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French Special Interest Group

How to Research Homesteads from Home

The next session of the French SIG in hybrid format (held in person at the SGNO centre and via Zoom) is scheduled for Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 7pm. During this meeting, Ms. Céleste Zurbrigg will give a presentation (in English) titled How to Research Homesteads from Home.

Céleste Zurbrigg will review the Alberta Township Survey System’s components of Meridians, Ranges, Townships, Sections and Quarter Sections. She will demo a few tools that can be used to find the township number of an area. You will learn how to find the historic Township maps online at the Provincial Alberta Archives (PAA) and how to save and print them. The PAA microfilmed all the Alberta homestead records. The AGS (Alberta Genealogical Society) volunteers created the Alberta Homestead Online Index which captured all the microfilm and file numbers. Thus, this index search will be demoed. The easy flexible interface was designed to get results with minimal search criteria. The key information to obtain are the Microfilm number and the File number for a particular homesteader. There are many files on a Microfilm.

Some of the older homesteads’ microfilms have been digitized and are available online to be viewed and saved. After this has been demoed, for those records that have not been digitized, Céleste will explain how to find the microfilm at the Provincial Alberta Archives, load it on a microfilm reader and find the specific file. The homestead records can then be saved on a USB memory stick. Whether you access the homestead records online or at the PAA, Céleste will show how to interpret them.

After the presentation you will have access to the How to document as well as an Excel spreadsheet template for you to record your findings.

Doors open at 6:30
Come early browse the library, network
and share a cup of coffee!

WHERE

Online (Zoom) & In Person (SGNO Centre - Room 102, 8627 91 St, Edmonton)

WHEN

Tuesday, October 20, 2026
7:00 p.m.

Registration

If .you prefer to participate virtually, you can register using the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/KSVXU9YbTguHIPBa7W0XYg

Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email with the meeting link.

If you prefer to attend in person, no registration is required. Simply come to the SGNO centre, Room 102 at La Cité francophone in Edmonton (8627 91 Street [Rue Marie-Anne Gaboury])

The French Special Interest Group (SIG) is a collaboration between AGS (Alberta Genealogical Society) Edmonton Branch and the SGNO where sessions (in English) are scheduled for special presentations and discussions on researching French ancestors from North America to Europe.

Members of the general public are welcome to attend one free session for each of the AGS Special Interest Groups. Membership with the AGS is required to join more frequently.

The French SIG is a collaboration with Société généalogique du Nord-Ouest.

How to login to Zoom

Instructions on how to login

Go to https://zoom.us/download to download the Zoom client onto your desktop, tablet, iPad or phone.
Try out a test meeting at https://zoom.us/test
To attend a Zoom meeting select from the TYFT or Events listed on our website. Register for a session that meets your schedule. Once you register, you will receive an email confirmation with the meeting link