Links Family History Blog

Mapannapolis: Website Home Page Acadian Map-History Fusion. What do you get when you combine the technological know-how of Nova Scotia's Centre for Geographic Sciences (COGS) and the ingenuity of a group of family historians? Mapannapolis , of course! This innovative project, recognized in 2017 by the Governor General of Canada for Excellence in Community History Programming, began in 2012 when students studying digital map creation (GIS mapping) were asked to map something a little bit different: heritage buildings and structures, graveyards, and churches. The result was maps of: the first 17th century Acadian settlements along the Annapolis River;  18th century Black Loyalist settlements;  the 43 existing and historical wharves to record Annapolis County’s early economic development;  pre-European arrival canoe routes; and  community trails in several villages. Additionally, Acadian settlements and graveyards were studied and, on the discovery of several unmar...

The Truth Is Out There... In my last update , I had resolved to call in the professionals to help me identify my unknown great-grandfather. While I did contact a professional genealogist who was experienced in adoption situations, she told me that the key was definitely in DNA - but that was not her specialty. I was back to square one...or was I? Having it confirmed by a professional that the answer lay in DNA evidence galvanized me to focus exclusively on analyzing my DNA matches. But where to start? A YouTube video I had watched on investigative genetic genealogy (one of those serendipitous video suggestions that seem to pop up when you most need it) stuck with me. A tip from the video linked DNA to traditional research: use ethnicity to search for surnames. In a recent AncestryDNA update to my ethnicity regions, I had noticed a curious development: unexeplained Dutch DNA . I restarted my search, but this time with a clearer understanding of where I was headed. Convinced that the 192...

Signed Up for RootsTech 2026?   Running this year from Thursday, March 5th to Saturday, March 7th, time is running out to sign up for your favourite courses at  RootsTech 2026 . Go to the  FamilySearch  website's Home page, then click on the RootsTech links to register. Start Your RootsTech 2026 Journey at the FamilySearch Home Page (click image to enlarge) What is RootsTech 2026? RootsTech is the annual global family history and genealogy learning conference hosted by FamilySearch. Customize your learning experience by choosing from a large variety of courses, webinars, and keynote addresses presented by premier genealogists in their field. From beginner to advanced skills development classes on a wide range of topics and themes, RootsTech 2026 has something for everyone. Why sign up for RootsTech? Free to attend online, or starting at $79 USD to attend in-person (at Salt Lake City, Utah, USA), RootsTech is a budget-friendly way to ramp up your DIY genealogy sk...

Researching French-Canadian roots? In this post I share one of my favourite free  online resources for researching and establishing my French-Canadian lineage. If your research is in the "collecting ancestors" phase (i.e., you are building out lineages in your family tree), this resource is especially well-documented and, in my view, foundational for budget-conscious DIY genealogy enthusiasts: Généalogie du Québec et d'Amérique française Fig. 1: Snip of the Home Page (French version) of Généalogie du Québec et d'Amérique française (click image to enlarge) Don't read French? The website offers an English version called Genealogy of Canada although the original source records they refer to (e.g., BMD or notarial records) are in French. What is it? Also known as NosOrigines ("Our origins"), the website hosts a crowd-sourced database of French-Canadian family lineages and individual records. It is free to search or to add your own family tree. If I'm stu...

Introducing Cole FAN: Henry A COLE.   In an earlier post,  "Cole FANs: Joshua Levi Cole" , I introduced the youngest child of my brick-wall ancestors - and founding Canadian COLE family members - Henry "Harry" COLE (Abt. 1790-1849) and his spouse Elizabeth "Eliza" CHURCHILL (Abt. 1790-1875). Now meet Joshua's oldest sibling, Henry A COLE. Fig. 1: The immediate family of Henry A COLE (1812-1897) (click to enlarge) Henry A COLE was the oldest of nine known children born to Canadian founders and parents Henry COLE and Elizabeth CHURCHILL. Of Irish Palatine and English-Irish descent, Henry was (probably) born in Ardcanny, County Limerick, Ireland and baptized on June 7, 1812. At the age of 12, he immigrated to Canada with his parents and younger brother Peter (and possibly sister Mary Jane) and settled near Streetsville in Toronto Township, Peel County, Ontario.  Not a lot of information survives about his family’s early years. But it is known that Henry’s...