Well, another decade gone! Where did they all go?
I see that many of the bloggers that I keep track of are posting New Year Resolutions. I am not big on that preferring to go with the flow. However, towards the end of last year I did start two projects. One was to get on the waiting list for a Pro Gen Study Group. It looks like I am in for a group that starts February 1st.
I wonder if I am the only Canadian in that group? We shall see. Secondly, I have started researching the veterans of World War One who came from Southwestern Ontario. I have started a new blog Veterans Of Southwestern Ontario http://swveterans.blogspot.com/ in which I will post results of my research as I get it done. Ultimately I will see if I can get it published. Remember though that I am a Gemini and I will get distracted by anything interesting that pops up!
Also, many bloggers are listing their favourite blogs of 2009. I am not a big blog reader. My criteria for reading blogs are:
1. Canadian content(that narrows things down a lot)
2. Technical content. I am interested in the blogs that take some time to go through computer issues in genealogy
3. Whatever catches my interest(Gemini again).
As a result my favorites(those I read daily) are:
Anglo-Celtic Connections http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/ mainly because this blog meets all requirements.
Canadian Genealogy-or Jane’s Your Aunt http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/ . This one is different.
Olive Tree Genealogy Blog http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/ . This one is full of useful information.
CanadaGenWeb’s Blog http://canadagenweb.blogspot.com/ . Useful to keep an eye out for what’s happening across the country.
Genea-Musings http://www.geneamusings.com/ . Randy Seaver includes a great deal about the technical side of genealogy.
The Educated Genealogist http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/ . A genealogist who does not take herself seriously. Its refreshing.
The Genealogue http://www.genealogue.com/ . A well written irreverent blog. I love it!
ELegal http://canton.elegal.ca/ . David Canton is a business lawyer based in London, Ontario. His articles on the web are very good. Bloggers do need to keep track of what the legal beagles are up to.
I periodically scan others but no where near what some others read in the day. I simply do not have the attention span thank you very much. Eh!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Friday, December 4, 2009
Christmas Memories
Genea-Bloggers has what I think is a very good idea leading up to Christmas. A Christmas Advent outlining your memories of Christmas pasts. I will get us started with childhood memories of my own (even though these are going to definitely date me).
My father worked for the London Free Press, and in the 50’s the company was family owned. Walter J.Blackburn took a particular interest in his employees (the old if you work for me you are family attitude). One of the highlights of the year was the employee’s family Christmas party. Of course, for us children the fact that the presents were good ones might have coloured our attitude. It was a big event throughout the 50’s largely because there were so many of us. Sometimes I think that the attitude at that time was that if you did not have a minimum of 4 children you were not really trying.
There was candy, popcorn, ice cream, hotdogs, the company’s cartoonist “Merle Tingly” drew cartoons of each child.; and of course Santa appeared and gave each child a gift.
The company’s employee news sheet took pictures of the event, and the picture of me (yes there I am at age 5) appeared in the Christmas 1953 edition probably because at that time I was on crutches ( a picture of the child on crutches naturally got front page).
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Library and Archives Canada Pathfinder Projects
John D. Reid in his blog "Anglo-Canadian Connections" Noted today that Library and Archives Canada(LAC) have placed online four pathfinder projects “ that seek through practical projects, to validate the four guiding principles and the key roles of the Documentary Heritage Management Framework developed by Library and Archives Canada (LAC) during summer and fall 2009."
They are:
Canada's Military Documentary Heritage: Challenges and Opportunities
Long-Term Loans: A Client-Focused Collaborative Approach
Rethinking the Stewardship of Newspapers in a Digital Age
Exposing Union Catalogue Metadata Via Third Parties
I looked through the paper on Military Hertitage as that is where I have an interest. Frankly I am not encouraged by what I see. There is little or nothing there that relates to the online researcher or for that matter anyone from outside of the Ottawa area. I wonder if what they are proposing is to download their responsibilities onto others- local museums, libraries, etc.
The paper promises consultation; but given past experience with LAC I wouldn’t hold my breath on this one.
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/modernization/012004-2051-e.html
They are:
Canada's Military Documentary Heritage: Challenges and Opportunities
Long-Term Loans: A Client-Focused Collaborative Approach
Rethinking the Stewardship of Newspapers in a Digital Age
Exposing Union Catalogue Metadata Via Third Parties
I looked through the paper on Military Hertitage as that is where I have an interest. Frankly I am not encouraged by what I see. There is little or nothing there that relates to the online researcher or for that matter anyone from outside of the Ottawa area. I wonder if what they are proposing is to download their responsibilities onto others- local museums, libraries, etc.
The paper promises consultation; but given past experience with LAC I wouldn’t hold my breath on this one.
