Tacoma-Pierce County Gen Society Newsflash

by Charles Hansen

Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society Monthly Meeting at LDS Family History Center, Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Tacoma Pierce GS

Summer break is over and it’s time for the monthly meetings of the Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical society to start again.  Hopefully this summer has allowed you to break down some of the brick walls, and discover new ancestors that you didn’t know about last spring.

Our September meeting will be an informal show and tell at the LDS Family History Center located on 12th and Pearl in Tacoma. Bring your stories or just come and listen to other members talk about what they have found recently.  Who know, maybe someone’s story will help you with your research.

Hope to see everyone there!

TPCGS monthly meetings are held September – May at Bates Technical College, South Campus, Building E, 2201 South 78th St., Tacoma. (September’s meeting is at the LDS Family History Center)  Meetings are from 6pm – 9pm.  In between the two talks, there will be a short business meeting along with a social time and light refreshments.  Find more information at www.tpcgs.org

 

Jefferson County Gen Society Newsflash

by Charles Hansen

 

PUTTING YOUR ANCESTORS IN THEIR PLACE…AND TIME:

TIMELINES, CHRONOLOGIES, AND CALCULATORS

Jefferson Co GS

 

To understand an ancestor’s life, genealogists use timelines, chronologies, and online calculators to summarize a life and identify interconnected historical events. These methods are not to be missed as they can show us how ancestors are interconnected with each other; how their lives are connected to history; identifies discrepancies and inconsistencies; reveals additional areas for further research; and will ease the work of writing a memoir, a family history, or an obituary.

 

Jefferson County Genealogical Society (JCGS) www.wajcgs.org has invited Professional Genealogist, Janet Camarata, to be their speaker during a full-day Seminar on Saturday, September 17, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Tri-Area Community Center, 10 W. Valley Rd, Chimacum. A donation of $10.00 for the full-day Seminar is suggested. Janet’s topic “Putting Your Ancestors in Their Place…and Time: Timelines, Chronologies and Calculators” will demonstrate how these methods worked to help understand a family’s mid-1800s migration from Kentucky to Missouri to Kansas. Members and friends of JCGS are invited to learn about Timelines and Chronologies in the morning, while in the afternoon Janet will present Calculating Our Ancestors’ Lives that compares the life of your ancestor with your own life using online tools for computing inflation, cousins, distance, weather, etc. Bring your own lunch; coffee/tea/water will be available. In addition Heritage Books will be on site offering for sale a large selection of genealogy books and other items for family history researchers.

 

Janet O’Conor Camarata tells her family’s stories using all the benefits of genealogy, history, the internet and the latest computing tools. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and is an experienced instructor.

 

JEFFERSON COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

PO Box 627,  Port Townsend, WA 98368

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

 

Serendipity Day

by Charles Hansen

** Tibetan Dress Customs

** Why You Might Not Find Your Ancestor’s Grave

** Egyptian Genealogy

** Was Your Ancestor a German Redemptioner?

 

From the book, Seven Years in Tibet, by Heinrich Harrer, who lived in Tibet in the 1940s and 1950s and wrote his famous book in 1982. And was turned into a great movie with Brad Pitt!  I learned so much about the Tibetan people from enjoying this book and could have copied out endless bits for you but will settle on this one….just in case you might have Tibetan ancestor:

Tibean

“(Now spring had come). The season of sandstorms was over, and the peach trees were in blossom. On the neighboring peaks, the last remnants of the snow shone blindly white in the warm sunshine. One day the summer season was officially declared to have begun, and the summer clothes might be worn. One had no right to leave off one’s furs when one wanted to. Every year, after considerations of the omens, a day was fixed on which the notables and monks put on summer dress. The weather might have been very warm or snowstorms might follow. That did not matter. Summer dress must be work from that date only. The same thing happens in autumn, when winter dress is officially resumed. I continually used to hear complaints that the changeover had come too coon or too late and that people were stifling hot or half frozen.”

Continue reading →

Heritage Quest Research Library Upcoming Classes

by Charles Hansen

hqrl_logo

Upcoming Classes for Heritage Quest Research Library

September – November 2016

Tuesday, September 13th 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. $15.00 “Capturing Our Stories: Using Artifacts and Photos as Writing Prompts,” with Janet O’Conor Camarata

Family artifacts and photographs each come with a story or a memory. Learn an easy way to use photos and artifacts to write short, simple essays, profiles, narratives or descriptions. Each story can be shared with family and friends, by email or print, individually or compiled into a collection later or as a digital story.

