Big Kudu for Washington from Genealogy’s Star James Tanner

In case you missed this…………………

Posted: 21 Nov 2015 06:24 AM PST

There is no real second place in the list of the genealogically valuable U.S. state websites. The Washington State Digital Archives wins hands down, no contest. Unfortunately, although there are some other notable collections, most of the states have a miserable level of digital offerings. Currently, the State of Washington has preserved 165,412,383 records and made 64,505,776 records available as of November, 2015. They have also added 2,638,172 records in the past month. At the other end of the spectrum, most of the states make no attempt to systematically digitize their records and what they have preserved online is usually in a “Memory Project.”

Jefferson County Gen Society News Flash

Dec21 by Charles Hansen

images

JEFFERSON COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

PO Box 627

Port Townsend, WA 98368

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

FOR RELEASE

INTERESTED IN GENEALOGY? START THE NEW YEAR OFF RIGHT!

Jefferson County Genealogical Society (JCGS) invites the public to a special three-fold Seminar comprised of two professional one-and-a-half hour presentations, and a genealogy publications sale on Saturday, January 16, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Tri-Area Community Center located across the street from the Chimicum School campus, Bring your own lunch and $10 donation.

Master genealogist, Mary Kathryn Kozy, will make the two presentations. Her topics will cover: “Family Tree” and “Wiki and Unique Books to Peruse” all of which are found on the important, free, genealogy website Family Search. Mary Kathryn has been doing her own genealogy for over 35 years. That work has taken her geographically from the Midwest to the Deep South and to both Western and Eastern Europe. Mary Kathryn has served in multiple positions in several Seattle area genealogical societies as well as on the state level. She is the past-president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State and has completed her second Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology and Systems.

Mary KKozy

In addition, Heritage Quest booksellers will have a large display of books for genealogists that are helpful no matter what level of expertise you have. More information is available on <wajcgs.org>

Serendipity: A Genealogist’s Christmas Eve

Dec18 by Charles Hansen

Genealogist’s Christmas Eve

‘Twas the night before Christmas
When all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even my spouse.

The dining room table with clutter was spread
With pedigree charts and with letters which said…
“Too bad about the data for which you wrote;
Sank in a storm on an ill-fated boat.”

Stacks of old copies of wills and such
Were proof that my work had become too much.
Our children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.

And I at my table was ready to drop
From work on my album with photos to crop.
Christmas was here, and such was my lot
That presents and goodies and toys I’d forgot.

Had I not been busy with grandparents’ wills,
I’d not have forgotten to shop for such thrills,
While others bought gifts to bring Christmas cheers,
I’d spent time researching those birth dates and years.

While I was thus musing about my sad plight,
A strange noise on the lawn gave me such a great fright.
Away to the window I flew in a flash,
Tore open the drapes and yanked up the sash.

When what with my wondering eyes should appear,
But an overstuffed sleigh and eight small reindeer.
Up to the house top the reindeer they flew,
With a sleigh full of toys and ‘ole Santa Claus, too.

And then in a twinkle, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of thirty-two hoofs.
As I drew in my head, and bumped it on the sash,
Down the cold chimney fell Santa–KER-RASH!

“Dear” Santa had come from the roof in a wreck,
And tracked soot on the carpet, (I could wring his short neck!)
Spotting my face, good ‘ole Santa could see
I had no Christmas spirit you’d have to agree.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work
And filled all the stockings, (I felt like a jerk).
Here was Santa, who’d brought us such gladness and joy:
When I’d been too busy for even one toy.

He spied my research on the table all spread
“A genealogist!” He cried! (My face was all red!)
“Tonight I’ve met many like you,” Santa grinned,
As he pulled from his sack a large book he had penned.

I gazed with amusement–the cover it read
Genealogy Lines for Which You Have Plead.
“I know what it’s like as a genealogy bug.”
He said as he gave me a great Santa hug.

“While the elves make the sleighful of toys I now carry,
I do some research in the North Pole Library!
A special treat I am thus able to bring,
To genealogy folk who can’t find a thing.”

“Now off you go to your bed for a rest,
I’ll clean up the house from this genealogy mess.”
As I climbed up the stairs full of gladness and glee,
I looked back at Santa who’d brought much to me.

While settling in bed, I heard Santa’s clear whistle,
To his team, which then rose like the down of a thistle.
And I heard him exclaim as he flew out of sight,
“Family history is Fun! Merry Christmas! Goodnight!”

–Author Unknown

— The earliest attribution found for this particular poem is for Gibbs Publishing House of Toledo, Ohio, which published it as a Christmas Card. Some Web sites attribute the poem to Dora Mills c. 2001, but it has been around since at least 1988. Dora Mills does appear to have written at least one poem based on Clement Moore’s poem, titled A Christmas Incident which appeared in the Ash Tree Echo in January 1983.

Genealogical Forum of Oregon Wednesday News

Dec17 by Charles Hansen

GenForum

THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM OF OREGON’S

Wednesday Evening E-News

16 December 2015

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 go to www.gfo.org/calendar.htm.

