What Happens To Your Genealogy Research When You're Gone?

Have you thought about what will happen to your genealogy research after you are gone? I don't know about you but I have several filing cabinets full of genealogy papers and records that I have compiled over the years. It's unlikely that any one person would be willing to take all these home and start going through them.

Often there is only one genealogy addict for each generation. I'm the one in my generation and have been for over 30 years. That means no one else is very interested. Oh sure they like the occasional interesting story of an ancestor but to scroll through reel after reel of microfilm or puzzle over a census record for clues - nope. 

After we've done all that work for the past 10 or 20 or 30  years, it is human nature to want to see it passed on and not discarded as if it had no meaning or importance.

Perhaps you have an appointed person who will pick up the torch and carry on after your demise. But even if there is one person you hope will do this, do you think they really want your boxes or drawers full of papers to sort through? I'm an avid genealogist and can never get enough. But when my mother died I took 4 filing cabinet drawers full of her genealogy research and put them in boxes to bring home. I've never gone through it and it's been 6 years. Every time I look at the boxes full of miscellaneous notes and papers and records I am overwhelmed at the task of sorting, analyzing and figuring out what to keep and what to toss. 

So what's the solution? How do we find and prepare a suitable torch-bearer and how can we get our genealogy research into a state that will make it easy for the next generation to carry on?

I've approached this in different ways. One thing I've been doing for a few years now is creating hard cover "coffee table" books on Shutterfly. Here's a tutorial on how I create them:

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly (Tutorial 1 of 3)

Each book is about one family. I like to keep them 25 pages or less and they are meant to highlight the family with stories, photos and some of the documents I have obtained.  For my McGinnis family  I created 4 different volumes, one for each generation starting with mine. These are given to each of my children in hopes that they will find their way down to my grandchildren and perhaps continue to be passed on. 

The second method I'm working on is putting all my copies of original records - vital registrations, wills, census and so on, into binders (one per family) which also contain a pedigree chart for that family. In my mind it is a summary of the family with documentation and I am hopeful it is something that anyone remotely interested in the genealogy would be happy to take to their home and keep. 

I also am currently working on getting all these papers digitized, put on flash drives and given to my children. That's a big job and it's not high on my list since technology changes so quickly the day will almost certainly come when the data cannot be retrieved. Remember those big floppy discs for computers? Or the smaller ones? Who can read them now? 

Digitizing the papers is important though because then you can save them in the cloud and on your computer.  It's a great back-up method for your work but I don't see it as viable for passing on to family. 

Don't be fooled into thinking the local genealogy society or library or museum will want your papers. They may happily accept a book about your families but loose papers are unlikely to be given a home.

What's your plan?  Share your ideas here and let's see what plans and projects we can come up with.

Names of Ontario Teachers Retiring 1871-1879

A little known source for information regarding teachers in early Ontario Canada is the series of booklets called "Annual Report of the Minister of Education, on the Public, Separate, and High Schools, Also on the Normal and Model Schools, of the Province of Ontario"  

This series contains detail on retired teachers (their names, county they taught in, how much money they received, and more), names of individuals granted teaching certificates and more. Olive Tree Genealogy has been gathering and transcribing when possible, the various record sets and publishing them on the Early Ontario Education Records
section of my website. 

The newest set of records includes the following: 

* Teachers Retired From the Profession in 1871-1872 No. 1-181
* Teachers Retired From the Profession in 1873-1874 No. 182-341. Includes names of widows and representatives of deceased teachers who are owned money 
* Teachers Retired From the Profession in 1875 No. 342-515
* Teachers Retired From the Profession in 1876 No. 516-685
* Teachers Retired From the Profession in 1877 No. 686-870
* Teachers Retired From the Profession in 1878 No. 871-1068
* Teachers Retired From the Profession in 1879 No. 1069-1291

Rescued Postcards 1900-1918

Recently I rescued 28 vintage orphaned postcards from antique shops. They range in date from 1900 to 1918. 27 are from United States and 1 is from Ontario Canada. I have scanned and added 6 of these postcards to Lost Faces and will be adding the rest of these wonderful cards over the next month. I hope descendants will see these postcards and recognize an ancestor. 

