A Second Way to Search for Canadian Burials and Cemeteries on Find-A-Grave!

Olive Tree Genealogy received this note yesterday:

Lorine, I've created a front-end for Canadians to use to search for cemeteries either by province or county using clickable maps. This is useful for either finding a cemetery to browse or to ensure a cemetery does not exist under a different name when creating monuments.  Regards, Bruce Gordon

I checked it out and it's terrific! The first page you see is this map of Canada. I chose ON (Ontario) which is clickable on Bruce's website Stalking the Dead.

 Clicking on ON took me to this page which has a search box and a list of clickable counties in Ontario:

 I typed in VOLLICK into the search box and the results showed all VOLLICK burials in Ontario on Find-A-Grave. What a time-saver this is!

You also have the option of clicking on the county in Ontario (or any other province) and seeing the complete list of cemeteries in that county that are on Find-A-Grave. Choosing Wellington County brought up this:

If you have Canadian ancestors, you will want to try this.  Search Canadian Cemeteries & Burials on Find-A-Grave

Image Credits: Screenshots from Bruce Gordon's website and Find-A-Grave search results

UPDATE: New Way to Search Canadian Burials on Find-A-Grave

This is a really great thing to know if you are looking for a cemetery burial of an ancestor in Canada on the popular Find-A-Grave website. Thanks to Gail Dever for talking about this on her Genealogy à la carte blog

Gail tells us that "Designed by Ken Lange, the Canadian search page allows you to narrow down your search by name and province, or cemetery and province, and this certainly simplifies the research." 

Continue reading  New Canadian way to search Find a Grave  

UPDATE January 24/17: Thanks to Bruce Gordon who writes to me to say: Ken's site was hosted on DropBox which, a few months ago, stopped allowing HTML on their site. So with Ken's permission I moved the page to my site and modified it to permit searching by County or Division within a Province or Territory. My old site and Ken's will remain available for those that prefer them.

Nursing Sister Philips WW1 Photo Album 66 R

This Photo Archive consists of a small autograph album (6.5" by 5.25") kept by Constance (Connie) Philips as a memento of her time serving as a nurse during World War One.

The majority of the photos and items are from 1915, when she served as a nurse in France and Britain.

"Mascot. Netheravon." Below "Hector"

The album and all photographs, postcards, and other ephemera contained in the album belong to Karin Armstrong and may not be copied or republished without her written permission. The images will be published on Olive Tree Genealogy with her permission.

Each image has been designated an "R" for Recto or a "V" for Verso plus an album page number. Recto is the right­hand side page of a bound book while Verso is the left­hand side page.

I will be posting the entire album and my additional research on the individuals identified in Connie's album over the coming months so please check back frequently to view these historic photos. The easiest way to see what has been published is to click on the topic "Nursing Sister WW1 Photos"

Meme: Immigrant Ancestors From England to Canada

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.

Grandpa pre WW1. Kent Buffs

You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

My maternal grandparents, Charles Fuller and Ruth Simpson, came from England to Canada in May 1913 on board the Cunard ship Ausonia. The ship arrived in Quebec in June and they continued on their journey to join Grandma's brother in Toronto. Grandpa was 21 and Grandma 19 and they were engaged and hoping to start a new life in Canada.

I've often thought how hard it must have been on Grandma as she was terrified of water and often told me how much she hated the voyage, how frightened she was.




A year after arriving Charles and Ruth married while still living in Toronto. Shortly afterwards they settled in Guelph Ontario where Grandpa had been offered a job as bookkeeper for the Guelph Lumber Company. Grandma was a dressmaker and the photos I have of her and her daughters show her beautiful workmanship.

I wish I'd asked Grandma more questions about those early years. World War 1 was raging and three of her brothers enlisted. Two were in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and one was in the Australian Army. Grandma must have been so worried and her only saving grace would have been the fact that Grandpa did not go to War.

Grandma always said he was denied service because he was by then the manager of the Lumber Company and needed at his job. I am not sure if that is true or if it was more that Grandma would have been hysterical if he'd signed up.

Looking for Descendants of Mutiny on the Bounty Mutineers

HMS Bounty List of Mutineers

Here's an interesting DNA story. Phys.org writes that

"Ten pigtails of hair thought to be from seven mutineers of "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame and three of their female Polynesian companions will be analysed in a new collaboration between the Pitcairn Islands Study Centre at Pacific Union College (California, US) and the forensic DNA group at King's College London (UK)."

