Meet Linda Simpson Canadian Genealogist

Olive Tree Genealogy is delighted to introduce Linda Simpson. I interviewed Linda, a Canadian Genealogist, and can relate to her story of her start in genealogy. Read on to learn more about Linda and her blog.

1.How and when did you become involved in the field of genealogy?

 I started my research after I attended my maternal grand-fathers funeral. I was born in Montreal but moved to the states when I was four years old, and never had an opportunity to visit my relatives. Seeing the cemetery and the family plot in Saint- Hyacinthe, QC and being gifted a box of family photographs from a cherished Aunt set my path.

2.     What is your main genealogical focus?   

Although I have researched both sides of my family, my French-Irish side is where I focus my research, I want to know who they were, not just when they were born or died. 
 
3.      What are your website(s) and blogs?  The Past Whispers  

4.     Do you have a Social Media presence?   Linda Simpson and Canadian History & Genealogy
 
5.     Do you believe a Social Media presence is important?

I embrace technology so for me social media was something I was eager to learn, I’ve since connected with long lost family and friends that never would have happened outside of Facebook.
 
6.     Are you a member of any genealogical societies or organizations? 

 Quebec Family History Society, American-French Genealogical Society, Scarborough Historical Society.
 
7.     What does genealogy mean to you? Why do you believe it is important? 

 For me it means connecting, in a way, with people I will never meet, to learn about their daily lives in another era.
 
8.     What do you believe is the most exciting development in genealogy today? 

For me it has been online research. Living in a country outside of ones research is a handicap, with online resources the search is easier.
 
9.     Do you have a prediction or hope for the field of genealogy in the future? 

I hope more and more records are indexed and placed online especially Canadian census. I also hope that more of the younger generation will become interested in their heritage, to keep them alive so to speak.
 
******* For more Canadian Genealogists Interviews, please see

Introducing Penny Allen, Canadian Genealogist

Recently I wrote a blog post called Where (and Why) Are Canadian Genealogists Hiding?

I issued a challenge to Canadian Genealogists to speak up and promote themselves better. As part of my challenge I crowdsourced a list of Canadian Genealogists which you can view at Update on Where Are the Canadian Genealogists Hiding?

Next I invited any Canadian Genealogists on that list to participate in a Guest Biography post here on Olive Tree Genealogy. I'm pleased to introduce you to  Penny Allen, a Canadian genealogist living in the U.K.

I asked Penny some questions about here role as a Canadian Genealogist and here are her responses.

1.      How and when did you become involved in the field of genealogy?

Quite a while ago, I was bitten by the genealogy bug when researching family history meant writing letters, using microfilm and ‘horrors’! – books. My parents are first generation Canadians and I was curious about the stories that I heard about my grandparents.

2.      What is your main genealogical focus?  

I have many interests in genealogy, but most of the time I delve into emigration, land ownership and early settlers to Canada. Because of my work, I enjoy learning about maritime history – the navy and merchant navy, WRENs and anything similar. I have yet to pursue my Scandinavian roots and am keen to start uncovering that branch of the tree.

3.       What are your website(s) and blogs? 

I have had numerous over the years, but my blog, ukcdngenealogy.blogspot.com is the most current.

4.      Do you have a Social Media presence?  

This information is available via my blog. 

5.      Do you believe a Social Media presence is important? 

Although I am aware of and support social media use in genealogical circles, I don’t embrace it fully, as I have had some negative personal experiences. However, I recognize its importance as a quick way to stay in touch with the genealogical community. It is valuable in its methodology, but I would stress that people do take care when using and providing information online. 

6.      Are you a member of any genealogical societies or organizations? 

At the moment, I am a member of the Alberta Family History Society and the Society of Genealogists (London).  Over the years I have been a member of various family history societies and I like to rotate my financial support amongst them as I feel that their work is very important. I regularly recommend their services to anyone who asks me for help.

7.      What does genealogy mean to you? Why do you believe it is important?

There is a quote (loosely interpreted) that basically says ‘You need to understand from where you came in order to know where you’re going.’ Family connectedness and knowing your roots does give a sense of belonging and purpose.

