August - Muskegon County Genealogical Society

Newsletter of the Muskegon County
Genealogical Society
Since 1972
TWIG TALK
A publication of:
Muskegon County Genealogical Society
c/o Hackley Public Library
Torrent House
315 W. Webster Avenue
Muskegon, MI 49440-1208
www.genealogymuskegon.org
1972mcgs@gmail.com
Find us on
Officers
President:
Past President:
Vice President:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Dawn Westcomb Kelley
Jane Appleton Schapka
Kathy Broughton DeCormier
Karen Page Frazier
Nancy Clark Spoon
Committees
County Clerk ................. Jane Gates
Dawn Kelley
Barb Martin
Facebook ...................... Norman Dagen
Historian ....................... Board Members
History Book Project ..... Kathy DeCormier
Hospitality...................... Jane Weber
Paula Halloran
John Slater
Phyllis Slater
Library ........................... Barb Martin
Membership .................. Paula Halloran
Marsha Wiersema
Newsletter ..................... Kay Bosch
Dawn Kelley
Pioneer Cert. Program.. Board Members
Programs & Publicity..... Board Members
Special Projects ........... Dawn Kelley
Website ......................... Shelly Nelson
Vol. 14 No. 8
August 2014
Thursday, August 14th at 7:00 p.m.
VFW Post 3195, 5209 Grand Haven Rd
corner of Grand Haven & Porter Rds.
“Mistakes Everywhere”
Speaker, Diane Oslund
Diane will show examples: of mistakes found in vital records,
obituaries, census records etc. and will discusses ways to verify
the information.
It also covers the fact that not
all discrepancies can be resolved and suggests how to handle
the data until ‘hopefully’ it can be resolved at a later date.
Diane Oslund has been researching her personal family lines
since the late 1970's and has helped others research their
families for the past 15 years. She started speaking on
genealogical topics in 2003. She has authored or co-authored
books on some of her family lines. Co-authored with Karen
Krugman “Ford Family Cemetery” (Henry Ford's burial place) and
has helped transcribe several cemeteries in Lenawee County.
She has held several offices in a local genealogy society.
Plan Ahead because we are back in September!
Genealogy Family
History Workshops
Torrent House Local History & Genealogy Dept., 315 W. Webster
2 sessions!
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Please pre-register online at 1972mcgs@gmail.com
or call 231-722-7276 ext. 240
Please help us help you. We need your input, and sooner rather
than later. Tell us:
What do you want to see for future programs at out meetings?
What do you want to see more of in future Twig Talks?
What projects of recording history do you want to see us
pursue?
These are the things we want and need to know. Please send
us your thoughts to 1972mcgs@gmail.com
What day and year was this?
President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act establishing the system which guarantees pensions to
those who retire at age 65. The Social Security system also aids states in providing financial aid to dependent
children, the blind and others, as well as administering a system of unemployment insurance.
Twig Talk Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014
COUNTY CLERK
RESEARCH
MEMBERSHIP
Connie VanDeKoppel, Muskegon, MI
SURNAMES: None listed yet
Muskegon County Clerk is located
on the first floor. You will use the
front entrance at 990 Terrace until
the new jail is finished in the
winter of 2015. The parking lot is
on Pine St. & Mrytle Ave.
Connie Wanerus, Norton Shores, MI
SURNAMES: Havermans, Kovats, Ostrowski, Pereko,
Zahrt
HOSPITALITY HAPPENINGS
Our June meeting with speakers
Bill and Glenna Christen, focused
on the many clues for identifying
old photos. Connie Fales, Bonnie
Vokits, Sandra Kelley, Barb Martin,
Linda Welsh, Sherran Esch, Marie
Payne, Karen Farmer, Judy
Tierney, Nancy Bassett and Fran
Harrington brought their family
pictures for analysis. The program was very
educationally helpful to members! Lucky Ingrid Porritt
won the genealogical door prize. For or break, Barb
Martin tempted taste buds with yummy brownies, pound
cake, cookies along with chip and dip. Fresh fruit and
veggies were a tasty, nutritious addition from Ingrid
Porritt. The Slaters quenched our thirsts with bottled
water. Thanks go to all these giving people. We can
look forward to a MCGS Book Raffle with a book and
CD which have the same title: "More Dating of Old
Photographs 1840-1929. Generous Fran Harrington is
making the donation. There will also be a free book
drawing. In August, our speaker, Diane Oslund, will
focus on how to correct most discrepancies found in
research sources. Do you have ONE example of
misinformation to share?