Since there are no hair roots in the saved pigtails, Y-DNA is not possible which means DNA analysis will not be able to trace male ancestry of the pigtail owners. However researchers are hopeful that mitochondrial DNA can be extracted. This will provide details of their maternal ancestry.

The pigtails on display in the US were housed in a nineteenth-century cylindrical tobacco tin. Also with the locks of hair was a handkerchief said to have belonged to Sarah, the daughter of William McCoy, one of the Bounty mutineers.
A worn, faded label with the pigtails notes that it is attached to the hair of William McCoy. The mutineer McCoy died on Pitcairn Island in 1800. Notes written on the label also state that the pigtails are of seven of the mutineers of H.M.S. Bounty and "also that of three of the Tahitian women," who accompanied the mutineers to Pitcairn in 1789.

Continue reading Forensic analysis of pigtails to help identify original 'mutineers of H.M.S. Bounty'

5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Genealogy When it has Stalled

Ah, the proverbial brick wall. We all hit it at one time or another. You've searched every single document you can think of but you simply can't get past a certain time period or event for an ancestor.

Maybe you can't find Grandmother Mabel on that 1850 census but you have her in 1860 and you know she is hiding somewhere!

Perhaps Great-grandfather James is keeping his Irish origins hidden and you can't go any further unless you can figure out where in Ireland you need to look!

That's when you need to jumpstart your genealogy research. You need fresh ideas, fresh eyes and you need to be rejuvenated.

Here are 5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Genealogy:

1. Revisit and review old research
Take out all your research on that brickwall ancestor. Go over it again. Read it carefully, analyze it, see if there are clues there you might have missed the first time around. I've written about my own reviews of old research and the new clues Ive found at Why Review Old Genealogy Research? and Everyone Makes Mistakes: Why You Should Review Your Research Notes 
 
2. Switch to a different ancestor
Sometimes it's time to set Grandmother Mabel aside for a bit and work on someone else. when you are ready to go back to the puzzle of Grandmother Mabel, you may find that fresh eyes will make all the difference in the world.

3. Find a genealogy buddy who will brainstorm with you 
I always brainstorm with my husband when I have a challenging genealogy mystery. It's beneficial to have someone approach the mystery with a different outlook. Often that person comes up with something that you didn't think of.

4. Make a chronological timeline of your ancestor's life events.
This is one of the most helpful ways to organize your thoughts and see at a glance where the holes are in your research. Making a timeline for one of my husband's challenging ancestors I noted that I had his baptism record, immigration record, marriage record, births of children, death of his wife and then his death.

However I did not have a record of land he might have purchased or rented and that sent me off a hunt for those records. To my surprise there was mention of him selling his land to his wife for $1.00 then buying it back two years later. That in turn led me to think about what happened in those two years? Why had he sold the land and then bought it back? Long story short, eventually I found out he had gone to jail in that time.

5. Take a break
Yep that's right. Sometimes it's time to say "Enough!". Put your genealogy aside and go for a walk, or out for lunch with friends, or to a movie. Do something relaxing such as read a book, or visit a museum....  do something completely different, something that is fun for you. You'll come back to the puzzle refreshed and eager to get at it again.

Nursing Sister Philips WW1 Photo Album L4

This Photo Archive consists of a small autograph album (6.5" by 5.25") kept by Constance (Connie) Philips as a memento of her time serving as a nurse during World War One.

Loose photo. Group of soldiers with their nurses

The majority of the photos and items are from 1915, when she served as a nurse in France and Britain.

The album and all photographs, postcards, and other ephemera contained in the album belong to Karin Armstrong and may not be copied or republished without her written permission. The images will be published on Olive Tree Genealogy with her permission.

Each image has been designated an "R" for Recto or a "V" for Verso plus an album page number. Recto is the right­hand side page of a bound book while Verso is the left­hand side page.

I will be posting the entire album and my additional research on the individuals identified in Connie's album over the coming months so please check back frequently to view these historic photos. The easiest way to see what has been published is to click on the topic "Nursing Sister WW1 Photos"

Our Immigrant Ancestors: Jan Snediker to New Netherland (New York)

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.

You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

My 9th great-grandfather was Jan Snediker. He was born circaa 1608 in Oldenberg, Germany and died at Midwont (Flatbush), Long Island, in May 1679.