 

Wednesday, September 21th, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.  FREE “Beginning Family History Research,” with Dee Haviland Fournier

Join Dee in a FREE class and learn about Heritage Quest Research Library (HQRL). This class will help you in the search for your ancestors, by learning 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 as many times as you like.

  Continue reading →

Skagit Valley Genealogy Society Basic Genealogy Workshop

by Charles Hansen

Basic Genealogy Workshop

SKAGIT VALLEY GENEALOGY SOCIETY

LeftSidePicsTrans-1
The Burlington Public Library, has agreed to allow SVGS to use their facilities for a series of classes for people who want to learn how to get started in researching their personal family history.

Beginning this coming October, SVGS will present a workshop consisting of four 2-hr classes covering topics of  “How to begin?”,  “How to organize your materials?”,  “How to find information that has been hidden from you for years?” These workshops will not be just a series of lectures. Each presentation will be a hands on journey in researching your family history.  Emphasis will be on precise detective-like procedures to find the information needed to complete the puzzle of  “Who do you think you are?”  These classes will be held on a Saturday from 10 am to Noon on October 1, 8, 15 and 22.

If you are interested, simply click the PayPal link on the sidebar.  Or you can download and print a flyer describing the classes and a registration application. Complete the registration and mail it in with check or money order for the correct amount to the address listed below or you can drop it off just before class.

The cost is $50.00 for all 4 classes if registered by September 26th. Registration will be $60 after that date.  Walk-ins at the library are welcomed as long as seating is available. Individual lessons are  $15.00 for each class.

Workshop Flyer and Registration form
Workshop-File-Download

SVGS
Attn: Class Registration
P.O. Box 722
Mount Vernon, WA  98273-0722

Don’t miss this opportunity to begin your “family history research” in earnest.  You will learn a lot and you will meet many people who can help you on your family discovery  journey.   Anyone from Skagit county and surrounding areas are invited to attend.  The seating spaces for the library is limited, so don’t wait to register.

In order to register early and be put on our early bird list, we are asking you to voluntarily complete the following form. This information will be directly emailed to our registration coordinator.  Your early place on the list will be confirmed as long as you make payment prior to September 26th.  You will also have to complete the printed application with payment or the PayPal selection in the sidebar. Thank you for your purchase.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

First & Last Name (required)

Email Address (required)

Today’s Date?
REGISTRATION DETAILS

Fee Type:
Before Sept 26: $50 for all 4 classes After Sept 26: $60 for all 4 classes Individual: $15 per class

Class Choice:
Note: If you chose Individual: $15 per class, you need to select which date you want to attend.

10-1-2016  Introduction and Forms

10-8-2016 Sources, Primary and Secondary

10-15-2016 Organization, DNA, Software

10-22-2016 Evidence and Evaluation

Serendipity Day

by Charles Hansen

** Civil War Tombstones: A Quick Primer

** What Is A Source? Definition from James Tanner

** Local Little Societies Are A Goldmine!

** MyHeritage: Do Check It Out

 

 

 

Civil War Tombstones: A Quick Primer….. thank you to Dick Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and Amy Johnson Crow.

What is the difference between a Union and a Confederate tombstone? Amy Johnson Crow gives the answer in a short, but interesting, article in her blog at http://goo.gl/jGKMhc. (Copy and paste this address to access Amy’s good article.)

***************************************

 

What is a source? One dictionary definition is so vague as to be meaningless: “a place, person, or thing from which something comes or can be obtained.” See Google search for “define source.”

A source is the identity and location concerning where you got the information you are using. 

That isn’t very artfully said but genealogists are talking about sources being reliable or unreliable. A source is a source. If I got my information from a book in the local public library, the citation information about the book and the place where I found it constitute the “source” of my information. Any questions about the accuracy, reliability or whatever of the information have nothing whatsoever to do with the “source.” If I think your information is wrong or unreliable and you provide me with a source, I can go an check to see whether or not you are correct. Absent a source, I have to guess where you might have gotten the information and from my perspective, I have to assume, since you did not tell me where you got your information, that the information is unreliable and quite likely wrong. When people say a “source” is unreliable, what they really mean is that the information obtained from the source is unreliable.

James Tanner    Genealogy’s Star    5 Dec 2015

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I’ve beaten on this drum before but it bears repeating: There is gold in them there little historical societies and museums. Here is a peek through the window of the Coulee City Pioneer Museum………just look at all the potential “good stuff” on those shelves. Maybe you don’t need help in Coulee City……….but what about Waterville? Chelan? Hillyard? Uniontown? Gray’s Harbor? Friday Harbor? Here’s the rule:  If you need local help, go there! Virtually, of course, but in person is great too.

