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- This
column by John Cosway is a mix of 50 years of media memories
and 15 years of buying and selling experiences via live and online
auctions, flea markets, antique stores and markets etc.
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- Cosway's Corner -
Family tree research Part 1 of 2
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- Family tree research grows your roots
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- By John Cosway
- That long and winding road the
Beatles sang about in the 1970s would best describe the path
taken by people researching their family trees.
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- It is definitely long and winding,
with numerous detours, roadblocks and dead-ends along the way,
but getting to know your roots trumps all of the brick walls.
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- Genealogy can be a lifetime
commitment, but thanks to the Internet and a growing number of
fellow researchers in the loop, a lot of footwork has been eliminated.
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- Why devote time, energy and
money to track your DNA trail? As one anonymous genealogist once
said: Trees without roots fall over.
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- So let's grow those roots.
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- Put yourself in the shoes of
a detective or investigative reporter with a goal of uncovering
the full story about your ancestors, who they were and how they
lived, piece by piece until a picture forms.
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- Sure, you might find a few skeletons
in the closet along the way - horse thieves, stagecoach robbers,
politicians etc. - but as in collecting antiques and collectibles,
the hunt is the hunt.
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- Our family tree research has
been a family affair off and on since the 1970s, first with a
younger sister, Sylvia Cosway. But it was my brother,
Bill Cosway, who raised the bar in 1996 and is still going
strong 12 years and 8,000-plus tree names later.
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- If you have the patience required
and are ready to commit, consider making the purchase of the
few essentials needed to get started a family Christmas gift
and launch your search in the New Year.
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- The essentials include a hard
copy filing system and if you are going to be using a computer,
a family tree program to input all of your finds.
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- Begin with what you know and
meticulously work your way back. Genealogists recommend sitting
down with relatives for Q&A sessions using a tape recorder
or video camera.
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- "Your living relatives
can provide so much information about their past and stories
of interest that will not be available when they are dead and
buried," says Bill Cosway.
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- "Many people do not start
their family research until after most older family members have
died, so ask questions of your parents, grandparents, aunts,
uncles and other relatives now while you can."
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- Upcoming Christmas gatherings
would be an opportunity to get started. Prepare a list of questions
to ask, or go with the flow and allow your family members to
talk for as long as they are willing.
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- "You will be amazed by
the wealth of information they will share if asked," says
Bill.
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- Our cousin Bill Cosway
in Ottawa, for example, was encouraged to put his childhood memories
in booklet form, which he did in his 70s, and then wrote a book
on his memories of WW2.
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- Armed with information from
living relatives, move on to your detective work and tackle the
task of learning everything you can about your dead relatives.
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- You will soon learn that around
every corner there is a commercial research service asking you
for money. But hold off on the paid services until you take full
advantage of all of the free resources available in Ontario and
beyond.
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- My brother, a Family Tree Maker
program user, says his top five free research tools are: Archives,
public libraries, family members, cemeteries and newspapers.
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- The archives: The hub for provincial records is the
Archives of Ontario at 77 Grenville Street in downtown Toronto.
Here you can research birth, marriage and death records, read
wills and estates files, scan vintage newspapers on microfilm
etc. The generous reading room hours provide ample time for making
progress on any given day.
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- Libraries: If you can't get to the archives, arrange
for microfilm reel loans through the Interlibrary Loan Department.
Reels can't be removed from local libraries, so schedule visits
that will allow adequate time to scan the reels. Libraries can
also be a source for books on local history and nostalgic vintage
telephone, street directories and voters' lists.
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- Cemeteries: Hundreds of cemeteries dot the province's
landscape and each and every grave has a story to tell. While
some cemetery caretakers are organized, even computerized, others
cannot account for 100% of their interred. Tombstone readings
can be next to impossible because of age and wear, but just finding
graves can be rewarding.
Family: Interviewing older family members can provide
a wealth of information. Ask them about their childhood years;
how they met their husbands/wives, what they did for entertainment,
street addresses in their lives, jobs held, cars owned, journeys
travelled, their dreams, achievements and heartbreaks. Some of
their answers could surprise you.
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- Newspapers: Consider yourself fortunate if any
of your ancestors lived in communities with newspapers that have
been preserved on microfilm. Papers from the past can be a gold
mine. Social notes, weddings, births and deaths, business stories,
moves to other communities etc. Newspaper accounts can add colour
and character to your ancestors.
- Countless hours of meticulous
research can be an emotional roller coaster ride for dedicated
family tree researchers. There are the highs of "eureka"
discoveries and the lows of frustrating roadblocks and dead-ends.
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 Each
new confirmed discovery is comparable to a mini lottery win.
Another of the many gaps filled in and it's time out for a little
happy dance.
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- Our Cosway-Johnson-Dommett-Burns
ancestor discoveries include:
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- William B. Roadhouse, a Brampton Conservator newspaperman
who went on to become Ontario's deputy minister of agriculture
from 1912 to 1930;
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- John Duck, who owned the landmark 1800s Duck's
Tavern on the Etobicoke waterfront, catering to stagecoach riders;
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- Jack Cosway, a Salvation Army musician who was too
ill to travel to Europe with the Salvation Army band on the ill-fated
Empress of Ireland in May of 1914.
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- We have also learned members
of our Johnson clan mingled with William "Buffalo Bill"
Cody in the 1800s in Dixie, where Cody was baptized.
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- We thought Richard and
Maria Cosway, famed British miniaturist artists, might
be ours, but no luck. Maria, as widely publicized, had an affair
with Thomas Jefferson in the late 1700s.
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- One eureka moment for my brother
was learning that a great grand uncle gave his newborn daughter
up for adoption when his wife died shortly after giving birth
in 1885. He had two young sons and felt he couldn't properly
care for her.
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- The most frustrating roadblock:
"Knowing that five ancestors are buried in Dixie Union Cemetery
in Mississauga and no one will, or can, acknowledge they are
buried there. It's like our past has been overlooked, passed
by."
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- With each discovery, we gain
respect for the hardships, the personal tragedies and the peaks
our ancestors experienced and achieved. Our Irish and English
ancestors on our mother's side sailed to Canada in the mid-1800s
and through ship lists, we can account for our father's parents
and siblings arriving from England on two ships in 1913.
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- We know of farmers, maltsters,
pub governor, newspaperman, railroad worker, world war vets,
blacksmiths, coopers, undertakers, tavern owners and yes, even
a politician or two.
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- When we drive the roads our
ancestors travelled in wagons and view buildings they used -
including an 1830s house in Mississauga, built by our great-great
grandfather and still occupied today - it connects us to their
lives.
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- It is a lasting bond that wouldn't
exist if we were not interested in our roots.
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- The never-ending quest to fill
in all the gaps on the DNA trail as far back as time - and public
records - permit has become easier with a multitude of Internet
sites and services.
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- In the next issue, we'll talk
about genealogy on the Internet and how family tree research
has become a global community.
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- Photo 1: A three-generation 1930s photo in front of the
Johnson house on the Dundas Hwy. in Dixie (now Mississauga),
built in 1830 and still being used 178 years later
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- Photo 2: The genealogy hunt includes cemetery tombstone
readings. Epitaphs can provide insights into the character of
your ancestors
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