Fire Prevention Week

Oct 6-12 is Fire Prevention Week. 

Fire Prevention

When a residential or business fire occurs it is not only firemen that get involved, but insurance people and damage inspectors.

My daughter is a journeyman carpenter and at a renovation company she once worked for she would inspect damage and make reports on what needed to be done and the company would run the cost to make renovations or repairs.

When he retired from the RCMP after 10 years of service, my father-in-law Al Nolin became an insurance adjuster, investigating fire and fire-related losses. 

The Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association would hold meetings with representatives of the insurance companies to discuss insurance legislation and prevention measures.

Some of the proceedings of a Fire Insurance Company will give a list of claims..

Beaver and Toronto Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Mar 1871

Also reports of local fire departments may have a list of fires and alarms, like this with date, place, owner and cause...

Boston Fire Department - Annual Report 1884 pg.11

 Many people and companies have suffered losses due to forest and bush fires.

Forest fires relief fund1886, Victoria Australia, pg.13

When I lived in Quebec our town had a "Centre de Dépannage" (or help center) where people could donate clothes and household items for victims of fire, flood etc. People and companies near and far feel compelled to help or donate when fire disasters strike.  

These days after a disastrous fire a go-fund-me page might be set up. Regardless of how it's done, a cry for help would go out for donations large and small to a fire relief fund. 

Northern Ontario Fire of 1911 Relief Fund Subscriptions

Check your local library for fire department and relief fund reports, and local insurance company reports of claims. There may also be directories of insurance companies.

Join in Fire Prevention Week activities in your community. 

Relevant Links

Insurance Society and Firemen’s Review

Proceedings of the Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association in Montreal and Toronto

Proceedings of the Fire Marshals' Association of North America

Proceedings at the second annual meeting of the Beaver and Toronto Mutual Fire Insurance Company, held March 21-23, 1871 - claims

Boston Fire Department, Annual Reports

Report of the Fire Department of the City of New York

Forest fires in Canada, 1914-15-16

Report of the Northern Ontario Fire Relief Committee : re administration of funds subscribed for relief of sufferers in fire in Northern Ontario July 1911

The Weekly Underwriter, NY

National Fire Prevention Association USA

The Insurance Directory And Year Book 1939 London

American underwriter's manual and insurance directory for 1862-3

Related Posts

Where's the Fire 
Insurance

War Time Newsreels

Updated from Dec 2015

Those with ancestors that were in one of the World Wars may be interested in watching some Canadian Army Newsreels that are being uploaded to Library and Archives Canada's YouTube channel.

Our ancestors that were at home during the wars would have watched the newsreels in the movie theaters. 

The Canadian Army Newsreels were 10 minute films made by the Canadian Film and Photo Unit who were trained in combat the same as all soldiers. The films were distributed each week to the Canadian troops, the National Film Board and Canadian, British and American newsreel companies.

Canadian Army Newsreel No 1 (1942)

At Internet Archive there are 266 newsreels of different countries, including Britain, America, Australia, Japan and Italy.  Use the index on the right to find the ones you want.

Will you see your ancestor in one of these films?



Relevant Links

Canadian Army SWW Newsreels

Canadian Army FWW Newsreels

British War Reels

German WWII Newsreels

WWII Newsreels at Internet Archive

Serendipity Sunday - Men of New Jersey in Wars

Well... look what popped up while I was researching booze! 
Can you guess why?

Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in Wars 1791-1815

These are the wars covered...  

• Expedition against the Indians in 1791
• Pennsylvania Insurrection in 1794
• Naval War with France, 1798-1801
• Naval War with Tripoli, Africa, 1801-1805
• War with Great Britain, 1812-1815
• Naval War with Algiers, Africa in 1815

For each War the soldiers are listed by company with name, rank, date entered service, length of service, date left service and remarks (killed, promoted, missing, etc). There is also an alphabetic index at end of each chapter.

At the beginning of each war chapter there is a summary of why the war was being fought.

Relevant links

Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in Wars 1791-1815

Related post: Two Wars of the 1700s

Ploughing Match

Ploughing Matches were contests between local farmers to see who was the best ploughman. Whether pulled by oxen, horse, steam or tractor, the matches have been a much anticipated event for centuries. 