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I’ve been getting plenty of news, updates and information from MyHeritage and I thought I’d share some of it with you all. This website, and what is offered there, is just getting better and better and better.

 

MyHeritage

Way back in February 2016 MyHeritage announced Family Tree Builder 8.0. This new version of their popular FREE software allows you to sync your tree with MyHeritage and use all their wonderful features. Wow.

Back in April 2016 they announced Super Search.  This is a MyHeritage search engine that searches for matches to your family tree within their databases (of about 7,000,000,000 records…..that’s 7 billion!). Wow.

Also in April they announced Book Matching. This automatically finds matches for your people in your family tree on MyHeritage in their vast collection of some 450,000 digitized historical books. Wow.

In May they announced MyHeritage Community. This feature is a Q&A hub on the MyHeritage website created to help their 8,000,000 registered users to collaborate and help each other with any family history related question. Wow.

In June they announced Sun Charts. This is an innovative new family tree chart for visualizing descendants in your family tree.  It is as you would guess, names radiating out in all direction like the sun’s rays. Wow.

Then just a month ago in July, MyHeritage announced Pedigree Map. This is an innovative way to visualize your Family history by plotting events from your family tree (such as birth-marriage-death) along with photos on an interactive world map. Pedigree Map displays photos and events groups by country and location allowing your to easily filter it by person, family group, event and time period. Wow.

You certainly want to sign up for the MyHeritage blog! Click to blog.myheritage.com and (on the right) sign up with your email.  Did I say? It’s free!

MyHeritage offers many more wonderful and helpful things and is worth the subscription price ($160 annually). For more information email sales@myheritage.com, or call 1-877-432-3135.

Tell them my friend, Mark Olsen, sends you and ask for a discount??? My mother taught me that you can ask anything you want as long as you’re polite.

 

 

 

 

Jewish Genealogical Society September Seminar

by Charles Hansen

JewishGen

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State proudly presents:
Beyond Online: Beginning Courthouse Research
by Janice Lovelace, Ph.D.
DATE:  Monday, September 12, 2016
LDS Factoria Building
4200 124th Ave SE
Bellevue, WA  98006
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Come enjoy our extensive JGSWS Library and Family History Center’s genealogical resources!
Presentation starts promptly at 7:15 p.m.
FREE Wi-Fi and access to fee-based genealogical websites
FREE admission and refreshments

 

ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
Step away from the computer to search for records that may not be digitized, but are stored in county courthouses across the country. Find out what kinds of documents you can locate from land records to court proceedings, and how that information will help your research. Using many examples, including some from her Jewish great-grandparents, Janice shares her valuable knowledge of resources and methods for researching records in courthouses.

Janice

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER
Janice Lovelace, Ph.D., a psychologist who recently retired from full-time college teaching in social sciences and American Cultural Studies, has over 20 years of experience in genealogical research and academic studies (Genealogy and Family History certificate at University of Washington, Boston University Genealogical Research Certificate, and ProGen). Her writing and presentations include health, genetics, ethnic minority research and courthouse research.
Janice is actively involved with her local genealogical societies and is a member of Association of Professional Genealogists, African American Genealogical and Historical Society, the Ohio Genealogical Society and the National Genealogical Society.
Please visit our website at http://www.jgsws.org to join or to donate to JGSWS to help support the incredible speakers and workshops we bring to you, to view library listings, download handouts, or for more information. JGSWS is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. Membership dues and donations are tax deductible.
Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State
P.O. Box 53102 Bellevue WA 98015 www.jgsws.org

Janice Lovelace-JGSWS Flyer for 9-12-16

 

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

Seattle

Tip of the Week – LEGACY FAMILY TREE WEBINARS

Remember the article  in the last eNews! issue about using a RSS Reader such as  feedly  so you will never miss updates from your favorite bloggers, vendors, and more?  This week, we suggest adding the fantastic Legacy Family Tree Webinars to your  feedly  : familytreewebinars.com

Legacy Family Tree Webinars partners with popular presenters to produce live, interactive lectures and the majority are available to view for free for at least a week after the webinar has initially aired. Over 400 past lectures are also available on demand for just $9.95 a month or $49.95 a year.

Plus at present, in the Webinar Library: Free section, you’ll find 74 webinars available on demand, absolutely free, with no registration required: familytreewebinars.com/archived_webinars_free.php

In this free section, you’ll find the very popular “Family History for Kids” by Devin Ashby. It had 1,200 viewers at first broadcast and provides 90 minutes of inspirational suggestions to help you share the gift of family history with the young people in your life:
familytreewebinars.com/download.php?webinar_id=222

Legacy Family Tree Webinars  also offers an option to add webinar broadcast dates to your Google Calendar. Google Calendars allow for alerts to be sent to your computer or through email so you can be sure to be in front of your screen at the appropriate time to participate.

