Women Pioneers

I’ve been researching an article I’m writing on my grandmother Irvine for a publication entitled Women Pioneers of Saskatchewan published by the Sask Genealogical Society for their 40th anniversary.

I knew Grandma was a pretty special person, but I didn’t know just how much!
She was the family historian and she loved to write. There is a 12 page document of her life (in her own words) outlining their homesteading years. It is wonderfully descriptive and rich with details.

She was born in Ottawa, moved to BC with her family until her mother was killed in a run-away horse and buggy accident. They moved back to Ottawa where her childhood dream was to be a dentist. This was in an era when most women didn’t consider professional careers. Imagine her dismay when she discovered because of all the moving around she didn’t have the senior matriculation needed to qualify for dental school. (keep in mind this would be around 1916 or so. She was born in 1898). She then chose to go into nursing.

To make a long story short she was a mail order bride (Grandpa and Grandma did meet a couple of times before they married but most of their courting was by mail). Grandpa had immigrated from Ireland to homestead in Saskatchewan. It was a hard life that he lived and to which he brought his new bride. They were 30 miles from doctors and amenities such as the nearest town....and Grandma became the midwife for all the neighbours around. She never lost a baby in the dozens she delivered. It is a remarkable story of pioneer life in Saskatchewan.

Online Archive Historical Newspapers

PaperofRecord.com is a very useful Canadian genealogical resource. To quote the webpage: “Conceived by electronic publishing and web pioneer, R.J. (Bob) Huggins PaperofRecord.com® is a Global pioneer of searchable newspaper image documents presented in their original published form. The Toronto Star (circulation 650,000) became the first newspaper in the world to have its entire history from 1892 to present, digitized for the world to see and search.”

Newspapers from all across Canada AND other countries (USA, Mexico, etc) have been scanned and put into the database. It is a free to join.

PaperofRecord.com was recently purchased by Google.

Aumacks in Canada

The Canadian Aumack branch of our family has fascinating connections dating back through Berrien County, Michigan to Montgomery Country, NY and ultimately back to Theunis Janse Van Amach (Amak) who was born in Denmark, the son of Dutch Settlers in 1650.
Theunis Van Amach came to North America in 1673 as part of the Dutch fleet sent to save New Amsterdam (NY) from the British. He married Jannetie Brouwer in 1677 and was the progenitor of this line, of which the name variations are many. They include Aumack, Aumick, Omick, Amak, and Aumock among others. Theunis and Jannetje had 9 children. The children eventually married and had equally large families. We have many Aumack cousins all over the USA. The Aumack family tree has been extensively researched by Trevor Kirkpatrick of New Jersey.
A fourth generation Canadian Aumack named Liam was born in the Saskatchewan the summer of 2008. The name is alive and well.

The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book: Creative Ways to Outsmart Your Elusive Ancestors

A tag-team effort by DeadFred.com and some of genealogy's top ancestral sleuths and accomplished writers, this 150-page e-book is packed with articles and case studies that reveal invaluable tips, shortcuts, resources and even step-by-step instructions on how to use overlooked research tools, conduct specialized searches and tackle brick walls with sheer ingenuity.

Your purchase will go to the support and operating costs of DeadFred.com, a FREE site that is accessible to you anytime when you are wanting to return orphaned photos or are trying to track down images of your own long-lost relatives. DeadFred.com intends on growing its database, already more than 56,000 records strong. It continues to be one of genealogists' favorite online destinations. Your one-time purchase will help these intentions come to fruition! For more information click here.

Eastman's OnLine Forum

Dick Eastman, the publisher of the Eastman's OnLine newsletter, has just started a genealogy forum. http://www.eogn.com/forum

Cousins Once Removed

We had the clan over last weekend for an end of the season bbq. Big cousins, little cousins, first and second cousins. All were here. None once removed. It is fun having a family gathering.

I've been updating my genealogy software. I actually use two programs. I started with one program years ago (Family Tree Maker) but discovered it won't allow me to easily make banners. To do that I use Family Tree Factory. I can create a long continuous banner as a pdf file which can be emailed to our closest print shop. (costs about $12 to print). The relatives at our family reunion this summer were thoroughly impressed :) (and we had them update their information directly to the banner).

BJ

Keeping the Memories

I first got into the genealogy business about fifteen years ago. We were at a family reunion on my husband's side and all the elderly aunts were sitting around chatting and remembering the good old days. They regaled us with stories of how their parents owned the resort at the lake, who dated whom and whose grandchildren were the smartest :) Almost all of the aunts were widows by then and it struck me....wow, soon we are going to lose all of these wonderful memories of times gone by.

That got me started.

There weren't any genealogists in that branch of the family tree and I knew if I didn't do it no one would. All those wonderful memories and stories would be lost. Stories that my children and grandchildren would appreciate one day.

Genealogy >does< run in my side of the family. My grandmother had been a great historian and had recorded many family stories. She recorded births, marriages and kept the obituaries. She was also a great letter writer and kept every letter received. Those letters were a record to her past. Oh, she would have loved the internet. She loved to stay in touch!

My grandfather was also into recording times gone by. He kept a diary...not just any diary....but a series of diaries for fifty three years...yes...that's not a misprint...53 years. What the weather was doing, how the crops were, what he did and people around him did on a day to day basis. Such discipline.

I guess that gave me the pedigree to be a genealogist. It is in my genes.

~BJ