Conference News

It’s always exciting to have new books of genealogical interest.

At Conference 2012, OGS and Dundurn will be launching two of their co-published books. You’ll have the opportunity to meet the authors and have your copy signed during the reception after the Houston Lecture, on Friday, June 1st.

Janice Nickerson’s new book is titled “York’s Sacrifice: Militia Casualties of the War of 1812″. David Elliott’s book is titled “Researching Your Irish Ancestors at Home and Abroad”.

John Reid recently spoke with David Elliott, and you can hear the interview with David Elliott here.

Chair Nancy Cutway was recently on-air with Jack Thompson on Kingston’s 102.7 The Lake radio. She pointed out that Conference 2012 could be a great starting point for beginners as well as an opportunity for more experienced family historians to network. You can listen Nancy’s interview with Jack Thompson

The three SIGs (Special Interest Groups) that are part of OGS — the Irish SIG, British Home Child SIG, and Irish Palatine SIG — will each be holding their own Annual General Meeting during Conference 2012. If you are a member of one of these SIGs, or are interested in attending their meeting to learn more about them, you can join their meeting over the lunch hour on Saturday, June 2. Check your printed program for the location for each.

You don’t need to skip lunch to attend the meeting: you may carefully take food and drink into any of the classrooms. The only room where any food or drink (even water) is strictly forbidden is the Research Room.

SIGs … another reason to come to Conference and network with genealogists.

Born and raised in London, Ontario, speaker Stephen C. Young earned a BA at Brigham Young University in Family and Local History (1985) and an MA in American History (emphasis in Public History) at Bowling Green State University in Ohio (1990).

Stephen has been an employee of the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1988. During this time he has worked in the Family History Library administration, held a special four-year appointment (1992-1996) in England supervising the British 1881 Census Project, and is currently assigned as a FamilySearch project manager involving publication of data for Canada, the British Isles, and the Pacific.

Stephen will be busy at Conference 2012:
• Friday afternoon, workshop 6: “PowerPoint 2007 – Technology for Presenting Your Family History”
• Session 7 (Saturday morning): FamilySearch: Records Access
• Session 16 (Saturday afternoon): Ontario Vital Records: What Registrations Will and Won’t Reveal
• Session 29 (Sunday morning): World War II Service in the Royal Canadian Navy

Another great reason to come to Conference 2012!

The deadline for ordering meals at Conference 2012 is fast approaching: Thursday, May 10th.

Some people have apparently assumed they can just go to the college cafeteria instead of pre-purchasing meals by ticket. The cafeteria will be CLOSED as of 2:30 pm on Friday, June 1st and the ONLY meals available for the duration of the conference will be by ticket from OGS. If you’d like to add meal tickets to an existing Conference registration, please call the OGS office at 416-489-0734 or email to before May 10th.

Some people have indicated that they would like to take both an afternoon workshop and a tour … and in one specific instance, you can!

If you are taking an afternoon workshop, they end at 4:00 p.m. There are still some spaces available for the 4:15 departure of the Trolley Tour, the one-hour narrated tour that passes through the historic parts of Kingston and relates the history of people and buildings from Kingston’s past. So if you leave your workshop and walk briskly to the front of St. Lawrence College to board the Trolley, you CAN do both.

It is not possible to combine Tour 2 (to Fort Henry) or Tour 3 (research trip to Royal Military College library) with any other activity, since both are full afternoon trips.

Spaces are also still available on earlier departures of the Trolley Tour (3:15 or 2:15). Those who have ordered a Trolley Tour will be notified in mid-May which departure time they have been assigned.

People who have already registered for Conference and wish to add a Tour may do so by emailing provoffice@ogs.on.ca or calling the OGS Office at 416-489-0734.

Thanks to the efforts of Tourism Kingston, we were able to offer an Early Bird contest for those who registered for Conference by March 31st. A ticket was created for each registrant, and at the Annual General Meeting of Region VIII on Saturday, April 21st, retiring Region VIII Director Mike More drew the winning ticket.

Congratulations to Lynne Willoughby of Ottawa. Lynne won two nights at the Holiday Inn on Kingston’s waterfront, two passes to Fort Henry, two tickets on the Kingston Tour Trolley, and some other personal items. She plans to return to Kingston after Conference, when she and a companion will have the time to really enjoy playing tourist in the historic downtown.

