Links Family History Blog

What's Inside Ancestry.ca's New Pro Tools ? About two weeks ago I subscribed to Ancestry.ca's newly-launched (at least, in Canada) Pro Tools add-on membership. Before subscribing, I found it frustratingly hard to find information about what features were included in the monthly subscription, so I decided to take the plunge and find out.  Although I wasn't quite sure what I was signing up for, I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I have been using some of the Pro Tools features. But for those of you who want to know more before diving in, here's an overview of what you get for your (at time of writing) $12.99 / month (Canadian $) Ancestry.ca Pro Tools subscription. Figure 1: Inside Ancestry.ca's Pro Tools - A Snip from my Dashboard Note:  As I understand it, currently the only requirement for subscribing to the Pro Tools add-on membership is having an active paid Ancestry.ca membership -- Pro Tools is independent of your Ancestry.ca membership level. Disc

Surrounding My Brick-Wall Ancestors. 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 older sister, Mary Jane Cole  Orr. In researching Joshua as part of my F-A-N (Friends-Associates-Neighbours) research strategy for his parents, I uncovered a tantalizing clue to his mother's whereabouts in the 1870s (see Author's Notes [1] below). But I also discovered that he didn't go alone when he moved to Medonte Township in Simcoe County: he relocated with an older sister and her family.  Encouraged by this early success in my FAN strategy, and eager to find more clues about this generation of the Cole family, I turned my attention to Joshua's close associate - his sister Mary Jane  Cole  Orr. Mary Jane Cole  Orr (1822-1901). Given the int