August - Muskegon County Genealogical Society

TWIG TALK
Newsletter
Since 1972
Vol. 16 No. 8
August 2016
Thursday, August 11, 2016
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
TAKE NOTICE: Meeting Starts at 6:30 pm
VFW Post 3196, 5209 Grand Haven Rd
“Little Known Facts”
On Cemetery Mapping
Bill Hansen
Find & Like 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
Facebook ....................... Norman Dagen
Historian ....................... Board Members
History Book Project ...... Kathy DeCormier
Hospitality ...................... Jane Weber
John Slater
Phyllis Slater
Library............................ Barb Martin
Membership ................... Paula Halloran
Newsletter...................... Dawn Kelley
Pioneer Cert. Program.. Barb Martin
Programs & Publicity ..... Board Members
Special Projects ............ Dawn Kelley
Website.......................... Shelly Nelson
Board Member ............... William Hansen
Board Member ............... Jim Harkness
Tom Van Bruggan
This program by Board member; Bill Hansen and Tom Van Bruggen,
Muskegon County GIS Administrator, will present LKF (Little Known
Facts) to the latest in cemetery mapping technology, GIS (Graphic
Information System). Muskegon County's GIS program began in 1998
with a proposal to begin digitizing the property tax maps being
maintained by the Equalization Department. From that humble start,
the GIS program has developed into a full enterprise-wide solution for
departments and municipalities throughout Muskegon County.
Thomas Van Bruggen is the GIS Administrator for Muskegon
County. Beginning in 1998 with a set of paper maps, red pens and an
engineer’s scale, Thomas has directed the implementation and
development of the County mapping system into a modern enterprise
Geographic Information System (GIS) that serves County government
offices, the citizens of Muskegon and beyond.
Bill Hansen is well known as a professional photographer and for
making the awesome new cemetery maps of the City of Muskegon &
Muskegon County Townships. So far there are 24 cemetery maps on
our website. Check them out. Bill is also an author of several books at
our Local History & Genealogy Dept. at the Torrent House.
GENEALOGY FAMILY HISTORY WORKSHOP
WE ARE BACK!
Sat., August 13, 2016 / 10:30am – 12:30pm or 2pm – 4pm
Space is limited, so please pre-register either online at
1972mcgs@gmail.com or call the Torrent
House, Local History & Genealogy Dept. at 231-722-7276 ext. 240
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HOSPITALITY HAPPENINGS
COUNTY CLERK RESEARCH
Muskegon County Building, 990 Terrace
St. MCGS volunteers are there every
Wednesday from 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Our
June
meeting
featured
speaker, Katherine R. Willson. Her
program
"Little Known and Rarely Used Google Resources
and Research Tips" gave handy ideas for
navigating Google using its advance search.
NEW BOOKS& INFORM ATION
IN THE LOCAL HISTORY &
GENEALOGY DEPT.
County Clerk, Nancy Waters, gifted members and
guests with a very comprehensive "Muskegon German Census Records 1816-1916
County Directory for 2016." County, township, city, The When, Where and How of a Valuable Genealogiand village services and agencies are included cal Resource, by Roger P. Minert
along with a county map, listed festivals, county
facts & figures and a history are some of the
TORRENT HOUSE
information colorfully illustrated in this directory.
Update and News
Talented baker, Pam Harrison, brought yummy
chocolate frosted brownies. The last one was
saved for President Dawn Kelley's sweet
tooth! She also brought much appreciated cheese
and crackers. Nancy Spoon's home baked peanut
butter cookies and double chocolate ones showed
her kitchen baking expertise. She offered a fruit
selection of melons and pineapple for our healthy
needs! John and Phyllis Slater brought our thirst
quenching water.
There were four door prizes with winners: Nancy
Bassett, Whitey Zissler, Juanita Joiner, and Phyllis
Slater. The ticket book "Google Your Family Tree"
will coordinate well with the program for winner
Bonnie Vokits. She also was the free draw book
recipient about the family life of the Pilgrims.
All the windows at the Torrent House have been replaced with brand new Pella windows & screens. What
a difference it has made. This should save on heat &
electric.
Damien & I (Dawn) have been working on to replace
some the bad copies of the City Directories of Muskegon County. Local History & Genealogy Dept. has
the complete collection. The collection is from 1873
thru 2015 with just 5 directories missing. Missing from
the collections is 1874, 1877, 1881, 1882, and 1994.
The 1926 city directory is the Muskegon street renumbering for 1925. Around 1952 there was a renumbering of the streets in Muskegon Heights and in 1957
there was renumbering of streets in Roosevelt Park.
The most recent city directories are always kept at the
reference desk at the main library.