The Australasian Pastoralists' Review Feb 1894, pg 612 (48)

They were usually held on a lucky local farmer's field. Notices of the matches for the upcoming season were posted in papers and agricultural journals.

Lower Canada Agriculturist, Oct 1866, pg.2

The rules are listed on the next page.

In 1871 the Stalmine Ploughing Association held their annual match on Grange Farm occupied by my 3x great uncle James Singleton.

Ploughing Match, Stalmine Lancashire, 1871

Results of ploughing matches were posted in the local newspapers, agricutural journals, state board of agriculture reports, or even sessional papers. Points were awarded for straightness and neatness. 

My Carter and Singleton ancestors often placed in the Lancashire matches, as did my Bruce ancestors in the Aberdeenshire matches. Robert Bruce, son of my 3x great grandfather of Upper Knaven, Fyvie attended the match in Methlic and came in 4th.

Aberdeen Journal, 14 Jan 1852

Ploughing matches have today gone international and become big exhibitions including other events. There are classes for horse-drawn and tractor pulled ploughs.

Richmond Ploughing Match, page 3, Sherbrooke Record, 1 Oct 1979

Local jewelers, silversmiths or goldsmiths were given the task of making medals to give to the prize winners. 

Sessional Papers of Ontario 1895, pg.71-72

Relevant links


Lower Canada Agriculturist

Manitoba ploughing match prize winners 1915

Ontario provincial ploughing matches 1894 winners

New Brunswick ploughing match winners 1884

Quebec ploughing matches by parish, 1880

Agricultural journal and transactions of the Lower Canada Agricultural Society 1851

Agricultural journal of the Lower Canada Agricultural Society 1848-1852

Wentworth Pioneer Ploughing Club, Ontario

The Australasian pastoralists' review 1894, mark 48

Back to Kapunda, September 17 to 24, 1927 : official souvenir pg 42, mark 44

State Board of Agriculture reports

Names of those who died from Yellow Fever in 1820

In 1820 there was an outbreak of Yellow Fever in Savannah Georgia, taking over 700 lives, including two doctors that were tending to the sick.

I left out "Savannah Georgia" from the post title for a good reason. These people that died in Savannah were not only from Georgia, but also from other states and other countries, including Canada, the UK and Germany.

I recently came across this book...

An official register of the deaths which occurred among the white population in the city of Savannah, during the extraordinary season of sickness and mortality which prevailed in the summer and fall months of the year 1820. To which is annexed a list of the persons who died out of the city, after retreating from it. 

The order is by date of burial, not by name. You can search for a name in the search box. When there is no cause of death it was the Fever. When there is no age it's because it was unknown or under two years of age.

Relevant links

Register of deaths in Savannah GA in 1820

Observations upon the autumnal fevers of Savannah

History of yellow fever

Finding an Ancestor in Reports of Commissioners

A Commission, or Royal Commission, is a formal public inquiry created by the government. A commission would be put together to look into issues of importance and usually controversy. Many inquiries can last years, depending on the issue, while the commissioners study causes and effects. The findings are then put into a public report.

So, you ask yourself what this could have to do with genealogy? 
Answer....names, names, names!

On wikipedia there is a list of Royal Commissions of the commonwealth by country. Obviously not all commission reports have lists of names, like the Report of the Royal Commission on the Relations of Labour and Capital in Canada which discusses solutions to some labour issues, but gives salaries for different occupations by province.         

I have come across a few where you may find mention of your ancestors. 
The Report of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration (Canada) of 1885 contains the report and evidence, plus further along, tables of names.

Commission on Chinese Immigration 1885, pg 389

For Queensland, the Royal Commission appointed to Inquire into the Working of the Pearl-shell and Beche-de-mer Industries of 1908 has names of pearl divers and merchants. 

Royal Commission Pearl Industry 1908, pg 6 

  

Royal Commission on Prisons in Ireland was formed in 1882. The report, vol 1, gives names of medical officers...

Royal Commission on Irish Prisons, Vol 1, pg 180

... but most people, prisoners and prison officers alike are mentioned by their initials only. Return of deaths gives first name and last initial...

