Another Set of Orphan Identified Photos from Cousin Doris

 I love this photo. It was taken in 1925, probably in England. The boys are brothers and their names are on the back as this is actually a postcard. It was sent to my Auntie Cordie (Mary Cordelia Simpson nee Cook) who lived in Toronto.

They were part of a treasure trove of photos, documents and photo albums that came into my possession when my mother's cousin Doris (daughter of Auntie Cordie) died in 1998.

I knew the brothers were almost certainly part of Auntie Cordie's family but until last night I did not know how they fit, or what their surnames were.

The text on the back reads:

"Auntie Cordie
Horace 4 yrs 4 mos Leslie 1 yr 7 mos"

You're probably wondering how I know the photo was taken in 1925 (the scribbled "Sept 1925" on the bottom right is my handwriting, it was not part of the original photo)

I have an earlier photo of Horace labelled "Horace Leonard 1 year, [2?] May 1922" So I had a birth year for Horace of 1921. In case you are thinking that "Leonard" might be his surname, it isn't.

 Last night I decided to enter Auntie Cordie's COOK family tree on Ancestry.com.  I spent several hours linking records suggested by Ancestry.com shaky leaf (after reviewing them of course to be sure they were the correct family)

Horace Leonard Cook 1 year old, May 1922

I'm glad I did because it helped organize the family for me and allowed me to attach some of the many photos in my possession. My hope is that a descendant will find the Cook Family Tree (which I made public) and thus have access to these wonderful photos.

As I discovered more facts about Auntie Cordie's family, I decided to search Free BMD indexes for a Horace Leonard born in 1921 and a Leslie born 1923-1924. I used the surnames I knew were in Auntie Cordie's family (Cook, Towner, Malpas etc) and there they were - Horace and Leslie Cook born to a mother whose surname was Towner.

I knew that Clara Towner married Horace Stephen Cook in 1920 and Horace Stephen was Auntie Cordie's half-brother. Bingo! At last I can give these engaging brothers a family. I'm crossing my fingers that a descendant or other family member stumbles on my blog or my Ancestry Family Tree as I really would like these photos to go to someone who is connected to the boys. And I have more of Horace and his parents.

And to top it all off I also have a photo of Horace and Leslie as young men in WW2, with their grandmother. The photo is labelled on the reverse "Horace 19, Gran 78 & Leslie 16 1/2. Soldiers 2 May" Since I know Horace was born in 1921 it must be 1940.

The date of birth of "Gran" would be ca 1862 and Rose Dugwell, the second wife of their paternal grandfather Henry Stephen Cook is the best candidate. Their maternal Grandmother was Emily Curtis born ca 1855. 

Auntie Cordie's mother was Priscilla Edith Curtis (1856-1889) and she was the sister of the maternal grandmother Emily Curtis. 

The families lived for the most part in or near Ramsgate, Kent England.

WW1 Photo Album Page 7

Continuing on with my WW1 Photo Album archive here is the 7th page in Doris' album. There are only 3 photos on this page. One is my Grandfather Fuller in a garden. The second is my Grandmother Ruth (his wife) and the third is a family group but I do not know who they are.

 Grandma Ruth

 Grandpa Fuller

 I don't recognize any of these people. They were obviously important to Uncle Ern and Auntie Cordie but they may be her side of the family and that means I would not recognize them. I have some beautiful photos of Auntie Cordie's ancestors which I plan to put online in hopes other family members will spot them. Our family has no contact or connection with her family so I can't pass those photos on.

Much to My Surprise...

My Beta Genealogy Board Game

My two oldest grandchildren spend a few days every summer with us on the farm. They've been doing this since the oldest was 7 years old, so that makes 8 years. Every year I create genealogy activities for them, ranging from a Genealogy board game I created to ancestor stepping stones to Cemetery Hunts. Every year it is something different, but always with a genealogy theme.

