Irish and Great Famine Documentary on YouTube

Screenshot from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuKPBaUCq2E

Thanks to Gail Dever I learned about a new Documentary about the Irish and Great Famine on YouTube.

This  new documentary tells the story of the Irish who fled poverty and the Great Famine of 1847 and traveled to Canada. This was such a tragic time for Ireland. My own McGinnis ancestors fled Ireland to escape starvation when the potato crop failed, and arrived in Canada in the summer of 1846.

Gail has written a very complete blog post about this so please read her article using the link above.

Roman Coins Found in Japanese Castle

 Since 2013, a team of archeologists has been excavating Katsuren castle in Okinawa, Japan's southernmost prefecture. Recently ten Roman coins were found at the site.

According to the scientists an Ottoman coin had inscriptions that dated it to 1687, while the Roman coins appeared to be much older -- from at least 300 to 400 AD.

The finding of these coins confirms speculation that the area of Okinawa had trade relations with the rest of Asia. Archeology is similar to genealogy in that even a tiny find can lead to huge revelations and provide more clues for future research.

Continue reading this archaeological story at Ancient Roman coins found in ruined Japanese castle

Nursing Sister Philips WW1 Photo Album: Loose Photo

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.

WW1 Loose photo Snap taken outside the hut 1916

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 permission.

Each image has been designated an "R" for Recto or a "V" for Verso plus an album page number. Recto is the right-hand 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"

Friggatriskaidekaphobics Beware!

Friday the 13th. Bad luck. Black cats walking in front of you. Touch wood if you say something and don't want it to come true. Bad luck comes in threes. Step on a crack, break your mother's back.... these are some of the many superstitions that have passed down through the ages.

But where do they come from? Did our ancestors touch wood as way of protecting themselves from bad things happening? Superstitions often arise because we humans need a way to explain things that don't seem to have an explanation.

 Superstitions continue even in our enlightened age for one simple reason - they are passed on from generation to generation!  Most of us have one or even two superstitions which we may try to keep hidden. Here are a few of our more common superstitions and how they formed.

Don't walk under a ladder. One theory holds that this superstition arises from a Christian belief in the Holy Trinity: Since a ladder leaning against a wall forms a triangle, "breaking" that triangle was blasphemous.

Black cats walking in front of you. This fear (superstition) may have arisen from fear of witches and witches familiars, most often thought to be black cats.

Knock on Wood (Touch wood). This is a very common superstition, believed to ward off evil or bad luck. This may have come from ancient belief in trees having spirits. A good spirit in the wood could protect you from evil. I know my grandmother carried this tradition of wood touching on and I confess so do I!

Friday the 13th. Friggatriskaidekaphobics fear Friday the 13th. The fear of Friday the 13th dates back to the late 1800s. Friday has been unlucky day and 13 has a long history as an unlucky number. Combine the two and it's a double whammy!

So to all you Friggatriskaidekaphobics out there, take cover! Today is your worst day.

U.K. War Office Records Available Online

Five volumes of War Office, Class 42 (WO 42) have been digitized and are now free to view on the The National Archives UK website. WO 42 covers half pay and widow's pensions in the 19th Century for Provincial and other Loyalist and Canadian officers. 

It is chock full of genealogical information such as marriage certificates and references to widows. There are several online sections, organized in alphabetical order. (see image on left)

The images are freely available. 

LOYAL AMERICAN AND CANADIAN CORPS is a subset within WO 42 - War Office: Officers' Birth Certificates, Wills and Personal Papers 

Also see UK, British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1730-1960

Unlock the Past Cruise 2017 Papua New Guinea

Ready for a sea trip? Join the Unlock The Past Cruise 2017 Papua New Guinea



Date: 28 July–7 August 2017
Duration: 10 nights
Ship: Pacific Aria
Price:

• conference AU$450 (non-genealogy companion sharing a cabin ($250)
• cruise – at the rate of the day – click here for current guide to rates

An exciting new cruise featuring:

