Skagit Valley Genealogical Society Building a Research Plan
Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week NYC Records Go Online!
TIP OF THE WEEK –
NYC RECORDS GO ONLINE!
This tip comes from Jill Morelli, past president of SGS, and her source for this tip is the March 16, 2022, blog by Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist. And by the way, we are so excited to have Judy Russell lined up for our fall seminar!
Do you have New York City connections? In March 2022, the NYC Municipal Archives launched free online access to millions of NYC historical vital records – birth, death, and marriage. Finally! In the past, we only had the index on Ancestry, and while helpful, it was a derivative record and did not contain all the information available on the originals.
If you want to read more about the launch of this record set, Judy Russell (our Fall Seminar speaker) discussed it in her daily blog The Legal Genealogist: https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2022/03/16/nyc-vitals-online/
In mid-March, 9 million records were available online with another 4 million yet to be digitized and uploaded.
The record set is a little hard to find, so bookmark it if you plan to spend much time there: https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov
The easiest way to access the records for your ancestor is to find the index entry at Ancestry. Make note of the certificate number. Now, go to the NYC site and enter that certificate number.
The site has a Browse All tab: just insert your certificate number.
The site has a Search tab: here you can search by certification or by name.
In both cases you can search on a particular borough.
The site does warn us that 25% of all births before 1909 were never reported.
Happy Hunting!
Seattle Genealogical Society News
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THE
SGS ARCHIVE COMMITTEE
While the SGS Library isn’t open to the public on Thursday, it certainly isn’t empty. Thursday is the day you’ll find the Archive Committee there working. Our Archive Committee is down to two members, Bernice and Ingrida, and they could use some help.
So what do they do, you ask. Do you like to play detective? Do you like history and family stories? Drop by the SGS Library on any Thursday between 10am – 3pm to meet with the SGS Archive Committee Volunteers and they will show you what they do with the donated materials that come in on an ongoing basis. They will gladly explain what is required to properly organize records for digitizing the family collections that are donated by the public. They look forward to working with you.
If you are interested in this volunteer position or you have questions, you are also welcome to reach out to Ingrida via email at volunteers@seattlegenealogicalsociety.org. Leave your contact information there and she will get back to you soon.
SGS MEMBERS – IT’S TIME TO RENEW –
TAKE PART AS WE ENTER THE SOCIETY’S
100TH YEAR
To renew online log in at Members Home, go to your Member Profile, and then click the green “Renew Membership” button.
If you’d rather renew by postal mail, click print a membership application and send it together with your dues payment to SGS.
Or better yet, stop by the SGS Library and renew in person!
Not a member? Join online today and enjoy discounted class and Seminar fees, free research requests, special interest groups, and access to exclusive SGS publications and databases. Find out more about membership at Join SGS.
PLEASE NOTE THESE
IMPORTANT UPDATES
It’s almost here – our virtual, online spring seminar is only 3 days away. It runs June 3 – June 5, 2022. If you haven’t registered and you’d like to attend, register now. Just click this link: Register for the SGS 2022 Spring Seminar Please register by June 1, 2022.
The physical SGS Library at Good Shepherd Center will be closed to visitors on Friday, June 3, and Saturday, June 4, 2022 so that everyone may attend and enjoy our virtual, online seminar. Also note the FamilySearch SIG with Lou Daly has postponed their regular meeting time to accommodate the seminar. Instead of meeting on Saturday, June 4, they will meet Saturday, June 11, 2022.
Another important reminder, the SGS Membership Meeting is scheduled for 12:30 pm, Saturday, June 11, 2022, following the FamilySearch SIG, and preceding the Second Saturday Speaker Series presentation with Elizabeth Swanay O’Neal. Elizabeth is the author of the family history lifestyle blog Heart of the Family™, and her mission is to help others make the past part of their present.
SAVE THE DATE
Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State,
2nd Monday meetings
usually 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PST
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 13, 2022, and the presentation, “Finding Relatives in the Forverts (Jewish Daily Forward)” with Michael Morgenstern, will begin at 7:00PM. Registration is required.
