National Genealogical Society Conference Deadlines

by Charles Hansen
NGS Conference Deadlines and OrgConnects! Video to Share with Your Organization
Dear Organization Members, Administrators, and Delegates,
The National Genealogical Society (NGS) 2025 Family History Conference is less than a month away. I’m excited to see you or others from your organization in Louisville, Kentucky, or online through the new virtual access option.
A few conference-related deadlines are coming up that your organization will want to share with anyone planning to attend in person:
This Friday, 2 May, is the last day for NGS member organizations to request the conference registration discount benefit for people who are not individual members of NGS. Please read through the information and use the form linked on the Organization Registration page.
Friday, 2 May, is also the hotel deadline to make reservations in the discounted room block with NGS at the Galt House. Visit the Hotel Information page to get the code and booking link.
Monday, 12 May, is the final day to RSVP for the 23 May Delegate Council meeting. Organization member delegates are invited to RSVP for a light breakfast and meeting. If the delegate can’t attend and someone else from your organization can be there as a substitute, please have them RSVP instead. For those coming to Louisville, join us for FOCUS 2025: A Pathway to the Future for Genealogy and Family History Organizations, a special pre-conference event with the Filson Historical Society on 23 May, and the SLAM! Idea Showcase Dinner on 25 May. Also, I would love to meet in person and discuss any needs or feedback from your organization. Email me to set up a time to chat.
OrgConnects! Video on Taxes and Finances
The recording of the 10 April 2025 OrgConnects! event on Finance and Taxes for Organizations: Challenges and Solutions is available on YouTube. NGS Treasurer Doug Klein, CPA, provided an overview of tax exemption, sales tax issues, budgets, financial statements, avoiding scams, finding help, and more. Check out the OrgConnects! playlist for previous videos and share these event recordings with your organization.
Time to Meet or Ask Questions
Do not hesitate to reach out with any questions about the conference and organization events, and please email me to set up a time to meet if you will be in Louisville (and if you won’t be at the conference, you can always meet with me via Zoom). Thank You, KateSmith_Signature_150pxWide_2623651.jpg Kate Smith
Organizations and Communities Manager
Copyright © 2025 National Genealogical Society (NGS), all rights reserved. National Genealogical Society · PO Box 128 · Annapolis Junction, MD 20701-0128 · USA

Heritage Quest Research Library Using Real Estate Deeds

by Charles Hansen
Using Real Estate Deeds
Real estate deeds can be a gold mine of information about our ancestors, yet researchers often forget to check them.  While the search process can initially seem daunting, once you figure out which indexing system a particular town or county is using, it’s not so bad.  Learn how to tell a grantor from a grantee.  What are metes and bounds?  Which part of a deed are boilerplate phrases that you can safely skim over?  What can you learn about family relationships from deeds?  Learn all this and more
from Al E. Fiacre, Jr. 
Albert E. Fiacre Jr. 
Al is currently the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Godfrey Memorial Library.  He has been involved with the library since 2003 and been a Board member since 2015. He also is the principal researcher on genealogical research requests received at the library.  In 2018, he was the winner of the NGS’s competition for Best Genealogy and Family History; he similarly won the 2019 competition of the Connecticut Society of Genealogists for Best Genealogy.  
Prior to his involvement with Godfrey, Al was the CFO of 2 Connecticut banks, with an extensive background in financial management and securities. He holds a BA degree from Middlebury College and an MBA degree from NYU.
When:
Thursday, May 15, 2025

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Where:
ZOOM & limited in-person (8)

Cost:
$20 members, $25 non-members
 
  Sign-up and Payment:

ZOOM

Go to hqrl.com and click on the HQRL Store (sign in as a member to get the discount.)

In-person (8 only)

Call: HQRL at 253-307-8033 or come into the library at 2102 E Main, Suite 105 
Puyallup, WA 98372 A link will be sent to your email the Tuesday before class.
 
Copyright © 2025 Heritage Quest Research Library, All rights reserved.
You have told us that you want to receive our news and updates from our library.

