Jefferson County Genealogical Society Amazing Plans

by Charles Hansen

JCGS takes a break in July and August.  However, we have some Amazing Plans for October and November! This is the time to put these on your personal calendar and take action on saving a place for yourself!

 

JEFFERSON COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY (JCGS)

PO Box 627 

Port Townsend, WA 98368

Contact for this media release:  Judy Tough 360-385-3065 or tough@olympus.net

 Release Dates: July 2018

Two Amazing Resources for Locals Interested in DNA & Genealogy

DNA: Jefferson County Genealogical Society (JCGS) is excited to announce they are bringing Ce Ce Moore to Port Townsend November 10, 2018. Ce Ce Moore is the genetic genealogy consultant for the popular PBS television series “Finding Your Roots” with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Her work has also been featured on 20/20, Genealogy Roadshow, Nightline, Good Morning America, The Doctors and many other well-known TV shows. Her primary focus is promoting genetic genealogy through the media. Ce Ce is the co-founder of the Institute for Genetic Genealogy and has written the popular blog “Your Genetic Genealogy” since 2010.

Ms. Moore will be presenting an all day DNA seminar covering “I Have My Results, Now What”; “Seven Key Concepts to Working with Autosomal DNA”; “Autosomal DNA: Discovering Your Ancestors in You”; and “Creating and Utilizing Genetic Networks in Your Research”. Her talks will cover beginning, intermediate, and advanced tools for incorporating DNA into genealogical research. Currently there are only 50 seats remaining in the USO Building at Fort Warden State Park. Each seat is $75 for the day. Doors open at 8:30 am, lectures are 9:30 am to 3:30 pm with a break for lunch. Persons must complete the Ce Ce Moore Registration Form and other instructions found on the JCGS website www.wajcgs.org to reserve a ticket.

GENEALOGY CLASS: “BEYOND THE BASICS” Do you still have questions or ‘brick walls’ after following your family in censuses and vital records? Want to learn about how your ancestors lived, not just where they lived? “Beyond the Basics” may be just for you!

This class, offered by Jefferson County Genealogical Society (JCGS) is designed for those who want to answer more questions about their families. We’ll talk about military, immigration, land and probate records as well as some techniques that can be used to solve difficult problems. Not for the individual just starting out, this course will allow participants to take their family history research to the next level.

The program will be held on the Monday afternoons of October 1, 8, 15, 2018, 1:00-3:30 pm at the Historical Research Center, 13692 Airport Cutoff Road (Highway 19). Cost is $30 for members, $55 for non-members (includes a $25 one year JCGS Membership). Class is limited to 18 participants. Complete the registration form at our website www.wajcgs.org and mail a check to JCGS, PO Box 627, Port Townsend, WA 98368 by September 24, 2018.

 

GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Thursday Evening E-News

by Charles Hansen

THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s

Thursday Evening

E-News, Edition

5 July 2018

For more information visit www.gfo.org, contact us at info@gfo.org, or call our library at 503-963-1932. We love hearing from you!

For a complete GFO CALENDAR click here.

Also, if you missed your free copy of our monthly Insider for May 2018, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy HERE. Simply scroll down at THIS page and click on the Insider 2018 May issue.

Curious about the status of your GFO Membership?

We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!
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Fall Seminar 2018

This is a two-day event. Register for one day or for both days.

You can register and pay online, or download the registration form and send in payment. Note: Your registration is not complete until we receive payment. If the workshop is sold out before we receive your payment, you will be put on a waiting list.

Saturday Full-Day Seminar:

Milwaukie Center, 5440 SE Kellogg Creek Drive, Milwaukie, Oregon

Saturday, November 3rd, 10am to 4:30pm

Sunday Half-Day Seminar:

GFO Library, Sunday, November 4th, 9:30am – noon

Will move to larger venue if necessary.
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GFO-Board-2018-2019-3131

Dear GFO Members, Volunteers, and Guest Patrons!

We’re happy to introduce to you our 2018-2019 Board of Directors.

Front, left-to-right: Jane McGarvin, Loretta Welsh, Cathy Lauer, Sharyle Kingston.
Middle: Anne Wheeler, Bonnie Randolph, LauraDenise White.
Back: Vince Patton, Richard Crockett, Laurel Smith, Geoff Smith.
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Featuring five DNA presentations, three Irish genealogy presentations, four renowned speakers (including Blaine Bettinger, Cyndi Ingle, Dr. Maurice Gleeson and Wayne Shepheard), and more!

