Narrowed searches possible on data site

Images of the 1881 Canadian Census are now online, free, at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1881.

You can look for someone countrywide, or narrow your search by province, city or town, etc.

My first question was: Is this Web site really different from the transcribed 1881 Canadian Census available free on the LDS Web site, www.familysearch.org?

The answer is no – and yes.

It’s not different in that in both cases, the information comes through work the LDS has done, with 4,278,327 names compiled by the Genealogical Society of Utah, under which is www.familysearch.org.

So if you don’t find a person indexed on familysearch, likely he or she won’t suddenly pop up for you on the index for the new site operated by Library and Archives Canada.

I couldn’t find my great-grandmother, Thressa Given, who would have been about 2 years old in New Brunswick in 1881 on familysearch.org, nor do I find her on this new site.

Sigh. What I think happened, since I do find her father, Thomas, with his Given family in that census, is that her mom, Harriet (Stein) Given, had already died and maybe Thressa was with other relatives, since Thomas had not yet remarried to Minnie Carson and had more children.

So is the Library and Archives Canada site useful at all? Oh, yes.

It allows me to look up people by several qualifiers, including just the first name. I asked for all the people named Thressa in Canada in 1881, and got an index of 59 people, with surname, age, province, district and subdistrict.

I can take the list and choose to look at the image for any or all of them, checking to see whether there might be a young Thressa that doesn’t seem to fit the family demographics of each household.

I also can index people by town, which is a narrower scope than familysearch offers.

Some of the pages are hard to read. Maybe someone with better eyes can help you decipher the print. Here’s a tip. When you finally do figure out what a record says, make a paper copy of the page and transcribe the information on the back of it, along with a note on the ancestor it connects up with.

A suggestion to look at this Web site came from Mike Gleason of Bangor, who heard about it from his cousin Dorothy Kew, who read about it in Dick Eastman’s online genealogy newsletter.

You haven’t seen Dick Eastman’s newsletter? By all means, visit http://blog.eogn.com

Residents and former residents of Bradley are invited to share family and community history with visitors 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, at Leonard’s Mills in Bradley. The Maine Forest and Logging Museum will share some of its history while asking Bradley folks to bring out old photos, memorabilia, maps, books, business items – whatever will highlight the community’s history.

Stories about Bradley’s past will provide visitors a glimpse of life in the community over the years. Bradley was settled in 1817, incorporated in 1835.

Bradley residents and those sharing the town’s history will be admitted free to the museum grounds that day. For information, call 581-2871 and leave a message.

The 76th Moody Reunion will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, at North Nobleboro Community Hall in Nobleboro. Dr. Barbara Baker will speak on “The Clement Moody (N.H.) Connection to the Moody Families of Western and Central Maine” at 11 a.m.

At 1 p.m., lunch will be provided – sandwiches, salads, desserts and beverages.

Socialize and share photos and genealogy after lunch.

To give the group a count for lunch, let them know you hope to attend by contacting Gail Kennedy, 54 Greenwood Ave., Wakefield, MA 01880, or grkenned@verizon.net

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