John Cordes
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:45:55 -0800
To NSROots: This message from Rosie initially just came to me off-list (may have been an email glitch, Dal has been having a few problems today). I replied likewise, i.e. privately; I will repeat below a lightly edited version of my response. It was written in haste but I am not going to make any attempt to improve some of the contorted sentences...
John On [2010-02-02 at 09:43am] Rosie <kefirche...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thank you very much John! > Yes, I have tried all variations of names and feel pretty confident, after > many many hours of searching, that I have covered all the variations. The > search engines in these databases seem to pull up lots of variant names as > well. Do you have a comment on that? Perhaps I am missing something. > Are you familiar with the way Ancestry.com searches? It seems that database > pulls up all sorts of variations to what is searched. > Do you know how I would get into the microfilm version of the Halifax > Herald? Thank you for the info on what the CD covers. Do let me know if you > have info on accessing the microfilm. > I have also contacted all the Catholic churches for records in Halifax, and > yes, you are right, I do not know if it was Halifax proper or the county. I > have conducted wide searches on all these names to cover everything. > The problem could also be that these records are buried in church files > somewhere. That may be my only hope in finding them. > I don't know how much knowledge you have on the Halifax Explosion, I am > curious to know if records were destroyed at that time. It would appear so > given the destruction that occured in Halifax. > There were probably many more deaths that occurred than were recorded in the > Rememberance book. > There was the influenza outbreak too, which probably claimed many lives that > are not in those records. > Thank you, and do let me know if you know how i can access the microfilm for > the Herald. > Rose On [2010-02-02 at 12:50pm] John Cordes <john.cor...@dal.ca> wrote: > Hi Rosie, > > I'm afraid I don't know how to get the microfilm of the > Halifax newspapers other than physically turning up at the > archives (NSARM) in Halifax. I do know that NSARM does not > lend out their films. I expect it is possible to arrange to > have the films borrowed for viewing at a Family History Center > (run by the LDS); the local center would borrow the films from > the main library in Salt Lake City. It is a very hard job, > however, to consider searching through every day over a number > of years. > > I don't recall hearing of any significant collections of > records being destroyed in the Halifax Explosion of 1917. > > Is your only source for the "Halifax, NS" location (for > births of Mary and her parents) the marriage certificate? > > When you mentioned a possible Micmac (or Mi'kmaq as we say > nowadays) connection it made me think of similar stories (some > well founded) for some of the McDonalds of Harrigan Cove, > which is near the north eastern boundary of Halifax County -- > near to Moser River where my grandmother was born. This is the > area known as the Eastern Shore of NS. Sorry, perhaps you know > all this geography -- I'm just guessing that perhaps you > don't. By the way, my great-grandmother was Margaret Ann > M(a)cDonald from Harrigan Cove. I'm fairly certain some of the > collateral lines of McDonalds married once or twice into the > Mi'kmaq community. > > Just a thought. It often turns out that a listing in, say, > Vital Stats, appears under a given name which is not the > expected one. This usually seems to be because of two given > names, the one used for in a given event (marriage, say) as > the "first" name may not have been the first name used at some > other time of their lives. This is a roundabout way of saying > it really helps a lot if you know *both* given names (most > people seemed to have at least two). I take it you don't have > this information for Ralph and Nellie? > > I'd say some of the possible proper names where Nellie gets > used would include: Helen, Ellen, Eleanor, Lily, and Penelope; > probably more... > > The names of just about every Nova Scotian who died in the > Influenza epidemic of 1918-19 are recorded in the file created > by Dr. Allan Marble which is in the GANS MOA. I assumed you > had searched there, but I've just had a look and don't see any > obvious candidates, though if a different first name got used > there are some M(a)cDonalds who are probably in the right age > range. > > Good luck! > > John ___________________________________________ nsroots mailing list nsroots@ednet.ns.ca http://mailman.ednet.ns.ca/cgi-bin/listinfo/nsroots