8.      What do you believe is the most exciting development in genealogy today?

There is no question that the use of DNA research in genealogy is one of the most popular ways of connecting with long lost family. It helps to pinpoint an area where a family originated and can put you in touch with other family members as well as researchers in the area. 

9.      Do you have a prediction or hope for the field of genealogy in the future?

Digitization of archival records seems to be expected as the norm nowadays and will be needed long into the future. However, many do not realize that there is a long process of implementation in most organizations, and these decisions can sometimes take years to manage. Not every resource is online and researchers will still need to make a physical visit to an archive, so my hope is that people will continue to support the valuable work of archives. A number of important archives in London have been impacted by researchers seemingly doing a large percent of their research online as demonstrated by the services that were recently cut at the Imperial War Museum. 

10.   Please feel free to add anything you would like to say that hasn’t been addressed by the questions above. 

I am concerned by the numerous cuts to local studies services in the UK which is often times connected to council library (public libraries run by local authorities) cuts. Often the council is trimming library services in general, and the local studies services are affected in the ‘downsizing’. This is purely an administrative action, saving costs, but in turn, cutting jobs means losing staff whose local knowledge has been built up over the years. The result is that many libraries are staffed by volunteers, and when faced with genealogical questions aren’t able to help customers (this has happened to me personally). It is disappointing that this knowledge base will be lost and more advocacies from users are necessary. My hope is the councils running libraries will realize how much this type of service is needed (as a result of positive action taken by the users) at local libraries! 

Introducing Patricia Ryan, Canadian Genealogist

Recently I wrote a blog post called Where (and Why) Are Canadian Genealogists Hiding?

I issued a challenge to Canadian Genealogists to speak up and promote themselves better. As part of my challenge I crowdsourced a list of Canadian Genealogists which you can view at Update on Where Are the Canadian Genealogists Hiding?

Next I invited any Canadian Genealogists on that list to participate in a Guest Biography post here on Olive Tree Genealogy. I'm pleased to introduce you to Patricia Ryan

I asked Patricia some questions about her role as a Canadian Genealogist and here are the responses.

After being raised on a Saskatchewan farm – back when dirt was new [haha] – and having later lived in a few different cities, I currently reside in a small Saskatchewan town … happily just outside of the city ‘rat race’.

1.    How and when did you become involved in the field of genealogy?

I think the one thing most of us have in common is waiting too long. Like so many people, I showed no interest in family history until the oldest [and last] living member of my family, who could have answered my questions, had passed away. That was my Mother in 1994 – and this kicked off my interest in genealogy. I inherited her old photo albums. You know the ones that were large, heavy, and had thick, black pages that felt like cardboard? The ones with all the pictures glued in, with no names, dates, or locations? Yup. Those unknown people peeked my curiosity. Over the decades I’m sure Mom had told me the identities of everyone, but I had listened with my ears closed. Too bad.

So I began my first foray into genealogy with a family story of an uncle who was said to have fought overseas in WWII, who married a Queen’s Nurse, was then wounded, received a medal, lived his final days/years in a Veterans hospital in Vancouver BC, Canada, and who was buried in a Soldier’s plot on that same West Coast. This search began before the Internet, so it was all done with paper, pen, stamps, and a lot of impatient waiting. When the first results came back his military papers showed none of the family story was true. Not. One. Single. Detail.

But when I shared this information with my much older brother he was able to show me evidence that the Service Files were incorrect! What the heck?! How could I not trust the War Department to have kept accurate records? How do you know who and what to believe? So I set about serious learning, and eventually I managed to get it all sorted out AND the family story was 100% accurate – as were the SECOND set of military papers I found. But the first file was also correct! I learned many valuable lessons and I was bitten, hard! It was a great personal accomplishment so I believed that if I could solve that tangled mess there was nothing out of my reach. Oh yes and it was so much fun!! HaHaHa

2.    What is your main genealogical focus?
I guess over the years, and now decades, my focus has changed, a lot. I began with researching my paternal line, and really forgot I had a Mother until almost four years later! Haha My Father was born in Scotland. My Mother was born in the USA. This makes me a 1st generation Canadian so it was quite jaw dropping when I discovered I had great grandparents living in Ontario Canada in the 1850s, AND many more generations back, there was an entire ancestral line of great greats living in Quebec Canada in the 1600s! So am I still 1st generation? I am a combination of Scottish, Irish, German, Dutch, and maybe some French – and I love them all.

