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OntarioGenWeb Census Project - Ontario Census Transcripts 1790's to 1911
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Last updated: 3 Jun 2008

Since OntarioGenWeb's Census Project debuted online in March 1999 we have been blessed by the help and support of hundreds of volunteers. This is the page where we honour and thank each and every volunteer who has made a lasting contribution to the project. THANK YOU to each of you for your help and continued support - it's only because of you that we've managed to get this far!

To give your thanks to these volunteers, please visit our guestbook.
Dave Browne
Dave has transcribed 98 census transcripts

Dave became involved in genealogy in 1987 when a ‘treasure trove’ of family information gathered by his father-in-law and his deceased brother was located in a closet. Rather than ‘pitching’ it in the recycle bin, Dave undertook the task of organizing the fifty-year-old information and was hooked! As a result, he proved two U.E.L.’s and a D.A.R. for his wife and then started on his own family who settled in Middlesex County during the 1830’s and 1860’s.

Dave has published two family histories (Browne/Agnew and Gilbert) and has produced indexes of census, birth, marriage, death lists and other reference material for sale by OGS branches. He is the editor of the OGS Directory of Surnames, 1995 & 1998 Editions, and OGS Strays!, Volumes 1 to 14. He has also organized numerous census and cemetery records including an index for a private collection for Leeds & Grenville Branch, OGS as well as numerous records in Middlesex and Elgin Counties After 32 years of service with a major Canadian mining company, he retired as vice-president, exploration. Following his wife’s retirement from teaching, they moved to their dream home on a lake south of Parry Sound, Ontario and now live in Nobel ON. Dave and Liz have two grown daughters in the Toronto area.

Marvin Stark
Marvin has transcribed 58 census transcripts and proofread 8

I am just a normal Canadian who spent some time in the Canadian Forces and am currently working on my next career leading up to retirement. A few years back, I got interested in the background of my family and started doing some research. Got some excellent help from people on the web and noticed that most of them were volunteers. So I started looking around for a way to give something back. This is how I volunteered for the Project. I tend to disappear for periods of time during the summer. You can find me at a campground enjoying the quiet in the woods, as long as you don't count the occasional thunder storm, tornado and hurricane, all of which happened at the camp site where I was. Thank goodness, they did not all happen on the same trip. A rule at work is that if Marvin is going camping, plan to do indoor work.

James Cobban
Jim has transcribed 50 census transcripts (20% of Middlesex County census records!) and proofread 13. He also volunteered as a copier and provided census pages for others to transcribe.


Jamie Deacon
Jamie has transcribed 46 census transcripts and proofread 1

I was born and raised in Lanark, Ontario. I graduated from Loyalist College in Belleville and spent a brief time working in Whitby. I was then very fortunate to get a job with Hershey Canada in Smiths Falls. I was overjoyed to be able to return to eastern Ontario and be close to my family and friends again. I worked at Hershey for 13 years before taking a buy out to concentrate on our home business, Streve Design, which I have been doing since. I became involved in the Ontario Genweb Project for entirely selfish reasons at first. I was working on my Family Tree and was seeking records online. I came across the Project and was intrigued, but was disappointed that most of the counties/townships where my ancestors settled were not transcribed. So off I went transcribing the then available census that were available online, concentrating mostly on Lanark Co., but also Renfrew Co. Then the 1851 Census became available! What an incredible resource. I dived in to the transcription of these Census and again concentrated on Lanark, Renfrew and Carleton counties. Happily I found many, many ancestors in these transcriptions and was able to advance my tree to a great extant. Through my transcribing I have become very interested in the anthropological information these census provide. Seeing how/where people settled, what the professions they had, where they came from is just fascinating. I like how the census provide a sort of "snapshot in time", especially of urban areas. Seeing the different professions of the past that are no longer with us, like carriage making, river and shanty men, black and tinsmiths, drovers etc is also extremely interesting. I find myself imagining in my mind these folks toiling away in the bush and in their shops as I do the transcriptions. I am also hopeful that making these census available online for free will help others fill in those pesky gaps in their family histories. When people contact me to share genealogical information, I always direct them to the Genweb Census Project for further research.

