Western Michigan Genealogical Society

Meeting Update: The DNA Interest Group (DIG) is NOT meeting in August. Enjoy the rest of summer and keep working on your individual DNA projects! 🙂 Our next meetings will be on Thursday, September 19, at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on the 4th floor of the Main Branch of GRPL in the Vander Veen room.

MEETING REMINDER: The DNA Interest Group (DIG) will be meeting this Thursday, April 18, at the Main Branch of the Grand Rapids Public Library in the Vander Veen room on the 4th floor. We have a meeting at 3:30 p.m. and one at 6:30 p.m. We are going to learn about the "What are the Odds" tool. This tool uses calculations to determine probabilities of possible relationships with DNA questions. Hope to see many of you at one of the meetings!

What Are the Odds? Multiple Relationship Probability Tool for DNA

Hello Everyone,

This is a reminder that we have our DNA Interest Group meeting this Thursday, March 21, in the Vander Veen room on the 4th floor of the Main Branch of GRPL.

As most of you know, we now have a day offering of the DIG meeting. We have our regular 6:30 p.m. DIG meeting and we have a 3:30 p.m. version of this meeting on the same day.

Each meeting will have the same content so feel free to attend either meeting.

This week we are going to talk about X-DNA again but with a little more depth. I have an interesting X-DNA chart that can be used to track your own X-DNA inheritance pattern.

I hope to see many of you this Thursday!

MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT: Our next regularly scheduled DNA Interest Group meeting is going to be this Thursday, February 15 at 6:30 p.m. We meet in the Vander Veen room on the 4th floor of the Main Branch of GRPL.

And.....we are going to try our day meeting again. We will have our first day meeting of the DNA Interest Group on Thursday, February 15 at 3:30 p.m. in the same place as the evening meeting. This will be an organizational meeting to see how many people are interested and where these members are at with using DNA for genealogy.

I am looking forward to both meetings and can't wait to see everyone!

MEETING ALERT: The DNA Interest Group meeting is canceled for tomorrow, Thursday, January 18, at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Between the cold, the possibility of more lake effect snow on Thursday, and the treacherous driving, we are going to take both meetings off.

This was going to be our inaugural day meeting, but we will start up again in February. Check here for updates. If you want to add your name to our email list, make a note in the comments.

Stay warm and safe everyone! See you all in February.

NEW CLASS ALERT: I know we are all at home, bundled up and not even thinking about next week, but….we will be having our monthly meeting of the DNA Interest Group (DIG) on Thursday, January 18, at 6:30 p.m.

However, we have heard that this is some interest in a day version of the DIG meeting. We will be offering our first day session on Thursday, January 18, at 3:30 p.m. This class will be a planning session and a meet-and-greet to determine the viability and necessity of a separate day class.

We don’t know if the day class will be a monthly offering or if we will have it quarterly. We are still in the planning phase. But, if you have been wanting to attend DIG during the day, please join us at 3:30 p.m. in the Vander Veen room on the 4th floor of the Main Branch of GRPL. We will still have our regular 6:30 p.m. meeting that day as well (Thursday, January 18).

We are having a 2 hour class tomorrow, Monday, January 8, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at the GRPL VanderVeen Room, 4th floor

Dating Old Family Photos by Clothing and Hairstyles

What do you do when you have a box of old family photos and none are dated or labeled? With some reference points and knowledge of your family history, it is possible to figure out a date range and even the identity of who is in the picture. In this presentation you will learn some of basic concepts of dating clothing and hairstyles from the 1860’s to the early 20th century.

Instructor: Jessica Riley

Please join us this Saturday, January 6, at 1:30 p.m. in the Ryerson Room at the Grand Rapids Public Library. Sue Irvine is going to be presenting: WMGS Databases.

Have you ever checked out all of WMGS databases? There is a lot of local (Western Michigan) information right here at WMGS. We'll look into each of these. We'll also take a look at CommonCorners.com. You can't imagine what's here right under you nose.