An article "The European Origin of the Snedeker Family" by Jeff Snedeker with Pim Nieuwenhuis and Ted Snediker, New Netherland Connections 1 (1996) provided me with a great deal of interesting and well-documented information about Jan.

Jans Suycker, shoemaker, was a witness at the 1641 New Amsterdam baptism of Albert, son of Albert Cuynen.

Jan first married Grietje Michiels in Sloterdyk North Holland in May 1632, and had one known daughter - Annitgen born circa 1634. At his  marriage in 1632 he is recorded with his patronymic of Gerritsz

May 9, 1632 Marriage. Netherlands, Noord-Holland Province, Church Records, 1523-1948

On 10 Aug 1636 Jan married Annatje Ruys, daughter of Christian Ruys & Cornelia [Ruys], in Amsterdam Holland.

July 27, 1636 Marriage Intention.Netherlands, Noord-Holland Province, Church Records, 1523-1948

Jan and Annatje came to New Netherland (New York) between 1636 and 1640.
Jan and Anntje's children were

• Jannetje Jans (<1640-1709)
• Gerret Jansz (ca1640-1692)
• Tryntje (ca1642-<1681)
• my ancestor Styntie Jans baptised 23 Feb 1641/42 in New Amsterdam who later married Steven Wolfertszen Ecker

In 1677 Jan Snediker married for a third time to Egbertie Jans.

5 Genealogy Blogs You Need to Follow

Olive Tree Genealogy was very honoured to be one of the 5 blogs named as 5 Genealogy Blogs You Need to Follow on LifePosts.

Quoting from their site "Scratching the surface of your genealogy lines may be daunting and overwhelming at first. Luckily there are several genealogy blogs packed with advice, resources, and insight. We’ve searched high and low for the best of the best genealogy bloggers out there that you should keep an eye on."

Check out the other 4 genealogy blogs mentioned at  5 Genealogy Blogs You Need to Follow

3 Abandoned Children Find Each Other Years Later

This is an amazing and heart-warming story of three adults, each abandoned during a 3-year time span in Prince Rupert British Columbia, who have found each other. Each baby was left on a doorstep and found shortly after birth.

Janet Keall writes

 "Around my 18th birthday, I felt compelled to start this search [for birth family]. Over a 20-year period, I had no success until, in the last few months, I found a biological half-brother named Kevin and a biological half-sister named Kathie Rennie. We were all abandoned in Prince Rupert over a 39-month period."

It was DNA testing that proved the three were half-siblings.  Keall adds that "the three of us are now spending time together and getting to know our new-found families and have committed to unite on our family search for our biological mother and fathers."

Read the full story at Abandoned as babies, siblings find each other

The siblings' website at http://www.rupertsbaby.com/ provides more details. Perhaps a reader will recognize something that might help the siblings.

Heads Up! Blogarama Violating Copyright?

Copyright protection is a very important issue, both online and offline. I have written about Copyright Issues many times on Olive Tree Genealogy blog. See Copyright Issues

But first, what is the definition of copyright? From the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something

Basically it means if I write and publish an article on my blog or my website, and someone copies it without my permission and republish it elsewhere, that person has violated my copyright. It does not matter whether or not they gave attribution to me as the author, it's still a copyright violation.

It's heads up time again. Another splogger has hit the genealogy community. According to techtarget.com, a splog (spam blog) is a fake blog created solely to promote affiliated Web sites, with the intent of skewing search results and artificially boosting traffic.

Blogarama has many genealogy blog posts on their site - mine included - without permission.

Thomas MacEntee first brought this to my attention with his post  Splog Alert – Blogarama Violating Copyright

When I went to the site and checked my name Olive Tree Genealogy  I found twenty-five (25!) of my articles and images posted without my permission.  That's called copyright violation.

Heads up to the genealogy community - if you have a blog, you may want to check to see if your articles have been copied without permission. Here's what to do if you are a victim.

1. Contact Site Owners

Trying to contact the site owners of Blogarama doesn't work because they have carefully made sure there is no contact information on their site. Their WhoIs information shows they are a private registration so there is no information to be found there.

