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We Dig Up Family, Whitehorse, YT (2025)

05/09/2024

Part 4 Case study: Tracking WWII Veteran – not related or known to me.
Soldier: E P Dontigny- service number C1495 SDG Highlander Wounded WII.

Why did I not start with Ancestry or Familysearch public trees or even just google his name? All of these options are excellent resources once you have something to verify a match against. With the list of soldiers I am searching for, I have to build reliable information up so I have something to compare. Even with surnames that I think are unique in their spelling, can result in several hits on these public trees! Without knowing more about the soldier I am looking for, I cannot tell which are a match and which are not. With the information I have collected so far I can try for matches on the public trees. If I am lucky and I find one then I can see what new information that researcher may have and what they have that is different from mine. I took a pic of what a search showed on Ancestry for EP Dontigny ( way to may hits) and also Edgar P Dontigny. Even with the specific first name I got two hits for around the same time frame and same home town ! I looked at both and then began search out the documents such as birth records, death announcements, census records and etc. In the case of Edgar some of the public trees followed the wrong Edgar for part of their information. It is always good to verify not just copy and paste.

Part Five will look at resources to use when I don't find a match on the public trees.

04/11/2024

Part 3 Case study: Tracking WWII Veteran – not related or known to me.
Soldier: E P Dontigny- service number C1495 SDG Highlander Wounded WII.

In this step I need to link the soldier to family and/ or place in Canada. I know from the letter C Edgar is most likely from Eastern Ontario.

During the Second World War the newspapers Canada wide carried many articles, or as I like to call them snippets on soldiers. From small notices by family to long casualty lists. Each newspaper can carry different information. So it is always good to look at any you find. One might contain the service number and another may only carry the surname and initials. Most list a relative and a hometown. Some newspapers had photos with a family interest piece provided by family members. These stories and casualty list can be carried nation wide. For instance an Ontario soldier notice can be in a British Columbia newspaper and the reverse for a BC Soldier having a notice in a Montreal Quebec newspaper.

Some online papers are free and some are paid services. You can find newspapers online at newspaperscom, ancestry, and various archives online as well as google newspapers.
You can also access newspapers through libraries and archive reading room on microfilm. However the microfilm means a page by page search. Very few have indexes for their content.

When searching for soldiers you need to be patient, creative and determined. It is all in the search phrase. You many need to try a variety of combination of the information you have in order to find your soldier. Soldiers were usually listed as Pte Dontigny or Pte EP Dontigny. Hopefully your searches will yield the necessary information to move to the next step.

My search for Pte Edgar Dontigny was aided by the fact he was wounded. I found him fairly quickly on a couple of casualty lists. Here are the 2 examples Ottawa Citizen Apr 9 1945 Pg 18 Pte Phillip Edgar Dontigny son of Mrs Agnes Dontigny of Arnprior Gazette Montreal- 9 Apr 1945 pg 23- Dontigny Edgar Phillip Pte C 1495 Mrs Agnes Dontigny (mother) Arnprior Ont (wife overseas). Both of these you will notice appeared on the same day in different newspapers. Another listed a brother Gordon overseas listed as missing Jan 18 1945 Eastern reg. Now I have a good base of information in order to dig for records!

You are probably wondering why I didn’t jumped right to ancestry or LDS public family trees first! Stay tuned for Part 4!

03/28/2024

Part 2 Case study: Tracking WWII Veteran – not related or known to me.
Soldier: E P Dontigny- service number C1495 SDG Highlander Wounded WII.

The next resource is very new to me. I learned of it through a military chat site. It is the Regimental War Diaries. Several are available online from various archives and collections for several of the regiments. I have found it contains some very good information on the soldiers. I use google to locate where the Diaries are and download what I needed to view. So far all the ones I have used are free to view. I discovered that May 1945 SDG Diaries from the Library and Archives of Canada contains a wounded list for SDG. I also know that the Algonquin War Diaries also contains this list. This list contains the names, rank and service numbers of those wounded during WWII. Through out the war diaries you can find snippets of transfers, postings, officer lists, etc on many of the personnel. Most of the entries have the service number, rank, surname and initials. Sometimes there is more to the information such as time frames of when they joined the unit, postings, situations about home and etc. It is a bit of a task to comb through all the pages but also interesting to see what happen during those years. There are several years available.
Regarding my search :On the wounded list I found that EP Dontigny is Edgar P, rank Pte and his service number matches. Now I have a first name. That is a game changer when searching for a soldier that I have virtually no information on. Now I need to link the soldier to family and/or place in Canada… continued in Part 3

03/22/2024

Case study: Tracking WWII Veteran – not related or known to me. Part 1
My starting point is a list I received from another researcher. His request was for me to fill out more information for the soldiers on the list.
Soldier: E P Dontigny- service number C1495 SDG Highlander Wounded WII.

