Heritage Quest Research Library and the Fire

by Charles Hansen
Dear members, patrons and valued friends of Heritage Quest Research Library,

Many of you may have already heard the devastating news surrounding the fire this morning in Sumner, Washington and I am sure you have a million questions regarding the library’s viability and future.
Let me begin by stating “We are still here, and we will get through this.”  

In the short term as we have yet to be allowed in the building, we will be closed for the next week or so.  There is much to get through with all the intricacies involved in a fire.  We are hoping for minimal damage, considering the fire was just next door and there was a fire wall between the businesses.  We have sustained some water damage, but again we hope minimal. We will continue to move forward making the best possible decisions regarding the future of HQRL. 

We hope for your continued support and patience as we get through this stressful time.

My sincerest regards,
Jo-Anne Huber 
Director

Let’s Talk About: Halloween

by Donna Phillips

One good picture says it all:

Starting in early September, the stores are already stocking Halloween stuff and I for one do not like that. By October the offerings include 100 different “ghoulish goodies.” It’s always fun to find something really different.

I spotted this Mickey Mouse Pumpkin Lamp in a thrift store! Was only $22. Now this is my kind of Halloween decoration. 

Tacoma Pierce County Genealogical Society November Legacy Family Tree SIG

by Charles Hansen

Tacoma Pierce County Genealogical Society

Legacy Family Tree SIG Meeting Nov 1st, 2022, 7:00 pm

This month’s meeting will be a little different as we have exhausted the longer free Legacy Family Tree videos, so I will be picking 2 – 3 topics from the paid videos to discuss. We won’t be watching the paid videos, but I will review them and try to channel my inner Geoff to discuss and demonstrate the topics live via zoom and my Legacy family file.

I hope to see you on Tuesday November 1st!

Our meetings are held on the 1st Tuesday of each month from 7:00 pm until 8:30. The link to the reoccurring Zoom Meeting is located at the bottom of this page.

The purpose of this Special Interest Group is for open discussion of topics related to using Legacy. This could include any questions or problems we are having with the program or tips and features we have discovered.  If you think of something you would like to bring up, please write it down so you can share it with the group.

1st Tuesday of Month Meeting Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82495661568?pwd=dy85YmluVzF5aEU4SzFTcTUrVDlTUT09

As always if a hyperlink is not active just copy and paste it into your browser.

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Heritage from the Heartland Indiana

by Charles Hansen

Saturday, November 5

EWGS Monthly Meeting 

1:00 pm to 3:30 pm

A Hybrid Meeting at Shadle Public Library

Our “Heritage From The Heartland” series continues with

Indiana – Hoosiers in the Heartland

Presented by Allison DePrey Singleton

Acting Genealogy Services Manager at Allen County Public LibraryHoping to see each of you at this excellent presentation!

There will be several great raffles…

so bring a couple bucks to enter!

And…if you don’t already have your “Ugly Sweater” ready for December’s contest, you may be able to get one at this meeting!

Something’s Coming!

by Roxanne Lowe

WSGS is just about ready to announce a new project — where you can win a cash prize! We’ve been working behind the scenes for more than a year on a project that will be fun, challenging and rewarding! Watch for the big announcement coming soon. Maybe even next week!!

Let’s Talk About: Military Records

by Donna Phillips

The above iconic image is from the Civil War. But clear up to today, it’s the same: In war, young men die.  (Col. Blake, M*A*S*H, “and rule #2, doctors can’t change rule #1.”)

Many, if not most, of us have ancestors that participated in a war. Have you searched out all you’d like to know about a certain conflict?

World War I lasted from 28 Jul 1914 to 11 Nov 1918;  the U.S. entered the war on 6 Apr 1917

World War II lasted from 1 Sep 1939 to 2 Sep 1945; the U.S. entered the war on 7 Dec 1941

There are literally dozens of resources for you to learn about your ancestor’s service. You might start with this book (less than $5 via Amazon): 

Fold3 is the premier collection of Military Records. This is a subscription website but they periodically do offer specials. From this website you can find information and links to records on these conflicts:

  • Revolutionary War
  • Civil War
  • War of 1812
  • Mexican & Early Indian Wars
  • World War I
  • World War II
  • Korean War
  • Vietnam War
  • International Records

YouTube has hundreds of “war documentaries” and thousands of books have been written about these “American conflicts.” 

Bottom line, if you want to know more, go find out. The resources are out there. 