Return of deaths, pg 248

Two other commissions worth noting are the 1842 Royal Commission on Children's Employment, which was a three year investigation into the working conditions for children in mines and factories in the UK. Lace schools were very common, usually a room in a woman's cottage where she taught lace-making to young children.

Lace schools

  

There are statements from child workers throughout the report.

Also the 1833 Report of Commissioners inquiring into labour in factories.

Spinners and dressers examined by Dr Barry, Glasgow 1833

Married women in New Lanark factory and number of their children 1833

At Canadiana Online search "Royal Commission", and to narrow down the search from over 6000 results you can add other keywords or change the search in field from everything to title.

At HathiTrust search Report of Commissions. You can also narrow the search by adding a keyword.

At Internet Archive (many for Ireland) and Google Books search Royal Commission and Report of Commissioners.

Railway Mail Service

I have ancestors that were postmasters and mail clerks and ancestors that worked on the railroad. But not an ancestor that was a mail clerk ON the railroad! 

British Rail TPO vehicle

In Canada the railway postal workers were paid by the Auditor General and in some sessional papers the clerks were named with their salary amount.   

Sessional papers 1924, pg 85

In the United States Railway Mail Service employees were listed in the Official Register of the United States beginning in 1867.

Official Register of the United States 1867, pg 753

The postmaster and employees are named in the Proceedings of the Parliament for Australia, but I have not yet come across where rail mail clerks are listed, if in fact they are listed separately.


Relevant links

Canadian Railway Mail Service

Official Register of the United States 1867

Railway Mail Clerks in Canada and their salaries and bonuses

Trans-Australian Railway

The Travelling Post Office

American Railway Mail Service

Mail by rail : the story of the Postal Transportation Service 1951

Annual Report of the Postmaster General – US – no names, but salaries and pensions

1901 Report to the Postmaster General, Washington DC

Casualties of Rail Mail Service, US

Casualties where someone was killed, and relief for injured employees, US

More books on Rail Mail




Related Posts

The Post Office

Canada 150 - Post Offices and Letter Carriers

Annual Reports

Most societies, governments, institutions and companies etc generated an Annual Report.
At Internet Archive they are not always under the title of the entity, ie Boston Fire Department Annual Report. Most times the title is just plain Annual Report.

I recommended to a friend who is interested in monarchs (one of the milkweed butterflies) the Annual Report of the Entomology Society of Ontario. This has lists of members including those from other cities across Canada including Montreal, but it is not always about ancestors. What are the monarch population trends from year to year? 

At Internet Archive when I search "annual report" I see 4-5 for the Boston FD, then scrolling down maybe a few more.  To get them all together I use the Advanced Search.  I put  Annual Report in the title box and Boston Fire Dept in the creator box. Now I get all 73 texts. 

Another way is to click on one of the links for Annual Report, Boston (Mass) Fire Dept and when it opens, under the title is a link to all texts for the Boston Fire Dept, and you will likely get more than the annual reports. To remedy that just add annual report to the search box.

Try it out!  Go to Internet Archive and search Annual Report. On the left you see that there are 91,735 texts.  Tick off texts, that is what we want. That's a lot of reports!

Not all Annual Reports have the same information, even year to year, but usually there is a list of officers, and depending on the entity perhaps a list of staff or members. Using the Boston Fire Department again as an example, the yearly reports are different, most have a list of officials somewhere, and some have list of members pensioned or died during the year. Others have a list of fire station locations, or a list of all the fires and alarms, their causes and which company responded.

The Annual Report for the Ontario Inspector of asylums, prisons and public charities may not give the names of asylum patients, but some give their initials and cause of death.  So if you know you have an ancestor that was in an asylum, you may be able to tell more about them from the reports. 

Ontario Asylum for the Insane and Idiotic

Some reports may even have photos, drawings or plans. 

One of my favourites is the Annual Report of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York because they have lots of goodies, like this one for 1911. There is a huge staff and long lists of partons, donors and members with their addresses.  One list is of people who left amounts of money to the hospital by year from before 1867

In previous pages there are small gifts from people and large endowments in memory of loved ones. Great place to look for your new York ancestor. 

