Sunday 30 November 2014

Serendipity Sunday - Holiday Cheer






It is about now that people are starting to get ready for the holidays.  Greeting cards to be made and sent, holiday baking and cookie exchanges, decorating the tree and house, buying or making gifts and wrapping them to look festive under the tree.

Everyone has their own holiday traditions. We kept some of our parents' and our grandparents' traditions, but also made some of our own with our kids. One was that the few days before Christmas they would secretly prepare and practice a play or concert to regale us with on Christmas Eve. We always put up our tree about the middle of December and leave it up until the day after January 6th, the twelfth day of Christmas. We always had a real tree, the tallest that would fit in the room with the top branches stapled to the ceiling beams to keep it from toppling over. We would put Christmas music on the stereo and Dad would string up the lights before we started on the decorations, many of them hand made.  One set of lights was one that my grandparents bought for my Dad's first Christmas, having one light in the string that was a red cross.  We had that string on the tree for our children. It is of course the kind that when one light doesn't work none of them do, so over the years we have had to cut out a couple of the lights and splice the string back together.  Now one of my children has it and sadly it no longer lights up, but they put it on the tree anyways.  I like that. Now my children are making some of their own family traditions with their kids.


And.... Christmas isn't Christmas without crackers! Some people put their crackers on the tree, but we use ours to decorate each place at the table. After we were all seated and before the turkey got carved, we would pop our Christmas crackers, don our hats, take turns to read our corny jokes, and then we could play with our toy while waiting to be served.

What holiday traditions do you have that were passed down through the generations?

I happened across these interesting books full of ideas to get you in the holiday spirit!
For more, search using keywords: christmas, christmastide, yuletide

Relevant links:



Yuletide lighting : Merry Christmas - National Lamp Works General Electric 1926

Edison Electric decorative lighting outfits; miniature lamps for Christmas trees etc 1905

Christmas: tags, seals, cards, booklets, calendars, candy boxes, novelties, books 1911

Dennison's Christmas Book : for Christmas, New Years and Twelfth Night Parties 1922

Christmas cards and their chief designers 1895

Gift Card designing 1922

Yuletide Favorites: By United Fuel Gas Company - Christmas Recipes

Yuletide in many lands - c1916

A Present for the Old Folks - c1910

Make your own Christmas Crackers



Wednesday 26 November 2014

Internment Camps




A reader pointed out that we did not mention the Interment Camps during the war, specifically those in Canada, although other countries also locked up "enemy aliens".

"The immigrants of foreign countries that are killing our sons can not be trusted and should be locked away in camps and what rights they have taken away."  Times of war are also times of fear, and this fear, coupled with not understanding the "foreigners" or their culture, led to this attitude taken by the government and the people.





This from a CTV news story: 


"This xenophobic government policy was, at the time [WWI], justified under the War Measures Act [of 1914]. The act would be brought into force two more times in our country: during the Second World War, when Japanese-Canadians were interned following the bombing of Pearl Harbour, and during the 1970 October Crisis in Quebec."


The War Measures Act was not used during the Korean War. This Act was repealed in 1988 and replaced by the Emergencies Act.

 If your ancestors are not mentioned in any of these links below, consider having them added to the databases at the appropriate site, so they will not be forgotten.

Did we learn a lesson?


Relevant Links:

Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund

A listing of the names of Ukrainians and other Europeans needlessly imprisoned during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920

Italian Canadians as Enemy Aliens

Guide to Internment Camps in Canada during WWI and WWII

Japanese American Internment info at National Archives

US WW2 Japanese Relocation Camp Internee Records

Wartime Internment Camps in Australia

Isle of Man - Alien Civilian Internment Camps - Info

Enemy Aliens in New Zealand

How to find records of Internees in UK

Japanese-Canadian Internment images and pages





The Gift of Family History


There is still time to make a Family History treasure for Holiday giving. 

You don't have to wait until you are "finished" your research because, guess what?  You are never going to be finished, as most genealogists know. There is always another tidbit of information waiting to be discovered. Don't wait until it is too late to share your family stories with your older generations.

Your family history project can run the gamut from simple to elaborate, one branch at a time. Books, scrapbooks, and videos are just some of the ways we can share our family history. There are many examples to be found online. I have done simple and pretty detailed, and I am looking forward to doing an elaborate one, using all the tricks I learned watching Time Travel with Google Earth!  You know... when I have time.

