Getting Started Central Saskatchewan - a part of Saskatoon Gen Web Project

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Saskatoon Gen Web Getting Started: Table of Contents
Name, time, place
Assistance
Databasse
Getting started
Resources
Rupert's Land
.... North-West Territories
Rail line
Homestead Act and immigration
Census
Family biographies
Local history books
.... Library Catalogues
World War I
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates
Saskatoon Genealogy Society
Submissions
Provincial sources





Name, time frame, place
Start with the previous research and information or facts completed thus far. Genealogy primary source databases provide three main pieces of information: Name, Time frame and Place. This is a genealogy website which brings together names and timeframes in relation to the region or placename. The placenames located within the Saskatoon Gen Web region can be found on the Saskatoon Gen Web Region map, or in the listing provided by Saskatchewan Gen Web Search Saskatchewan Placenames or in the Saskatoon Gen Web Town Resource Listing as follows:


Assistance
To request assistance from others or place a query online use the Saskatoon Gen Web Region mailing list or the Saskatoon Gen Web Region posting board (also called a query board). Query Board Posting Hints and Mailing List Netiquette are two sources for those new to posting boards or mailing lists. Use the Saskatoon Gen Web surname posting board to gather information as well

Databases
As Saskatoon Gen Web grows and develops databases and information for this Central Saskatchewan area have been transcribed and placed online and can be found at the Saskatoon Gen Web Region Project. Obituaries, cemetery transcriptions, book transcriptions, historical photographs are a portion of what is comprised at the Saskatoon Gen Web Region Project As the WWW grows, links and resources from the internet have been included in the above Saskatoon Gen Web Town Resource Listing


Getting started
If you are not sure which region of Saskatchewan your family research is rooted in, use the
provincial Saskatchewan Gen Web and the Saskatchewan Gen Web Genealogy Resources. Saskatchewan Gen Web has a provincial getting started page. To assist in determining location the land patents and legal land desciptions for homesteaders can help. 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. Read the Homestead Section, Range, Township, Meridian numbering in tandem with map resources to help locate the town which was near the original homestead, then the Sask Gen Web regional resources can be utilized ie Saskatoon Gen Web. 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.



Resources
Resources which are common to all provincial regions are found at Saskatchewan Gen Web 'Resources' and introduced on the provincial getting started page. Examples of provincial resources would be information from the provincial government such as Birth marriage or death certificates from the Department of Vital Statistics. Archival records from Saskatchewan provincial archives or Canadian National Archives would be another resource common to all regions. Provincial archives holds provincial or provincial government information such as applications and correspondence between homesteader and the provincial Government Land Titles Office, Biographies, Family Histories, Directories, Government Publications,Local Histories, Private Records, Oral History, Pioneer Questionnaires, Maps,Photographs, and Military Records. National Archives holds Government of Canada documents and has placed many of these online such as the Census of the Northwest Provinces, 1906,Census of Canada, 1901, Dominion Land Grant Patents,.Soldiers of the First World War ? Canadian Expeditionary Force, Post offices, Immigration Records, Home children, Arrivals at American Ports,Immigration Records - (1925-1935) Aboriginal Peoples M?tis Scrip Records, British Home Children 1900 arrivals, and a website called Living Memory amongst others. Saskatchewan Gen Web Resources also encompasses: database projects, ethnic bloc settlements and immigration information, Saskatchewan societies, war and military resources, Church of Latter Day Saints Research, Library Resources, schools, Cemetery or obituary information and much more.




Present-day Saskatchewan named Rupert's Land

Many of the early settlers in the 1800's came as traders or hunters. The North West Company was of French-Canadian extraction and traders arrived out west in Saskatchewan from Eastern Canada via inland routes. The British (in 1670) had given Rupert's Land to the Hudson Bay Company which gave the company dominion over lands where there was water passageway from the Hudson Bay. These traders arrived to the Saskatchewan area via Hudson Bay and then traveled westward. In 1774 the first inland trading post (Cumberland House) was built in Saskatchewan. At this time northern Saskatchewan was settled as the main area for economic development. Fur trading, fishing and hunting were the main activities. Southern Saskatchewan had experienced drought like conditions during early explorer expeditions, and was considered a part of the US desert. Settlement area was north of the tree line in the geo-physical shield area.




Saskatchewan as part of the North West Territories
Canada became a nation in 1867. Saskatchewan didn't become a province of Canada until 1905, before this it was a part of the North West Territories. The North West Territories was divided into provisional territories on May 8, 1882. The south provisional district was named Assiniboia (currently south Saskatchewan), The provisional district in central present-day Saskatchewan was named Saskatchewan. And Athabaska was the provisional district of the North West Territories for the northern portion of present day Saskatchewan. Maps



Rail line
In the late 1800's and early 1900's the railway and the Dominion Government of Canada wanted more settlers out west to unite Upper and Lower Canada -the eastern provinces of Canada with British Columbia. The rail lines didn't want to lay track over land with no settlement as it wasn't economically feasible. The demand for furs declined, the buffalo population declined, Saskatchewan started noticing the agricultural land capabilies in the middle and southern portions of the province, the drought was over. The population in Saskatchewan evolved from a trapping community a farming community. Settlement, towns and rail lines developed the plains, or prairies, south of the tree line. Trasportation




Dominion Land Grants and Immigration
Immigrants were attracted to Saskatchewan by the Homestead Act which granted a quarter section or 160 acres to homesteaders if they could 'prove' the land in three years. The Dominion Land Grant Patent records are searchable online at National Archives. Homestead records (between Saskatchewan Land Titles office and the Homesteader) can be ordered from Provincial Archives or on microfilm at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.