• a completely different kind of itinerary – to Papua and New Guinea and and its islands, one of the emerging and exciting new cruise destinations.
• a 10 night cruise providing a balanced schedule:
  • 4 days at sea – lots of time for our usual wide ranging conference
  • 5 days in ports and/or around islands – great sightseeing and fascinating shore excursions
• some of the  best conference facilities of any ship we have seen – we will have two of the Pacific Aria‘s three conference rooms available for our exclusive use for the entire cruise
• a conference program headed by Dr Tom Lewis, one of Australia’s foremost Pacific war historians and authors, supported by other recognised experts. The program will have around 40 talks, mostly in a single stream
• a special WWII Pacific War stream. 2017 will be the 75th anniversary of the Pacific war coming to both Australia and New Guinea. 1942 was the year:
  • the Japanese attacked the Australian mainland (including Darwin and Broome by air and Sydney by submarines).
  • the Japanese attacked New Guinea including Rabaul and Milne Bay (places visited by this cruise) and the Kokoda Trail.
  • of Battle of the Coral Sea, the first time the Japanese were checked in their relentless southward advance.

Nursing Sister Philips WW1 Photo Album 37 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.

WW1 37R Le Trepont Receiving Convoy from front

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 permission.

Each image has been designated an "R" for Recto or a "V" for Verso plus an album page number. Recto is the right-hand 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"

Crowdsourcing Genealogy Documents at LAC

Page 1 of the 1818 Coltman Report

"In the spring of 2016, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) digitized A General Statement and Report relative to the Disturbances in the Indian Territories of British North America, more commonly known as “the Coltman Report.” Its digitization was in support of the 200th-anniversary events commemorating the Battle of Seven Oaks, organized by the Manitoba Métis Federation in June 2016." [Beth Greenhorn. November 29, 2016]

To support this effort, LAC (Library and Archives Canada) started a crowdsourcing project to transcribe the only copy of the 1818 521-page report. According to LAC "the entire report was transcribed within less than a month. In addition to the transcription, every page has tags related to the individuals, dates, locations and specific events recorded during Coltman’s investigation. A PDF of Coltman’s report is available in the database and is fully searchable. Each entry is accompanied by a link to the corresponding digitized page from the report."
 
Historical inaccuracies that had previously been perpetrated and spread were corrected by this transcription project. Read the full details about this in Transcribing the Coltman Report – Crowdsourcing at Library and Archives Canada

Can You Believe 6 Generations All Alive?

A 4-Generation Family

Some of us might be lucky enough to live long enough to become great-grandparents. But 96 year old Vera Sommerfeld of Lethbridge, Alberta, Candaa, just became a great-great-great-grandmother! That's right, she is the head of 6 generations of living females.

The youngest is baby Callie born in October 2016. Her mother, Alisa Marsh, is 20. Grandmother Amanda Cormier is just 39, and Grace Couturier became a great-grandmother at 59. Great-great-grandmother Gwen Shaw is 75.

I have family photos of 4 generations living but no more than that. On the left is a photo taken in 1958 of my niece (my brother's daughter), my grandmother, my mother and my brother - 4 generations.

Read the story and see pictures at Alberta woman becomes great-great-great-grandmother

Canada Female Black Rights Activist to be Featured on Bill

Civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond will be the first Canadian woman to be featured on the ten dollar bill. I doubt most Canadians have ever heard of Viola, although she was featured on a stamp in 2012.  On November 8, 1946, she went to the  Roseland Theatre in Nova Scotia to see a movie. Black people could only sit in the balcony of the theatre but Viola sat in the downstairs section which was only for whites.

She was removed, taken to jail, and charged with defrauding the Province of a penny because she had not paid the 1 cent extra to sit downstairs. Viola appealed and her court case was the first known legal challenge against racial segregation brought forward by a black woman in Canada.

Read the full story at Black rights activist Viola Desmond to be 1st Canadian woman on $10 bill

Other stories and bios of Viola (Davis) Desmond:

How civil rights icon Viola Desmond helped change course of Canadian history

Heritage Minutes 

Nursing Sister Philips WW1 Photo Album: 45 V Red Cross Dog

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.