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
New Hours : Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 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
Wednesday, June 1, 2022, 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 3, 2022, the SGS Library will be closed
Saturday, June 4, 2022, the SGS Library will be closed ** FamilySearch SIG postponed
Wednesday, June 8, 2022, 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 11, 2022, 10:15 am-12:15 pm, FamilySearch Interest Group with Lou Daly (Virtual), Postponed from Saturday, June 4, to allow all to enjoy the SGS Spring Seminar. Discover the many ways to use FamilySearch. At each meeting a different aspect of the website will be featured. There will be time for Q & A. Want to be included on the mail listing? Email Lou: loudaly@nwlink.com
Saturday, June 11, 2022, 12:30 pm-1:00 pm, SGS Membership Meeting, Hope to see all returning and new members of SGS at this meeting. Meet the new board. Hear what’s happening in our new space. Stay on for our ever popular Second Saturday Speaker Series which starts at 1:00 pm.
Saturday, June 11, 2022, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm, “Second Saturday: How to Use eBay, Etsy, and Other Shopping Sites for Family History”, with Elizabeth Swanay O’Neal.
Tuesday, June 14, 2022, 10:00 am-11:00 am, Tech Tuesday (Virtual), back by popular demand, the informal consultation time on DNA, genealogy software, or genealogy-related technical issues. All are welcome. No appointment necessary.
Wednesday, June 15, 2022, 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 17, 2022, 10:30 am-12:30 pm, Family Tree Maker SIG, with the Eastside Genealogical Society. You must be on the email list of attend a meeting; send your request to egsgenealogyhelper@yahoo.com
Saturday, June 18, 2022, 10:00 am- 12:00 pm, Irish SIG is back! With Susan McKee and Jim Ryan. See the SGS website Calendar of Events for further information.
Saturday, June 18, 2022, 1:00 pm-3:00 pm, German SIG is back! With Carolyn Schott. See the SGS website Calendar of Events for further information.
Sunday, June 19, 2022, 1:00 pm-2:30 pm, Virtual Sundays: Something Old, Something New, Jill Morelli is the host. Visit the SGS website Calendar for details and updates. Please register in advance. Topic to be determined – stay tuned.
Wednesday, June 22, 2022, 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 25, 2022, 10:00 am- 12:30 pm, DNA SIG with Cary Bright and Craig Gowens.To participate you must be on the DNA SIG email list. Contact Cary at sgsdnasig@gmail.com to join.
Sunday, June 26, 2022, 1:00 pm, Japanese American SIG, with Caitlin Oiye Coon. This is one of our newer SIGs. Please sign up if you would like to attend; send an email to family.history@densho.org
Tuesday, June 28, 2022, 10:00 am-11:00 am, Tech Tuesday (Virtual), back by popular demand, the informal consultation time on DNA, genealogy software, or genealogy-related technical issues. All are welcome. No appointment necessary.
Wednesday, June 29, 2022, 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.
Twin River Genealogy Society Walking with Ancestors
Walking with Ancestors
July 4th 2022
Presented by the Twin River Genealogy Society
Starting time: 8:30am first group, (16 per group) and 10:30am is the last group.
Also joining us is Steven Branting, Local Historian.
We will be at the Normal Hill Cemetery Division 2, Lewiston ID. Please bring a lawn chair.
The People we will be visit:
William Harvey
George Evans Stonebraker
Miles and Nellie Smith
Mary and William Stewart
Several Sisters from St Stanislaus
Mary and Frank Stevens
Tacoma Pierce County Genealogical Society Legacy Family Tree SIG
The Tacoma Pierce County Genealogical Society invites you to attend our Legacy Family Tree Special Interest Group meeting to be held virtually via Zoom on Tuesday, June 7th at 7:00 pm. The links for the 1st and 3rd Tuesday meetings are included below.
This week we will be viewing four short videos done by Geoff that are free and available from the Help tab in Legacy by clicking to the QuickTip Videos icon. The direct link to each video is listed below its title:
Legacy QuickTip: How to make a list of ancestors in Legacy from ___________?
How to Record a Cremation
How to Add a Bookmark in Legacy
Creating a Custom Report, Hashtags, DNA and more
Please take some time this week to review the “FREE” videos available on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars site and bring your list of videos you would like to review back to the group next Tuesday.