Index to Family Postcards

• Larson Mrs. Amanda Engell Larson, 210 Eagle st., Dunkirk NY from "your cousin Mildred Wallin. 1914 (found in 1940 census Dunkirk,Chautauqua, New York . She was born ca 1871 in Sweden and is a widow, living with her married daughter Ellen Pruss)
• Duttweiler Miss Dorothea Duttweiler, Alden, Erie Co. New York, Genesee Road, from Ella? 1913 (1900 census Alden, New York age 1, daughter of Fred & Ella)
• Duttweiler Miss Dorothea Duttweiler, Alden, Erie Co. New York. from "your friend Minnie F." 1914
• Roth Mrs. Jacob Roth, North East, Pennsylvania.To "my dear Audie, with love to all and a kiss to you, Jake July 8, 1918
• Roth Master John Roth, North East, Pennsylvania. For his first birthday. From Aunt Pena? and Uncle John. Can't read date
• Roth Master John Oldach Roth, North East, Pennsylvania c/o Mrs. Johanna Oldach. to "Dear Hans" Birthday greetings from "Aunt Bessie and Uncle Herman. 1912

Fenian Raids 1866 Meeting of Committee of Safety Online

The minutes of the Committee of Safety were found by Barbara Wilson Smith, a descendant of Isaac P. Willson (Secretary of the meeting). These unpublished and previously unknown documents from 1866 (6 numbered legal size pages plus 3 unnumbered letter size!)  had sat in an attic for over 130 years. 

They turned out to be the minutes of a 17 hour meeting (beginning at 5 p.m. June 1st, ending at 10 a.m. June 2) in the Welland area of Ontario in the 24 hours preceding the Battle of Ridgeway! 

These are extremely important historical documents from the Fenian Raids. 

See the full documents at Committee of Safety Meeting page on Olive Tree Genealogy website. These include 2 pdf files of the Committee Meeting of Safety and the list of men in the Volunteer Patrol Guards. 

MacNeil Clan Suprised by DNA Findings of Viking Ancestry Not Niall of the Nine Hostages

For centuries the MacNeil clan living on the Hebridean island of Barra have proudly claimed to be descendants of Ireland's greatest King, Niall of the Nine Hostages. However DNA testing has proven this story a myth. 

DNA swabs taken from Barra MacNeils as far away as Canada and Australia have shown no trace of Irish ancestry. Instead the DNA indicates Viking (Norse) ancestors.

"We can say we can re-write the history of the Clan MacNeil," said genealogist Vincent MacNeil, from Nova Scotia, Canada. "We don't have one participant from Barra that matches the O'Neills of Ireland. Source: Herald Scotland

Continue reading the full story at Macneil clan shocked as DNA checks force rewrite of history

Diary of Herbert Kearse, WW1 soldier

Olive Tree Genealogy has added the diary of WW1 soldier  Herbert Kearse to the Canadian Military Heritage Project website.

War Graves Register for Herbert Kearse

Herbert Kearse was born August 27, 1888 in Burford England. He moved to Burlington Ontario in October 1910. On September 3, 1915 he enlisted in the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force). His unit was the 86th Battalion. 

Herbert became a Lance Corporal in charge of a Lewis Gun Crew and was killed on April 28, 1917. He left a wife and two young songs.

His diary began September 13, 1915 and ends 6 days before his death in 1917. The complete diary is published with permission of the owner and is available online for your personal use.

Organizational Project Part 2 - Family Diaries

A few days ago I began my plan to sort, organize and digitize my family photos.  I ended up ordering archival boxes and sleeves from a company called GetSmartProducts. A friend in Colorado used them and was satisified and since it is difficult to find an online company that will ship such items to Canada, I took the leap. 

Storage Boxes from pfile.com

Although the items will be some time reaching me, I was impressed when the company phoned me to say they were out of stock on some items. I had a choice - they would ship as the items were available, or hold until they could send as one shipment.

Since it looks like it will be 4 to 6 weeks before my items arrive, I went on to my next organizational project which was sorting my mother's trip diaries, scanning them and sharing them with other family members.

Let me explain first that my mother began going on small trips the year she retired at age 55. She always was an adventurer. At age 65 she took flying lessons, and built an ultra-light with her partner. Then just before her 80th birthday she decided she was going to embark on some adventures. Her first big trip was to Australia where she backpacked around with only a small Barbie Doll backpack she picked up at a local Wal-Mart store in Canada. 

