Seattle Genealogical Society News

by Charles Hansen

SARAH LITTLE
1947-2023

Sadly we report that long-time SGS member and zealous SGS volunteer, Sarah Little, has passed away. SGS remembers Sarah as a dedicated leader who was determined to see that SGS survived and prospered.

Sarah joined SGS in 1985 and immediately became involved. Jim Secan, current SGS president, provided this list of all the positions she held at SGS and he commented, “She was on the Board pretty much full time from 1987-2003!” 

  • Director of Membership   1986-1987
  • President                       1987-1989
  • Vice President                1989-1990
  • President                       1990-1992
  • Director of Operations     1993-1995
  • Director of Membership   1995-1997
  • Director of Operations     1997-1999
  • President                       1999-2001
  • Treasurer                       2001-2002

Quite deservedly, a SGS Honorary Lifetime Membership was bestowed on Sarah. In addition to all her SGS volunteer work, she also taught a certificate program in genealogy at the University of Washington. 

A service for Sarah is being planned for later this summer.  

You may read Sarah’s full obituary here:
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/everett-wa/sarah-little-11249288

HELP IDENTIFY A SUSPECT!

Some of you may be aware that Barbara Rae-Venter, J.D., Ph.D. is the genetic genealogist who cracked the Golden State Killer case using DNA. She needs your help. She emailed the following: “We are working on identifying a suspect for a homicide in Fife, Pierce County. We have very low DNA matches (highest is 23 cM) and would like to do some outreach into the local Slavic community to do DNA testing in the hopes that we could identify some closer matches. Do you have primarily Slavic bio ancestry? If so, would you be willing to do a DNA test? The DNA kits would be provided by FTDNA. In return for the (free) kit, the test taker would provide their family tree going back to their great grandparents, if possible.” 

For more information, please see: 
http://www.FirebirdForensics.org
If you are interested, contact Barbara Rae-Venter at 
genealogyconsult@gmail.com
or 831.620.5621

On 20-23 April ten writers came together on Friday Harbor for the SGS100 Writers’ C(r)amp. The outcome was a lot of writing, some great conversations, and growing camaraderie.

SGS100 Writers’ C(r)amp attendees


SGS CENTENNIAL MEMBERSHIP

Join the Seattle Genealogical Society today and become a charter member for our second century!

If you are already a member, it’s time to log in to your account and renew your membership for 2023-24 as we continue the celebration of our 100th year.

Participate in special Centennial Events and enjoy discounted class and Seminar fees, free research requests, special interest groups, and access to exclusive SGS publications and databases. Your membership will extend through the 2023 Centennial Year and until May 31, 2024. 

Join online with a credit/debit card or print a membership application and send it together with your dues payment to SGS. Better yet, come by the SGS Library and join in person!

Find out more about membership at Join SGS.

FREE! SGS100 SEMINAR

Don’t forget the special preservation seminar coming up is free for SGS members. Non-members will be charged a small fee. 

Register for the SGS100 Preservation Seminar

Seminar dates,  times, and topics:

  •  9:00 AM – 12:00 PM on Saturday, June 17
  • 1:00 PM –   4:00 PM on Sunday, June 18 
  • Preserving the Past: Archiving and Digitizing Your Family Keepsakes
  • Selecting and Preparing Images for Family History Projects
  • Archival Storage Strategies and Solutions
  • Family History Projects for the Digital Ag

The Family Curator, Denise Levenick, is the author of How to Archive Family Keepsakes and How to Archive Family Photos.

SGS MEMBERSHIP MEETING
HYBRID * JUNE 10, 2023,
12:30 PM – 1:00 PM 

Meet the Board, talk about the election results, SGS business, and the budget. Stay on for the Second Saturday program.

You may attend this meeting in the SGS Library or virtually; your choice. Please register either way. Instructions are on the SGS website calendar of events. 

100 years ago: 17 March 1923

On 17 May 1923, a front page headline in the Seattle P-I read “5 Suspended in High School Pie-Egg War”. The article went on to say “Sons of Capitol Hill People Disciplined After Fracas in Broadway-Garfield fued [sic].” “Instructor Questioned for Reckless Driving Following Capture of Youthful Warriors”.  