Sue Irvine is on the board of the Western Michigan Genealogical Society and she wears many hats. She has coordinated the bus trips in the past to Fort Wayne, Indiana. She takes care of manuscripts and has printed the WMGS newsletter and magazine. Sue is a regular fixture at our meetings and can always be counted on to pitch in with WMGS.

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, January 6, 2024, 1:30 p.m.

Our own Sue Irvine will be presenting "WMGS Databases" in the Ryerson Room on the 3rd floor of the Main Branch of the Grand Rapids Public Library.

Have you ever checked out all of WMGS databases? There is a lot of local (Western Michigan) information right here at WMGS. We'll look into each of these. We'll also take a look at CommonCorners.com. You can't imagine what's here right under you nose.

Sue Irvine is on the board of the Western Michigan Genealogical Society and she wears many hats. She has coordinated the bus trips in the past to Fort Wayne, Indiana. She takes care of manuscripts and has printed the WMGS newsletter and magazine. Sue is a regular fixture at our meetings and can always be counted on to pitch in with WMGS.

Please join us Saturday, December 2, 2023 for our monthly meeting. Debby Stassek will be presenting: Google Services and Helps For Genealogy at 1:30 p.m. in the Ryerson Room at the Grand Rapids Public LIbrary - Main Branch.

Genealogy researchers often are hyper-focused on the big genealogy sites and may miss important resources on the rest of the Internet. Google can help. This presentation will include Google search engine “secrets,” Google Books, Scholar, News Archive, Earth, Images, Translate, YouTube, and general computer tips. A live demonstration of Bard (Google’s ChatGPT) will be featured.

Debby is an end-user technology consultant for the Paw Paw District Library. She has degrees from Central Michigan University and the University of Michigan; over 30 years of experience locating information online; and a passionate interest in genealogy. Her family tree has many West Michigan roots and includes 26,000 people. Her extended tree includes 39 presidents, 27 Mayflower passengers, Wyatt Earp, Elvis Presley, and Janis Joplin.

Please join us this Saturday, November 4, at 1:30 p.m. at the Grand Rapids Public Library to hear Cynthia Bailey discuss: Secrets of St. Andrew’s Cemetery.

Cemeteries have a lot of secrets waiting to be discovered. Cynthia lives next to St. Andrews Catholic Cemetery which is Grand Rapids first Catholic cemetery. She became interested in the cemetery after she went on a tour of St. Andrews Cemetery with Fr. Dennis Morrow and on other cemetery tours with Mr. Dilley and joining West Michigan Genealogical Society.

There are a lot of “secrets” buried in cemeteries because the dead don’t lie. Headstones have information carved into them, where the body is buried, who is buried nearby. There are many clues in the cemetery that might be answered when visiting a cemetery with watchful eyes, some might be obvious others not so much. The cemetery might point you in the right direction to uncovering a genealogical answer to a question. She discovered many things in preparing for her presentation for the Grand Rapids Historical Society on my topic: St. Andrews Cemetery “Nice Quiet Neighbors.”

Cynthia Bailey is a member of the West Michigan Genealogical Society and has written a couple of articles for the Societies Magazine, Michigana. Cynthia is active in many things; she volunteers at the Grand Rapids Public Museum as a Discovery Cart volunteer and Educator for the Newcomers Exhibit. She is a member of West Michigan Advanced Toastmasters, a member of the Grand Rapids Climate Coalition, member of Grand Rapids Dominican focus study Laudato Si; Response to the cry of the earth. Currently a C4 Ambassador (Community Collaborator on Climate Change) Cynthia has presented at Gilda’s Club, The Early Risers Breakfast Club, Grand Rapids Serra International, Grand Rapids Round Table International, the Grand Rapids Public Library, and recently for Grand Rapids Historical Society.

Hot off the press...

