not have the time to hear your family's history. Be prepared for the "reference interview".

So what does the reference librarian need to know?

• Is there a particular resource you wish to consult?
• Time and place - What time period and for what locality? Not all libraries even with large collections will have everything and records may not exist for that time or place.
• Family name - perhaps they have a family history for that family.
  

Be open to suggestions from the staff concerning sources of information that are not listed in the catalogues, etc. Not everything is in the catalog or in an index.

If you have time, while you are at a library (or other repositories) and the collection is on open, public shelving, browse through the collection. You may never know what you may find.

I like to check other family histories. This is very important in an area where your family has stayed for awhile. [When I was cataloguing family histories, I would leaf through the family histories to gain familiarity with the collection to better answer questions. Sometimes, I was pleasantly surprised to find my own family connections in books where I had no known connection.]

Don't be afraid to ask for help.

• Although, not all reference staff will have a specialty in local history and genealogy, we love to answer questions and guide people to appropriate resources.
• Remember, the reference librarian can not do your research for you.
• Each piece of equipment has its own peculiarities. You may need a lesson.

When I worked on the reference desk, I loved helping people with their genealogical and local history questions. I would get very excited when someone came to the reference desk and said they wanted to work on their genealogical research.

The above are a few of my suggestions. Do you have any others to add that you have gained through your own experience on either side of the desk?

Tweedsmuir Histories - a good source of genealogy information.

I have written about the value of Tweedsmuir histories in the past.

This Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 1:30 pm at the L.D.S.Family History Centre 490 2nd Ave SE Owen Sound, Ontario Ruth Anne Robinson and Doris Hollands will speak about "The Significance of Tweedsmuirs in Genealogy" during the meeting of the Bruce Grey Branch OGS. I am interested in hearing their experiences about using Tweedsmuir histories for genealogical research. Hope to see you there.

For my past articles, click on Tweedsmuir Histories on the right hand column under Labels.

For more information about the Bruce Grey Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society check their website

Bound for Mom: Milepost #1 - A Journey of Firsts

This is a start of a series on my mom for the mini-carnival series Bound for Mom hosted by geneabloggers.


The first posting is about firsts -- date, first love, first home, first child, and more. Take all of these beginnings and bundle them up into a story of how your Mom got started.


First date -- ?

First love -- ? I don't know if she ever dated someone other than my dad who she met in 1939.



She never got to filling in the section of a book Sweet Memories : a Woman's journal that might have given me the answers to these questions.


First home -- a cement 2 storey hon the Manitoulin. As a married person - They lived for a short time, as I recall from what she told me, in an apartment in a house on 8th Street East in Owen Sound. They then moved to the apartment above their corner grocery store also on 8th Street East. We didn't move into a "real house" until 1958.

First job - After high school, while waiting to get a job as a legal stenographer, she went to Toronto to do housekeeping. She wasn't there long when W. P. Telford, Sr. tracked her down to work in his law office in Owen Sound.

Well, my sister, Nancy was the first child in the family, born one year and two months after mom and dad married.

More on my mom next week for this series.

Somber Sunday - The death of Peter Hemingway

After reading the Ravenna Area Historical Society blog and the sombre Sunday article about Mad Bull attacks, it reminded me about the death of Peter Hemingway who died as the result of an attack by a bull.

First, let's put Peter Hemingway [1st cousin 3 times removed) in his place within my Hemingway family.

Peter Hemingway, b. abt 1834 in Markham Twp., York County, Ontario, d. 23 Sep 1903 in Bayham, Elgin County, ON, buried in Dereham, Tillsonburg Cem.

He married Henrietta A. Wallace, married abt 1868, b. abt 1843 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, d. 10 Feb 1905 in Tillsonburg, ON, buried in Dereham, Tillsonburg Cem.

Peter's parents were Peter Hemingway, b. 24 Nov 1806 in Canada, d. 8 Apr 1880, buried in Alymer Cem. "A" Malahide Twp. ON and Barbara Ann Fierheller, b. 1808 in Markham Twp., York County, Ontario, d. 16 Oct 1885, buried in Alymer Cem. "A" Malahide Twp. ON.

His grand parents were Josiah Hemingway and Anna Stiver.


When the 1903 death registration indexes became available a few years ago, I searched my usual family names. I found two death registrations for a Peter Hemingway who died on the same date. When I found this information, a few years ago, it was before I had access to databases. Locally, I didn't have access to the registration. I had to order the registration through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

When I received the registrations I found that in one, Peter was living at lot 3 concession 9 Bayham Township, Elgin County. He died as a result of being killed by an animal. [1] The second registration was for Tillsonburg, Oxford County, with the address given as Boadway St. Tillsonburg. The cause of death -- accident. It only said that he was born in Canada. [2]

I found it interesting that there were two death registrations for a Peter Hemingway on the same day, both caused by accidents.

