Monday, October 12, 2009

Why did I join our genealogical society? - Carnival of Genealogy

Genealogical societies -- do you belong to any? Yes, would be my answer.

In March, I wrote about the local branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society when I talked about the Ontario Genealogical Society. I am a member of the society as a whole and three branches: Bruce-Grey, York and Toronto.

I am also a member of the National Genealogical Society (based in the US).

The question posed for the 82nd Carnival of Genealogy is "Why do you belong to a society? "

To be a member of a branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, you must now be a member of the parent group.

Why did I pick the three branches listed above?

Bruce-Grey
  • I live in the area so I can attend many of the meetings.
  • I started speaking to the group before I was even a member.
  • My Iles line came directly to Owen Sound when they came from England.
  • I wanted to make connections with people in the area who are interested in genealogy. 
  • When I began doing my own research, I wanted to learn from the more experienced members.
  • The newsletter that is published in February, May, August and November includes interesting articles and news. 
  • Monthly meetings (except December) have informative speakers.
  • In the months of January, February and March, the meetings are held on Saturday afternoon.
  • The Fall event, held on a Saturday during the day, has brought many outstanding speakers to our area.
  • I have made many friends within the group. We have a great time at our meetings and when we go to the annual conference.

Toronto Branch
I have never attended a meeting of the Toronto Branch.
  • When I first joined the branch included York Region.
  • My great-grand mother Elizabeth Fields Robinson was born, according to family information,  in "Muddy York" 0n 6 December 1859.
  • The newsletter is very interesting.

York Regional Branch
I have only attended one meeting.

  • My Hemingway, Stiver, and even my Johnston family who eventually moved to the Manitoulin, lived in York County.
  • The newsletter includes interesting and helpful information for my research.

Unfortunately, there is no Ontario Genealogical Society branch that focuses on the Manitoulin area. For a short time, I tried both Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury branches, but they didn't provide much  information on the area. I have to also take into consideration my budget.

Our local public library receives on deposit the Bruce-Grey Branch newsletters that the branch receives on exchanges, so I have easy access to the past five years if I wish to read the newsletters of other OGS branches. They also have the newsletters from provincial societies across Canada. One of the perks, when I was working full time in the library, was that I could read the newsletters of interest before I entered them into the collection.




© 2009 Janet Iles

1 comment:

  1. Janet,
    Thanks so much for writing this for the COG. I'm hoping you will be a frequent contributor to the new GenSo COG which will start in January. It will be a new opportunity to shine some light on the great work that societies contribute to the field. I'm still working out the details and I welcome any suggested topics or ideas you may have!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated before being posted. Please no links in your comments. The blog author reserves the right to not post a comment if deemed inappropriate.