Windows comes with a program called Movie Maker (or iMovie for Mac) and I have used it for birthdays and for a celebration of life.  You can use it to make a genealogy video, incorporating your photos, records, video, music and voice recordings. Then you can upload it to a site like YouTube or Vimeo, or put it on a DVD to give as a gift.

Here are some examples of family history videos:


           Using video and records to tell the family immigrant story

This woman shows how she made family books using 3 ring binders.





At copy & print centers, like Staples and Office Depot you can make hard cover books for about $25 and up, or consider a booklet for as little as $10-12 depending on the number of pages. I made this one at Staples: I wrote the condensed version of our history using Word with a couple of pages of images and used Staples' "Perfect Binding" with a clear plastic cover to make a booklet to give to family members. Use lots of images (people, places, heirlooms, etc) to hold their interest and to wow your family members, and they will be saying "How did you find all this??"


I have made many hard and soft cover books for family members over the years at Staples, but for my family history books I decided to go with Blurb. First because their prices have come down the last few years, and also they have many sizes and formats to choose from, including a pdf for any ebook reader. Secondly because other family members can go there and purchase the book if they want, in either soft cover or hardcover, or pdf form, fitting their budget. These online publishers, like Blurb, Shutterfly and PhotoInPress to name a few, make it easy with a free download of their program, then all you have to do is pick your layout, drag and drop images and write your story.

You can see one I did of my husband's Nolin and Runge families using Blurb here. I have used information from not only records, but family accounts, books, images, photos and newspaper articles to tell the stories of these ancestors.

Don't forget the children - you can make smaller size books with lots of images that tell the story of their parents and grandparents - or go further back if it is for an older child. My eleven year old grandson is very interested in his ancestry and was in awe when he discovered he could trace his family back over 400 years. Think about your audience and keep it interesting.

These ideas may spark other ideas from you to get started on sharing your family stories.




Monday 24 November 2014

Military - Prisoners and Deserters






 We have now looked at different wars and those who joined up to fight them.  The honour rolls of those who gave their lives, and the pensions of those who left parts of themselves on the battlefield.  We have discovered who the nurses and surgeons were that worked tirelessly at home and on those battlefields, and the men and women who did their part on the home front.

To wind up this month of military ancestors we discover yet another group of soldiers.  Those who were captured and held as prisoners.  And those who could not take the noise, the killing, the blood, seeing their friends die before their eyes -  whatever the reason - they are the deserters.

My ancestor Adam Tait fought in the Jacobite Uprising of 1745 for Prince Charlie and when things went bad for them at the Battle of Culloden, he managed to escape with some of his mates and make his way to France.  Not so for some of the others whose names and ranks we find on a list of rebel prisoners.   
 

Is your ancestor's name on one of these lists?


Relevant Links:

Rebel Prisoners after Culloden - 1745

A list of men absent without leave from the 8th Calvary - 1862

A list of deserters and non-reporting drafted men of the 16th Congressional district of Pennsylvania, from the several national drafts of 1863-64 - (1865)

War Department relating to Confederate Prisoners of War - 1861-1865

Red Cross Prisoners of War Bulletin WWII (several issues)

Records relating to War of 1812 prisoners of war

A list of prisoners confined in gaol - Revolutionary War

The whereabouts of various deserters, including Elizabeth Kuznetsova - 1945

List of persons, of Wisconsin, reported as deserters from the Military and Navy 1867

List of Canadian Soldiers executed for Military Offenses

Courts Martial of the First World War - LAC

Shot at Dawn Memorial (google other websites) - UK, AU, NZ, CA

Prisoners of War - lists in newspapers - Trove

Communication from the secretary of war; enclosing a list of the civilian prisoners in custody at Salisbury, NC under military authority - 1863

Prisoners of war and military prisons; personal narratives of experience in the prison at Richmond, Danville, Macon, Andersonville, Savannah, Millen, Charleston, and Columbia - with a list of officers who were prisoners of war from January 1, 1864

Records of the War department relating to Confederate prisoners of war, 1861-1865

Letter to Joseph Reed, President of Pennsylvania, seeking advice about British deserters who wish t join French army - 1780

Courts Martial of the First World War (LAC)

Map of Prison Camp Locations in Germany WWII (from my father's WWII collection)

Prisoners of the First World War

Rebellion of 1837-1838 - Prisoners at Montreal and Exiles to Australia



Sunday 23 November 2014

Serendipity Sunday - Podcasts





                                                 
The other day I turned on my iPad to find that the latest update gave me a Podcast App. I can download and watch Podcasts right on my tablet, all in one place. There is a Search box, and if you type in Genealogy, you will get lots of results (Lisa Cooke, Genealogy Guys, Irish Roots Café, LAC, Polish Genealogy, and many more...)

