Corrected List of Contents on Heir & Devisee Commission H1140

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 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.
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 

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

H1140 Image 160

Here is a corrected list of contents for film H 1140
 

Does not contain what Canadiana.org has listed Image 24 V 38 1804 Commissioners Reports. I have not completed this film but here is the corrected list of contents from Image 14 to Image 431:

• 14 starts the documents 9 June 1809 survey report
• 15 to 19 List of claimants. Markham, York, Whitchurch, East Gwillumbury. Plus details
• 20 Home District May 1804 survey general’s report
• 24 minutes and reports to the executive Council volume 38 home district 1804
• 25-27 list of claimants and details of claim 13 June 1804
• 29-38 list of claimants and details of claim July 1804
• 40-42 ditto
• 44 ditto
• 49-61 ditto
• 62-93 1803 and four
• 97-105 miscellaneous documents volume 39 home district 1816; 1821 to 1823 claimants
• 106 notices with names and details 1812
• 108-111 documents dated 1818
• 112-114 documents dated 1817
• 115-119 1821-1823
• 120-121 large legal document
• 122 Detroit 1787 petition of Jacob Arnes
• 123 certificate re Daniel A----- dated 1797
• 124 Malcolm Tulley 1802 land title search
• 128 volume 40 Orders in Council 1797 - 1802 home district
• 129 Conrad Hotrum Niagara October 1800 also Thomas Paige, Thomas Dickson and David Heron
• 130 names and locations, 1803
• 132-134 claims 1803
• 135 claims 1804
• 140-142 Gen. Benedict Arnold of the city of London England deceased and his widow Margaret also Sarah Fitch and Ann Fitch of Devonshire
• 143-144 Eastern District claims 1799 heard in 1804
• 145 claims Markham and Pickering
• 146-147 claims Markham 1804
• 148–154 claims home district 1804
• 158 volume 41 location certificates alphabetical for home district
• 159 Nassau District land certificates 1-15 1790 – 1792
• 160  List of names Nassau District Land Certificates
• 161– 211 land certificates for each person listed. Please see complete list of names and image numbers for their Land Certificates at An index to Niagara area Loyalists and their Land Certificates
• 215-216 Home District land certificates 1 – 17, 1787 – 1795. List of names. Note that I will be adding the complete list of names and image numbers
• 415– 416 Peter Robinson son of the late Christopher Robinson
• 417 Solomon Ball, Pickering 1803
• 418-419 Peter Robinson
• 420 Angus McDonald of York
• 421-424 Basil Rossiton of Elizabethtown, Samuel Heron of York
• 425 George Cutter of town of York, Shoemaker.  Basil Rossiton
• 426 Duncan Cameron
• 427 John Schmeltzer of Markham
• 428 John Nicholas Steffens Markham Township
• 429-430 John Daniel Frederick Bush of Kingston in Frontenac County in Midland District baker, brother to delete John Christian William Bush of the town of York
• 431 Birth Certificate written in German for Johann Christian Wilhelm 1767. There are other names and the year 1773 and a name Johann Daniel Friedrich but I cannot translate the rest

Corrected List of Contents of H1150 Heir & Devisee Commission on Canadiana.org

From H 1144 V58
Burford Christian BRADT

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 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.
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 

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

Here is a corrected list of contents for film 1150.

Film H 1150 Does not contain what Canadiana.org has listed as V. 87-89. This film contains V. 90-92

• Vol.90 Image 17 Register of claims allowed arranged chronologically by district 1797-1804
• Eastern District: Images 56-84; 97-98; 123-136; 176-184
• Johnston District: Images 85-90; 99-101; 112-122; 187-198
• Midland District: Images 19-55; 144-159; 169-175
• Newcastle District: Images 137-138; 203-204
• Home District: Images 95; 110-111; 162-168; 199-200; 205
• Niagara District: Images 95; 106-109; 139-143; 160-161; 201-202
• Western District: Images 96; 102-105
• London District: Images 185-186
• Vol. 91 Image 211 Index to claimants in Registers A, B, C, Vol 80-82
• Vol. 92 Image 283 Index to claimants in Registers A-B Vol. 80, 81 

I have published the full set of corrections for the digitize records on Olive Tree Genealogy website at Heir & Devisee Commission This is a work in progress. 

Dealing with Transcription Errors in Census Records

Many years ago, in the days of genealogy records only being available on microfilm (Remember those days? When we had to trudge to a nearby archive or library or Family History Center? When we had to physically crank through reel after reel, page after page of film....), I found and recorded my Levi Peer and family in the 1861 Ontario Canada Census. But I had never obtained an image since my local library did not have a reader printer.

Now that Ancestry.com has put the complete collection of Canadian census records online, I hopped on over to their website to get that image for my files. I searched for lev* peer* (just in case his name was written as Levy instead of Levi, and in case his surname was recorded as Peere instead of Peer) No results.

Okay, no problem. I searched the standard mis-spellings for his surname - Pier, Peir, Pier(r)e, Pear, Peair.... nothing.

Okay, I tried the common misindexing of P as R or B - Reer, Beer, Rier and so on. Still nothing.

I knew exactly where Levi and his family were in 1861 down to the lot and concession number. Levi was even on the Agricultural 1861 census on Ancestry.com.

I then tried only his first name (Lev*) and year of birth (1807) plus or minus 5 years either side. Also added the township and county, and got lots of hits but nothing that remotely resembled his surname.

My next step was to use one of his son's names - hoping it was a little less common and perhaps something would turn up that was recognizable as this PEER family. Using his first name, year of birth (+/- 5) and the location I got 2 hits. With my new high speed internet it isn't so tedious for me to load images now so I clicked on both and there they were - mistranscribed under the surname ROSS.

Funny thing is, the image is quite clear. Yes the first letter of the surname might be mistaken for an R. But "oss" for the last 4 letters? Absolutely not!

So remember to not get too hung up on what you know your ancestor's name was - try leaving the surname off. Search under other fields (year of birth, first name, names of children or spouse, etc) and you too may have better success finding that elusive ancestor.