Finding your roots in Millbrook Cavan Monaghan

With genealogy, the first place I always suggest people start is with a book called This Green & Pleasant Land which was published by the Millbrook Cavan Historical Society in 1990. The book is out of print but is available in pdf format on a searchable DVD or a 2CD set for $20 plus postage ($3 in Canada, $4 to the US, $5 elsewhere). The book is about 450 pages and very well researched. The book itself doesn't have an index but the CD is searchable. You may also be able to get access to a copy through your local library.

A History of North Monaghan Township 1817-1989 is available from the Historical Society for $20, plus postage.
This is a hardcover book; postage rates are available on request.  The book may be available through your local library.

We invite your interest, both in terms of inquiries and as an active participant in identifying and cataloguing photographs, deeds and documents.  We are in the process of scanning and indexing materials including local newspapers and other documents that tell many a story of the earliest days of European settlement in the Millbrook and Cavan area.

Please contact us at millbrookcavanhs@gmail.com .  Our mailing address, for payment, is Millbrook & Cavan Historical Society, P.O. Box 334, Millbrook, ON L0A 1G0

At the Cavan Monaghan Libraries you can access Ancestry - Library Edition: A volunteer from the Historical Society is available on the last Thursday of each month to assist with navigating the Ancestry Program, 1-3 pm.

Materials, inquiries, and payments can be dropped off at the Millbrook Branch of Cavan Monaghan Libraries, 1 Dufferin Street, Millbrook, where our Archives are located.

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There are several other places I can suggest you look:

TONI – The Ontario Name Index is a project of the Ontario Genealogical Society.  They have an online searchable index http://www.ogs.on.ca/home/TONI.php.

Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html

Be sure and check to see if there was a grant to your family in the Land Grant petitions index, sometimes there are some real information gems in the petitions.

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/upper-canada-land/index-e.html

Be sure to check the Marriage petitions as well.

http://ocfa.islandnet.com// - this is a link to a database of information that was taken from tombstones in Ontario cemetery - you can search their index free of charge.

http://www.toronto.anglican.ca/parish-administration/archives/- this is the archives of the diocese of Toronto - Cavan Township was part of the diocese. The archives holds the original register that the clergy used when travelling from place to place doing marriages, baptisms etc. They have a limited staff but they may be able to help you or you can visit and do the research yourself.

Trent University Archives - it holds many early land records for the township and they have a large archival collection much of which is searchable online.  They also hold the research records from the writing of This Green and Pleasant Land.

http://www.trentu.ca/admin/library/archives/holdings.html

Trent Valley Archives - you can get an idea of their holdings online. They also have a copy of the early assessment records for this area which start around 1818.

http://trentvalleyarchives.com/genealogy/

Cobourg Public Library - has a large local history room which has some records of what went on in Cavan. They also have copies of the assessment microfilms and equipment that allows you to copy entries of interest directly to a memory stick.

KARA - Kawartha Ancestral Research Association has a research room which includes the transcripts from many of the smaller local cemeteries. http://kararoot.kawarthagenealogy.ca/

Peterborough Centennial Museum and Archives http://www.peterboroughmuseumandarchives.ca/Collections/archivalcollections.htm

Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Registers -1825-1910
The Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada set up a central registry of the births and baptisms in 1843. The registry includes entries from 1825 to 1910 with the bulk of the records falling between 1840 and 1873. These records are now held by the United Church in Canada.

An index of these records and a copy of the document is available at http://bowergenealogy.ca/resources/methodist/index.html - be patient the site is slow.

St. Paul’s Anglican Cemetery – Zion Line

All the stones from the cemetery have been now been photographed and are available online.  This is a new project, stones listed in the Ontario Cemetery Index are from a survey of the cemetery undertaken in 1989.

http://www.canadianheadstones.com/on/cemetery.php?cemID=2442

Kawartha Lakes Public Library Digital Archives

Online papers including early papers from Millbrook and area are available in a searchable (it’s pretty good but not perfect) online site.

http://vitacollections.ca/kl-digitalarchive/3179865/data?grd=4457

Be sure and check the Omemee and Lindsay area papers as well a they also carried Millbrook and Cavan news.

Clarington Digital Newspaper Collection

These are online editions of the Canadian Statemen beginning in 1868.  They also sometimes contain news from this area.

http://vitacollections.ca/claringtonnews/2501483/data