WHAT: A full day conference in Seattle the day before the 14th Unlock the Past genealogy cruise.
WHERE: Seattle Public Library, 1000 4th Ave, Seattle, WA
WHEN: Thursday, September 6th, 9am – 5pm

Click HERE to book your tickets!
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Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) recently worked with the Oregon State University (OSU) Special Collections and Archives crew to gather key material for episode 3 of season 12 in OPB’s historical series Oregon Experience.

Watch the full episode HERE.

Way to go, OSU’s Special Collections and Archives staff! Thanks for continuing to showcase and preserve our cultural history.
***

SATURDAY, July 7th

German Research, Half-Day Seminar 9:30am – noon

Presenter: Fritz Juengling, PhD, AG®
Registration: HERE

Meyers Gazetteer
Now online, indexed and fully searchable! In this lecture, you will learn the history of the project, and be taken through the site using one town as a case study. You will also learn how other, less well known features can help the researcher with research.

German Church & Civil Records
Learn how to read the old records. This class will detail the strategies that the experts use when reading old records. With a few tricks, some work and perseverance, a person can unlock these old records.

German Group 1 – 3pm

This meeting, we’ll be exploring websites for German research! The German Interest Group was formed in the spring of 2011. It is intended to be a source of information and inspiration for anyone with German speaking ancestors. One goal is to provide information on a variety of topics related to Germanic history and migration. We also will provide time for members to share their research journeys and connect with others who may be researching the same region or time period.

SUNDAY, July 8th

Library Work Party 9am – Noon

Please Help! Handling a huge donation recently put us behind with our ongoing relabeling project. You can help us get back on track. Please join us for our work party at the GFO library. There’s lots to do and we’d love to have your help. Doors open at 9am, 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!

TUESDAY, July 10th

Board Meeting 6:10 – 8:10pm

This meeting is open to members, volunteers, and the general public. Come see what makes GFO run so smoothly! Or, come help add to the discussion of what we can do to make it run even better.

Wednesday Nostalgia

by Charles Hansen

When I attended the Clark County Genealogical Society seminar in May, we also enjoyed a World War I display and entertainment. I took these two photos, one of a local lady and author of the book she’s holding and one was the daughter of another reenactor there. I show these today just to highlight the fashion. So relatively modest, so grown-up-style even for the girl, and so really girlish and feminine. So different from today, eh?

       

Tuesday Trivia

by Charles Hansen

Pend Oreille County Trivia comes from Faith McClenny’s Museum News of the Pend Oreille County Historical Museum.

This fall we will commemorate 100 years since World War I ended in 1918. An interesting tidbit of little-known history is that a number of men from Pend Oreille County served for one year in the U.S. Army Spruce Production Division located at different places in Washington and Oregon. Over a million men, experienced lumberjacks and private sawmill owners, working in the cutting and milling of spruce lumber which was used in the manufacturing of wing spars and other parts for light weight military airplanes. The strong spruce wood did not splinter when hit by bullets. From the beginning of the war, the U.S. sawmills had been supplying the allies with spruce wood but when the U.S. joined the conflict, the demand jumped and the Army stepped in and created the Spruce Production Division. Soon after, production when from over 2 million board feet monthly to 22 million. And men from Pend Oreille County helped! (Paraphrased a bit.)

I know that spruce wood was also cut from land west of Port Angeles.

Interesting trivia history.

How to Post Your Event and News

by Roxanne Lowe

Do you want to broadcast information about your local society, workshop, genealogical tip, or a research query? Just send it to the WSGS Blog and WSGS Meetings and Events! You can reach hundreds of genealogists from around the state. Just email a Word document, text file, PDF or graphic to WSGSBlog@wasgs.org and WebManager@wasgs.org  and we’ll do the rest!

We’re always looking to publicize local events and workshops, feature stories, updates from your society, and other genealogical information that might be of interest to our many subscribers and viewers.

We hope to hear from you soon! And don’t forget to encourage your Society members to subscribe to the Blog for the most up-to-date information from around the state.

You may manage your subscription options from your profile.