NEW BOOKS AT HPL
Hutain Balduzzi Genealogy, by Mildred Leon Hutain
Sustainable Genealogy: Separating Fact From
Fiction in Family Legends, by Richard Hite
Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the
Secrets in My DNA, by Richard Hill
International Vital Records Handbook: Births,
Marriages, Deaths, by Thomas Jay Kemp
Sail & Rail: A Narrative History of Transportation in
Western Michigan, by Lawrence and Lucille Wakefield
Hubbardston Genealogy 1780-1930: plus "A Bit of
History" and "A Bit of Blarney, Too!', by Joanne
Burns Howard and Peter J. Burns
The French Canadians of Michigan by Jean Lamarre
VOLUNTEERS are there to help you on Wednesdays from
1:00-4:00 p.m. Remember, you can also go there any time
the office is open to do your research from 8 a.m. to 4:45
p.m.
TRIP TO ALLEN COUNTY LIBRARY
Let’s not forget to plan in time for our annual trip to the
Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We will
be gone October 1, 2, 3, & 4, 2014 (Wednesday thru
Saturday). More details are coming soon. We will car pool,
split gas, hotel, and parking fees.
If you can drive or would prefer to ride, would like to room
with people or alone, please let us know so we can make
proper arrangements. A sign-up sheet will be passed at
the meetings or email Dawn at
1972mcgs@gmail.com.
NOTE: Make the most of your trip to
Fort Wayne by doing all of your prep
work ahead of time! If you need help,
just ask any of us. We can give you
all the help you need.
MISTAKES, MISTAKES, MISTAKES
Below are just a few where mistakes can be made.
 Birth, Death, Marriage records.
 Census records.
 Don’t except family traditions without checking out first.
 Don’t limit yourself to the surname spelling.
 Internet genealogy.
 Finding out you have the wrong family you researched.
 Don’t trust anything you see in print
 Coats of arms is for a specific individual.
 Legends from family, beware.
 Don’t limit yourself to one spelling of the surname.
LATEST NEWS!
"Who Do You Think You Are?" 2014 TLC this summer
with six all-new episodes and a brand new list of contributors. The Emmy-nominated series is back on Executive
Produced by Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky, The season premieres Wednesday, July 23 at 9/8c on TLC.
Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history
resource, is teaming up again with TLC as a sponsor of
the upcoming season. As part of the show sponsorship,
Ancestry.com provides exhaustive family history research on each of the featured celebrities, which is used
to build out the story of each episode.
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Twig Talk Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014
Answer: August 14, 1935
NEW FREE ONLINE RECORDS
SPECIAL PROJECT UPDATE
UK – FamilySearch.org has created a new browsable
image collection of Durham wills, probate bonds and
probate commissions. The wills form the bulk of the
collection, numbering some 149,000 images. The
collection spans the years from 1650 to 1857.
Free access at:
https://familysearch.org/search/
collection/2358715
We have started taking pictures at Muskegon Oakwood
Cemetery and we need lots of help. Ingrid Porritt and
Dawn Kelley have taken over 2,000 photos to date. We
are looking for people to join us. If you would like to help or
if you know someone who can lend us a hand, contact us
at 1972mcgs@gmail.com or call 231-740-3698.
This winter Ingrid will start again indexing the vitals out of
the Montague Observer Newspapers.
Ireland FYI– The General Register Office (GRO) of
Ireland has put online enhanced indexes to Ireland’s civil
registration records. The indexes have been uploaded to
the IrishGenealogy.ie website. These include birth,
marriage and death indexes. Getting these indexes
online has been a primary aim of the Council of Irish
Genealogical Organizations for a number of years. The
birth index spans the years from 1864 to 2013. After
about 1900, the index seems to generally include the
actual date of birth, as well as the mother’s maiden name
(with some gaps). The marriage index spans the years
from 1845 to 2013 for non-Catholic marriages and from
1864 to 2013 for Catholic marriages. Marriages after
1912 are indexed by couple. The death index is from
1864 to 2013. In terms of geographic coverage, the
indexes up to 1922 cover all of Ireland and from 1922 to
2013 cover the Republic of Ireland. The details in these
indexes have been enhanced with such things as date of
birth. They are generally better than similar indexes
found at FamilySearch, Ancestry and FindMyPast (which
are based on microfilms FamilySearch prepared back in
1959). In other words, when looking at birth, marriage
and death indexes for Ireland, you are better off going to
the IrishGenealogy.ie website. The indexes can be
searched by first and last name. Access is free.
http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/
Please note, when making a search you have to click a
box saying that you are making an application to search
the index. This is here simply to satisfy the government’s
legal requirement to allow the indexes to be put online.
Also, when searching for Mc/Mac and O’ surnames, try
searching with and without the prefix and with and
without the space. Finally, some compound first names
(like ‘Mary Anne’) sometimes seem to be missing the
second part of the name (in this case filed under just
‘Mary’) [Ireland Civil Registration Records Index]
***Please note these indexes have been taken off line.
Apparently, the indexes contained information that
should have been redacted (blocked out), such as the
date of birth of living individuals. Publishing such
information is a violation of Irish privacy laws. It is not
known when the indexes will be going back online (with
the appropriate information redacted).*** There is also
some speculation the full records may come online within
a year, but no details have been provided.