As a rule of thumb I try to match up any new information with what I already have at the time. If there is a discrepancy I mark it down in the notes until I am sure which version is correct. Any information I am unsure of I make a note of the information in case I can confirm it later on.

How do I start? I confirm the service number and name by looking in the History book for the regiment SDG 1793-1951- to confirm or add to the information. As with any information there can be spelling variations and transcription errors so I try to make sure the entry for Dontigny is accurate.

Not every one has a regimental history lying around. I happen to have a copy of the SDG history from 1952 because my grandfather was listed in it and Dad had possession of it. If you do not have a copy you can search one out using google. Look for regimental history books, regimental websites to ask if there is such a list of soldiers, not all histories have this list or simply to if anyone knows of this soldier! There are also numerous World War II chat site where you can post queries. I have found the people on theses sites are extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Facebook has regimental pages, military pages and etc. I use all of these sites when trying to trace a soldier. If you do not know the regiment the soldier belongs too that will make it a bit more challenging. Finding out the regiment will increase your odds of finding information. If you have a picture most uniforms will give clues as to rank, country and regiment. If you do not have a picture of the soldier, which is my case, hopefully you have something about them like a service number. E Dontigny service number of C1495- tells me he enlisted from Eastern Ontario. The letter C is the designation for that area. The lower number means he was most likely volunteered to enlist earlier in the war effort. The number for other soldiers can be up to 6 digits. The larger numbers being enlisted near the end of 1944/1945. At least that is my take on it so far.

I have added a snippet of the entry on the cover page for the Regimental History book. The * next to his name notes that he was wounded. Part 2 coming soon.

03/14/2024

I have been side tracked with trying to finish a list for the Stormont Dundas & Glengrarry Highlanders from WWII ( As my husband said I will never be finished!) It is a project of mine to find a basic packet of information for all of the soldier attached to this unit. My grandfather and Great Uncle served with this unit. I started with a list names and service numbers provide to me from another researcher. Some only have initials for their first name. I have been collecting what information I can find on those that returned home after the war mainly. Although I do collect information on those that made the ultimate sacrifice as I come across it. I thought it might be interesting to do a posting on how I go from bare information to a filled in page. It doesn't always work of course. Tracking anyone in the post 1940s is a bit different then tracking ancestors in the 1800s... stay posted

02/28/2024

In my last post I mentioned resolution and that I would show what the difference is. Resolution is important in being able to view, enlarge and print images and documents. It took a bit to figure out how to show this and I hope I came up with a good idea!
Most documents that are handwritten are even more important to have at a higher resolution because sometimes you need to enlarge to make out the lettering. It also helps when you want to crop out an area of the document.
Here are two images both the same but at different resolutions. I chose a type written document as an example. 72 dpi ( dots per inch) screen resolution and 300 dpi printing resolution. First you see them at 100%. Immediately you will notice the size difference. 300dpi is much larger. Then I blew them up to 600% using the same word. You will notice the 72 dpi is breaking up into little blocks called pixels (called pixelated). The 300 dpi is just getting fuzzy. The file size is also different. 72 dpi is 44.6 kb dimensions 543 x136 where is the 300dpi is 404Kb dimensions 2261x 567. The higher the resolution the numbers on both of these parts of your file will increase. I have upload the original files so you can download and try yourself. I try to keep my documents at the size they come adjusting the resolution to 300 dpi because I will be mostly printing. This can make for large files but then I have options. With low resolution you are limited with what you can do.

02/14/2024

Part Two –My filing system for Digital documents

Indexing the digital images and relocating then to their permanent home!

Once I have the files download. I take my time to add them to a master image index. I use a standard file number system. Ie 00000001.tif and count upward. My index is created in filemaker, which shows the file name, a description of the image, a surname group it belongs too. You could do this in word program or excel as well. This means you have a fast way of finding a image without tracing it through your genealogy program as well. I then make sure the resolution is the best I can get and save as a tif.