I hope to see you this coming Tuesday, June 7th!
Regards,
Tim Ward
Our meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month from 7:00 pm until 8:30. Links to the reoccurring Zoom Meetings are located at the bottom of this page, one for the 1st Tuesday and one for the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
The first half of each meeting we will work thru training videos, watching, and then pausing to talk about the section we just watched before moving on to the next section. The second half will be used 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
3rd Tuesday of Month Meeting Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87839130000?pwd=dGdHY2wrZ0d1bDNRTEQ4Uk15OVk0Zz09
As always if a hyperlink is not active just copy and paste it into your browser.
Whidbey Island Genealogical Searchers How DNA Results can Help Your Research
2022 Outstanding Volunteers and Team Announced
Congratulations to all the amazing individuals and team who contributed mightily to their local societies! After a three-year hiatus to WSGS’s Outstanding Volunteer Recognition Program and a global pandemic, it’s time to honor those who kept our local societies together and moving forward.
Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society
- Andrea Hoskins
- Larry Noedel
Clallam County Genealogical Society
- Genealogy Center Art Committee (Carol Foss, Roberta Griset, Linda Hindes, Consuelo White)
Eastern Washington Genealogical Society
- Audio/Visual Team (Julie Rosenoff, David Luders, Harold Young, John Wilson, Duane Beck)
- EWGS Zoom Meetings Team (John Wilson, Carol Anderson)
- Jennilyn Weight
Eastside Genealogical Society
- Celia McNay
- Dorothy Pretare
- Janet Stroebel
Grays Harbor Genealogical Society
- Lee Thomasson
Genealogical Society of South Whidbey Island
- Stephanie Rodden
Jefferson County Genealogical Society
- Ann McCreery
Lower Columbia Genealogical Society
- Teresa “Terry” Mattison
Mason County Genealogical Society
- Cemetery and Obituary Project (Susie Graham, Elizebeth Lawson, Albert Conklin, Roger Newman, Barbara Moore, Stan Graham, Sue Sheldon)
- Carolyn Gibbons
- Pat Tostevin (postumous)
Northeast Washington Genealogical Society
- Evergreen Cemetery Team (Jayne Evans, Lora Rose, Jim Witham)
- Barbara McGill
- Jim Witham
Olympia Genealogical Society
- Eileen Dodge
- Norman Dodge
- Kathy Erlandson
Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists
- Bylaws Revision Committee (Nancy Neville Cordell, Karin Coppernoll)
Seattle Genealogical Society
- Cary Lynn Bright
- Library Relocation and Refocus (Kathi McGinnes, Rob Sexton)
- Christine Schomaker
Skagit Valley Genealogical Society
- Karen Strelow
South King County Genealogical Society
- Going Virtual Team (MaryLynn Strickland, Valorie Zimmerman)
- Tina Lawson
Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society
- Ruth Caesar
- Elizabeth Dalton
- Historic Newspapers Digitization Team (Sue Walde, Michele Heiderer, Suzanne Brown, Karen Looney, Sue McNeill, Ruth Caesar)
- Lynn Clarke Kennedy
- LeeRoy Kind
- SVGS Zoom Team (Karen Looney, Susanne Brown, Dana Carney, Flynn Kennedy, Pam Shoberg)
Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society
- Diane Gundersen
- Hank LuBean
Yakima Valley Genealogical Society
- Richard Adams
- Cynthia “Cindy” L. Fuerst
- Florance Irene McDonald Nelson
- YVGS Team Website (Judy Jones Schuster, Richard Kyle)
Congratulations to all!!
2021 and 2022 President’s Awards for Outstanding Achievement Announced
WSGS President Kathleen Sizer is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 and 2022 Outstanding Achievement Award:
- 2021 — Helen McGreer Lewis, Renton, 1923 – 2017
- 2022 — Jill Morelli, Seattle
Created in 2015, the President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement is designed to single out that rare individual, society or organization who has demonstrated exemplary service above and beyond expectations. The award is not given every year as it is based on merit and accomplishments, as you’ll see from reading about the recipients below.