I got involved in instructing in the late 1990’s, and then speaking at conferences followed quickly behind. Passion had turned to obsession, so much so I quit my good paying power job and devoted every second to studying and researching my family. I am a founding member of the College of Certified Saskatchewan Genealogists, and have graduated their courses. Of course, with no income I was forced to learn to do all my research as economically as possible! I credit this need with turning me into the thorough, careful researcher I am today. If there is an inexpensive method of finding something I’ll find it! Haha AND I’ll share the method(s) with my students and conference audiences. I was also invited to join GenClass around 2008. We were slightly ahead of our time as we offered online, inexpensive, classes that even included chats in an online chat room. It was great fun and another learning experience working with professional genealogists around the globe – there were several from the USA including Lisa Alzo, two from Israel, and others from Scotland, Australia, and me representing Canadian research. We stayed together for a number of years until GenClass was folded into a much larger genealogy group.

Teaching and presenting really forces you to become as much of an expert as possible, on whatever subject you are speaking about. No one wants to verbally stutter-step or be shamed in front of one, or a hall full of people! But it does take away from other researching time, so most of my time now is spent on developing new courses and new presentations, but I still use, almost exclusively, my own families as material so I still get to research. It is much more difficult after such a long time researching, to get many familial genealogy ‘happy dances’, but that only makes each one truly special when they do happen. So my focus has really turned to education, although I still work on my brick wall people, and when a break through happens it usually means another new presentation gets written. I really like helping people learn to do this - the right way. I love seeing them get that ‘ah ha’ moment!

The other thing that is evolving is my travel focus. I still love the Caribbean for winters, but have been lucky enough to travel to the homelands of many of my favorite ancestors. We are allowed to have ‘favorites’, aren’t we? Haha I’ve been to Scotland, even managing to get an invite into the home where my Father was born in 1900. I’ve been to old east Germany & the Czech Republic, managing to get inside the house of my great grandparents who left for America in 1879. Fall 2016 we are headed out on a driving trip to the Maritimes, with ‘slight’ side trips to where my families lived in eastern USA States. And without a doubt, my favorite ancestral country is Ireland which I’ve also visited and found the land of my ‘old ones’. I also managed to find that Van Morrison was performing in a small town hall, holding only 300 people, ten miles from where my Irish grandfather & families had lived. And I got tickets – in row 4!! Amazing. Being an accomplished researcher can come in handy for all kinds of things!!   

Please continue reading about Patricia in her PDF file.

Introducing David Pike, Canadian Genealogist

Recently I wrote a blog post called Where (and Why) Are Canadian Genealogists Hiding?

I issued a challenge to Canadian Genealogists to speak up and promote themselves better. As part of my challenge I crowdsourced a list of Canadian Genealogists which you can view at Update on Where Are the Canadian Genealogists Hiding?

Next I invited any Canadian Genealogists on that list to participate in a Guest Biography post here on Olive Tree Genealogy. I'm pleased to introduce you to David Pike. David lives in Newfoundland, and works full-time within the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

I asked David some questions about his role as a Canadian Genealogist and here are his responses.

1.    How and when did you become involved in the field of genealogy?

    I’ve had an interest in genealogy since I was a child.  I can recall being given a homework assignment in grade 5, consisting of filling out a pedigree chart that went back as far as my great grandparents.  I had the privilege of knowing two of my grandparents, and was able to ask some questions before they passed away.  If only I could now ask them the questions that I’ve since come up with though!

2.    What is your main genealogical focus? 

As I have deep roots in Newfoundland, most of my attention is on Newfoundland.  Unfortunately there is a paucity of reliable records from prior to about 1800, which makes it quite challenging to trace families into earlier times.  Still, gems that lead to breakthroughs can be found by patiently scouring old court records, wills, and various obscure records on both sides of the Atlantic.

Since 2004 I have embraced genealogical DNA testing as a means of answering questions that cannot be answered via historical records, as well as to corroborate what can be determined from traditional records.  In this regard I voluntarily coordinate a number of DNA projects (such as a project for the Pike surname, as well as autosomal and mitochondrial DNA projects for Newfoundland and Labrador).