I compiled, as best I could, a list of her various trips and the years she took them. She usually travelled alone as she preferred not having to consult with anyone else about what to see and do each day. In her years of travel (her last trip was in 2001 at the age of 85) she visited many countries. I would not be surprised if the list below has some trips missing. She often impulsively took what she called "little trips" without telling any of her children!

Mother in Australia, 2001

1971: Age 55. Her first trip was to Florida and California, making a side trip to Hawaii

1974: Arizona

1975: Maritime Provinces, Canada

1976: New Mexico, Europe (Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy)

1977: Texas

1978: Florida

1996: Australia & New Zealand (backpacking)

1997: Florida, Salt Lake City Utah, Ireland

1998: China

1998: New York

1999: Britain, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany

2000: Australia (camping on safari in the Outback)

2001: Age 85. Alaska & British Columbia, South Africa, Australia

My first step was to go through her hand-written journals and photocopy the pages. Since she wrote in small day-planners I then had to cut and paste to put several days on to one page. Then I photocopied those cut and paste pages.

Next I created "cover" sheets which gave the date and the name of the trip. Mother had also typed up notes (not the same as her diary entries) and these were on her computer. I printed those off and figured out what went where, then sorted everything chronologically.

Mother on a bull, year unknown

This morning I used my document feed scanner, the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M Instant PDF Sheet-Fed Scanner , and created 6 pdf files of Mother's trips -  20 pages each. This scanner is awesome. I can't praise it enough. It's one of the best technical items I ever purchased.

Next I will send the pdf files to my family members who want copies. I am going to mail the printed copies (after I bind them as a book) to my mother's younger sister who is 92 years old. I know she'll enjoy reading them especially because she accompanied my mother on two of her many trips.

I plan on next copying mother's daily diaries that she kept when she was not on a trip. It feels good to finally bring some organization and preservation to these treasured family diaries.

Update Digitized CEF Service Files WW1

LAC (Library and Archives Canada) is bringing the full service files of all military personnel who enlisted in the Canadian military in WW1 online.

As of today, 110,260 of 640,000 files are available online via  Soldiers of the First World War: 1914–1918 database.

The Attestation papers have been available online for some time but the full service records were not. This is a wonderful addition to Canadian Military records.

Teachers Receiving Pensions Upper Canada 1850s

Olive Tree Genealogy has added to its Early Ontario Education Records a list of Teachers Receiving Pensions in Upper Canada 1857, Teachers Receiving Pensions in Upper Canada 1858 There are images with names of 298 Teachers with details of infirmity, years and locations teaching, age and residence who were being superannuated, or given a pension, in Upper Canada in these years. This adds to my earlier list of 120 teachers receiving their pensions in 1855.

Each teacher is numbered and there are two pages for each entry. Find your name of interest and note the number beside the name. Then find the second page for that same number to read the details. I have transcribed the names from each image to assist researchers.

As an example Teacher No. 20 is David Thompson, born Scotland and living in Niagara. He is 69 years old and has been teaching for 38 years. He started teaching in 1815 and taught in the counties of Frontenac, Lincoln and Welland in Upper Canada. Pains from wounds received in the War of 1812 forced him to retire.

Each thumbnail can be clicked on to view a larger image. To assist researchers, I have transcribed the names found on these pages.

Mark Your Calendars! Who Do You Think You Are? starts Feb. 24

Who Do You Think You Are is gearing up to begin another season on February 24, 2015 at 10/9 central time. 

Lisa Kudrow visited The Talk to promote the newest season of Who Do You Think You Are?

TLC announced four of the featured celebrities in the upcoming season:

Julie Chen, who brings the series to China for the first time ever and learns about her grandfather’s brave and generous contributions to his country.

Angie Harmon, who meets a family member she didn’t know existed, and learns that her ancestor fought under George Washington.

Sean Hayes, who travels to Ireland to learn more about his father’s side of the family.

Bill Paxton, who reads captivating first-hand accounts of wartime battles in which his four times great grandfather was involved  in the American Revolution.
Rumours are flying that we will see Josh Groban and Melissa Etheridge as two more of the new celebrities. 

Organizing Family Photos - Creating a Plan

Today I decided the time has come to sort, scan and organize my physical photographs. I have thousands. Some are older family photos going back to 1900 from my mother, her sister, my aunt and my mother's cousin. Some are my family photos from when I was a child, and others are from my life since 1970. 