5 boys of prominent families were suspended from Broadway High School and an instructor at Garfield was taken to the police station for questioning.  The cause was the athletic rivalry between the two schools. The Broadway baseball team had recently defeated Garfield.  One engagement entailed pumpkin pie throwing by Garfield students at Broadway students, the second involved a “barrage of eggs” thrown by Broadway students at Garfield students.  

“5 Suspended in High School Pie-Egg War” , Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 17 May 1923, p1, col 2.

* Watch each eNews! issue for “100 years ago”, our new anecdotal series. We will be running it for the duration of 2023, our centennial year. 

SAVE THE DATE

Fiske Genealogical Library,  
Spring Classes 2023 – Virtual, 
Wednesdays, 
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Pacific Time

The topic for May 31 is “The FamilySearch Research Wiki” with Celia McNay. The link to the Fiske Library website is: 
https://www.fiskelibrary.org/

Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State, 
usually 2nd Monday meetings
usually 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Pacific Time

JGSWS meets on the second Monday of each month, from Sept-June. Doors open at 6:30 PM unless noted otherwise. The next meeting is June 12 2023, and the program is “In Search of Mishpocha – Creative Methods for Finding Cousins” with S Lynn Diamond. 
http://www.jgsws.org/meetings.php

SGS CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Good Shepherd Center, Suite 302
4649 Sunnyside Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103
206 522-8658

The elevator is back in service!

Please call ahead to make sure our library will beopen. We are short on front desk volunteers.

Hours :  Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday   
** 10:00 am – 3:00 pm **

Masks are recommended  inside the Good Shepherd Center. Due to COVID the events listed below continue to be virtual, online via Zoom. Always check the SGS Website Calendar of Events for the meeting links, registration, or for last minute updates or changes to the schedule. Be advised you may need to register in advance to join a meeting. 

NOTICE: SGS has imposed more security on our Zoom meetings. Some meetings will begin with a waiting room.  The host must take action to let people into each meeting.  The host will try to open the waiting room about 10 minutes ahead of time. Please be patient.

All times listed are Pacific Time unless otherwise noted 

Saturday, June 3, 2023, 10:15 am- 12:15 pm, FamilySearch SIG, with Lou Daly. Discover many ways to use the FamilySearch website in your research. Meeting includes instruction and time for Q&A. Email Lou to get on the email list: loudaly@nwlink.com 

Sunday, June 4, 2023,  1:00 pm-3:00 pm, DNA Workshop, with Cary Bright and Craig Gowens. To participate you need to be on the SGS DNA Interest Group email list. Contact Cary Bright at SGSDNASIG@gmail.com to join. 

Monday, June 5, 2023, 10:00 am-11:30 am,  Brags & Bricks Social Interest Group (Virtual), Join us for an informal social gathering. Share your recent genealogical successes and challenges, or just come to hang out with other genealogists.

Saturday, June 10, 2023,  12:30 pm-1:00 pm, SGS Membership Meeting , meet the board and talk about SGS business. Register for in-person or online attendance.

Saturday, June 10, 2023,  1:00 pm-2:30 pm, Second Saturday: The “Push” and “Pull” Decision Making of the 19th Century Immigrant, with Jill Morelli. Please register in advance. 

Monday, June 12, 2023, 10:00 am-11:30 am,  Brags & Bricks Social Interest Group (Virtual), Join us for an informal social gathering. Share your recent genealogical successes and challenges, or just come to hang out with other genealogists.

Monday, June 12 2023, 1:00 pm-3:00 pm,  Board of Directors Meeting at SGS  (Virtual),  All SGS members are welcome to attend. SGS is an all volunteer organization. Please be involved. 

Monday, June 12, 2023, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm, Write It Up! SIG (Virtual), Join this group  to share and discuss writing projects, resources, and ideas.  To join or learn more, contact Alaine Keisling at keisling@gmail.com 

Tuesday, June 13, 2023, 10:00 am-11:00 am, Tech Tuesday (Virtual), informal consultation time on DNA, genealogy software, or genealogy-related technical issues. All are welcome. No appointment necessary. Bring us your problem; we’ll try to help. 

Monday, June 12, 2023, 10:00 am-11:30 am,  Brags & Bricks Social Interest Group (Virtual), Join us for an informal social gathering. Share your recent genealogical successes and challenges, or just come to hang out with other genealogists.