The WMGS Sales Table will be having a 25% off sale on ALL items at the annual Got Ancestors?! Seminar coming up on 21 October 2023. See http://gotancestors.com for details of this event, and to register.

Got Ancestors?! 2023 Western Michigan Genealogical Society's Annual Seminar

Please join us this Saturday at the Grand Rapids Public Library - Main Branch for this interesting presentation!

Saturday, October 7, 1:30 p.m.

Presenter: Karen Krugman

Topic: Researching There When You Are Here

Researching can be difficult enough as it is but even more so if you don’t live anywhere near where your ancestors lived. My talk, Researching There When You Are Here, will offer suggestions & solutions to help you as you attempt to navigate the challenges of long-distance genealogy research.

Karen has been researching the family history of her families for over 25 years. She has written five books on the different lineages in her family tree and that of her husband, Mark, She has been speaking on genealogy with a unique style for over 10 years.

45 years ago she married her college sweetie, Mark. They have two married children and 5 grandsons. When Karen isn’t researching her family history she sews for her Etsy shop, KarmelleHome, which she started in 2017. Currently Karen & Mark reside in Bloomfield Hills.

Please join us this Saturday, September 9, at 1:30 p.m. in the Ryerson Room at Grand Rapids Public Library (Main Branch). Tobin Buhk will be presenting: “Poisoning the Pecks of Grand Rapids”

In 1916, Arthur Warren Waite hatched a get-rich-quick scheme to acquire his father-in-law's fortune by systematically poisoning John and Hannah Peck. The grandiose plan went awry when a telegram by the mysterious "Kay Adams," warning of murder, arrived in Grand Rapids. Follow the trail of detectives as they unravel the strange but true case of Poisoning the Pecks of Grand Rapids.

Tobin T. Buhk is a freelance author specializing in historic true crime. To research his first book, Cause of Death, he volunteered in a county morgue. His subsequent true-crime publications include Skeletons in the Closet, True Crime in the Civil War, and Poisoning the Pecks of Grand Rapids. Mr. Buhk lectures frequently on historical crime and provides several presentation options.

Tours of the VanderJagt Mansion at 2615 Plainfield NE are available on Thursday, July 27 from 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. This is a promotion for Kids’ Food Basket’s founder Mary K Hoodhood’s memoir, “What I Can Do.” For $30 you will receive a paperback copy of her book along with the home tour. If you already have a copy of the book, the tour alone is $10. Proceeds benefit Kids' Food Basket.To purchase a timed ticket contact Mary K at: [email protected]

Just a reminder.....the DNA Interest Group (DIG) will be meeting tomorrow, Thursday, June 15, at 6:30 p.m. in the Vander Veen room on the 4th floor of the Grand Rapids Public Library (Main Branch).

Last month we worked on a real life case and we are going to continue this at a later meeting. Tomorrow I am going to share some of the things that I have learned this week during a Forensic Genealogy course through the Texas Institute for Genealogical Research. (Lucid Chart, the McGuire Method, Military Repatriation cases, and more). Should be a good meeting!

Saturday, June 10 at 1:30 p.m. at the Grand Rapids Public Library Main Branch

Presenter: Megan Heyl

Topic: Genealogy Toolbox - What you need to start your Heritage Hunt.

This lecture presents a list of items compiled from the experience of many genealogists that you will want to obtain as you begin your ancestral research. These items will help to make your heritage journey a successful one.

Megan has been teaching the majority of her life. She taught in the public school systems in Ohio and Michigan where she now resides in Holland Michigan. She has taught genealogy courses for close to 20 years and continues educational classes including the Genealogy Study Group, at various societies, libraries, National and International conferences, doing client research, writing articles for various quarterlies, and is also the current Education Director for ISBGFH - International Society for British Genealogy and Family History.