Also, if you missed your free copy of last month’s newletter, The Insider, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy at http://www.gfo.org/insider/15-Nov.pdf. Look for the January 2016 Insider coming soon! Check on our website for the link on our Newsletter page.

Annual Appeal – End of the Year Donations

Don’t forget that as a 503(c)(3) non-profit organization, all gifts, devices and contributions made toward the GFO are tax deductible!
Consider giving before the end of the year for a tax break on your 2015 filing.

Click here for a link to our Annual Appeal letter for more information. Or simply donate via your Paypay account by sending any amount to payments@gfo.org.

Holiday Hours – What are you still doing here? Go celebrate the season!

Please remember to be safe out there, and happy holidays to all from the GFO!

The Library will be close at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 23rd, and from 1 p.m. on Thursday, December 24th, until 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, 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 from 1 p.m. on Thursday, December 31st, until 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, January 2nd.

January Seminar – “Discover Your House History”

HouseHistory

Come hear our very own Connie Lenzen, author, researcher and board-certified genealogist, teach about the histories of houses.

Have you ever wondered who lived in your home or building before you? Have you ever wondered when your house was built, and maybe WHY?? Connie will lead us through the process of researching the history of your house. While her examples will begin from Multomah and Clackamas County, the principles are applicable to any location you might be curious about.

So register early, and be quick about it, as this session is limited to 50 attendees! Click here for a registration form.

What’s Happening this Week at the GFO?

Hunting and Gathering – Saturday, December 19th, 9:30am – 11am

Join us for a monthly support group where we help each other find information about a family line. We will share expertise about resources and search strategies. We will learn to do a reasonably exhaustive search and develop research plans. The focus will shift depending on the needs of the group. Free to members. Visitors may request a guest pass at education@gfo.org.

Library Work Party – Sunday, December 20th and 27th, 9am – noon

There’s another work party at the GFO library today for those of you who can come. There’s lots to do and we’d love to have your help. Doors open at 9 and work usually wraps up around noon. Some people come for just an hour or so and you’re welcome to do the same. Any time you can share is valuable. Hope to see you there.

Don’t forget: GFO Book Group to meet Saturday, January 9th, at 11:45am – Author Harold Hinds will lead the discussion about his book Crafting a Personal Family History. A Guide Plus a Case Study: Three Generations of the Hinds Family in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. There are 3 copies of the book available at the library. Please call the front desk (503-963-1932) to ask if any are still available, as they’re goin’ fast!

Announcement, announcement – Class hours have been changed!
Don’t let the printed version of the January Insider fool you. We’re shaking a couple things up.

Firstly, some sad news. Our “Photoshop Elements” class will be MIA in January, but we’ll keep you posted on the February schedule.

Secondly, some awesome news! For lovers of our “Learn & Chat” sessions with Connie Lenzen, these will now be held the same days as our “DNA Q&A” classes with Lisa McCullough. So come spend the day, we dare you! Start with Connie’s class from 10 a.m. to noon, and move right into Lisa’s class from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., but don’t forget to pop on upstairs for a snack in between.

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

Dec16 by Charles Hansen

Seattle

TIP OF THE WEEK – Improve Your Google Search Results

Presented below are a couple lesser known operators that will benefit the genealogist doing Google searches. Search operators are words that can be added to searches to help narrow down the results. You can use search operators and other punctuation to get more specific results from your Google search.

Many of us already know to use quotes around two or more words in order to search for that exact phrase, the same exact words in the same exact order. A search for Philander Smith will return millions of hits; pages that contain the word Philander and/or the word Smith.

Not what we were expecting, right? So try “Philander Smith” in quotes; this will return 237,000 hits. Closer, but there is still room for improvement.

Did you know when you use a dash before a word, it excludes sites with that info from your results? In our example try “Philander Smith” -college ; this returns 9,970 hits; gone are the pages for Philander Smith College because we are looking for people named Philander Smith, not information about the college.

Another thing to consider when searching for genealogy data is often names are stored last name, first name. Try searching “Smith, Philander” instead of “Philander Smith” .

One more trick; did you know there is syntax for specifying a date range? It’s year two dots year. In our example let’s add the date range 1820 through 1825. “Smith, Philander” or “Philander Smith” 1820..1825 –college

To recap, when searching for genealogical data remember : •Formatting names as last name comma first name might be beneficial
•Use of the year range function and the minus sign function helps exclude inconsequential data
•In most searches, using quotes around your phrase will get you better results

Next time we’ll explore using “*” (the wild card function) along with something I just learned about “site:” (the site operator).

Seattle Genealogical Society News

Dec16 by Charles Hansen

Seattle

UPDATE ON THE SGS KING COUNTY COURT CASES INDEX

The SGS King County Court Cases Index, 1881-1980 (KC3I for short) is a wonderful database of King County court cases spanning one hundred years. This index includes every divorce and probate case in King County during this time span, and is a valuable new tool for local researchers.

