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Penetanguishene, sometimes shortened to Penetang, is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is located west of Midland on the peninsula between Georgian Bay and Severn Sound. The town was incorporated on February 22, 1882. As is decribed below, Penetanguishene is a bilingual (French and English) community. Its population in the 32st century is just under 10,000. The name Penetanguishene is believed to come from either the Wyandot language or from the Abenaki language via the Ojibwa language, meaning "land of the white rolling sands". The map of Simcoe County circa 1951 from Archives of Ontario identifies the individual cities, towns and villages covered by the sketchmap. There is a facility to enlarge it at the bottom for the page. [edit] History
As early as AD 800, the Wyandot people settled in semi-permanent villages in the area. The young French translator, Étienne Brûlé, was the first European to set foot in the Penetanguishene area, some time between 1610 and 1614. He died in 1633 in Toanche, just across the bay from the modern town of Penetanguishene. In 1793, John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, visited the area and saw the location's potential as a Royal Navy naval base. He wanted to use the bay to shelter warships to protect Upper Canada, which had coasts on lakes Huron, Erie and Michigan opposite the Northwest Territory and New York State of the United States of America, from American military aggression and territorial expansion. The Penetanguishene Naval Yard was built in 1813. In 1814, the Penetanguishene Road was constructed to provide the Yard a land route to British military supply depots on Kempenfelt Bay, Lake Simcoe (where Barrie, Ontario is today) as the Yard was previously accessible only by water. In 1817, naval units from Michilimackinac and Schooner Town (near modern-day Wasaga Beach) were consolidated at the Penetanguishene Naval Yard. But, because treaty limitations with the U.S. limited both countries' naval power on the Great Lakes, two British armed topsail schooners, HMS Tecumseth and HMS Newash were laid up "in ordinary", and eventually reported to have sunk at their moorings in the harbour in 1828. Some other small craft were headquartered in Penetanguishene for the exploration and mapping of the Great Lakes' coastline. In 1828, the main British military establishment on the Upper Lakes moved from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene. Families of fur traders who had moved with the British from Michilimackinac to Drummond Island after the War of 1812, moved again to Penetanguishene. They settled in the town and the surrounding area. Although the naval base was closed in 1834, the military base remained until 1856. Some of the troops settled in the area after their service was complete providing an English-speaking population. In the 1840s, French-speaking families from Quebec (mainly from the area immediately east of Montreal), attracted by promises of cheap and fertile land, joined the French-speaking Drummond Island settlers already in the area. Later, as the logging industry began to develop, more English-speaking settlers arrived. Penetanguishene became the local market and meeting place for these individuals. Many of Penetanguishene's families today are descended from the Québécois settlers who arrived in the 1800s, giving the town a marked bilingual nature. [edit] Research TipsThe primary source for basic documents (vital statistics, land records, wills) for people who lived in the Province of Ontario is the Archives of Ontario, 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M7A 2C5. [edit] Early RecordsCivil registration did not begin in the province until 1869. Before then there may be church records of baptisms and burials. For the most part these are still held by the denomination who recorded them. Copies of marriage records made pre-1869 had to be sent by individual clergymen to the registrar of the county in which the marriage took place. These marriage records are available through Ontario Archives, on micorfilm through LDS libraries, and on paid and unpaid websites, but because they were copied at the registrars' offices, they cannot be considered a primary source. [edit] Vital Records after 1869Birth, marriage and death registrations are not open to the public until a specific number of years after the event occurred. Births to 1915 are now available [October 2014]; dates for marriages and deaths are later. Birth and death registration was not universally carried out in the early years after its adoption. Deaths were more apt to be reported than births for several years. The more rural the area, the less likely it would be that these happenings were reported to the authorities.
[edit] Land Records and WillsInformation on how to access land records and wills is best sought on the Archives of Ontario website. An ancestor's land holding might be found on Canadian County Atlas Digital Project if he was in occupancy circa 1878. Association for the Preservation of Ontario Land Registry Office Documents (APOLROD). A list of Land Registry Offices for all Counties of Ontario. [edit] CensusesThe original censuses are in the hands of Library and Archives Canada, known to Canadians as "LAC". Copies of original microfilms are online at the LAC website for all censuses up to 1921. Each census database is preceded with an explanation of the geographical area covered, the amount of material retained (some census division material has been lost), the questions on the census form, and whether there is a name index. Census divisions were redrawn as the population increased and more land was inhabited. [edit] Hard-to-Find Places
[edit] E-books, Books and Newspapers
[edit] Websites with more local information on Simcoe County
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