WW1 45V dog One of our Red Cross helpers

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 permission.

Each image has been designated an "R" for Recto or a "V" for Verso plus an album page number. Recto is the right-hand 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"

New Year's Genealogy Resolutions for 2017

At the end of 2015 I wrote a blog post How Did I Do in 2015 and New Year's Resolutions for 2016

What were my 2016 goals and did I achieve them?

2016 GOALS & RESOLUTIONS

One of my goals in 2016 was to continue growing my Twitter profile with quality followers, and find time to work on Instagram and Periscope. But mainly in 2016 I resolved to continue to focus on my writing - both non-fiction and fiction.

DID I ACHIEVE THOSE 2016 GOALS

1. Twitter
I started 2016 with 10K followers on Twitter. I continued to work to grow that number with quality followers and as of December 2, 2016 I have reached 11.8K (11,800). Growing my Twitter reach is important to me but it was not my main focus in 2016, nor will it be for 2017

2. Instagram & Periscope
After a great deal of study and applying myself on both these Social Media outlets, I determined that, while they are fun, they are not a useful part of my business model. I believe Periscope could be but due to my limited physical mobility, the optimum way of using it is too challenging for me.

3. Writing Genealogy & Mystery Books

I'm very pleased that in June 2016 I published my first fiction - a genealogy mystery book about a middle-aged genealogist who has a penchant for stumbling on dead bodies as she researches her ancestors. In "Death Finds a Way: A Janie Riley Mystery" readers meet Janie Riley. Janie and her husband head to Salt Lake City Utah to research Janie's elusive 4th great-grandmother. But her search into the past leads her to a dark secret. She must solve the mysteries of the past and the present before disaster strikes.

Death Finds a Way is available as a paperback on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and the CreateSpace eStore  Also available as an e-book on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca

As well as my venture into mystery novel writing, I completed and published several genealogy-history books in 2016.

2017 GOALS

My goals for 2017 are easy to formulate. I plan to focus even more on my writing. Presently I am 3/4 of the way through a first draft of Janie Riley's second adventure which I hope to publish in 2017. "A Grave Secret" and follows Janie's journey to the most haunted village in England as she searches for her 4th great-grandparents.

Of course I will continue my genealogy research as well. I look forward to new challenges and opportunities in the New Year!  What are your goals for the coming year?

Medieval Book Curses

Most Genealogists love books. Many of my Facebook friends drool over shared photos of amazing floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and rooms completely devoted to books.

In Medieval times, books were hand-printed and drawn by scribes. They worked long difficult hours, often bent in excruciating postures. Hands cramped. Backs and necks went into painful muscle spasms. Books were a treasure - expensive and often one of a kind. So it is not surprising that scribes and book owners devised methods of protecting their work.

They came up with an ingenious way - writing curses at the beginning and end of a book. The curses included "excommunication from the church and a horrible, painful death. Steal a book, and you might be cleft by a demon sword, forced to sacrifice your hands, have your eyes gouged out, or end in the fires of hell and brimstone.” [Sarah Laskow November 09, 2016]

An example of one of these Medieval curses is

This book belongs to none but me
For there’s my name inside to see
To steal this book, if you should try
It’s by the throat that you’ll hang high.
And ravens then will gather ‘bout
To find your eyes and pull them out.
And when you’re screaming, "oh, oh, oh!"
Remember you deserve this woe.

The curses were meant to stop readers from ripping out a page, stealing the book, or scribbling within the book. This practice was so wide-spread that a book has been written about these Medieval curses.  Anathema! Medieval Scribes and the History of Book Curses. by Marc Drogin available on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca

Read this fascinating story at Protect Your Library the Medieval Way, With Horrifying Book Curses

Merry Christmas to My Dad

This is the only photo I have of my entire family at Christmas. It was taken in 1955. I'm the youngest one sitting on my dad's knee and holding a very precious gift - a walking doll.