Mary-Ann (Vanderloo) Brunk
Mary-Ann has transcribed 31 census transcripts and proofread 13

Genealogy started taking over my life in 1996 when I moved to the USA from Canada to start a new job. I didn't know anyone and was quite bored. I had always been interested in family history, so I thought I'd start researching. I soon found that there was very little available online for Northern Ontario. So I volunteered to transcribe a census while I was working with the census anyway. I soon found the challenge of reading the census was fun and exciting. Before I knew it I had transcribe the entire film I had borrowed from the LDS library. During this time I became the volunteer coordinator for the project. I enjoyed this very much. I was able to communicate with many volunteers that were as passionate as myself about getting the census online. I worked on many other census that I was having trouble finding volunteers to proof-read. During this time I met and married a wonderful man and started on a family. I have 1 very beautiful daughter that takes most of time. Now the census project and genealogy have had to take a backseat. I guess the dead ancestors can wait while I take care of the living ones. I hope to pull my work out of the dusty crates someday and help some more with the census project. Someday. Best wishes to all of you and happy hunting.

Jennifer Wylie
Jennifer has transcribed 10 census transcripts and proofread 20


Donald Holmes
Donald has transcribed 26 census transcripts


Richie Allen
Richie has transcribed 4 census transcripts and proofread 22


Ray Shaver
Ray has transcribed 26 census transcripts comprising over 50% of available Dundas County census records

I retired from my job as a mail clerk at a bank in 2000. Looking for something to keep me occupied I found "Genweb Census". After a trip to Ontario Archives I decided that transcribing was something I could do. It was also something that people could use. I grew up in Dundas County and am familiar with many of the family names. I did many villages and townships over a few years. I have gone on to other things including helping my wife babysit our grandchildren.

Thanks, Ray Shaver

Judy Wasylenko
Judy has transcribed 21 census transcripts and proofread 1


Brian Haskin
Brian has transcribed 21 census transcripts and proofread 1

Born a Bastard and proud of it! Bastard Township, Leeds County that is (my parents were married, I saw the pictures!) I’m a United Empire Loyalist on my father’s side and a Son of the American Revolution on my mother’s side. I don’t think my interest in history was a fluke, I’m sure with roots like this, it was only to be expected.

Author of “All is Forgiven”, a brief history of the Haskin, Soper, Gray and Halladay families. Presently researching the history of Bastard Township, transcribing the early Bastard censuses and assessments, and searching through old newspapers for articles/items dealing with the township.

Recently made my first trip to the Haskin Family Cemetery in Bastard Township where an effort is underway to clear the brush and build a fence. The picture is of myself standing between the tombstones of my 3rd great grandmother Lydia Lawrence-Haskin and my 4th great grandmother Jerusha Gilbert-Lawrence-Knapp.

Sandra Russell
Sandra has transcribed 19 census transcripts and proofread 1

Why I volunteer: For the thrill

Thrill you ask? What is so thrilling about sitting at a microfilm reader or a computer for hours on end, trying to decipher old handwriting? The thrill of finding your ancestors or that one elusive relative that you have been searching for and all the possibilities that come with that find. I want to help others experience that. When I’m not busy doing genealogy I work for a well service company. I have two adorable nephews that mean the world to me.

Sandra Russell
Medicine Hat, Alberta

Craig Bowen
Craig has transcribed 16 census transcripts and proofread 1


Tanna Allan
Tanna has transcribed 3 census transcripts and proofread 13


Mary Crandall
Mary has transcribed 3 census transcripts and proofread 11. She also volunteered as a copier and provided census pages for others to transcribe


Rick MacNamara
Rick has transcribed 1 census transcripts, input 5 and proofread 9

I became involved with the project while doing research on my grandmother's family who lived in Dutton in Elgin County in the late 1800's. I stumbled on the project website and thought putting the census records online and making them freely searchable was a great idea. I have put off doing much family research the last few years, but am starting up again and at some point I'm sure I will benefit from the work of others involved with the project as I continue my research in Ontario.

