Alberta Family Histories Society

09/22/2025

Hays Alberta - Cemetery

Alberta Ancestors - https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/hays-cemetery-md-of-taber/

Hays Cemetery, located in the hamlet of Hays within the Municipal District of Taber, is a small but meaningful community burial ground.
Hays was named in honour of David Walker Hays (1878–1958), who served as the chief engineer and manager of the Canada Land and Irrigation Company from 1911 to 1951. The hamlet officially celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2002, marking its establishment around 1952.
The region’s transformation began with early irrigation efforts: as early as 1912, a canal and irrigation system extended from the Bow River at Carseland, but active irrigation of land in Hays began only after PFRA (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration) acquired and revitalized the infrastructure in 1950. This fundamentally shaped settlement growth and agriculture around Hays.

09/08/2025

Hays From Sod to Silver - 1952 to 1977
Hays Alberta

Published: 1977
Pages: 247
Families: 225
Settlement: 1

Bow River Irrigation Project - The history of the Hays district is more or less an extension of the Bow River Irrigation project of which it is a part.

Previous to 1951, the Hay area was uninhabited. An active construction program was undertaken in 1951. A mobile trailer camp was set up on parcel 48, not far from Armelgra, an established railroad siding. Water was pumped from the Bow River a mile away. The buildings and trailers that housed the many workers were moved to the Hays site in June 1952.

Application was approved on August 28, 1952 and a new town was established. Name of the town, Hays.

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hays,_Alberta
Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/boh7spB1e45aUZzA7

09/07/2025

Due to unforeseen circumstances, our presentation has changed for the Society meeting on Monday night. Amber Godfrey will do a presentation about her research into the lives of three brothers who were lost at sea.
We welcome guests! This will be a hybrid Zoom event, so join us at our Resource Centre or via Zoom. For more information, please see https://afhs.ab.ca/event/afhs-society-meeting-5/

09/01/2025

We have lots happening in September.
September 1 - Board Meeting 7 - 9 pm - Zoom
September 6 - Family Tree Maker SIG 10am - 12pm - Zoom
September 6 - End of Summer Event 3 - 6 p.m
September 8 - Society Meeting presentation on "The Value of Hudson Bay Company Records for Genealogists" Hybrid
September 12 - Writing SIG 9:30 a.m. Zoom
September 13 - Digital Genealogy and Family Genes SIG 10 - 12.m - Zoom
September 14 - DNA SIG 12:30 - 2:30 p.m. - Zoom
September 15 - Chit Chat 7 - 8:30 p.m. - Zoom
September 20 - English/Welsh SIG 10am - 12pm - Zoom (Dating Photos presenters Steve Henley and Kelly Southworth)
September 22 - Ontario SIG 1:30 - 3:30pm - Zoom (Durham Region Records & Resources presenters Nancy Trimble and Stephen Wood)
September 23 - Legacy SIG 7 - 9pm - Zoom/Hybrid
September 27 - Celtic SIG 10am -12pm zoom/Hybrid
Our Resource Centre will be open to the public Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am to 2 pm, and Saturdays from noon to 4 pm. Our volunteers look forward to helping you at our new library, meeting and office space (Suite 251S in the south tower, 8500 Macleod Trail SE in the Heritage Square building).

08/31/2025

Alberta Family Histories Society volunteers have been working hard over the last little while, and 6 new cemeteries have been uploaded to our cemetery database, Alberta Ancestors. We added 2059 names to the database in the month of August! More names are being added all the time, so check it out: Alberta Ancestors – https://albertaancestors.ca
August - 2025
Stirling Mennonite Cemetery (Warner County) 33 names 27 photos ~ https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/stirling-mennonite-cemetery-warner-county/
Maybutt Cemetery (Warner County) 3 names 1 photo ~ https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/maybutt-cemetery-warner-county/
New Dayton Cemetery (Warner County) 35 names 23 photos ~ https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/new-dayton-cemetery-warner-county/
Hays Cemetery (MD of Taber) 62 names 47 photos ~ https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/hays-cemetery-md-of-taber/
Mitford Cemetery (Cochrane, Rocky View County) 16 names 1 photo ~ https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/mitford-cemetery-mountain-view-county/
Mount Auburn Cemetery (Rimbey, Ponoka County) 1,931 names 2,237 photos ~ https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/mount-auburn-cemetery-rimbey-ponoka-county/

08/09/2025

Alberta Family Histories Society volunteers have been working hard over the last little while, and 5 new cemeteries have been uploaded to our cemetery database, Alberta Ancestors. We added 1,125 names to the database in the month of July! More names are being added all the time, so check it out: Alberta Ancestors – https://albertaancestors.ca
July - 2025
Alder Flats Cemetery (Wetaskiwin County) ~ https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/alder-flats-cemetery-wetaskiwin-county/
Eckville Cemetery (Lacombe County) ~ https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/eckville-cemetery-lacombe-county/
Michichi Cemetery (Starland County) ~ https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/michichi-cemetery-starland-county/
Purple Springs Cemetery (MD of Taber) ~ https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/purple-springs-cemetery-md-of-taber/
Trochu Baptist Cemetery (Kneehill County) - https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/trochu-baptist-cemetery-kneehill-county/

08/04/2025

For Historic Calgary Week, Jim Benedict and Ron Gilmore of Alberta Family Histories Society delivered a fine presentation on a few residents of local cemeteries including the “World’s Tallest Man” and two Titanic survivors.

Check out the AFHS Youtube channel where you can find these stories in the “Tombstone Tourism” video along with several other informative videos produced by members which would be of interest to family historians.

Alberta Family Histories Society - Youtube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/

Photo Credit - Marion Peterson

08/02/2025

Thanks to Jim Benedict and Ron Gilmore for their wonderful presentation yesterday for Historic Calgary Week. They shared some fascinating stories about the "residents" in our local cemeteries!

07/30/2025

As part of Historic Calgary Week, Alberta Family Histories Society volunteers, Ron Gilmore and Jim Benedict, will review genealogical resources AFHS has available in-person and online for worldwide family history research, and will discuss some of the “residents” of our local cemeteries. These include heroes, business giants, villains, gunslingers and the World’s Tallest Man. Contact info@afhs.ab.ca or 403-214-1447 to register.

The presentation will be at 1 pm at our Resource Centre (251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE in the Heritage Square building) on Friday, August 1.

For more information about Historic Calgary Week, please visit their website. There are lots of other events planned by Chinook Country Historical Society. The theme is “Growing with the Flow.”

07/17/2025

The Alberta Family Histories cemetery project was featured on CBC news yesterday. Unfortunately we can't share the link directly on Facebook. You can find the full story on the AFHS website.
https://afhs.ab.ca/afhs-cemetery-project-featured-on-cbc.../
Thanks, Wendy Schultz and Ron Gilmore for an awesome job!

On July 16, our cemetery project was featured on CBC News Calgary - both on radio and tv. Thanks to Dan McGarvey who met with Wendy Schultz and Ron