3.     What are your website(s) and blogs? (Names and URLs)

I have a webpage at http://www.math.mun.ca/~dapike/family_history/ where I have gathered a collection of information about the Pike family and other families of personal interest to me.  At www.math.mun.ca/~dapike/FF23utils/ is a collection of web-based DIY utilities to help with the analysis of autosomal DNA results.

4.    Do you have a Social Media presence? 

I have an account on Facebook, partly so that I can reach out to various relatives whom I have no other means of contacting.  Something that I have been working on doing is locating carriers of my ancestors’ Y-DNA and mtDNA and then arranging for them to be tested at Family Tree DNA... in a few of these cases it was only via Facebook that I was able to get in touch with some of these semi-distant relatives.

5.    Do you believe a Social Media presence is important?

I’m not very active on social media.  It is great for societies, etc., to be able to get out word about their activities and such, but it correspondingly requires that somebody devote the time to maintaining the society’s presence.

6.    Are you a member of any genealogical societies or organizations?

Yes.  I’ve been a member of the Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador for many years, and have served as the society’s President since 2013.  I also serve as the webmaster for the society, the website for which is at www.fhsnl.ca

I’m also a member of various other historical and genealogical societies, including these ones:

-    Newfoundland Historical Society
-    Somerset & Dorset Family History Society
-    Guild of One-Name Studies
-    International Society of Genetic Genealogy

7.    What does genealogy mean to you? Why do you believe it is important?

It means many things, one of which is that is tells us whence we came.  Knowing who your ancestors were, where they came from, how they lived, etc., helps us to better understand who we ourselves are.  It’s also a great way to pursue a natural curiosity about our heritage.

8.    What do you believe is the most exciting development in genealogy today?

This is an easy question.  Without a doubt, the advent of genealogical DNA testing is the most significant development of our time.  Being able to confirm relationships, being able to answer questions that previously could only be hypothesised, and formulating new questions that may not have previously been pondered are among its features.  This is also an activity that is intertwined with the nature of genealogists to share with one another:  cousins who are reunited by virtue of their shared DNA know that they are related… it’s just a matter of discovering how.

9.    Do you have a prediction or hope for the field of genealogy in the future?

More and more records are finding their way online almost daily, so it is easy to predict that this trend will continue.

Likewise, databases for genealogical DNA will continue to grow.  Not only will more and more people test their DNA (especially as the costs of doing so are reduced), but the scope of the testing will itself expand (for instance, full genome sequencing, in contrast to the comparatively small number of markers that have “traditionally” been tested).

Introducing Wayne Shepheard, Guest Genealogist

Recently I wrote a blog post called Where (and Why) Are Canadian Genealogists Hiding?

I issued a challenge to Canadian Genealogists to speak up and promote themselves better. As part of my challenge I crowdsourced a list of Canadian Genealogists which you can view at Update on Where Are the Canadian Genealogists Hiding?

Next I invited any Canadian Genealogists on that list to participate in a Guest Biography post here on Olive Tree Genealogy. I'm pleased to say that our first invited guest is Wayne Shepheard from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 

I asked Wayne some questions about his role as a Canadian Genealogist and here are his responses.

1. How and when did you become involved in the field of genealogy?

I have always been a collector of memorabilia and was the person who took on the task of creating and maintaining the family photo albums; so it was a natural progression to find the stories that went along with the pictures and artefacts. I did not really get totally into the research aspects until after my parents and grandparents had died so missed out on asking them a lot of questions about our ancestry. Trying to answer those questions is now a major focus of my personal family history pursuit. I have I have been quite active for the last twenty-five years getting substantially more involved in many aspects of research and volunteer work since I retired.

I worked for 40 years as a geologist in the exploration for oil and gas. In doing that I was well-acquainted with research techniques – assembling information and coming up with solutions to problems – so I was well-prepared to investigate genealogical problems using usually limited information and arrive at plausible stories about people in the past.