They have listened to my genealogy stories on every car trip from their home to ours and back. Usually it's the same stories and they used to request specific stories each year... "Gramma tell us about our ancestor who walked Niagara Falls on a tightrope"

So I've been feeling pretty proud of my brainwashing. I figured my grandson would be the next generation genealogist as he was the most interested and the most fascinated by the stories.

My Ancestor Wall

What a shock yesterday to find out I've been deluding myself! We were sitting and having lunch and I casually asked "Can you show me one of your great great grandmothers on the wall" As a preface I should explain that we have dozens of ancestor photos in antique frames hanging on our walls and I've used those to play my own Genealogy version of I Spy called I Spy With My Genealogy Eye with my grandchildren for years. So yes I figured they would remember who was who.

Wrong. They could not name or even point to one of the three photos of their 2nd great grandmothers. They seemed puzzled when I pointed them out and provided the names plus the relationship such as "This ancestor is my dad's grandmother". Ali, my grandson, did say at one point, "Oh yeah I kind of remember that name."

What a shock! My constant and repeated brainwashing has not born fruit! I'm still hoping that at some point in the future there will be a glimmer of "Hmmm I think I  remember my Gramma telling me blah blah blah" But I don't want to risk losing my candidate for the next in line to take up the Genealogy torch. I do have a backup candidate in a younger grandson so all is not lost. But I'm  revising my strategies and coming up with a new plan. I haven't gone one yet but when I figure one out I'll share it with you.

Ideas and suggestions are very welcome!

Rant Time! - The Wrong Way to Ask For Help

I should have called this blog post "How to Annoy the Person Who Offered to Help You"

The email I'm about to share with you is the kind of email that makes me want to throw my hands in the air and say "I give up. I'm done. Why am I bothering??"

As a preface, many of you know that I maintain several websites and blogs. For anyone interested, the complete list of my 20 blogs and websites is on my About Lorine page. 

My main website is Olive Tree Genealogy which I started in 1996. One of my blogs is Ask Olive Tree, where I try to help readers with their challenging research puzzles.  At no time in the 17 years I've had a website online have I ever charged anything to view the  content I have transcribed and published.  All content on all my sites and blogs is free. Ask Olive Tree blog is one of the free services I offer.

So I'm pretty busy bringing free content online and trying to help other genealogists as much as I can.  I happily give up my own time to do this.  I have to get the content, then transcribe or index it. I have to  maintain the sites, fix broken links and so on.  And having been online the past 17  years makes me an official internet dinosaur!

I don't talk about the financial aspect much but I also spend my own money to acquire content to publish for free. And of course, I pay for my webhosting and other incidental expenses out of my own pocket.

I'm not whining about my workload or asking for applause or sympathy, just setting the scene so my readers understand why the email I received today annoyed and bothered me so much. I get emails like these once in awhile, and usually I just sigh and shake my head in disbelief, but this one managed to push me over the edge.

In his first email this person wrote to Ask Olive Tree blog and demanded (not asked - demanded) to know why I do not have any ships passenger lists online sailing from England to Virginia between 1635 and 1700 on my Olive Tree Genealogy website. I would think a little common sense and reading my articles about ships passenger lists to USA might give him some guesses why..... here's a few answers that come to mind immediately:

1. I am lazy and didn't feel like putting any online (not likely but it's an option as an answer)
2. I ran out of money and/or time to transcribe them and put them online (very possible)
3. My health prevents me from working on my sites as much as I'd like to (that's true)
4. I have a life outside of genealogy and the internet (some would disagree with this but it really is true)
5. Before 1825 ships passenger lists to USA didn't have to be kept. So finding any for this earlier time period is a bonus as very few exist. (Bingo!)

That email was a tad irritating to me but his followup email was the one that got me. Here it is

if Olive Tree can only partially answer queries - why would I what to pay and join Olive Tree to begin with ?  If you guys don't have a clue like you said you did and can't help find the answers to my questions- why should I sign up?

