Lower Columbia Genealogical Society October Meeting

by Charles Hansen

“My Civil War Ancestor”

“Memory, myth and history remain in competition as ways of explaining the past”.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

There are many variations in fact that appear when we research, as has been experienced by member

LOLA WEBER.

She will be sharing what she’s learned at our October meeting, and you won’t want to miss her presentation.

LOWER COLUMBIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~walcolgs/

SOMERSET RETIREMENT APARTMENTS

DINING ROOM 7:00 PM

2025 TIBBETTS DRIVE, LONGVIEW

October 10, 2019

Guests are welcome and encouraged to attend.

GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Thursday E-News

by Charles Hansen
THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Thursday Evening E-News Edition August 29, 2019
Curious about the status of your GFO Membership? We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!
gfo.org | 503-963-1932 | info@gfo.org Be sure to check the complete GFO CALENDAR.
Also, don’t miss the current issue of The Forum Insider
Labor Day Closure Delays Free Monday
Please remember that the GFO Library will be closed on Labor Day, Monday, September 2. Our usual Free First Monday for the public will be honored one week later on Monday, Sept. 9.
Newspaper Research: Do You Know What GFO Offers?
Newspapers can provide information about births, deaths, marriages, moves, business, naturalizations, court cases, and more. The GFO provides access to several newspaper subscription sites, plus additional databases. Join GFO’s Janice Sellers for a half-day workshop to get an overview of what is available and techniques to help improve your chances of finding information about your relatives. Janice is a professional genealogist who specializes in forensic, Jewish, Black, and newspaper research. The session will be held in the GFO Library, Sunday, September 8, from 9:30 a.m. – Noon. For more detailed information, download the flyer. Registration is $25.00 for GFO members, $30.00 for non-members.
Register Here
Fall Seminar Needs Raffle Donations!
As we prepare for our upcoming Fall Seminar this October, can you help? We need items for our raffle. Do you have anything to donate? If your item is not new, it must be in exceptionally good condition for us to be able to offer it. Suggestions include genealogically-related books, household decorations, carry bags, certificates toward GFO membership or research costs, and computer items. Leave the item(s) at the library reception desk with a donation form noting that it’s a donation for the seminar treasures raffle. At the seminar, tickets are sold for $1 each or 6 for $5, and they are placed in separate paper sacks for each prize, so you win only something you want. Thanks so much!
Jewish Genealogy Presentation
The GFO’s own Janice Sellers will be delivering a presentation entitled “Jewish Genealogy: How Is This Research Different from All Other Research?” at the upcoming September meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State. The meeting will be held beginning at 7:15 p.m. Monday evening, September 9, 2019, at the LDS Factoria Building, 4200 124th Ave SE, Bellevue, WA 98006 Admission is free and refreshments will be served. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for all to enjoy the extensive JGSWS Library’s genealogical resources, including free access to the Family History Center computers and genealogical websites! Free Wi-Fi is available. Come early to network with other attendees!
Columbia County Conference Features GFO Speakers
There’s a genealogy conference coming up next month in our own backyard. The St. Helens Public Library is offering a full day of genealogy classes in its Bridges to the Past conference on Saturday, September 21. You can choose from a cavalcade of GFO stars to hear from. Every single speaker is a GFO Member! Kate Eckman offers the keynote address. Laurel Smith teaches four classes, Gerry Lenzen two, and Janice Handsaker and Sue LeBlanc each teach one. Oh, and here’s a really special feature. This conference is entirely free to attend! Registration is limited. Only 80 seats are available. If you would like to attend, you may register here.
Multnomah County Library Class: The Historical Oregonian
The Historical Oregonian is an amazing resource for finding obituaries, death and funeral notices, and even researching your house history. The Multnomah County Library will be offering a class to help you learn the skills and techniques for searching this computer-based archive of local newspaper articles. There will be two offerings of this class. Registration is currently open for the class offering at 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, September 11, 2019 at the Central Library Computer Learning Center, 801 SW 10th Avenue, Portland, OR 97205.

