Looking Ahead to January

Here are the topics for our January meetings.

Workshop - January 3 - "Welcome Back to the Basics"

    We will take a look at the beginning steps for research, including census examples and a review of the most efficient way to access the census on both Ancestry and FamilySearch.

Meeting - January 10 - "New Year's Resolutions" 

    This topic provides a suggested activity for each month of the year. Choose one or all of them!

Workshop - January 17 - "Brick Wall Suggestions"

    The presentation will include a checklist to use when you have encountered a brick wall in your research.

January 24 - NO MEETING - A park event will use all of our chairs!

Meeting - January 31 - "She Was Buried 4 Times"

    Our speaker has provided no other information beyond the title. We will all have to attend to learn what that cryptic statement means.

    

    

December 13 Workshop

Our final workshop of 2022 was a roundtable session with members sharing a family keepsake or a favorite genealogical discovery. We enjoyed the great variety of examples!

Susan: a mystery photo from her father's side of the family that had always hung in their home.

Nancy: postcards from Lille, France -- photos from a Nova Scotia reunion, including family quilts -- a bombshell from the trenches near Lille.

Maureen: an ornament made from a tea cozy (none of us could guess) passed down from a grandmother who lived in Bradenton, FL.

Mary Anne: an oval photo that hung in the bathroom -- going to see "Aunt Martha."

Laurie: cemetery photos taken in the 1990s from a cemetery no longer accessible to the public. 

Jim: two ancestral home visits -- one to Silver Cliff, CO to visit a great grandfather's brick house; another to New Philadelphia, OH, a town built by an ancestral couple, the Nicelys.

Royal: tracing family migrations and a tombstone photo that included a covered wagon and oxen depicting the trek west.

Beth: Higginson mementos from the Hawkesbury area -- buildings constructed by an ancestor, including a round barn, a church and an octagonal house.

Dick: the Civil War diary written by his g.g. grandfather Peter DeCramer.

Annie: her copy of the 1889 Waupaca County plat book.

Alberta Genealogical Society Journal

We learned this week that Nancy Archibald has written an article for the November issue of the Alberta Genealogical Society Journal. The journal requested submissions on the topic of "war brides," and Nancy submitted the story of Julia, her grandmother. Julia was a Red Cross worker in Lille, France during WW I. Nancy's (eventual) grandfather was stationed in that area and met Julia when he visited a friend in the local hospital.

Nancy showed us the article, which included photos of the couple. Congratulations on this achievement, Nancy!

December 6 Workshop

Writing Tips! 

Photo Narratives

One-Person Biographies

Location/Migration Reports

Descriptions of Heirlooms

Family Stories

Heritage Cookbook

Blog

Surname Histories

Join "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks"

Start small, find a class, collaborate.

November 29 Workshop

 

This week Maureen E. gave us an excellent overview of the "other censuses," also known as the non-population schedules. These included the mortality schedules (1850-1885), veterans' schedules (1840 & 1890), slave schedules (1850-60), agriculture schedules (1850-80), manufacturing schedules and defective, dependent and delinquent classes. Some of these census reports are available on Ancestry or FamilySearch, but many will have to be located at state archives or libraries. The 1871 census for Canada also includes many of the same categories and can be found on Ancestry or Library Archives Canada.

Thanks, Maureen, for a very informative presentation!