THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Wednesday Evening E-News

by Charles Hansen

THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Wednesday Evening E-News 24 May 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!

Also, if you missed your free copy of our monthly Insider for May 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 our new website (still gfo.org).

Curious about the status of your GFO Membership?? We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!

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Have You Saved Your Seat for the June 4th Workshop?

REGISTER for the CENSUS WORKSHOP

Don’t miss GFO’s upcoming Half-Day Workshop in just a couple weekends.
A full morning of learning the full scope of what you can glean from census records!
That’s right, folks. We’re Digging Deeper into Census Records!!
WHERE: GFO Library (map)
WHEN: Sunday, June 4th, 9:30am – noon
WHO’s THAT NOW?? Speaker Kate Eakman

Join speaker Kate Eakman for this amazing chance to learn all about “DIGGING DEEPER INTO ENGLAND, IRELAND, SCOTLAND, & THE U.S. CENSUS RECORDS”.

Tiny turtle eggs not included. Ahhhhh!!!!

Continue reading →

Olympia Genealogical Society June meeting

by Charles Hansen

Jerri McCoy will discuss “Reviewing Your Genealogical Research for Missed Clues” at the Olympia Genealogical Society June meeting. Join us on Thursday, June 8 at 7 pm at Thurston County Courthouse, Building 1, Room 152. 360-451-1059

Thank-you,  JOYCE OGDEN, publicity

=======================================================================                                                                  Joyce T. Ogden             jtogden@comcast.net

Northeast Washington Genealogical Society Fall Seminar

by Charles Hansen

NeWGS 2017 Fall Seminar

A Day with Dollarhide
Saturday – September 16, 2017
To be held at the Ambulance Shack
      at the north end of Colville (just east of the Roundabout)
Saturday, September 16th the Northeast Washington Genealogical Society will be holding their 36th annual Fall Seminar at the “Ambulance Shack” located at the North Roundabout in Colville.
The featured presenter will be William Dollarhide; renowned genealogy lecturer and author. He has been in pursuit of his family origins since 1971 and involved professionally with genealogy since 1980. He has written over 120 published magazine articles relating to genealogical research; has developed several software systems for genealogy; and he is the author of over 30 books, including Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920, one of the best-selling genealogy books of all time
Topics for our workshop include:
  American Migration Routes, 1750-1800

 Using Deeds to Trace the Trails of Your Ancestors

 You Know About Census Records But What About Census Substitutes?

 Civil War Genealogy

 

Mr. Dollarhides numerous books will be available for purchase during breaks and lunch.

Mark your calendars now! You don’t want to miss this one. In fact, why not bring a friend? Remember you don’t have to be a member to attend.
Registration is at 8:30 a.m. with the program beginning at 9:00 a.m.  Lunch is included. The Registration Form is attached below. Please contact Karen Struve at 509-690-8380 should you have questions.
Download: NeWGS Fall Seminar Registration Form

Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society June Meeting

by Charles Hansen

 

If you are like me, you may never have heard the term Melungeon before now.  According to Wikipedia, Melungeons are a people from the Cumberland Gap Area of East Tennessee, Eastern Kentucky and Southwest Virginia. They are of mixed European, African and Native American ancestry.  At our next Meeting, June 13th at 1pm, Jim Johnson, President of the Heritage Quest Genealogical Library in Sumner, will be speaking on the topic of Melungeons.  The meeting will be held at the Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society Library and is free to attend.  Join us in learning about these unique people.

 

 

Pam Liebelt

Publicity Chair

Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society

 

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society June Meeting

by Charles Hansen


Army Medicine during the American Civil War 1861-1865
Saturday, June 3
Army Medicine during the American Civil War 1861-1865  (EWGS Meetings)
12:30 pm to 3:00 pm
Spokane Public Library Auditorium, Downtown Spokane
Presenter: Mike Inmann

Mike Inman is a retired Firefighter living in Spokane with his wife MJ and has been reenacting for 26 years.  He does reenacting and living history including the frontier army of the 1880’s focusing on Forts Sherman and Spokane as well as portraying a surgeon 1861-1865 with the Washington Civil War Association.  Mike has an extensive library for research to questions and some details of ancestors who fought in the Civil War.  Mike also has a vast array of equipment including original medical instruments that he displays and allows people to handle so they can get a hands on experience, for example, of what an actual Civil War period amputation saw feels like.  He not only reenacts throughout the Pacific Northwest but has attended many Civil War reenactments back east as well as participated in filming for Civil War oriented movies.  Mike strives to educate or as he likes to say, “de-Hollywood the American Civil War” as well as entertain through both a presentation and a question and answer period.

The program is designed to give both military and civilian medical history involving the armies of the Union and Confederacy.  But the presentation can go in any direction the audience wants such as drug use, medical procedures, nursing activity, field hospital organization, statistics, etc.

Go to “Download: Meeting Handout.” to obtain the presenter’s handout.

Cookies & Social Time: 12:30 PM.  Meeting starts at 1:00 PM
Download: Meeting Handout.

Tuesday Trivia

by Charles Hansen

Surnames; we all chase family surnames, right? And many of our lineage-surnames go back into Merry Old England, right?