2. What is your main genealogical focus? 

Most of my own research has been in England and Scotland. My late aunt had done considerable work on my mother’s family across the US. I wanted to know more about my father’s side all of whom at some point arrived in Canada and the US from the British Isles. Devon was home to the Shepheard branch so that is where I have done most of my work.

These days I do a bit of everything: research (my own and others’ families); writing (blogs, articles for journals and currently a book); volunteer work (I am an Online Parish Clerk for four parishes in Devon, England http://www.cornwood-opc.com/); and editing (I recently took on the Editorship of Relatively Speaking, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Genealogical Society). Occasionally over the past few years I have taken on projects for people who wanted to know more about their family histories, through my consulting business Family History Facilitated. http://www.familyhistoryfacilitated.ca/

3.  What are your website(s) and blogs?

I write a regular blog called Discover Genealogy where I can tell stories and relate my experiences with searching for information in old records and help others put their own history together. http://discovergenealogy.blogspot.ca/ I also write occasional pieces for another blog, The Pharos Blog: Lighting up Genealogy. https://thepharosblog.wordpress.com/

4. Do you have a Social Media presence? 

I know there are many genealogists who are very active with social media but, unfortunately I just don’t seem to have the time to get organized that way – or maybe I’m too old and set in my ways. I do have a Google+ site that I use to share some thoughts and ideas, mainly from my blog. I keep a Facebook page only to allow me to keep up with what my children and grandchildren are doing.

5. Do you believe a Social Media presence is important?

I think a lot of people get a lot out of sharing ideas and information through social media. I guess a blog is part of that aspect as well. Probably the main importance of other venues is to put people together who have similar interests and, using those contacts, be able to learn more about different ways of researching and sources of data.

6. Are you a member of any genealogical societies or organizations?

I belong to several organizations associated with areas I am actively researching or activities that assist me in reaching out to others as a volunteer. They include the Alberta Genealogical Society, the Association of Professional Genealogists, the Devon Family History Society and the Society of Genealogists.

7. What does genealogy mean to you?

Genealogical work allows me to keep active in research and solving problems, things I have been doing all my adult life. In retirement especially, it keeps my mind and body active. Doing what I do also allows me to pass along ideas and information to others involved in family history and working with them always results in me getting new ideas as well. I’m putting my information in a form that my descendants can access and at least learn something about where they come from.

8. Why do you believe it is important?

Assembling information about one’s family and ancestors allows us to learn where we are in life and how we came to be there. There are lessons to be found in seeing who came before, what they did, what problems they encountered and how they solved them. Getting involved in genealogical work also gives an opportunity to meet other interesting people and keep our minds active.

9. What do you believe is the most exciting development in genealogy today?

There is no question that availability of information on the Internet has changed the way most of us research. It is a constant struggle, but also very exciting to keep up with new information coming online. That being said, it is very important not to lose sight of the other sources of historical records, both in terms of repositories and people.

10. Do you have a prediction or hope for the field of genealogy in the future?

I think people can learn from research into their past. What they usually find out is that their ancestors were not all that different in their outlook or goals. The differences are mostly in the tools they had to work with and the living conditions which they endured. Finding out how people in the past went about their daily lives or how they changed the ways they lived in order to find better opportunities for themselves and their children can be can be instructive for people living today.

11.  Please feel free to add anything you would like to say that hasn’t been addressed by the questions above.

As in most pursuits and hobbies it is most important to have fun. We aren’t solving the world’s problem, although we are learning that people from all over the globe essentially have the same basic outlook and objectives in growing, learning, working, interacting with others, raising families, etc.

Introducing Lisa Alzo, Guest Genealogist

Lisa Alzo lives in Ithaca New York and is a writer extraordinaire. I first met Lisa a few years ago at RootsTech when we both participated in a panel discussion on writing Family History books. 

Lisa impressed me with her passion and her knowledge and later I attended a webinar she gave on writing. It was excellent and if you ever get the chance to hear Lisa speak or attend one of her presentations, I urge you to attend.

I interviewed Lisa for this blog post and hope you enjoy reading more about her!

1.     How and when did you become involved in the field of genealogy?

I began researching my roots in 1991. I wish I could say that some family experience, medical reason, or curiosity inspired me to search for my Slovak ancestors, but to tell the truth I became a genealogist quite by accident.