In order to clear up this matter, I next turned to newspapers to see if I could gain more information. I was able to get the Alymer Sun on microfilm by interlibrary loan but for the Tillsonburg Observer, a volunteer provided me with the information.

In the Alymer Sun, 24 September 1903 it reports: " Mr. Peter Hemingway, brother to Silas Hemingway, was killed by a bull at Corinth yesterday morning. No particulars at hand." [Corinth is in Elgin County and is located between Tillsonburg and Alymer and is 18 miles from St. Thomas, Ontario.]

What happened to Peter is cleared up in his obituary that appeared in the Tillsonburg Observer Newspaper on Thursday, 24 September 1903. Peter and his wife owned a farm at Corinth but lived in Tillsonburg. The family had spent the summer at their farm and were intending to return to their home the next week. On the morning of the accident, his wife Henrietta and an "adopted daughter Miss McPhail" went to Tillsonburg for the day, leaving about 10 a.m. When the farm hand, Herb McKenzie, returned from the village before 11, he found Peter. When he went to put some horses into the stable, he saw the bull there. He took a pitchfork and drove the animal out and he discovered the body in the stall where the animal had been. Outside in a field, there was the appearance of a desperate struggle and Peter's hat and a broken pitchfork were found there.

Peter was about 18 years old when he came to Malahide with his family. They had their home in Tillsonburg for about 20 years. Peter was a Liberal and was considered "honorable and upright in dealings with his fellowmen."

Sources of Information
[1] Peter Hemingway Ontario death registration #08552 (24 September 1903) Elgin County, Ontario; copied from microfilm FHL 1854188, Salt Lake City, Ontario Archives MS 935 Reel 110.
[2] Peter Hemingway Ontario death registration #020667 (24 September 1903) Oxford County, Ontario; copied from microfilm FHL 1854281, Ontario Archives MS 935 Reel 112.

Comments: When I checked Ancestry.ca for Peter's death registration today, I searched using different variables and only the one in Oxford County appeared. I decided to browse through Elgin County deaths for 1903 to see why he was not indexed. I found the page. The copy is very faint. Although the copy I have is not dark, it is still clear enough to read. (Thanks to the volunteer at Salt Lake City.) I also checked another name on the page. It appeared in the index with the correct last name but not for the first name. The poor quality of the digital version made it difficult for the indexer. This is a reminder to browse through pages when you know a person should be on the pages as I had a copy of it, just like we did with microfilm.

Wordless Wednesday - Winter in the harbour

Owen Sound harbour, March 15, 2009 taken by Janet Iles

Saturday Night Fun with Wordie

I did a Wordie representation of my blog words back in July 2008

Tonight following the challenge of Randy Seaver, I did a Wordie using the names from my ahnentafel chart typing in the names as often as they appeared in the chart. I did not know the surnames of some of my ancestors so of course, they are not factored in.

My Great Aunt Margaret

For this Carnival of Genealogy-- Tribute to Women, I salute my great aunt Margaret.

Margaret and Grace Love 1910.

Grace and Margaret Love in the sugar bush in 1915.

My great aunt Margaret was a special person in our family. My mother spent her early years living across the farm lane from her aunt.

Margaret Love in Mitchell in 1918.

Margaret Isabelle Love was born on 14 January 1896 in Carnarvon Township, Manitoulin Island to James Love and Elizabeth Fields Robinson. She was the ninth child and second youngest in the family.

Margaret never married. After the tragic death of her father in a farm accident in 1914, she remained at home to help and eventually care for her mother. Her mother died in 1932.

Margaret left the Manitoulin to work. She cared for elderly people for a number of years. Eventually, she was hired by a gentleman in Toronto to keep house and to look after the children. She lived with them until her retirement.

Margaret Love in front of the Palmer resident in Toronto in 1957.

She often came to our house for Christmas or to visit when she had holidays.

My mother, Marion Iles with possibly my sister Nancy in her arms and my great aunt Margaret (about 1948?)

Margaret was also very interested in family history. In a small notebook, she wrote out the Love family genealogy. When I got it, I found that it helped to chart out the names into families to sort out the names she was talking about.

She loved to take photographs. I understand she developed her own pictures. I can remember her lining us up for photos with her Brownie camera. I am thankful to have some of her photos that I have been sharing from time to time.

Margaret returned to Manitoulin for her later years of life. For a time, she lived with her oldest living sibling, Cora. When I taught for a year in Northern Ontario and lived on St. Joseph's Island, I had more chances to visit them. Often she would tell stories about the people she cared for. I wished I had asked her questions about her parents and grandparents.

Margaret died 14 March 1979 in Little Current, Ontario.

Margaret had been a wonderful woman and loved by everyone who knew her.

Because my maternal grandparents both died when I was young, Margaret was my link to their generation.

