This course will take students through genealogical and historical research in the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada. This inland waterway was vital to the westward expansion of both countries, as well as a resource for defense, commerce, shipping, and travel. The fluidity of the boundary between the two nations created a mingling of the people living along the border territories, states, and provinces. Researchers often find their border-dwelling ancestors with ties in the other country. Before more stringent border crossing requirements were put into place in the mid-1890s, our ancestors easily worked, shopped, worshipped, and visited friends and family across the border. This course will cover the history, geography, methodology, and record sets––both U.S. and Canadian––that family historians need to research ancestors in this region.
Intermediate level of instruction
NOTE:
Sessions will be recorded and available through Friday, 11 July 2025, at 11:59 PM ET.
All times are listed in Eastern Time.
Live Sessions may be subject to schedule adjustments by your course coordinator.
Day | Session | Time | Session Title | Description | Instructor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Monday 23 June |
Intro | 10:00 – 10:30 AM | Class Intro | Get to know your classmates | Taplin |
1 | 10:30 – 11:45 AM | Early to 1850s Geography, History, and Migration | Learning how the U.S. and Canada developed in this region from the times of the first explorers up until the mid-1850s when the Industrial Revolution began influencing the migration and industry of the area. This lecture will provide a solid foundation in the history and geography of the area including explorers, early migration paths, indigenous people, and other important ethnic groups. | Ingle | |
2 | Noon – 1:15 PM | 1850s to Modern Geography, History & Migration | Following the development of the modern industrial era, migration, industry, and population boomed in the Great Lakes area. We will discuss the history and geography from around the 1850s into the 1900s including some the major historical events on the lake, political and economic influences to migration and development, as well as some of the key topics that will influence your genealogical research in the Great Lakes area. | Taplin | |
3 | 2:15 – 3:30 PM | Cash, Bounty, Homestead, and Timber: Land in the Great Lakes Region | The geography of the Great Lakes region offered a variety of natural resources for settlers. These settlers had to solve problems of access, dealing with native tribes, weather, and other survival- related issues. This class will examine land issues in the Great Lakes region with a focus on homesteading, timber claims, and military bounty land. Also included will be a short primer on land survey systems most commonly used in the Great Lakes states and Canada | Taplin | |
4 | 3:45 PM – 5 PM | Census Records in the Great Lakes Region | Census records are one of the most commonly used record sets for locating individuals in family groups. Research in the Great Lakes region is no different. This lecture will explain some of the nuances of census research in this region. Each census was unique in the questions asked and the instructions given to the enumerators. This class will cover methodology for locating and identifying the correct individual using the “FAN Club” principle and ways to deal with mis- indexed, mis-enumerated, and “missing” enumerations. | Taplin | |
Tuesday 24 June |
5 | 10:30 – 11:45 AM | Finding Birth, Marriage and Death Records in the Great Lakes Region | United States vital records were not required at the state-level in many states until the late 1800s to early 1900s. It can be a challenge to find records for births, marriages, and deaths in Ontario before civil registration records began in 1869. This class will use a location approach, to examine alternative records and methodologies for locating birth, marriage, and death records for Great Lakes ancestors. Commonly used alternative records such as bibles, church records, and probate, as well as less common records such as military, land, tax, diaries, letters, and other unique items. | Ingle |
6 | Noon – 1:15 PM | Crossing the Border Between the United States and Canada | Whether on foot, by train, or by ship, there are records that document many of our ancestors as they emigrated, immigrated, or migrated back and forth. We will discuss records in both countries that cover the movement of people in the Great Lakes region and provide personal details. | Ingle | |
7 | 2:15 – 3:30 PM | Steamers, Tugs, and Schooners: Shipping and Commerce on the Great Lakes | The Great Lakes waterways were instrumental in the growth of the region, for both Canada and the United States. The history of shipping in the region parallels the population expansion and The Great Lakes waterways were instrumental in the growth of the region, for both Canada and the United States. The history of shipping in the region parallels the population expansion and settlement of the Great Lakes. This class will examine the major shipping routes and ports on the Great Lakes, including information on passenger lists, shipwrecks, military defense, and population expansion. There will also be a discussion of major businesses that boomed in the area especially those that depended on shipping for transportation of goods. | Taplin | |
