WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23
Due to high demand a new date has been added!
Co-sponsored by Toronto Public Library.
The Toronto Reference Library contains many excellent genealogy resources. This hands-on class will demonstrate how to use the Toronto Public Library’s online catalog to find items on the open shelves such as how-to guides, directories, and maps as well as “hidden” collections in the closed stacks. Discover what treasures may be available for your specific region of interest by country, province, state or county.
Level: Intermediate
Registration is required. Register now.
Course Instructor: Librarian
HOW TO GET TO THE COURSE LOCATION
The Toronto Reference Library building is on the east side of Yonge Street, one block north of Bloor Street.
By public transit:
The closest TTC subway station is Bloor/Yonge.
Driving to the Library is not recommended. Parking in the immediate area is limited.
Accessibility:
The Toronto Reference Library building is wheelchair accessible. For more information about our policies on accessibility, visit our policies page.
For assistance with a specific accommodation request, please send an email message to torontocourses@ogs.on.ca.
SEARCHING FOR BENEDICT ARNOLD AND FINDING A DIFFERENT LOYALIST ARNOLD SPY
Speaker: Beth Adams
Wouldn’t it be great to prove Grover Cleveland was related to Benedict Arnold? Sadly, Beth has yet to make that magical connection, but with the help of her Mother and some cousins, she is now a bona fide United Empire Loyalist descendant through her Cleveland and Arnold lines.
Many families have family lore about their United Empire Loyalist ancestors that is found to be more lore than fact when the search for those elusive “proofs” is begun. Finding all the proven links between Beth and her Loyalist 5 times great-grandfather took many, many years of searching censuses, land records, wills and tax records everywhere from southwestern Ontario to Digby Nova Scotia to the coast of New Jersey and Long Island, NY. There were many interesting road trips, new cousins to meet, and in the end—another Loyalist to start all over with! Beth will outline the processes and her discoveries along the way to UEL status, with lots of pictures and stories to go with them.
Beth Adams has been a Toronto Branch member since 1990 and has, over that time, volunteered in many ways. She is also a member of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada. She retired from teaching middle school after 30 years last winter and moved to Pembroke last spring, where she joined the Upper Ottawa Valley Genealogical Group, volunteers with the Ottawa Valley Historical Society and helps with the Pembroke Legion’s museum. Beth has been deeply involved in the Scouting in the past and has three sons who apparently will give her a “cool” when she finds something interesting about their ancestors.
Mini Presentation:
Members of the Toronto and Governor Simcoe Branches of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada will join us during and after the break. There will be a short presentation on the Association, after which OGS Toronto Branch members will be invited to visit various displays and speak with UEL members about their activities and work. Displays will include forms for “proving” UEL status, books and maps from the UEL Toronto Branch’s library, period costumes, re-enacting opportunities, etc. Refreshments will also be available.
TORONTO REFERENCE LIBRARY MAP COLLECTIONS TOUR
Map of London, ON 1856 Samuel Peters (Toronto Public Library Digital Archives)
This tour is co-sponsored with the Humanities and Social Sciences Department at the Toronto Reference Library.
The tour will highlight the various types of maps available for research: from current local, regional, national and international, to topographical and nautical. Not to be missed are fire insurance plans, county atlases, British Isles historic ordnance surveys and so much more that can be explored.
The tour is now full. Email us at torontocourses@ogs.on.ca to be put on the waiting list.
HOW TO GET TO THE COURSE LOCATION
The Toronto Reference Library building is on the east side of Yonge Street, one block north of Bloor Street.
The closest TTC subway station is Bloor/Yonge.
Driving to the Library is not recommended as parking in the immediate area is limited.
Accessibility:
The Toronto Reference Library building is wheelchair accessible. For more information about our policies on accessibility, visit our policies page. For assistance with a specific accommodation request, please send an email message to torontocourses@ogs.on.ca
COURSE RUNS ON THREE WEDNESDAY EVENINGS, NOVEMBER 6, 13 AND 20
Co-sponsored with the Humanities and Social Sciences Department at the Toronto Reference Library.
This course will teach you how to do online research like a pro. Learn how databases and search engines are constructed. Understand how information is stored and retrieved, so that you can increase your odds of finding that elusive record or ancestor. Get tips for using internet search engines and major genealogical databases such as Ancestry, FindMyPast and FamilySearch more effectively. Be introduced to a host of databases that are not aimed at family historians but are full of relevant information and readily available through public and academic libraries. The overarching theme is that the techniques you learn will help you better search all of the many, many online databases available to genealogists.
Level: Intermediate
This course is now full. Please contact torontocourses@ogs.on.ca to be put on the waiting list.
Course Instructor: Marian Press
Marian Press, MLS, MA, is a retired academic librarian, her work life being directly involved with the use of digital resources and the instruction of graduate students on research methodology. She is a frequent speaker at genealogical workshops and conferences and teaches courses for the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. She has been doing her own family history for 30+ years and has 99% Scottish ancestry with one Irish and one Scottish line. She shares her research on two family blogs, through writing for genealogy journals and is working on her second family history book.
HOW TO GET TO THE COURSE LOCATION
The Toronto Reference Library building is on the east side of Yonge Street, one block north of Bloor Street.
By public transit:
The closest TTC subway station is Bloor/Yonge.
Driving to the Library is not recommended. Parking in the immediate area is extremely limited.
Accessibility:
The Toronto Reference Library building is wheelchair accessible. For more information about our policies on accessibility, visit our policies page.
For assistance with a specific accommodation request, please send an email message to torontocourses@ogs.on.ca.
In keeping with our very popular annual tradition, ten Toronto Branch members will be sharing “great moments” in their family history research in a series of short presentations as follows:
Paul Jones: Please pass the Pringles!
Jean McNulty: Searching for Margaret McClure
Greg Marlatt: Honeymoon Disaster
Michael Nettleton: The Needle in the Haystack
Diana Thomson: My Shining Knight
Nick Koutroubousis: No Two Goats are the Same
Michael Kerwin and Chris Aylott: Tennis Anyone?
Valerie O’Brien: Not Just Your Average Grandma
Heather Somers: Hooo’s in the House
Light refreshments will be served at the break.