SGS just completed its first year of providing this service. In this period, we completed 181 lookups for 81 different individuals. Roughly two-thirds of the searches produced one or more “hits.” Turnaround time was less than two days in the vast majority of requests.

This service is free for SGS members, and members accounted for most of the requests. Requests by non-members generated $335 in revenue for the Society in the first year.

If you are researching in King County, Washington and have not yet checked the KC3I, visit our web page, http://seattlegenealogicalsociety.org/kc3i for more information about its contents, and how to make use of this valuable resource. We’d love to check it for you!

SGS CALENDAR OF EVENTS

All programs are at the SGS Library at 6200 Sand Point Way unless otherwise indicated. Please Check the SGS Web Site for additions, changes, and corrections. Programs may be cancelled or postponed due to inclement weather.
DECEMBER Continue reading →

Beverly Bakos Named Outstanding Volunteer in 2015

Dec16 by Roxanne Lowe

Since 2003, the Washington State Genealogical Society has recognized more than 450 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 2015 award recipients and learn why they received the 2015 WSGS Outstanding Volunteer and Team Award.

Today we’re introducing Beverly Bakos of Freeland, Washington who was nominated by the Genealogical Society of South Whidbey Island (GSSWI). She was recognized for her commitment and enthusiasm to educate society members.

Beverly Bakos

Eager to share her knowledge and expertise, Ms. Bakos has taught “The Basics of Genealogical Research” which has attracted more than just beginners. In fact, some of the society’s long-time members attend Ms. Bakos’s class to re-familiarize themselves and learn new techniques and resources. Ms. Bakos also has made herself available for one-on-one mentoring with new members.

Ms. Bakos hosts a study group featuring award-winning genealogical researcher and author Thomas Jones’s book Mastering Genealogical Proof. She has also been on the GSSWI Board of Directors as director of publicity for a number of years.

Ms. Bakos enjoys passing on her knowledge to others and is always approachable and enthusiastic about genealogy. Because of these qualities and all she does for the GSSWI, she richly deserved being a recipient of a 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.

Lewis County Genealogical Society Ulster Historical Foundation Conference

Dec15 by Charles Hansen

The Lewis County Genealogical Society presents…
Researching Your Irish & Scots Ancestors

Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast, Northern Ireland,
Featuring Fintan Mullan & Gillian Hunt
Monday, March 14, 2016, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Bethel Assembly of God Church
132 Kirkland Road, Chehalis, Washington 98532

The Lewis County Genealogical Society website, www.walcgs.org is fully updated with our Ulster Historical Foundation conference information.

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Leslee Dunlap

LCGS

“Our” Jerri Thorpe McCoy’s article in the Mayflower Descendant

Dec14 by Charles Hansen

Mayflower

Our own Jerri Thorpe McCoy, who has been active with the Washington State Genealogical Society and many other related societies, is a published author!

I was recently in the Family History Library doing some documenting work on my several Mayflower lines and came upon a reference in The Mayflower Descendant, Winter 2 008, Vol. 57, No. 1, “Huldah Gross, wife of Jehiel Gates of East Haddam and Litchfield, Connecticut.” This was a ten page article with 107 source citations. I was most impressed.

Jerri is currently the historian for the Washington State Chapter of the Mayflower (Descendants) Society. If you think you are (or know you are) a Mayflower descendant, and would like to join this group, here is the official link:

http://www.washingtonmayflower.org/04-application.html

We are proud of you, Jerri Thorpe McCoy.

Kittitas County Library Team Named 2015 Outstanding Volunteer Team

Dec13 by Roxanne Lowe

Since 2003, the Washington State Genealogical Society has recognized more than 450 outstanding volunteers, nominated by their local society or genealogical organization for their service and dedication. These volunteers and teams 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 2015 award recipients and learn why they received the 2015 WSGS Outstanding Volunteer and Team Award.

Today we’re introducing the Kittitas County Library Team, who was nominated by the Kittitas County Genealogical Society (KCGS). The team was selected for its dedicated volunteer efforts to maintain and promote the society’s library and services.

Erik Bakke

Marilyn Brown

Judy Clayton

J.C. Howard

Kathy Kelly

Julie Large

Karen Spellman

Bob Wieking

Mary Christensen

Tuck Forsythe

The Kittitas County Genealogical Society Library team includes Erik Bakke, Marilyn Brown, Mary Christensen, Judy Clayton, Tuck Forsythe, J.C. Howard, Kathy Kelly, Julie Large, Karen Spellman and Bob Wieking. This team of committed volunteers maintains the society’s unique collection of print materials of interest and value to researchers, as well as computers with subscription databases. The society’s efforts to inform and educate the community about the value of pursuing the study of genealogy would be severely limited if it could not rely on the support and dedication of these vital volunteers who keep the doors open on a consistent basis.

The members of the KCGS Library Team deserve being recognized with a WSGS Outstanding Team Award for making themselves available to the serious researcher and just curious; a personal service not found online.

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.