I also have my personal collection of CDVs, Cabinet Cards, tintypes, ambrotypes and daguerreotypes. I  estimated I have over 3,000 of those. 

To start with I am concentrating on my family photos. You can see most of what I have in the photo on the left.  

As you can see currently they are tossed into plastic tubs but I want to store them in archival quality boxes.

The first thing I did this morning was take a look to see what sizes of photographs I need to store. That allows me to determine the size of boxes I need and make an estimate as to how many will be required.

Then I started making my plan. First - I decided what my goal was for these photos - what is the final outcome I want? I know I want to eventually scan them all so I need one box for unscanned photos. Some have been scanned already and those are already sorted into tubs so that will be fairly quick to get into archival boxes when they arrive.

Any plan for organizing photos will depend on how you want to store them - by family groups? By time periods? By names of the person you are going to give them to? The choice is personal. I want to give some of mine to my adult children as soon as possible, others I want to keep for my grandchildren when they are older and some I want to hang on to myself.

I decided I needed 8 boxes to hold 4x6 photos, 1 box for 8x10 and 1 box for 11x14. With the 4x6 boxes I will have one box for photographs for each of my grown children, one for recent photographs I don't want to part with yet, one box for my life as a child growing up with my parents, one box for my maternal grandmother's family and one for my maternal grandfather's family. 

When my boxes arrive I will sort the photos I have already scanned and get them put away. Scanning the photos not yet scanned will be something I do in bits and pieces over the coming months.

Next week I will create an organizational plan for my personal collection of mid 19th century photos and share that. I still have to create a plan for my digitized and scanned photos so I will work on that later this week and share it here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog.

Celebrating 200 Years Since Birth of Canada's First Prime Minister

Sir John Alexander Macdonald was the first Prime Minister of Canada. He was born January 11, 1815, Glasgow, United Kingdom and died June 6, 1891, in Ottawa He is buried in Cataraqui Cemetery in Kingston Ontario Canada

Notman Studio/Library and Archives Canada/C-010144

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has an extensive and varied collection of records related to Sir John Alexander Macdonald, including a virtual exhibition that includes personal papers, photos, artwork, and publications. 

Within LAC’s Sir John A. Macdonald collection, there are over 100,000 letters to and from family and close friends, which gives researchers a rare glimpse into his personal life.

Sir John A. Macdonald’s image has  been used in political cartoons, commercially in beer advertisements, as an endorsement for tomato chutney, and he has even been made into an action figure.

Sir John was the leading force behind Confederation in July 1867 and he left a legacy of greatness in his  political career spanning almost 50 years.

Library and Archives Canada,
Acc. No. 1996-278-2.34
Source: Molson Companies Limited, Montreal, Quebec.

To learn more about Sir John A. Macdonald and his legacy:

• Sir John A. Macdonald at a glance
• Listen to the podcast: Let us be Canadians: Sir John A. Macdonald
• Read other blog posts on Sir John A. Macdonald
• Explore the Sir John A. Macdonald fonds
• Explore his political and personal papers—Sir John A. Macdonald: Canada’s Patriot Statesman (archived site)
• Explore Canadian Confederation—Sir John A. Macdonald (archived site)
• View some of his portraits on Flickr
• Essay on Macdonald by Richard Gwyne
• Political Junkie Café—Success. Scandal. Sir John A.

Teachers in Upper Canada 1855 Receiving Pensions

Olive Tree Genealogy has added images and a list of 120 teachers who were being superannuated, or given a pension, in Upper Canada in 1855. Each teacher is numbered and there are two pages for each entry. Find your name of interest and note the number beside the name. Then find the second page for that same number to read the details. I have transcribed the names from each image to assist researchers.

1855 Superannuated Teachers

As an example No. 1 is John McAuley, born Ireland. His religion is Church of Scotland and he lives in Innisfil. He is 74 years old, suffers from age and infirmity and has been teaching in Upper Canada 22 years. His pension amount is given. The next page for No. 1 shows that he was a teacher for 50 years, he taught in W. Gwillimbury, Essa, Tecumseth and Innisfil. He was a teacher in Nova Scotia from 1817-1830. 

