As previously posted, on Saturday I attended my local genealogy fair. Hosted by my local museum; the Eva Brook Donly Museum. As an avid genealogist, I felt compelled to support them. My roots in Norfolk County, Ontario do not run very deep. My Grandparents arrived here from Kitchener, Ontario in the 1940's. However, I went with an open mind. This is not to say that Norfolk County is not rich in history. The War of 1812 was fought on our doorsteps. In attendance were many local genealogy societies, along with some larger groups. The United Empire Loyalists were in attendance as well as a few famous local history writers who were selling their books. But I was looking to tap into some early Upper Canada information. My earliest ancestors settled in the Huron Tract, Bruce County, Waterloo and Quebec.
I was impressed with my acquisitions. I did manage to pick up a book from my local museum, Index Passengers who emigrated to Canada between 1817 and 1849 by John A. Acton. Although this is an older copy, I picked it up for a great price and it did reveal some of my ancestors in it. Global Genealogy was also in attendance and of course they are a local Canadian publishing company that offer a generous variety of Genealogy books covering not only Canada but researching outside of Canada as well. I picked up from them an earlier copy of Vital Records in Ontario Before 1869, A Guide to Early Ontario Vital Records by Fawne Stratford-Devai and Ruth Burkholder.
My earliest ancestors arrived in Canada in the early 1800's and have still managed to elude me. I felt it was time to educate myself on how I was going to find documentation on them past the limitations of what is available online.
So do not discount your local museum, your local genealogy society and the local genealogy fair, you may be pleasantly surprised. More importantly after feeling a little frustrated this summer with my brick walls attending Saturday's genealogy fair has stimulated my family history juices once again.
