 Sask Gen Web for Kids Getting Started in Genealogy for Saskatchewan
When doing genealogical research it is important to trace name, place and date through various historical records. Start with what each family member can remember about any family ancestry about parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc. Family members also have old photographs and documents about the family. From these beginnings, it is possible to follow up events which happened in the lives of our ancestors. Some events which they may have experienced are: birthing, christening, marriage, school attendance--elementary, secondary and post secondary, residence, migration, tax payment, voting-enumeration lists, serving in the armed forces, buying and selling land and / or personal property, applying for homestead patent, employment--employment records, membership in community, ethnic, religious organizations, newspaper or newsletter posting. The internet can be a valuable resource to trace the history of the place your ancestors resided in as well as where to locate the above documents about your family. Historical , and regional sites ; 1. Swift Current, 2. Moose Jaw, 3. Weyburn, 4. Kindersley, 5. Regina, 6. Yorkton, 7. Battleford, 8. Saskatoon, 9. Kamsack, 10. Lloydminster, or 11. Prince Albert; can help with much more familial / community information to help fill in the family tree with a few more details about our ancestor's living conditions. Genealogical internet sites also give insight into community life, and local experiences of various times. These activities, and inter-relationships help the family tree grow and expand and perhaps also show how the characteristics particular to your family helped the community they lived in evolve and why they made the decisions that they did. While we can't give you all the answers, we can provide you with some resources such as mailing groups and posting boards, as well as web sites that should answer some of your questions.
Once you have established some of your ancestry with interviewing family members and obtaining oral history, then explore more avenues by using your own local library for books and records that they have in regards to genealogical research.
Explore what your local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.(LDS) has to offer to help you get started. The "LDS" - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Research has their branch addresses, ancestral files, research guides, forms, web sites and the International Genealogical Index (IGI) online. Use forms, interview questions and genealogy procedure as outlined in some of the getting started internet links.
Birth, marriage, and death certificates, cemetery records and obituary notices, court records, newspaper resources, church records can be obtained as primary sources for genealogical records. Sometimes an ancestor had a specific occupation with the transportation or railines, CPR CNR , or can be found in other Saskatchewan Directories.
GENEALOGICAL INDEXES AVAILABLE TO
SASKATCHEWAN PEOPLE IN CENTENNIAL YEAR (news release
)
"The act will create the authority for Saskatchewan
Health to compile, publish and distribute genealogical
indexes of births, marriages and deaths as a support
to people researching their history. The year range for
the indexes will be developed in the act regulations at a
later date; in other jurisdictions the range is typically
95 to 120 years for births; 20 to 70 years for deaths; and
50 to 80 years for marriages."
This index is NOW online!
Saskatchewan Health
 Vital Statistics Genealogy Search Page
The censeii are online for 1881, 1901, 1906 and 1911 The Censeii for the Hamlet of Duff, 1920; Hamlet of Insinger, Saskatchewan 1921;, Census for Neudorf, Sask, 1901 at Yorkton Gen Web
For homesteaders who came to farm in Saskatchewan check out homestead records for databases, and to explain how to use information from these database sources. (For online searches of homesteads, use Archivia Net Dominion Land Grants which is an online database of any homesteader who received their letter of patent for successfully proving their land. The Letter of Patent was granted by the Dominion Government of Canada, and a copy is available from National Archives. The Saskatchewan Homestead Index Project (SHIP) has just come online which is a transcription of homestead record holdings of the Provincial Archvies. The Provincial Government of Saskatchewan managed the land titles offices, and the correspondence and forms that transpired between homesteader and the land titles office are available from Saskatchewan Provincial Offices Provincial Archives may have a file on the homesteader even if the land was not proved successfully and title not granted, or if the land was a pre-emption.) Read the Homestead Section, Range, Township, Meridian numbering in tandem with map resources or the Online Historical Map Digitisation Project will help to locate the town which was near the original homestead, then the Sask Gen Web regional resources can be utilized. (Saskatchewan Townships & Ranges in a tutorial quiz!) The town name will also provide a clue as to which local history/family biography book may also contain familial information. A look up volunteer who currently owns a copy of this book can provide information if your ancestor is recorded in one of these local history/family biography book commemorating the 75th anniversary of Saskatchewan.
