Waterford Genealogical Society E-Newsletter Kim Smith, Editor Volume 10, Number 4 ~ 9 April 2014 The Waterford Genealogical Society meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month, 1:00 – 3:00 pm in the Community Room of the Waterford Twp Public Library. Tip: click on the blue hyperlinks for more information Greetings from the Waterford Genealogical Society! All WGS meetings are open to the Public and take place in the library. Non-members are welcome to attend. Membership in the Society is available with payment of the annual $5 membership fee and provides voting rights. For more information contact Wayne Thom: [email protected]. A membership form can be found at the end of this newsletter. Evening Meetings: For those genealogists interested in an evening meeting, WGS meets on the second Thursday of each month during the school year from September through June from 7:00 – 8:30 pm. No meetings in July and August. WGS Meetings If you are ready to reveal to the Society your 'infamous, notorious or just plain amazing, weird, troublesome relatives' and not the ones you have 'unfriended' from facebook, (because they would be living and we don't do living) please contact Kathy Stricher to schedule your presentation. Contact Kathy Stricher Date: THURSDAY Evening: April 10, 2014 Time: 7:00-8:30 Presenter: Julia Hanneman-Schoenbach Date: April 16, 2014 Topic: "Venturing into Genetic Genealogy-What You Might Learn About Your Family History from DNA Analysis". Jim has been a traditional genealogist since 1994, and he became involved in genetic genealogy in 2001. For more than five years, Jim has been the Symes DNA Project administrator with about 90 families participating in that study. Presenter: James Sims, Ph.D. Date: April 26, 2014 Special Event: Genealogy Lock-In. Registration is required. 6:00 p.m. – midnight Date: May 7, 2014 Topic: Business meeting: review of Lock-In, Budget Review. Also "Things I find while researching" Presenter: Kathy Stricher Date: May 21, 2014 Topic: Researching Quakers Presenter: Sandy Kinter 1st Wednesday’s- Julia Hanneman-Schoenbach will host a Germanic Interest Group meeting on the 1st Wed after our business meeting at 3pm. NEW EVENING MEETING FORMAT - 2nd Thursday: An evening genealogical meeting to be held. These will be held in the same rooms as the regular meetings. WGS NEWS WGS now has a great Facebook page. It is being updated regularly with interesting genealogical related items. Everyone is welcome. Visit us at: https://www.facebook.com/WaterfordGenealogicalSociety HURRY AND REGISTER BEFORE WE FILL UP! APRIL 26, 2014. The Waterford Genealogical Society, in conjunction with the Waterford Library, is having their 11th annual Lock-In. Find your ancestors, meet other ancestor hunters, and enjoy an entire evening of research and learning. Held in the Library from 6:00pm - Midnight. There is a $25.00 non-members and $20.00 WGS members fee. Brochures are available through our webpage o We have some great speakers this year! Check out these links.  Kris W. Rzepczynski has an informative blog: GenealogyKris  Karen Krugman’s blog is worth checking out: Genealogy Frame of Mind  Ronnie Boggess has a publishing company: My Vision Works Publishing  Karin Hadden also has a great blog: The Art of Genealogy UPCOMING MEETINGS, EVENTS, CONFERENCES IN OUR AREA Visit these sites- each one has lots of great information and links  Irvin Rabideau, B.S., M.A., M.S.L.S., A.B.D., is back as the instructor of Genealogy U. A series of free classes designed to prepare you to trace your FAMILY HISTORY. Provided by the generous support of the Waterford Friends of the Library. Genealogy 101- 104 will provide you with the basic information necessary to trace your family’s history. *All classes are from 9:30 to 1:00* Registration required, online or at the Adult Reference desk or by phone: 248.618.7693. You may attend any or all classes. Genealogy 103 Saturday, April 26: Topics covered include: newspapers, obituaries, biographical sources, probate records, probate records, immigration & ship passenger lists, and naturalization records. This is the same day as the WGS Lock-In. Genealogy 104 Saturday, May 17: Topics covered include: military records, land records, tax records and source citation techniques.  Oakland County Pioneer and Historical Society (OCPHS) 405 Cesar Chavez Ave. Pontiac, MI Their hours may vary due to the schedules of their volunteers. To ensure that a volunteer will be here to assist you, please call ahead before visiting. As a general guideline, the office is now open Tuesday Thursday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Our Research Library is also open Tuesday - Thursday from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. o Sunday, April 13, 2014 @ 2 pm. $5 per person. “Small Talk” Lecture Series “Titanic” Presented by Bob & Cherie Allen. In the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic resulting in the death of 1,514 people. Even though this ship had the latest and most powerful up to date radio communications, why didn't the captain know of the ice conditions in the Titanic's path? Larry Hathcock, OCPHS member and former US Navy radioman will explore the many circumstances, including the communication failures, which led to this maritime tragedy.  