Registration will open September 1, 2019 for a second offering of the class to be held at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, September 22, 2019 at the Library’s Belmont Reading Room, 1038 SE César E. Chávez Boulevard, Portland, OR 97214. Seats are limited and you can register here.
Railroad Expert Explains Train Dilemmas Near GFO
Fifty-year railroad industry employee Bill Burgel gave an eye-opening presentation at the Ford Food & Drink cafe above the GFO library on Monday about why we see so many trains blocking the roads near the Ford Building. Bill did not speak on behalf of any company, but he’s been intimately involved in rail operations in Portland for years, so he knows the ins and outs of the rail lines and roads. Thirty-six people came out to hear him, including State Representative Rob Nosse and employees of the city of Portland.
GFO President Vince Patton spoke up for our 1088 members, expressing concern about the safety risk of people getting trapped – literally – either on 11th Ave., or in the parking lot, by the stopped trains. Vince says he was “gobsmacked” by a couple of details:
Trains leaving the Brooklyn Yard just southeast of the GFO can stretch to 8,000 feet – more than 1.3 miles long. Before a train leaves, a brakeman must do an important safety test at the rear of the train, then walk more than a mile to the front of the train before it can move. Vince says he was dumbfounded to learn that the Union Pacific considers this the most efficient way to operate.
Next time you see a train parked for 45 minutes to an hour, there’s a good bet they’re waiting for the brakeman to walk the entire length of the train.
Surplus Book: French Cookery of 1950
Sometimes we receive books that have nothing at all to do with genealogy. Here’s a perfect example. The Home Book of French Cookery by Mme. Germain Carter includes a foreword by T. C. Rapp, British Ambassador to Mexico. Carter wrote this recipe book in 1950, eleven years before Julia Child released her tome on French Cooking. What is most remarkable is that she wrote the bulk of it while a prisoner of war during World War II, exiled to four different internment camps, as Germany controlled her French countryside.
Rapp, who was imprisoned with her, writes, “unbelievably succulent food was produced from the contents of Red Cross parcels (and how sought-after were the occasional American and Canadian parcels with their tin of real butter!)” Read about her remarkable story, and learn the cooking at which she excelled. Recipes include Duck with Orange, Veal Cutlets with White Wine, Potato Croquettes, and Hasty Cake. This 278 book features recipes and suggested menus for all seasons. This book is in sound, sturdy condition, with a few stains on pages and many yellowed edges from age. Someone previously (and oddly) encased the cover in shelf paper. Your price to pickup at the GFO Library: $14
Price to mail it: $19 Contact booksales@gfo.org if you’d like to buy it.
(Please don’t just come to the library to get it.)
Survey Results: Fire Survivors
Not many of you reported the impact of fire on your ancestors.
Percentages approximate:
5% forest fire
5% major city fire
45% other fire events
45% don’t know But those who responded shared stories of loss and survival. (Responses have been edited for brevity) A Christmas Eve fire broke out in my grandparents’ house while they were babysitting an infant cousin. Everyone survived unharmed and my cousin has a tale for her children and grandchildren. My maternal grandfather lost his first wife and their two infant children to a coal oil explosion/stove fire in 1888. He then married his second wife (my maternal grandmother) in 1895. My great-grandmother’s skirts caught fire while she was cooking … She was badly burned and although it was 1924, they did skin grafts, and these were effective. It is amazing to me that she lived before antibiotics. My great-grandparents had just immigrated from Switzerland. They were living in Bakeoven, Wasco County with their first child. A chimney fire chased them out of the house, and they lost everything. But Aunt Minnie always said, “They saved the most precious thing, me!” Bakeoven, remains today only as a cemetery.
New Survey: Other Natural Disasters
If we haven’t hit on a natural disaster that impacted your ancestors—perhaps this is the week for you: Landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and more.
Take the Survey Now
This week at GFO …
Sunday, September 1st
Library Work Party – Manuscripts 9:00 a.m. – Noon
Explore our manuscript, personal papers and Bible collection while we organize, scan and create finding aids. Drop by at the time that works for you. Questions? Send a note to manuscripts@gfo.org.
Monday, September 2nd
GFO is closed in observance of Labor Day. Our usual Free First Monday for the public will be honored next week on Monday, Sept. 9.
Tuesday, September 3rd
Italian Ancestry Group 10:00 a.m. – Noon
This month’s topic: Find your ancestor’s naturalization records.
Your Italian immigrant ancestor’s journey to U.S. citizenship comes alive in U.S. naturalization records. Learn the twists and turns your ancestor navigated when we learn about the naturalization process, what laws governed the application process, and where to find this genealogy gold during the Great Migration of paesani from Italy 1880 – 1924.
Instructor: Nancy Bronte Matheny. If you have questions or want more information, email italian@gfo.org.
Wednesday, September 4th
Learn & Chat 10:00 a.m. – Noon
Co-facilitator Sandy Alto aptly named Learn and Chat as a “genealogy self-help” group. We are reconvening after the traditional summer hiatus. Please bring tales of your latest genealogy related adventures and a wish list of subjects to build our calendar.
If you have questions or want more information, email learnandchat@gfo.org.
DNA Q&A Beyond the Basics 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Emily Aulicino will be joining us and giving her presentation “DNA Led the Way: A Y-DNA Case Study”
Do you have Y-DNA matches for which you cannot find the common ancestor(s) even though the genealogy time frame is reasonable? Have you hunted all over the web to find the answer, but are still fighting that brick wall? Learn how several Y-DNA matches were able to find their common ancestor(s) in just one day! You can download the handout here.
Lisa McCullough leads this group..Questions? dna_qa@gfo.org
GFO Library Open Late to 8:00 p.m.

