Tacoma Pierce County Genealogical Society DNA SIG Meeting

by Charles Hansen

Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society DNA Special Interest Group Meeting

Tuesday, September 22, Starting at 7:00 pm via Zoom

Discussion group focused on various topics regarding the use of DNA testing in genealogy.

Prior to this meeting we will watch the webinar Cousins, Clusters, and Clues: Using MyHeritage DNA for Your Genealogical Mysteries available for free on Legacy Family Tree Webinars at: https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/cousins-clusters-and-clues-using-myheritage-dna-for-your-genealogical-mysteries

Calendar reminder: TPCGS DNA Special Interest Group Meeting

Every month on the Fourth Tuesday beginning at 7:00 PM Pacific Time

Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.

Monthly: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/tZYqdeyrrz0iEtx-c_J3gNfcI8mebT1zajLo/ics?icsToken=98tyKuGqqTkvGdWTuBGPRpwQB4joZ-nzmCFHj7dF0RzaKXNUTAX1H7pPN7BLQcLR

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82725316888?pwd=MDc3UEZrUVJNbmxmK2ZORmw5YzdDdz09

Meeting ID: 827 2531 6888

Passcode: 811780

One tap mobile:

+12532050468,,82725316888#,,,,*811780# US

+12532158782,,82725316888#,,,,*811780# US (Tacoma)

Dial by your location:

        +1 253 205 0468 US

        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

Meeting ID: 827 2531 6888

Passcode: 811780

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kIKCyZLQy

Fort Walla Walla Camp 3 of the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War

by Charles Hansen


The next meeting of the Fort Walla Walla Camp 3 meeting of the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War will be
held October 3 rd at the American Legion Hall in Benton City, WA.  Time assembling at 1100- 1130 hr. for fellowship and lunch with
a cash bar and available lunch can be purchased.  Business meeting starts at 1230 and program at 1:00pm.  

Program speaker is Mike Maltais of Chelan, a well known journalist and historian and engaging speaker. He wrote many years
 for the Quad City Herald. His wife’s great grandfather was a horse soldier in the 7th Cavalry and survived the Battle of the
 Little Bighorn in 1876. His program will center on this amazing story.

All members, spouses and interested guests are invited.  More information on Ft Walla Walla Camp 3 and events can be
found on  <www.suvpnw.org> .   Camp Commander Hank Cramer leading the meeting.

submitted by Don Jameson  Past Cp Commander FWW 3   cell 509 945 0549

Skagit Valley Genealogical Society Most Used Ancestry Tricks

by Charles Hansen

Searching on Ancestry.com but not having success? Join SVGS on Saturday October 10, 2026, at 1pm for “My Most Used Ancestry.com Tricks” with Aimee Cross. Aimee is a professional genealogist and the host of YouTube channel AncestryAimee.com. Learn how to get the most out of Ancestry.com from a true power user with years of research experience. Can’t make it to the Burlington Library, request a zoom link by emailing info@skagitvalleygenealogy.org.

Let’s Talk About: Old Jokes For Old Folks

by Donna Phillips

This is a deee-lightful, hits-the-nail-on-the-head joke book. For instance:

* “The future will soon be a thing of the past.” George Carlin

* “You know you’re old when you see the movie Jurassic Park and it brings back fond childhood memories.”

* “The older I get, the better I used to be!”  Lee Trevino

* “Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” Benjamin Franklin

* “Old age is 15 years older than I am.”  Oliver Wendell Holmes

* “True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.”  Kurt Vonnegut

* “A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age.”  Robert Frost

* “You know you’re getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.” Bob Hope

* Some people will never be too old to learn new ways of being stupid.  Unkown

* “Just remember, once you’re over the hill you begin to pick up speed.” Charles Schulz

* “You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.”  Woody Allen

* “If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old.”  James A Garfield

AI Workshop Registration Open Now

by Roxanne Lowe

Registration for the WSGS-sponsored workshop “Make AI Your Personal Genealogy Assistant” with Lisa Louise Cooke is now open. The FREE workshop is Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. Space is limited to 100 participants.

Registration link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/UW9tfCWsRfy2yrLuFmAHVA

AI tools can work like a personal research assistant for your genealogy projects. In this session, you’ll learn practical ways to use AI to organize your findings, uncover new research leads, and handle repetitive tasks so you can spend more time on the discoveries that matter. 

The workshop is open to any WSGS member, local genealogical society member or WSGS Blog subscriber.

Lisa Louise Cooke is the author of several books including “The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, 3rd edition,”  producer and host of the popular Genealogy Gems Podcast, and videos on the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel.

For more information, email Info@wasgs.org. Please put “AI Workshop” in the Subject Line.

America at 250 Bernhard Spangler

by Charles Hansen

David Spangler’s direct revolutionary was ancestor was Bernhard Spangler, 1745-1802 died on 7 Oct 1802, Paradise now Jackson Township, York, Pennsylvania. (WikiTree# Spangler-126, FamilySearch# L7BP-RLB). He is my 6th great-grandfather. He served in the 6th Co., 7th Battalion, York County Militia, during the Revolutionary War. His twin brother was Joseph Spangler 1745-1802 died 1 Mar 1802 in Washington, York, Pennsylvania. They were both 31 in 1776. They both died in 1802 just seven months apart. During the Revolutionary War, Joseph was a Major in the 5th Battalion in the York County Militia, which marched to form the Flying Camps in eastern NJ where George Washington was camped with his troops. Their father Jonas and grandfather Hans Caspar Spengler arrived in Philadelphia from Weiler, Baden, Reich in September 1727 on the ship William and Sarah. In 1729 they settled in what would become York, Pennsylvania. York served as the meeting place for the Continental Congress between September 30, 1777, and June 27, 1778. This move took place when the delegates were forced to flee Philadelphia as British troops advanced following the Battle of Brandywine. While gathered in York, our early leaders made several monumental decisions, most notably the adoption of the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777.,,. The Continental Congress met in the York County Courthouse.

This was the same time as Washington’s troops were at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and it has been reported as very cold. There was also sickness and starvation. Bernhard was fortunately at home in York.

Let’s Talk About: Baumann’s Excelsior Meat Roaster

by Donna Phillips

Charles Bauman’s Meat Shop was a thriving business in Belleville, Illinois. The business placed this ad in The Semi-Weekly Advocate, the local paper, on Friday, Sept 26, 1879:

BAUMANN’S EXCELSIOR MEAT ROASTER

“This apparatus is an air-tight chest or box, which must be put in the baking part of the Cooking stove. By this mode of Roasting or Baking, meats will cook as tender as mutton. Poultry of all kinds cooked in this way is the most palatable and delicious ever produced by any other mode of cooking and as regards economy this chest cannot be excelled. The cost of this apparatus will be more than saved in three or four months from the fact that butter, (by the way, a large item in the course of a few years) as the essence from the meat forms a most delicious gravy, by a distilling process. The chest if made of the best quality of sheet iron, on a self-sealing principle. Any housewife who gives it a fair trial will not do without it. The cost of the Apparatus is very small, from the fact that it is very durable. If well cared for it will last from ten to fifteen years.            320 East Main Street, Belleville, Ill. 

This image is the best I could find for a Baumann’s Excelsior Meat Roaster. 

Likely not correct but surely close?