At the recent Region VIII OGS Genealogy Day, John Reid caught up with Rick Roberts and asked about the workshop Rick is presenting at Conference 2012. You can listen to their conversation here.

Rick’s workshop (Workshop 7, on Friday, June 1st, 1:30-4:00 pm) is entitled “Using Family Tree Maker Software to Record and Share Your Family History”.

Speaker Lois Sparling and her family members are typical of the settlement pattern in Canada: some of her ancestors were United Empire Loyalists who settled along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River after the American Revolution – and she’ll be using them as one of her examples. Gradually their descendants progressed westward, and Lois herself lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Lois’s interest in “family” is expressed in several distinct ways. She is well-known in the West as a speaker and writer on genealogical topics, and was actively involved in the campaign to have the 1906 and 1911 census records released to the public. She is also, by day, an attorney who specializes in family law.

At Conference 2012, Lois will be presenting
• Workshop W3, Friday 9:30 am-noon – An Overview of Land Records in North America
• Session S19, Saturday 4:15-5:15 pm – The Last Best West
• Session 28, Sunday 9:00-10:00 am – Some Loyalist and Late Loyalist Families From Prescott County, Ontario
• Session 36, Sunday 1:00-2:00 pm – Salt Lake City, Here We Come

Early in March, John Reid interviewed Mike More, Region VIII OGS Director and coordinator of Marketplace for Conference 2012.

Listen to the interview here. Mike More but keep in mind as you listen that it was recorded about a month ago — and the 65 confirmed tables Mike mentions have now grown to just over 100.

You’ll be sure to find lots of interest in the Marketplace. As Mike describes, it’s all within a compact area — and close enough to residence that you can take your bag of new books back to your room before the next session!

Assemble your “wish list” over the next two months, and come browse the Marketplace. It’s always great to take new books home with you, without paying shipping!

As of March 29th, there are no more double rooms available in the residence at St. Lawrence College. There are still plenty of single rooms available.

If you’re looking for a double room, check our listings on our web site for Hotels and for Campgrounds. The hotels on our list have each agreed to hold a block of rooms for OGS 2012 (be sure to mention the Conference when booking, to get the rate). There are, of course, many other hotels in Kingston, as well as numerous B&Bs.

Interview with Jane Down

Another interview conducted by John Reid, this time with Jane Down.

Jane’s professional career is as a Senior Conservation Scientist at the Canadian Conservation Institute where, since 1978, she has been carrying out research on adhesives that are used to conserve works of art. That’s a little separated from her interest in genealogy — she’s been researching her family roots in Ontario and England since 1975.

Her genealogical research and her scientific training merge, however, when it comes to taking an organized approach to all the photos and certificates that a genealogist accumulates. She outlines this briefly in the interview – a taste of what she’ll offer in her first session.

Jane is giving two talks at Conference 2012:

• Session 6 – Organize It: Systematic, Safe, Accessible
• Session 15 – Case Study: Tracing the Origins of Mary Jane Somers

Founder and owner of Jonathan Sheppard Books, Meldon J. Wolfgang III has been active in the field of genealogy and family history since 1961, as hobbyist, professional researcher, map publisher, and antiquarian bookseller. For nearly three decades he has spoken regularly at local, regional, and national conferences on topics ranging from ethnic and urban genealogy to cartography and newspaper research. Since 2005, he has written the genealogy column for the New York State Archives Partnership Trust’s quarterly magazine.

Involved in many genealogical and historical organizations, he served on the Executive Committee of the City of Albany, New York’s Tricentennial Commission, the Albany Historic Sites Commission and as a trustee of the Albany County Historical Society. He also served as a trustee of the Albany Public Library for nearly twenty years, is a past president of the Upper Hudson Library System and was one of the original trustee-advisors of the joint Albany City-County Archives, one of the first of its kind in the state. In 2008, he was named archivist of the Kappa Alpha Society, the oldest college fraternity in North America.

On November 15, 2011, Mel Wolfgang received the prestigious honour of being able to add FGBS after his name – standing for “Fellow of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society” (the state-wide society founded in 1869).

