52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
2019
Week 5
Prompt – At The Library
As I have mentioned before, I started
genealogy in 2005 after taking a genealogy course. Genealogical
databases had not come of age at this time. They were out there but
only accessible through the library. The databases were scant. Quite
often the information you wanted was found on microfiche or
microfilm. Sometimes the library would have the microfiche on site,
but more remote work was to be ordered in and after several weeks it
came into the library and you would go to one of their antiquated microfiche readers and figure out how to use it and then search a
poorly done film for hours on end in search of that one little gem of
information such as the right Canadian Census for the ancestors. It
was tedious work with very little payback. I have not used
microfiche reader since that time.
At that time I also went to the library
to look up relatives in The Henderson's Directory. This was a
directory that listed the people of the city, where they lived, their
occupation, and sometimes their spouse. They had the books back to
the 1920's in Saskatoon Public Library. This is where I started
looking up my paternal grandfather Patrick Sullivan with some
success. After finding what you wanted you would have to dig out
your quarters to photocopy the page or two.
 |
| Patrick Sullivan Chef YMCA Room 309 Ave B South |
Fast forward 13 or so years and I find
that I have rarely gone to a library. The databases online are
phenomenal. They can be accessed at the library for free and if there
is a computer available. If you can afford the subscription and have
a computer at home, then one can stay at home spending hours looking
for their long lost ancestors in their sweats or PJ's if you wish.
When I came back to genealogy I couldn't believe how much information
is out there. A genealogist's life is much easier now than it was
when I first started.
One of the databases I use quite often
is The GRanDMA database
(Genealogical
Registry
and
Database
of Mennonite
Ancestry)
The following is what I get when I look up my paternal grandfather,
Franz Peters.
In
looking for a source for the birth, baptism, death and burial for Franz
Peters I looked at notes at the bottom of the page. The Reinländer
Gemeinde Buch : 1880-1903, Manitoba, Canada is a book of church
records and registers. Die Mennonitische Rundschau, page 7 May 1952,
p11 was the next source I needed to find. Mennonitische Rudnschau
was the longest running German newspaper in North America and ran
from 1880 to 2007. It was written in German and was the newspaper of
the Mennonites connecting Russia to North America as a source of the
births, deaths and other news. Around this time I happened to be in
Saskatoon and wanted to go to the Mennonite Historical Society of
Saskatchewan. As it turned out it is the basement of the Bethany
Manor. I was directed to take the elevator to the basement and go
forward past the old fridges, stoves and walkers to the double
doors, I would find it in there. I did find it there. I thought it
would be in a more stately abode. It was a rather large room filled
with used books and bibles, magazines, new books for sale and tables
strewn with books, documents and magazines that were being archived and put out
for display. It smelled musty and things were dusty. Among this I
was able to find the above book, The Reinländer Gemeinde Buch and
in fact bought it to have my own copy. The Mennonitische Rudnschau
was bound and organized into files that one could look up easily. As
I leafed through the old newspapers from 1952, the paper felt brittle
and ready to disintegrate. Carefully I found page 11of May 7 1952.
And this is what I found.
I
copied it and well the next step is to find someone to translate it.
Oh how I wish I knew German.
This
Mennonite archival site in Saskatoon is the closest thing to a library that I have visited
for my genealogy in recent years. It has proved to be very useful.
Its full of historical books and papers that otherwise would not be
available on the internet. And like the library it is staffed by
wonderful knowledgeable volunteers who were there to answer my
questions and direct me to the next place in my search. I plan to
return again on my next visit to Saskatoon.
Libraries
are still necessary in genealogy despite all the online information
out there. Almost every public library has a section on genealogy
and local history which is a good place to start. It is where I started this crazy hobby.
Wendy
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