Can your library become a Family Search Affiliate Library?

by Charles Hansen

OK so what is a Family Search Affiliate library? Probably all of you have went to a Family Search Center and ordered microfilm to be sent to the Family Search Center, then went back a while later and view the microfilm. Today Family Search has digitized all that microfilm and stopped sending microfilm to the Family Search Centers. Some of those digitized microfilms are restricted to being viewed at only at Salt Lake City, A Family Search Center or an Affiliate Library. Spokane has four Family Search Centers close by, but staffed by volunteers and varying hours, so having the public library with regular hours is better.

In 2018 Spokane passed a bond issue to remodel several libraries and build three new branch libraries. The Special Collections (genealogy is one of them) were put into storage till the remodeling at the Downtown Branch was completed, estimated at 2 years. We closed out our meetings and cut down our collection to only have local reference materials go to storage, a few books went to other libraries, but the biggest amount went to Salt Lake City for digitization. We contacted the head of the Spokane Public Library Special Collections about becoming a Family Search Affiliate library while they were remodeling hoping to have it all in place when the library remodeling was finished (actually they are still working on some of the finishing touches). He was able to get permission from the library to become an Affiliate library, but he knows nothing about genealogy, so he kept wandering around Family Search looking for how to become an Affiliate Library. Central Library opened July 11th with a ribbon cutting, and still not an Affiliate Library. The new historian in the Inland Northwest Special Collections room was now tasked with contacting Salt Lake City to check out what was needed to become an Affiliate Library, she filled out the application waited a few days and was accepted. Next question? Only have the Central Library be an Affiliate Library, or should all the branches also be an Affiliate Library? The Genealogy collection along with a lot of other inland northwest books are at the Central Library, but we are meeting at the Shadle Branch Library for our monthly meetings and the free parking. So I said at least Central and Shadle. The IT department came back saying it was easier to include ALL the branches as Affiliates, so all the open branches now have Family Search, Two branches are still being remodeled and are expected to be done by the New Year. It took the IT department longer to do the connection to Family Search than to do the paperwork and get permission to be a Family Search Affiliate.

Click here to learn how to be a Family Search Affiliate Library.

Note after volunteering at the Downtown library for more than 25 years, I still have trouble calling it the Central Library, but the remodeling was amazing, and the Inland Northwest Special Collections room is wonderful.

Clallam County Genealogical Society Finding Descendants in Your Family Tree

by Charles Hansen

Clallam County Genealogical Society

Saturday, November 12   10:00 am-noon

Diane Henriks

Finding Descendants in your    Family Tree

The featured speaker for the November Society meeting of the Clallam County Genealogical Society will be Diane Henriks. Her topic is Finding Descendants in your Family Tree.  She will describe the process of ‘fanning out’ to find descendants in a family, both living and past, a means to help you break down some of your most difficult brick walls.

Diane is a Los Angeles based speaker, author and investigator.  Her specialty is finding descendants in family trees and brick wall research.  She is known as the “Descendant Detective”.  She has given her presentations and workshops to many notable societies, written several genealogies, and has assisted in investigations of both civil and criminal cases.

To hear this intriguing speaker, contact CCGS.  Phone:  360-417-5000

We will send you the Zoom meeting number and passcodes.  You can always join us at our Research Facility meeting room: 403 E 8th St., Port Angeles. 

There is no charge for this program and all are welcome to attend.

For more information:  WWW.clallamcogs.org or drop in and see our beautiful research center.  We are open Tuesday-Friday, 10am to 4pm and Saturdays, noon to 4pm

Let’s Talk About: New England Ancestor Arrivals in the Colonies

by Donna Phillips


When did your ancestor arrive in the colonies? American Ancestors offered this chart:

Year        Geographic Area                    Resource

1620            Plymouth Colony                     Mayflower Families books (silver books)

1607-1657    13 Original Colonies                Founders of Early American Families

1620-1633    Plymouth & MA Bay               Great Migration Begins

1634-1635    Plymouth & MA Bay               Great Migration

1607-1650    New England                            Founders & Patriots (by Kolket)

1620-1640    New England                             Great Migration Directory

1620-1650    Massachusetts                           Pioneers of Massachusetts

1641-1700    New England                              Early New England Families

by 1699        Maine & New Hampshire        Genealogical Dictionary of ME & NH

to 1700(marriage, not arrival) New England    Torrey’s New England Marriages;

                                                                            New Englanders in the 1600s

VGA is looking for 2023 Speakers

by Charles Hansen
VGA is looking for 2023 Speakers!Deadline is October 31st, 2022.Easy application via Google Form!
Speakers Apply Here!
Psst…
Our 2022 VGA Conference is coming up November 11th-13th and it is FREE to VGA Members! Click the Conference Photo to see the schedule, sessions, and speakers!
Join or Renew VGA for only $20 USD for an Annual Membership and participate in all of our upcoming events!
Join/Renew VGA