Mel is delivering three talks at Conference 2012:

• Session 9: Researching Over the River: Resources for Family Research in the New York State Archives and Library
• Session 21: Extra! Hear All About It! Exploring Some New and Less Familiar Pathways in Newspaper Research
• Session 37: Keepers of the Stuff: Some “Best Practice” Tips on Maintaining the Family Home Archives for Genealogists and Family Historians

We’re delighted Mel is crossing the border and the Thousand Islands Bridge to be with us at Conference 2012!

The Diocese of Ontario of the Anglican Church of Canada was formed in 1862 and encompasses the five Counties of Leeds and Grenville; Frontenac; Lennox and Addington; Hastings and Prince Edward in Eastern Ontario. Its records, though, began with the first United Empire Loyalists who settled in the area after 1783 and were served by early ministers such as Rev. John Langhorne and Rev. John Stuart, covering the area from approximately Trenton to Prescott and north to Bancroft. Many individuals who later appeared in Methodist, Baptist or other denominational records appear in the early Church of England records, because until 1831 only Anglican, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian clergy could perform marriages in Upper Canada.

The church registers held by the Anglican Diocese of Ontario Archives are normally accessible only at the tiny archives facility, and only for very limited hours each week. However, the Diocesan Archivist, Paul Banfield, has generously given permission for the index to these registers to be available at Conference 2012.

Arthur and Marjorie Keates are dedicated volunteers with the ADOA, and are also members of OGS. Several years ago they completed a 10-year project of photocopying the 600 fragile original church registers and creating a computer index. They will have this index available at Conference, and will gladly search it for you. If they find that there are baptism, marriage, confirmation or burial records for the individuals of interest to you, they can provide you with the details (date, register volume number, etc.). You will not be able to obtain copies of the registers during Conference, as the archives will not be open on the weekend; however, you will be able to order copies by mail or email after returning home. Or, visit the archives in person if you’ll be in Kingston following the conference.

If you search the index for specific individuals and do not find them, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you have checked off another possible source.

Since access to Anglican registers is usually quite restricted, we are very appreciative of this move by the diocesan authorities.

Lisa Louise Cooke says that she was always captivated by her family history, and spent hours at the knee of her maternal grandmother taking notes about her memories, and leafing through dusty old family photo albums. That explains her interest in genealogy, but does not account for the volume of her accomplishments, which are enough for several genealogists.

Lisa Louise Cooke is the owner of Genealogy Gems, a genealogy and family history multi-media company. She is Producer and Host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, the popular online genealogy audio show as well as the Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast, both available at www.GenealogyGems.com and in iTunes. Her podcasts bring genealogy news, research strategies, expert interviews and inspiration to genealogists in 75 countries around the world.

Lisa is the author of a variety of multi-media materials including the Genealogy Gems Premium website subscription, her books Genealogy Gems: Ultimate Research Strategies, Google for Genealogy, and her newest publication, How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers.

At OGS Conference 2012, Lisa Louise will be presenting the following:

• teaching workshop W8 on Friday afternoon, “Google — A Goldmine for Genealogists”
• plenary session S2, Saturday at 8:00 am, “Tap into Your Inner Private Eye:  Eight Strategies You Need to Find Living Relatives”
• session S32,  Sunday at 10:30 am, “How to Create Exciting Interactive Family History Tours with Google Earth”

Lisa Louise will have a table in the conference Marketplace, so you can visit her there to see her books, DVDs and other items.

Another great reason to come to Conference 2012!

Glenn Wright for OGS

John Reid has interviewed Glenn Wright, who will be delivering three talks at OGS Conference 2012.  Listen to the interview by clicking the link above.

Glenn is a former military archivist, retired from Library and Archives Canada.  He’s the author of Canadians at War 1914-1919, A Research Guide to World War One Service Records (Milton ON: Global Heritage Press,  2010).

At Conference 2012, Glenn is presenting

• Session 12: On Both Sides of the Bars: Kingston Penitentiary Records for Family History

• Session 31: From There to Here: Searching Immigration Records From Ancestry.ca and Beyond (joint presentation with Lesley Anderson)

He is also the after-dinner speaker at the Banquet, on “Sex, Lies and Archives”.

Stephen Young has pointed out that we’ve been showing Workshop 6 as dealing with PowerPoint 2010.  However, the title of the workshop he proposed is “PowerPoint 2007 — Technology for Presenting Your Family History”.  Our apologies for any confusion this may have created.