A Podcast is like a radio show. Many Genealogy sites make Podcasts for giving tips, telling a story or interviewing someone. There are thousands of Podcasts uploaded and available FREE via iTunes. (We all love FREE)


 
 

You don't need an iPad or iPhone to listen to or subscribe to the Podcasts. You can access them through iTunes on your laptop or computer. For Android users you can get free podcast players, like Podcast Republic, and get most of the same episodes. Type genealogy in the search box.


Since there is no video to pay attention to, you can listen while you are working on something else, working out, or doing chores (although I must say my multitasking days are numbered).



Friday 21 November 2014

Thank You Calendar



I have had fun (and learned a lot) while writing my articles this past year. 
As a thank you for tuning in, here is my gift to you.


When I was just learning website code I made an Advent Calendar for my family.  Now I have grandchildren who will enjoy it (as well as the old folks) so I have updated and tweeked it a little.  I thought some of you may enjoy it - so share it and pass it along!

I will upload it early next week and post it in the right hand column of this page. Once it is there and you open it, you can bookmark the URL for easy access.

Thank you, and Joyous Holidays!


Note:  Only available Dec 1-31, 2014



Wednesday 19 November 2014

Webinars - a genealogists favourite tool.


One of my favourite webinars is given by Lisa Louise Cooke, which I have mentioned before and I watched again last night... "Time Travel with Google Earth".

 

 
 
Lisa Louise Cooke is a great webinar presenter. She has a website, has written genealogy help books, and also has some free podcasts on her site. 
 
If you missed last nights presentation, it will be presented again by the Illinois State Genealogical Society on Jan 13, 2015. Go here to Register.  This is a very popular webinar and attendance is limited, so on the day of the presentation...
 
LOG IN EARLY.
 
 
 
 
Another of Lisa's webinars I enjoyed, today actually, is "Using Evernote for Genealogy". This one was presented by Legacy Family Tree Webinars and can be viewed in their archives FREE for the next 7 days.
 
 
 
 


Monday 17 November 2014

Military - Medical




I have mentioned my grandfather's brother Alexander George Mavor a couple of times (Remembrance Day and Windows of the Soul). He enlisted with the CEF 23rd Battalion in Montreal on October 31, 1914. After training in Valcartier, he sailed with his regiment from Quebec City on the Missanabie on February 2, 1915. He was transferred in the field at Ypres to the 4th Battalion (Infantry) on April 26, 1915.

Not only did the doctors and surgeons in the field have to deal with the previously known ravages of warfare, they had to learn quickly how to deal with the damage being done to the soldiers by new technology - machine guns, new-and-improved hand grenades, high explosive shells, and not least of all... the first use of Chlorine Gas in the field April 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres. Alexander arrived just in time!

On the 9th of April 1916 the 4th Battalion relieved the 1st in the trenches at The Bluff, near Ypres. While on duty the next day, April 10th, a bullet glanced off a periscope and hit Alexander in the stomach.

Soldiers with abdominal wounds were moved without delay, so Alexander would have been taken quickly from the First Aid post to the closest Dressing Station, then by Field Ambulance over rough terrain (possibly by horse-drawn wagon) to the nearest Casualty Clearing Station, which was No 17 at Remy Siding. There Private Alexander George Mavor died the next day, April 11, 1916.


Remy Siding - Casualty Clearing Stations and Hospital


If your ancestor was among the tireless doctors and surgeons practicing during war time, he may be listed in one of many books written about their units.
Following are links to a few.


