The Washington Pioneer Pursuit contest is a little over half done. So far, we have more than 600 pioneers identified in our index and many more in the review process. While the contest part (a prize for everyone!) ends October 31, 2023, the program will continue as we march toward identifying every man, woman and child that lived in Washington Territory on or before Nov. 11, 1889.
We’re sure you’re not the only one with a question or two about the Pioneer Pursuit Contest. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to try to answer some of the most frequently asked questions. To see a list of other FAQs, click here.
I don’t have any ancestors who were in Washington Territory. Can I still participate in Pioneer Pursuit?
You bet you can! You don’t need to be related to any Pioneer to submit their name (& two subsequent generations) in the Pioneer Pursuit. Just pick a Pioneer from a census record, land record or any other good source, and start researching!
I don’t belong to WSGS or a genealogical society. Can I still participate?
Yes! You do not have to be a member of WSGS to participate, but please consider it. To join, click here. Or if you’re interested in a local genealogical society, click here. But if you’d rather go it alone, we’re happy to accept your submissions.
Click HEREfor a video presentation explaining Pioneer Pursuit and answering questions. This video recording is from the Pioneer Pursuit Roundtable discussion, 24 Apr 2023.
TIP OF THE WEEK – SEATTLE CENTER CULTURAL FESTIVALS At Seattle Center, under the theme “Where the World Gathers”, 24 free cultural festivals are scheduled for 2023. A fun, learning experience for the entire family. Coming up in June and July are:
Sadly we report that long-time SGS member and zealous SGS volunteer, Sarah Little, has passed away. SGS remembers Sarah as a dedicated leader who was determined to see that SGS survived and prospered.
Sarah joined SGS in 1985 and immediately became involved. Jim Secan, current SGS president, provided this list of all the positions she held at SGS and he commented, “She was on the Board pretty much full time from 1987-2003!”
Director of Membership 1986-1987
President 1987-1989
Vice President 1989-1990
President 1990-1992
Director of Operations 1993-1995
Director of Membership 1995-1997
Director of Operations 1997-1999
President 1999-2001
Treasurer 2001-2002
Quite deservedly, a SGS Honorary Lifetime Membership was bestowed on Sarah. In addition to all her SGS volunteer work, she also taught a certificate program in genealogy at the University of Washington.
A service for Sarah is being planned for later this summer.
Some of you may be aware that Barbara Rae-Venter, J.D., Ph.D. is the genetic genealogist who cracked the Golden State Killer case using DNA. She needs your help. She emailed the following: “We are working on identifying a suspect for a homicide in Fife, Pierce County. We have very low DNA matches (highest is 23 cM) and would like to do some outreach into the local Slavic community to do DNA testing in the hopes that we could identify some closer matches. Do you have primarily Slavic bio ancestry? If so, would you be willing to do a DNA test? The DNA kits would be provided by FTDNA. In return for the (free) kit, the test taker would provide their family tree going back to their great grandparents, if possible.”
On 20-23 April ten writers came together on Friday Harbor for the SGS100 Writers’ C(r)amp. The outcome was a lot of writing, some great conversations, and growing camaraderie.
SGS100 Writers’ C(r)amp attendees
SGS CENTENNIAL MEMBERSHIP
Join the Seattle Genealogical Society today and become a charter member for our second century!
If you are already a member, it’s time to log in to your account and renew your membership for 2023-24 as we continue the celebration of our 100th year.
Participate in special Centennial Events and enjoy discounted class and Seminar fees, free research requests, special interest groups, and access to exclusive SGS publications and databases. Your membership will extend through the 2023 Centennial Year and until May 31, 2024.
Meet the Board, talk about the election results, SGS business, and the budget. Stay on for the Second Saturday program.
You may attend this meeting in the SGS Library or virtually; your choice. Please register either way. Instructions are on the SGS website calendar of events.
100 years ago: 17 March 1923
On 17 May 1923, a front page headline in the Seattle P-I read “5 Suspended in High School Pie-Egg War”. The article went on to say “Sons of Capitol Hill People Disciplined After Fracas in Broadway-Garfield fued [sic].” “Instructor Questioned for Reckless Driving Following Capture of Youthful Warriors”.
5 boys of prominent families were suspended from Broadway High School and an instructor at Garfield was taken to the police station for questioning. The cause was the athletic rivalry between the two schools. The Broadway baseball team had recently defeated Garfield. One engagement entailed pumpkin pie throwing by Garfield students at Broadway students, the second involved a “barrage of eggs” thrown by Broadway students at Garfield students.
“5 Suspended in High School Pie-Egg War” , Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 17 May 1923, p1, col 2.
* Watch each eNews! issue for “100 years ago”, our new anecdotal series. We will be running it for the duration of 2023, our centennial year.
