Family History Fanatics eConference

by Charles Hansen

Family History Fanatics is presening an eConference Finding Family Stories and Passing Them On January 19th at 6:45am Pacific Time.
Speakers will be Randy Seaver, Eric Wells, Victoria Woo and Tammy Hepps. Participants will learn about how to find, preserve, and share their family stories.  Five hours of interactive instruction for the early bird price is $19.99 through January 10th and $24.99 thereafter. More details and registration can be found at: https://www.familyhistoryfanatics.com/jan2018. Feel free to let any of your friends or family know about this eConference.
Thanks,
Andrew & Devon Noel Lee
Family History Fanatics
Humble, TX | 281-552-7288

LOWER COLUMBIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY January Meeting

by Charles Hansen

Please join us as we begin the new year with local historian, jerry kelly, who will present his work scanning the yearbooks of High Schools in Cowlitz county

LOWER COLUMBIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

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

SOMERSET RETIREMENT APARTMENTS

2025 TIBBETTS DRIVE, LONGVIEW

DINING ROOM 7:00 PM

Jan 11, 2018

VISITORS ARE WELCOME AND ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND.

Seasons Greetings from GFO 2017

by Charles Hansen

The Genealogical Forum of Oregon would like to extend our warmest wishes to all our members, patrons and supporters for a safe and lovely holiday season.

GFO’s Research Library will be closed tomorrow, Sunday, December 24th, and Monday, December 25th, until 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 26th.

We will also be observing the world’s most recent revolution around the sun the last week of this month. In other words, the Library will be closed Sunday, December 31st, until 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 2nd.

Don’t forget! Monday, January 8th, is a First Free Monday day!! Tell your friends and remind yourself if you don’t have a regular membership to take advantage of the holiday quiet to use the library resources for free that day!

Continue reading →

Washington State Digital Archives’ 200 Million Contest

by Charles Hansen

 Meet Gordon Russ.

He won the Washington State Digital Archives’ 200 million contest, making the closest guess of December 5th for the day Digital Archives would make its 200 millionth entry into its database. There was no science behind this guess. He picked it simply because of the fact that it was his birthday. Gordon took home an Ancestry DNA kit, a fitting gift for the history buff.

https://blogs.sos.wa.gov/FromOurCorner/index.php/2017/12/searching-through-old-newspapers-is-easier-thanks-to-gordon/

GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Wednesday Evening E-News

by Charles Hansen
GFO Logo Halo 2 Large

THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s

Wednesday Evening

E-News, Edition

20 December 2017

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 November 2017, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy HERE. NOTE: The Insider issues are now located under the “Learn” > “Our Publications” menu at www.gfo.org.

Curious about the status of your GFO Membership?? We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!
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JUST IMAGINE WHAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH NEXT!
money-christmas-stockings

Don’t let 2017 slip away and miss out on your tax write-off.

Because GFO is a 501(c)(3) organization, your donations are tax deductible.

Give now by visiting our Annual Appeal page HERE.

Remember GFO is a 100% volunteer-reliant organization. That’s right! We have no paid staff.

So every gift goes directly to keeping the lights on, the doors open, and to providing the best resources possible for family history researchers!

The simple truth is: GFO relies on donations for our continued existence.

If you prefer to send a check or money order, you can use our paper form HERE and mail it with your gift to: Genealogical Forum of Oregon, 2505 S.E. 11th Ave., Suite B-18, Portland, OR 97202.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Psst! GFO belongs to the Oregon Cultural Trust (now easier to find as “Genealogical Forum of Oregon”) and has attained a silver-star rating on GuideStar.
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Ireland Satellite

Genealogy in the news! Read all about it! Ireland’s history through advancing DNA discoveries.

A recent article from Nature.com gives some very intriguing insights into the world of genomes and ancestral migration patterns within Ireland’s most recent DNA test results.

If you’re currently riding the wave of DNA-genealogical-discovery, you’ll love this article’s level of detail!