Each thumbnail can be clicked on to view a larger image. Note that an * beside a name indicates the teacher is now deceased

No. 1-29: John McCauley *, Robert Mason, Magnus Swanson, Donald Currie, James Baird, john O'Connor, Anthony Lewars, Thos. J. Graffe, Don'd McDermid, James Benton, Henry Gough, Jas. Breakenridge, John gillon, Robert C. Mills, john W. Leonard, Peter Stewart, David Thompson, John Price, Wm. Gordon, Crawford Rainey, Benjamin Warren, Thos. McMaster, Ronald Smith, Wm. McEdward, Wm. Dowling, Geo. Fieldhouse 

No. 30-59: Olmstead Gates *, John McKenzie, Patrick Benson, Francis Sharp, john McDonell *, Francis Foster, Donald McDonald, John Ker, James Brenan, Thos. Hudson, Wm. M. Hynes *, Jane Johnston, W. R. Thornhill, Wm. Ireland, john Fletcher, John B. Emons, John Nowlan, W. P. Huston, george Reynolds, Wm. martin, john Bick, Michael Koen, Alex. Miller, John Donald, Angus McDonnell, james Forde, John Livingston, Gilber McAulay 

No. 60-90: Gideon Gibson, Wm. Begg, John Bradley, henry st. Leger, Robt. Thompson, johnston Neilson, Patrick McKee, John Brennan, Margaret jessop, Thos. White, Joshua Webster, Norman McLeod, Samuel P. stiles, M. Kineborough, Arch'd. Campbell, Wm. Foster, Wm. Glasford, john Hoyt, wm. Powers, John Vert, Wm. Benson, Wm. Kearns, D. McKenzie, james Leys, John Healy, Hector McRae, Wm. Campbell, J. Carruthers 

No. 91-120: Alex. Cowan, Emily Cozens, Wm. Dermott, Jas. E. Durick, Hugh Hagan, Walter Hick, J. Higginbotham, j.B. Hingston, T. Jones, W.H. King, Wm. leonard, R. McDonald, Thos. Mordue, Samuel Peterson, Benj. Spillsbury, R. Williams, Daniel Wing, Wm. Taylor, Wm.Kane, Matt. Devereux, Michael O'Kane, T. Q. Clendennan, neil McKinnon, Alex. Jenkins, Isab. Kennedy, henry Livesley, William Millar, Robert Beattie, john L. Biggar, William Corry 

Update Case #23 US Army WW2 Leroy Tillery

Olive Tree Genealogy received a request for help finding family of Leroy Tillery whose US WWII ID Tag (Dog Tag) on the estate at Dorford Hall, Near Nantwich, Cheshire England. The finder of the Dog Tag and the Secretary of the Crewe & Nantwich Metal Detecting Society are hopeful my amazing readers will be able to find Leroy's descendants or family members. 

1953 Rocky Mountain Evening Telegram courtesy D. Bailey

Here is the information I found for Leroy in NARA's Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946 (Enlistment Records):

Leroy Tillery, Army Serial Number 34669274, lived in Nash County North Carolina and enlisted at Ft. Bragg on 30 November 1945. His year of birth was 1924. He was an African American and his marital status was given as "single with dependants"

It has been a challenge to sort out the military files found on Ancestry.com for men of the same name. One was from a 1941 Draft Registration for Leroy Tilleroy born Scotland Neck, North Carolina July 5, 1923 and one from a 1942 Draft Registration for a Leroy Tillery born Scotland Neck, North Carolina July 25, 1924. Both these records provided the same residence address and name of a person who would always know how to reach them - a Mrs. Ethel Harris. So it was clear this was the same individual, but was he "our" Leroy of the lost dog tag?

As well there was some confusion over Leroy's dog tag which shows that he had his Tetanus shot in 1943. But his NARA record indicates he enlisted November 1945. With the help of Jennifer Holik who is my go-to person for American WW2 expertise, and her friend Norm Richards who conducts research for individuals at the NPRC (National Personnel Records Center), we were able to determine that Leroy Tillery actually enlisted twice - the first time in March 1943, the second in November 1945. This was a very important fact that I needed to ascertain which Leroy Tillery was the right one.

With that information I quickly found the final piece of the puzzle in Ancestry.com online database U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010

Leroy Tillery, whose Dog Tag was found in England was born 25 July 1924 and died 11 September 1985 

Since I had already done quite a bit of research on the different Leroy Tillery males, I knew that the Leroy born July 25, 1924 was the son of Rosa Tillery. That allowed me to find the family in the 1930 census for Palmyra, Halifax, North Carolina. I knew from two records sent to me from reader Donna Bailey that Leroy had been married to a woman named Dorothy and divorced from her in 1973. 

