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The Ontario Genealogical Society, Toronto Branch,
the Canadiana Department of North York Central Library,
and the Ontario Black History Society present

AFRICAN ROOTS IN CANADA A summer workshop about family history sources and research techniques

Saturday, August 9, 2008
North York Central Library Auditorium
5120 Yonge Street, Toronto
(North York Centre subway station)

Whether you're a seasoned family history researcher or just starting to investigate your ancestors, and whether your family has lived in Canada for 20 or 200 years, you'll enjoy this informal, late-summer day of shared stories and new insights into researching ancestors with African roots, and the opportunity to meet others who share your interests.

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Program (Subject to change without notice.)

9:15–10:00 am  Registration

10:00–11:15 am (plenary)
Session A: Finding African-Canadian Ancestors Online
The Internet is a wonderful thing for genealogists, but with so many web sites and databases from which to choose, it can be overwhelming, regardless of your ancestor’s origins. Finding African-Canadian ancestors online can be even more troubling because many of these databases don’t include “race” or “origin” in the search options. In addition, with similar or common names, it may be hard to be sure you’re chasing the “right” ancestors. However, it is often possible to document African-Canadians (both enslaved and free) as far back as the 1700s. This workshop will describe several web sites particularly useful for finding African-Canadians and African-Americans, search options you can use to narrow the field, and some remarkable web sites you may have overlooked altogether.

Speaker: Lisa B. Lee, Oakland CA, is a professional genealogist, and a graduate of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (University of Toronto). She started doing her genealogy in 1970, following a visit Alex Haley made to her high school in Michigan. In 2004 she self-published a book, Skin Deep—My Journey to Discover the “Black” and “White” Descendants of William Lee which chronicled the many years and many mistakes she made while researching her African-Canadian ancestry. Lisa has served as President of the California State Genealogical Alliance (CSGA), Board Member of the California Genealogical Society (CGS), and is an active member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and dozens of societies in the U.S. and Canada. Lisa is the owner of GotGenealogy.com, a website where she provides a free, monthly newsletter, the Got Genealogy News. Each month, the Got Genealogy News tackles one topic, in detail, its mission to assist genealogists in learning the art of online genealogical research.

11:30–12:30 pm
Session B: Another Branch of the African Family Tree: Early Afro-West Indians in Canada
This presentation will deal with the early Afro-West Indian presence in Canada—a diverse group including Maroons from Jamaica who were deported to Nova Scotia in 1795, Afro-Caribbean persons residing in Victoria, BC, in the early 19th century, and West Indians working as maids, porters, and bellhops in post-WWI Toronto and Montreal. Specialized archival records, newspapers and journals as sources of names and pictures of ancestors will be covered. For example, church records are crucial in tracing the West Indians who were involved in the African Orthodox Church, and records from the Universal Negro Improvement Association would reveal the names of West Indians in Montreal and Toronto. The presentation will also explore other historical sources—like cemetery records and land deeds in Canada, ship lists and West Indian planters’ diaries—which can help fill in the missing links in a family tree with an Afro-Caribbean branch.

Speaker: Jerome Teelucksingh, Trinidad, is a lecturer in the Department of History at the University of the West Indies. He received his Masters degree from the University of Guelph and a PhD from the University of the West Indies. During the past ten years he has published several articles in Families on the Caribbean and African-Canadian presence in Ontario.

Session C: The Rolling Family of King Township
This presentation will tell the story of Walter Rolling and his family—and the historical and genealogical research techniques and sources used to discover it. From the family’s origins in Alexandria Virginia, (Walter's grandfather was born there in 1797) to their settlement here in Laskay in the 1830s, to Walter's father's growth from pedlar to general store owner to postmaster in Laskay (1888-1897), the various resources used to build a picture of this family's history will be discussed. (There were no surviving family records, photos, diaries, etc.) While much of Black history in Canada has focused on the larger Black settlement areas in the 1800s, the Rolling family is an interesting example of one that lived and thrived in a predominately white community.

Speaker: Carl Finkle, King Township, is a board member and a past president of the King Township Historical Society, and an amateur genealogist who has been researching the Rolling family on and off for the last 18 years. He has a B.A. from York University, majoring in history. He teaches part time at Seneca College, and works full time as a landscape designer. Over the years he has spoken to local historical societies about his research into the Rolling family, and this February he was part of the York Region Board of Education's "African Heritage in York Region" program for students.

