Welcome to StoryTree!

In honor of  December 7th, the day Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, I thought this would be a great video to share to remind everyone the importance of recording our personal and family histories. One of the great places that I have discovered to record these videos is on Story Tree.  Story Tree allow you to video record your loved ones on a variety of topics that are suggested by Story Tree or you can create your own topic.  Invite your family to participate and you can begin to share the memories you had as a child, parent, grandparent.  What do you remember about your 1st car?  1st date?  It has been said, that if a person's history is not written down or in this case, a video biography, their life story will be lost within 2 generations. Don't let the memories of your grandparents, parents, or siblings be lost or fade away.  There are so many options and ways to share family history, but this site allows for collaboration.  If you would like to learn more, click the link Welcome to StoryTree!

Saskatchewan Homestead Records

Now that I have more time to relax (because of my broken foot) I thought that I would post some interesting sites that I have come across lately. This site SHIP, Saskatchewan Homestead Index Project driving force comes from the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society (SGS). Phase I of the project consists of the extraction and indexing of over 300,000 entries that are easily searched on this website. Phase II of the project involved incorporating this data base in to the index into a larger website that provides valuable information regarding maps, copies of typical homestead paperwork which could include letters and photographs to name a few. Both Phase I and Phase II are currently in place and operational at SHIP. Phase III has yet to be launched, but it is undertaking the monumental task of digitizing all of the records and making them available for research online. No time frame has been set for the release of phase III, but I am grateful for the volunteers that have taken on this task and to assist those of us researching our Canadian Roots.

The people that settled in the Saskatchewan area were encouraged to do so by the Dominion Government offering 160 acres for free along with a $10.00 registration fee. The individaul applying for the land had to qualify by being at least 21 years or older, be a British subject or naturalize British subject, had to reside on the homestead for a period of 6 months to 3 years, and make improvements to the property by cultivating at least 30 acres and by constructing a home worth a minimum of $300.00.

You may wonder what type of documentation would be included in the homestead applications. The site informs us that each application has the name and signature of the applicant, the birth place and nationality and the location of the homestead and some of the later applications included the ages of family members. Wills, letters, naturalization certificates, and inspector reports can also be found in these documents. Currently this information is only available upon request for a modest fee of $15.00 per homestead location when the name of the homesteader and the legal land description is provided. If the name of the homesteader is known, but the homestead location is uncertain and you can only provide a general area/location, the search will cost $17.00 per homestead location. The cost of both searches include up to six pages of information.

If you have Canadian ancestors and would like to check out more, please visit Saskatchewan Homestead Index Project (SHIP).

Preserving Your Most Treasured Memories The Legacy Project

I have written previously regarding the importance of preserving what most would deem as trivial communications; letters. I shared with you a video from Roots Television regarding the impact that a single letter can have on a single person's life. Andrew Carroll who began the project after a catastrophic experience in his family's life where he lost all of the letters that his family had collected over several years due to a fire. He mentions in the video how he mourned the loss of those letters explaining how the letters provided very intimate details of their family's life.

Today, I am reviewing the website titled "The Legacy Project" specifically the link regarding preservation of letters. Instructions and suggestions for preservation of old letters, cards and emails are listed under this tab. The site also discusses how to store and display these treasures. Information regarding archival companies is also available.

You might be asking yourself, why should I keep any old letters? What value can they have? I can tell you from personal experience that some of the letters that I have saved from my spouse who passed away a couple of years ago, my aunts and uncles have become priceless treasures for me. Think about the first time you received a note from a friend passed in a school class. Whether the note was good or bad, it brings back memories. This is the value of saving letters. Preserving Memories.

If you would like to learn more about how to preserve letters, please click How to Preserve Letters. While you are at this site, read through some of the information provided about the project. It is a honorable and worthwhile project that is being taken care of through the volunteers of the project. Have fun and keep writing!


This Project is still collecting letters of war veterans and their families.

Overland Trails Letters and Diaries

The Trail of Hope Website, sponsored at Brigham Young University is a collection of 49 Pioneers that traveled across the lone wilderness on the Mormon, California, Oregon, and Montana trails. Information provided on this site covers the time period in American History between 1846 to 1869. The writings that have been digitized and organized in an easily searched format which include their thoughts, hope, trials, pictures, maps and numerous other tid bits of information that would be interesting to those searching for their pioneer ancestors.

The writings of these Pioneers, will help one to understand what it may have been like for their own ancestors in traveling across the plains. If you would like to browse and learn more about the Overland Trails, click
here to transfer to this site.

War and Love Letters

I watched a thought provoking video about the importance of saving those pieces of paper that we call letters or in this day and age (email's) to include in our histories or those of our ancestral family members.

I must confess that the letters of my husband to me when we were dating have become more precious to me as time passes. Since my husband passed away last year from melanoma, those letters that I have saved from him bring back great joy and pleasure to me in a way that other items such as pictures can't. These letters are his words to me...It is as if he were sitting right beside me. I am grateful that I have kept these letters and love to reflect on them from time to time. Letters are a very intimate way to learn about your family, your history, and yourself.

This web link that I have provided for you is from Roots Television and can be found at the bottom of this blog or you can just watch the video here on my blog. The video that I would encourage you all to look at is the one about the War Letters. It is an interesting way to look on life as history happened. These letters make the history come alive in a very personal way. I am amazed that so many people would be able to part with these letters that would mean so much. The people who donated these letters made a great sacrifice in relinquishing these for the project. I am grateful for the sacrifices of the families and the young men and women that have or are currently serving, or will serve in the armed forces for our freedom. I do think these feelings can and should be expressed by anyone from any country. We are benefiting now from the sacrifices of the few for the many. I thank you all for your sacrifce for me.




War Letters