This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: gberdahl Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.canada.alberta.general/4392/mb.ashx Message Board Post: As many of you know, in 2005 the Alberta Genealogical Society produced a searchable online "all-name" index that includes the names of every person who is listed as having some interest in Alberta homestead lands that had been "proved up" and patented by 1930. In 1930 the Canadian government turned the homesteading process over to the individual provinces. The Edmonton Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society has now produced a new searchable online "all-name" index that covers Alberta homesteads patented after 1930. This new index, as well as the earlier 1870-1930 index, can be found at http://abgensoc.ca/ . It should be noted that although the new post-1930 index (which includes records for homesteading activities as early as 1900) already contains almost 45,000 names, there are many tens of thousands of more names to come as data continues to be transcribed and entered. So if you have someone who you think may have homesteaded in Alberta, and you have not yet found a homestead record for that person, you should check the new post-1930 index regularly. In the late 1800's and early 1900's people from all over the world came to western Canada to take advantage of cheap, newly available farm land, commonly known as homesteads. For several years Library and Archives Canada (formerly National Archives of Canada) has published an searchable online index containing the names of the persons who were successful in "proving up" their western Canadian homesteads and obtaining final patent (ownership) for these lands. This index can be found at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/02/020111_e.html . However, for every person who ultimately obtained patent on homestead land there were many others who applied for homesteads but, for various reasons, did not receive patent. And there were many more who had some other interest in the same homestead lands, even though they themselves may not have even applied for the homestead. The two AGS indexes allow you to search for the names of these hundreds of thousands of other early Albertans. The "Advanced Search" option will allow you to search not only by the "Exact Match" spelling of the name, but also by the very useful "Starts With", "Ends With", "Contains" and "Wild Card Search" search methods. Furthermore, you can search not only by the person's name but also by the legal land location or, in some cases, place name. The indexes include name listings for ranches, churches, schools, cemeteries, municipalities, societies, companies and other organizations that had an interest in homestead lands. Copies of the microfilmed Alberta homestead files are held at the Provincial Archives of Alberta. For those who are able to search these files in person, the online homestead indexes will identify the microfilm reel and homestead file number where the name appears, thus saving considerable time and effort when trying to find the file. Or, if you wish, the Alberta Genealogical Society will obtain photocopies of homestead files for you and you can find out how to arrange for this at http://abgensoc.ca/ . These two homestead indexes will provide genealogists and family historians with much valuable information regarding their early Alberta ancestors and relatives. Gordon Berdahl Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.