Diane Huckabay
Diane Huckabay of Ellensburg has been appointed the WSGS Education and Outreach Chair by President Virginia Majewski. Diane, a past president of the Kittitas County Genealogical Society, will assist and support Regional Representatives and local societies in promoting genealogy in Washington State.
Diane will be featured in a future “Meet the Board” story. Welcome to the Board, Diane!
*** NWGC….. Save the Date! Are you going?
*** Washington Rural Heritage…. do you know about this?
*** King County Court Cases Index, 1881-1980 Available
*** “Tons of Soil Go Into Sea”
“Where does your story begin?” That is the 2017 theme for the Northwest Genealogy Conference, sponsored by the Stillaguamish Valley Gen Society next 16-19 August in Arlington. Click to www.stillygen.org for more information. This is a fabulous event and worth your time, money and effort to attend. WSGS will have a large presence at this conference. Get registered and stay tuned!
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“Washington Rural Heritage provides access to digitized historic primary sources documenting the early culture, industry, and community life of Washington State. The collection is an ongoing project of small, rural libraries and partnering cultural institutions, guided by an initiative of the Washington State Library.” So states the introduction to their website, www.washingtonruralheriage.org. The website tells us that (as of when I printed this out a while ago) there were over 102 participating institutions and 288 privately held collections throughout the state. This project spotlights little rural places like the Kettle Falls Public Library, Lopez Island Historical Society, Cathlament Public Library and the Battle Days Museum. Quoting again from the website, “The physical collections are housed locally by owning institutions around the state, while the digital collections are housed by the Washington State Library. Participating institutions select, scan, and describe items which tell the stories of their communities.” If your Washington ancestor lived in a small (rural) place, do check this out.
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For a $5 fee, The Seattle Genealogical Society will search for your ancestor’s name in the index they compiled to the King County Court Cases for the years 1881-1980. SGS compiled this information from a card file of 100 boxes and contains over 1.7 million entries encompassing “virtually every case” in the following categories: Marriage disolutions and divorces; wills and other probate actions; changes of name; guardianships; community property agreements; bankruptcies and commitments. To take advantage of this opportunity, click to www.seattlegenealogicalsociety.org and follow directions to submit a query from the KC31 database. If your ancestor’s name is found in the index, for an additional fee to the King County Court Clerk will get you a copy of the entire file.
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From The Washington Farmer, January 19, 1933, article by W.A. Rockie, Superintendent, Northwest Soil Erosion Station, Pullman: “How many of you have been at Palouse Falls in Adams county, Wash, in the springtime? Once seen, one cannot forget it. In the early spring months the snow is melting from the Palouse region and the water flowing down there streams at this season is not clear, but a chocolate brown in color.” The article is a long one and I shall glean from the rest of it: “This flood of muddy water has been gathered from thousands of Palouse farms…… by measurements a typical Palouse slope land for winter wheat lost about 30 tons of soil per acre last year….the Palouse River drains about 3600 square miles and so an estimated 35,000,000 tons of soil from highly productive land is lost every year…..These lands are one of the mos valuable assets of the Pacific Northwest but they cannot continue to produce abundantly as they do now unless they are farmed differently than is being done today.” Isn’t it good that those farming practices did change!
THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Wednesday Evening E-News 11 January 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 January 2017, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy at HERE. NOTE: The Insider issues are now located under the “Learn” –> “Our Publications” menu at our new website (still gfo.org).
Don’t forget that January’s GenTalk is around the corner!! In just a couple Saturday’s actually!
WHEN Jan 21, 2017 at 2 pm
WHERE: the GFO Library
WHAT Lone Fir Cemetery
As always this event is free and open to the public, so be sure to let your friends know soon!!
The Lone Fir Cemetery is a rich source of genealogical and historical information about our Portland-area pioneers. Their stories are inspiring, heroic, despicable, heartbreaking, and above all, interesting.
Click HERE for more information.
The Washington State Genealogical Society wants to recognize your good work! We know your society has great members doing great work — and we’d like to celebrate that. Below are the deadlines (and website links) for our recognition awards and special programs.
For more information about the WSGS recognition awards, contact Roxanne Lowe at roxanne@thekeeffes.com.
Do you know who’s running the show at the Washington State Genealogical Society? Did you know we have an Executive Committee, six standing committee chairs and three appointed non-elected officers? Who are all these people? In the coming months, we’ll introduce them to you, so you can say “hi” the next time you see them.
Virginia Forney Majewski
In today’s “Meet the Board” series, we’re introducing you to Virginia Majewski from Sequim. Virginia, more familiarly known to us as Ginny, is WSGS’s new President, having been elected last month. Her dedication to WSGS is longstanding as she has previously served as WSGS’s Secretary, Region 3 Representative and Vice President.
Virginia Ann was born in Yakima to Wesley Roy and Nancy Jane (Grabill) Forney. She is a proud 4th generation Washingtonian and descendant of a Washington State Pioneer family. Ginny’s name was handed down through her mother’s family – great grandmother, great aunts and aunts – even though Ginny’s dad maintains he picked out her name.
Ginny is a graduate of Quincy High School in Quincy, Washington (Grant County) and Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Spokane. She is married to her husband of 30 years, Moe. She is the mother of four grown children and, most importantly, grandmother of eight, ages 17-1. She retired from her career of 42 years as an Obstetrical Nurse in 2013.
Ginny has been involved in genealogy for more than 20 years. It all started with a couple of boxes of “junk” from her grandparent’s estate. She was bitten by the genealogy bug and it became one of her life’s passions. Her maternal and paternal lines go back to exiled Mennonites in Switzerland. In 2000, she took a three-week genealogical tour of Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands – following the path of her exiled ancestors.
