If you have Ontario roots, be sure to take in some of these unique sessions:

On Friday, May 14, Fawne Stratford-Devai presents two in-depth sessions on Ontario Land Records. The promise of owning land was the biggest factor that brought many of our ancestors to Ontario. The records are extensive, complex, and rich with family history. This full day with Fawne (an excellent speaker) will help you understand the records and their potential.

Professional genealogist Janice Nickerson lectures twice on Saturday—first on Researching Aboriginal Ancestors, and then on Criminal Trials in Upper Canada. She has written books on both topics and brings a lot of practical experience to her presentations.

Glenn Wright is a popular speaker at OGS conferences. This year, on Saturday afternoon, he contributes an intriguing presentation to the Ontario offerings—about the records of Kingston Penitentiary.

Also on Saturday afternoon, “New Toronto Research Tools” will introduce four innovative web-based projects presented by Toronto Branch members Martha Jackson, Pat Jeffs and Jane MacNamara, and Stephen Young of FamilySearch.

Ontario sessions continue on Sunday with a case study of an Eastern Ontario Loyalist family by Melissa Ellis. Melissa’s examples will demonstrate how you can build your own family’s story.

With much of Ontario’s population clustered around the Great Lakes, Susanna de Groot’s presentation on researching ancestors who worked and travelled on the Lakes or on their shores, should interest researchers from Ontario as well as the eight US states that border the Great Lakes.

Just seven early-bird days left!

Be sure to register by Monday, March 15 to take advantage of the early-bird registration fee. Browse the program pages to choose your sessions, then go to “How do I register?” to select a registration package and register online.

But if your knees or hips, etc., will object to a whole weekend of activity, we understand that, too.

MobilityUnlimited has agreed to offer a special rate on scooter rentals for attendees at Conference 2010. They have recommended the “Dancer” model. The rental fee for the full weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) is $100. A delivery and pickup charge of $90 will be split between all renters.

Contact the company in advance to arrange for your scooter. Be sure to identify yourself as part of the “OGS Conference”. MobilityUnlimited will delivery your scooter to the Doubletree by Hilton—Toronto Airport after noon on Thursday, May 13. You can pick it up from the concierge whenever you arrive. After the Conference, leave your scooter with the concierge and MobilityUnlimited will pick it up after noon on Monday, May 17.

Renters should contact MobilityUnlimited directly by e-mail or by phone at 416-778-9586 or toll free at 1-877-778-9586. Be sure to book early.

The "Dancer", recommended by MobilityUnlimited

Just two weeks away!

We already have family historians travelling from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, and Nova Scotia, as well as Colorado, Utah, Illinois, Michigan and New York, and even Scotland, England and Italy. And of course, every corner of Ontario.

But we still have space for you, and we know you love a bargain.

So don’t wait. Spend some time today browsing the program and speaker pages. Make a note of the session numbers that interest you, or print out the handy daily schedules.

Click on “How do I register?” and select the registration package that suits you best. Then let the secure online registration form guide you through the process.

Then, perhaps a visit to the Marketplace page to start making plans for how you’re going to spend that money you just saved…

John Colletta, Susanna de Groot and Mary Nash, presenters of the Dutch ancestry stream at OGS Conference 2010

On Saturday, May 15, the Ontario Genealogical Society’s Conference 2010 will present a special module of four lectures on research for those with family origins in the Netherlands. This stream of lectures builds on the success of a Dutch ancestry workshop hosted by OGS Toronto Branch in 2007.

This information-packed program will feature three expert speakers:

John Philip Colletta, Ph.D, based in Washington, D.C., one of America’s most popular genealogical lecturers, will set the stage with a lecture on “How to Prepare for Successful Research in European Records”. (For a more comprehensive overview of John’s participation in Conference 2010, see the blog posting from 15 October 2009.)

Toronto’s own Susanna de Groot, PLCGS, a professional genealogist and co-author of the book Finding Your Dutch Ancestors, will then present two lectures covering the gamut of Dutch civil, church and population records, as well as information about using archives and online tools.

Susanna is the daughter of Dutch immigrants who came to Canada after WWII. She has been researching her family history for 12 years and has been actively involved in OGS Toronto Branch’s project to transcribe the grave markers in St. James Cemetery. In the course of her research, she has travelled a couple of times to the Netherlands and has conducted research in the Amsterdam Archives, Harderwijk Archives, Streekarchivariaat Noordwest-Veluwe (a regional archive in Gelderland), Leiden Archives, National Archives, Central Bureau for Genealogy, National Library of the Netherlands and Kampen Archives

Susanna was a speaker at Toronto Branch’s 2007 Dutch workshop and will join us at Conference 2010 fresh back from researching at the Family History Library and attending the NGS Conference in Salt Lake City. We ask her to leave some ancestors for the rest of us to find! (Those of us without Dutch ancestry will be able to hear her speak at noon on Sunday in Session 38. The topic: “Ships Ahoy! Great Lakes Genealogical Research”.)