I'm sure my readers have instantly spotted the huge misconceptions this dude has about me and my site. But let's break it down to the errors and the demands found in his email:

1. "partially answer queries"?? I cannot  respond to every query that comes my way. I'd need 72 hours in the day and no down time with family and friends

2. "Pay"?? Where on any of my sites do you find me asking for money??? Oh, where I sell my books. But you aren't asking to buy one of my books, you want me to answer your query. No charge for that buddy and I defy you to find where I say you have to pay me to help you.

3. "Join Olive Tree"? What the heck are you talking about? Where do I have anything on my sites that says you have to "join" ???

4. "You guys"?? What "guys"?? There's just ME. One person. And what's with this "don't have a clue" Gosh I consider myself fairly knowledgeable but I freely admit I do not know the answer to every single genealogy question that comes my way!

5. "Sign up"?? For what? Again, where do you find something on my sites or blogs that requires you to "sign up" for my free services or my free content!

Phew. I feel better now. I needed to vent and I hope my readers understand that sometimes - rarely but once in awhile - I need to share my frustration with you. Thanks for listening and please don't send me emails telling me if I don't like what I'm doing and can't take the heat I should give it all up.

Because as much as I sometimes feel like throwing in the towel when I see emails like the one this morning, I love doing this. And I love meeting (albeit virtually) my readers and site visitors and interacting with them. Thanks for listening. I think my blood pressure is slowly returning to normal.

Turning an Ancestor's Handwritten Recipes or Letters into Napkins or Towels

Scanning my Grandmother's Recipe

I saw this blog post How to turn handwritten recipes into tea towels several months ago and thought "what a great idea!" I'd hoped to get one made myself to show you but time constraints and health issues have prevented me from creating my own.

Because I want to share this with my readers, you should read the original blog post. I'd suggest using your Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner to scan old letters or Grandma's recipes then start creating your towel or napkin or even a wall hanging. Wouldn't that be a nice Christmas gift for a family member!

As you can see I have my Grandmother's recipe in her handwriting and am scanning it in hopes of finding enough time to create my own tea towels for gifts.

First Time Ever National Archives Virtual Genealogy Fair

The National Archives is holding its first-ever virtual Genealogy Fair on September 3 and 4 (2013) 10 a.m.–4 p.m. EST

The Fair will be streamed online through Ustream. It's free, and there's no reservations or passwords. You can ask questions through the chat function, or  tweet your questions to @usnatarchives #genfair2013.

Our experts from the National Archives will be discussing Native American and African American history, immigration, Civil War pensions, U.S. Colored Troops, and Navy Deck logs.

We hope to "see" you there: http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/know-your-records/genealogy-fair/

Recorded sessions will be available online after the event.

Who Do You Think You Are? Zooey Deschanel's Abolitionist Quaker Ancestors

Last night I watched Who Do You Think You Are? with Zooey Deschanel on TCL  in partnership with Ancestry.com 

It was very good, much better than last week's episode. There was a lot of history that was new to me and I found it fascinating.

Zooey found out that her female Quaker ancestor played an important part in the 1851 Christiana Riot in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. In this skirmish a group of African Americans and white abolitionists fought off a Maryland slave owner trying to capture four fugitive slaves hidden in the town.

I was particularly fascinated by the story of William Parker, a fugitive slave who was living on Zooey's ancestors' farm. William was an abolitionist and the driving force behind the Riot

After the Maryland slaveowner was killed, William fled to Canada where he settled in the Buxton Settlement in southern Ontario. I'd been hoping he fled to the Queen's Bush settlement which is where my husband's black ancestor Jonathan Butler settled in the mid 1840s. 

He went on to be a driving force in Ontario (Canada)  and his first-hand account of the riot and his flight via the Underground Railroad system, published in 1866, can be read online at "William Parker The Freedman's Story"

A cursory search on Ancestry.com in the Canadian census records show William and his wife and children in Raleigh Township, Kent County Ontario. He represented Buxton on the Raleigh Township Council, to which he was re-elected year after year by both white and black voters. He was not Zooey's ancestor but he did have close ties with her Quaker abolitionists and I found his story as fascinating as theirs.