Donna also found the birth of a daughter in 1949. I will not provide her name here as she may very well be living but if anyone would like to help find her or her descendants (Leroy's grandchildren) please write to me privately at olivetreegenealogy AT gmail DOT com (replacing AT and DOT with the appropriate characters) and I will give you her name.

Last night I continued researching and found Leroy's death certificate on FamilySearch.org. From information on the certificate I was able to find that Leroy married again to Gilda Delight Hines and had a son in 1982. Since Gilda was obviously much younger than Leroy it is possible that she is still living and can be found.

I am happy to provide what I found on the families to any reader who would like to do more research for contact information on Leroy's descendants. I believe we can send this dog tag home this month if we keep up the search.

Book of Negroes (Black Loyalists) Episode 1 Recap

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, aired last night. I thought it was very good - powerful and compelling, quite distressing at times, but a story that needs to be told.  It was upsetting to watch as Aminata, a young girl from Africa as her parents were killed and she was abducted by slave traders. At the end of Episode 1 she was in America and being sold at a slave auction.

From the CBC website: Eventually, [Aminata] registers her name in the Book of Negroes, the British ledger of 3,000 Black Loyalists who declared their allegiance to the King and were allowed to leave America for Nova Scotia – and what they believed was the promised land. She lives her final years in England.

The $10-million miniseries premiered on CBC Television on Jan. 7 at 9 p.m. (9:30 in Newfoundland) and continues on consecutive Wednesdays; in February, it will air in the United States on BET (Black Entertainment Television).

It is also available as  The Book of Negroes on Amazon

Updating Early Ontario Teacher & Pupil lists 1838-1916

New lists of teachers and pupils in early Ontario have been added to Olive Tree Genealogy's Ontario Education Records page

These records now include

* List of pupils & Teachers in Gore District July 1839 - includes their country of origin and number of years living in Canada
* List of pupils & Teachers in Niagara District 1839
* List of teachers in the Johnstown District March 1838-March 1839 - includes where they were born and number of years living in Canada
* List of teachers in the London District 1838 includes townships where they taught and the books they used
* List of Teachers in Bathurst District Schools 1839
* List of Teachers in Newcastle District Schools 1839 - includes their country of origin and number of years living in Canada
* List of Pupils in Home District Schools 1839
* List of Teachers in Home District
* List of Teachers in Western District Schools 1839 - includes the year each teacher began teaching
* Roll of pupils of Upper Canada College from 1829 to 1898
* The roll of pupils of Upper Canada College, Toronto : January 1830 to June 1916
* Names and addresses of school teachers of the county of Middlesex (1899)
* Toronto Normal School jubilee celebration : (October 31st, November 1st and 2nd, 1897) : biographical sketches and names of successful students 1847 to 1875
* Sarnia Collegiate Institute Attendance Register Form IV 1888-1891 - Sarnia Collegiate Institute & Technical School. This is the High School Register of Daily Attendance from August 1888 to June 1891 for Form IV of Sarnia Collegiate Institute and prepared for the Education Department of Ontario, Canada
* Sarnia Collegiate Institute: Daily Attendance Register 1888-1892 - Sarnia Collegiate Institute & Technical School
This is the High School Register of Daily Attendance from August 1888 to 1892 for Form II of Sarnia Collegiate Institute prepared for the Education Department of Ontario , Canada
* Sarnia Collegiate Institute Attendance Register Form III 1888-1893 - Sarnia Collegiate Institute & Technical School This is the High School Register of Daily Attendance from August 1888 to June 1893 for Form III of Sarnia Collegiate Institute and prepared for the Education Department of Ontario , Canada
* Sarnia Collegiate Institute Attendance Register Form IV 1891-1894 - Sarnia Collegiate Institute & Technical School This is the High School Register of Daily Attendance from August 1891 to December 1894 for Form IV of Sarnia Collegiate Institute and prepared for the Education Department of Ontario , Canada
* Sarnia Collegiate Institute Attendance Register Form III 1893-1894 This is the High School Register of Daily Attendance from August 1893 to December 1894 for Form III of Sarnia Collegiate Institute and prepared for the Education Department of Ontario, Canada.
* Sarnia Collegiate Institute Attendance Register Form II 1893-1894 - Sarnia Collegiate Institute & Technical School This is the High School Register of Daily Attendance from January 1893 to June 1894 for Form II of Sarnia Collegiate Institute and prepared for the Education Department Ontario, Canada
* Public school general register of attendance, classification, promotion and destination of pupils - Ontario . Dept. of Education - various years, but most are 1878-1879, not searchable, very faded text