SAVE THE DATE
Fiske Genealogical Library, Spring Classes 2023 – Virtual, Wednesdays, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Pacific Time
The topic for May 31 is “The FamilySearch Research Wiki” with Celia McNay. The link to the Fiske Library website is: https://www.fiskelibrary.org/
Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State, usually 2nd Monday meetings usually 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Pacific Time
JGSWS meets on the second Monday of each month, from Sept-June. Doors open at 6:30 PM unless noted otherwise. The next meeting is June 12 2023, and the program is “In Search of Mishpocha – Creative Methods for Finding Cousins” with S Lynn Diamond. http://www.jgsws.org/meetings.php
SGS CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Good Shepherd Center, Suite 302 4649 Sunnyside Ave N Seattle, WA 98103 206 522-8658
The elevator is back in service!
Please call ahead to make sure our library will beopen. We are short on front desk volunteers.
Hours : Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday ** 10:00 am – 3:00 pm **
Masks are recommended inside the Good Shepherd Center. Due to COVID the events listed below continue to be virtual, online via Zoom. Always check the SGS Website Calendar of Events for the meeting links, registration, or for last minute updates or changes to the schedule. Be advised you may need to register in advance to join a meeting.
NOTICE: SGS has imposed more security on our Zoom meetings. Some meetings will begin with a waiting room. The host must take action to let people into each meeting. The host will try to open the waiting room about 10 minutes ahead of time. Please be patient.
All times listed are Pacific Time unless otherwise noted
Saturday, June 3, 2023, 10:15 am- 12:15 pm, FamilySearch SIG, with Lou Daly. Discover many ways to use the FamilySearch website in your research. Meeting includes instruction and time for Q&A. Email Lou to get on the email list: loudaly@nwlink.com
Sunday, June 4, 2023, 1:00 pm-3:00 pm, DNA Workshop, with Cary Bright and Craig Gowens. To participate you need to be on the SGS DNA Interest Group email list. Contact Cary Bright at SGSDNASIG@gmail.com to join.
Monday, June 5, 2023, 10:00 am-11:30 am, Brags & Bricks Social Interest Group (Virtual), Join us for an informal social gathering. Share your recent genealogical successes and challenges, or just come to hang out with other genealogists.
Saturday, June 10, 2023, 12:30 pm-1:00 pm, SGS Membership Meeting , meet the board and talk about SGS business. Register for in-person or online attendance.
Saturday, June 10, 2023, 1:00 pm-2:30 pm, Second Saturday: The “Push” and “Pull” Decision Making of the 19th Century Immigrant, with Jill Morelli. Please register in advance.
Monday, June 12, 2023, 10:00 am-11:30 am, Brags & Bricks Social Interest Group (Virtual), Join us for an informal social gathering. Share your recent genealogical successes and challenges, or just come to hang out with other genealogists.
Monday, June 12 2023, 1:00 pm-3:00 pm, Board of Directors Meeting at SGS (Virtual), All SGS members are welcome to attend. SGS is an all volunteer organization. Please be involved.
Monday, June 12, 2023, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm, Write It Up! SIG (Virtual), Join this group to share and discuss writing projects, resources, and ideas. To join or learn more, contact Alaine Keisling at keisling@gmail.com
Tuesday, June 13, 2023, 10:00 am-11:00 am, Tech Tuesday (Virtual), informal consultation time on DNA, genealogy software, or genealogy-related technical issues. All are welcome. No appointment necessary. Bring us your problem; we’ll try to help.
Monday, June 12, 2023, 10:00 am-11:30 am, Brags & Bricks Social Interest Group (Virtual), Join us for an informal social gathering. Share your recent genealogical successes and challenges, or just come to hang out with other genealogists.
Friday, June 16, 2023, 10:30 am-12:30 pm, Family Tree Maker SIG, the FTM by Software MacKiev user’s group meets via Zoom on the 3rd Friday of each month. If you would like to attend and are not on the SIG e-mail distribution list, please send an e-mail to egsgenealogyhelper@yahoo.com no later than Thursday, May 18th to request the meeting ld.
Saturday, June 17, 2023, 9:00 am- 12:00 pm, PRESERVATION SEMINAR, with Denise Levenick, free to SGS members, small fee for non-members, registration required.
Sunday, June 18, 2023, 1:00 pm- 4:00 pm, Special Preservation Seminar with Denise Levenick continuation. Free to SGS members. Register today.
Monday, June 19, 2023, 10:00 am-11:30 am, Brags & Bricks Social Interest Group (Virtual), Join us for an informal social gathering. Share your recent genealogical successes and challenges, or just come to hang out with other genealogists.
Saturday, June 24, 2023, 10:00 am-12:30 pm, DNA SIG, with Cary Bright and Craig Gowens. To participate you need to be on the SGS DNA Interest Group email list. Contact Cary Bright at SGSDNASIG@gmail.com to join.
Monday, June 26, 2023, 10:00 am-11:30 am, Brags & Bricks Social Interest Group (Virtual), Join us for an informal social gathering. Share your recent genealogical successes and challenges, or just come to hang out with other genealogists.