Relevant Links:

List of Massachusetts physicians in the Medical Corps of the US army, navy, the Red Cross or British service during the great war 1919

List of Hospital Corpsmen: US Naval Hospital unit, Bilibid Prison Manila, PI - 1947

Base Hospital 34 in the World War - US 1922

Base Hospital No 52 : war diary - 1919

Base Hospital No 9 - 1920

Pennsylvania hospital unit - Base Hospital No 10, US 1921

US Naval Receiving Hospital Dec 1944 - Dec 1945 Anniversary Booklet

A history of Base Hospital 32 (including Unit R) - 1922

Roster of all regimental surgeons and assistant surgeons in the late war, with their service, and last known address - 1882

No 5 Australian General (Base) Hospital Melbourne

A History of No 7 (Queen's) Canadian General Hospital 1915-1917

The Casualty Clearing Stations of WWI

The Australian Army Medical Corps n Egypt; 1914-1915 (names near back)

The Story of a Red Cross unit in Serbia - UK 1916 (names in back)

Awards for members of Czechoslovak field hospital in Korea - 1953

Chronological history (+ photos) of the 363th field hospital company - 1921

Facts and Fancies (+ photos) of 363rd field hospital company - 1919

Surgery at a Casualty Clearing Station - 1918

Medical Units of the BEF - WWI 1921

Regimental surgeons of the State of New York, in the War of the Rebellion 1861-63

Women as army surgeons : being the history of the Women's Hospital Corps in Paris, Wimereux and Endell Street ; September 1914 - October 1919

Canadian Army Medical Corps reinforcements Nominal Roll 1915

Historical records of No 8 Canadian Field Ambulance: Canada, England, France, Belgium




Sunday 16 November 2014

Serendipity Sunday - Military Badges and More




While seeking out material for last week's Remembrance Day Honour Roll I came across this very handy book. 


 
 

"Badges and Their Meaning : a companion to 'Rank at a glance' : Army & Navy, the R.N.A.S., R.N.D., R.N.R., R.N.V.R., the Royal Marines, Forces of the Overseas Dominions, British Red Cross Society, miscellaneous badges, etc., etc., with descriptive notes (British and Commonwealth) 1916" 

 
Of course after reading it is the "companion to Rank at a Glance" I had to look for that one too.  At Internet Archive it was uploaded as separate images each page, but I did find a website that has all the pages at a glance (pun).
 
 


 
 

Following are also a few links with more names of people pertaining to the military that are not fitting in a previous category.


Relevant links:

Badges and their meaning : a companion to "Rank at a glance" : Army & Navy, the R.N.A.S., R.N.D., R.N.R., R.N.V.R., the Royal Marines, Forces of the Overseas Dominions, British Red Cross Society, miscellaneous badges, etc., etc., with descriptive notes (British) 1916

Rank at a Glance in the Army and Navy

A list of colonels in Cambridge Camp & the number of men each regiment contains: which drew provisions on ye 10th of July - US 1775

Letter to the South Carolina Council of Safety enclosing list of men and supplies 1775

A list of the officers of the Army : the Royal Artillery, the engineers, the Marine Forces, and of the officers on half-pay, and a succession of colonels - 1793

Memorial of the patriotism of Schuylkill County in the American slaveholder's rebellion: embracing a complete list of the names of all the volunteers from the county during the war, patriotic contributions by the citizens - PA, 1865

Record of medals of honor issued to the officers an enlisted men of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard - 1862-1923

The origin, progress, and conclusion of the Florida war : to which is appended a record of officers, non-commissioned offices, musicians, and privates of the U. S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, who were killed in battle, or died of disease : as also the names of officers who were distinguished by brevets, and the names of others recommended : together with the orders for collecting the remains of the dead in Florida, and the ceremony of interment at St. Augustine, East Florida, on the fourteenth day of August, 1842

Military contributions in Mexico. Message of the President of the United States, transmitting reports from the secretaries of war and navy, in answer to a resolution of the House of the 20th December last, relative to the money and property received at the various Mexican ports during the late war – 1849


Monday 10 November 2014

Remembrance Day - Honour Roll



Armistice Day was first observed throughout the British Commonwealth in 1919 to commemorate the ending of the great war - the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month 1918. In 1931 the name was changed to Remembrance Day. In the US it is Veteran's Day. 




In some families many of their ancestors died in wars, I am lucky to have only one (that I know of), my grandfather's brother Alexander George Mavor. I not only honour him and all those that died, but also those who fought. Their former self died in their first battle and a different person came home. I know that my grandfather, my father and my husband were not the same people after the war, and they never talked about what they saw or did.