Oakland Co. Genealogical Society (OCGS) The OCGS board met recently and voted to move their meeting location to the Kilgour Scottish Centre of the St. Andrews Society, 2360 Rochester Ct.,Troy Mi 48083 (Off Rochester Road, just south of Big Beaver). The parking is convenient and the entrance accessible. The location is just south of the Rochester Road exit off I-75. o May 6, 2014: “Maps on Fire,” Mr. Ken Howe’s presentation will provide you with all that you might want to know and more about fire insurance maps and other similar large scale city maps thereby providing you with new perspectives on your town and city dwelling relatives. o June 3, 2014: “Using Facebook for Genealogical Research” Katherine Willson’s presentation will introduce attendees to Facebook as a genealogy tool and will guide the participants through the process of efficiently utilizing Facebook.  Farmington Genealogical Society: o April 15, 2014  5:45 pm - 6:45 pm “Publishing Your Family History – in Detail” FGS Member, Sue Cromwell, will go into detail on “how” she writes her family histories and gets them to the publisher.  7:00 pm - 8:45 pm “Selected Detroit and Michigan Genealogical Resources at the Burton Historical Collection” This presentation, given by Mark Bowden, Coordinator for Special Collections at the Detroit Library, focuses on some of the unique genealogical resources for Michigan and Detroit research found at the Burton Historical Collection.  Detroit Society for Genealogical Research: Explorer's Room, Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI o April 12, 2014. 10:30 am to 4:00 pm - Utilizing Fold3 at the Library and from Home Presenter: Kris Rzepezynski. Utilizing Fold3 at the Library and from Home. Kris Rzepczynski, Senior Archivist at the Archives of Michigan will highlight some of the collections available there. He will also discuss optimal search strategies for using Fold3 which will be available in the Library Computer Lab after this meeting.  Irish Genealogical Society of Michigan : Gaelic League of Detroit, 12068 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, MI o Saturday, April 26, 2014, 1:30 pm. “Finding Family with DNA Testing”. Presented by Richard Hill. Richard Hill’s innovative use of DNA Testing has been front-page news in The Wall Street Journal, the Grand Rapids Press, and the Detroit News. His web site, DNA Testing Adviser, is a one-stop resource for anyone interested in this subject. His book, “Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA,” was named a Finalist in the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. The electronic version was awarded a gold medal in the 2013 Global Ebook Awards. The National Genealogical Society 2014 Family History Conference will be held at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia. Mark your calendars for 7–10 May 2014. Registration is now open. July 18-19, 2014: 2014 Abrams Foundation Family History Seminar Archives of Michigan, Michigan Historical Center, 702 W. Kalamazoo St., Lansing, Michigan o Abrams Foundation-Archives of Michigan-Michigan Genealogical Council. “Finding Your Family in Canada; Reading and Understanding Old Documents” with Michael Leclerc, Chief Genealogist at Mocavo.com. This is a two day event with a variety of sessions to attend. Cost is $50 with a box lunch. The registration and additional informations is now online at SeekingMichigan: Abrams Foundation Family History Seminar SHARING NOTES FROM THE NET Below are submissions, from the internet, our members thought might be of interest to other genealogists  The Library of Michigan will be opening its doors on the second Saturday of each month, beginning April 12. The "Second Saturdays" effort is in addition to the Library's regularly scheduled hours. Beginning in April and continuing on the second Saturday of each month, the Library of Michigan will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Library currently is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  News that may affect us all! The Detroit News could soon go up for sale with the other newspapers owned by New York City hedge fund Alden Global Capital LLC, according to an industry report published by the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University. Also on the auction block could be the Oakland Press in Pontiac, Macomb Daily in Mt. Clemens, The Daily Tribune in Royal Oak and The Morning Sun in Mt. Pleasant, along with more than 80 nondaily publications owned by Alden. The article was recently published on the Crain’s Detroit Business website.  