Canada Post Offices and Postmasters Database (National Institute)

I just LOVE the Post Offices and Postmasters database at the Library and Archives Canada. Using this database, you can type in a place name, and see the names of all the postmasters over the years. You can also see the year the post office was established, the Federal Electoral district the place is in, and the names, birth dates, and years of service for all the postmasters. You can also see what year the post office opened in a particular place.

I’ve used this database to type in last names of families I am researching, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find family members listed as postmasters. I’ve also used this database to establish the dates that towns came into existence. I’m the type of person who has been known to spend months searching through microfilm of the 1851 census, looking desperately for Moose Creek, only to later find out that Moose Creek didn’t even exist until the 1880s. Checking this database first can save many wasted hours looking for a place that didn’t yet exist. Here is an example of what the data from this database looks like:

Postmaster Information:

* In compliance with the Privacy Act (1983), certain personal information has been deleted from this file.

In this case, Alice Matilda Purcell was the person I was looking for. Although her birth date isn’t given, we can see that she retired in 1970. From this, we can surmise that she is about 65 years old in 1970, so was born sometime around 1905, thus narrowing our search for her birth records.

Dun and Bradstreet
Do you have ancestors who owned their own business? Business directories might be the place for you to find more information about them. The Dun and Bradstreet directories are some of the more well-known and oldest directories available to the genealogy researcher. Here’s the history of how Dun and Bradstreet business directories came about. In 1841 in New York City, Lewis Tappan began to establish a network of correspondents who would collect reliable business information that he could sell to clients. As the company itself puts it, “This institution supplies information in detail as to the antecedents, character, capacity, capital, and credit of every Business Man in the United Stated and the British Provinces. It also undertakes the collection of Past Due Debts, for which it has the best facilities.” In 1849 Tappan turned the company over to Benjamin Douglas. At this time the company was called Tappan &amp; Douglas. In 1854, the company name changed yet again to B. Douglas and Co. Douglass expanded the company to employ credit reporters who could collect and interpret credit information. Among the reporters who went on to establish names for themselves were four U.S. presidents: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland and William McKinley.

Page from Bradstreet’s Commercial Ratings in Dominion of Canada.

From Bradstreet’s Commercial Ratings in Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland and St. Pierre and Miquelon (New York : The Bradstreet Company) March 1930.

In this case, the publication shows some credit information for the town of North Bay, Ontario in 1930. The first letter, beside the name of the person or business denotes how much money the company made last year. The closer to the end of the alphabet the letter is, the less money that was made last year. Z means the company made 0-$100 last year. Y means the company made $100-$200 last year. The second letter denotes the credit rating given the company. A credit rating of ‘Aa’ means that it is a very good company to invest in. An ‘Ff’ rating means you are likely to lose all your money if you invest in this company.

So, for example, the North Bay Co-Op Society Ltd., with a profit rating of ‘W’, and a credit rating of ‘Ff’, means that this company is probably not a good risk if you wish to invest your money. On the other hand, Imperial Oil Ltd. appears to have had great profits in 1929, and had an ‘Aa’ credit rating.

The next example is from R. G. Dun and Co. in September 1895. As you can see, the way information is presented is almost identical to the Bradstreet book. It’s no wonder that the two companies merged in the 1930s. Apparently they were providing almost identical information to consumers. It was obviously easier to combine forces than to compete for the same consumer market

You’ll find that just by looking through the listings for the town that your ancestor lived in, you can get a feel for the type of industry that was important at the time in that town.

You can access the R. G. Dun and Co and Dun and Bradstreetcollections on their website.

Page from the Mercantile Agency Reference Book

From ''The Mercantile Agency Reference Book (and key) containing ratings of the Merchants, Manufacturers, and Traders Generally throughout the Dominion of Canada. With an appendix containing Banking Towns, Banks, Bankers, etc.; Collection Laws of Each Province, etc., etc.'' (Halifax : R. G. Dun and Co.) September 1895

___________________________________________________________________________

Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online courses offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. To learn more about these courses or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com]

We welcome updates and additions to this Wiki page.