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/modernization/012004-2051-e.html
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Canadian County Altas Project
http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/
There is a section that explains the what and why of the county atlas’s. In total 40 counties are covered by these atlas’s which were published between 1874 and 1881.
My own ancestor John Hillman can be found. In the search option I put in his name, in Elgin County, township of Aldborough. The search record looks like this:
Full record for Hillman, John
Last Name Hillman
First Name John
Post Office Clachan
Township Aldborough
County Elgin
Atlas Date 1877
Concession and Lot Lot size
II, 2 125
Hit locate on map and you get the result as shown above. A larger map of Aldborough appears to the right of the screen showing the farm’s location relative to the township , and to the left the farm itself(as shown above). A handy site indeed!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Esau Hillman(1831-1906)
From “Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of Essex Ontario" 1906(1996)
Esau Hillman was only a year old when brought by his parents to Canada, and he passed his boyhood in Zone township, County of Kent. His opportunities for obtaining an education were very limited, as the schools in those early days were “few and far between”, in fact, all the helps which the boy of to-day meets at every turn were totally lacking. It was hard to obtain even the barest necessities of life. Things that the pioneers could not provide with the meager resources at their command were conveyed by water from Detroit or Windsor to Stoney Point, and thence carried on horseback or on the men’s shoulders through the woods. Deer, wolves, wild turkeys, and other game abounded. Civilization made slow progress at first, for the settlers during the first few years.
He remained at home until twenty-three years old, when he bought 100 acres in Mersea township, County of Essex, erected a log house thereon, and commenced farming on his own account. In 1860 he sold out and removed to his present home in the township of Tilbury West, where he purchased another 100-acre tract on Lot 8, Concession 8, and began all over again, erecting a log house and taking up the work of clearing.
Mr. Hillman was married in Mosa township, Dec. 4, 1853, to Nancy Bright, who was born in Hamilton, Ont., and who has roved a most devoted and efficient helpmate. They became parents of thirteen children, George Allen died when fifteen years old, Laura Ann married Conrad Simons, of Rochester township, County of Essex. Hannah Jane is the widow of Jesse Ford , of Comber. Nancy married John Coatby, of Comber. Fannie is the wife of Henry Jury, of Detroit. Phebe married Edward Jury, and resides in Michigan. Esau, a farmer, married Almina Thorne. Edward, who cultivates the homestead place, married Sophia May, daughter of John May, and they have one child, Maude Pearl. Bertha is the widow of Ransom Thorne. William is a farmer in the township of Tilbury West. Three died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Hillman are members of the Methodist Church. In political faith he is a Conservative, but has never cared for public position.
Esau Hillman was only a year old when brought by his parents to Canada, and he passed his boyhood in Zone township, County of Kent. His opportunities for obtaining an education were very limited, as the schools in those early days were “few and far between”, in fact, all the helps which the boy of to-day meets at every turn were totally lacking. It was hard to obtain even the barest necessities of life. Things that the pioneers could not provide with the meager resources at their command were conveyed by water from Detroit or Windsor to Stoney Point, and thence carried on horseback or on the men’s shoulders through the woods. Deer, wolves, wild turkeys, and other game abounded. Civilization made slow progress at first, for the settlers during the first few years.
He remained at home until twenty-three years old, when he bought 100 acres in Mersea township, County of Essex, erected a log house thereon, and commenced farming on his own account. In 1860 he sold out and removed to his present home in the township of Tilbury West, where he purchased another 100-acre tract on Lot 8, Concession 8, and began all over again, erecting a log house and taking up the work of clearing.
Mr. Hillman was married in Mosa township, Dec. 4, 1853, to Nancy Bright, who was born in Hamilton, Ont., and who has roved a most devoted and efficient helpmate. They became parents of thirteen children, George Allen died when fifteen years old, Laura Ann married Conrad Simons, of Rochester township, County of Essex. Hannah Jane is the widow of Jesse Ford , of Comber. Nancy married John Coatby, of Comber. Fannie is the wife of Henry Jury, of Detroit. Phebe married Edward Jury, and resides in Michigan. Esau, a farmer, married Almina Thorne. Edward, who cultivates the homestead place, married Sophia May, daughter of John May, and they have one child, Maude Pearl. Bertha is the widow of Ransom Thorne. William is a farmer in the township of Tilbury West. Three died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Hillman are members of the Methodist Church. In political faith he is a Conservative, but has never cared for public position.
Monday, November 23, 2009
James Hillman 1800-1860
From “Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of Essex, Ontario (1906)(1996).(I know it's 19th Century technology; but there is a great deal that you can find out by digging through books.)
