Waterford Genealogical Society E-Newsletter Volume 10, Number 4 ~ 9 April 2014

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: WAYNETHOM6@aol.com. 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 Ksmith8061@aol.com
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.