2. Contact the Host of the Site

I wrote to enom.com, who I thought was their hosting company, with this email:

To whom it may concern

You are the hosting company for blogarama.com

Blogarama.com is using my copyrighted material (writing and images) without my permission. My blog is http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com

http://www.blogarama.com/blogs/513127-olive-tree-genealogy-blog shows a list of 25 (twenty-five!) articles and blog posts taken and republished without my permission. There may be more.  Kindly see that blogarama.com remove *all* my blog posts and articles from their site or shut them down completely.  

Enom.com very quickly replied, stating they are the domain registrar for Blogarama, but not the host. They advised me to ping Blogarama for the IP address which would allow me to find the name of the host. I did that and found that their host is cloudflare.com. I sent them my email outlining my concerns.



UPDATE: Cloudfare informs that the actual host server is Linode.com so please direct your complaint email there

3. File a Policy Violation Complaint with Google

I also filed a Policy Violation complaint with Google since Blogarama has Google ads. Google will pull their ads if a site violates their rules so at least I can hit Blogarama in the pocketbook with my complaint.

4. File a DMCA Complaint

You can also file a DMCA Complaint  The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law that helps stop copyright infringement on the Internet. There is a DMCA generator you can use if you are not sure how to do this.

I'm very happy to announce that those 25 articles I wrote that were republished without my permission, have been removed from Blogarama! It didn't take long. I also don't see Google ads on the site anymore so another win. 

UPDATE: Two more bloggers have had their articles removed after taking these steps.

If you want to learn more about copyright in the USA and Canada, see US Copyright Office and Canada Intellectual Property Office 

Nursing Sister Philips WW1 Photo Album L 5

This Photo Archive consists of a small autograph album (6.5" by 5.25") kept by Constance (Connie) Philips as a memento of her time serving as a nurse during World War One.

Group Staff Photo. No further info

The majority of the photos and items are from 1915, when she served as a nurse in France and Britain.

The album and all photographs, postcards, and other ephemera contained in the album belong to Karin Armstrong and may not be copied or republished without her written permission. The images will be published on Olive Tree Genealogy with her permission.

Each image has been designated an "R" for Recto or a "V" for Verso plus an album page number. Recto is the right­hand side page of a bound book while Verso is the left ­hand side page.

I will be posting the entire album and my additional research on the individuals identified in Connie's album over the coming months so please check back frequently to view these historic photos. The easiest way to see what has been published is to click on the topic "Nursing Sister WW1 Photos"

BOOK: Willem Van Slyke aka Neef in the New World

One of my early immigrant ancestors is Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke. I am also descended from Cornelis' nephew Willem Pietersen Van Slyke. 

Willem Pietersen Van Slyke's arrival in the New World is generally considered to be in 1660 on board De Trouw.  Willem, who was also known as Willem Neef (Neef being the Dutch word for nephew) was the nephew of Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke, who arrived earlier in the Colony of Rensselaerswcyk in May 1634 on board de Eendracht.

The first record found for Willem is on 22 February 1661, probably not long after his arrival in the colony. In the Deacon’s Account books of Beverwyck and Albany, Willem is noted as having been given 160 guilders.  Here we find the first reference to Willem as the nephew of Cornelis Van Slyke.

Willem probably met, and married his wife, Baertie, in the Albany or Kinderhook area shortly after arrival in the colony. Her last name remains uknown, but together she and Willem had at least six children, probably between 1660 and 1674. Church records for the Albany area have not survived before  1684, but we can determine their children by other means. 

To honour Willem and his story, I wrote a book about the family called "New Netherland Settlers: Willem Pieterse Van Slyke aka Neef - A genealogy to five generations of the descendants of Willem Pieterse Van Slyke" by Lorine McGinnis Schulze

You may purchase this book on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca

Review of New Netherland Settlers: Willem Pieterse Van Slyke aka Neef in July 2005 New York Genealogical & Biographical Record volume 136, Number 3, page 223

"Willem Pieterse Van Slyke of Albany and Rensselaerwyck was known as Neef or nephew, as his uncle Cornelis Antonissen Van Slyke was also a settler in the area. Lorine Schulze, who published the genealogy of Cornelis' family in 1996, has now produced an extensive account of Willem's descendants.

Initial narrative chapters cover historical background on New Netherland and the Dutch; new research on the family in the Netherlands which shows how uncle and nephew were related; and the lives of Willem Pieterse and his children, including the identities of their spouses, with resolution of several genealogical questions carefully explained.