Anita Shawboose has finished Seaman Cemetery (with
over 1,400 Headstones). She has also finished a couple of
the small cemeteries on the western side of the county.
We will have the Seaman Cemetery also photos up soon
as well.
Fran Harrington and her sister Cheri Miller are taking
pictures at Restlawn Cemetery and Fran is indexing the
death records & Cheri is indexing the marriage record at
the Muskegon County Clerk’s office.
Connie Fales, Viv Nelund and Linda Welsh are working
on indexing the death records at the Muskegon County
clerk’s office.
Karen Farmer has help us at Oakwood cemetery
Kay Deuster is finishing Mona View Cemetery.
Laurie Tilden volunteered to index the MAISD (Muskegon
Area Intermediate School District) from 1908 to 1933.
Jim Harkness is taking pictures of the plaques at Veterans
Memorial Park at the causeway and he also working on the
marriage indexes.
Dawn Kelley stopped by the our Muskegon County
Veterans office and found out that there will be some
changes at the Veterans Memorial Park. They should be
finished by next Veterans Day. They received a grant to
expand the park and the price for each plaque may go up
again.
Jean Town (Local History & Gen. Dept.) is typing in all the
death dates from the Clock Funeral records, 1894 to 1948.
Diana Iversen is putting an index together from the
Chancery index book into a database. 1894 - 1923.
Sherri DeMuro has volunteered to be the Muskegon
County Cemetery Corrdinator
A HUGE Thank You needs to go out to each and every
one of these people, and anyone we may have forgotten to
mention who is working on all of our other projects in
progress. We just could not do any of this without your
hard work and dedication to the cause. Thank you! If
anyone is interested in lending a hand please let us know
(email and phone above). It doesn’t need to be a huge
project or a lot of work. Just a little bit of time can help a
lot!
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Twig Talk Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014
2014 MCGS Membership List
New and renewals “THANKS” for joining our society.
Without you! we would not be the society that are today.
Carol Lang, Brohman, Mi
Howard LeRoux Sr., Norton Shores, MI
Diana Lebeau, Kalamazoo, MI
Ron Lindsley Sr., Muskegon, MI
Beth Lyons, Kenai, AK
Barb Martin, Muskegon, MI
Linda Martin, Fremont, MI
Mary McCann, Whitehall, MI
Gerald McDonald, Dearborn Hghts, MI
Cheri Miller, Muskegon, MI
Lyle Monette, Holton, MI
Shelly Nelson, Muskegon, MI
Viv NeLund, Muskegon, MI
Bob Nordstrand, Muskegon, MI
Garry & Charlotte Olson, Muskegon, MI
JoAnn Osborn, Fruitport, MI
Marie Payne, Muskegon, MI
Ingrid, Porritt, N. Muskegon, MI
Lorretta Rhoads, Russellville, AR
Paula Rice, Muskegon, MI
John Robillard, Whitehall, MI
Tony Rumsey, Hesperia, MI
Jane Schapka, N. Muskegon, MI
Jon Schultz, Grayling, MI
Ruth Skinner, Whitehall, MI
Virginia Skoglund, Woodstock, IL
John & Phyllis Slater, Whitehall, MI
Monica Smith, Muskegon, MI
Arthur G. Souter, Cooks, MI
Nancy Spoon, Muskegon, MI
Pat Straley, Muskegon, MI
Randy Stenholm, West Olive, MI
Judy Tierney, N. Muskegon, MI
Laurie Tilden, Muskegon, MI
Connie VanDeKoppel, Muskegon, MI
Joyce VanderVere, Norton Shores, MI
Bonnie Vokits, Fruitport, MI
Connie Wanerus, Norton Shores, MI
Nancy Waters, Muskegon, MI
Jane Weber, N. Muskegon, MI
Linda Welsh, Muskegon, Mi
Richard White, Muskegon, MI
Marcia Wiersma, Norton Shores, MI
Ann Wirtz, Muskegon, MI
Eileen Wojewodzki, N, Muskegon, MI
Joanne Wood, Muskegon, MI
Pat Wright, Spring Lake, MI
Marilyn Young, Yuma, AZ
Gerald & Nancy Zissler, Muskegon, Mi
Kathy Agard, Muskegon, MI
Dennis Allen, Muskegon, MI
John Archer, Whitehall, MI
Rob Aronson, Crozet, VA
Shari Aspey, Muskegon, MI
Cherri Atwood, Fruitport, MI
Wendy Bialik, Muskegon, MI
F. Richard Barr, Syracuse, NY
Nancy Bassett, Grand Haven, MI
Karen Bielinski, N. Muskegon, MI
Elmer Bluhm, Spring Lake, MI
Kay Bosch, Muskegon, MI
Charlie Brown, Spring Lake, MI
Dave Bush, Muskegon, MI
Karin Carlson, Muskegon, MI
Harriett Chalker, Muskegon, MI
Maria Chmelarova, Muskegon, MI
Carol Chu, Muskegon, MI
Mary Connell, Cheyenne, WY
Norm Dagen Jr., Empire, MI
Dona J. David, Muskegon, MI
Sabrina Dawson, Santa Rosa, CA
