Understanding terminology of land assignment is essential to researching your ancestors when you are searching for biographic information. The division of land in the Prairie Provinces of Canada which include, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba was done using the method of Assigning Rural Municipalities each having a Number and a Name. The following list of RM Names, Numbers and Communities in The Battleford Region of Saskatchewan serves as an example. The Battleford GenWeb site also hosts a wonderful maps and information on learning the basics of finding your land reference coordinates for your prairie ancestors.
RM Number RM Name Community
318 MOUNTAIN VIEW Herschel
319 WINSLOW Dodsland
319 WINSLOW Plenty
320 OAKDALE Coleville
321 PRAIRIEDALE Major
321 PRAIRIEDALE Smiley
322 ANTELOPE PARK Loverna
347 BIGGAR Biggar
347 BIGGAR Springwater
347 BIGGAR Duperow
347 BIGGAR Big Rose Colony
349 GRANDVIEW Handel
349 GRANDVIEW Kerfield
349 GRANDVIEW Ruthilda
350 MARIPOSA Tramping Lake
350 MARIPOSA Broadacres
351 PROGRESS Kerrobert
351 PROGRESS Luseland
352 HEART'S HILL Cactus Lake
377 GLENSIDE Baljennie
377 GLENSIDE Crane Creek
377 GLENSIDE Lizard Water
377 GLENSIDE Spinney Hill
378 ROSEMOUNT Cando
378 ROSEMOUNT Lett
379 REFORD Landis
379 REFORD Leipzig
379 REFORD Wolfe
380 TRAMPING LAKE Scott
380 TRAMPING LAKE Revenue
381 GRASS LAKE Reward
381 GRASS LAKE Salvador
381 GRASS LAKE Sunny Glenn
382 EYE HILL Denzil
382 EYE HILL Evesham
382 EYE HILL Macklin
382 EYE HILL Primate
382 EYE HILL Gros Werder
382 EYE HILL Cosine
409 BUFFALO Wilkie
410 ROUND VALLEY Adanac
410 ROUND VALLEY Unity
411 SENLAC Senlac
411 SENLAC Rutland
438 BATTLE RIVER Battleford
438 BATTLE RIVER Delmas
Showing posts with label Resources. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Resources. Show all posts
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Ethnic Settlements - Saskatchewan
The Saskatchewan GenWeb Site hosts a wonderful tool for finding the settlement areas of ethnic groups. Ethnic groups are displayed graphically and visitors are provided with a wonderful map of the settlement blocks. Regardless of the ethnicity of your ancestors establishing the ethnicity of their settlement locations may assist you in your research endeavours. Ethnic publications often contain valuable biographic information including neighbours and friends. Establishing the ethnicity of settlement communities also provide great time line information and assist in the location of information on the history of the settlements.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Researching in BC
If you are searching for information on your ancestors in British Columbia you may find assistance with your search through the RootsWeb Network. A link to the Peace River BC GenWeb site is included on the sidebar. From the Peace River site you can quickly access other regions of BC and find assistance within your research area. The RootsWeb network is one of my all time favourites. The network is one familiar to experienced researchers and highly recommended to anyone new to genealogy research.
Online Genealogy Resources for BC
Nanimo Ships List
BC Vital Stats
BC Archival Information Network
Canadian Cemetery Project BC
BC Provincial GenWeb Site
Roots Web Family Tree Search
Cemetery Records & Obituary
The Obituary Daily Times
BC Cemetery Finding Aid
Canadian Cemetery Project BC
BC Random Acts Of Genealogy Kindness
Birth Marriage and Death Records
BMD Birth Death and Marriage Records for British Columbia. The British Columbia Vital Stats site provides online searchable resources and digital images of the physical documents with online payment for services. On the Site you will also find information regarding where and how to access the microfilms through local libraries, and Historical Societies . The site also provides a listings for organizations and researchers who may assist you in accessing hard copies for a much smaller fee then the $25.00 per image charged by the BC Archives for online delivery of the digital image. If your considering using the services of a researcher or historical society to secure copies of documents, collect the source and reference information for your request to save having to pay additional search fees. ( you will find a list of BC research assistance resources on the Peace River GenWeb site )
BC Vital Stats Files online search:
Search Births Registration Index: 1872 to 1903, events up to 1903.
Search Marriage Registration Index: 1872 to 1932
Search Death Registration Index: 1872 to 1987
Search Colonial Marriage Index: 1859 to 1872.