Heritage Quest Research Library September Classes

by Charles Hansen



Online Irish Records @ Find My Past & Ancestry.
HQRL welcomes back,
Steven Morrison.
Tuesday, September 10th, 1–3 p. m.
Most of us start our family history with what we’ve been able to collect at home. How does that line up with the historical records from the Emerald Isle? Explore and compare Irish records available on both Find My Past & Ancestry before paying for a subscription.


“What I Wish I Had…”
with Janet Camarata
Wednesday, September 25th, 1-3p.m.
This is an interactive class with Janet, as the facilitator, among attendees where experienced genealogists share their genealogical knowledge with beginning genealogists. The following topics may be covered: cite your sources, the importance of the original, people married more than once, the importance of location, it might be a mistake, we can always learn, relatives are everywhere, importance of law, public or private sharing, problems with technology and the access to on-line sources. Don’t miss this class, a lot of knowledge is to be gained by attending.

Class Price:
$20.00 members, $25.00 non-members
To reserve a spot for class, please call: 253-863-1806 or stop by HQRL at 1007 Main Street, Sumner, WA and we will add you to our list of attendees.
If you find you cannot attend, please let us know so that we may make room for others as our space is limited. 

Clark County Genealogical Society New Location

by Charles Hansen



NEW HOME FOR CCGS!
Correction:  The building is 2500 square feet.
Break out the horns. Bang a drum! After months of searching, CCGS has acquired a new home! Last week we signed a lease on the ex-Chase Bank Building at 3205 NE 52nd St. It is between St. Johns and St. James Roads, across the street from the High School Pharmacy. We will have a fabulous space in which to carry out our mission of Collection, Preservation, and Education. The owner is in the process of removing the bank furniture (we’ll still have the vault). We are in the process of planning how we will configure ourselves in ~5200 square feet of modern, well-lit building. Tentative time line has us in before the holidays. Woo Hoo!
Brian Runyan

We have some new footage for the inside of the new library as we begin renovation. Take a look at the footage (provided by Steve Young) as we begin our journey.