Monday Mystery

by Charles Hansen

Why did she do it???

Within the last month, this bit was in our paper:  “Authorities say a 30-year-old woman from Everett died after she drove her Jeep Cherokee through a barrier and off a dock at the Washington State Ferries terminal at Anacortes.  A preliminary investigation found that Nicole Barney arrived at the ferry about 7:50 am, paid the ferry fare, then drove into the vehicle parking area. About 9:45 she drove off quickly and went off the end of the dock.”

Poor, poor dear soul. So sorry for her family. Why did she do it?

Five Societies Earn Innovative Grants

by Roxanne Lowe

In an announcement made at the WSGS Annual Meeting on 26 May 2018 in Vancouver, five local societies were  awarded Innovative Grants for special projects and purchases. The grants, up to $100, are designed to support the inventive and creative efforts of WSGS-member societies and organizations. Each society’s proposal was scored and ranked by a review team.

2018 Innovative Grants were awarded to:

  1. Eastside Genealogical Society to help pay for “The Photo Detective” Maureen Taylor workshop to celebrate the society’s 40th birthday. Ms. Taylor will present “Finding Family History in Your Picture Mysteries” on September 15 in Bellevue. Society members will get to attend for free while the public will pay a small fee. For more information about this workshop, click here.
  2. Lower Columbia Genealogical Society to purchase genealogical books to donate to the Longview Public Library for public use. Lower Columbia has generously donated books for a number of years, using money from membership dues and their coffee stops.
  3. Okanogan Genealogical Society to help purchase supplies to repair and preserve books holding the “Tonasket Times” newspaper from 1913 – 1952. Each book uses an entire roll of special archival document repair tape. This grant will buy a few rolls of tape to stop the destruction of the collection.
  4. Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society to help publish a book on “Early Stillaguamish Valley Schools” in the Arlington Area. It’s taken years to gather historical documents and photographs for this project from the 1800s to the early 1940s and now they’re ready to publish.
  5. Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society For the 4th consecutive year, WAGS has applied for an Innovative Grant to promote genealogy in their area. This year, they’re focusing on the digital preservation of family records, library holdings and archival documents. They plan to preserve family histories and archival materials of their society, its members and the community.

The Innovative Grant program was started in 2015 to support the inventive and creative efforts of local societies and organizations. When created, Recognition Chair Roxanne Lowe explained, “We know that local societies can do a lot with very little, so we’re hoping the Innovative Grant Program will be what you need to jump-start a project that has been dreamed about for some time.”

Olympia and Clark County Earn Top Honors

by Roxanne Lowe

The Olympia Genealogical Society and Clark County Genealogical Society earned outstanding society awards at the WSGS Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony on May 26 in Vancouver.

WSGS President Virginia Majewski presented the Outstanding Project Award to CCGS President Brian Runyan and member Lois Bosland.

The Clark County Genealogical Society, in addition to being the excellent hosts of the Awards Ceremony, were the recipients of the Outstanding Project Award for their Tax Ledger Project which included digitizing, transcribing and indexing original 1886 and 1891 tax ledgers for the City of Vancouver. As we all know, those are critical years for any family history researcher in lieu of the 1890 census disaster. The tax records included who owned property in Vancouver and how much tax was owed and paid (or not). The Clark County Society consulted with the State Archives, Clark County Historical Museum, History Department at WSU Vancouver and the WSU Library – a true collaborative effort. This treasure trove of information is now available to the public and the original records are being turned over to the State Archives.

OGS members Dee Dee Simpson, Dick Moody, Nancy Cordell, seminar speaker David Allen Lambert, and Roger Newman celebrating their accomplishments

Olympia Gen Soc earned the Outstanding Communication Award for their new website. For 20 years, they used a popular web host that is currently unavailable. Understanding the importance and urgency of getting information out to their members and the public in this web-based world, they created a new website, using a web development company that specializes in genealogical societies (EasyNetSites — same as WSGS). Olympia’s site is attractive – and even better, it’s full of current information. Check out their website here. They also use their Facebook page to regularly post informational tidbits, newsy articles and promote their meetings and seminar.

Besides the Outstanding Communication Award, Olympia’s Ann Olsen was awarded the President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement while Rebel Romero received an Outstanding Volunteer award.