The full article, titled “The Irish DNA Atlas,” can be read HERE.
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Save the Dates for these Fantastic January 2018 Events
Akee Tree Image

African American Special Interest Group – Jan 27th

Come here Stephen Hanks talk about his book Akee Tree!

Stephen Hanks is a legal process server in the state of Oregon, and a specialist in African American genealogy, volunteering his time in helping to promote African American genealogy through his network, Genealogical Networking Services. In 2006 Hanks was a contributor to the PBS special “African American Lives—Oprah’s Roots” which examined the genealogy of Oprah Winfrey. He lives in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of Akee Tree: A Descendant’s Search for His Slave Ancestors on the Eskridge Plantations. He will discuss – helpful hints to African descent genealogy; overcoming roadblocks in your research; and share his personal family research.
Boot Camp

Beginner’s Boot Camp

Come join GFO’s President, Laurel Smith, for a day of beginning your genealogy adventure!

WHEN: Wednesday, Jan 31st, 9:30am – 6pm

WHERE: GFO’s Multipurpose Room (map)

WHAT: There will be sessions about the census, vital records, immigration and naturalization, discussions about genealogy software and database use, organizing your research and more — all geared toward beginners.

HOW: Bring a sack lunch so the discussion can continue while we eat. GFO members may attend for free, and non-members should please bring $20 to pay at the door. Attendees are encouraged to bring their laptops, but it is not required.

RSVP: Please let us know if you plan to attend by sending a message to RSVP@gfo.org. Handouts will be emailed in advance.
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Special Saturday Schedules – January, March, May, September 2018

Due to all the wonderful Special Interest Groups (SIG’s) at the GFO that we’ve been trying to squeeze in for the benefit of our patrons, our library will close to researchers at 12:45pm on the last Saturday of the four months listed above. We ask that you kindly plan accordingly.

See our online CALENDAR for more info.

Remember, all our SIG’s are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
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Call to Volunteers – Nomination Committee Members Needed!

The GFO needs help from its members getting ready for 2018 elections!

The following positions are available for new candidates this coming fiscal year, and we need a very special Nominating Committee from our membership to help find people to fill these positions. Interested?? Email president@gfo.org today!

Candidate Proposals Needed For:
* GFO President
* Director-at-Large
* Secretary

Also, if you’re interested in being one of the potential candidates, again email Laurel Smith at president@gfo.org.
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Holiday Schedule this Week:

GFO’s Research Library will be closed, Sunday, December 24th, and Monday, December 25th, until 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 26th.

We sincerely hope you enjoy your holidays this coming weekend! All the best wishes from your friends at the GFO.

Dupus Boomer’s Prefabulous Richland

by Charles Hansen

Dear TCGS Members and Guests:

Note that our own TCGS member, Connie Estep will be a co-presenter tomorrow night on:

Dupus Boomer’s Prefabulous Richland

Thursday, December 21st at 7:00 p.m. at the Richland Public Library

“What happens when you take a secret WWII project, add a booming population, and build a city in the desert? You have to ask Dupus Boomer all about the Prefabulous Richland. Join Terry and Connie as they use Dupus (a blue-collar Dilbert of the 1940s) to introduce the people and the places of the atomic pioneers in Richland, WA.”

Tuesday Trivia

by Charles Hansen

Most all genealogists used the FamilySearch website. We also use Ancestry, Find-My-Past, MyHeritage, and a host of other website containing user-submitted family trees.

How many of us look with a careful, critical eye to the information we find amidst the branches on those online family trees? Do we swallow every new name, date and places as if it were “good medicine?” Or do we stop, slow down and ask questions.

I was Internet-searching in the above named databases thinking to further the lineage of James Paschal. Here’s an entry I found on FamilySearch, copied faithfully as I spotted it:

James Paschal

1742 – Midd, NJ

1792 – North, Carolina, Puerto Rico, USA

What on earth was that dear soul submitter thinking??? That’s more than a simple “finger jerk” goof.

The point is here to yes, search those family-tree-user-submitted online databases but consider carefully what you find. At best you’ll find really goofy stuff and at best you’ll find great clues. Not final answers without further research. But you all knew that right?