Our mailing address is:
Heritage Quest Research Library
2102 East Main Suite 105
Puyallup, WA98372-3205

Heritage Quest Research Library Upcoming May Events

by Charles Hansen
MAY HAPPENINGS
NOURISH OUR ROOTS
A $10,000 Matching Contribution
March 1 through June 1
Hooray! We are almost halfway there! Our members have given our matching fund drive a good start as they have generously donated toward our goal of $10,000.  It has been fun watching the thermometer in the library inching up every week.  An easy way to donate is online at the Heritage Quest Research Library website.  Copy and paste this link https://hqrl.com/cpage.php?pt=5 for quick access.

You can also donate in-person at the library, by a phone call to the library (253) 863-1806, or by mail to Heritage Quest Research Library, 2102 East Main Avenue, Suite 106, Puyallup, WA, 98372.. With your help, we remain confident that our goal of $10,000 will be reached by the first of June.
(Remember your contributions are tax deductible)
AUTUMN QUEST
You spoke, “It’s time to have an in-person Seminar!”  We listened. Because of Covid and the fire, it has been too many years since we’ve had our annual Autumn Quest Seminar.  We’re starting over, so every type of position is open.  It takes a lot of hands to plan such an event.  (Choosing the speaker and topics, Finding a location and arranging catering, Registration, Marketing and Promotion,  Silent Auction, Raffle Prizes and Ticket Sales.)

Autumn Quest is a daylong seminar.  It’s a great way to meet and socialize with other researchers.  It has also been one of our main sources of income in the past.  Please attend this, our first meeting, at 1:00 pm on Saturday, May 17th.
Let’s make this event a reality.  
QUEST CONNECTIONS
Great opportunity to express your creativity Beth Scott. our newsletter editor for two years, has stepped down. We will sorely miss her eye-catching, creative and informative newsletters. Thank you, Beth, for a great job.
While we wait for a new editor, you can contact Sara McGlothlen at saleemcg@gmail, or Carmen McIntyre at camway@outlook.com with your submissions and ideas for the June newsletter. (cut and past the links). 
MANAGEMENT TEAM POSITIONS
Calling all members and prospective members Would you like a say in and a vote on the operation of the library?  If so, then join our Team!  Our meetings are held every third Wednesday of the month and can be attended in person or by Zoom.  Open Management Team positions are
Management Team Secretary
Bookstore Manager
Newsletter Editor
IT Tech
UPCOMING MAY EVENTS
May 1 Thursday – 11 am to 12 noon
Google Your Way to Genealogy Gems
Presenter: Suz Bates Suz Bates will show you state, county, local and international websites and databases, including online government sites to support your genealogy research.  All our classes can be attended in person or by Zoom.  Sign up online or at the library.  Members $20 and Non-members $25.
Call the library at (253) 863-1806, if you have any questions.

May 10 Saturday – 10:00 am to 3 pm
Nordic Fest
“A celebration of all things Scandanvian”
Host: the Auburn chapter of the Vesterdalen Lodge Sons of Norway
Messiah Lutheran Church
410 H Street NE
Auburn, WA 98002
HQRL will have a promotional booth at Nordic Fest this year.   May 15, Thursday – 11 am to 12 noon
Using Real Estate Deeds
Presenter: Albert E. Fiacre, Jr.
Join Albert E Fiacre, Jr. to learn about the information available in real estate deeds.  All our classes can be attended in person or by Zoom.  Sign up online or at the library.  Members $20 and Non-members $25..
Call the library at (253) 863-1806, if you have any questions.

May 17 Saturday – 1 pm
Autumn Quest Planning Meeting
Heritage Quest Research Library classroom

May 21 Wednesday – 12 noon
Management Team Meeting
Members are welcome to attend the monthly Management Team meetings and the quarterly Board of Trustees meetings.
BY THE WAY
Have you checked our Education Blog lately?
(The Blog is listed on the HQRL home page menu)
Contributor: Heid Geise, Education Coordinator
If not, you are missing out on some valuable information.  
Thank you Heidi, for an outstanding job as our Education Coordinator!
MAY BOOKSTORE SPECIALS These three books – 50% off
The Ultimate Search Book, Worldwide Adoption, Genealogy & Other Search Secrets
By Lori Carangelo
$32.50/Now $16.25
A wealth of hard-to-find data.  No other resource comes close to the scope of this book.  This is an idea book that substitutes for an expensive private investigator.