Let me see the video!

Lower Columbia Genealogical Society September Meeting

by Charles Hansen

CITING SOURCES AND CITATIONS

Any statement of fact that is not common knowledge must carry its own individual statement of source. This fact is known by many researchers, and we will be fortunate to have help with this at our September meeting. Experienced researcher,

MARY KATHRYN KOZY,

will share her experiences.

LOWER COLUMBIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~walcolgs/

SOMERSET RETIREMENT APARTMENTS

DINING ROOM 7:00 PM

2025 TIBBETTS DRIVE, LONGVIEW

September 12, 2019

Guests are welcome and encouraged to attend.

GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Thursday E-News

by Charles Hansen
THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Thursday Evening E-News Edition August 22, 2019
Curious about the status of your GFO Membership? We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!
gfo.org | 503-963-1932 | info@gfo.org Be sure to check the complete GFO CALENDAR.
Also, don’t miss the current issue of The Forum Insider
Newspapers Galore: Do You Know What GFO Offers?
Did you know the GFO offers access to two different databases filled with historic newspapers? We pay for Newspapers.com and Genealogy Bank, both of which would cost you a pretty penny at home. What’s the difference between the two? Here’s a great way to find out how to get the most out of each. Join Janice Sellers for a half-day workshop, Using Subscription Newspaper Websites at the GFO Library. The session will be held in the GFO Library, Sunday, September 8, from 9:30 a.m. – Noon. Click here for more detailed information. Registration is $25.00 for GFO members, $30.00 for non-members.
Register Here
Register for GFO Fall Seminar!
The 2019 GFO Fall Seminar, featuring Fritz Jeungling, Ph.D., AG, will be an exceptional educational opportunity that we are exited to be bringing to our membership and the community at large. Dr. Juengling is an Accredited Genealogist® (through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists) for Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden, and he is certified by the Verband deutschsprachiger Berufsgenealogen. He is also a German, Dutch, and Scandinavian Research Consultant at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The full-day session on Saturday, October 5th, will be held at the Center for Self Enhancement (3920 N. Kerby Ave., Portland) and will focus on German Research, while the half-day presentation at the GFO Library on Sunday, October 6th, will provide an introduction to Dutch research. Download the flyer for full details. Mark your calendar, spread the word, and register early!
Register Here
NGS and FGS Announce Intent to Merge
In a historic move, the boards of the National Genealogical Society (NGS) and the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announced on August 21st, 2019, their intent to merge. The two organizations, both non-profit leaders in the dynamic genealogy industry, will form one consolidated group that will continue to operate as the National Genealogical Society. Both boards approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) earlier this week, and jointly announced the news at the Opening Session of the FGS Family History Conference in Washington, D.C. Leaders of both organizations believe this merger will serve the genealogy community by improving support of both individual members and societies in the pursuit of genealogical excellence. The organizational structure of NGS will be modified to increase functions that support genealogical societies and family organizations. Digitization projects of genealogical importance such as the War of 1812 pensions will continue. The two groups will continue to operate independently while all details of the merger are completed, no later than October 1, 2020.