Mary M. Nash, a Dutch-born and Canadian-educated librarian and researcher based in Ottawa, will present a case history illustrating the use of unusual and specialized sources in Dutch genealogical research. Mary is the founder of Nash Information Services Inc., a private Canadian corporation providing information, information management and calculation services to business, government and industry. A more complete biography can be found on the Conference website.

At the conclusion of the special module at 3 p.m., attendees are encouraged to stay for the rest of the day to hear lectures at the Conference proper on subjects as wide-ranging as Canadian immigration records, online family trees, social networking for genealogists, tracking down living relatives and reading immigrant clues in photographs. Their choices will include the intriguing “A Genealogy Journey to Key Largo with Bogart and Bacall” that explores actor Humphrey Bogart’s Dutch roots.

The Dutch stream is available as an option to anyone purchasing either a Full Weekend Registration Package or a Saturday Registration Package.

Registrants have been eager to add an extra day of research to their Conference 2010 experience by signing up for the Hands-on Research Excursion on Thursday, May 13. “Excursionists” selected from a choice of four wonderful archives and libraries.

One of the four venues—the Archives of Ontario—is now at capacity.

But don’t let that discourage you from joining the Excursion!

The City of Toronto Archives is a great choice if your ancestors lived in Toronto or the former municipalities of Scarborough, East York, North York, York or Etobicoke. The two reference libraries are some of the finest in North America for genealogy. The Toronto Reference Library has a collection of books and maps built over the past 115 years and an extensive manuscript collection only accessible on site. The North York Library’s Canadiana Department has an emphasis on Canadian genealogical resources in print and microform, and provides a home for unique deposit collections from genealogical partners.

To register for the Hands-on Research Excursion, select that option on the online registration form, and then e-mail us to choose your venue.

Marketplace and Sponsors pages updated

If you haven’t explored the Conference 2010 website lately, be sure to check the Marketplace and Sponsors pages to see the treats that lie ahead for attendees at Conference 2010. Most Marketplace exhibitors include a link to a website, so you can do some “window shopping” in advance.

Doubletree restaurant praised

Restaurant reviewer Joanne Kates in The Globe and Mail has named the Chinese restaurant (Grand Chinese Cuisine) at the Conference hotel as one of the best in the city. Mmmm…

Stephen Young will be part of "New Toronto Research Tools" on Saturday, May 15.

We are pleased to announce that FamilySearch is sponsoring OGS Conference 2010 and is generously underwriting two previously unannounced appearances at the Conference by one of its most experienced project managers, Stephen C. Young, MA, AG.

Stephen will participate in both the “New Toronto Research Tools” session on Saturday afternoon and will also deliver a newly scheduled lunchtime learning lecture on new developments at FamilySearch, also on Saturday.

Stephen is no stranger to southern Ontario, having been born and raised in London. Indeed he has an ancestor buried in the Toronto Necropolis, one of the cemeteries in the Toronto Trust group (more on which below).

His interest in family history extends back to the late 1970s. After undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University, he obtained his Master’s in American History at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. An employee of the LDS Church since 1988, Stephen enjoyed a four year appointment (1992-1996) in England supervising the British 1881 Census Project. His current responsibilities (in Salt Lake City, Utah) entail working with archives and other genealogical organizations, such as OGS, in the cooperative indexing and publication online of historical records in Canada, the British Isles and the South Pacific.

And that’s how Stephen comes to be part of “New Toronto Research Tools”. As many members will be aware, a FamilySearch Indexing project is now well under way with Toronto Branch to index the records of the Toronto Trust Cemeteries, including the York General Burying Ground, Toronto Necropolis, Prospect and Mount Pleasant. Indeed Stephen was not only instrumental in getting the project off the ground, he is also one of our volunteer indexers.

One of the quirkiest things that could conceivably happen to any researcher is to find that one of your ancestors was responsible for the death of a colleague’s ancestor. That happened to Stephen when he discovered that his fifth great-grandfather, Henry Windecker, had reportedly killed the colleague’s ancestor during the Revolutionary War. Stephen told the story in his article: “Henry Windecker, U.E., and His Descendants.” Families 48, No. 1 (February 2009): 24-29, 18.

If Stephen weren’t busy enough already, he’s also researching and writing a book about his father’s experience in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve during World War II, including service on a minesweeper off Omaha Beach on the night and morning of the D-Day assault.

Welcome home, Stephen!

Lesley Anderson of Ancestry.ca

Conference speaker Lesley Anderson has sent the happy news that Ancestry will provide free on-site access to their worldwide databases for attendees at the Ontario Genealogical Society’s Conference 2010.

This commitment is part of a larger agreement whereby Ancestry.ca becomes a top-level sponsor of the Conference.