Friday, June 16, 2023,  10:30 am-12:30 pm, Family Tree Maker SIG, the FTM by Software MacKiev user’s group  meets via Zoom on the 3rd Friday of each month. If you would like to attend and are not on the SIG e-mail distribution list, please send an e-mail to egsgenealogyhelper@yahoo.com no later than Thursday, May 18th to request the meeting ld.

Saturday, June 17, 2023, 9:00 am- 12:00 pm, PRESERVATION SEMINAR, with Denise Levenick,  free to SGS members, small fee for non-members, registration required. 

Sunday, June 18, 2023, 1:00 pm- 4:00 pm, Special Preservation Seminar with Denise Levenick continuation. Free to SGS members. Register today. 

Monday, June 19, 2023, 10:00 am-11:30 am,  Brags & Bricks Social Interest Group (Virtual), Join us for an informal social gathering. Share your recent genealogical successes and challenges, or just come to hang out with other genealogists.

Saturday, June 24, 2023,  10:00 am-12:30 pm, DNA SIG, with Cary Bright and Craig Gowens. To participate you need to be on the SGS DNA Interest Group email list. Contact Cary Bright at SGSDNASIG@gmail.com to join. 

Monday, June 26, 2023, 10:00 am-11:30 am,  Brags & Bricks Social Interest Group (Virtual), Join us for an informal social gathering. Share your recent genealogical successes and challenges, or just come to hang out with other genealogists.

Tuesday, June 27, 2023, 10:00 am-11:00 am, Tech Tuesday (Virtual), informal consultation time on DNA, genealogy software, or genealogy-related technical issues. All are welcome. No appointment necessary. Bring us your problem; we’ll try to help. 

Heritage Quest Research Library Courthouse Records in Colonial Virginia

by Charles Hansen

Steven W. Morrison is the past president of the Puget Sound Chapter of APG. Steven is a long-time member, speaker and collaborator at HQRL.
Steven received The American Society of Genealogists Scholar Award in 2016. Virginia, Quaker and Ireland are just a few of the many topics Steven has presented in his speaking career. Please help us welcome Steven back to HQRL for another interesting class.
Courthouse Records in Colonial Virginia – Order, Deed & Wills Book

Records from Virginia courthouses are some of the nation’s oldest written treasures. The Order, Deed & Will books are microfilmed for most Virginia counties but are not widely accessible. Today these have been digitized and are now online. These records create an amazing tapestry for those researching in the colonial era.
When:
June 15, 2023
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Where:
ZOOM
Cost:
$20 Members
$25 Non-members
Sign-up and Payment:

Go to hqrl.com and click on the HQRL Store
(Be sure to sign in as a member to recieve the discount)

A link will be sent to your email 1 – 2 days before the class.
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Heritage Quest Research Library
1007 Main St
Sumner, WA 98390-1412

Let’s Talk About: The Final Honor

by Donna Phillips

 In the Summer, 2022, issue of American Ancestors, publication of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, there was an article aimed at Memorial Day. Written by David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogists at NEHGS, the article was titled “The Final Hour: U.S. Military Gravestones.”

Lambert began the article thusly:  “Most American cemeteries include a veterans section. These lots typically feature standard white marble gravestones……which the U.S. government provides at no cost for any honorably discharged veteran…..a tradition that began about a decade after the Civil War.”

“Soldiers from earlier wars had gravestones, of course, but these were placed by families. Not all of the Civil War dead were identifiable and many wooden headboards in military lots are marked as unknown. Some Union or Confederate dead were identified based on their uniforms, buttons or insignia.”

Realizing that the wooden headboards were deteriorating, on March 3, 1873, Congress passed an appropriation of a million dollars ( nearly 28 million today) to replace the wooden headboards with more permanent marble or granite markers.