Two books of compiled biographies of early pioneers are online:
"Saskatchewan and Its People" 1924 written by legislative librarian John Hawkes
Pioneers and Prominent People of
Saskatchewan 1924, by Canadian Publicity Co.
transcribed online by Sask Gen Web Curator, Julia Adamson. These online books include early pioneer narratives, historical accounts as well as biographies.
The Regina Prairie History Room and Saskatoon Local History Room of the Saskatchewan library are excellent resources for starting your genealogy research here in Saskatchewan. A search of a library database with the town location of a Saskatchewan homesteader or early resident may result in a local history/family biography book which has biographical submissions from local residents. (For hours and times) The Saskatchewan libraries have a new online question and answer service called Ask Us! Questions are fielded by the Lakeland Library Region, Pahkisimon Nuye?áh Library System, Palliser Regional Library, Parkland Regional Library, Regina Public Library, Saskatoon Public Library, and Southeast Public Library. Saskatchewan Libraries: Ask Us! : Genealogy Guide This project gives brief answers to factual questions, bibliographies and to give some guidance on how to start your research!
Many Saskatchewans were immigrant pioneers and homesteaders. archival records: National Archives Archivia Net has an immigrant database. When families immigrated from their homeland, they may be recorded on passenger list resources or the Report of Admissions at the Port of Gretna, Manitoba for the Months of April and May 1910. To determine which passenger listing to order, check out when they applied for their homestead records , and search passenger list microfilms before that date. A ship mailing list will also help you with passenger list, embarkation ports and disembarkation ports. Many immigrants settled in ethnic blocks when they applied for their homestead. Information about the history of Saskatchewan, culture and ethnic diversity regarding settlement patterns and areas regarding specific nationalities is online at Saskatchewan ethnic roots interactive forum.
The mail in the early days had to reach many small centers, and many homesteaders were also postmasters. National Archives Archivia Net has a listing of early post masters online.
If your Saskatchewan ancestors were born in the early 1900's they may have served in the WW1 Canadian Expeditionary Force (1914-1918). For the WW1 Canadian Expeditionary Force database see archival records: National Archives Archivia Net Saskatchewan residents earned military For more military information on the Anglo-Boer war (1899-1902), World War I (1914-1918), World War II (1939-1945), Korean War (1950-1953) and the 1885 Northwest Rebellion: Riel's Revolt.War and Military Resources - Lest we forget
First nations and métis ancestry can be traced using archival records: National Archives Archivia Net to look up scrip records in addition to the resources enumerated herein.
Many settlers who immigrated to Saskatchewan, settled in ethnic bloc settlements. The location of Saskatchewan cultural and ethnic bloc settlements can help locate valuable resources and databases, posting boards, look up volunteers in the specific Sask Gen Web regions. The Saskatchewan ethnic and cultural webpages receives biographies and places them online to enable you to post your ethnic and cultural heritage family information. There are also general genealogy hints, websites and tips which you have found helpful in tracing your immigrant or indigenous ancestral roots.
When you know the placename where in Saskatchewan your ancestor came from please find more information out about that place in the various regional sites of Sask Gen Web:
1. Swift Current, 2. Moose Jaw, 3. Weyburn, 4. Kindersley, 5. Regina, 6. Yorkton, 7. Battleford, 8. Saskatoon, 9. Kamsack, 10. Lloydminster, or 11. Prince Albert.
Before the advent of modern transportation, Saskatchewan had small school districts, postal stations, rail sidings, or communities every 4-6 miles apart. In an era when transportation was via walking or horse and no roads, travel was difficult. When hauling grain to elevators with horse and wagon, approximately seven miles was considered to be a convenient distance, allowing for one trip to be made a day. One Room School Houses would be four to six miles apart. Many placenames of the late 1800s and early 1900s do not exist anymore.
The 1901 NWT Census
Sask Gen Web Placename Index, the One Room School House Project, a historical Map or Search Saskatchewan placenames may help to uncover which Sask Gen Web Region of Saskatchewan your ancestor came from. The smaller the Gen Web Region number the more southerly the region, the larger numbers are in the northern part of the province, for more information or maps.