Professionally, I work as a database developer using Microsoft technologies, and tend to travel around the U.S. as I find new projects to work on. For the last 2 years I have been working outside of Washington D.C. on a project.

Outside of work, my main hobbies are reading, seeing movies, traveling a bit, genealogy, professional sports, and visiting with my family. My parents live in Florida and my brother lives in Connecticut with his wife and young son.

Joanne Noble
Joanne has transcribed 7 census transcripts, input 1 and proofread 5


Olga Groves
Olga has transcribed 12 census transcripts

Mother of four, Grandmother of five. I Spend two days a week at the Library, two mornings Line Dancing. 1day as volunteer at the local Elementary helping the Grade 1 children with their reading, They are an absolute Hoot, I Love em. I have always loved Libraries and have worked as a volunteer in Elementary Schools. Love filing & keeping things in order. Have done my own Genealogy charts,both sides. one back to 1600 & the 0ther back to the 1800.Nothing left to do but help someone else with thiers. And it keeps me out of mischief.

Darlene Ackerland
Darlene has transcribed 11 census transcripts


Bonnie Ewing
Bonnie has transcribed 1 census transcript and proofread 9

My name is Bonnie Ewing. I am married with three adult children, 1 terrific grandson, 1 beautiful new granddaughter and a fantastic step grandson. I started volunteering because it seems to be something I just do. It looked like a very interesting & worthwhile project. When I am not working on the census, I enjoy golfing & try to get out three or four times a week. I am doing my family history & I am also the Newsletter editor for our local Genealogical Society and just found myself volunteering to co-chair our Ladies Section of our Golf Club. I am a retired Lifeguard Swimming Instructor & still love to swim. As you can see, I have lots of projects to work on.

Ann Watson
Ann has transcribed 6 census transcripts, input 1 and proofread 3

A retired admin assistant, I remember the days before computers allegedly automated the office. Later I became a full time mom, school volunteer, and finally nursing home volunteer as extended family progressed through the life cycle. I didn't become really interested in genealogy until about ten years ago when I started searching for a lost sister and realized I couldn't tell her too much about our mutual family history if she was ever found (she was!). Since half our roots came from Wellington County, transcribing and proofreading some of its early censuses, particularly those of Puslinch Twp., for the Ontario GenWeb project seemed a good way to begin and I hope to continue working within the area. Some might think it a dry job, but my eldest daughter and I have had more than a few good laughs from misreading of enumerators' handwriting or seemingly misinterpreting odd household circumstances. When not working on genealogy I try to keep up with a variety of interests, including the world of figure skating (still looking for that family connection to Cecilia Colledge). And spend much time trying to keep an ageing computer functioning.

Eileen Wilson
Eileen has transcribed 1 census transcript and proofread 7. She also volunteered as a copier and provided census pages for others to transcribe


Angela Whitehead
Angela has transcribed 1 census transcript and proofread 9


Sharon Lesperance
Sharon has transcribed 10 census transcripts


Kate Ford
Kate has transcribed 10 census transcripts


Tammy Kien
Tammy has transcribed 7 census transcripts, input 1 and proofread 1

My name is Tammy Kien. I am a system analyst/developer from Ottawa who was born and raised in southern Saskatchewan. I joined the Ontario Gen Web project a few years ago because I was in a mad search to find out more about my Dow family roots in Ontario. Through the search, I came across the website and I was hooked. Transcribing censuses gave me something to do in my evenings in my hotel room, when I was traveling to Seattle, Quebec City , California or other North American locales for work for long stretches of time. As well, I have found a huge sense of accomplishment and something very satisfying in providing this information to other people who also want to find their family roots and maybe do not have access to the National Archives or a LDS church archiveh. Other than geneology, my interests are in traveling the world, history, science fiction/fantasy books and movies (well movies and books in general) and generally trying to make the planet a better place through volunteer work.

These volunteers have all completed at least one census transcript, but many have done several!