If you missed Zooey Deschanel's journey to find our more about her abolitionist ancestor you can watch it on the TLC website.

Library and Archives Canada Answers Questions About the 1921 Canadian Census

As most genealogists know, the 1921 Canadian Census is now online on  Ancestry.com and Ancestry.ca   It has not been indexed (yet) so researchers can only browse the images for now but Ancestry will be providing an index within a few months. The images are free to view but when the index is ready it will behind a pay-to-view wall.

Those who are not already Ancestry subscribers do need to sign up for free access but no credit card details are required. This is not the same as their 14 day free trial where credit card information is required. 

There is some controversy over Library and Archives (LAC) partnership with Ancestry.com and many people are questioning why an American based company has Canadian records, will we see the census on LAC's website at any point, etc.

After looking around, I found the answers to many  of those questions here on Collections Canada website at Learn more about the Library and Archives Canada Agreement with Ancestry.ca. It’s a very detailed explanation of the partnership deal between LAC and Ancestry.

Basically Ancestry gets to use the images while they do the indexing. The images and index are on Ancestry for 3 years then the indexes are turned over to LAC and they put the index and images online for free.

Seems like a win-win situation to me! If we waited for LAC to index we’d be waiting a very long time!

Interested genealogists can also read "LAC Answers Questions about Release of 1921 Census" on the OGS (Ontario Genealogical Society) Blog.

Tips for Searching For a British Home Child

During the years of the Child Emigration Scheme (British Home Children), between 1869 and 1939 (some up to 1948), over 100,000 children ages 1 - 18 were sent to Canada from Great Britain to work as farm labourers and domestics by over 50 Agents - Barnardo, Middlemore, Macpherson, Fegans, to name a few.

Descendants make up 12%, over 4 million of the Canadian population. If you think your ancestor was one of these children, there are ways to learn more:

You can search the British Home Children ships passenger lists from 1865 to 1935 on Library & Archives Canada website.

Part of the file Barnardo's sent us

If your ancestor was a part of the Dr. Barnardo's homes, you can contact Barnardo's for the records. They can be reached at Trace Your Family History on Barnardo's Homes website.

My husband has a British Home Child in his ancestry and sending to Barnardo's for his records provided a wealth of informative genealogical detail plus photographs of the child when he was admitted to Barnardo's Homes in 1897.

Marj Kholi's Young Immigrants to Canada website is another must for those seeking a British Home Child ancestor. Descendants can also check the British Home Children Registry for a name of interest.

Old Reader Officially Staying Open to the Public

It's official. Old Reader will stay open to the public.

 "We’re pleased to announce that The Old Reader will officially remain open to the public! The application now has a bigger team, significantly more resources, and a new corporate entity in the United States. We’re incredibly excited to be a part of this great web application and would like to share some details about its future as well as thank you for remaining loyal users. We’re big fans and users of The Old Reader and look forward to helping it grow and improve for years to come."

Read the details here


Credits: "Rss Icon" by digitalart on FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Special Summer Sale on Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner

Now through August 25th Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner is offering a $30 discount on their Flip-Pal mobile scanner Picture Keeper Bundle!

This bundle includes the Flip-Pal mobile scanner, a Deluxe Flip-Pal mobile scanner Carry Case, and a Picture Keeper PK 8. (Regular Price: $229.97, Sale Price: $199.97).

To receive this discount enter a coupon code upon checkout. The coupon code is: SAS725 (good through 11:59pm on August 25th, 2013)

Loving the 1921 Canadian Census Images Online!

Over 7 hours of scrolling page by page but I finally found my mother with her parents in the 1921 Canadian Census online on  Ancestry.com and Ancestry.ca!

Mother was four years old and listed with her middle name of Doreen instead of the name she used later in life. That was a little tidbit of information as we never knew that her parents called her anything other than Joan.