Can We Send Leroy Tillery's US WWII Dog Tag Home? (Case #23)

Olive Tree Genealogy received a request for help finding family of Leroy Tillery whose US WWII ID Tag (Dog Tag) on the estate at Dorford Hall, Near Nantwich, Cheshire England. The finder of the Dog Tag and the Secretary of the Crewe & Nantwich Metal Detecting Society are hopeful my amazing readers will be able to find Leroy's descendants or family members. 

Mr. Bradley, Membership Secretary informs me that his research indicates that Dorfold Hall was used as a WWII US Army camp to house the 158th Liaison Squadron(camp capacity 170 personnel) in the 1940's. He requests our help to help send Leroy's Dog Tag home. 

After receiving the email, I searched NARA's Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946 (Enlistment Records) using the serial number 34669274 on the Dog Tag. Here is the information found for Leroy:


Leroy Tillery, Army Serial Number 34669274, lived in Nash County North Carolina and enlisted at Ft. Bragg on 30 November 1945. His year of birth was 1924. He was an African American and his marital status was given as "single with dependants"

If you would like to help send Leroy Tillery's Dog Tag home, please leave your findings in the comment section of this blog post unless it is about living individuals. For information concerning living people, please write to me privately at olivetreegenealogy AT gmail DOT com (replacing AT and DOT with the appropriate characters) 
 

The Book of Negroes, the Story of Black Loyalists, Airs as a Mini-Series January 7, 2015

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, has been made into  a TV Mini-Series, set to air January 7th. According to CBC:

The Book of Negroes chronicles the dramatic journey and life of Aminata Diallo, a young West African girl, abducted from her village and sold into slavery in America. Eventually, she registers her name in the Book of Negroes, the British ledger of 3,000 Black Loyalists who declared their allegiance to the King and were allowed to leave America for Nova Scotia – and what they believed was the promised land. She lives her final years in England.

The $10-million miniseries premieres on CBC Television on Jan. 7 at 9 p.m. (9:30 in Newfoundland) and continues on consecutive Wednesdays; in February, it will air in the United States on BET (Black Entertainment Television).

Hill, 57, who co-wrote the screenplay, says it is “very profoundly a Canadian story, but a very unknown Canadian story. It’s a Canadian story that has not been dramatized before … the story of the Black Loyalists."

 Also available as  The Book of Negroes on Amazon

Lists of Teachers & Pupils in Ontario 1838-1839

Olive Tree Genealogy is excited to announce a new set of records on the Ontario Education section of the website. 

Example of Lists of Teachers 1838-1839

Olive Tree Genealogy now has lists of teachers and pupils in 1838 and 1839 in Upper Canada (Ontario) which were published in Appendix to Journal of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada, Volume 1, Part 2 By Ontario. Parliament. House of Assembly

* List of pupils & Teachers in Gore District July 1839 - includes their country of origin and number of years living in Canada
* List of pupils & Teachers in Niagara District 1839
* List of teachers in the Johnstown District March 1838-March 1839 - includes where they were born and number of years living in Canada
* List of Teachers in Bathurst District Schools 1839
* List of Teachers in Newcastle District Schools 1839 - includes their country of origin and number of years living in Canada
* List of Teachers in Home District Schools 1839 - includes their residence, their country of origin and number of years living in Canada 

I will be adding more lists as I find and them so if you are looking for an ancestor in early Ontario (Canada West or Upper Canada) you will want to keep an eye on the 
Ontario Education section of Olive Tree Genealogy website.

