​By now you have heard that the 1931 Canadian Census has been digitized and is available to search. Indexing is still happening so you will need to do a little homework before searching for your ancestor. Let’s look.

It seems like Spring has taken forever to arrive in the upper plains but now we have the beautiful green grass, blooming trees and hardy perennials are making an appearance. However, it is hard to believe that Memorial Weekend is here. Summer unofficially starts!
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While we all enjoy summer, let's pause and remember all those who have served and given their lives so that we can enjoy the everyday things like grilling, playing ball and spending time at the lakes with family and friends. I use this time to remember my ancestors and beloved family members.
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Here's a brief history on Memorial Day from the National Park Service.
Memorial Day - Over 150 Years of Remembrance (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Happy Memorial Day to you and yours!

​We all have brick walls in our family history research. Sometimes they exist because there are gaps in available records. Let’s look at the importance of revisiting databases for overcoming brick walls.

Recently I was assisting a friend with her family research. She had inherited old family trees and other information without any source documents. While searching on WikiTree and Ancestry and similar sites, she found trees with her ancestors plus additional ancestors two generations back. That’s great, right? Hmm or maybe not. Let’s look.

For those who have Ontario roots, I’d like to recommend this site: Where the story takes me… – Tales of family and local history research and folk I meet along the way by Jane E MacNamara. Let’s look.

A friend let me know about this training opportunity so this week’s blog will be different than I’d planned so I can share this with you in a timely manner. The National Archives is offering a free online series in May and June 2023 that focuses on Military and Civilian Records available at www.archive.gov. No preregistration is required, and you select your topic of interest. To see a complete listing and make your plans, go here: 2023 National Archives Genealogy Series | National Archives.
 
The presentations will be available via YouTube. It does appear that post presentation that you will be able to view these presentations and see the handouts at the above link as well as on their YouTube channel. I noticed that the May 3rd presentation has PowerPoint and handouts available now.
 
On a related note, the National Genealogical Society is partnering with Ancestry and the National Archives and Records Administration to continue the digitization of the 1812 Pension Project. You can learn more about that project here: Digitizing the War of 1812 Pension Files - National Genealogical Society (ngsgenealogy.org).
 
If spring ever arrives here in the north, my thoughts will turn to spending time outside. However, with today’s cold and blustery weather, taking time to learn new genealogy information seems like a great plan. Happy Learning!

You are likely familiar with Chronicling America, Newspapers.com and Genealogy Bank when searching through United States newspapers for genealogy clues. Have you looked at newspapers outside of the United States to see what family history nuggets you could find? Let’s look.

Occasionally, a unique site comes to my attention. Grandma Online is a site that is dedicated to researching your ancestors who are Mennonites and Hutterites from Prussia and Russia. Let’s look.

Happy Easter 2023! Hope you enjoy time with your family and friends. Aren't these vintage images fun? Hope you have time to do some family history research this week!

​In the past, we’ve talked about City Directories. I thought we could revisit them. Let’s look at how these directories can help us discover more about our family history.