The what and why of tif format! A tif is file format for images. It is similar to .jpg, which most people are familiar with. The difference is when a jpg is open and resaved it looses quality each time it is used. A tif can be opened a million times and the resolution remains the same as you originally had it.( My knowledge comes from my Hubby who works in the print industry) What is resolution? It is the quality of your image. Most screen images on the Internet are 72 dpi (dot per inch) but printing requires a high resolution like 300 dpi. In order to zoom in and not see an out of focus image you need that higher resolution. (I will post an example of resolutions separately.) Most documents on research sites are of a large resolution. The easy way to tell is the size of the file. For instance a file that is 10k (low quality) compared to 1 Mb ( higher quality usually). It’s not always the rule but a good rule of thumb!

You should know that not all programs recognize a .tif. For instance facebook reads jpg not tif. I store my image files as a .tif but always send them out as jpg as not everyone has the software to read tif format. I am spoiled to have graphic software and the know how from my hubby. There are conversion software and online options for this if you choose to store tif format. Always make sure the programs you use support the format you choose to use.

On with my filing system….Next I put the document into an image folder for my genealogy program called media files. I open my genealogical program and attach the document to the ancestor from this folder. This allows me to view the image when I am reviewing the information for that particular ancestor. Legacy recently accepted tif format.

I have learned to have a backup drive as well for my genealogy file and its media files! I try to back up monthly unless I have a very productive time of it then I back up after each large filing session.

01/31/2024

What is Find A Grave?

Find a Grave is an Internet site, which houses a great deal of genealogical information for persons buried in numerous cemeteries. Unlike some sites it covers the world.

How does it work? Part one is locating/ knowing where your ancestor is buried. Then you go to that cemetery- making sure you are in the right city, township, county, Province/ State and Country! There are numerous cemeteries with exactly the same name all over the world! So it is key to make sure you are looking at the right cemetery in the right location! It is free to use but only members (still free) can add information and memorials to the site.

Once you have the cemetery you can check and see if a page exists for that person. If not you can add a memorial to that cemetery for them. It gives you a standard form to fill out and then post. You control the content of the memorial page you started. However there are rules to having these pages you should read up on. These pages can be transfer to another member if they ask for it and you are so inclined or they are directly related. You can request a photo from nearby volunteers who travel to these cemeteries and take a photo of the stone for you and upload to the page you started. It is a wonderful relationship between those who need the information and those who volunteer to take the photos. It also is a wonderful way of preserving the stones for future generations.

What kind of information does the page hold? It holds variety of info such as Names, BMD dates, locations, obituaries, links to other family members. It is up to the creator of the page as to what information is displayed. Recently they have added whether the person was a veteran. As always there are rules to using this site, be sure to read up on them before you use it.

01/24/2024

When I began computers were not in every home or at school. I am of the pen and paper generation. Stand alone programs such as Legacy cost money. I started with pen and paper, drawing out my own trees, then progressed to an LDS free software for genealogy. It was DOS based. Now they’re an old term! I used it for many years along with trying every new type of free software I could download. I progressed into stand along purchased programs such as Family tree maker and Legacy. This is still before online trees became available. At this time you also had to go to an archive or library to view most records. Now they come to you at home! There are many sites that do not cost you where you can search records as well. The webistie Familysearch I believe is one of the largest. They have a wonderful selection of worldwide records for free access and also the online tree feature. You can also volunteer to help index new records.

Every site has its pros and cons, just be sure you are happy with what they do with your research. In order to build their collection they need family trees to draw from. Check your privacy settings for your online tree. You can make it sharable or private. Again there are pro/ cons for this not to mention some limitation to accessing some features depending on your settings. We are living in the information age where technology moves fast!

For fun I dug out one of my very first hand written trees!

01/24/2024

I need to clarify something I posted in last weeks post…a friend and fellow genealogist pointed out a statement I made about the online tree building with services like Ancestry. Firstly everything I post is my own opinion and from my experience with a bit of what I have heard/ learnt over the years from other researchers. As my mother had told me for years I am very opinionated, that and my curiosity would get me into trouble! ( I get both from her Lol)

I have used ancestry for years. I like the access to the vast amount of records. They charge a fee for the records because it cost to collect and make them available online. They do have a few free days where you have limited access to their records through out the year. It is also a business, which depends on a clientele. My friend was right to point out that many of these online genealogy services allow a free membership level where you can build your family tree. It is a great option for those who are not sure how involved they want to become with family history. Family history can be costly, so this is a great free option. My point is there is a reason they have this level of membership. Be sure to read all their rule, regulations and privacy statements. In particular what happens to the data once the account becomes dormant. My personal knowledge is limited on building a tree online because in the very beginning of my genealogy research these sites did not exist. I guess you can say I am prehistoric in this reference. The Internet was in its infancy. I took a look a long time ago at online trees and decided it was not for me.