I was in my second year of the Master of Fine Arts Degree program in Nonfiction Writing at the University of Pittsburgh and enrolled in a class, “The Literature of Pittsburgh” for which one of the required readings was Out of This Furnace, Thomas Bell’s classic novel about three generations of Slovak men working in the steel mills of Braddock, Pennsylvania. Bell’s book prompted me to ask my mother about our family history and I subsequently learned about the life of my grandmother, Verona Straka Figlar, who immigrated to the United States from the tiny village of Milpos, Slovakia in 1922. After barely making it through Ellis Island, Verona began her life in America as a domestic, and through an arranged courtship, married Janos Figlyar, a hardworking, but stern Rusyn coal miner/steelworker. Once married, Verona struggled to raise seven children during the Depression, and withstood her husband’s fondness for alcohol and frequent violent outbursts. As the details of Verona’s background, journey to America and struggles as an immigrant woman were revealed to me, I came to appreciate her as more than just my grandmother, but someone with a poignant life story.

Thus, I embarked on my genealogical journey, researching my maternal grandmother’s side of the family. This was in the days before the Internet was an integral part of daily life. Before the availability of millions of genealogical Web sites, online census records and immigration databases, I searched courthouses, spent countless hours viewing microfilm in the Carnegie and Hillman Libraries in Pittsburgh, PA, wrote to the National Archives, conducted approximately 30 oral history interviews, walked in my grandmother’s footsteps during a visit to Ellis Island, and traveled to towns such as Barton, OH, and Wilkes-Barre, PA. I read numerous books and articles on Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn history and culture, immigration, the Great Depression and other topics.

After six years of thorough research, and several more years of writing and revising I earned my degree, and also finished my first book, Three Slovak Women, originally published by Gateway Press (2001). The book is now in its second edition, published through CreateSpace, and sold via Amazon.com

2.     What is your main genealogical focus?

I am a freelance writer, blogger, instructor, and lecturer.

3.     Please tell us more about your main focus.

I specialize in Slovak/Eastern European genealogical research, writing your family history, and using the Internet to trace female and immigrant ancestors.

4.      What are your website(s) and blogs?

  Author Website: http://www.lisaalzo.com

  Blog: The Accidental Genealogist http://www.theaccidentalgenealogist.com

  Baba's Kitchen Recipes:  http://www.babaskitchenonline.com

  Immersion Genealogy http://www.immersiongenealogy.com

 

5.     Do you have a Social Media presence? 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/lisaalzo

Twitter @lisaalzo

Google+ Lisa Alzo

Pinterest www.pinterest.com/famhistwriter

6.     Do you believe a Social Media presence is important?

I think when used correctly, social media is a great way to connect with cousins and colleagues, and essential for any professional who wants to build a genealogy-related business.

7.     Are you a member of any genealogical societies or organizations? YES.

Association for Professional Genealogists

International Society of Family History Writers and Editors

Genealogical Speakers Guild

Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International

National Genealogical Society

Carpatho-Rusyn Society

Mifflin Township Historical Society (Board of Directors)

  

8.     What does genealogy mean to you? Why do you believe it is important?

Genealogy is important because it provides a window into ourselves. My work as a genealogist (and writer) goes beyond the usual collecting of names, dates, and places. Using oral and social history, I take great care to explore who the people were rather than just “names without faces.” I strive to give a voice to the silences of those who have gone before.

9.     What do you believe is the most exciting development in genealogy today?

Genetic Genealogy (DNA) – it is breaking down brick walls and helping genealogists make discoveries they otherwise might not happen upon.  Also, I love all of the apps and tools to make it easier to record and share family stories.

10. Do you have a prediction or hope for the field of genealogy in the future?

I see collaboration being more of the standard. We are seeing it now with social media and online family trees. I think technology will continue to drive when, where, and how we connect with family members and fellow genealogists. With watches, bracelets and other devices our family trees and information will hopefully become even more accessible.

11.  Please feel free to add anything you would like to say that hasn’t been addressed by the questions above.

I am the author of nine books, hundreds of magazine articles, and several genealogy Quick Guides. I enjoy writing about topics that serve to educate and inspire others.

            Thank you for asking me to do this guest interview.