Other benefits to attendees include:

• an Ancestry-sponsored luncheon on Friday, featuring a presentation by Lesley on New Projects at Ancestry (special ticketed event)
• sponsorship of the Conference bag
• an Ancestry display in Marketplace

These commitments by Ancestry are in addition to Lesley’s previously announced two-hour workshop, Working Effectively with Ancestry.

Lesley brings a wealth of genealogical and family history research experience to Conference 2010. She has been pursuing her own family history for more than 35 years. (Yes she started as a teenager!) A director of BIFHSGO, Lesley shares her enthusiasm for genealogy by teaching courses through the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board’s Continuing Education Department and she’s been a long time volunteer with the Ottawa Stake Family History Center.

For the past 2-1/2 years, Lesley has enjoyed being the Canadian representative for Ancestry.ca. Her primary responsibility is to develop strategic relationships with content providers across Canada to acquire new Canadian historical records. She has made several radio and television appearances on behalf of Ancestry.ca. Check out her TV spot on Canada AM.

Lesley collaborated with fellow Conference speaker Glenn Wright to develop and present Ancestry.ca’s first Canadian Webinar on the Historic Canadian Census Collection—1851 to 1916.

She contributes a monthly column, called “Discovering Your Roots”, to the CanWest chain of newspapers, appearing in the Ottawa Citizen, Windsor Star, Winnipeg Free Press and Calgary Herald to name a few.

We are delighted to acknowledge both Lesley and Ancestry.ca’s contributions to Conference 2010.

All of these folks have registered online (or printed a pdf from the website), but the paper brochure will arrive very soon in the hands of some 4,000 members of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

But you, a reader of the Conference 2010 blog, have the inside track.

If you haven’t already registered, quick, go to the program pages! You’ll find more details then ever before about lectures, tours, and our special Dutch and Italian streams. Check out the brand new “Lecture Streams at a Glance” page with printable schedules for each day.

Once you’ve made your choices, click on “How do I register?” and select the registration package that suits you best. Then let the secure online registration form guide you through the process.

Take the opportunity to jump in ahead of the pack. Register today.

Patricia M. Van Skaik, keynote speaker at the OLA Pre-Conference

You don’t have to be a librarian to sign up for the
“Libraries and Genealogy” workshop offered by the Ontario Library Association as a pre-conference event on Thursday, May 13.

While the program has been designed with a view to providers of family history services, it should also appeal to those who want to get the most out of their local collections, such as those who sit on library advisory boards across the province… or even just everyday researchers.

Here’s your opportunity to discover:

• how contemporary technology can reveal unseen detail in historic photo collections
• how the Family History Library (in Salt Lake City) can be used by Ontarians, and how its catalogue can be used to find resources in Ontario libraries
• how you can perform basic and advanced searches on ARCHEION, Ontario’s Archival Information Network, a public gateway to collections across the province
• why RAD (Rules for Archival Description) will become increasingly important for genealogists
• how you can use OurOntario.ca, an innovative and unique discovery portal, to search thousands of digital resources available from a range of diverse cultural organizations
• what’s included in Ancestry Library Edition, which is freely available for your use at many libraries across the province
• how to use “tricks of the trade” when searching cataloging systems that do not organize information the same way that genealogists conduct research

The first and last of the above must-see insights come from Patricia Van Skaik, MA, MLS, the Manager of the Genealogy and Local History Collection, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Patricia was educated at the University of Kentucky and the University of Cincinnati and serves on the Board of the other OGS, the Ohio Genealogical Society. She is also the Director of Librarianship Studies for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies.

For full details of program and other speakers at this wonderful accompaniment to Conference 2010, just click here.

Speaker Alison Hare

If one of Alison Hare’s ancestors had been named John, Canada might never have gained one of its most accomplished genealogists. As it happens, Busteed Green’s bizarre first name, observed on a grave marker in the early 1980s, intrigued the young Ottawa-based reporter. Soon she was engrossed in genealogy, with Busteed proving a elusive target (although she did eventually track him down). When Alison’s son reached school age in the mid 1990s, she decided to focus on genealogy. By 1999, she had received her CG designation from the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG). And as we approach Conference 2010, where she will give two lectures, Alison now has 29 years of genealogical experience as a researcher, lecturer and editor.

Along the way, she leaves a trail of accomplishment: three-time recognition for the quality of her lectures presented to the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa; induction into that society’s Hall of Fame; genealogist-in-residence at the Ottawa Public Library in 1999; a trustee of BCG; and an active member of the Ontario Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

As a former journalist, Alison applies great care to her genealogical writing and editing. Her article “Searching for Greens at the Time of Peter Robinson” was published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly in March 2007. The Ottawa Branch News, newsletter of OGS’s Ottawa Branch, won numerous Marion Keffer awards under her editorship between 1997 and 2002.

At Conference 2010 Alison will speak on citations for Canadians on Saturday and then on Sunday will present her fascinating case study of the victims of the 1854 London cholera outbreak (one of whom was her ancestor).