12:30–1:30 pm
Lunch (There are several restaurants close to the Library and a food court in the building.)
Session D: Lunchtime tour of North York Central Library’s Canadiana Department (limited to 20 people)

1:30–2:00 pm
Session E: Question and Answer Panel

2:15–3:15 pm
Session F: Researching your Jamaican Ancestry from Canada
Many people with Jamaican ancestry believe that they have to go back to Jamaica in order to find their roots. Not so! Thanks to the microfilmed records available through the Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) as well as numerous online resources and digitized records, this task can be done quite successfully right here in Canada. This presentation will give a brief introduction to Jamaican genealogical research, with reference to the history and geography of the island, and will explore the various records which have been microfilmed by the LDS and which can be accessed at Family History Centres. It will also look at the various digitized records now available online.

Speaker: Dorothy Kew, Burlington, was born in Jamaica. She is a graduate of the Library Techniques Program at Sheridan College, has a B.A. (Hons.) from the University of Toronto, and a Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Western Ontario. Dorothy has worked at the Mississauga Library System for over thirty years and is presently the Local History Librarian, part-time, at the Mississauga Central Library. She has been involved in genealogical research for over 20 years, and for many years was responsible for the genealogy collection at Mississauga Library. She is a member of the Halton Peel Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, and is presently Past Chair and Program Co-ordinator. Dorothy is actively involved in Jamaican genealogical and historical research and has helped several people find their Jamaican roots. She presented a three-part course on British West Indian genealogical research in March 2007 on behalf of OGS Toronto Branch. She writes a blog, “My Jamaican Family”, in which she explores her family history and the history of Jamaica.

Session G: The African-Canadian Presence in Simcoe County and the Georgian Triangle
This part of Ontario has been a home to African-Canadians since the late 18th century—from those escaping slavery, to Loyalists and veterans of the War of 1812, and migrants (both enslaved and free) from the United States. The presentation will begin with an overview of the history and practices of slavery, and describe the various groups of African-Americans and African-Canadians who settled here. The session will explore migrations from other parts of southern Ontario into the Georgian Bay area, and the continuing connections with those communities, and the rise and fall of north-central Ontario Black settlements. It will look at the role of early African-Canadians in defending Upper Canada during the War of 1812 as members of Runchey's Coloured Corps, as members of the militia during the Rebellion of 1837, and as members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in WWI.

Speaker: Janie Cooper-Wilson, Collingwood, is an historian, artist, author, and lecturer. She is executive director of the SilverShoe Historical Society, and historical director of Owen Sound’s Emancipation Festival. She continues as the driving force behind the restoration and re-dedication of the inter-racial Bethel-Union Pioneer Cemetery, and the author of Morgan’s Seed (2004), a novel tracing the journey and lineage of her ancestor John Morgan Sr., from his birth in Madagascar in 1763, bondage in Virginia, and his escape to the freedom of Canadian soil as the first resident of the SilverShoe settlement in New Lowell, Ontario. Janie’s research, and another of her ancestors, Private Samuel Thomas, of Oro Township, were featured in Yap Films Canada/History Television’s “Bloodlines—Famous Last Words”, in 2007. She continues her research on the various ethnic immigrant migrations throughout the Province, with specific focus on the migration and social interaction of the original Freedom Seekers of Simcoe and Grey-Bruce Counties, in relation to African-Canadian settlements in Southern Ontario, 1832 to 1930.

3:30–4:30 pm
Session H: Finding 19th Century Black History in Toronto
In 1799, the little Town of York’s Black population numbered 25, of a total of less than 700 people. Some of these African-Canadians were the “property” of slaveholders like Peter Russell and William Jarvis; others were Loyalists, free people, or those who had fled slavery in the United States. By the time of the US Civil War, there were 2,000 or more Blacks living in Toronto, and many more in the surrounding countryside of York County. African-Canadian businesses included Toronto’s first cab company, the best blacksmith (so it was reported) in Canada West, barbershops, grocery and provision stores, and a hotel. In York County, the greatest number of Black residents could be found in York Township West, followed by Etobicoke, where they were landowners as well as labourers. This presentation will look at families of African descent who lived in Toronto and Etobicoke in the 19th century, the communities they lived in, and the issues and challenges they faced, and will examine resources that are particularly useful when researching 19th-century African-Canadian families, including petitions, contemporary accounts, and Black newspapers.

