THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Thursday Evening E-News Edition June 6, 2019

Curious about the status of your GFO Membership? We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!

gfo.org | 503-963-1932 | info@gfo.org Be sure to check the complete GFO CALENDAR. Also, don’t miss the current issue of The Forum Insider

Half-Day Workshop: Adding Historical Context

Adding Historical Context: A Hands-On Approach Join GFO’s Kate Eakman July 14 from 9:30 a.m. – Noon for a half-day of learning about how to add historical context to your genealogical research to make it richer and more interesting. In this workshop you will: ▪ Practice identifying items, events, and topics ripe for historical research. ▪ Once the questions have been asked, learn how to find the answers. ▪ Discuss how to add this new-found information to one’s family’s history. Take advantage of Early Bird pricing. Register by June 30 and save $5.00!

Register Now

GFO June Star: Remi Newhouse

You could not ask for anyone more organized than Remi Newhouse. Singlehandedly, he has launched our online sales of a variety of donated items. Plus, he’s a data extraction dynamo, indexing Multnomah County Marriage Record books. These are among the GFO’s most valuable, unique resources, and indexes will open them to the wider world. We couldn’t ask for better help than Remi is giving to the GFO. Thank you, Remi!

Clark County Steps Up With Paradise Donations

The steamroller of generosity continues to roll as we help the Paradise Genealogical Society rebuilding their library that burned last year. Last Sunday, the Clark County Genealogical Society dropped off 13 boxes of books! We’ve added them to the stacks of boxes we’ve already put together with our surplus holdings. This may mean we have more boxes than we can easily carry in early June. Fortunately, another GFO member is driving to Paradise itself in the middle of the month and has offered to take the remainders then. Thank you all for your generosity to assist Paradise in getting back on its feet.

Donations for Paradise at the Clark County Genealogical Society

You’re Invited! – Annual Membership Meeting June 15

Please join us for the annual Membership Meeting on Saturday, July 15 at 2 p.m. at the GFO library. Each year we honor a stellar volunteer with our Hall of Fame Award, ask you to approve our budget by voice vote, and introduce you to the newest board members who will take office next month. The meeting lasts only 30 minutes and we’d love to see you there.

But there’s another great reason to come that afternoon. Right after the meeting, our GenTalk from 2:30-3:30 p.m. presents Using the General Land Office and History Geo. Kristin Parks will show you incredibly useful land records which you can reach from the GFO computers. Using the GLO website, HistoryGeo.com and the GFO’s collection of Oregon Donation Land Claim material can lead you on a rewarding journey of discovery that covers a lot more territory than you might think. See you June 15!

Member Dues Rise July 1 – Renew Early Before the Increase

Each year the GFO has raised its basic, individual member dues by $1, and $2 for joint members. This almost covered the increase in our rent, but nothing more. The board also learned that our Life Memberships had fallen way behind what the board several decades ago intended. Life dues were meant to reflect a cost 20 times that of a one-year membership. Over the years, that information was not passed on to later boards, and the Life Memberships have not been raised in 13 years. Life Member dues are an investment in the GFO, placed in our Endowment Fund to help finance operations in perpetuity. Given rising expenses, the GFO Board of Directors has approved increases to both of these categories. For one year, effective July 1, 2019, annual Individual and Student memberships will increase $2 while Joint Memberships increase $4. On July 1, 2019, Individual Life Member dues will increase from $750 to $875 and Joint Life Memberships from $1,000 to $1,220. In subsequent fiscal years they will rise again so that by 2022 they will equal 20 times an individual membership. Anyone may renew early, before July 1, to lock in this year’s lower rates. NOTE: If you are mid-way into a standard membership and would like to become a Life member, we will credit your life member dues with the unused amount of what you have already paid. Life members can pay everything in one lump sum, or spread payments out over three years.