Lambert ended the article with:  “Nearly 150 years after its original appropriation, the U.S. Veterans Administration continues to assist with marking or re-marking graves of American veterans from the Revolutionary War to the present. For assistance with ordering (or replacing) a gravestone for an honorably discharged U.S. veteran, contact the veterans’ agent in the town or city of burial.’
Websites you might wish to check (Google):
*US Civil War Roll of Honor, 1861-1865*Roll of Honor: names of Soldiers who died in Defense of the American Union*US, Burial Registers for Military Posts, Camps, and Stations, 1768-1921*US Records of Headstones of Deceased Union Veterans, 1879-1903*US Headstone Applications for US Military Veterans, 1925-1949*American Battle Monuments Commission database*Interment.net*Find-A-Grave*Billion Graves


TRIVIA:  Know why Union gravestones have rounded tops and Confederate markers have pointed tops? The “wag” is that the Confederates “wanted no damn Yankees sitting on their graves.”  True? Have no idea. 

Let’s Talk About: Old Newspaper Stories

by Donna Phillips

To a genealogist, nothing is more fun than struggling to read old newspapers…… in great expectation of finding bits and pieces about an ancestor’s life. Consider these; first from The Spokesman Review, 5 Nov 1921:

“A nail two inches long has been removed from the lung of a 15-months-old baby at the Deaconess hospital. The child, who is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Leo Dahlin of Nine Mile, swallowed the nail October 29, and the mother did not discover the trouble until X-rays four days later disclosed the nail. 
At the time the child choked until it was black in the face, but when Mrs. Dahlin was ready to start for town the trouble seemed to depart and the baby appeared normal. Later the lungs of the baby began filing with mucus and the mother brought the child to Dr. T.E. Hoxsey. On October 24 the child’s condition seemed alarming and an operation was decided upon. Dr. O.M. Rott, a throat specialist, assisted Dr. Hoxsey.


An incision was made in the neck through which the windpipe was cut. By inserting a powerful magnet the nail, which was two inches long, was drawn out. The parents of the baby report that it is well on the road to recovery.


POSTSCRIPT:  Our Washington Digital Archives shows a marriage for Leo Dahlin, age 21, born in Minnesota to Swedish parents, marrying Mabel Nason, age 17, born in Spokane, to New Brunswick born parents.   Then on 1 May 1941, Leo Dahlin, Jr, marries Phyllis Wade. Was Leo, Jr., the son who survived this operation???

Twin Rivers Genealogical Society Walking With Ancestors

by Charles Hansen

“Twin Rivers Genealogy Society  is presenting Walking with Ancestors, July 4th at the Normal Hill Cemetery, 1122 7th St, Lewiston, ID.   First tour at 8:30am,with the last tour at 10:30am, lasting about an hour, at the Masonic Section.  Steven Branting will be presenting McConville’s.  The graves of Kroutinger’s, Butler, Damas’, Stenzel’s, and Tannahill’s and the Columbarium.  Please bring a lawn chair.”–

Sue Gehrke

Puget Sound Genealogical Society Classes

by Charles Hansen

The Puget Sound Genealogical Society will be hosting the following Programs and classes:

Upcoming Events

May 24, 1pm-2pm.  Program:  Using the Washington State Archives with Midori Okazaki.

May 27, 10:30am-12:30pm.  Class:  Organizing Genealogical Data and Courthouse Research with Janet O’Conor Camarat.

These are hybrid events with in person at the Sylvan Way Library in Bremerton and on Zoom.  Free and open to the public.

Gwen D.

Board Member

Let’s Talk About: Genealogy’s Future with Josh Taylor

by Donna Phillips

Josh Taylor was the ZOOM presenter for the Bainbridge Genealogical Society in January, 2023. I virtually attended his talk and these are my notes:

CONTENT – ACCESS – TECHNOLOGY  — 3 points he covered

What’s out there at present? So much! One could spend hours and hours every day and  never run out of places to search.  MAYBE in the future we can ask something like SIRI, “who is my great grandfather?” and expect an answer. Not quite yet today. 

UGC – User Generated Content—– This is all and everything that WE post anywhere on the internet. It’s there “forever.” And not always safe on our own computer. In the future, we’ll have all these good things PLUS MORE.

One new exciting thing—ICR  technology —  Intelligent  Character Reading

Think how this new tech was used to index the 1950 census; no it wasn’t perfect but WOW. Think of the challenges… reading differing handwriting over the years in a record group. But this will only get better! The computer will learn how to read how to do this better and better. They do it by comparing examples with examples. And some languages-records are easier for ICR than are others. And a formulaic record group will be easier to learn.  BUT will they be 100% accurate? No. That’s where WE come in….. we will do the checking. ALSO, the “big players” will be able to utilize this (expensive) technology easier than will be small local societies.

