About the Branch

Mission

The mission of the Wellington County Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is to provide assistance to those interested in family history, and to promote family history research as a worthwhile activity.

Goals

The goals of the Wellington County Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society are:

to encourage, bring together, inform, and assist those interested in the pursuit of family history.
to share the expertise of volunteer members with others.
to promote family history through meetings, educational programs, in-services, newsletters, books, and other programs.
to encourage membership in the Wellington County Branch and the Ontario Genealogical Society.

Objectives

to promote, encourage and foster family history research.
to collect and preserve information related to family history.
to encourage and assist individuals in the ethical principles, research methods, and effective techniques of family history research.
to publish and distribute helpful materials to promote family history.
to maintain a branch library to support those researching family history in Wellington County.
to encourage and provide opportunities for family history researchers to participate in professional activities.
to raise funds and to accept monies through donations, gifts, et cetera to support the goals and objectives of the branch.
to cooperate with and encourage organizations within the branch’s geographical area which have a shared interest in family history.

Traces & Tracks is the newsletter of the Wellington County Branch of OGS. It is published four times a year: March, June, September, and December. All members have the choice of receiving copies of the newsletter containing information about research in this area via post, or accessing them from the Members Only section of the website which is encouraged. Articles on new materials, sources, addresses of other organizations, queries and name indexes appear in each issue. Queries, requests for information about a family one is researching, are welcome from anyone and will be published space permitting.

Queries for publication in Traces & Tracks can be submitted by:

mailing it to our Newsletter Editor c/o Wellington County Branch,
Ontario Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 1211, Guelph, ON N1H 6N6
or
sending an e-mail to wellington@ogs.on.ca

There is no charge for this service.

Meetings

Most meetings are held in Guelph on the fourth Tuesday of the month, except for the months of July, August, December, and January. It begins with a mix and mingle, with refreshments, at 7:00 pm followed at 7:30 by the Guest presentation. Unless indicated otherwise, meetings are held at Zehrs, 1045 Paisley Road, Guelph, in the 2nd floor meeting room. There is elevator access. Some meetings are held at the Speaker's location to enable access to the materials available therein. The September meeting is usually held at a more northern location in Wellington County. See the Events page for presentation topics and the meeting location for each month.

Members Only Section

A Members Only Discussion Board has been added to the Members Only section. Also in the Members Only section are databases available for use only by Wellington County Branch Members and back issues of Traces and Tracks. Login using the link on the Members Only page.

Special Projects

Cemetery Transcriptions: The former Waterloo-Wellington Branch, in conjunction with OGS, recorded the monumental inscriptions of all of the cemeteries in Wellington County in the early 1980's. Wellington County Branch has an active project to revise and update the cemetery transcriptions for the County. Check out our publications listing for the current status of this project.

Our volunteers meet on Tuesday mornings during the summer at the cemetery being re-read and new volunteers will be made most welcome. If you would like to join us please contact us at wellington@ogs.ca for more information.
Newspaper Birth/Marriage/Death Index: Branch members have also been active in developing Birth/Marriage/Death indexes from the various Wellington County newspapers. The earliest issues are from the 1840's. This project is continuing and we are currently transferring the indexes to an electronic database that will be searchable through our website.
1871 Heads of Household: The 1871 Heads of Household Census Index was also a joint project of OGS and its branches. Wellington County Branch participated in the indexing of the County Census for that year.
Other Special Projects: The Branch and Branch members undertake, from time to time, projects to index, record and preserve historical documents from a variety of sources. The Branch Publications represents the outcome of many of these efforts.

Community Involvement

The Branch has also been called upon, and is more than willing, to participate in heritage events and local celebrations in any of the communities within our boundaries. The Branch will supply speakers for groups or organizations in Wellington County who are interested in genealogy.