Census
The first Canadian census was taken in 1666, however census taking every 10 years began in 1851. 1881, 1901, and 1906 are the online censeii. Please check with your local LDS family history center or check library holdings for microfilm copies.




Family biography
On the 75th anniversary celebration of Saskatchewan in 1980, many communities compiled family biography - local history books. These have biographical stories submitted by families in the area and write ups about the early history of the community.




Local history books
To find the book for your community, locate the town name on a map. Using the Canadian Geographical Locator, the National Archives Post Office locator or a historical map. for smaller communities or towns which no longer exist. Early towns generally had a post office and the location given by township and range can be located on the Sask Wheat Pool 1924-1984 map site. In this way, if you cannot find the town of your ancestor on present day maps, you can find the current day community and larger centres (neighboring towns or cities) and know where to search.




Online library databases
Secondly, you may want to search one of the many online library catalogues by town to find the name of the book for your ancestral research. This book may be available by inter-library loan, through the LDS family history centre, or by purchase from the local community or online. Some volunteers who own the book may have offered their time to do a look up in the book, and you may wish to contact them via e-mail.




World War I
The World War I (1914-1918) expeditionary force can also be searched online at National Archives. If you find an ancestor in this searchable database the file can be ordered from National Archives.




Cemetery
Many cemetery records are online and searchable, and some are in the process of being transcribed. The Saskatchewan Genealogical Society offers many research services, one of which is the Saskatchewan cemetery search as well as the Saskatchewan Residents Index.




Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS family history center) has its International Genealogical Index (IGI) as well as its Ancestral File Records. They also have a multitude of "Family Search" resources available on Saskatchewan.




Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates Birth, death, marriage certificates can be obtained from the Department of Vital Statistics. Sometimes information can be obtained from the local churches, libraries, or Community town offices, however they have limited research services available.




Saskatoon Genealogy Society

The Saskatchewan Genealogy Society, SGS has just offered a new website featuring hints, research tools, programs, events and supplies to help you in your genealogical research
The local Saskatoon Genealogy Society has a website online listing meeting dates, and special events. They have a library available to members as well.



Submissions
There are many sources being placed online, and as they are submitted to me, or as I become aware of them I try to place them on this website. For Saskatchewan, this should help you to start out via this internet site, and branch off into areas for your particular family history and your family's local interests as one link connects you to yet another. I have had much success with the Google search engine when locating Saskatchewan resources.




This is just a very very tiny introduction to some of the many online sites listed on the Saskatchewan Genealogy Resources site. There are also many more online as the internet grows and expands. If you find a site, or contact which has helped you with your research, help other researchers, by e-mailing it in to this Gen Web Project so we can add it to the Genealogy Resources page. Check also the genealogy resource web pages available at the Archives, libraries, Church of Latter Day Saints, LDS Family Research Centers, Rootsweband Cyndi's list. These sites have many, many more resources than those referenced to on this page.




Provincial search
You may wish to combine your online research at this site, and the sites it links to with a posting on the various Saskatchewan posting boards or Saskatoon Region posting board . As well, post your research queries on the Saskatoon Region surname-query boards. Use the services provided by the Saskatchewan Genealogy Society, SGS by attending a meeting, taking out a membership and receiving their excellent publication, or using their online resources. There are now 23 branches of the SGS serving the various regions of Saskatchewan. Another online resource is to join a mailing list group (Saskatoon Gen Web Mailing List) to connect with other researchers doing family history research.

 

BC * AB * SK * MB * ON * QC * NB * PE * NS * YK * NT *

Battleford /Kamsack * Kindersley * Lloydminster * Moose Jaw * Regina * St. Joseph's Colony * Saskatoon * Swift Current * Weyburn * Yorkton

Canadian Great War homepage * The Canadian Military Heritage Project * International Internet Genealogical Society Births, Deaths and Marriages Exchange


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This page was last modified: Monday, 09-Oct-2023 19:09:19 MDT

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It is the intention of this site to make Saskatchewan historical and genealogical information available to persons with a historical or genealogical interest in this area. There are no service charges or fees for use of this map service, and use of this site constitutes your acceptance of these Conditions of Use. This page is dedicated to the free sharing of this central Saskatchewan (Saskatoon Gen Web Region) historical data. Any further use of these maps would require permission from Julia Adamson, Saskatoon Gen Webmaster as per copyright laws in Canada.