Bones of Children Fleeing Ireland on The Carricks in 1847 Found

Anthropologists working for Parks Canada have been studying 3 partial skeletons  discovered on Quebec’s Gaspé peninsula three years ago.  After there years of study, scientists now believe that the bones are that of 3 young children from Ireland who died in the 1847 shipwreck of The Carricks.

http://gaspesie.quebecheritageweb.com/fr/node/439502

The Carricks carried  Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine who were sailing to Quebec City in hopes of a new and better life in Canada. After the storm and shipwreck, over 100 bodies washed ashore and the few survivors (estimated to be 48 in number) were taken in by local residents. An Irish newspaper reports that 176 immigrants boarded the Carrick in Sligo Ireland.

There was no passenger list so the names of those who perished was never known. The 3 children whose skeletons were found had clues indicating their ages - two  between 7 and 9 years old, the other 11 or 12 years. A curve in one bone pointed to malnutrition consistent with rickets, a condition caused by vitamin D deficiency.

Their names will almost certainly never be known but they will be given a proper burial. Read more at Human Bones Discovered on Gaspé peninsula ‘witnesses to a tragic event’

Thomas McMullin Who Are You?

Many years ago my husband purchased an antique walking stick with a silver top. The top was engraved with these words

Thomas McMullin with kind regards from his pupil Geo. (George) Angus? Jun (Junior) 1886

Engraving on the walking stick

The walking stick was in the estate sale of the sisters Elsie Harstone and Lena Tovell of St. Mary's Ontario. My husband's grandmother worked for the elderly sisters as a housekeeper and when the contents of their home went up for auction, hubs and his grandmother purchased several items. I've blogged before about the lovely painting of Robert Harstone, husband to Elsie,  done when he was a toddler. This lovely painting is on display in our living room. You can read about it and see the painting at It's All Relative..... to Someone, Somewhere!

Elsie and Lena were the daughters of John Hyde and Elizabeth Andrews of the little town of St. Mary's. They married and spent their lives in this town but after their husbands died, the sisters moved in together. Lena passed away in 1990 in St. Mary's and is buried with her husband Victor G. Tovell who died in 1954.

Three years later her sister Elsie died at the age of 91.  But many of the sister's beloved possessions were purchased by members of my husband's family where they are treasured today.

I wish we knew who Thomas McMullin and George Angus were. Was there a family connection to Elsie and Lena or their husbands? Their mother Elizabeth married a second time after her first husband's death, to John Patrick O'Rourke. Perhaps there is a connection to him or his family. But sadly we do not know what, if any, connection there was to Thomas or George.

2015 Goals & Dreams

2014 is over. It was a pretty good year other than my health and mobility issues. I have a lot of genealogy ideas, plans, hopes and dreams for 2015. As I mentioned in my previous blog post New Year's Genealogy Resolutions for 2014 - Did I Achieve Them? this year I'm focusing on one goal - to write more genealogy books. 

One of my Facebook friends mentioned that she doesn't like the word goals so she calls hers "Things I hope to accomplish" That's not quite strong enough for me (it's the "hope to" part I don't care for personally) but I thought I'd list a few things I'm going to try my darndest to accomplish this year. 

My One Main Goal for 2015

Write more genealogy books. Specifically I plan to finish my murder mystery novel set in Salt Lake City (it's almost done, I'm on my 20th edit!), finish my book on Genealogy Activities for Children, and finish up the half-dozen eBooks I have in the works sitting on the back burner. 

Things I'm Pretty Determined to Do in 2015

I am determined to learn how to design my own covers for my paperback books without using the online cover creators. I want more control over fonts, placement of images, etc

Things I Am Going to Work Very Hard to Complete But Realistically Might Not Get Done

I'd love to finish the last volumes of my Peer Family in North America series. Descendants have been asking for them for a few years now.

I want to find a program that will allow me to easily set up a website I bought years ago for my Lost Faces photo albums. They are currently on a section of my main website but I want them on their own site, where I can freely share them with other genealogists and descendants. I do not want to do that site manually as I have over 3,000 photos and it's overwhelming to begin. So far I've not found a program that will create what I want.

Things I Dream Will Magically Happen

I will wake up one morning and all my digital photos will be labelled, tagged and organized

I wish someone would redesign my website Olive Tree Genealogy and surprise me with it. It desperately needs a makeover as I created it in 1996 - some 19 years ago!! It needs a facelift badly.

Summary 

I'm pretty sure I won't get all the above items done. But isn't it fun to plan and set goals? What do you hope to accomplish in 2015?

Credits: Image by noppasinw on freedigitalphotos.net