Kathy DeCormier, Muskegon, MI
Sherry DeMuro, Muskegon, MI
Janet Dexter, Muskegon, MI
Nancy D. Dotson, Muskegon, MI
Carl & Sherran Esh, Grand Haven, MI
Connie Fales, Muskegon, MI
Karen Farmer, Muskegon, MI
Karen Frazier, Fruitport, MI
Jane Gates, Muskegon, MI
Joan Gawron, Muskegon, MI
Paula Halloron, Muskegon, MI
Jim Harkness, Twin Lake, MI
Fran Harrington, Muskegon, MI
Pam Harrison, Twin Lake, MI
Katherine Heilman, Fraser, MI
Anthony Hermans, Poolesville, MD
Rebecca Hill, Sour Lake, TX
Diana Iversen, N. Muskegon, MI
Sue Irvine, Grand Rapids, MI
Juanita Joiner, Muskegon, MI
Kathy Jolman, Muskegon, MI
Katherine Joy, Whitehall, MI
Judi Keim, Sturgis, MI
Dawn Westcomb Kelley, Muskegon, MI
Sandra Kelley, Whitehall, MI
Alice Kooistra, Twin Lake, MI
Jennifer Lamkin, Muskegon, MI
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Twig Talk Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014
Free download from Family Tree University
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Twig Talk Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014
Important Upcoming Dates 2014
Regular Meetings
Board Meetings
7:00 p.m.
VFW Post 3195
5209 Grand Haven Road
5:30 p.m. at the VFW
VFW Post 3195
5209 Grand Haven Road
August 14
September 11
October 9
November 13
No meeting in
December
August 14
September 11
October 9
November 13
No meeting in
December
Genealogy Family
History Workshops
Torrent House Local History &
Genealogy Dept., 315 W. Webster
2 sessions!
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Please pre-register online at
1972mcgs@gmail.com
or call 231-722-7276 ext. 240
September 13
October 11
November 8
THINGS TO REMEMBER
Money for the book drawing and the
15 Generation Charts
No workshops in
June, July
August & December
See You at the Meeting!
Michigan moves records to the cloud
What’s coming to MCGS
The Archives of Michigan is using a state-of the-art and
inexpensive option—the internet — to store and preserve a
growing collection of digital records that includes everything
from 40 years worth of election results to an index of
thousands of proposed designs for the state’s quarter
released 10 years ago.
Sep 11 - Program “Organize Your Genealogy
Life” by Family Tree Magazine Power Point
Presentation.
 Conquer the Chaos.
 Choose the best genealogy filing system for you.
 Decide what to keep and what to toss.
The public can search to find what records have been  Keep a neat genealogy space (no matter large or
small).
archived, but to actually view the documents will have to get
a state archivist to retrieve them.
A public viewing
component will be added later.
Oct 9 - “The Poor Farm”, speaker Marjorie Viveen a
topic near and dear to me! A program on the farm would
The new public viewing capability will be restricted to to include its basic history (started in 1866 in response to the
read-only access. The use of tabs can manage whether
need following the CW...), a little about it Keepers, and a
documents or parts of documents or parts of documents are
viewable. Confidential information, like a Social Security lot about individual "inmates."
number, can be hidden from public view. Tabs can likewise
be matched to different roles and security levels one the
Library of Michigan
new component comes online. (WMGS Newsletter Summer 2014)
now open 2nd Saturday of month
NOTE: The requirement is to electronic records. There is no
10am—5pm Monday—Friday
plan at this time to go back and digitize older paper records
10am–4pm 2nd Saturday of the month
and make them available online. (WMGS Summer 2014)
Visit their Web site at
www.michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan
CONGRATULATIONS!
West Michigan Genealogy Society (WMGS)
Michigan Historical Museum
9am—4:30pm, Monday—Friday
10am—4pm Saturday
1pm—5pm Sunday
Visit their Web site at
http://michigan.gov/michiganhistory
Save the date for—Friday and Saturday, October 10-11
The Annual Seminar A Celebration of our 60th
anniversary! Dick Eastman will be WMGS speaker at—
2014 Got Ancestors
(WMGS Summer 2014)
Check out their website for more details: www.wmgs.org
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Twig Talk Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014