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Postcard from St. Catharines Library: Coffin Register

  The third in a series about discoveries made during my trip to western New York and Ontario, where I researched my Becker/Baker, Cassidy, Sheridan, Cailteux, and Schiltz families.    July 14, 2025 Dear Family,  Have you ever heard of a coffin register? I haven't. And just like you, I'm asking, "What's that?" I discovered a coffin register at the St. Catharines Public Library in Ontario on my trip. I was quite surprised to find an ancestor's name in it. This coffin register was a book used by the Thomas McIntyre company in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, to record coffin orders between 1863-1865. McIntyre had a cabinet and furniture making business and eventually branched out to build wooden coffins for his clients.  Early funerals in America were usually conducted by family and friends of the deceased, including preparing the body, providing a homemade shroud or coffin, and even carrying the coffin to the grave site. By the mid-late 18th cen...

More Fortunate Finds on Facebook


Were you convinced last week that you should be using Facebook for genealogy? 

If not, I have more success stories to share!

Last year, I wrote "16,000+ Friends: Using Facebook for Genealogy," which appeared in Stirpes, the journal of the Texas State Genealogical Society (Vol. 62, No. 3, September 2023, p. 35-40).

This article details nearly a dozen ways to leverage Facebook to further your family history research,  includes many more examples of Facebook wins I've had over the past several years, and offers instructions on how to get started. Maybe it will give you an idea or two that will be useful to you.

Just click the PDF below to read the article.

I hope this will be a valuable resource. Thanks to the Stirpes editors for permission to share it here.

 

Until next time...

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© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved.

Comments

  1. What a great follow up, and article, to last week's post on using Facebook for genealogy research! Fantastic, well planned article that covers all the bases for beginners and will be a tremendous help! Kudos! :)

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    1. Thank you. Even yesterday I'm having success with a church record I needed. I just never ends if you find the right places to connect with!

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  2. I loved your story. There are lots of great ways to use Facebook to help out.

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  3. I've gained so much knowledge and made so many connections for my family tree on Facebook. Great article.!

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    1. So glad you're experience is much like mine. It seems I use it almost every day for something. Thanks for reading!

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  4. How wonderful the Stirpes editors allowed it to be share more broadly.

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    1. I LOVE working with Stirpes! It's fun to work with their team. They allow you to publish articles elsewhere one year after original publication. The journal is a member benefit, hence the embargo. I was just reminded of that and the one year had just passed. Perfect timing!

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  5. Even for someone who already uses FB for genealogy, your article is full of excellent tips and ideas. TY for sharing and congrats on all the finds using FB!

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