Press Release for the WASGS Blog:
Clallam County Gen. Soc. is moving into the digital age! Although it is still a work in progress, but we are very proud to announce the birth of our new website, http://clallamcogs.
Ginny
(Virginia Majewski)
Author Archives: Charles Hansen
Kittitas County Gen Society….. A Visit
Back in June, while attending the WSGS conference in Ellensburg, I took advantage of the Open House offered to attendees to the Kittitas County Genealogical Society. It was grand! The staff welcoming us that evening were gracious, provided refreshments and research help…. and I copied some obits from their card file, hooray!
Here is the door to their space inside a delightful old red brick downtown building:
President Diane Huckaby was in charge of the evening:
Frenchtown Rendezvous in Lowden, Washington
This year’s Frenchtown Rendezvous, put on by the Frenchtown Historical Foundation in Lowden, WA on September 26, is going to be a pretty neat event for people interested in family and area history. We’re setting it up as a giant share-and-tell. We’re trying to identify the history buffs and keepers of the family albums in the area and ask them to come share their knowledge and documents.
I’m attaching our flyer to this message. If you’d be interested in more information, I’d be very happy to talk to you. I’d love to circulate this information with regional historical societies, so please feel free to forward or share widely.
Washington Remembers World War II Special Exhibit
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Kittitas County Gen Society News Flash
Kittitas Co WA Gen Soc does not have any early August Genealogy meeting
But put Sunday, August 16, at 4 pm, on your calendar for the annual society picnic, hosted again this year by Mary and Lew Christensen. Final details will be sent later, but it’s a potluck at 60 Moe Rd = corner of Tjossem Rd.
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K.C.G.S library will be closed after Wed afternoon August 19, until Tuesday, September 8. Plans include carpet cleaning with some furniture moved to Suite I temporarily.
Phone Mary C at 925-9104 if you’d like to help renovate our library by moving furniture
Information furnished by Tuck Forsyth, Forsythe@fairpoint.net
Gehrke Windmill Garden at Grand Coulee
Emil Albert and Stella Veva Gehrke had lived in the Grand Coulee area since 1958. In 1965 Emil began his unusual occupation of making windmills from scrap metal. The couple traveled some 62,000 miles picking up thrown-away materials to create over 500 windmills, whirligigs, and merry-go-rounds in their yard. Emil died in 1979 and Stella followed in 1980. Some 120 of their many windmills were acquired by the town of Grand Coulee and are displayed at North Dam Park as a memorial to the Gehrkes.
I visited this unique Washington garden last weekend and signed the guest book…. bottom photo…. even the guest book cover is made from an old rusty 8×11 pan. Do stop whenever your travels take you through Grand Coulee. You will enjoy seeing this, I guarantee.
Bainbridge Island Gen Society News Flash
The Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society (BIGS) will meet Friday, August 21, in the Bainbridge Island Public Library Meeting Room from 10:00 AM until noon. The topic is “Tough and Unusual Cases: How we did it (finally).” BIGS mentors, Sue Elving and Anna Dupen, will present case studies showing how they solved genealogy problems. One particular case study involves a Scottish immigrant and a trip to the Supreme Court (1813). Bring your questions. Free to members, a $5.00 donation is suggested for nonmembers. For more information go to www.bigenealogy.org, or call 206-842-4978. BIGS is a 501c(3) non-profit organization.
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Thank you!
Sylvia H. Nelson
Director of Publicity and Public Relations
Bainbridge Island, Genealogical Society
Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week
TIP OF THE WEEK – NEW SOCIAL SECURITY INDEX ON ANCESTRY.COM
People just starting their genealogy research, and who know little about their parents or grandparents, are told that if their ancestor was alive after the Social Security system was established in 1935, they should get that person’s Social Security application. The application should list the person’s parents’ names as well as the person’s place of birth. Since this application was completed by the individual, it should be more accurate than other sources. But ordering these applications can be expensive and time consuming.
Ancestry now has a new database called “U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007”. The difference between this database and the old Social Security Death Index is that the new database reports the individual’s place of birth and both parents’ names, which is what one wants from the SSN application in the first place.
Of course keep in mind, you won’t find your ancestor in this index if they died before the Social Security Act of 1935 or if they never applied for Social Security.
If you don’t have a subscription to Ancestry, visit the SGS library and use our computers, or try your local community library.
Seattle Genealogical Society Upcoming Events
SGS CALENDAR OF EVENTS
All programs are at the SGS Library at 6200 Sand Point Way unless otherwise indicated. Please Check the SGS Web Site for additions, changes, and corrections. Programs may be postponed.
Sunday, August 2, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
PROGRAM MEETING: “USING “FIND A GRAVE” FOR GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH.”
“Find A Grave” is a resource for finding the final disposition of family, friends, and famous people as a virtual cemetery experience. “Find a Grave” memorials may contain rich content including pictures, biographies and more specific information. Speaker: Karen Sipe.
Sunday, August 16, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
PROGRAM MEETING: “LOVE, COURTSHIP, SEX & MARRIAGE”
Until Eve – It was a man’s world. Without women, there would be no genealogy; but their status has changed throughout history, and this has had a profound effect on the records we use for research. We’ll explore the surprising customs and practices of our ancestors, and the place of women in society over time. Speaker: Jean A. Roth
Saturday, August 22, 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm
ETHNIC WORKSHOP: “BREAKING THROUGH THE WALL OF SLAVERY: AN INTRODUCTION to AFRICAN-AMERICAN GENEALOGY” Speaker: Janice Lovelace, SGS Vice-President
Sunday, August 23, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
BRICK WALL PROBLEM SOLVING
Join SGS members for a problem-solving session. This is an open forum format.
Sunday August 30, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
PROGRAM MEETING: “USING FIRE INSURANCE MAPS”
These maps, including the famous Sandborn Maps, were originally created in the years following the Civil War and used for assessing fire insurance liability in urban areas in the United States. They are a highly useful resource for historical and genealogical research. Speaker: Jill Morelli
SAVE THE DATES Continue reading
Dwight Radford & All Things Irish Research
I have been privileged to have known and to have worked with Dwight Radford for about 20 years. I know him to be a thoroughly competent professional researcher in all areas of Irish research. He recently put up his website… if you have Irish research needs, you could do no better than to contact Dwight. Donna
Dwight Radford is a full time professional genealogist residing in the Salt Lake City area. His interests lie in Ireland and Ireland immigration research problems. He has a blog site and a facebook page: www.thejourneyhomegenealogy. Another interest of his is researching the intermixing of the Irish immigrants with the local populations of all races where ever they settled.
Dwight is the co-author of A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Irish Ancestors (Betterway Books: Cincinnati, Ohio, 2001, 2012) and was co-editor of the journal The Irish at Home and Abroad (1993-1999). He has published many Irish-related articles in North American genealogical journals.
He will be speaking on “Researching Your Irish Ancestors” on August 11th at the Ohio History Connection in Columbus:
www.ohiohistory.org/learn/
Dwight recently completed a video, on his website, describing Irish research and its quirks. This was accomplished with the help of participants of the Salt Lake Christmas Tour and participants of the Kelowna & District Genealogy Society in British Columbia.
Dwight has been to Ireland and Northern Ireland many times to work in the archives and to document the ancestral home sites for clients.
He can be reached at dwightradford@msn.com