Speaker: Hilary Dawson, Toronto, has a degree in archaeology and mediaeval history from Southampton University, UK. Her interest in Black history has deep roots. Her hometown of Hull, England, was also the birthplace of William Wilberforce, the abolitionist, and her first museum job was at Wilberforce House. Since then, she has worked in a number of museums in the UK and Canada. Hilary’s research into 19th century Etobicoke uncovered a previously unknown Black presence. She has been Chairman of the Costume Society of Ontario, is currently a Director and newsletter editor of the North Toronto Historical Society, a member of the Ontario Black History Society, the Ontario Genealogical Society and the Association of Professional Genealogists. Hilary is now completing the Certificate in Genealogical Studies at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (University of Toronto). She is currently working on the biography of Alfred Lafferty, Chatham’s first Black lawyer.

Session I: Black Migration into Canada--Beyond the Underground Railroad
Many people believe the Underground Railroad represents the only way in which people of African descent migrated into Canada, unaware that slavery had existed here for over 200 years. This session shows the many ways that Blacks migrated into Canada (both voluntarily and involuntarily), where they established early settlements. It will discuss surviving records for genealogical research. Prior to the abolishment of slavery in Canada, Blacks were enumerated in censuses, listed in church records, were documented in many texts during the New France era, and served in the Canadian military. In addition, many of the African-Americans who fled the U.S. for Canada to escape the consequences of the second Fugitive Slave Act (1850) returned to the U.S. after Emancipation (1865). However, many African-Americans continued to migrate into Canada well after Emancipation, and this workshop shows who, when, where, and why. This presentation will also show migration patterns into Canada from all parts of the U.S. from the eastern seaboard through California, and includes the Atlantic Provinces, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, and finally British Columbia.

Speaker: Lisa B. Lee, Oakland CA, is a professional genealogist, and a graduate of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (University of Toronto). She started doing her genealogy in 1970, following a visit Alex Haley made to her high school in Michigan. In 2004 she self-published a book, Skin Deep—My Journey to Discover the “Black” and “White” Descendants of William Lee which chronicled the many years and many mistakes she made while researching her African-Canadian ancestry. Lisa has served as President of the California State Genealogical Alliance (CSGA), Board Member of the California Genealogical Society (CGS), and is an active member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and dozens of societies in the U.S. and Canada. Lisa is the owner of GotGenealogy.com, a website where she provides a free, monthly newsletter, the Got Genealogy News. Each month, the Got Genealogy News tackles one topic, in detail, its mission to assist genealogists in learning the art of online genealogical research.

WORKSHOP SPONSORS:

“African Roots in Canada”, one of three workshops in 2008, is organized by the Ontario Genealogical Society, Toronto Branch. We are grateful for the support of the Canadiana Department of the North York Central Library, part of the Toronto Public Library, and the Ontario Black History Society.
A special Member Rate is available for members of the Ontario Genealogical Society or the Ontario Black History Society.

How to get to the workshop:

By public transit: North York Central Library is connected directly to the North York Centre subway station, on the Yonge line. Inter-city trains and buses link with the subway at Union, Dundas, or York Mills stations. Allow at least 35 minutes from Union or Dundas, or 15 minutes from York Mills, to get to North York Centre.

By car: North York Central Library is at 5120 Yonge Street, Toronto  M2N 5N9, on the west side at Park Home Avenue (about halfway between Sheppard and Finch). From Highway 401, exit northbound at Yonge Street; proceed north to Park Home Avenue (6th or 7th traffic light) and turn left. The most convenient parking ($5 per day on Saturdays) is under the building—enter from Novotel on Park Home, or from Beecroft Road (parallel and west of Yonge Street).

Accommodation: The Novotel North York is part of the North York Centre complex. For more information, visit: www.novotel.com.

HOW TO REGISTER

FEES: Members of the Ontario Genealogical Society or the Ontario Black History Society
$30 (postmarked before July 15, 2008)
$35 (after July 15, IF SPACE ALLOWS)

FEES: Non-Members
$35 (postmarked before July 15, 2008)
$40 (after July 15, IF SPACE ALLOWS)

© Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. Last Updated August 2011