TUESDAY CLASS

Note correct date. Class date is this Tuesday, May 16th and not the 17th as reported earlier. The library will be closed all day on the 17th.
Two Hour Class: 16 May 2023 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Presentation : Burial Records
Topics to be discussed:
Online Resources
Types of Records
Where to Find Information
Type of Cemeteries
Types of Tombstones

Please join us this Saturday, May 6, at 1:30 p.m. at the Grand Rapids Public Library where Matt Pacer of the Library of Michigan will present: "Library of Congress Digital Collections for Michigan Researchers"

The Library of Congress contains a treasure trove of family history information for Michigan researchers, including a vast array of online resources. Learn how to navigate these digital collections as well as other key research strategies to effectively use our nation’s library while uncovering your family’s story. The presentation covers Michigan records that are online through the Library of Congress website. No one has to go physically to Washington D.C. in order to view the material. Matt will show how to navigate the Library of Congress website in order to find these collections and highlight collections that are useful for family history researchers.

Matt holds a MLIS from Wayne State University and an MA in History from Kansas State University. He has been working in libraries since college at Wright State University. Currently, he is a reference librarian at the Library of Michigan. He coordinates both the Michigan Collection and the Martha W. Griffiths Rare Book Room. Additionally, he is the donation coordinator for the Library of Michigan. When not presenting or appearing at a conference, you will probably find him at the reference desk or wandering about the library working on other tasks such as answering questions, moving shelves, and other duties as assigned.

Today was Volunteer Appreciation Day at the Western Michigan Genealogical Society - recognising the volunteers who have helped the society during the last 3 years from 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Those pictured are those who were at the meeting today, but not all of the volunteers...

Thanks for all you do for the Western Michigan Genealogical Society :-)

Saturday, April 1, 1:30 p.m.,at the Grand Rapids Public Library

Topic: Michigan WWII POW Camps

Presenter: Gregory Sumner

Dr. Sumner will speak about his most recent publication, MICHIGAN WWII POW CAMPS (History Press, 2018), which tells the largely-forgotten story of the 6,000 German and Italian prisoners who lived and worked in the state’s orchards, sugar beet fields and forests of the U.P. between 1943 and 1946. The young men were treated well, they behaved themselves, with a few exceptions, and after being sent back home after the war many eventually came back to become U.S. citizens.

Gregory Sumner, JD, PhD, is Professor and Co-Chair of the Department of History at the University of Detroit Mercy. He is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington, and the University of Michigan Law School. His books include UNSTUCK IN TIME: A JOURNEY THROUGH KURT VONNEGUT’S LIFE AND NOVELS (2011) and DETROIT IN WWII (2015)

Saturday, March 4, In-person Meeting (1:30 p.m.), GRPL

Using the Archives for Genealogy Research

Presenter: Matthew Ellis

The City Archives and Research Center stores all the City's government records. The City Archives staff ensure that the documents, dating back to 1838, are preserved and accessible to citizens and employees to research. Much of the City Archive's records deal with property, so whether you are looking for a family home or want to know more about how ancestors utilized their property, the City Archives and Records Center can help. Genealogical researchers can also access many resources at the City Archives, such as cemetery records, tax records, mugshot and fingerprint cards, and many other documents.

Bio: Matthew A. Ellis is an archivist for the City of Grand Rapids and a researcher of history, data, and public policymaking. His focal area of interest is how information is accessed and used by decision-makers. Other subject areas of interest are data privacy, misinformation, and open data. He has published articles on local history for the Grand Rapids Historical Society and co-hosts a local history podcast with the Grand Rapids Office of Communications.

Saturday, January 7, 1:30 p.m.

Grand Rapids Public Library - Ryerson Auditorium

The Settlement of Michigan Counties Presenter: Matthew Daley, Grand Valley State University

The Settlement of Michigan Counties - particularly in the years surrounding statehood. This presentation relates to geography, civic changes, and then economic changes, places for example like Cass County and the like. The presentation will teach us to engage with the primary sources, to examine genealogy and families in specific places.

