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Genealogy Gains
Sep. 5th, 2023 08:43 pmMy family tree had many gains this past week, which was super exciting. After forays into my great-aunts families, and I'm unsure why, but looking at the same old data suddenly made things click. My grandfather had nine siblings, and I put extra effort into clipping all the articles I could find about them from Newspapers.com
Although there isn't a lot past 1950, there is enough to give an idea of central Alberta's rural life. My grandfather's surname isn't uncommon, but when paired with the place, it becomes easy to find family members. I had to get a little creative with my searches though as they often used their middle names as first names.
It seems my great-grandmother, my grandfather's mother, was quite the social butterfly, or at least understood the power of getting your name in the newspaper. Although my mother doesn't regard her fondly, I sense my great-grandmother had a lot of character. Whether that's good or bad, I'll let you decide :-D. But her busybody nature was a gift to the future.
I also made some gains on my grandmother's side of the family. I called Mom and we went through birth and death dates together, which really helped. Then, she confirmed the married name of one of my great-grandfather's sisters, which allowed me to link three obituaries.
My great-grandfather's side of the family is a bit of a mystery, as is his wife's. When looking at scanned documents, one is suddenly aware of the whisper space between facts.
If you're Ukrainian in a time when Ukrainians were unpopular, you might say that your family is Polish. Or maybe, you want to impress the census collector because they're a government agent and don't want to identify yourself as Ukrainian. Or maybe between the 1916 and 1930s, the borders shifted and you no longer find yourself Polish or Ukrainian according to a map.
It's really funny how statistics and records raise more questions than answers. And speaking of that...as I well know, there is no such thing as perfect records. Eventually, everyone's genealogy search ends up at the Department of Vital Statistics, and that's where I'm heading this month.
Sadly, the provincial archives consider online records simply to be scans of printouts or ledgers, which are not searchable yet. You have to guess a little, find the appropriate year and/or initial, and then scroll through giant PDFs to find your loved ones.
Earlier records, of course, are handwritten and not so easily skimmable. As Granny was born in 1923, my great-grandparents must have been married between 1920 and 1923. I searched both the lists of brides and bridegrooms but couldn't find a match.
However, that doesn't mean the record doesn't exist; I just have to ask an expert. It's super cheap to get a digital copy of a birth, marriage, or death certificate. At about $5 a scan I don't mind spending a bit of money on the wrong person :D
Although there isn't a lot past 1950, there is enough to give an idea of central Alberta's rural life. My grandfather's surname isn't uncommon, but when paired with the place, it becomes easy to find family members. I had to get a little creative with my searches though as they often used their middle names as first names.
It seems my great-grandmother, my grandfather's mother, was quite the social butterfly, or at least understood the power of getting your name in the newspaper. Although my mother doesn't regard her fondly, I sense my great-grandmother had a lot of character. Whether that's good or bad, I'll let you decide :-D. But her busybody nature was a gift to the future.
I also made some gains on my grandmother's side of the family. I called Mom and we went through birth and death dates together, which really helped. Then, she confirmed the married name of one of my great-grandfather's sisters, which allowed me to link three obituaries.
My great-grandfather's side of the family is a bit of a mystery, as is his wife's. When looking at scanned documents, one is suddenly aware of the whisper space between facts.
If you're Ukrainian in a time when Ukrainians were unpopular, you might say that your family is Polish. Or maybe, you want to impress the census collector because they're a government agent and don't want to identify yourself as Ukrainian. Or maybe between the 1916 and 1930s, the borders shifted and you no longer find yourself Polish or Ukrainian according to a map.
It's really funny how statistics and records raise more questions than answers. And speaking of that...as I well know, there is no such thing as perfect records. Eventually, everyone's genealogy search ends up at the Department of Vital Statistics, and that's where I'm heading this month.
Sadly, the provincial archives consider online records simply to be scans of printouts or ledgers, which are not searchable yet. You have to guess a little, find the appropriate year and/or initial, and then scroll through giant PDFs to find your loved ones.
Earlier records, of course, are handwritten and not so easily skimmable. As Granny was born in 1923, my great-grandparents must have been married between 1920 and 1923. I searched both the lists of brides and bridegrooms but couldn't find a match.
However, that doesn't mean the record doesn't exist; I just have to ask an expert. It's super cheap to get a digital copy of a birth, marriage, or death certificate. At about $5 a scan I don't mind spending a bit of money on the wrong person :D