James Hillman was a brick maker by occupation. He married in his native land(Westbury. Wiltshire) Mary Smith, and they had a family of four children when they left their native home for the New World in 1831. After a seven weeks’ ocean voyage on a sailing vessel the family landed at Quebec, coming thence to Ontario and locating in the wilderness, the father drawing a 100-acre tract of bush land, a Talbot grant, in Zone township, County of Kent. A log house was erected, and Mr. Hillman set about clearing the place. He was quite successful in his work, and made considerable improvement during his residence thereon. Selling out, he removed his family to the County of Essex, and again began the life of a pioneer, locating on a bush farm of 100 acres in the 8th Concession, township of Tilbury West. He built a log house, and commenced the work of clearing and improving, which he continued until his death, for he passed the remainder of his life on this place. Mr. Hillman passed away at the age of sixty years, his wife, who survived him, reaching the age of sixty-eight; she also died on the old farm. They are buried in St. George’s cemetery. Both were members of the Methodist Church, and lived most Christian lives. In politics James Hillman was a stanch Conservative, and he was a volunteer in the Rebellion of 1837-38, being one of the British soldiers stationed at Sandwich. Mr. and Mrs. Hillman were the parents of seven children, the first four born in England, viz. Mary, who died young; Elizabeth, who died young; John; Esau; Samuel, deceased; Nathaniel, a farmer residing in the township of Tilbury West; and Mary Ann who married William Brown, and resides in Alberta, Northwest Territory.
James Hillman was a brick maker by occupation. He married in his native land(Westbury. Wiltshire) Mary Smith, and they had a family of four children when they left their native home for the New World in 1831. After a seven weeks’ ocean voyage on a sailing vessel the family landed at Quebec, coming thence to Ontario and locating in the wilderness, the father drawing a 100-acre tract of bush land, a Talbot grant, in Zone township, County of Kent. A log house was erected, and Mr. Hillman set about clearing the place. He was quite successful in his work, and made considerable improvement during his residence thereon. Selling out, he removed his family to the County of Essex, and again began the life of a pioneer, locating on a bush farm of 100 acres in the 8th Concession, township of Tilbury West. He built a log house, and commenced the work of clearing and improving, which he continued until his death, for he passed the remainder of his life on this place. Mr. Hillman passed away at the age of sixty years, his wife, who survived him, reaching the age of sixty-eight; she also died on the old farm. They are buried in St. George’s cemetery. Both were members of the Methodist Church, and lived most Christian lives. In politics James Hillman was a stanch Conservative, and he was a volunteer in the Rebellion of 1837-38, being one of the British soldiers stationed at Sandwich. Mr. and Mrs. Hillman were the parents of seven children, the first four born in England, viz. Mary, who died young; Elizabeth, who died young; John; Esau; Samuel, deceased; Nathaniel, a farmer residing in the township of Tilbury West; and Mary Ann who married William Brown, and resides in Alberta, Northwest Territory.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Stars Of The Towns
Well worth watching are a series of DVD’s entitled Stars of the Towns-Scenes from around Southwestern Ontario. They are available at the J.J. Talman Regional Collection at the University of Western Ontario or at the Regional Room in the London Public Library.
Rev. Leroy(Roy) Massecar(1918-1986) was a camera buff who went around to some of the small towns in Southwestern Ontario between 1946 and 1949 capturing people on film. He then would return to the town and screen the film in the town hall or community center. The “Stars” of the film would be invited to attend the evening event where copies of the films were sold.
I screened the Dutton film at the public library and was delighted at what I saw. There is no sound and the film is black and white. It really captured post war Dutton of January 1949. Mind you some of the enjoyment for me was that I am of that age(we won’t say what that is!) that I recognized some of the people.
I can certainly say that as far as the buildings are concerned Dutton has not changed all that much. Interestingly, I did not see the McIntyre in the film. Go figure!
To check which towns or villages are included in the series go to http://www.londonpubliclibrary.ca/ , and search ‘Stars of the Towns’ under “series title”.
Rev. Leroy(Roy) Massecar(1918-1986) was a camera buff who went around to some of the small towns in Southwestern Ontario between 1946 and 1949 capturing people on film. He then would return to the town and screen the film in the town hall or community center. The “Stars” of the film would be invited to attend the evening event where copies of the films were sold.
I screened the Dutton film at the public library and was delighted at what I saw. There is no sound and the film is black and white. It really captured post war Dutton of January 1949. Mind you some of the enjoyment for me was that I am of that age(we won’t say what that is!) that I recognized some of the people.
I can certainly say that as far as the buildings are concerned Dutton has not changed all that much. Interestingly, I did not see the McIntyre in the film. Go figure!
To check which towns or villages are included in the series go to http://www.londonpubliclibrary.ca/ , and search ‘Stars of the Towns’ under “series title”.
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