This year being the 100th anniversary of the start of the war, events were planned world-wide to commemorate the men who fought, like that at the Tower of London. In the genealogy world more records were made available online. Check your country's Roll of Honour, in Canada we have the Books of Remembrance.

After WWI many books were published with lists of names of those who died, and some have photos. Colleges, towns, churches, companies - all published to honour their own. There are too many for me to list them all, but I found a few to give you ideas. 

Try by military unit, state, county, town, college, school, church, etc. Some of you are lucky because more than a few have photos.
Search at Internet Archive using keywords: hono[u]r roll, roll of hono[u]r, veterans, roll of dead, etc and with one of the above. Search the words "honour roll" or "wounds" in newspaper sites. The papers published the names of the dead and wounded almost daily. Also check the local library.


Relevant Links:

Honor Roll; the Proctor & Gamble Company 1920

Roll of Honor of Cook County, Illinois, with military record and place of burial 1922

Roll of Honour, 1914-1919 Employees of Scottish Cooperative Wholesale Society

Independent Order of the Rechabites, a temperance group, and their involvement in WWI. The text contains a register of deceased soldiers and other war records, photographic content and lists of both the senior and junior members of the Order, and a retrospective of the Order's beginnings and activities. Queensland

28th (Maori) Battalion, Roll of Honour - NZ 1924

New Zealand's Viet Nam Roll of Honour

Roll of Honour; National Bank of Scotland

Roll of Honour 1914-1919 for the town and quoad sacra parish of Macduff, with active service lists, lists of prisoners of war, & honours awarded

Roll of Honour of the Ontario teachers who served in the Great War 1914-1918

Roll of Honour of members of the Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet, and apprentices 1914-1919

Roll of Honour; a biographical record of all members of His Majesty's naval and military forces who have fallen in the war - Vol 1

Roll of Honour; a biographical record of all members of His Majesty's naval and military forces who have fallen in the war - Vol 2

Roll of Honour; list of officers and men, New South Wales section of Division, Australian Imperial Force - 1914

The "Hearts" & the Great War; Heart of Midlothian Football Club Roll of Honour

Memorial volume; American field service in France, "Friends of France" 1914-1917 

Roll of the sons and daughters of the Anglican Church clergy throughout the world and of the naval an military chaplains of the same who gave their lives in the Great War

Acta Victoriana; War supplement. Victoria College, Toronto 1919

Canadians who gave their lives in the cause of peace while serving with United Nations  and other peacekeeping missions or peace support operations sanctioned by the UN

The Call to Arms: Montreal's Roll of Honour, European War 1914

Roll of Honour, employees of the Singer Manufacturing Co. Ltd 1914-1918

Roll of Honour, 1914-1919. For King and Country. John Menzies & Company Limited

Roll of Honour; employees who have enlisted in the Great War - Winnipeg Electric Railway

Honour Roll: Canadian companies (ie Birks, Imperial Tobacco, Dominion Textile, etc)

Canadiana Rolls of Honour - titles 

McGill University - Book of Remembrance (WWI & WWII) 1950

Books of Remembrance for Tweeddale, Scotland 

For Remembrance: soldier poets who have fallen during the war: UK c1920 

Royal Navy Biography, with copious addenda  1823-1832

Pacific Gas and Electric Company - Roll of Honor (pg30)

Illinois Central Employee's Magazine - Roll of Honor

US -  VietNam Veterans Honor Roll

US - Korean War Veterans Honor Roll

Honour Them: Roll Call of Honour, to honour all that served Canada 

"The Evening Times" Roll of Honour, Glasgow and area; 1914-1918



Sunday 9 November 2014

Serendipity Sunday - Pensions





The other day I came across some pension lists, which reminded me that soon I will officially be, according to the government, a "senior citizen" and will start getting my "Old Age Security". If it is a shock to me to be classified as "senior" and "old age", imagine how my Mother feels?? At least I'm not alone, as all my friends I went to school with are sailing on the same ship.

According to Library Archives Canada the old age pension started in 1927 for British subjects 70 and over with 20 years residency in Canada and they got $20 a month. The Sessional Papers of Canada hold pension records (superannuation and retiring allowances) of government employees.  Check the front index or contents to see which No to search. The later years were not printed. 