Following the Paper Trail, A Multilingual Tranlastion Guide
By Jonathan D. Shea & William F. Hoffman
$23.75/Now $11.50
This book shows researchers’ actual documents in 13 European languages.  Each language section begins with a page showing the alphabet in print and cursive form.  Languages covered are Germanic (German, Swedish), Romance (French, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish), Slavic (Czech, Polish, Russian), and other (Hungarian, Lithuanian).

Tracing your Female Ancestors Volume II, More Research Resources
By Gena Philibert-Ortega
$9.00/Now $4.50
A follow-up release to Tracing your Female Ancestors first edition.  A toolkit of tried and tested strategies and resources for locating those difficult-to-find female ancestors.
Copyright © 2025 Heritage Quest Research Library, All rights reserved.
You have told us that you want to receive our news and updates from our library.

Our mailing address is:
Heritage Quest Research Library
2102 East Main Suite 105
Puyallup, WA98372-3205

Lynne Oliver Named One of WSGS’s Outstanding Volunteers in 2024

by Roxanne Lowe

Since 2003, the Washington State Genealogical Society has recognized over 600 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 2024 award recipients and learn why they received they received a WSGS Outstanding Volunteer and Team Award.

Today we’re introducing Lynne Oliver of Bellingham, Washington who was selected by the Whatcom Genealogical Society as its recipient of a WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award.

With her experience serving on other boards, Lynne has brought relevant experience to her role as treasurer that directly benefits WGS. She does a fantastic job of keeping the society running in a fiscally sound manner and is always willing to jump in and volunteer with other society projects.

In addition to her role as treasurer, Lynne has spent a great deal of time revising the society’s bylaws and presenting the suggested changes to the board for their input.

For more information on the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award program, visit the Recognition page of the WSGS website or contact Info@wasgs.org. Please type “Volunteer Award” in the subject line.

Access BRILS for Thrills!

by Roxanne Lowe

Have you heard of Reclaim The Records? If not, you should.  According to their website, Reclaim The Records (RTR) is an activist group of genealogists, historians, researchers, and journalists that works to identify important genealogical record sets that are not online anywhere and not broadly available to the public. They use state Freedom of Information (FOIA) laws to force government agencies and archives to hand over copies of these records to the public, which RTR’s digitizes and puts online for free use. 

In 2018, RTR filed a FOIA suit for the Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) database against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. After numerous rejections and denials over the years, RTR finally won their lawsuit in 2020 and the records were handed over in 2022.

What is BRILS?

It’s possibly the largest public dataset of deceased U.S veterans, ever, with more than 18 million names, covering veterans who served from the late nineteenth century up through mid-2020. The Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) database was originally created and maintained by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It provides an index to basic biographical information on more than 18 million deceased American veterans who received some sort of veterans benefits in their lifetime, including health care, disability or life insurance policies, educational benefits (the GI Bill), mortgage assistance (VA loans), and more. The BIRLS database includes people who served in all branches of the U.S. military, including some branches that no longer exist, such as the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) and the Army Air Corps, as well as a few associated non-military groups and government agencies, such as NOAA. It even includes files for some non-US nationals, including veterans of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and Philippine Scouts and Guerillas, who served prior to and during the Second World War.

How Do I Request Information?

RTR built and launched a searchable database for the materials to help people to get files from the government for their relatives and research interests. The records are now online and searchable at BIRLS.org. The site even includes a free Freedom of Information (FOIA) filing system to make it easier to request the records.

Writer’s note: I filed a FOIA request on behalf of my late father (Navy & Coast Guard) on 30 Mar 2025. I’m eagerly awaiting whatever is in his file. It was easy to request and I’m hoping for results in the next few weeks.



Let’s Talk About: Honoring Memorial Day Part 2

by Donna Phillips

In a small cemetery in the Dutch city of Roermond, one can visit this most unique set of tombstones. It comprises two almost identical pillars on either side of a wall separating the Catholic part from the Protestant part. Each pillar has a carved arm and hand that clasp the other across the wall. The monument marks the graves of Josephina Van Aefferden, a Catholic, and Jacobus Van Gorkum, a Protestant, who were happily married in life but had to be buried in separate sections of the cemetery. This Dutch listed it as a State Monument in 2002 and the “Grave with the Little Hands” proves that love is stronger than death. (And certainly stronger than mens’ rules.)Did you know that Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day? In the spring of 1866, Henry C. Welles, a druggist in the village of Waterloo, NY, suggested that the patriots who died in the Civil War should be honored by decorating their graves. A committee was formed and the plan was implemented. Decoration Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 and was first observed officially on May 30, 1868. The South did not observe Decoration Day, preferring to honor their dead on separate days until after WWI. In 1882 the name was changed to Memorial Day and soldiers who had died in other wars were also honored. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday to be held on the last Monday in May.

