Discovering Industrial Ancestors in Mills, Logging Camps, and Company Towns | Kathryn Lake Hogan
Canadian genealogy often focuses on farms and homesteads, but millions of ancestors lived in Canada’s industrial centres. From pulp and paper towns to coal mines, railways, steel plants, and hydro projects, industries left behind unique records of workers and their families.
Explore labour archives, union records, accident claims, government reports, company magazines, and community voices preserved in newspapers. Learn how to combine these resources with maps, directories, and census data to uncover the overlooked stories of ancestors who laboured in Canada’s mills, factories, and company towns from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries.
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Kathryn Lake Hogan
Kathryn Lake Hogan is a professional genealogist and educator with deep roots in Canada through her five Loyalist ancestors. Since founding Looking4Ancestors in 2007, Kathryn has helped family history researchers uncover their Canadian ancestry, combining her expertise with an approachable and insightful teaching style.
Kathryn graduated from ProGen 4 and the National Institute for Genealogical Studies, where she earned professional learning certificates in English and Canadian genealogy. Recently, Kathryn has completed prompt engineering and advanced data analysis for artificial intelligence courses with Vanderbilt University through Coursera.
Kathryn has written articles featuring Canadian genealogy for CrossRoads, Family Tree Magazine, The In-Depth Genealogist, and the APG Quarterly. Having held leadership roles within notable organizations such as Ontario Ancestors, the Association of Professional Genealogists, and the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada, she continues to advocate for greater accessibility, inclusivity, and diversity in family history.
Kathryn is a sought-after speaker who captivatingly engages audiences at genealogy society meetings and regional and national conferences. As a course coordinator and instructor of Canadian and Ontario courses at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), the National Genealogical Society GRIP, and the Applied Genealogy Institute (AppGen), she helps family history researchers sharpen their skills and dive deeper into their Canadian family history.