But before that, in Canada, the government started a pension for returning soldiers with disabilities after the Northwest Rebellion in 1885. The Pension Act was passed after WWI in 1919, and the Department of Veteran's Affairs was started in 1944. When I was little one of my neighbor friend's grandfather used to come visit her family.  He would gather us kids together and proudly take out his teeth, take out his eye, and take off his leg. We didn't quite know how he got like that except it happened in the war, and we thought it was awesome! 

My grandfather and father got assistance from the Veterans Affairs with other things, like: lawn mowing, snow removal, drive to doctors appointments, house cleaning and window cleaning... all little things that allowed them to live on their own in their old age, and when they died their widows continued to get these benefits. Also, if their widow could not afford it, the Veterans would pay for the burial or cremation.




These are some pensions lists I found online, mostly military in which some give cause for being pensioned and the date their pension started.  Also look in Company Magazines, they usually have a section for naming those that have retired from their job. Another good source is from Records of the Field Office of the different states, they often hold pension records, usually at the end.

I am only listing a few here, there are many more military pension rolls. 

Search using keywords: pension [rolls], pensioners, veterans


Relevant Links:


Pensions and Superannuations - Sessional Papers of Domonion of Canada

Sessional Papers, Teachers pensions 1890

Sessional Papers 1883 Superannuations

List of Pensioners on the Roll - US 1883 Vol 1-5 (end of #5 other countries)

Itawamba County, Mississippi - Pension Roll 1898

List of Pensioners in the City of Baltimore and the several counties 1874

A census of US pensioners for revolutionary or military service: with name, age, place of residence, as returned by the marshals of the districts  1842

Veterans Administration pension payment cards 1907-1933

Retirees - Pacific Gas & Electric, San Francisco

A list of pensioners of the War of 1812

Roster of Confederate Pensioners of Virginia 1917

Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records 1760-1913 (Index at Family Search)

Roster of Examining Surgeons appointed under the authority of the Commission of Pensions  - US 1875

Irish pensions info

Old age; the results of information received respecting nearly nine hundred persons who had attained the age of eighty years, including seventy-four centenarians (gives names of the patients) – Cambridge 1889

Canada names of Veteran Militiamen who have applied for government gratuity - 1876

Canada names of veteran militiamen 1812-1815, proven for pensions - 1877

Communication from the secretary of war covering a list of those who have been retired from the military service, in accordance with the provisions of the act for ridding the army of ignorant, disabled and incompetent officers – 1864

Munroe County, Iowa 1935 pension list

Literature and the Pension List






Related Posts:  Sessional Papers


Monday 3 November 2014

It's Epidemic!


As long as people have been travelling to and from other lands, they have been spreading disease. Most epidemics in New France began shortly after the arrival of a ship. With travel so much easier and more common the outbreaks spread farther afield, as in the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the latest ebola epidemic, affecting multiple countries. 


When I was a child I contracted the usual childhood diseases... measles, whooping cough, chicken pox (which is why I got shingles last year, ugh!).  Some diseases it was thought better to have while young, so any kid in the area that got sick, all the other kids were sent to "keep him company". When my younger brother got mumps we had a house full of kids for a while.  But my older brother and I never got it. Now you can get vaccinated for these diseases and they are not so common.

My grandfather's sister contracted tuberculosis in 1937 and was sent to a sanitorium. She died soon after, at the age of 31, and meanwhile my mother had been sent to stay with a relative in the country. In the 1950's there was a polio epidemic and our beaches were closed to swimmers, and public pools were heavily chlorinated.

 

Diseases that have been more or less eradicated across the country are making a comeback. "Measles is one of the most contagious and potentially harmful diseases that is preventable by vaccination. Since the vaccine was developed in 1963 there have only been rare cases... " until earlier this year where outbreaks have been reported in Europe, the US and Canada. During the outbreak in Canada some schools would not allow children who have not been vaccinated to attend class.

Some of the epidemics our ancestors may have experienced are typhoid, the plague, cholera, smallpox, yellow fever, dengue fever, measles and influenza. If you find two or more family members (and probably a few neighbours) dying at the same time, you can look for an epidemic occurring at that time.



Below are some lists of victims, and some information booklets or websites. Try local books and newspaper accounts at times of epidemics for lists of victims. For the  last two newspaper links below I searched using keyword "epidemic" - try searching using one of the diseases as keyword.