Tuesday, June 27, 2023, 10:00 am-11:00 am, Tech Tuesday (Virtual), informal consultation time on DNA, genealogy software, or genealogy-related technical issues. All are welcome. No appointment necessary. Bring us your problem; we’ll try to help.
Steven W. Morrison is the past president of the Puget Sound Chapter of APG. Steven is a long-time member, speaker and collaborator at HQRL. Steven received The American Society of Genealogists Scholar Award in 2016. Virginia, Quaker and Ireland are just a few of the many topics Steven has presented in his speaking career. Please help us welcome Steven back to HQRL for another interesting class. Courthouse Records in Colonial Virginia – Order, Deed & Wills Book
Records from Virginia courthouses are some of the nation’s oldest written treasures. The Order, Deed & Will books are microfilmed for most Virginia counties but are not widely accessible. Today these have been digitized and are now online. These records create an amazing tapestry for those researching in the colonial era. When: June 15, 2023 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Where: ZOOM Cost: $20 Members $25 Non-members Sign-up and Payment:
Go to hqrl.com and click on the HQRL Store (Be sure to sign in as a member to recieve the discount)
In the Summer, 2022, issue of American Ancestors, publication of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, there was an article aimed at Memorial Day. Written by David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogists at NEHGS, the article was titled “The Final Hour: U.S. Military Gravestones.”
Lambert began the article thusly: “Most American cemeteries include a veterans section. These lots typically feature standard white marble gravestones……which the U.S. government provides at no cost for any honorably discharged veteran…..a tradition that began about a decade after the Civil War.”
“Soldiers from earlier wars had gravestones, of course, but these were placed by families. Not all of the Civil War dead were identifiable and many wooden headboards in military lots are marked as unknown. Some Union or Confederate dead were identified based on their uniforms, buttons or insignia.”
Realizing that the wooden headboards were deteriorating, on March 3, 1873, Congress passed an appropriation of a million dollars ( nearly 28 million today) to replace the wooden headboards with more permanent marble or granite markers.
Lambert ended the article with: “Nearly 150 years after its original appropriation, the U.S. Veterans Administration continues to assist with marking or re-marking graves of American veterans from the Revolutionary War to the present. For assistance with ordering (or replacing) a gravestone for an honorably discharged U.S. veteran, contact the veterans’ agent in the town or city of burial.’ Websites you might wish to check (Google): *US Civil War Roll of Honor, 1861-1865*Roll of Honor: names of Soldiers who died in Defense of the American Union*US, Burial Registers for Military Posts, Camps, and Stations, 1768-1921*US Records of Headstones of Deceased Union Veterans, 1879-1903*US Headstone Applications for US Military Veterans, 1925-1949*American Battle Monuments Commission database*Interment.net*Find-A-Grave*Billion Graves
TRIVIA: Know why Union gravestones have rounded tops and Confederate markers have pointed tops? The “wag” is that the Confederates “wanted no damn Yankees sitting on their graves.” True? Have no idea.
To a genealogist, nothing is more fun than struggling to read old newspapers…… in great expectation of finding bits and pieces about an ancestor’s life. Consider these; first from The Spokesman Review, 5 Nov 1921:
“A nail two inches long has been removed from the lung of a 15-months-old baby at the Deaconess hospital. The child, who is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Leo Dahlin of Nine Mile, swallowed the nail October 29, and the mother did not discover the trouble until X-rays four days later disclosed the nail. At the time the child choked until it was black in the face, but when Mrs. Dahlin was ready to start for town the trouble seemed to depart and the baby appeared normal. Later the lungs of the baby began filing with mucus and the mother brought the child to Dr. T.E. Hoxsey. On October 24 the child’s condition seemed alarming and an operation was decided upon. Dr. O.M. Rott, a throat specialist, assisted Dr. Hoxsey.
An incision was made in the neck through which the windpipe was cut. By inserting a powerful magnet the nail, which was two inches long, was drawn out. The parents of the baby report that it is well on the road to recovery.
POSTSCRIPT: Our Washington Digital Archives shows a marriage for Leo Dahlin, age 21, born in Minnesota to Swedish parents, marrying Mabel Nason, age 17, born in Spokane, to New Brunswick born parents. Then on 1 May 1941, Leo Dahlin, Jr, marries Phyllis Wade. Was Leo, Jr., the son who survived this operation???
“Twin Rivers Genealogy Society is presenting Walking with Ancestors, July 4th at the Normal Hill Cemetery, 1122 7th St, Lewiston, ID. First tour at 8:30am,with the last tour at 10:30am, lasting about an hour, at the Masonic Section. Steven Branting will be presenting McConville’s. The graves of Kroutinger’s, Butler, Damas’, Stenzel’s, and Tannahill’s and the Columbarium. Please bring a lawn chair.”–
Sue Gehrke
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