Prairie Pioneer Genealogical Society

Summer is here! We are on hiatus until next September, but feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions about our society. We invite you to join us in the fall when we meet again!

Our meeting on June 10th is our annual "Show & Tell" program where members bring in family heirlooms or family history projects they share with the group. Always a fun time! Non-members welcome!

Join us next Monday to hear about the David Kaufmann story from Michelle Setlik. David Kaufmann was a businessman, civic leader and humanitarian in early 1900's Grand Island. If you have any questions, just leave a comment here. Hope to see you Monday at 7 pm!

Join us March 11th for "open mic night", a roundtable discussion on genealogy methods, tips, old websites, new ideas - whatever you'd like to ask about! Open to the public. If you need further information, just post a comment below.

DNA expert, Blaine Bettinger, will be the featured speaker at the Nebraska State Genealogical Society's annual conference April 26-27, in Columbus. Make plans now to attend! Register online, or download the brochure from the website to mail in.

Join us February 12th for a look at vintage Valentine's, presented by John Hanssen. Open to the public. If you're not a PPGS member, you can be for just $12 for Individual or $15 for family membership. Come out and get to know other family history enthusiasts!

Prairie Pioneer Genealogists wish all of you a very happy holiday season! We will not have a meeting in December, but return to our monthly meetings with great programs in January. The 2024 membership year begins January 1 with Individual dues of $12 or Family dues of $15. Consider joining us for a year of networking and collaborating to help you reach your family history goals!

Join us on Monday, November 13th and see the Stuhr Museum Archives. Kay Cynova will show us what's available for research there and how to read Plat maps. Come on out!

Monday night, OCT 9th at 7 PM, come out to hear Dr Nathan Tye from UNK talk to us about Willa Cather. Open to the public. We're at the Reynolds Research Center behind the main building at Stuhr Museum. The exit gate will be open.

Join us June 12th for a fun night of stories as our members bring in treasured family heirlooms and tell about their ancestors! You might be surprised what you can learn from what others share. Open to the public, starting at 7 PM. For more information, leave a comment.

May 8th is the next PPGS program/meeting with Susan Wickman's presentation "Mapping Family History" via Zoom at 7 PM. Open to the public.

Come out to Stuhr Museum's Reynolds Research Center next Monday, April 10th and hear from Matt Piersol, Researcher for History Nebraska as he tells us about the changes that have gone on there and what's in the future for family history resources there. Open to the public!

Join us on March 13th for a "Genealogy Roundtable" - discussion on YOUR genealogy questions. Are you stuck in a rut? Have you hit a roadblock? Are you excited about a project and want to share? We'll spend about an hour having an open discussion on anything genealogy-related. If you have any questions, just leave a comment.

Join us February 13th to hear about the Leschinsky Glass Plate Negatives collection from Becky Matticks of Stuhr Museum. Take part in the actual process of cleaning them if you're willing. If you have any questions, just leave a comment.

Happy New Year! Join us on Monday the 9th and hear Prof. Nathan Tye from UNK speak. If you have any questions, please comment!

Join us tomorrow night, Monday, November 14th to hear Charlotte Endorf's presentation, "No Time On My Hands - The Story of Grace Snyder". Program will start at 7 PM. Open to the public.

Meetings start again next Monday night! Sept. 12th at 7 PM. Come on out and network with fellow family history enthusiasts! Terri Mabon will give us a presentation of some of her work.

See the Family Search Wiki for Hall county genealogy resources. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Hall_County,_Nebraska_Genealogy

Hall County, Nebraska Genealogy  

A few old plat maps for Hall county can be found at the County Clerk's web page - https://www.hallcountyne.gov/content.lasso?page=7492

Next Monday - May 9th - PPGS members are bringing treasured family heirlooms to show. Guests are welcome!

Come out to Stuhr Museum on Monday, April 11th at 7 PM to hear all about the Nebraska State Genealogical Society's 44th Annual Genealogy Conference and more!

Monday, March 14th at 7 - We will hear from Prof Cole Kruger of UNK American History dept, his topic will be German POW's in Nebraska. Everyone welcome!

Monday, February 14th at 7 PM join us to hear from Dr Nathan Tye, from UNK, about Nebraska and the Great Depression. This time period of history touched EVERYONE, something we're now all familiar with. If you have any questions, just leave a comment here.

Monday, January 10th at 7:00, the PPGS program will be provided by Megan Sharp from the Merrick County Historical Society. She will tell us about James Berryman, Central City Businessman. Returning members, if you have not paid your 2022 dues, remember to do so. New members are welcome! Dues are $12 for single and $15 for Family.

A new year begins for PPGS! Membership rates are very reasonable at just $12 for single and $15 for a family. Join us!

The next meeting of PPGS will be our annual Christmas dinner on Monday, December 8th. While the program is open to the public, reservations are required for the dinner by November 24th. If interested, please comment or send message for more details. Happy Holidays!!

On November 8th join us to hear Catherine Renschler talk about "Researching Real Estate - Learning the history of your ancestors' homes".

Come to the library this Sunday and find out how to dig deep into the Family Search catalog.

Oct. 17th at 2PM
Back in June, the Grand Island Public Library became a FamilySearch Affiliate Library. Library cardholders now have access to billions of birth, marriage, death, census, land, and court records from more than 130 countries to help you discover and make family connections. If you still haven't explored FamilySearch or would like to learn the basics of the site, this is your chance! This program will be hosted by Prairie Pioneer Genealogical Society and The Grand Island Public Library. This is a free program, no registration is required.

(Note: due to publisher restrictions, Affiliate record access is limited to use inside the Library only.)

October 11th program will be "21 Hours in the Family History Library", by Laura Mattingly. Come on out and join us!

Come and hear how to get more out of Family Search!

Oct. 17th at 2PM
Back in June, the Grand Island Public Library became a FamilySearch Affiliate Library. Library cardholders now have access to billions of birth, marriage, death, census, land, and court records from more than 130 countries to help you discover and make family connections. If you still haven't explored FamilySearch or would like to learn the basics of the site, this is your chance! This program will be hosted by Prairie Pioneer Genealogical Society and The Grand Island Public Library. This is a free program, no registration is required.

(Note: due to publisher restrictions, Affiliate record access is limited to use inside the Library only.)