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Lorena Smalley

GENEALOGY DROP-IN CLASS
FACILITATOR: PAUL ROSE

Paul Rose is a dedicated historian and registered genealogist, has passionately pursued genealogy since his teens, tracing his ancestry back to 1100. 

Paul would love to discuss some points of interest with you at pr*******@***il.com

Meeting 1st Wednesday of each Month until June 2025

  • WSAC Boardroom
  • 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
  • Facilitator: Paul Rose
  • $3.00 drop-in fee
  • Bring your interest in Genealogy
  • laptop, IPAD, tablet, or paper and a pen!

New members are always welcome! Guests are welcome to join for a one-time visit.

QUESTIONS?  PLEASE CONTACT OUR PROGRAM TEAM

  • Phone: 780-483-1209 Ext. 228
  • Email: pr******@*******rs.ca
  • Visit our front desk

GENEALOGY DROP-IN UPCOMING TOPICS

Genealogy and Computers
  • Wednesday, May 7, 2025

At this meeting we will be welcoming Art Taylor from the Ontario Genealogical Society who will be ‘zooming’ into our meeting. He will be speaking on two topics relating to the use of computers and genealogical research:

  • Writing on the back of Digital Photos with Photo Media
  • Where was Ed Taylor? Using photos to reconstruct his travels from his birth in 1883 to his death in 1961.

Polish Immigration and Settlement in Western Canada

  • Wednesday, June 4, 2025

This is a topic that will be of particular interest to any members with Polish ancestry.

We will have John Szumlas, the Honorary Consul to the Republic of Poland for Northern Alberta, to present on the topic of Polish Immigration and Settlement in Alberta and western Canada. He will be speaking on a brief history of Poland, immigration to Canada, and settlement on the prairies. His presentation will include areas of settlement in Alberta, various occupations they held as well as homesteading.

ARCHIVED TOPICS

The Harvest Excursions and Women on the Prairies

  • Wednesday, March 5, 2025

These two events may have been the reason behind some of your ancestors migrating to Western Canada and should provide some insight into the life and challenges they may have faced.

 

The Harvest Excursions

With the growth of the grain growing industry in western Canada beginning in the early 1890s, the Prairies became one of the world’s largest grain producers. Farming the grain crops was very labour intensive in these times particularly in the harvest period from August through to October. The grain was usually cut either by scythe or a horse drawn cutter, then stooked to further dry and ripen, then gathered on wagons and taken to a thresher to be separated into grain kernels and straw for animal bedding. The process required many hands – the farmer, farm labourers, sometimes the farmer’s wife and older children, and neighbouring farmers – all very labour intensive. Still there was a shortage of hands to meet the harvest in the short time available.

The CP Railway saw an opportunity to improve this process by encouraging men and sometimes women to come west to assist with the harvest. This opportunity was intended also to promote western settlement, the sale of railway lands to new settlers, as well as increase the harvest yield hence increasing the need for railway transport of grain to shipping terminals. Beginning in about 1900 until 1930 thousands of young men took advantage of reasonable rail rates to experience the West. During the mid 1920s, over 50,000 men travelled to the Prairies annually. For many, the lure of The West brought many to take up homesteading and remain permanently on the Prairies.

We looked at their life on the prairies while harvesting, the challenges they faced, and the contribution the harvest excursions made to Western Canada. With the advent of the combine in the late 1920s and the onslaught of the Great Depression, the Harvest Excursions came to end.

 

Women On the Prairies

In 1911, the ratio of men to women on the Prairies was such that for every 1,000 men there were 730 women. Part of this discrepancy was the settlement of men who came on the harvest excursions. Men exceeded women by about 25% which put the growth of families and family life at risk as well as created a shortage in some labour sectors such as teaching, nursing, domestic help, seamstresses and general labour. The Government of Canada launched a campaign to bring women west, and through advertising in magazines, billboards, and posters they created an idyllic image of life on the Canadian Prairie for women. We looked at the actual reality of that “idyllic life” and the experiences many women encountered. Theirs’ was often a role of spouse, mother, farm labourer, factory worker, teacher, etc. They faced tremendous challenges – loneliness, long labouring days, large numbers of children, disease and illness, loss of their spouse and the need to “go it alone”. They had few rights compared to their male counterparts, earned less money for equivalent work, and had few legal privileges. It was a hard life for sure.

What came from looking at these two elements of history on the Prairies was that both the Harvesters and the Women who followed demonstrated an undoubtable strength and courage to face the challenges they encountered. But as one woman said “these folks were ones of courage, strength, humour and determination. And for those who endured and survived, they would do it all over again.”

Researching Your Family’s Military History

  • Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Do you have ancestors who participated in Canada’s involvement in the Great World Wars? Did your grandfather fight at Vimy Ridge? Did your father land in Normandy as part of the Allied invasion of France in 1944? If you have an ancestor or relative who participated in one of Canada’s past military events or was a member of Canada’s military forces, you may be interested in this month’s meeting topic.

