Category Archives: Meetings

Leeds & Grenville Branch – October 2023 Presentation: Brockville Schools

Join us on Monday, October 2nd at 7:00 pm via Zoom when Alice McMurtry, Community Program Coordinator at the Brockville Museum will educate us on Brockville Schools.  This presentation will focus on the history of some of Brockville’s schools, the historic and the more recent. These stories are all gathered from the Brockville Museum’s research files and archival collection, providing insight into the educational landscape of historic Brockville. The presentation will last about 35-40 minutes. So join us on Monday, October 2nd at 7:00 pm on Zoom and learn about some of the schools your ancestors may have attended in Brockville!   To register for this presentation, click here.

Leeds & Grenville Branch – September 2023 Presentation: Back to School – For Genealogists!

After a summer of research, visiting cemeteries and villages where our ancestors lived, or just relaxing, it’s time to get back to “family history”.    Learn how to use Google Maps to track your family as they moved across town or around the world! 

Well-known Canadian genealogist Lianne Krüger will take us through finding locations from letters and documents, using addresses and clicking on a map!  We’ll explore Google Maps using its many tools to help us navigate latitudes and longitudes, use views from satellites to discover the properties owned by our ancestors, and create our own maps!

So join us on Labour Day (September 4th) at 7:00 pm on Zoom and kick ‘back to school’ into high gear!  To register for this presentation, click here.

Leeds & Grenville Branch – June 2023 Presentation – Cornwall Community Museum with Brent Whitford

Join us on Monday, June 5th at 7 PM as we welcome Brent Whitford, Senior Curator from the Cornwall Community Museum. He will give us a presentation about the resources of the Museum, and their recent involvement with the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada in housing the UELAC Archives.

To register for this presentation, click here.

Leeds & Grenville Branch – May 2023 Presentation – Finding Them on the Ground – by Ken McKinlay

Join us on Monday, May 1st at 7:00 PM on Zoom as we host a presentation called Finding Them on the Ground. 

Records such as censuses and maps can often give us the lot, concession, and township information for where our rural Ontario kin resided. However, finding those details can sometimes be a challenge. In this presentation, genealogist Ken McKinlay will be diving into those various online resources and showing us how to find those nuggets with the records. With that information we have a much better chance of finding the various Ontario land records related to their property.

Ken McKinlay is a genealogy researcher with over 20 years of trial and error experience in researching his own family’s history in Canada, United States, England, Scotland and Ireland. Ken has a genealogy related blog at Family Tree Knots, where he shares the methodologies that he uses in his own research. To register for this presentation, click here.

Leeds & Grenville Branch – Change of Presentation Date to April 10th 2023 – Getting Ready for the 1931 Census, and Beyond the Online Basics

David Obee

Due to illness Dave Obee was unable to deliver his presentation as planned on April 3rd.  We have rescheduled the presentation for Monday, April 10th at 7:00 pm.  Everyone is welcome but registration is required.  Please register here:  https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvcu2qrzMuE9MeM0HIIurjGyS_trIBL3zm

After registration you will receive a confirmation with a link to join the presentation.  Registrations from April 3rd DO NOT carry over, so please register with the new link if you wish to attend.

Leeds & Grenville Branch Presentation – April 2023 – Getting Ready for the 1931 Census, and Beyond the Online Basics

David Obee

Join us on Monday, April 3rd at 7:00 pm on Zoom for a special presentation from well-known Canadian genealogist Dave Obee. Dave will give us a two-fer evening – two short presentations on different topics.

The first topic is a timely one – Getting Ready for the 1931 Census! The 1931 national census is due to be released in June, 2023 — and since it will probably not be indexed right away, we need to get ready. Pick your priority people and get to work! This session offers ideas for identifying the census divisions and subdivisions where you will find your relatives. Using digitized census reports and mapping tools, you will be able to narrow your search options.

In the second presentation, Dave will take us Beyond the Online Basics: A Genealogical Guide to Digital Collections. There are billions of scanned pages on the Internet — a collection that few physical libraries could match. The problem is that many pages relevant to your research can be difficult to track down, since they are not on the usual genealogy websites. This session provides ideas on how to find the documents that will help you learn more about your families, or the local histories of the areas where they lived.

To join us for this presentation, visit our website leedsandgrenville.ogs.on.ca for the link to register or click this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvc-2urz4qH9MlJAslt_6cNC2S0wPFfvD6

Everyone is welcome!