 While families may use the day for welcome-to-summer-fun, the original intent was to honor those who died for our freedom. 

23andMe Bankruptcy Information

by Roxanne Lowe

By now, you’ve probably heard that 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March 2025. As the company maneuvers through the bankruptcy process, including trying to find a buyer, customers may want to check out the following articles.

What the 23andMe Bankruptcy Means for your Data and Genealogy with Amy Johnson Crow (March 2025)

https://genealogybargains.com/turmoil-at-23andme/  with Thomas MacEntee (March 2025)

April 29, 2025 update: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/23andme-will-have-court-appointed-overseer-genetic-data-bankruptcy-2025-04-29/

Tacoma Pierce County Genealogical Society Legacy Family Tree May 2025 Meeting

by Charles Hansen

Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society Legacy Family Tree SIG Meeting
Tuesday, May 6, 2025, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm virtual via Zoom

This month’s topic is: What do you want to learn about Legacy Family Tree Software?

Due to low attendance the last two months I am considering pausing or canceling this special interest group. If you are interested this wil be your chance to provide input on what you would like to see this SIG focus on learning.

This is our monthly meeting to share tips & tricks, problems & solutions. Sometimes we will watch videos or share our screens to aid in learning more about using Legacy Family Tree software.

Everyone is welcome to attend and participate in the learning. If you are just thinking about trying Legacy for the first time, you’ve been using it for a year or two or you are an old pro with many years of experience using Legacy this is the group for you. If you have any suggestions for future topics, please send them in.

We look forward to meeting with you, every month on the First Tuesday at 7:00 PM Pacific Time

Meeting Invite with Links in file attached below:

Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.

Monthly Calendar Reminder: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/tZYpfuyuqDovHNwtBgxtQjWKOjDQ8k5Q9bPD/ics?icsToken=98tyKuGqqjIvHNKUtR-PRpwQBor4Z-7wpn5Ygo1KiD3iGzRiaDTdGehmA-p0RemJ

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82495661568?pwd=dy85YmluVzF5aEU4SzFTcTUrVDlTUT09

Meeting ID: 824 9566 1568
Passcode: 715731

One tap mobile:
+12532050468,,82495661568#,,,,*715731# US
+12532158782,,82495661568#,,,,*715731# US (Tacoma)

Dial by your location:
+1 253 205 0468 US
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

Meeting ID: 824 9566 1568
Passcode: 715731

Find your local number:
https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcphK19I1E

Puget Sound Genealogical Society May Classes

by Charles Hansen

Classes:  “Getting Started in Family History Series” presented by Cheri Hudson Passey (Legacy Family Tree Webinars) -Classes are on Saturday and start at 10:30am.
These events are hybrid.  In person at the Sylvan Way Library in Bremerton and on Zoom.  Zoom link will be posted on our website (psgsociety.org) and our Facebook page the day before.

 May 3:   Home Sources, Forms, and Family Stories

 May 10:   Documents, Vital Records, and Census Records

 May 31:   Cemetery & Church Records,  Online Research: Finding Family on the Internet, and Researching On Location

Program:  May 28 (Wed), 1pm. ” Inspire the Next Generation” with Sue Schlichting.

 Who’s going to take over the family history quest when you’re no longer able? Getting the younger generation interested in their family history is important work. Learn creative ways to get young people engaged in their own history research.

Lower Columbia Genealogical Society Future Proofing Your Genealogy

by Charles Hansen

THOMAS MacENTEE

GENEALOGIST, AUTHOR, BLOGGER

AFTER YOU’RE GONE:

FUTURE PROOFING YOUR GENEALOGY

Speaker at the Lower Columbia Genealogical Society’s

May 8th Zoom meeting

Virtual meeting doors will open at 6:30 pm

The speaker’s program will begin at 7:00 pm

The public is invited to attend however, non-members will not have access to the handout as per speaker’s request

For a link to join the meeting or to join the society for $20.00 per year contact lcgsgen@yahoo.com

Please make your request for the link 24 hours prior to the event