Plans are still in place to hold the annual FSG Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2020. Starting in 2021, the combined organization will hold one conference with four full days of genealogical lectures and a fifth day dedicated to society management topics. We will keep you apprised as plans continue to develop.
BCG to Host Six Free Webinars
The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) will host six free webinars live from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 6 September 2019. The hour-long webinars begin at 11 a.m. U.S. Eastern time (9 a.m. Mountain time, 1500 GMT) and continue throughout the day.
The sponsored lecture series is in memory of BCG’s former trustee and vice president, Joy Reisinger, Certified Genealogist Emeritus. The schedule for the lectures and broadcasts is:
11 a.m Eastern time. Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, “Reasonably Exhaustive Research: The First Criteria for Genealogical Proof.”
12:15 p.m. Eastern time. Martha Garrett, PhD, CG, “Finding Immigrants Who ‘Disappeared’: A Research Approach Based on Recognizing and Challenging Assumptions.”
1:30 p.m. Eastern time. Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL, “Share and Share Alike: The Rules of Genealogical Privacy.”
3:30 p.m. Eastern time. Karen Stanbary, CG, “Details of New and Modified DNA-Related Standards.”
4:45 p.m. Eastern time. Melinda Henningfield, CG, “How to Write a Case Study that Meets the New Standards for DNA: As Codified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.”
6:00 p.m. Eastern time. Rick Sayre, CG, CGL, “Reconstructing an Entrepreneurial Woman’s Life: From Family Intrigue to Water Rents.” Free registration for the live webinar broadcasts, as well as additional information on speakers and lecture topics, can be found here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. In order to accommodate those who might have schedule conflicts, each webinar can be accessed at no charge for a week after the broadcast.
Learn About Train Operations in Southeast Portland
We all know how freight trains paralyze southeast Portland near the GFO, sometimes multiple times a day. In response, the GFO has donated to a group raising money to study rail solutions. Here’s a chance to learn more from the railroad’s perspective. Bill Burgel spent 50 years in the railroad industry and he knows well the issues specifically related to the streets, rail lines, and rail yard near the GFO. Bill has offered to talk about the factors involved and Ford Food & Drink has offered him its stage as a venue. You can come hear Bill talk at the café just one floor up from the GFO on Monday, August 26 at 6 p.m.
Nominate the Next GFO Star
Did someone at the GFO go out of their way to help you recently when you came in for research? Are you a volunteer who sees another volunteer go above and beyond? Please nominate our next GFO Star! Drop your nomination in the box behind the reception desk or email it to secretary@gfo.org. (Board members are not eligible)
Surplus Book: First Edition: Memoirs from 1863
The Rev. Dr. George W. Bethune wrote a short biography of his mother, Mrs. Joanna (Graham) Bethune, just a year before he died. “Memoirs of Mrs. Joanna Bethune. By her son, The Rev. George W. Bethune, D.D.” was published in 1863 by Harper & Brothers, Publishers in New York. He was described as an “eloquent and distinguished scholar, poet, preacher, and orator… but nothing from his pen will be read with greater admiration than this simple memorial of the mother who taught him to speak.” His tribute to his mother is joined by a 125-page appendix full of his mother’s own writings.
The tales include a sketch of the journey of Joanna’s mother in 1772 before the Revolutionary War, through lands of New York with the help of native tribes and then sailed to Antigua, then to Scotland and then back to New York in 1789. This first edition is a former library book containing library marks and stamps. Tape holes the cover to the spine, and pages inside show some separation. However, all the paper is in fine shape with text as clear and readable as when it was printed 156 years ago. Your price to pickup at the GFO Library: $10
Price to mail it: $15 Contact booksales@gfo.org if you’d like to buy it. (Please don’t just come to the library first to get it.)
Survey Results: Flood Survivors
Last week we asked if your ancestors had dealt with high water or floods. While only a few responded, several shared dramatic stories. 55% of respondents named a flood, 9% named a storm at sea and 41% said they didn’t know. Here are a few of their stories (edited for brevity).
After the great Iowa flood of 1851 carried off most of their stock, the Sunderland family hit the Oregon Trail. Being wary of flooding, they naturally established their new farm on the Columbia Slough. My great aunt and great uncle, an immigrant from Germany, lost their home and farm in Oklahoma Territory when the Canadian River flooded in 1904. Neighbors carried their two young daughters through the waters to safety; my great aunt carried her baby; my great uncle and his son got some of the livestock to higher ground. Mar. 19 / 1905 Mrs Molly St John
Dear cousin – lost every-thing I had in the flood except a few dollars and the clothes I had on and my house, the house had no floors in it, and I cobbed it to a mesquite tree when I came out, the house floated, and the cobb was too close to the top and it turned over and every-thing I had floated off down the River or somewhere else, my house goods in the way of furniture, stove, table, dishes, and everything like that, with my trunk and all my clothing, my loss was about $300. – Your cousin Thos Knox
New Survey: Fire!
Were any of your ancestors victim of a fire?
Take our Survey
This week at GFO …
Saturday, August 24th
Beginners DNA 9:00 a.m – Noon
Using the questions our beginning members raised, this meeting will include a variety of topics:
The basic DNA tests
Suggestions for determining common ancestors
Ancestry’s Dots, Stars, Notes, Shared Matches and ThruLines
MyHeritage’s Theory of Family Relativity
Spreadsheets
Triangulation vs. In Common With
Using a spreadsheet to organize the matches for whom you have found common ancestors for all companies
A brief view of the Leeds Method and Auto Clustering
We should have time for questions and your additional suggestions on the above topics.