Search Baptisms Index: events over 120 years old.
Online Genealogy Resources for BC
Nanimo Ships List
BC Vital Stats
BC Archival Information Network
Canadian Cemetery Project BC
BC Provincial GenWeb Site
Roots Web Family Tree Search
Cemetery Records & Obituary
The Obituary Daily Times
BC Cemetery Finding Aid
Canadian Cemetery Project BC
BC Random Acts Of Genealogy Kindness
Birth Marriage and Death Records
BMD Birth Death and Marriage Records for British Columbia. The British Columbia Vital Stats site provides online searchable resources and digital images of the physical documents with online payment for services. On the Site you will also find information regarding where and how to access the microfilms through local libraries, and Historical Societies . The site also provides a listings for organizations and researchers who may assist you in accessing hard copies for a much smaller fee then the $25.00 per image charged by the BC Archives for online delivery of the digital image. If your considering using the services of a researcher or historical society to secure copies of documents, collect the source and reference information for your request to save having to pay additional search fees. ( you will find a list of BC research assistance resources on the Peace River GenWeb site )
BC Vital Stats Files online search:
Search Births Registration Index: 1872 to 1903, events up to 1903.
Search Marriage Registration Index: 1872 to 1932
Search Death Registration Index: 1872 to 1987
Search Colonial Marriage Index: 1859 to 1872.
Search Baptisms Index: events over 120 years old.
Protecting Your Data
For the first couple of year that I was researching my family lines I had stacks of papers, piles of printouts and sticky notes everywhere. New to the process I thought that entering the data onto my computer was all that was needed. I did not recognized the need for a growing pile of documents and papers nor did I recognize the importance of maintaining hard copies of my source information.
It took about three years before the research of my lines went full circle and I found myself digging through those piles of paper and believe me the stacks of paper were easier to review then the thick piles of sticky notes that I had collected. That piece of information I knew I had - where did it go ? I learned from the process and started entering the information into the notes section of my genealogy program. When this task was complete I took additional days out of my otherwise busy schedule and got down to the task of scanning documents, and organizing the files for storage on my computer. Finally I though I was fully organized. Over the next few years many applauded me for my attention to detail and fellow genealogists called on me to resolve or interpret data discrepancies and conflicts. I had possession of this huge wealth of information and I did not know that I was running a great risk. What could possible go wrong?
I took good care of my computer what with being a computer Teck building computers and being the computer resource person for our entire neighbourhood not to mention my family too. I kept my machine equipped with new Maxtor hard drives and defragged them regularly. I even installed the best antivirus software available, AVG AntiVirus by GRISOFT now know as AVG Technologies at a fraction of the cost of Norton AntiVirus software.
Then it happened !! My new hard drive which was less then a year old failed. It was replaced by Maxtor, very quickly I must say. I had backups of course so only lost a minor amount of data though it took some time and effort to rebuild my system to a working state. But who would have thought the the new drive once installed would only lasted 4 months before it died. Not only was this a nightmare it was also the most important lesson of my life. Lightening can strike twice.
I hope that some may learn from my experience as I certainly did. From the double crisis I learned the importance of maintaining both computer and hard copy files. Once my computer was restored I bought large volumes of printer ink, paper, binders, and plastic protective sleeves. I printed off every piece of information and filed it in binders for safe keeping. I have leaned to take time out from surfing the Internet for data and resources spending an occasional day printing and storing my collection. My collection is complete and well organized with the two storage systems complementing each other. I no longer worry about data loss and have directed my focus to sharing the information I have collected.
It took about three years before the research of my lines went full circle and I found myself digging through those piles of paper and believe me the stacks of paper were easier to review then the thick piles of sticky notes that I had collected. That piece of information I knew I had - where did it go ? I learned from the process and started entering the information into the notes section of my genealogy program. When this task was complete I took additional days out of my otherwise busy schedule and got down to the task of scanning documents, and organizing the files for storage on my computer. Finally I though I was fully organized. Over the next few years many applauded me for my attention to detail and fellow genealogists called on me to resolve or interpret data discrepancies and conflicts. I had possession of this huge wealth of information and I did not know that I was running a great risk. What could possible go wrong?
I took good care of my computer what with being a computer Teck building computers and being the computer resource person for our entire neighbourhood not to mention my family too. I kept my machine equipped with new Maxtor hard drives and defragged them regularly. I even installed the best antivirus software available, AVG AntiVirus by GRISOFT now know as AVG Technologies at a fraction of the cost of Norton AntiVirus software.
