Database holds trove of genealogical links to New Brunswick

loading...

Those of us with roots in the province of New Brunswick certainly knew who Daniel F. Johnson was. His name was synonymous with the priceless resource, “New Brunswick Vital Statistics from Newspapers,” published over several years by the New Brunswick Genealogical Society.

Countless times I have perused the index of each volume, many of them available at Bangor Public Library, Maine State Library in Augusta and the University of Maine’s Fogler Library in Orono.

For example, in volume 48 I found this for my great-great-great-grandmother: “d. 18th inst., at her residence, Olive STEEVES w/o Nathaniel STEEVES, Esq., Coverdale (Albert Co.) 51st year,” from the Oct. 25, 1879, edition of The Daily Sun in Saint John.

Johnson’s work is now available through a database maintained by the New Brunswick Provincial Archives. Go to http://archives.gnb.ca/APPS/NewspaperVitalStats/

Click on Name Index, and the page that comes up will ask you to pick the letter of the alphabet for the surname you want to search – say “S” for Steeves.

Next it will ask you to fill in the rest of the name. Fill in “teeves” rather than the whole name. Then click on “apply filter.” When the page comes up again, add the first name if you like – or browse 113 pages of Steeves entries!

I entered Harry, the name of my great-grandfather. It brought up one entry: “Birth – Hillsboro (Albert Co.) Aug. 7th, to the wife of Harry STEEVES, a son,” from the Aug. 24, 1895, edition of The Daily Telegraph in Saint John. This is, no doubt, my great-uncle Harry Steeves.

It was Johnson himself who put the extracted information from the newspapers in a database, and family members and others who have made its addition to the Web site possible.

Dan died in February 2005, and the project to make this information widely available is a fitting memorial.

You will find several other resources by Johnson in various libraries, among them:

. “Passengers to New Brunswick: The Custom House Records, 1833, 34, 37 & 38,” MSL and Fogler Library.

. “The South African War, 1899-1902: New Brunswick Men at War,” co-authored with Byron E. O’Leary, Fogler.

. “The St. John County Alms and Work House Records, 1843-1850,” MSL, Bangor Public Library and Fogler Library.

. “World War I: Canadians at War, New Brunswick: Victoria & Carleton Counties: Military Biographies of the Men Who Enlisted in World War I from the Counties of Victoria and Carleton, New Brunswick, Canada,” MSL and Bangor Public Library.

. “The New Brunswick Census of 1851 for Victoria County,” MSL.

. “Rideouts in New Brunswick, 1836-1880: as Derived from ‘New Brunswick Newspapers, Vital Statistics,'” co-authored with Arnold E. Palmer, Bangor Public Library.

. “The Cedar Hill Extension Cemetery: Saint John, N.B., Canada,” MSL.

. “Irish Emigrants & Their Vessels, Port of St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1841 to 1849,” Bangor Public Library.

. “Irish Emigration to New England through the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1841-1849,” MSL.

. “The New Brunswick Genealogist,” two volumes, MSL.

. “New Brunswick Lineages: the Ancestral Charts of over 250 Researchers Who Trace their Lineage to New Brunswick, Canada,” MSL.

The fact that Daniel F. Johnson’s database was available on the Web came to my attention through Weirs & Woods, the quarterly publication of the Washington County Genealogical Society.

You can receive Weirs & Woods and become a member of the society by sending $10 dues in U.S. funds to WCGS, c/o Christine Small, P.O. Box 28, East Machias, ME 04630.

The group takes a break this time of year – no meetings in December, January and February – but the society will meet next on Saturday, March 21, at the Peavey Library in Eastport.

This year the society met in several Maine towns and the New Brunswick town of St. Stephen. Because not everyone can get to meetings, the society frequently prints information on resources from presentations in Weirs & Woods. The fall issue listed some holdings at the Lubec Memorial Library.

As for the e-mail address to order the new “Penobscot County Genealogical Society Family Cookbook,” I should have listed it as pcgscooks2@msn.com

All proceeds benefit the Bangor Room at Bangor Public Library. Each book is $8, plus $2 if you need it mailed.

Order by mail by sending your check to PCGS, c/o Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401. You may save mailing costs by picking up your book on a specified date. Call Hugh Hastings at 862-4785.

Better yet, purchase a copy at the next meeting of PCGS at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 20, in the Lecture Hall, just across from the Bangor Room (third floor).

3384. FOILES-HOVERMALE-SEILER. I’ve been searching for my great-great-grandfather’s parents for years. John Foiles, born in Maryland or Maine or Virginia in 1785, married to Margaret Hovermale and Margaret Seiler. Each wife had seven children. Looking for John’s parents. Sharlene Eaton, 388 West Pine, Shelley, ID 83274; seaton@cableone.net

Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or familyti@bangordailynews.net.