I was very close to my father and it came as a blow when he died at the age of 47 on Christmas Day 1960. I still remember the gift I bought him that year. I was in Grade 9 and had gone out on my own and purchased a little daschund china dog with cups hanging from its side. And there it sat, unopened, under the Christmas Tree while we waited for news from the Oshawa Hospital that Christmas Day.

I was curled up in a chair in the corner of the living room while my mother and older siblings whispered in hushed tones in the kitchen. I remember our phone ringing many times. I remember the endless waiting while I stared at those unopened presents to my father lying under the tree.

It was my brother who came to tell me that our father had died. The phone had rung and everyone was quiet. I heard nothing until my brother came into the living room and said "He's gone" It was difficult to feel anything except shock and bewilderment. 

I don't remember the rest of the day except at one point I sat in front of the tree and unwrapped the gift I had bought my father. I don't know what happened to that little dog with hanging cups. I'm glad I don't have it. I have enough sad memories at Christmas without a constant reminder the other 364 days of the year.

I still miss my dad even though 50 years has passed. Christmas is a hard time for me. I love my family and love watching them open gifts, love having the big Christmas dinner(s) but late afternoon and early evening Christmas Day is a reflective and sad time in my heart. I'm always surprised by how much I still miss my father!

So Dad - here's to you on this Christmas Day. You are not forgotten. My children and grand-children hear my stories about you and your life - as short as it was. Your photo hangs on my living room wall. And you are the reason I started searching our family tree. It was all for you. And genealogy led me to many marvellous things in my own life. Death took my father at far too young an age but I won't let him be forgotten.

Black Death Skeletons Found in Plague Pit

 48 skeletons of men, women, and children have been found in a plague pit near an ancient monastery in rural England. 27 of the 48 ranged in age from a newborn baby to adolescents.

DNA extracted from teeth and sent to McMaster Ancient DNA Centre at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario has shown the people buried there died from Bubonic Plague. It is likely that as the disease ran rampant through their village, so many became ill so quickly, and died within days, that normal burial practices were abandoned.

Many of those who fell ill probably sought help from the nearby monks who would have offered what help they could. Some would have been brought by family in hopes the monks would see to their burial.

Even though the 48 were in a mass grave, they were not dumped in a heap. In fact each body was laid out East to West, not overlapping or touching the body next to them. 

Rare plague pit with 48 skeletons — from newborn to elderly — shows a society cut down by the Black Death

Canadiana.org's Failure to Correct Mistakes

Canadiana.Org has digitized 21 films of the Heir & Devisee Commission Papers (Heir & Devisee Commission papers 1797-1854, found in their Heritage Collection), and that's a good thing for genealogists. These records have valuable and informative genealogical documents.

But as mentioned in a previous blog post I wrote in August 2013 called Heir & Devisee Commission 1797-1854 on Canadiana.org - Listing Errors and a Workaround, the index and description of what is in each film, as provided on Canadiana.org, is INCORRECT.

Of the 21 microfilms on Canadiana.org, 10 are incorrectly identified as to volume numbers and content contained. 

I have been slowly going through each film and noting the correct contents in detail.  My first set of detailed listings of the contents of film H1133 can be viewed at No Response from Canadiana.org so here are the Heir & Devisee Commission Film Details 

It has been three (3) years since I wrote to Canadiana.org (more than once) offering my list of corrections for their website and the one brief response I received was from whoever monitors their Twitter account - that response was simply that they would pass my message on. It is extremely disappointing to realize that Canadiana.org simply doesn't care about serious errors on their website - errors which affect researchers. 
 
A complete and correct list of contents of film H1135 can be found on Olive Tree Genealogy website at Finding  Aid for Heir & Devisee Commission Online Films

My Christmas Tree 2016

Merry Christmas everyone! I put up my Christmas Tree today!