Proud 4th generation Washingtonian
Virginia holds a Certification in Advanced Genealogical Studies in both American Records and Methodology from the National Institute of Genealogical Studies in Toronto, Canada. Currently, she is the President of Clallam County Genealogical Society. She is also a member of the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society, Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, Ohio Genealogical Society, New York Genealogical Society and Polish Genealogical Society.
When asked what she finds most interesting about genealogy, Ginny muses about a bigamist, unknown illegitimate cousins, a civil war hero and many more interesting characters!
A few more interesting tidbits about Ginny:
Now you know a little more about one of the WSGS Board members. The next time you see Ginny, say hello and thank her for her service to the WSGS.
Since 2003, the Washington State Genealogical Society has recognized almost 500 outstanding volunteers and teams, nominated by their local society or genealogical organization for their service and dedication. These volunteers are the backbone of their local society, giving their time and expertise, to the organization and the field of genealogy. In the coming months, you will be introduced to each of the 2016 award recipients and learn why they received the 2016 WSGS Outstanding Volunteer and Team Award.
Barbara Jeanne Gorham Johnson
Today we’re introducing Barbara Jeanne Gorham Johnson of Sedro Woolley, Washington, who was nominated by the Skagit Valley Genealogical Society (SVGS). She was recognized for the organizational skills she willingly exhibits and shares at the local society.
Ms. Johnson is an active member of the SVGS known for her teaching expertise, most recently in the emerging, complex field of genealogical DNA. She has shared her DNA interest at society programs and as a lecturer at other seminars. She has served as SVGS vice president and secretary, spending eight years on the board of directors. In addition, she has been an active member of the seminar planning committee for several years, including being chair of the successful 2015 event.
Ms. Johnson is a true example of what an outstanding volunteer is, and richly deserved being a recipient of a 2016 WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award.
For more information on the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award program, visit the Recognition page of the WSGS website or contact Roxanne Lowe, Recognition Chair, at Roxanne@thekeeffes.com.
Puget Sound Genealogical Society
Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
Sylvan Way Library, 1301 Sylvan Way, Bremerton, WA 98310
“Difficult Women: How Women’s Name Changes Confound Our Research”
Free program: Janet Camarata will teach us strategies and techniques, using case studies, to correctly identify our difficult to find and understand female ancestors. Janet’s talk precedes the monthly meeting of the Puget Sound Genealogical Society. Visitors are welcome to attend the lecture and stay for the business meeting. For more information call Genealogy Center during library hours: 360 475-9172.
January 2017
As a courtesy, please do not wear perfume or heavy cologne to class.
Due to the possibility of inclement weather, please include your phone number when making a reservation.
Tuesday, January 17th 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. $15.00
Surname Distribution Maps with Janet O’Conor Camarata
Though this class will focus on the Germanic area of Europe, where our family surnames appear, these maps are available for other countries as well. Surname maps are created from population lists, e.g. censuses, electoral rolls, taxation records and telephone directories. The maps “graphically display locations where surnames occurred at different periods.” The location can be a starting point for research in the birth country.
Saturday, January 21st 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. $15.00
Adoption – Secrets Revealed with Dee Haviland Fournier
Adoption records are often marked closed or sealed. Yet, they may contain the secret to your identity. Do you want to find your birth parents or help someone find theirs? Are you a birth parent looking for your child? Are you doing family history and find an adoption in your family? This class will help you get started.
Saturday, January 28th 1:00 –3:00 FREE
This is an all new class for 2017.
“Beginning Family History Research,”
with Dee Haviland Fournier
Join Dee in a FREE class and learn how to begin the search for your family history. You will learn how to find and use birth, marriage, and death records, along with a discussion on how to use census records to further your research and some genealogy hints. Everyone is welcome and you may attend this class as many times as you like.
Tuesday, January 31st 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. $15.00
The ABC’s OF DNA with Janet O’Conor Camarata
What is DNA? What types of DNA tests are used for genealogy? What are the strengths and weaknesses of various companies? How do I know which test to take? If you have asked yourself these questions, then this presentation is for you. This class is designed to answer questions using a non-technical genealogy-oriented approach.
*3 ways to sign-up:*
1. In person at HQRL, 1007 S. Main St., Sumner, WA. The sign-up notebook is at the Front Desk.
2. E-mail HQRLinfo@gmail.com provide name, telephone number and your HQRL membership number, if you are a member.
3. Telephone HQRL at 253-863-1806 between 10:00 am – 4 pm, Monday
through Saturday. Provide you name, telephone number and HQRL membership number, if you are a member.
Do you know the difference between the two words
QUERY and QUESTION?
They are both nouns and according to Grandma Google, they are pretty much synonymous. Think of a query as a question of inquiry and a question as a sentence asking for information. Does that help? Maybe?
Why do I ask that today? Well, TA-DA!
As of today, the WSGS blog will gladly accept and happily post (for all to see!) YOUR queries (or your questions?) pertaining to your Pacific Northwest ancestry.
Maybe your query will be like this: “John Peter Oswald died in the 1940s in the Seattle area but I cannot find his cemetery location….help?” Or even this: “My father served at Fairchild Air Force Base in the 1950s…could anyone in the area get on base to take a photo of the house where they lived?” Or this: “Are there any records for Point Roberts, Washington, which is accessible only through Canada?”
So whether you have a query or a question about any aspect of your Pacific Northwest ancestry, send them my way! Donna243@gmail.com (P.S. We may set up a specific email for this; stay tuned.)
Saturday – 21 Jan 2017
ALICE WHITMAN CHAPTER
DAR is “Historic Preservation – Education – Patriotism”
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 1115 13th St, Clarkston WA
Potluck at 12:00 Noon — Please bring salad or dessert
Meeting begins at 1 p.m
More information on January and February meetings
20170121 – AWC DAR – Jan 2017 mtg announcement final