My friend who uses the online building tree feature allowed me to use her words “For example, you can have an account and build a tree on Ancestry for free - you don't need a subscription. You can sync information to desktop software Family Tree Maker to have access to that data offline from the Ancestry site. The fee you pay is for access to the billions of records that Ancestry has indexed - whether or not you have a tree stored on their database. And you have the option to opt in and out of the research component (with the fee) as you have time/energy/interest to research - and your tree remains available for viewing -- you just can't add to it. Since all the options to store your tree information offline cost money to purchase the software and update periodically - Legacy, Family Tree Maker etc. - the real distinction comes in how and where someone researches. And access to ALL of the big repositories of research records cost money - as someone had to do the work (and continue to do) to digitize and index them to make them available. My Heritage, Ancestry, Newspapers, Scotlands People all charge. IGI record access is free, but not always reliable given "submissions" from members. “ She since informed me that Ancestry now has some records free to use with the free membership level.
I appreciate her point of view and her support with my posting! Thank you for the help to clarify about online trees!

01/18/2024

If a veteran genealogist could start again …What would they change in their researching system? Lets look at my # 1. I would have thought about how to organization my findings ( images, documents, etc.)
Sorry this is going to be a bit of a long post!

The search for me is the most exciting part with filling in the blanks on my tree. Once you get a hit on a document you tend to find others. It called falling down the Rabbit Hole! And the chase is on!!! Most sites have indexes and link related documents when you find 1 document on an ancestor. Be aware just because the site calms it is a match does not make it so! You still need to verify the information matches your ancestor. I have seen many researchers link to documents that are definitely not their ancestor. You can get into a mess and have to go back unlink and clear out the wrong documents. Not to mention chase a lead that is completely in the wrong direction!

From experience I tend to get on a roll collecting documents. Meaning I am downloading a lot of images. At present I search mainly online records. I still use my books but mostly genealogy sites like Ancestry, Findmypast, Familysearch and Newspapers. This means digital images. If you are building your tree on line, the site will link the document to your ancestor for you, with that I hope the necessary information for sourcing. I do not build my trees online. Why? Most sites are pay sites and the tree becomes their property after a certain amount of time of lapse payments happens. Also when I tested a small tree, I found the information was not easily transferred to my home computer. It makes sense they are there to make money and keeping it online means you keep up your membership. I tend to like to have more control my research information. I’m a bit old fashion that way.

Back to organizing! When I download an image I place it into a folder- first the date folder- ie 2024 Genealogy Jan- So I know this is my newest finds. Then in that folder a surname group folder that the document belongs to. Inside that I can put more specific folders. This is just temporary until I index and file images into my genealogy program ( Legacy) and then the images go to their final home on a hard drive for genealogy. ( I took screen shots to help illustrate my attempt at organizing to the downloading point. I will look at the indexing and permanent home for images another time! )

When I download I try hard to do 3 things. ( I am not entirely successful yet and its been years!!!!!!!!)
1. Add the find into my genealogy program to the ancestor it is for with its source information so I just have to link my document image to the ancestor at a later time.
2. Change the name of the downloaded file. Its original name generally is useless for me. For example I label it “ 1930 Larsen census”. It’s a good idea to give a clue as to what type of document it is and where it belongs.
3. Now this is a nice little trick I picked up. It works especially good for photos. When you look at your file in the explorer window, once it downloaded ( **always make sure it downloads!**)- there is a bunch of information fields at the bottom for that image. Select the image then Select Comment and you can add in the who what where, who sent it, etc..anything you want! Sometimes the information for the image is written elsewhere on a website. I suggest using the copy and paste tools. It work wonders on keeping the information with the photo exactly as it appeared when you found it. Don’t forget to click on save and it is saved with the picture/ document! I love this feature for digital images and scans! … Part two will look at the next step in my filing system.

01/10/2024

I am more of a researcher then a writer, although all genealogists have even a small gift for story telling. I am going to try and share some tips to help not only with searching but also helpful ideas for organizing your genealogy. I am hoping with so many years under my belt I might have something useful for those who are just starting or those seasoned veterans like myself. Even after so many years I am still trying new techniques. The one of the many reasons for pursuing genealogy is the love of learning and the hunt………Stay tuned!

We Dig Up Family

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