“Surnames were brought into England by the Normans. About the year of our Lord 1000 surnames began to be taken up in France…but not in England until about the time of the Conquest under King Edward the Confessor (ruled 1042-1066). Surnames were not settled among the common people until about the time of King Edward III (ruled 1327-1377). It is now settled that all surnames fall into one of four classes: (1) patronymics, (2) place names, (3) occupations, and (4) nicknames. In summary, it was towards the end of the 13th century in England when surnames were generally adopted. Do keep that in mind with your early-early English genealogy.

(Sons of the Conqueror: Descendants of Norman Ancestry,”  by L.G. Pine, 1973.)

Monday’s Mystery

by Charles Hansen

What is the place (in Washington, of course) fitting this description:  “Shaped like a flat topped molar, the (     ) plateau formed as an island in the sea. Then slowly rock beds to the south lifted and leveled off, connecting it with the coast range to the south. Now it was peninsular with ocean surging against its western side, a deep water trough ploughing before it to the north, and a long water arm hugging its east side.”

And a wonderful chocolate WSGS cupcake to Patty Olsen for being the first to answer “what are hops and where are they grown?”  She knew that hops are used in beer making and 75% of the hop crop is grown in the Yakima Valley. (There is even a Hop Museum in Toppenish.)

Patty, maybe you’d share your cupcake with Sonji, Gary, Kathleen Phyillis, Anne and Barbara for they all submitted correct answers….but after yours.

Eastside Genealogical Society German Interest Group June Meeting

by Charles Hansen

The German Interest Group of The Eastside Genealogical Society (EGS) will meet on Friday, June 2, 2017, from 1 to 3 pm in the Relief Society Room of the LDS Church at 10675 NE 20thSt, Bellevue, WA 98004 with doors opening at 12:45 pm for networking. Visitors are always welcome at our meetings.

 

Topic:  “Using WIKIs in Germanic Genealogical Research”  – Come learn what is a WIKI, how WIKIs can help your research and see demos of Germanic research completed on various WIKI sites.  I was surprised by what I learned and you may be, too.

 

Presenter:  Dorothy Pretare started collecting family history in 1995 and joined EGS in 2000.  She has been their Publicity Chairperson since 2007 and is an active member in three of their SIGs, including the leader of the German Interest Group.   Dorothy is also a member of South King County Genealogical Society, Seattle Genealogical Society DNA Group, Germanic Genealogy Society in MN and Polish Genealogical Society of MN.  In 2008, she visited her ancestral villages in old East Germany and present day Poland.

 

For more information, kindly visit our website at https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com/  .

 

Spotlight on Skagit Valley Gen Society

by Charles Hansen

On April 8, 2017, I had the honor of giving a “SKGS for 30 Years” talk to the Skagit Valley Gen Society group to mark their 30th anniversary. The board gathered in front of a lovely cake:  (L to R) Len Torset, Don Royal, Dottie Chandler, Carol Nersten, Diane Partington, Candace Stone, Hazel Rasar and John Hays (president). Marge Wilson was missing.  Several of the founding members from that day back in 1987 are still members!

The Society’s scrapbooks (kept by Don Royal) were out for viewing and a certificate of appreciation was given by President John Hayes to Diane Partington for all her service and help.

Barb Johnson proudly showed me around their genealogical collection, housed in the Burlington Public Library. (Note her “I Seek Dead People” t-shirt.)

Barb Johnson and Jin Justice pointed out to me their bulletin board display there in the Burlington Library:

Our new WSGS Regional Rep for the Region 1-North area is Nancy Bonafede, a member of SKGS. This is a great little group!

Serendipity Friday

by Charles Hansen

 

*** I saw the Geico gecko…. and he spoke nary a word.

*** Spanish woman gives birth at age 62…WOW.

*** Have you read a real/paper book lately?

*** Don’t we love a happy-ending adoption story?

 

This is serendipty trivia for sure…… while in Maui last January, I spotted the Geico gecko basking in the sunshine on a rock. He was not upright; he was not big-shiny eyed; he was not looking at nor speaking to me; he was not a very good Geico advertisement. And he was not driving a car!!

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26 Oct 2016, Madrid, Spain:  A 62-year-old woman gave birth to a healthy girl and encourages women in their later years to imitate her if they want to. Sorry, NO WAY would I want to……how about you??? Having a teenager to deal with when you’re in your 80s??? Yikes.

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2016, AP story in my paper:  Adult readers in the U.S. still strongly favor paper over e-books according to a new research study….. around 65% of those surveyed had read a paper book over the past year compared to only 28% who had read an e-book. Where you figure into these figures? How many book-books do you read in a year? How many e-books?

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19 Dec 2016:  “A mother’s search for a Christmas gift for her adopted daughter took an unexpected twist. Jennifer Doering, of Wausaw, Wisconsin, wanted to give her 10-year-old daughter, Audrey, a copy of her “Finding Aid.” That’s the advertisement that under Chinese law is published after a child is “found” and placed in an orphanage as an infant. So to shorten a lovely long story, Jennifer scoured the records and contacted international help agencies and learned that Audrey had a twin! Within days, they found Gracie (adopted by a family in Richland, Wisconsin), and the two sisters were meeting and talking nearly every day through FaceTime “in a cloud of tears and haven’t stopped talking in a week.” Don’t we all wish them a long, happy and prosperous life?!?!