CONSTANT INNOVATION:  Increase accessibility; mobile first; software flexibility-multiple platforms; Data storage; data access; security.  Mobile is where the future is so we must learn how to deliver content to these platforms in a way people can read/use it.

All this technology will be costly, to develop it, tech support it, user friendly software and maintenance and upgrades. These must be considered when thinking about what the future holds.

DATA TRENDS:  Central storage (Amazon, Google, etc),  Universal access, digital images,  cost effective,  permanent storage, retrieval costs.  We will have to learn HOW to deal with this overwhelming amount of data!  Today, smaller libraries/archives are being able to digitize their own records…..cost coming down. Also, the quality of the image is getting better, ie, B&W vs. color. (Color enables more damaged parts of a document to be read, vs. B&W.)

CONVERSOIN & UPGRADES:  What about websites that are not updated? How to “keep” in all aspects, these old websites full of data.  Or, how many groups have data stored in un-accessible media formats (floppies)?  Especially family-saved files on these drives!  WHAT IF Ancestry or FS go belly up? This must be considered in any discussion on data storage. WHAT if your favorite personal program doesn’t upgrade?

LEGISLATION & REGULATION:   At every level (industry, federal, state) there are different rules for privacy. A young person today is going to have a hard time getting records that we old-timers got records.  What about copyright? Digital rights? Orphan works? (Items with no known copyright data?) Who owns the right to YOUR great-grandmother’s diary? Depends on who owns it today………

 COVID:  These (any virus emergency) will create new problems……. Some libraries used that down time to scan records……… some just shut down. And now the request for info overwhelm helpers! (Some archives are going toward the museum aspect which frightens us.)

GEOGRAPHY:  If you geo-code a place it doesn’t matter what it was called then; think how this tech might tell you if an ancestor lives or lived nearby.  Pair a 1920 listing with a geo-coded place. Cool. (Today every time we take a photo on our phone, it’s geo-coded!)

ACCESS VS SEARCH:  It’s easier to scan than to index and make the material usefully available. Think of all the zillions of items that are already digitized…..photos, post cards, etc.

NEW DIGITAL ARCHIVES:  Facebook – Twitter-Linkedin – Intragram – Google+ – Instagram – Flickr – DNA How much of our genealogy have we posted to these sites? What and which should be saved?? (New baby:  good;  breakfast; worthless.) What would happen if Find-A-Grave or Flickr (or any!) decided to quit…what happens to all their images and data???

The Human Face of Big Data, PBS, 2016—— during the first day of a baby’s life, the amount of data generated by humanity is equivalent to 70 times the information held in the Lib of Congress.  So where will this info live?

CONSIDER:  How is big data applied to family history? If we could add all the data from anything and everything pertaining (example) Irish emigration or Irish families? We do this on a tiny level when we do personal research; we look at these records. But imagine if new tech could analyze all these points???!!!   Example:  All city directories, all state censuses, add 1890 vet’s schedule, vital records for time period, census for 1880 and 1900….and you could in theory recreate an 1890 census. Be 100% accurate? No, but good help for clues.  

Some of these are happening (local societies recreating 1890 census for their area) and some are in the future. (Example:  somebody analyzed 100 years of menus for NY City to see what was served where and how often.)

Tools that make family history accessible……………… these tools are getting better and better!

Education becomes critical………. To assist us to interpret and understand the materials.  (Do beginners really understand some of the facts and factoids they find????)

We need opportunities (online and in-person) to learn are vital…… societies are vital!

 Must think of what data we’re keeping today, where we’re keeping it, how we’re keeping it. And will it be available 50 years from now?

Organization and technology helps us to learn and connect.  How do we access and use it?  And who will help us understand what we found???

 “I’m excited and terrified all at once because I know there is so much opportunity out there!”

“For the types of materials we’ll be able to use and the ways we’ll access those materials.”

 “BUT NO MATTER WHAT, we will never be able (nor should we) just click  green leaf and think we’ll find/have everything there is to know right there in one place.”