Why not check it out? Coming up September 15th, at 5 pm PDT is Judy G Russell (JD, CG, CGL), known as the Legal Genealogist, presenting “The Treasure Trove in Legislative Petitions” ; remember it will be free for a week.  For more info and registration –  familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=366

Seattle Genealogical Society News

by Charles Hansen

 

Seattle

LINDA FITZGERALD
 VOLUNTEER OF THE QUARTER

The Board of Directors has named Linda Fitzgerald Volunteer of the Quarter (July through September) for her invaluable work as a desk volunteer, and especially for the generosity of her time these past three months when it has been so badly needed.  While we often speak of the desk volunteer’s “work,” Linda describes it as “fun.” She loves doing it, is so gracious to library patrons, and has a desire to help researchers in any way she can.

Linda has served the Society at many levels, and always with the same wholehearted gusto and reliability.  She has been SGS President and Past President.  Her first Board position was Director of Operations, which requires a knowledge of the basic functions of the society and the space which houses it. After that, she was Director of Membership. These roles have given Linda an invaluable overview of SGS.

But her contribution to us goes beyond activities on the Board.  Linda Fitzgerald has, with outstanding success, organized and coordinated a number of our association’s Seminars, which are held in the Autumn and in the Spring. These are the high points of our year and require an enormous amount of time and effort.  With the same helpful spirit, she lends a hand to the more routine but still important tasks that keep SGS moving.  She is currently a member of a new group that is digitizing some of our archival and other collections; and she serves on the Library Committee where she organizes and repackages the various periodicals in our library.

All the while Linda continues her own research.  Her interest in genealogy, as she reports, began while looking at photographs that belonged to her paternal grandmother, who had written the first, middle, maiden and married names on the back of photographs of her mother.  But on her mother-in-law’s photos, there were only the first, middle and married name.  Linda knew her grandmother was intelligent, very well self-educated and very precise. Thus what her grandmother chose to write, Linda knew, was not accidental: there was a reason for it. Determining what that reason was turned out to be the first step that stirred her interest in genealogy.  Linda’s research has by now, inevitably, moved back in time. Her ancestral group in Ohio, she suspects, must have dropped out of the ether into the Ohio River, whence they swam to the shore,  It is, she says, the old story of “there were three brothers.”  She knows the Tennessee group in her family came through the Cumberland Gap, but she is still trying to figure out where they started.  So for Linda, as for so many of us, the search goes on.

SAVE THE DATE!

SGS FALL SEMINAR

October 15, 2016

“GENETIC GENEALOGY”

Presented by
Emily Aulicino,
author of Genetic Genealogy: The Basics and Beyond (2014)

Make plans now to attend the SGS Fall Seminar, “Genetic Genealogy,” on Saturday, October 15, 2016.  Learn how you can break through your genealogical brick walls, how you can prove or disprove your paper trail, and why thousands are turning to genetic genealogy to supplement their family history research.

Two tracks of presentations – advanced or beginner level!  Mix and match your choice of seminar presentations according to your interests or level of expertise in genetic genealogy. Advanced and beginner classes will be taught by Emily with the assistance of the SGS DNA Special Interest Group.

Speaker Emily Aulicino is the author of the recently published “Genetic Genealogy: The Basics and Beyond”  and is also the Regional Coordinator for the International Society of Genetic Genealogists.  Ms. Aulicino teaches genetic genealogy classes at the Genealogical Forum of Oregon (Portland) as well as weekly classes on writing childhood memories and family stories.

Seminar registration forms and online registration will be available in early September. The SGS 2016 Fall Seminar will be held at the Fairview Christian School, 844 NE 78th Street, Seattle, WA 98115.  Plenty of free parking!

FALL MEMBERSHIP MEETING DATE CHANGE

Since many SGS members are interested in attending the event  “Ancestry Day In Washington State”  in Tacoma on Saturday, September 24th, we have postponed the SGS Fall Membership Meeting until the following Saturday, October 1st, at 1 pm.   Watch for more information on our Fall Membership Meeting in the next issue of the eNews!

If you’d like more information on  “Ancestry Day In Washington State”, you can find their web page at :

eventbrite.com/e/ancestry-day-in-washington-state-tickets-26178375225

T. J. STILES to SPEAK in SEATTLE

September 8, 2016

The Puget Sound Civil War Roundtable, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, is pleased to announce that it will host author T. J. Stiles winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book “Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America”. Mr. Stiles will discuss the Civil War career of General George Armstrong Custer.