Grandpa Fuller is listed as a bookkeeper which I also found intriguing. Why? Because I suspect that being a bookkeeper in 1921 meant you were pretty good at Math. My children and I are all pretty good at Math - I taught High School Math and my kids are much better at Math than I am. They're Math whizzes. Is it genetic? I believe that DNA plays a big part in our abilities.

But the big surprise (a happy one) was finding my great-grandparents living next door! I knew they had at some point come to Canada from England with plans to stay, but that after a few years they returned to England and lived out the rest of their lives there. The census shows me their immigration year of 1920 so my next step is to search the ships passenger lists, both inbound and outbound, on Ancestry. 

See the little 8 year old boy, Walter living with his parents (my great-grandparents)? Well that's my Uncle Wally and last month he turned 101 years young! I'm going to print this census off and mail it to him.

I also found my dad and his parents in the 1921 Census which was thrilling for me. It's the first census for both my mom and dad to show up in.

It wasn't an easy search, as many of the pages are challenging. The handwriting is bad, the pen nib used was fat so there are wide strokes of ink which obscure the letter shapes, names are written on top of other names and a lot of the pages are basically scribbles and ink blotches. But I'm very happy we were given images to browse instead of having to wait for indexing. I shudder to think about the indexing project that Ancestry is taking on. I suspect genealogists will have to use lots of wildcards in their searches once that index goes online.

The page with my dad and his parents is  more legible than many that I pored over. But still challenging. For example does it say that my Grandpa McGinnis was an "oil wiper"? And was he working for the railroad? That would be news to me. I know he was with the Guelph Fire Department in 1909 and that he worked as a construction foreman in 1911. 1917 shows him working at Page-Hersey (they manufactured iron pipes) and in 1928 he worked as a carpenter.  I can see that my Uncle Clare was a driller in a factory but am just not sure about my Grandpa's place of work. So this is a nice little puzzle I'll work on. Any thoughts on "Oil Wiper" and "railroad"?

It was kind of sad to see the names of two of my dad's brothers - 13 year old Lindsay and 4 year old Frank. Lindsay died 3 years later at age 16, and little Frank died when he was 8. I often think of my poor Grandmother losing two of her sons so young.

It's Here! 1921 Canadian Census ONLINE

It's here! The 1921 Canadian Census is now on Ancestry.com and Ancestry.ca

No name index but you can search by location. 


 I'm off to find my mom and dad and grandparents in Guelph Ontario. Wish me luck!








Credits: "Man Showing Thumb Up Gesture" by stockimages on FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It's True! 1921 Canadian Census Coming Online Tomorrow!

The rumours started earlier this afternoon on Social Media that the 1921 Canadian Census will be online tomorrow. So I contacted one of my reliable sources for confirmation.

My anonymous source tells me that the 1921 Canadian Census is indeed coming online tomorrow on Ancestry.com and Ancestry.ca

I have no other details at this time but watch this blog for details as they emerge!

I'm excited - are you?

Credits: Image by imagerymajestic on FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Who Do You Think You Are? Episode 3 Disappoints

Last night I watched Episode 3 of Who Do You Think You Are? with Chelsea Handler on TCL  in partnership with Ancestry.com 

If you missed Episode 3 you can watch it on the TLC website.  [Warning: Spoiler Alert in my blog post!]

I confess that I did not enjoy this episode at all. In fact I found it so boring that I fell asleep part way through! That's a first for me.

Chelsea was on a journey to find out about her grandfather's service in the German army in WW2. The hype before the show was aired led viewers to believe that Chelsea, who was raised in the Jewish faith, was going to find details on her grandfather's Nazi past.  It sounded pretty interesting and exciting but alas it was not. 

Her grandfather was an ordinary German citizen who did his duty to his country as a German soldier and nothing more. I honestly was disappointed as I was interested to see how an ancestor who was a confirmed Nazi might affect Chelsea and what conclusions she would draw from her search. 