For other hospitals, including more in New York, search Annual Report Hospital.


Those with Australian ancestors can do the same thing at Trove. As well as journal reports, there may have been some published in the newspapers.

For Canada only reports, you can search the newly-free canadiana.org

Society of Colonial Wars

"Colonial Wars: a quarterly magazine" was published in Massachusetts by the Society of Colonial Wars and contains pedigree charts as well as membership lists. 

"The Society of Colonial Wars is an hereditary society composed of men who trace their descents from forebears who, in military, naval, or civil positions of high trust and responsibility, by acts or counsel, assisted in the establishment, defense, and preservation of the mainland American colonies of Great Britain."

Many states have a Society of Colonial Wars and have published their own registers and yearbooks. Using the link below, look in the left hand column for "creator" and click on "more", you will get a popup list of societies in different states then can see just the ones for the state you want.



Relevant Links

Colonial wars: a quarterly magazine, Mass, No.1-4 (Internet Archive)

Colonial wars: a quarterly magazine, Mass (HathiTrust)

Register of officers and members of the Society of Colonial Wars, 1897-1898

Society of Colonial Wars for the State of... 

National Society Daughters of Colonial Wars – Ancestor List




Related Post:  Colonial Dames of America

French Canadians in the United States

Between 1840 and 1930 approximately 900,000 French Canadians migrated to the New England states looking for work in cities growing due to the industrial revolution. It is said that about half returned to Canada, but those who stayed organized themselves into French communities.

The Drouin Collection at Généalogie Québec has registers for some towns in the US where French Canadians lived. If you don't have a subscription, you can get one for a month for just $13 cdn, or 24 hour access for $5 when you have time to search. 

Relevant Links


Le Guide Français de la Nouvelle-Angleterre 1887

The French Canadian in Quebec and New England 1893

Les Canadiens-Français de la Nouvelle-Angleterre 1891

Les Canadiens Français de Fall River, Mass 1883

Les Canadiens-Français de Lowell, Mass 1896

La Colonie Canadienne-Française de Chicago 1893

XVIe Convention Nationale des Canadiens-français desEtats-Unis 1886

XVIIe Convention Nationale des Canadiens-français des Etats-Unis 1888

Les Franco-Americains et la Guerre Mondiale, 1921

Généalogie Québec

Related post: Les Familles du Québec et les Franco-Americains

   

Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen

I have quite a few railroad ancestors on my tree. Some were engineers, and a new-found husband of an ancestor was a locomotive fireman before later becoming an engineer. 

When John McTeer married Sarah Anne King, my grandmother's aunt, he was a locomotive fireman from Chaudiere Station, Quebec City, now working in Montreal for the Grand Trunk Railroad. 

In 1884 John McTeer was secretary for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen at the Montreal lodge. 

Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen's magazine, 1884, pg 122

Sometime in 1888 John moved to Bisbee Arizona and became a locomotive engineer for the Arizona and South Eastern Railroad. 

In 1902 John McTeer moved back to Canada, at Limoilou, Quebec City, and was working for the Quebec & Lake St John Railway (owned by Canadian Northern). On 10 August 1914 John's train came to a bridge that he discovered too late was afire. The engine fell through, killing the fireman and injuring John. He died in hospital four days later.

Quebec Daily Telegraph, 14 Aug 1914, pg 4

I found in the 1914 issue of the Brotherhood magazine a Statement of Death and Disability Claims. (No mention of John McTeer though). There are more on the previous page with amounts of insurance.

Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen's magazine, Sept 1914, pg 386

In the UK it is the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen.



Relevant Links

Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen's Magazine

Different Brotherhood publications at Internet Archive

Locomotive engineers and firemen's (UK) monthly journal

Locomotive engineers and firemen's monthly journal, UK - Vol 1, 1888

Souvenir, Canadian union meeting, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen and Ladies' Society, Calgary 1914

Schedules of rates of pay and rules governing locomotive enginemen 1902

Locomotive Fireman's Duties

The Canadian first, second and third year examinations for engineers and firemen, 1912

The Footplate: Victorian Locomotive Engine drivers', Firemen's and Cleaners' Association.