The event will be held on Thursday, September 8, 2016 at the China Harbor Restaurant located at 2040 Westlake Avenue North in Seattle.   The program begins at 6 p.m. with social hour, dinner will be served at 7 p.m. and, Mr. Stiles’ presentation at 8 p.m.

Dinner is $21.00 and the presentation only is $5.00.  Reservations can be made at : pscwrt.org/pscwrt/reservations.php
Among his many accomplishments, awards and honors, T. J. Stiles won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2009 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

SGS CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Unless otherwise indicated all programs will be at the SGS Library, 6200 Sand Point Way NE.  Please check the SGS Web Site for additions, changes, and corrections.  Programs may be canceled or postponed due to inclement weather.   The SGS Library will be closed Labor Day Weekend, September 3rd and 4th.  ** Please note, the date for the Fall Membership Meeting has been changed.

SEPTEMBER

Tuesday, September 6, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm, Technology Tuesday, Hosted by Lisa Chan, SGS Director of Technology, Bring your laptop or mobile device, visit with other members and learn from each other while working on your family history. Discuss current projects, hardware, software, organizing data, and technology trends in genealogy.

Sunday, September 11,  1:30 pm – 3:30pm, Scandinavian SIG, at this meeting leader, Karen Knudson, will talk about her trip to Norway & Sweden; followed by discussion and Q&A.

Tuesday, September 13, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm, Technology Tuesday, Hosted by Lisa Chan, SGS Director of Technology

Saturday, September 17, 10:15 am – 12:15 pm, Irish Interest Group, Leader: Jean A. Roth

Saturday, September 17,  1:00 pm – 3:00 pm,  German Interest Group, Leader: Jean A. Roth

Tuesday, September 20, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm, Technology Tuesday, Hosted by Lisa Chan, SGS Director of Technology

Tuesday, September 27, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm, Technology Tuesday, Hosted by Lisa Chan, SGS Director of Technology

OCTOBER

Saturday, October 1, 10:15 am-12:15 pm, Canadian Interest Group, Leader: David Robert

Saturday, October 1,  1:00 pm – 2:30 pm,  Fall Membership Meeting **

Tuesday, October 4, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm, Technology Tuesday, Hosted by Lisa Chan, SGS Director of Technology

Sunday,   October 9,  1:30 pm – 3:30 pm, Scandinavian SIG, with leader, Karen Knudson

Tuesday, October 11, 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm, Technology Tuesday, Hosted by Lisa Chan, SGS Director of Technology

SAVE THE DATES

 
September 23rd-25th
 The Kelowna & District Genealogical Society’s  (KDGS)
“Harvest Your Family Tree”  Conference 2016
 Kelowna, BC, Canada
More info and registration at: kdgsconference2016.blogspot.ca
SGS member Mary Kircher Roddy is also speaking at this conference.

September 23rd-24th
“Ancestry Days in Washington State”
Greater Tacoma Convention Center
 1500 Broadway
 Tacoma, WA 98402

The Office of the Secretary of State and the Washington State Historical Society are partnering with Ancestry to bring a very special genealogical event to the Pacific Northwest. Ancestry Day in Washington will be held in Tacoma on Saturday, September 24, and is expected to attract more than 1,000 family historians. Whether you are a new subscriber to Ancestry, an experienced genealogist, or just interested in finding out what genealogy is all about, this is the event for you!  Activities on September 23 will be held at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma and will include access to the museum and special presentations on outstanding genealogical resources in Washington.  On Saturday, September 24, Ancestry will take center stage at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center. They will be bringing their expertise, engaging speakers, door prizes, and Ancestry DNA kits to purchase. There also will be vendors from around the state sharing their products and ideas.
Registration opens in late July.  Stay tuned for more information.  For more details, see:
wasgs.org/blog/2016/07/07/ancestry-day-coming-soon/

September 24th, 10am – 12pm
 “Save Your Photos Day”,
Mercer Island Community Center,
 8236 SE 24th Street,
 Mercer Island, WA

“Save Your Photos Day” is a free annual event that offers resources for what you can do to safeguard your memories before disasters or accidents occur. Local photo organizers and scan/print experts will join offer their expertise about preserving your photo memories. For more information email: molly@seattlephotoorganizing.com or visit the website:  saveyourphotos.org

October 15th
SGS Fall Seminar,
“Genetic Genealogy”,
Fairview Christian School,
 844 NE 78th Street,
 Seattle, WA 98115

Featuring author Emily Aulicino, well-known expert on DNA and genealogy.