Helen Lewis
Helen Lewis’s final years of service to genealogy and family history were not only unfailing but critical to the success of archives and genealogy groups in Washington state and beyond. She not only volunteered in her local societies including South King County Genealogical Society (SKCGS) and DAR, but also indexed public records for the Washington State Archives as a volunteer for over 25 years. Her work lives on through the Washington State Digital Archives.
She authored a number of books for which she gained no income; she assigned the proceeds to the South King County Genealogical Society. In her DAR work, she helped countless others as they worked to solidify their connection to American Patriots. She also served as liaison between the SKCGS and the DAR.
Jill Morelli
Jill is a self-described member of the “Roots” generation of genealogists. From that spark, Jill has grown into a veritable wildfire of action within the genealogical community at many levels. She is a writer, lecturer and researcher specializing in U.S. Midwestern, Scandinavian and northern German genealogy.
Jill was president (2012 – 2015), then publications director (2017 – 2020) of the Seattle Genealogical Society (SGS). She continues to provide her insights and energy to SGS as past president and co-chair of the SGS 100th anniversary committee.
Jill is also program director for the local chapter of the Association for Professional Genealogists. On the wider stage of national and international genealogy, Jill lectures nationally and has been successfully published in many journals, including the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Swedish American Genealogist.
In 2017, Jill founded the highly successful online Certification Discussion Group (CDG) which draws students from all over the globe. She is also a founding partner of the Applied Genealogy Institute, providing online practicum-based education for advanced genealogists.
More about the award
If you want to know more about the qualities needed for this prestigious award, click here. Previous recipients are listed here.
Let’s Talk About: Census WOW Tidbits
If you but really look, the census records reveal some astounding factoids. Take this example:
The year was 1860 and the place the Western Rural District of North Carolina. I was helping a friend with her CHEEK family research and went WOW when I found her family………. but not for just the discovering of the Cheek family. Yes, F.J. Cheek and his wife Frances L., and children Margarett B., Willis P., Emmett and Sarah J. were her family but look what it says for 15-year-old Margarett: Wayne F. Colledge.
I first took that for a husband? employer? But then bells began ringing! I’d bet pennies that young Miss Margarett was attending the Fort Wayne Women’s College, a division of the Conference of the Methodist Church. (Now Taylor University, located in Upland, Indiana, it’s still a thriving institution.) The college was established in 1855………. the census year was 1860, making Margarett one of the first students. Wow.
Questions kept coming: how did Margarett travel from rural western North Carolina to Fort Wayne, Indiana? Wagon? Railroad? All by her 15-year-old self? How did her farmer/seamstress parents afford her tuition and why was that important to them? How did Margarett’s college education enrich her life??
Sidebar Question: Do you think Frances L., wife of F.J. Cheek, the mother of ALL four of those children? Did you see the gap between Willis, age 14, and Emmett, age 6? Doesn’t this ring a bell to you? Likely Father Cheek had two wives is what it speaks to me.
Let’s Talk About: Tom Jones & Puzzles
Most genealogists know who Tom Jones is, genealogist extraordinaire with decades of credibility and standing. The Eastern Washington Genealogical Society was privileged to have him teach us for our May society meeting.
His presentation title was Building A Credible Lineage Despite Multiple Research Barriers and he took us through a case study step-by-step. Here are my summary notes from that class:
- To solve a research problem, you have to define, outline and dissect the problem and the research steps to solve said problem. “The scatter-shot approach to research using your mouse is easy to do but with that approach you likely will not solve the problem.” he said.
- “You must search ALL the pieces from ALL the pertinent sources, pull out appropriate pieces (facts) and study out how they fit together,” he said next.
- “And how to know when you have enough information?” Tom quizzed us, and pointing to a zigzag puzzle, answered, “If you have enough pieces to show what the puzzle IS, then you don’t have to have every single pieces.”
Tom Jones was teaching some 60 members of the EWGS that while it’s good to strive to have every single puzzle piece, and every single genealogical fact, know that you will not be able to find every single fact you seek due to a large variety of reasons.
We all agreed; with the inspiration from Master Teacher Tom Jones, we just might complete our family history puzzle before we cross that bridge. Maybe.