St. Patrick's Day is Coming

Yes, I will wear something green that day, even though I have no Irish blood in me. There are no Irish parades or even any Irish pubs near me so those are not in my list of things to do to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

I won't even be at the Leprechaun Luncheon that day. Why? Because, I will be attending a meeting of Grey Presbytery in Markdale. I have to be there by 11:30 so that negates going in to eat with the first group at 11 a.m. I will ask for some stew and pie to be left for me.

In case, I have caught your attention concerning the Leprechaun Luncheon, here are the details.

The Leprechaun Luncheon is at Knox United Church, Owen Sound. (Although the Church has a Scottish heritage, it has been having the Leprechaun Luncheon as a fundraiser for many years.)

The beef stew is always delicious as we have good cooks. There are lots of choices at the pie table too.

Tickets are $10 and the meal will be served from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

If you can attend, please tell them Janet sent you. Sorry, I won't be there.

Wordless Wednesday - rural Osprey Township

Rural Osprey Township, photo taken by Janet Iles, summer 2008 while touring around Osprey Township in Grey County, Ontario

Two brothers

Emmanuel Kenneth Iles & Clifford Harvey Iles

I love this photo of two of my father's younger brothers. What happy faces! Don't they look like that they would like to get into mischief? Cliff is two years older than Manny as he was called by the family. Later in business, he would either go by E.K. or Kenneth. Note that neither are wearing shoes.

Work took Manny to western Canada but he returned to this area for the latter years of his work in the banking industry. Manny died at the age of 60.

I worked with Cliff in the produce department when I was a teenager. We always had lots of fun.

Ontario Genealogical Society

I am a member of the Ontario Genealogical Society and several of its branches.

My local branch is the Bruce-Grey Branch. I try to attend as many meetings as possible. Meetings are held in localities in both counties. In the past, the meetings have moved around to several places within the counties but in the future, the plan is to have most general meetings in two localities: the Bruce County meeting at the Bruce County Archives in Southampton and the Grey County meeting at the Family History Centre just outside Owen Sound in Georgian Bluffs. Meetings are held every month except in December. Many branches skip the summer month but for this area, this is the time for good driving weather and people visiting the area can visit as well. To see the current schedule of meetings, check the branch site The Fall event is held in Durham, Ontario. One speaker provides several talks during the day. The food is always a drawing card too.

The meetings have a variety of topics as you can see from the listing. I always leave having learnt something new. It is also fun to see friends.

This branch is very active especially in the area of publications. Some of their publications include cemetery transcriptions, 1861, 1871 and 1901 census extractions for all names for each township in the two counties. They have done extractions for births, marriages and death notices from several of the area newspapers. Recently, they have been scanning publications and organizing them by township and putting them on to CD. The Branch table in the Marketplace at the Ontario Genealogical Society is always a very busy place.

The quarterly newsletter is filled with news and interesting articles.

I am also member of the Toronto Branch and the York Branch but I do not attend the meetings because of the distance, but I appreciate reading the interesting articles found in the newsletters.

I plan to attend the 2009 OGS conference in Oakville, Ontario. Perhaps, I will meet some of my blogging friends there.

This article was written for the weekly blogging prompt.

Wordless Wednesday

Margaret Love and her mother Elizabeth Fields Love (nee Robinson) 1931 near Markdale Ontario.
My great aunt and my great grandmother.

Destination: Austin Family: 67th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy - Nobody's Fool

Destination: Austin Family: 67th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy - Nobody's Fool

Thomas is the host of the most recent carnival of Genealogy. I didn't participate this time but I am sure you will find some interesting reading in the various posts. Thanks Thomas for acting as host.

March 15 is the deadline for the next carnival and the topic is a salute to women hosted by Jasia. March 8 is International Women's Day.

Celebrate your Name Week

I heard on the radio this morning that the first full week of March is "Celebrate your Name Week". What a great topic to write about. I am only going to look at my first name.

Celebrate Your Name Week (CYNW) is a holiday created in 1997 by American amateur onomatologist Jerry Hill. Hill declared the first full week in March a week for everyone in the world to embrace and celebrate his or her name, and to appreciate names in general, by having fun getting to know facts about name [1]

Janet
There are a number of books and web sites that talk about the meaning of names. Behind the Name looks at first names. You can also search your name at Meaning of Names.

Janet is the diminutive of Jane, which is the feminine of John. (Yahweh or God is gracious).

When I look at my family history, the name Janet is used throughout the generations. When I look at my ancestors, I know of two from whom I descend on my mother's side.

Janet Gertrude Johnston #7 (1883-1958) most often went by Gertie. She was the daughter of Josiah Hemingway Johnston and Agnes Chambers. She was my mother's mother and I was named after her.

Janet Chambers #30 (1851-1930) was the daughter of James Chambers and Mary McKenzie.

Have you ever looked up information on your name? Who else on your family tree has the same name? For whom were you named?


[1] "Celebrate your Name Week" Wikipedia accessed 2 March 2009