The remainder of the book contains a traditional genealogy of Willem and his descendants, documented with 753 endnotes mostly referencing primary sources. Ms. Schulze plans more volumes in the series, including a supplement to the Cornelis Atonissen book with more detail on the Netherlands ancestry."

Credits: 
Image of ship inside compass copyright Brian L. Massey

Do You Like My New Website?

Introducing.... my new author website LorineSchulze.com

My readers might know that I've been writing books and articles for many years. I've written and published over 2 dozen non-fiction books, and in June of this year I ventured into the field of fiction with my debut genealogical mystery novel, Death Finds a Way.

Readers were asking me for more details about my previous books, my published articles, my television and webinar interviews, etc., and thus my new website was born. This was a fun website to design and I hope my readers like it! Why not take a look and let me know what you think?

Oh, and if you have read and liked my book Death Finds a Way, would you take a moment to pop over to Amazon and give it a review and rating? Your support is very much appreciated!

New York Naturalization Records online 1827-1897

NaturalizationRecords.com has the following New Yorrk naturalization records online. These records are FREE for all to view.

Index to Declarations of Intent, New York 1827-1895

Note that this is an ongoing project and is the work of several dedicated volunteers. The files go online as they are transcribed, so check back often to see what is new. NOTE: If a surname letter is not linked, it has not been transcribed yet.

Declarations of Intent, New York May 1832-Apr. 1837

Volumes (Books) 2 - 3. Surnames Starting with [A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I,J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U][W] [Y]

Declarations of Intent, New York Apr. 1837-Apr. 1843

Volumes (Books) 4 - 6. Surnames Starting with [A][C][D][E][F][G][H][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U, V][W] [Y, Z]

Declarations of Intent, New York Apr. 1843-May 1850

Volumes (Books) 7 - 8. Surnames Starting with [A][B][C] [D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U][V] [W] [Y] [Z] [Miscellaneous Surnames]

Declarations of Intent, New York 1850-1856

Volumes (Books) 9 - 12. Surnames Starting with [A][B Book 9[B Book 10][B Book 11][B Book 12] [C][D][E][F][G][H][I, J] [K Book 9] [K Book 10] [K Book 11] [K Book 12] [L Book 9] [L Book 10] [L Book 11] [ L Book 12] [M Book 9] [M Book 9, 10] [M Book 10, 11] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R Book 9] [R Book 10] [R Book 11][R Book 12] [S Book 9] [S Book 10][S Book 11][S Book 12][T][U][V][W][Y][Z]

Declarations of Intent, New York 1856-1897

Volumes (Books) 13-15. [A][B][C] [D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U][V][W][Y] [Z] 

Winner of Free Registration to Great Canadian Genealogy Summit

The winner of the free registration (full weekend) to the Great Canadian Genealogy Summit offered by Olive Tree Genealogy is LESLEY THORN

This summit will be held October 21 - 23, 2016 at the  Courtyard Marriott in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

http://www.miniwebtool.com/random-name-picker/ was used to generate the winner at random from those who submitted an entry.

Congratulations Lesley! Your code for your free registration is coming to you via email today. 

Nursing Sister Philips WW1 Photo Album L 7

This Photo Archive consists of a small autograph album (6.5" by 5.25") kept by Constance (Connie) Philips as a memento of her time serving as a nurse during World War One.

The majority of the photos and items are from 1915, when she served as a nurse in France and Britain.

The album and all photographs, postcards, and other ephemera contained in the album belong to Karin Armstrong and may not be copied or republished without her written permission. The images will be published on Olive Tree Genealogy with her permission.

Each image has been designated an "R" for Recto or a "V" for Verso plus an album page number. Recto is the right­hand side page of a bound book while Verso is the left­hand side page.

I will be posting the entire album and my additional research on the individuals identified in Connie's album over the coming months so please check back frequently to view these historic photos. The easiest way to see what has been published is to click on the topic "Nursing Sister WW1 Photos"

Our Immigrant Ancestors - Jacob Peer Flees in American Revolution

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.

You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

My 4th great-grandfather Jacob Peer, the immigrant ancestor to Ontario, was living in Newton Township, Sussex County, New Jersey in 1774. Jacob was forced to leave New Jersey because of his British sympathies during the American Revolution. He settled near Hamilton Ontario in June 1796.