 I am pleased to welcome to our meeting Matthew Ostapchuk, Curator of Military and Government History with the Royal Alberta Museum here in Edmonton. Matthew’s topic is “Researching Your Family’s Military History” where he will explore how to research a family member’s Canadian military service particularly in the First and Second World Wars. This should be an interesting presentation and should help address those challenges you may have faced in learning about your relatives’ military history.

Our April 2.25 meeting of the WSAC Genealogy Group was very well attended and I thank all those who were able to join us. This is a summary of the meeting:

 

Learning Moment:   23andMe Bankruptcy

As many of you may be aware, the DNA analysis company 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy protection with the intention of either selling their activities or alternatively reorganizing. If the company is sold, then the next custodians of their genetic data will be awarded to the highest bidder with no future certainty as to the use of the company records and files.  Should they go bankrupt, all their websites, services and servers will likely close down and the data will be lost.

If you have used 23andMe for genealogy DNA analysis, you should do the following to protect your data and continue to access your results:

  • Download your data
  • Screenshot your matches
  • Backup your data
  • Delete your data from their website.

There are several websites detailing these procedures, but one source I have found to be useful is

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/23andme-data-bankrupt/

 

Presentation:  ‘Researching Your Family’s Military History’

We were fortunate to welcome Matthew Ostapchuk, Curator of Military and Government History at the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, who spoke on researching family military history during the First and Second World Wars.

Matthew broke his presentation into three principal parts:

  • Military objects (or artifacts) held at the RAM. He described army uniforms worn during World War I and the insignia/buttons/ epaulets attached, weapons used, medals awarded and other memorabilia from the war. Sources for tracing the background of several medals and awards were provided.
  • Personnel Records: Matthew walked the group through the research process of using the Library and Archives Canada website to find military files and documentation on enlisted personnel during both wars – service records, attestation papers, casualty details, and other records. It is important to keep in mind that World War I records are available for viewing and can be obtained either in paper format, electronically or viewed in person. World War II records have limited access; for those enlisted who are deceased, generally all documentation is available. For those enlisted still living or who have died in the last 20 years, this documentation is restricted to the enlisted person themselves or their legal representative.

Beware that receipt of requested documentation for World War II enlisted may take upwards of three years to be received.

  • War Diaries:  These records can be a useful source to ‘fill in the blanks’ about the actual history and events that surrounded the combat activity of ancestors. War diaries were kept by each unit and detailed the daily activity that the unit experienced. They speak of actual combats and the events the unit experienced during the combat. The diaries go beyond the actual documentation provided in the Personnel Files and give description to what the units were experiencing at any particular time during frontline combat.

I have provided a copy of the listing of websites below that Matthew provided that are useful in researching each of these three components of which he spoke.

In addition, the military used a significant series of acronyms in their documentation, the meaning of which are unfamiliar to the average researcher. A dictionary of these acronyms can be found on the Library and Archives Canada website at the following address:

https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/collection/research-help/military-heritage/Pages/military-abbreviations.aspx

In addition, Matt has provided the electronic version of the resources that he had shared. He has added a link to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and advises that users can use their search tool to find where individuals are buried or commemorated.

 

Researching Your Family’s Military History: Resources

Researching your family’s “Objects”

 

Personnel Records 

 

War Diaries

 

Military abbreviations used in service files

 

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Upcoming Events for April:

  1. Rootstech 2025 Online Presentations:

        Rootstech is over, but you can still view many of the presentations from the conference for free. Sign onto Rootstech through Family Search, choose Schedule, and then select from a wide listing of available presentations most of which will run for about an hour. Topics include using DNA analysis, using FamilySearch.com, Telling Your Story, Starting out in Genealogy, Searching for ancestors from a variety of different countries, computer technology and genealogy, and more.

  1. Family History Treasure Hunt at AGS Edmonton:

        The Edmonton AGS Group is offering assistance to genealogists on Wednesday April 16, 2025 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm in their library at 14315 118 Ave NW, #162, Edmonton (780-424-4429). To register email ‘Treasure Hunt’ at ag*******@*********gy.ca

  1. AGS Genealogy Faire, Red Deer:

        The AGS Red Deer branch is running a Genealogy Faire on Saturday April 26, 2025 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Church of Latter Day Saints, 3002-47 Ave., Red Deer . To register go to https://redfamilyhistoryfair.blogspot.com/

CHECK OUT THE GENEALOGY GROUP NEWSLETTER

 

March / April 2025

January / February 2025

November / December 2024

Active Aging Series: GENEALOGY & HISTORIC EDMONTON

On Thursday, October 24, 2024, we hosted our Active Aging Series: Genealogy & Historic Edmonton.  It was a wonderful morning as we learned about the City of Edmonton Archives, the different resources available at the Edmonton Public Library and the Genealogy group hosted at our centre!

CLICK HERE to see all the resources the guest speakers provided!