Saskatchewan is approximately 1,267 kilometers (787 miles) long as the crow flies north-south. Saskatchewan is approximately 652 kilometers (405 miles) east and west along the US Canada border and its triangular shape narrows down to about 462 kilometers (287 miles) running east west at the Saskatchewan - North West Territories border. To drive from the capital of the province, Regina (located in the southern portion of the province) to Saskatoon (located centrally in the province) would take 2:49 hours to travel the 260 kilometers (161.5 miles). By posting Queries to the smaller and more localized regional sites cousins or neighbors still living in the area may possibly be contacted, dead ends eliminated and missing puzzle pieces can be filled in.
Saskatchewan communities published local history family biography books in 1951 and more extensively in 1981. By checking out the regional sites of Sask Gen Web there will be look up resources available to help you discover where your family ancestors are recorded. Local history family biography books may also be obtained via inter library loan from the National Library of Canada
Societies - Genealogy and Heritage will also help you to trace your ancestor with professional local help. The
Saskatchewan Genealogical Society
offers many research services, one of which is the Saskatchewan cemetery search as well as the Saskatchewan Residents Index
Also explore databases placed online by volunteers listed at Sask Gen Web Archives, Tribute to Saskatchewan and the Sask Gen Web Regional Web Sites, then Search engines, people finders, and surname internet resources will also help to uncover genealogical "clews" . Once you have your ancestral information compiled a computer Genealogy Programs will help you to store your database or help you place your family tree online.
SGW for Kids (of all ages) helps to learn about Saskatchewan genealogy and history by doing puzzles and quizzes. There is located another Getting Started in Genealogy in Saskatchewan page at Sask Gen Web for Kids as well. Home schoolers, teachers, and family may also wish to involve children with tracing family trees and history and Sask Gen Web for kids will help children of all ages enjoy genealogy and Saskatchewan's rich and diverse history. Sask Gen Web for kids has crossword puzzles, wordsearch puzzles, cryptograms, quizzes, genealogical forms, query boards set up specially for kids and much more. If you are cruising through this site, you may wish to pop into the kids query board and see if you can assist these junior genealogists.
A family tree displayed at a family re-union is a truly wonderful way to share your love of genealogy and history with many others. Many Saskatchewan re-unions and events are posted at the calendar of reunions and events. Another way to share your family reminiscences with others with an interest in Saskatchewan history and genealogy is on this interactive web site Saskatchewan reminiscences; an online interactive posting board.
Questions, dead ends may arise after exploring the above routes. Mailing List Resources, and Posting Boards for Queries are wonderful internet resources for many questions that may surface.
In this way the internet is a valuable tool for furthering or confirming the oral family history gathered, and expanding your search following the family tree names, places and dates through the generations. A new online feature to complement the Query boards, Archived Queries, Mailing Lists, and Surname posting board is to submit a biography to the Saskatchewan Ethnic Cultural Network. All of these WWW projects let you connect with others in your research, to let us know where you are at now, and where you have Saskatchewan Roots to enable you to meet other genealogists with similar interests. Please enter your comments about the website Sask Gen Web in our Guest Book. (Do not use the guest book for queries as the above WWW projects serve this purpose much better).
The mandate of Sask Gen Web and its various regions 1. Swift Current, 2. Moose Jaw, 3. Weyburn, 4. Kindersley, 5. Regina, 6. Yorkton, 7. Battleford, 8. Saskatoon, 9. Kamsack, 10. Lloydminster, or 11. Prince Albert is to provide access to genealogical transcripts and resources relating to this province of Canada. Sask Gen Web provides an international internet forum via its regional web pages, and their look up volunteers, mailing groups, posting boards, web links and databases to make valuable local research material available or known to the public. Databases placed online by volunteers are listed at Sask Gen Web Archives and Tribute to Saskatchewan. Without publicity, source material remains obscure and unfortunately may be disregarded and undervalued. Research enquiries are drawn to regional collections if awareness increases that this information exists, and
knowing where, and how, to access such documents. If you would like to help with Sask Gen Web, volunteers are greatly appreciated.
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