Leeds & Grenville Branch Presentation – March 2023 – Families Behind the Portraits of Frederick William Lock

Join us on Monday, March 6th at 7:00 pm on Zoom when we will host a presentation jointly with the Brockville Museum about the Portraits of Frederick William Lock.  Mr. Lock painted in the Brockville area beginning about 1853, and among his works in the Museum’s collection are portraits of several leading Brockville citizens of the time.  The portraits from this collection are on display in the Museum’s Art Gallery until December of 2023, and the Leeds and Grenville Branch has partnered with the Museum to offer glimpses of the lives of the citizens in these portraits, and their genealogical roots.  Our presentation is entitled Families Behind the Portraits.

The Sherwood and Buell families were among the first settlers to arrive in Leeds County in the 18th century, and were instrumental in the development of the area, filling such roles as sheriff and surveyor, and turning tent homes into stone houses on the St. Lawrence River.

In the presentation Museum staff will talk about the artist (who married into a local family), and Branch volunteers will uncover the lives of those citizens portrayed in Lock’s portraits.

The Leeds & Grenville Branch of Ontario Ancestors is housed in the Brockville Museum, and is happy to showcase why local history and family history are so intertwined.

Everyone is welcome to join our online Zoom meeting, but registration is required.  You can register at this link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZElf-GtrTgrEtYK3Kbvovoho0CGRDO_e0QA. 

We look forward to seeing you on March 6th!

Leeds & Grenville Branch Presentation – February 2023 – Rail History in Eastern Ontario

Join us on Monday, February 6th at 7:00 pm on Zoom for a presentation by Craig Stevenson on Rail History in Eastern Ontario and its relationship to local history and genealogy.  Craig will discuss a few areas where rail was most visible in local life through to about 1960: stations, agricultural and economic connections, impact on the geography of some communities, and where and how railways connect to social history.

Craig is a rail enthusiast who is involved with Friends of Grand Trunk Railway 1008, preserving a precious piece of railway history!  He teaches at Tagwi Secondary School in Avonmore, and has written a number of history articles pertaining to SD&G, as well as the St. Lawrence Seaway and local rail heritage.

To join us for this presentation, click this link to register:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUof-iuqT8rHN2ksY97rGzXOij3sx0fxBkG

Everyone is welcome!

Leeds & Grenville OGS Branch Drop-in Gathering – January 2023

Join us virtually on Wednesday, January 11th at 7:00 pm for our next Branch Drop-In Session using Zoom. Start your genealogy New Year off right with a gathering to talk about family history research!

We hope to have members and other researchers in Leeds & Grenville Counties share their research strategies and discover what resources are available in our Branch Archives that might help in your research.

We welcome short stories about successful research (AHA moments always welcome), and discussions about the brick walls you are facing! Maybe someone else in the meeting will be able to offer fresh insight into the challenge.

We look forward to talking with members and researchers about their successes and challenges, or simply talking genealogy!

This discussion is open to everyone, but you will need to register in advance. To register, visit our website at leedsandgrenville.ogs.on.ca and follow the link, or click this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkf-mprjgiGd3piZQr9heqtrHpBmxoTlFb

We will send out instructions about how to participate with your confirmation email.

Leeds & Grenville Branch Presentation – December 2022 – The Thousand Islands History Museum

Join us on Monday, December 12th at 7:00 pm on Zoom for the inside scoop on one of our area’s charming local museums, the 1000 Islands History Museum in Gananoque.  Founded in 1995, the 1000 Islands History Museum is a family-friendly waterfront museum where you can experience ten thousand years of Canadian history in the Thousand Islands. From rum runners to river rats, explore the people, places, and heritage of Gananoque and the St Lawrence River through year-round interactive exhibits, lively community events, hands-on children’s activities, and a quality gift shop.

Collections Coordinator Zane Smith’s presentation will focus on the 1000 Islands History Museum’s mission and mandate to preserve and share the region’s diverse history. It will discuss how the Museum achieves this mission through collections management, conservation, research, exhibitions, community programs, and special events. The presentation will also highlight upcoming activities at the 1000 Islands History Museum and let everyone know how to get involved.

Everyone is welcome, but registration is required.  You can register here:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYlcOqrqzoiH9MdsgZK-hOIstC8tFC8qqC4

After registering, you will receive an email with a link to join the presentation.