Some of my surnames are

Peer, Vollick, King, McGinnis, Downey, Stead, Simpson, Burkholder, Fuller, Greenlees, Johnston, Shuart, Van Slyke, Ryckman, Bradt, Van Valkenburg, Damen, Caiser, Taine, Philpot, Norris, Higginson, Bell, Caspall, Holford, Smith, Dawson, Marical, Baker, Larroway, De Graw, Gingerich, Jamieson, Hubbard, Laming, Williams, Norman, Whibley, Page, Crunden, Fryer, Van Horn, Snediker, Sutton, Elvery, Anson, Blandell, Jackson, LeRoy, Winne, Hommell, Snider, Bellinger, Warner, Van Alstyne, Muller, Deroche, Wust, Kehl, Earl, Cole, Burd, Vrooman  Post, Shuart, Uziele and more.

Nursing Sister Philips WW1 Photo Album Netheravon

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 permission.

Each image has been designated an "R" for Recto or a "V" for Verso plus an album page number. Recto is the right-hand 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"

1803 shipwreck discovered in Great Lakes

The second-oldest confirmed shipwreck in the Great Lakes, an American-built, Canadian-owned sloop that sank in Lake Ontario more than 200 years ago, has been found, a team of underwater explorers said Wednesday.

The sloop Washington was built on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania in 1798 and was used to transport people and goods between western New York, Pennsylvania and Ontario. In 1802 it was hauled across land to Lake Ontario after being sold to Canadian merchants.

The Washington set sail from Kingston, Ontario, for Niagara, Ontario on November 6, 1803. The vessel was caught in a fierce storm and sank.At least three crew members and two merchants were on the sloop. All aboard died. 

Read the full story and watch the video at 1803 shipwreck discovered in Great Lakes - This is a Great One

The 12 Genealogy Days of Christmas

To my readers: I wrote this jingle in December 2013 to reflect my version of The 12 Days of Christmas for genealogists. I haven't shown it in a few years so here it is again!

On the first day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
A Family Bible for my McGinnis family

On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
2 Source Citations
and a Family Bible for my McGinnis family

On the third day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
3 Pedigree Charts
2 Source Citations
and a Family Bible for my McGinnis family

On the fourth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
4 family photos
3 Pedigree Charts
2 Source Citations
and a Family Bible for my McGinnis family

On the fifth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
5 brickwall solutions
4 family photos
3 Pedigree Charts
2 Source Citations
and a Family Bible for my McGinnis family

On the sixth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
6 new found cousins
5 brickwall solutions
4 family photos
3 Pedigree Charts
2 Source Citations
and a Family Bible for my McGinnis family

On the seventh day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
7 marriage records
6 new found cousins
5 brickwall solutions
4 family photos
3 Pedigree Charts
2 Source Citations
and a Family Bible for my McGinnis family

On the eighth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
8 tombstone photos
7 marriage records
6 new found cousins
5 brickwall solutions
4 family photos
3 Pedigree Charts
2 Source Citations
and a Family Bible for my McGinnis family

On the ninth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
9 DNA test results
8 tombstone photos
7 marriage records
6 new found cousins
5 brickwall solutions
4 family photos
3 Pedigree Charts
2 Source Citations
and a Family Bible for my McGinnis family

On the tenth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
10 Eureka Moments
9 DNA test results
8 tombstone photos
7 marriage records
6 new found cousins
5 brickwall solutions
4 family photos
3 Pedigree Charts
2 Source Citations
and a Family Bible for my McGinnis family

On the eleventh day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
11 genealogy subscriptions
10 Eureka Moments
9 DNA test results
8 tombstone photos
7 marriage records
6 new found cousins
5 brickwall solutions
4 family photos
3 Pedigree Charts
2 Source Citations
and a Family Bible for my McGinnis family

On the first day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
12 well-sourced family trees
11 genealogy subscriptions
10 Eureka Moments
9 DNA test results
8 tombstone photos
7 marriage records
6 new found cousins
5 brickwall solutions
4 family photos
3 Pedigree Charts
2 Source Citations
and a Family Bible for my McGinnis family  

Credits: 
Original lyrics by Lorine McGinnis Schulze 2013
Image "Merry Christmas10" by gubgib on FreeDigitalPhotos.net