President's Welcome

The Ontario Genealogical Society:
50 Years of Service to the Genealogical Community

Bridging the accomplishments of our past while moving
towards the successes of our future

Welcome to the website of The Ontario Genealogical Society.

2011 marks the 50th anniversary of the Society and we cordially invite you to celebrate with us at our Golden Anniversary Conference in May 2011. Founded in 1961 by the Pennsylvania German Folklore Society of Ontario under then president Dr. G.E. Reaman, OGS has become the largest genealogical society in Canada. We have over 4,000 members in 32 unique branches across our province. Together we continue to dedicate ourselves to our mission to encourage, bring together and assist those interested in the pursuit of family history.

With our focus on Ontario history and genealogy, we work to make quality genealogical resources available through the books we publish and our resource libraries across the province. We are currently working to create a digital library and pay per view records service so that researchers can access genealogical information from their computer no matter where they are. We are also working to make Ontario heritage documents available on our website through our Keeping and Valuing Ontario’s Heritage Project and our agreement with the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario to make the Tweedsmuir Histories collection accessible digitally.

OGS simply could not function without our dedicated volunteers who work at all levels of the Society. Volunteers maintain the Ontario Genealogical Society Provincial Index (OGSPI) and the Ontario Cemetery Ancestor Index. Volunteers work on many projects and spearhead our involvement in advocacy initiatives such as the movement to register and preserve Ontario cemeteries. Members at the Branch level work tirelessly to provide transcriptions of local cemeteries and other repositories of valuable genealogical information as well as maintain their local library collection. It is through their invaluable contribution that the achievements of the last half century have been possible.

Nancy Trimble, President
The Ontario Genealogical Society

The assistance of the Government of Ontario, through the Ministry of Culture,
is gratefully acknowledged.