Then it happened !! My new hard drive which was less then a year old failed. It was replaced by Maxtor, very quickly I must say. I had backups of course so only lost a minor amount of data though it took some time and effort to rebuild my system to a working state. But who would have thought the the new drive once installed would only lasted 4 months before it died. Not only was this a nightmare it was also the most important lesson of my life. Lightening can strike twice.
I hope that some may learn from my experience as I certainly did. From the double crisis I learned the importance of maintaining both computer and hard copy files. Once my computer was restored I bought large volumes of printer ink, paper, binders, and plastic protective sleeves. I printed off every piece of information and filed it in binders for safe keeping. I have leaned to take time out from surfing the Internet for data and resources spending an occasional day printing and storing my collection. My collection is complete and well organized with the two storage systems complementing each other. I no longer worry about data loss and have directed my focus to sharing the information I have collected.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Educate Yourself
One of the most important things to remember when searching for your family lines is that it is a Process of Self Growth. Researching the branches of our personal family tree take us on a journey to other times and places. Even if we start out with NO passion for history the journey through time will eventualy lead to having at least a basic knowledge of historical facts as they pertain to our family history.
I for one never thought that I would delve into the realm of history. In high school I found it horribly boring and often skipped history class all together. But look at me now. I think it was the dictate of the course outline or perhaps I just had no interest at all. When starting out on researching my family lines it was not long till I had questions which I NEEDED ANSWERS TO. I started asking my father for more information and found that little was known. It was not until I started reaching further and found it necessary to actually read a history book. Surprise, Surprise ! Finding ones family roots in written works, stimulates the reader. I bacame an glutton for reading old books and those of published genealogists, finding many available online in digital archives. History somehow became a large part of my life and I no longer find myself embarassed by my lack of knowledge. It was not long till I found I could hold my own in open discussion and felt proud of my growth.
I for one never thought that I would delve into the realm of history. In high school I found it horribly boring and often skipped history class all together. But look at me now. I think it was the dictate of the course outline or perhaps I just had no interest at all. When starting out on researching my family lines it was not long till I had questions which I NEEDED ANSWERS TO. I started asking my father for more information and found that little was known. It was not until I started reaching further and found it necessary to actually read a history book. Surprise, Surprise ! Finding ones family roots in written works, stimulates the reader. I bacame an glutton for reading old books and those of published genealogists, finding many available online in digital archives. History somehow became a large part of my life and I no longer find myself embarassed by my lack of knowledge. It was not long till I found I could hold my own in open discussion and felt proud of my growth.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Free Trial at FootNote.com
I am really excited about the services provided by Foot Notes , a document archive website providing digital delivery of historical documents. The collection is vast and one easily finds information ancestors in their lines. The collection is growing daily and they offer a Full Access Free Trial. Nothing to loose and much to gain.
The collection contains a wealth of information on Civil War pensions as surprisingly a lot of Canadian information as well. Searching the Brundage surname in general I found over a thousand documents.
I also found important information which led to the destruction on one of my brick walls. My mothers line containing my great-great grandfather by the name of "Solon Richards" had been a hard nut to crack for over 8 years but I finally established the line. One would think that with a first name as uncommon as "Solon" on would easily find information or at least there would be no confusion when information was found. Not the case !
With both researchers and information transcribers concluding that the name "Solon" must be "Solomon" the process of establishing my line was difficult to say the least. Although it is often difficult from experience I recommend that one never give up. Put it aside perhaps for a little while and search again at a later date. Information resources are being added to the Internet daily and you never know when new information will lead to your destruction of an brick wall.
The collection contains a wealth of information on Civil War pensions as surprisingly a lot of Canadian information as well. Searching the Brundage surname in general I found over a thousand documents.
I also found important information which led to the destruction on one of my brick walls. My mothers line containing my great-great grandfather by the name of "Solon Richards" had been a hard nut to crack for over 8 years but I finally established the line. One would think that with a first name as uncommon as "Solon" on would easily find information or at least there would be no confusion when information was found. Not the case !
With both researchers and information transcribers concluding that the name "Solon" must be "Solomon" the process of establishing my line was difficult to say the least. Although it is often difficult from experience I recommend that one never give up. Put it aside perhaps for a little while and search again at a later date. Information resources are being added to the Internet daily and you never know when new information will lead to your destruction of an brick wall.
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