Please download the handout and review it before attending. Bring it with you! You are welcome to send your questions before the meeting. Email: dna@gfo.org
Sunday, August 25th
Library Work Party 9:00 a.m. – Noon
We Really Need Your Help This Sunday!
We have received several large donations of books and we need to check them against the books we already have.
This will involve looking each book up in the online library catalog. If we have the book, the call number is written on a paper inserted into the book, and the book is checked against the one on the shelf. We have several hundred books to check. And we need to do so quickly because there’s another batch in the wings to be done next week.
So we need YOUR help! The back door of the library opens at 9 and work usually wraps up around noon. Some people come for just an hour or so; others work the full time. You are welcome to do either. Any time you can share is valuable. Hope to see you there.
Wednesday, August 28th
GFO Library Open Late to 8:00 p.m. Saturday, August 24th Beginners DNA 9:00 a.m – Noon Using the questions our beginning members raised, this meeting will include a variety of topics: The basic DNA tests
Suggestions for determining common ancestors
Ancestry’s Dots, Stars, Notes, Shared Matches and ThruLines
MyHeritage’s Theory of Family Relativity
Spreadsheets
Triangulation vs. In Common With
Using a spreadsheet to organize the matches for whom you have found common ancestors for all companies
A brief view of the Leeds Method and Auto Clustering We should have time for questions and your additional suggestions on the above topics.

Please download the handout and review it before attending. Bring it with you! You are welcome to send your questions before the meeting. Email: dna@gfo.org Sunday, August 25th Library Work Party 9:00 a.m. – Noon We Really Need Your Help This Sunday! We have received several large donations of books and we need to check them against the books we already have. This will involve looking each book up in the online library catalog. If we have the book, the call number is written on a paper inserted into the book, and the book is checked against the one on the shelf. We have several hundred books to check. And we need to do so quickly because there’s another batch in the wings to be done next week. So we need YOUR help! The back door of the library opens at 9 and work usually wraps up around noon. Some people come for just an hour or so; others work the full time. You are welcome to do either. Any time you can share is valuable. Hope to see you there. Wednesday, August 28th GFO Library Open Late to 8:00 p.m.

Spokane Public Library Update

by Charles Hansen

Many people know that Eastern Washington Genealogical Society has partnered with the Spokane Public Library since 1935. Last year the Spokane Public Library passed a bond issue to remodel several libraries and build three new libraries to replace a couple of small branches. They were hoping to keep the downtown library open during construction, but have found out that would extend the construction time by quite a lot and cost more in the long run, so starting early next year the downtown library with the EWGS collection will move somewhere else. They are still looking for a place. The Spokesman Review has a great article on the construction here. When all the construction is done EWGS will have some wonderful places to meet, one with room for 200 people and free parking for 200 cars east of downtown for our monthly meetings and annual seminars.