How to Recognize your Canadian Ancestor: Difference between revisions

===Step 2. Identify what you know about the person who is a possible match===

Do the following to identify this person clearly: • Make a time line of information given in the record of the possible match person. This time line may be quite small but will establish dates and places clearly. • On your time line, include other persons mentioned in the record who were associated with the possible match. • Use an analysis chart to identify and evaluate what you know. • Evaluate what that information may suggest. POSSIBLE MATCH One Record Time Line for a Possible Match: Daniel Hill (name) Date Record: Upper Canada Land Petitions (name of record) 1832 Aug 31 Daniel Hill obtained 100 acres of land in Tosorontio Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario from the Canada Company, being the East 1/2 of Lot 9 in the 6th Concession. Registered March 16, 1837. 1834 Sep 22 Alexander Hill obtained 100 acres of land in Tosorontio Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario from the Clergy Reserve Sale, being the East 1/2 of Lot 8 in the 7th Concession. 1837 Jul 26 John Hill obtained 100 acres of land in Tosorontio Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario, being the West 1/2 of Lot 8 in the 7th Concession. To print a copy of a time line for a specific record, click here. For helps in making a time line, see Tip 1. Use an Analysis Chart to help you identify what you know about the possible match person and evaluate what that information may suggest. The following chart is a sample of an analysis chart: POSSIBLE MATCH Analysis Chart for a Single Record: Daniel Hill (name of person) Upper Canada Land Petitions (name of record) What Do I Know About the Possible Match? Analysis and Conclusions 1. Daniel Hill obtained 100 acres of land in Tosorontio Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario on Aug. 31, 1832. 1. Daniel Hill had moved to Tosorontio Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario by August, 1832 because that is the date of his land document. 2. There is no other Daniel Hill mentioned in land records in Tosorontio Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario for at least a 10 year period before or after 1832. 2. This land record must be for the Daniel Currie Hill listed in A Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants To Canada Before Confederation, vol. 2. How to Recognize Your Canadian Ancestor Research Guidance Version of Data: 03/07/01 4 3. Alexander Hill obtained 100 acres of land in Tosorontio Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario on Sept. 22, 1834. 3. Daniel Hill's father and brother were both named Alexander Hill. The land record found in Tosorontio Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario for Alexander Hill dated Sept. 22, 1834 must be for either the father or brother of Daniel Hill, because I did not find another Hill family in this location during this period. Also, A Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants To Canada Before Confederation, vols.1 & 2, state that Alexander Hill and Alexander Hill, Jr. both moved to Tosorontio Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario. However, the Dictionary gives the year of removal from Lanark Co., Ontario to Simcoe Co., Ontario as 1835. 4. John Hill obtained 100 acres of land in Tosorontio Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario on July 26, 1837. This land was next to the land of Alexander Hill. 4. John Hill is listed in A Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants To Canada Before Confederation, vol. 2, as a son of Alexander Hill and a brother of Daniel Hill. John was 23 years old at the time he acquired this land. Apparently the whole family was moving to Tosorontio Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario from Lanark Co., Ontario. 5. Daniel Hill who obtained land in Tosorontio Twp., Simcoe Co., Ontario on Aug. 31, 1832 appears to be the same person as Daniel Hill who was living in Lanark Twp., Lanark Co., Ontario since 1821. 6. Daniel Hill moved from Lanark Twp., Lanark Co., Ontario in 1832, not in 1835 as is stated in A Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants To Canada Before Confederation, vol. 2. 7. Daniel Hill must have married Elizabeth Bryce in Simcoe Co., Ontario, rather than in Lanark Co., Ontario since he was married in 1833 and he was already in Simcoe Co. at that time. Therefore, I need to search for a marriage record for Daniel Hill and Elizabeth Bryce in Simcoe Co., Ontario. 8. Search other land records in Simcoe Co., Ontario for more members of the Hill family, including the married daughters. Also search for the Bryce family, possible parents of Elizabeth Bryce who married Daniel Hill. To print a copy of an analysis chart for a specific record to be used with a possible match, click here. How to Recognize Your Canadian Ancestor Research Guidance Version of Data: 03/07/01 5 Step 3. Analyze and compare what you know about your ancestor with what you know about the possible match. See Tip 2 for questions to ask yourself, as you compare these two time lines and analysis charts. Step 4. Make a decision about the possible match. To decide about the possible match person, do one of the following: • Confirm the person as your ancestor. • Suspect that the person may be a relative with the same name. • Eliminate that person as your possible ancestor. • Decide that there is not enough information yet to confirm or eliminate this person as your ancestor. In that case, see Tip 3.