In keeping with the June 14th Flag Day theme,
Phyllis Slater shared a framed 48 state flag and a
news
article
explaining
which
flag
stars represented our individual states.
Bill
Hansen shared a school photo that needed
identification. Pat Straley recognized it as the
Maple Island One Room School House which her
mother attended! August awaits your Show N' Tell
ancestral offerings!
INFORMATION ABOUT
OUR VOLUNTEERING MEMBERS
Thanks to Bill Hansen, who has recreated 24 cemetery maps so far for our society and still working on
more, check them out at our website, under databases-Cemeteries. See page 3 for more info & updates.
WOO! Ingrid & I (Dawn) did it, we finished photographing Oakwood cemetery, which has over 30,000
headstones. It took us 3yrs to finish from early Spring
2014 to June 2016. Ingrid has entered all to Find A
Grave. Later this year or early Spring of 2017 we will
have them up on website.
GENEALOGY NEWS
FROM OUR MEMBERS
From Dennis Allen
In case you didn't know it, Ancestry.com now has
Indiana death certificates 1899-2011. Search on
parents and view actual images.
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Twig Talk Vol. 16 No. 8 August 2016
Donations from
Muskegon County Genealogical Society
Our society has donated updated cemetery maps to
be placed at the other cemeteries that the City of
Muskegon maintain for the entrances. DPW have received a copy of the maps that they use at the DPW
garage. Oakwood cemetery is the first ever to receive
a cemetery map in the county. The 6ft x 5ft laminated
cemetery map was placed on the marquee so when
family members visit, they have an idea of where to
look with the description of how to find the headstone.
Oakwood cemetery entrance is on the corner of Irwin
& Wood St.
Front entrance on the Main Drive
We have good relations with City of Muskegon
DPW—Dept. of Public Works who own 4 city cemeteries,
Evergreen,
Lakeside,
Oakwood,
Restlawn. They have worked very hard to keep up
with all of them and they also help the society in
any way they can.
Back of the marquee displays the Evergreen,
Lakeside, Restlawn cemetery maps.
If you see the crew below roaming around on their
mower, weed trimming and lifting headstones,
they are the crew who work hard to keep the 4 city
cemeteries in tip top shape.
L to R Lilly Ann, Jeremey, Josh, Robert, Tim
SCHOOL PROJECT
Muskegon Schools Administration has donated
to our society school records After we have
indexed the school records, we donate the records to the Library of Michigan Archives
Thanks to Barb Wieresma who contacted the
society with this great wealth of history that
can be preserved for the future generations.
Remember we are collecting all school pictures, information about schools and records.
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Twig Talk Vol. 16 No. 8 August 2016
2016 Dates to REMEMBER
Regular Meetings
Board Meetings
7:00 p.m.
VFW Post 3195
5209 Grand Haven Road
Genealogy Family
Family History Workshops
Torrent House
315 W. Webster Ave.
January 15
January 14
February 5
February 11
March 10—starts at 6:30pm
April 14
March 4
Sat., Mar 19 workshop 10 to 2
April 1
May 12
May 6
June 9
June 24
August 11—starts at 6:30pm
August 5
September 8—starts at 6:30pm
September 2
October 13
October 7
Nov. 10—starts at 6:00 pm
NO meetings July & Dec
November 4
NO meetings July & Dec
Torrent House Local History &
Genealogy Dept., 315 W. Webster
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Please preregister online at
1972mcgs@gmail.com
or call 231-722-7276 ext. 240
January 9
February 13
March 12
April 9
May 7
August 13
September 10
October 1
November 12
NO workshops in
June, July, & December
“Friends come and go, but relatives tend to accumulate”
2016 PROGRAM SCHEDULE
REMEMBER WHAT TO BRING!
Live Webinar
Pencil or pen and paper to take
notes.
Any genealogy items you would like to donate
for the FREE table.
Money for 15 Generation Charts—$3 ea.
Money for the Ticket Book info below.
Show N' Tell for August
Sep 8
“The 15 Habits of Highly Frugal Genealogist”
Speaker Thomas McEntee
Who said genealogy and the hunt for your family history has to be expensive?
Learn how savvy genealogists are find success with
15 basic habits of frugality.
YOUTUBE VIDEO
TICKET BOOK
This is kind a neat to watch. GIS system working
with a township on cemetery mapping
Your Guide
Cemetery Research
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wID5yLYo5jU
Excellent books to have on
your book shelf!
Research Trip to Allen Co. Library
Fort Wayne, IN
Wed thru Sat, Oct 5, 6, 7 and 8
more details next mo nth.
Companion
Cemetery and Funeral
Home Research Records
GENEALOGYBANK.COM
New Content Update,
With over 114 Historical Newspapers for all 50 states.
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Twig Talk Vol. 16 No. 8 August 2016