Genealogical Information
| Adoptions |
Clubs |
| Canada Census |
Public Libraries |
| Cemeteries | Museums |
| Churches | |
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Genealogical Information
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Adoptions
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Prior to the 1920's, adoptions were mostly unreported and the children illegitimate. In 1921 an adoption law was passed and the Children's Aid Society became responsible for finding qualified parents for orphaned children. The birth parents then lost all rights for that child. Today, the Children's Aid Society still performs this function as licensed by the provincial Ministry of Community and Social Services When searching for adopted children or birth parents, it is necessary to know where the child was born and where the adoption was finalized before contacting the local CAS office. An adoptee is entitled to "non-identifying" information on their birth parents, such as age, marital status, education, and religious or ethnic heritage. The Ministry of Community and Social Services provides the Adoption Disclosure Register. This register is used to provide identifying information on adoptees and birth parents by mutual consent only. Both parties must register and give consent before the ministry will release the identifying information. If either party has not registered, the ministry can perform searches for adoptees, parents, or biological relatives. The above information was from the book, "Genealogy in Ontario: Searching the Records", by Brenda Dougall Merriman. This book can be purchased from the Ontario Genealogical Society. Also check your local public library or genealogical club. You can also check out the following web sites. Local Children's Aid Societies
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Canada Census
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Canada Census Returns for the Muskoka District are available for the years of 1861 to 1911 and 1871 to 1911 for the Parry Sound District. These districts were settled much later in time than the counties further south and therefore do not have any 1851 census returns. Census Returns can provide a wealth of information such as the number and names of individuals in each household as well as their age, occupation, marital status, religion and birth place. You will find that the census for these districts are not always under the same county or district name because the boundaries were changed several times before the turn of the century. Even the townships themselves may have been under different names between census years. The links below for the census index shows the microfilm reel numbers for each census year. Most public libraries will have these microfilms available for reading. If they don't then they can be acquired through inter-library loan. The Ontario Genealogical Society and its regional branches transcribed the 1871 census, which is available at most public libraries. It includes only the heads of households and not every individual name as the microfilm returns provide. The Ontario Genealogical Society Provincial Index is a hypertext library established in 1997 as a volunteer project to index an unlimited range of Genealogical information on Ontario families. Included in this index are the births, marriages and deaths, transcribed from the Huntsville Forester with a link to the Huntsville Public Library. This is an ongoing project and it is not complete. Muskoka District Census Index - Parry Sound District Census Index |
Cemeteries
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Cemeteries can provide a lot of clues in locating ancestors and or trying to find the date someone died or even born. Sometimes, additional names can be found on a tombstone indicating another family member. The dates given on tombstones can vary from indicating a single year of the event or a complete day, month, year date. Birth dates are sometimes shown on stones or maybe just the age of the person at the time of death. Whatever the information that is shown, it must be remembered that it is considered as secondary evidence only. Quite often the information is incorrect, especially if a stone was erected years or even decades after a persons death. If an ancestor or family member cannot be found at a specific cemetery, you could always check with the caretaker or administration office for that cemetery. You could also check with local funeral homes. A searchable database was created and named the Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid, or OCFA. There are two versions available, version 5 and 6. Version 5 has approximately 1 million names and version 6 has an additional 1 million names. The OCFA can also be found at several public libraries. Muskoka District Cemeteries | Parry Sound District Cemeteries |
Clubs
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f you know of any clubs that are not mentioned on this page, please let me know. (email) Parry Sound District ClubsMuskoka District Clubs
Neighbouring Counties and Districts
Ontario and Surrounding Area
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Public Libaries
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Public Libraries can have a wealth of information on local history and genealogy. You may find local newspapers dating back more than a century on microfilm or someone may have donated a published family history to the library. Quite often, newsletters of local genealogy and historical clubs can be found along with other clubs from neighboring counties or provinces. Publications or microfilm from other libraries or organizations such as the National Archives in Ottawa can be requested through the inter-library loan system.
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Museums
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Museums have an obvious historical value to local communities. Besides having artifacts from earlier times, they may have also have collected personal family histories and photographs donated to them by individuals. The Muskoka Lakes Museum is one in particular worth mentioning.
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