8 | 3:45 PM – 5 PM | Military Records on Both Sides of the Conflict | The American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 impacted our ancestors both in the United States and the British colony of Canada. We will focus largely on the War of 1812, but will discuss other military actions and records that affected the region including the Upper Canada Rebellion, Fenian Raids, Civil War, World War I, and World War II. | Taplin | |
Wednesday 25 June |
9 | 10:30 – 11:45 AM | Paupers, Pews & Planks: The Law of the Great Lakes | From its origins in the Northwest Territory through individual territorial legislatures and on through statehood, the law of the Great Lakes Region has reflected the particular needs and concerns of its people and its economies. This session will review the legal history of the Great Lakes area, and guide students to resources where they will be able to find the law applicable to genealogical questions at various times in the region’s history, with examples of how knowing the law can help explain records and solve genealogical problems. | Russell |
10 | Noon – 1:15 PM | On a Mission: Religion in the Great Lakes Region | Some of the first settlers in any region were missionaries who wanted to convert native tribes already in the region. The area around the Great Lakes was explored by Jesuits, Methodists, Moravians, Baptists, Anglicans, Quakers, Presbyterians and others. These groups built early churches and religious meeting places that served settlers and native people alike. This class will focus on major religions in the Great Lakes region, a history and timeline of their arrival and expansion in specific areas, and will include a discussion on the main denominational repositories for research. | Taplin | |
11 | 2:15 – 3:30 PM | Tracing French Canadian Ancestors | If you have an ancestor from a Great Lakes state or province, it’s likely you have found a French Canadian connection. Your German or British Isles ancestor or their sibling may have married into a French Canadian family. Whichever is the case, the records are amazing; the names of parents are generally found. Learn about the general history of the people, the fantastic records created, the books and online resources, the repositories, and meet some new cousins. | Stuart-Warren | |
12 | 3:45 PM – 5 PM | Researching in Ontario | Check a map to see how many states touch Ontario and see that there are almost 1700 miles of border with the U.S. Ontario is vital to the research of many families in the. Great Lakes states. Upper Canada (1791-1852) and Canada West (1852-1867) are historic names for Ontario. This province is the home of the country’s capital and the provincial capital is in Toronto. First Nations, fur traders, missionaries, Loyalists, British subjects, French-Canadians from Quebec, and many others who came later make up the diverse population. A major active genealogical society and branches around the province have provided much for our research. Individuals have written articles and books that detail these and other records. One of the best parts of Ontario research is that most records are written in English and records are plentiful. | Stuart-Warren | |
Thursday 26 June |
13 | 10:30 – 11:45 AM | Great Lakes Newspapers: Defy the Borders | Whether it was fit to print or not, newspaper stories, advertisements, society pages and more can provide little known details about our ancestors’ lives. We will discuss the importance of newspapers in the daily lives of our ancestors, and what riches can be unearthed between the sheets of newsprint. The availability of U.S and Canadian newspapers in the Great Lakes Region repositories will be reviewed. | Taplin |
14 | Noon – 1:15 PM | Naturalization and Citizenship in the U.S. & Canada | As migration between Canada and the United States progressed, new residents may have become citizens. This process was important to immigrants in order to assimilate into their new home, obtain land, vote, and take part in other government programs. This class will discuss important aspects of the naturalization process focusing on the Great Lakes region. First papers, declarations, final papers, passports, and other records useful for tracking down immigrant ancestors will be examined and methods for locating those records will be discussed. | Stuart-Warren | |
15 | 2:15 – 3:30 PM | Beyond Shipping: Making a Living in the Great Lakes Region | Occupations in the Great Lakes went far beyond shipping and fishing. Farming, trapping, mining, timber, and railroads drew our ancestors to live and work in this area too. We will discuss the history of various industries that helped grow the area. | Ingle | |
16 | 3:45 PM – 5 PM | Major Archives and Libraries in the Great Lakes Region and their Fantastic Records | The research repositories in the area offer extensive in-house and online material for family historians. We’ll cover some at local, provincial, state, and country level. Overlooked treasures offer information that just might fill in those missing family details. | Ingle | |
Friday 27 June |
17 | 10:30 – 11:45 AM | Mapping the Great Lakes using Google Earth | Google Earth is a free software program that offers a wide variety of tools to make mapping a fun and easy task. We will demonstrate how to create migration maps, plot out land owned by our ancestors, and make historical map overlays to show the changes in the Great Lakes region over time. | Ingle |
18 | Noon – 1:15 PM | Bringing it all together: A Case Study – Those Loyalist Taplins | Follow the migration of the Taplin family around the Great Lakes as they arrived in the U.S., moved to Canada to avoid the Revolutionary War and ended up in Minnesota and Wisconsin around the time of the Civil War. | Taplin |