Renew or Join Now

PMUG Clinic Debuts at the GFO

June 12th & 26th 6:00 – 7:45 p.m. in the GFO Classroom For the month of June, the Portland Macintosh Users Group will bring one of our most successful events to the GFO – the PMUG Clinic. The Clinic is a friendly place where you can bring in that Mac/iPad/iPhone that you are having problems with for free diagnostics, as well as many other issues. Some examples of how PMUG Clinic can help you include: • If you have questions on one of the basic Apple software apps, you don’t need to take a whole class to get your questions answered. • If you are having problems with your Mac/iPhone/iPad, you can bring it in for a free diagnostic. • If you want to find the best backup system for your genealogy archives, you can get a custom recommendation based your actual needs. No need to register, just show up during clinic hours: Bring your Mac or Apple mobile device. If you would like additional information for attending PMUG Clinic, please email us at college@pmug.org.

(Mug) Book of the Week

This week we’re offering a 1980 reprint of the 1683 History of Duchess [Dutchess] County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers by James H. Smith. This is a soft-cover version, has library stamps, and notes from a prior owner. “Mug” books, as they are often called, are great resources for learning about a community around the turn of the century.

Often when they are reprinted, the pages are significantly reduced in size—but not this one! Pages measure 8.25″ by 11″, and there are 562 of them, not counting the introductory material and an appendix naming (and giving particulars about) contributors. This material is available in digital form online, but if your family is from Dutchess County, wouldn’t it be nice to have this on your bookshelf at home?

Pick it up at the GFO for $18, or we can mail it to you for $26. Contact booksales@gfo.org to get your hands on this terrific book.

Survey Results: Has DNA helped you solve any brick wall problems?

There were 32 responses to our question, “Has DNA helped you solve any brick-wall problems?” And the answers were split right down the middle, with 16 answering, “Yes,” and 16 answering “No.” There were 19 written responses to our request for more information. You can read all the responses here. And six people gave us some suggestions for future surveys. We thank them and offer one of the suggestions this week.

New Survey: What do you do when you find family trees with errors?

Anyone who’s spent any time looking at online family trees knows they often have inaccuracies. Okay, information that is just plain wrong! An e-news reader wants to know: What do you do when you find a tree that has the wrong information about your ancestor?

Take the Survey

This week at GFO …

Saturday, June 8th Great Lakes Region SIG 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. We welcome guest speaker Duane Funk who will discuss Quaker records and what we can learn from them. The records of the Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, include births, deaths, marriages, migration certificates, and detailed monthly meeting minutes. Even if you don’t have Quaker ancestors, this promises to be a fascinating look at Quaker history and research methods in general. If your ancestors were in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, or Ontario CANADA, or if you simply want to come hear about this fascinating topic, you are most welcome to attend. Please note that the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade is this same morning – give yourself plenty of travel time! We hope to see you there. Sunday, June 9th Library Work Party – 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Family Tree Maker Users Group – 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Join other users who want to work through the 2017 Companion Guide to Family TreeMaker. Bring your laptop with 2017 version of FTM installed . If you haven’t been for a number of meetings or are new, please come 30 minutes early so we can provide you a newer version of our fake practice tree. We currently have 34 people in our practice tree.. Facilitated by Joyce Grant-Worley. FTM@gfo.org French Canada Group – 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. Sharing stories of our history. Come and join this group to learn more about French Canadian ancestry and Acadia. The group leader is Bob LaMarche. Monday, June 10th Beginners Boot Camp 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Laurel Smith will present a day of beginning genealogy. There will be sessions about the census, vital records, immigration and naturalization, discussions about genealogy software and database use, organizing your research and more — all geared toward beginners. Those registered should bring a sack lunch so the discussion can continue while we eat. This class is currently full. If you wish to put your name on the wait list, click here. Tuesday, June 11th Board Meeting 6:10 – 8:10 p.m. Wednesday, June 12th PMUG Clinic – 6:00 – 7:45 p.m. For the month of June, the Portland Macintosh Users Group will bring one of our most successful events to the GFO – the PMUG Clinic. The Clinic is a friendly place where you can bring in that Mac/iPad/iPhone that you are having problems with for free diagnostics, as well as many other issues. PMUG is a group of users helping each other, which is what user groups are all about. We have been running these clinics for several years and enjoy offering the unique opportunity for people to access free one on one consultations with our knowledgeable experts.