Since later versions of software programs always include all the features of earlier versions, all the aspects of using PowerPoint that Stephen will be demonstrating will of course be available if you own the later version.  Feel free to sign up for this workshop, no matter which version you have:  you’ll learn just how powerful a tool it can be, in your efforts to make your children or grandchildren interested in their family history!

Are you one of the genealogists who comes to Conference as much for the Marketplace as for the speakers?

If so, you’ll want to check the Marketplace link to the left — it now lists all the vendors registered to date, and gives their web site. You can browse their catalogues free of crowds, and plan your purchases.

At present there are 32 vendors listed, and more will be added shortly.

See you in the Marketplace in June!

Reid-Watts_at_WDYTYALive

Who Do You Think You Are LIVE is the annual genealogical extravaganza in London, England, which draws about 15,000 attendees.  John Reid, who will be one of the speakers at OGS Conference 2012 in June, was in attendance and met up with another Conference 2012 speaker: Christopher Watts, retired from The National Archives of the UK.  John kindly recorded their conversation, and has shared it with us.

Enjoy this short MP3 – and then come to “Borders & Bridges: 1812-2012″ to hear more.

John D. Reid is delivering Session 11 on Saturday afternoon:  “Your Family  History in Canadian and British Newspapers”.

Christopher T. Watts will be making four presentations:

- S5: “Every Journey Has Two Ends:  Getting the Most out of Departure and Arrival Records”

- S20: “Just What Is There at TNA? Records of Interest to the Family Historian at The National Archives of the UK”

- S26: “I Never Thought to Look There!  Some Underused Sources for English Genealogy”

- S35: “British Army (1760-1913): Officers and Other Ranks”

If you’re interested in bridging your ancestors across the Atlantic back to Britain, OGS Conference 2012 is the place to be!

As Conference 2012 registrations are coming in, I thought it would be timely to talk about preparation:  what should  you be doing over the next few months to make your Conference 2012 experience most successful?

Ask a Pro - You’ll be able to sign up for one free session lasting 15 minutes with a professional genealogist, courtesy of members of the Ontario Chapter, Association of Professional Genealogists.  Start thinking about your highest brick wall:  what piece of information have you failed to find despite various searches, and what would you most want to know?  In order to maximize your time with this expert, you’ll want to outline where you have already searched without positive results:  in other words, create a research log for the individual in question.

Research Around Kingston – see our web page on Kingston-Area Research.  Do note that most of these repositories have valuable holdings but are quite small. As the Lennox and Addington archivist says, “after about 8 people, the archives gets really crowded”.  Perhaps you can correspond with a repository prior to coming, and minimize the time you’d have to spend there.  Or perhaps — if you register before March 31st and are the lucky winner of our Early Bird Contest — you can return to Kingston at another time to take advantage of your two free nights in the Holiday Inn, and do more extensive research then.

Research Room – see our separate page about this under “Program”.  Sign up on arrival at the College for your hour of free research in genealogical databases for which you would normally have to pay.  We are very grateful to the eight companies who will generously provide this access.  Hint:  come with a prepared listing of the items you want to seek.

Wall of Ancestors – see the separate page about this.  Decide which facts you most want to learn about which ancestors, and make up 3×5″ cards ahead of time, to post on the Wall of Ancestors when you arrive.  You will be provided with the appropriate tape for attaching them:  please do not use any other type of tape.

Happy hunting!

Genealogy IS Relevant!

Here’s an answer to all your co-workers and family members who wonder what possible use there is for genealogical research:  our Conference 2012 speaker, Colleen Fitzpatrick, was quoted on CNN’s website on January 10th in regard to a possible lead in a “cold case”, based on DNA and genealogical research.  Read the story at http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/09/justice/washington-cold-case/index.html.

If you register for “Borders & Bridges: 1812-2012″, you can hear Colleen speak on “Genealogy and the Six Degrees of Separation: How to Find Anyone in the World” and “The Database Detective”.  You can also register for one or both of her pre-conference workshops:  “You Will Never Look at Your Old Photos the Same Way Again!” and “The ABCs of DNA”.  (Optional pre-conference workshops involve an additional fee.)

Come join us in Kingston, and bridge to other genealogists!

The OGS Conference 2012 Brochure is now on-line.

The organizing committee of Conference 2012 welcomes you.