Online Searchable Death Indexes & Records: A Genealogy Guide This website is a directory of links to websites with online death indexes, listed by state and county. Included are death records, death certificate indexes, death notices and registers, obituaries, probate indexes, and cemetery and burial records. You can also find information here about searching the Social Security Death Index online.  LOCKSS: If it’s true that “lots of copies keeps stuff safe,” then we should start making back-ups and refreshing those back-ups on a regular basis today (SOME RESEARCHERS DO THIS ON THE FIRST DAY OF EACH MONTH). Make a back-up of all your digital data and share it with a relative. Commit to refreshing that data at least three times a year--at the end or beginning of each year, around Memorial Day, and again around Labor Day. Some lament not having any relatives who are interested in the family’s history. While it’s nice if there is an interested relative with whom you could share your research, having an interest in your family history is not a requisite for finding a relative to store your digital files in a safe, not-at-your-house location. Taken from Genealogy Gems: News from the Fort Wayne Library, No. 121, March 31, 2014  Special offer for a subscription to a Fold3 membership. A $30 savings offer that expires on April 30th . The regular rate is $79.95- for a limited time it will be $49.95. A premier website of military records including primary documents and member created memorials among other things.  The Federation of Genealogical Societies or FGS has some interesting webinars online-free. Among the titles are Discovering State and Local Militia Records and Researching Post War Records of 1812. They may only be on the site for a limited time so view them soon.  Dick Eastman posted, in his newsletter, a story about the images from The Great Parchment Book being available online now. The Great Parchment Book of the Honourable The Irish Society is a major survey, compiled in 1639 by a Commission instituted under the Great Seal by Charles I, of all those estates in Derry managed by the City of London through the Irish Society and the City of London livery companies. Welcome to the Waterford Genealogical Society Est.2007 Our mission is to promote interest in genealogical research and assist members by providing meetings and workshops that will further this goal. 2014 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Name: __________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ City, State & Zip code: __________________________________________________________________ Phone Number:___________________________________ Email:_________________________________________________ ____ Check if you would like to be an officer or help on a committee. Surnames that you are researching: __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ Send $5 check or money order payable to: Waterford Genealogical Society c/o Treasurer: Wayne Thom P.O. Box 300905 Waterford, MI 48330 WGS Website: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~miwatgs Meetings are the first and third Wednesday of the month @ 1:00-3:00 pm in the Community Room of the Waterford Twp. Public Library. Evening meetings are once a month, on the second Thursday @ 7:00-8:30 pm except for July and August. Waterford Genealogical Society P.O. Box 300905 Waterford, MI 48330 This newsletter has been sent to people who asked to receive it. To unsubscribe from this mailing list, or to change your e-mail address contact the editor: Kim Smith at [email protected] Waterford Genealogical Society 2014 – Officers and Committee Chairs: President – Dot LaLone Vice President – Lois Hague Treasurer – Wayne Thom Secretary – Sandy Kinter Evening Meeting – Julia Hanneman-Schoenbach Lookups – Dot LaLone Publicity – Dot LaLone E -Newsletter – Kim Smith Lock-In – Kim Smith German Study Group- Julia Hanneman-Schoenbach Programs – Kathy Stricher & Dot LaLone Webmaster-Chuck Dewey WGS Website: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~miwatgs Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WaterfordGenealogicalSociety Meetings are the first and third Wednesday of the month @ 1:00-3:00 pm in the Community Room of the Waterford Twp. Public Library. Evening meetings are once a month, on the second Thursday @ 7:00-8:30 pm except for July and August in the library’s Conference Room. Waterford e-newsletter is published once a month by the Waterford Genealogical Society Your news and views are valued. Please send them to the editor.