Jacob and his family lost everything in New Jersey and settled in what was then the wilderness of Upper Canada where they had to make a new life for themselves. Jacob and his 6 sons and 2 daughters had many descendants settling in Ontario, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

This is one of the immigrant families I researched and wrote about in a 6-volume set called The Peer Family in North America. The hardships they endured were felt by many in those turbulent times and I wanted their stories told.

1797, 13 July: Declared in his land petition that he came to the province in June 1796 and had a wife and daughter in Barton where he owned a farm.  He was granted 200 acres on 14 July 1797. A statement by Nathaniel Pettit dated 10 July 1797 states that he was acquainted with Jacob Pear [sic] in the State of New Jersey, and that because he was "much attached to the British Constitution" he "suffered greatly both in his person and property in the Late War between Great Britain and America"



 

Olive Tree Genealogy GiveAway for Great Canadian Genealogy Summit

Enter to win a free registration (full weekend) to the Great Canadian Genealogy Summit. This summit will be held October 21 - 23, 2016 at the  Courtyard Marriott in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

Contest runs from 12 noon EDT Friday August 5, 2016 to midnight EDT Sunday August 7, 2016

Entry Requirements: For a chance to win you must do the following:

1. Share this blog post on a social media site such as Twitter (please use #Cangen), Facebook or Google+.

2. Write to otg.giveaway@gmail.com and tell me where you shared this blog post.

Contest Rules:
 
1. No purchase necessary.
2. Winner will be chosen at random from correct entries received. See details above for entry requirements
3. One winner will be chosen to receive the giveaway.
4. You are responsible for anything in regards to the legality of entering a contest in the area in which you live.
5. The winner will be notified via your provided contact information and the winner's name will be posted on Olive Tree Genealogy blog.

Please note that only entries received at otg.giveaway@gmail.com can be accepted.
The add on day of time at the Ontario Archives is not included, but everything else is.

The full $159 registration fees will be deducted from registration. Early bird pricing ends Aug 20 

Disclaimer: Giveaway generously provided by Great Canadian Genealogy Summit

Interment.net Adds 1.4 Million Cemetery Records

The following Press Release was sent to Olive Tree Genealogy.

Interment.net Adds 1.4 Million Cemetery Records

(August 1, 2016, San Diego, CA), In the month of July 2016, Interment.net added 670,276 cemetery records to its online archives, covering 87 cemeteries across 23 states. It's the largest one-month publishing effort in the website's history.

View the full list of July's transcriptions here:

http://www.interment.net/whatsnew/20160707.htm

All in all, nearly 1.4 million records have been added when you include the previous months of June and May 2016.

The accelerated rate of expansion comes from a renewed effort to reestablish Interment.net as the top destination for cemetery records.

"We launched Interment.net in 1997 back when USGenWeb Archives was the only genealogical source of cemetery records", says Steve Johnson, publisher and founder of Interment.net. Interment.net quickly fostered a volunteer base that contributed thousands of transcriptions from cemeteries all over the globe."

But back then, acquiring records in digital form was not easy to come by. Many cemeteries still kept paper records. Those that had computer databases were not able to easily export their data. Thus, Interment.net relied heavily on volunteers to visit cemeteries and transcribe inscriptions.

Today, however, most cemeteries are able to easily export their digital records to textfiles or spreadsheets.

"We're presently updating records for all national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries", Johnson added. "We're also adding records from thousands of municipalities, counties, cemetery associations and districts."

Interment.net is a free online archive of cemetery transcriptions. Records are acquired from government offices, private cemeteries, and from volunteers who transcribe inscriptions.

Visit Interment.net to publish your transcription.

Flour Sack Dresses, Diapers Made into Underwear and More

I stumbled on this story which I found fascinating. It is something I was not aware of - that parents during hard times made their children's clothes out of flour sacks. You can read the story at The Fascinating History of Flour Sack Dresses and see photos of some of the lovely dresses mothers made for their little girls.

This was something I never experienced. I was born after WW2, not during the Great Depression. We didn't have much money. We ate the cheapest cuts of meat possible - pigs' feet, pigs' tails, tripe, kidney, heart, liver, ox tails, and so on. My mother made underwear for my sister and I out of old diapers. When I went to High School (Grade 9) my mother made me two skirts out of old kitchen curtains. One skirt was pink and white gingham, the second was blue and white gingham.

The flour sack manufacturers were amazing to create such pretty patterns to make these children feel so much better about their clothing.