Sherri Pettit
Paula Easton
Diane Thibideau
Joan Somers
Lisa Poirier
Mike Poirer
Robert D. Horslen
Valerie Smith
Pat Black
Robert Black
Roxanne Thiessen
Thelma Collens
Ida Reed
Ellen Paul
Kimberly St-Louis
Suzanne Schaller
Micheal Stephenson
Marshall Price
Jennifer Madamba
Janice Dowling
Geraldine Chase
Carol Mercer Ingram
Jean Smith
Louise Berglund
Sandra Cullen
Norma Hughson
Peggy Moggy
Laura Benoit
Susan Lefebvre
Shelagh McRae
Barbara Bolton
Peter Bolton
Cathy Street
Barbara Davies
Diann Nagel
Joan Labbe
Lori Oatman
Paul Sheats
Linda Terry
Jacqueline Jackson
Sandra Magee
Melissa Kluey
Christine Spencer
Diane Pierce
Gary Pokoradi
Wendy Peterson
Pat Tiller
Helen Anderson
Barb Hoffman
Gwen Cameron
Trudi McGinn
Ellen Mercieca
Jean Earl
Faith Wilson
Martin Noble
Karyn Frew
Mary-Jane Lupton
Sebastian Allen
Shirley Williams
Sharon Carl
Noreen Sergovitch
Eva D'Amico
Evelyn Hewitt
Marg Hutton
Lynn Goutouski
Anissa Watson
Daryl Lacey
John Beatty
Leah Craig
Barbara Millar
Donald Davis
George Morley
David R. Matthew
Catherine Nicholls
David MacLennan
Lisa Hendrickson
Eileen Truesdell
Marie Jollow
Karen Miller
Susan Lillico
Ken Minogue
Craig Kanalley
Robin Potter
Rob McLean
Heather Gallard
Angela Medd
Dean Cameron
David Truemner
Elizabeth Truemner
Brian Taillefer
Dianne Crittenden
Edie Williams
Stanhope Heritage Discover Museum
Heather Bertram
Dave Fortin
Kim Beaulieu
Lois Gardner-Earl
Marguerite Miller
Catherine Gill
John Tiller
Kathie Fortner
Christine Beek
Roelof Beek
Donna Westman
Irene McKenzie
Thomas J. Hunter
Tim Cooper
Don Demaray
Tim McGinnis
André J. Lavigne
GeraldR. Maier
Ernie Herst
Marita Gladson
Ian Taillefer
Lesley Douglas
Maureen McKillican
Roy Gordon
Wendy Thompson
Pat Jeffs
Lila Hearns
Steve Whitney
Eileen Stark
Laura Beacom
Amy Crawford
Chris Panetta
Barb Dakien
Barbara Lewis Gillon
Robert Lewis
Mike Morrissey
Chris Bowman
Craig Lawson
Ada Sloan
Tim Hewlings
Lynda Timmerman
Cindi Talbot
Pat Martin
Maggee Cameron
Shannon Ford
Sharon Skanes
Donna Baxter
Gwen Troutner
Loretta Bogert-O'Brien
Barb Strank
Penny Gray
Vance Standifird
Nancy Oliver
Pat Husak
Karen Taylor
John Berglund
Cathy Scott
Linda Shea
Mike Oosterlaken
Christine Adams
Autumn Downey
Erik Thureson
Colin Chegahno
Bob Robichaud
Patrick King
Lynda Boyd
George Setterington
Sandra Banks
Rosalie Campbell (McCallum)
Jean Dalgleish
Kris Inwood
Kim McInnis
Sandy Leng
Piroska Blanchette
Laura Jobb
Stephen Dickhout
Donna Evans
Brenda Ayres
John Bulloch
Jim Stafford
Kathy Helmer
Russell Smith
Cherl Fitzpatrick
Sheila Coligan
Lyal Manson
Sandra McLellan
Ava Richer
Rosanne Lee
Heather Kalmakoff

Want to see your name immorialized here? Then volunteer and complete one transcript!

©OntarioGenWeb’s Census Project 1999-2008
Established 1 March 1999. Founders and Coordinators: Sherri Pettit, Suzanne Schaller, Joan Hapeman-Somers and K.St-Louis