Relevant links

A short account of the malignant fever in Philadelphia : with a statement of the proceedings that took place on the subject in different parts of the United States ; to which are added, accounts of the plague in London and Marseilles ; and a list of the dead, from August 1, to the middle of December, 1793

A short account of the yellow fever, as it appeared in New-London, Connecticut 1798

The malignant fever, prevalent in the city of New York and list of burials 1799

An Accurate list of persons who have died of the malignant fever in New York, including those at Bellevue - 1803

An account of the yellow fever in New York in the year with a list of deaths 1822

The Bilston Cholera Epidemic of 1832, list of victims (still on Wayback Machine)

The Grosse-Isle Tragedy and the Monument to the Irish fever victims, 1847

Immigrants at Grosse Île Quanantine Station (database) 1832-1937

The epidemic summer. List of interments in all the cemeteries of New Orleans from the first of May to the first of November 1853, with names and ages, cause of death, etc.

Death Roll from the Yellow Fever outbreak in Buenos Aires 1871

The Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878 and names of the victims in Memphis.

Dr Dromgoole's Yellow Fever Heroes, Honors and Horrors of 1878, Louisville.

Yellow Fever epidemic at Hickman, KY (including names of victims) 1878

Sketch of the medical and statistical history of epidemic fevers in Ireland, from 1798 and a comparative view of cholera morbus - Dublin 1832 (with 8 named cases)

Some account of the fever which existed in Boston during 1817 and 1818 (some names)

History and description of an epidemic fever, commonly called spotted fever; which prevailed at Gardiner, Maine, in the spring of 1814 (cases but no names)

Annals of influenza or epidemic catarrhal fever in Great Britain from 1510 to 1837.

A Tuberculosis Directory; List of Institutions - United States and Canada 1916

Interactive Timeline - Diseases and Vaccines (use slider at bottom to change year)

Cholera and The Thames (info website)

List of Epidemics world wide (Wikipedia)

Epidemic accounts in Newspapers (google)


Epidemic newspaper accounts - Trove



Sunday 2 November 2014

Serendipity Sunday - Nurses, Red Cross, and more


While researching my grandfather's brother, I came across this amazing book.



"Illustrated souvenir, Dominion Orthopaedic Hospital, Christie Street, Toronto : containing photo groups and snap-shots of officers, nursing sisters, patients, hospital celebrities, distinguished visitors and others : alphabetical list of over 3000 names of all patients, past and present, together with present addresses : also names and addresses of officers, nursing sisters and others"



I introduced you to my grandfather's brother, George John Seale, who was commissioner for the Red Cross in Manitoba, in my article The Home Front. George died suddenly at home of heart failure in 1924 and the George Seale Nursing Division of the St John Ambulance Brigade was named after him. George is a Memorable Manitoban.

George's wife, Clara Annie, was a serving sister for the St John's Ambulance in Winnipeg for many years. She was also Honorary President of the George Seale Nursing Division. Their only child, Eleanor, became a doctor.

When I was a kid I took swimming lessons with the Red Cross.  My children and grandchildren took a Babysiting Course. The St John Ambulance not only give courses in first aid and CPR, but also give several Industry Safety courses. Both do a lot in the community, as well as overseas and during disasters. 



Relevant Links

Dominion Orthopaedic Hospital, Toronto Souvenir Book (1920ish)

Nursing Sisters of Canada

British Army Nurses service records - WWI

British Military Nurses (Scarletfinder)

The Order of St John in Canada (Roll of Order PDF download) - St John Ambulance

What is the use for the Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada - 1900

Nursing Sisters Nominal Roll 1914 CEF

New Zealand and Australian Army Nurses - Anzac Records

In Honor of the National Association of Civil War Army Nurses - 1910

Our Army Nurses; sketches, addresses, photographs of the nearly 100 noble women who served in hospitals and on battlefields during the US Civil War - 1897

Army School of Nursing 1921-1931

Red Cross Volunteers during WWI - Britain (ongoing upload - check back)

Australian Red Cross - "Carry On" program and souvenir album - 1918

Franklin County KY, Red Cross - men and women serving their country 1918

Australian Service Nurses - National Memorial

Scottish Nurses in Roumania 1918

The Navy List - Nursing Service

Canadian Nurse Magazine (Several volumes, each volume is a year)


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