December 3, In-person Meeting (1:30pm)

Rozlyn Kelly
Finding Black Ancestors
Presenter: Rozlyn Kelly
The presentation discusses the unique challenges of African American genealogical research, sharing some of the relevant history and resources available to research. It includes a case study of researching freedom seekers (Underground Railroad), free blacks and enslaved persons.
Biography:
Rozlyn Kelly is an attorney with over 20 years of genealogical research experience focused on African American ancestry in Michigan, Canada, Southern Illinois, Kentucky, and Washington, D.C. She is currently President of the Farmington Genealogical Society and serves on the executive board of the Michigan Genealogical Council as President.

Due to illness of our scheduled speaker, there is a change of speaker and topic for tomorrow's WMGS Monthly Meeting.
05 Nov 2022 1:30pm at the Grand Rapids Public LIbrary - Richard Hill

Topic: Get to know all the DNA test types and hear insider tips on how to use these tests most effectively.

Richard Hill was the first adoptee to identify his birth family through a genetic genealogy DNA test. Since 2008 he has founded two websites on DNA testing, most recently DNA Favorites.com.
He shared his entire pioneering story through his book, "Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA.” In this presentation, Richard will review the basics of genetic genealogy, the three major test types, and the offerings of five leading companies. He will explain the key factors that impact your results and compare the strengths, limitations, and favorite features of each company.

Come join us for our monthly meeting at the Main Branch of the Grand Rapids Public Library in the Ryerson Auditorium.

November 5, In-person Meeting (1:30pm)

Researching There When You Are Here

Presenter: Karen Krugman

Researching can be difficult enough as it is but even more so if you don’t live anywhere near where your ancestors lived. My talk, Researching There When You Are Here, will offer suggestions & solutions to help you as you attempt to navigate the challenges of long distance genealogy research.

Karen has been researching the family history of her families for over 25 years. She has written five books on the different lineages in her family tree and that of her husband, Mark. She has been speaking on genealogy with a unique style for over 10 years. 45 years ago she married her college sweetie, Mark. They have two married children and 5 grandsons. When Karen isn’t researching her family history she sews for her Etsy shop, KarmelleHome, which she started in 2017. Currently Karen & Mark reside in Bloomfield Hills.

Ticket sales are ending soon. If you are interested in this unique opportunity to spend a day immersed in genealogy with a national expert like David Rencher, then click below and sign up. Tickets with lunch are $45 and without lunch are $35. You can still register for the conference with lunch until tomorrow, Friday at 12:00 p.m. After that you can register without lunch or at the door. I think it is going to be a great conference.

Got Ancestors?! 2022 Western Michigan Genealogical Society's Annual Seminar

October 1, In-person Meeting (1:30pm)
Exploring the Features of FamilySearch.org

Presenter: Katherine R. Willson
FamilySearch.org is the largest free genealogical website in the world. This presentation demonstrates how to effectively search for your ancestor in digitized records, books, and online family trees, as well as how use the catalog, the Learning Center, and wikis to better understand what’s available in your ancestral area.

Biography:

Katherine R. Willson of Dexter, Michigan is an engaging & dynamic genealogy lecturer at local, regional, and national events; a full-time genealogical researcher for private clients; and an educator for in-person and virtual genealogy classes of all levels. She is the founder and Past President of the Virtual Genealogical Association, the past President of the Michigan Genealogical Council, and past board member for the Association of Professional Genealogists. She is the author of The Genealogist’s Guide to Grand Rapids, Michigan and the creator of the Genealogy on Facebook list, cataloging 17,000+ genealogy/history pages and groups on Facebook (https://socialmediagenealogy.com/genealogy-on-facebook-list).

Genealogy on Facebook List Download the 436-page PDF file containing 16,700+ links (updated in January 2021) to genealogy & history Facebook groups/pages (in English) here: “Genealogy on Facebook” List There …