Had I not seen and heard the hype beforehand I think I could have enjoyed this episode  for what it was - an overall learning experience about German military records. As it was I felt tricked and let down. 

Fingers crossed that next week's episode with Zooey Deschanel is more to my liking

Five Cloud Storage Services Revisited

In 2011 I wrote about cloud storage and the different free cloud services available. It's at Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining for those who want to have a look. Time for an update!

Here is a list of 5 free Cloud Storage services you might want to try:

1. Dropbox. This is my all-time favourite. With Dropbox I can store, sync, and, share files online for free. Not all cloud services will sync. If that's not important to you, don't worry about it. But I like to have at least one service that will automatically sync my uploaded files to all my devices. You get 2 GB of free space but you can get more with referrals. If you still need more you can always subscribe to Dropbox Pro, available in 100 GB, 200 GB, and 500 GB plans. You can even get more than 500GB with their Business Plan.

2. Google Drive. 15 GB of free space plus the use of Google spreadsheets and docs makes this a great choice.  I use Google Drive quite a bit and it's easy to share editing of files with others.

3. Bitcasa: 10 GB of free storage and surprisingly, for $99.00 a year you can have unlimited storage with their Infinite Plan. I like this option very much and am probably going to sign up for Infinite.

4. Amazon Cloud Drive: 5GB of free storage. I use this for genealogy certificates.

5. SugarSync: 5GB of free storage makes this another option. You can pay for 60GB, 100GB or 250GB plans if 5GB isn't enough for you

I haven't included SkyDrive as I don't care for it. But lots of people do use it and you can get 7 GB of storage so you might want to check it out too.

Let's talk about having your own personal cloud storage and external hard drive systems. I use Western Digital MyBookLive which hooks up to your home network and gives you your own private cloud storage. It's easy to drop files into it and it also creates a backup of your computer hard drive.  I bought the 2TB version at Amazon and there is a 3TB version available too. The WD My Book Live 2TB is on sale, down from $164.99 to $109.99 while the WD My Book Live 3TB is down from $199.99 to $153.98

It's a bit of work setting it up but once you do, it's easy to use. You can even set up different folders for different family members and can password protect the folders if you wish.

I also use the WD My Passport 1TB Portable External Hard Drive Storage. In fact I have three of them! I can't live without them. They range in size from 3TB down to 320 GB so there's bound to be one that suits you. These are also your own private storage but the beauty is their portability.  The size is 4 x 1 x 3 inches! I have all my genealogy photos and documents on one and I can take it with me to plug into a relative's tv (if they have a USB port) or their computer to share with them

Hopefully these ideas will help you if you're struggling with what cloud service or what type of external back up system to use.

Credits: "Computer Computing Global Social Networks" by KROMKRATHOG on FreeDigitalPhotos.net

WW1 Photo Album Page 6

Continuing on with my WW1 Photo Album archive here is the 6th page in Doris' album. This was a very exciting page for me to find in this album! Yes the photos are dark and blurry but I am thrilled to see them because they are of my mom as a baby taken circa early 1917 with her older sister and her parents.

I do not have many photos of my Grandfather Fuller who died before I was born. What a thrill to see him, and to see my Grandmother as a young bride with her two little daughters.

 This is my Grandfather Fuller with my mother. She was born in September 1916 so this photo is almost certainly Spring or summer of 1917

 This is Grandpa Fuller and I think he is holding my mom but I can't be positive, even after I lightened the photo.

 This is my Grandmother Fuller and I am pretty sure the baby is my mother. It looks like Grandma might still be wearing a maternity smock so no doubt she had a little post-baby weight still to lose

 This is my mom sitting on the blanket with her older sister Lillian

 This is Uncle Ern with Auntie Cordie but I am not sure if the child is their daughter Doris or their daughter who died young

 I am sad at how dark this photo is because it is my mom in what looks like a christening gown. She is being held by an adult but even with making the photo lighter I cannot tell who is holding her. Her sister Lillian is in a baby walker.