THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Thursday Evening E-News Edition March 14, 2019

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

For more information visit www.gfo.org. Contact us at info@gfo.org or 503-963-1932. Be sure to check the complete GFO CALENDAR. Also, don’t miss the current issue of The Forum Insider

Member Meeting and GenTalk this Saturday, March 16th

Are you a GFO Member? Please join us for the General Membership meeting this Saturday from 2 – 2:15 p.m., immediately followed by our free March GenTalk. At the Membership meeting, find out who’s running for office, nominate someone (with their prior permission), or even throw your hat in the ring.

What’s the GenTalk topic this month? Following American Migrations: The First 100 Years by Tricia Oberndorf From the end of the Revolutionary War through the 19th century, Americans and immigrants moved westward from the eastern seaboard to the interior and ultimately to the far west coast. This presentation will discuss who moved westward, the reasons why they moved, the routes they may have taken, and the things you may discover for them along the way. Tricia Oberndorf has been engaged in genealogy research for 30 years, the last six years professionally. Her research has spanned most of the United States, from the colonial period to the 20th century. Her ancestors were not ones to stay in one place very long, prompting her to learn about U.S. migration. Living in Columbia County, Oregon, she has also become engaged in local history and research there, volunteering with the Columbia County Historical Museum.

GFO Hall of Fame Nominations Needed by May 1st

Please be sure to send your nominations to secretary@gfo.org before May 1st! The Hall of Fame Award is our way of honoring GFO members who have performed outstanding service to the Forum. The award is limited to one person per year, except in the case where a pair of members has worked together or the Board waives the limitation. A nomination may be made by any Forum member and the recipient will be selected from the panel of nominations by a majority vote of the Board of Directors. The recipient must have a well-documented history of service, leadership and accomplishment in more than one facet of the Forum over a significant period of time. Please include examples of how this nominee fulfilled all three categories.

This Week’s Survey: Open House!

Our biggest event of the year is a little over a week away. . We’d love to know if you’re planning to attend! Please let us know if we should expect you by taking our survey. Just click on the button below.

Open House Attendance Survey

Handouts for the Open House are available online!

Download the class notes for the presentations you plan to attend. Print them or not depending on your preference. Review them before attending. Bring them with you when you come for the class. Step 1. Visit GFO’s online calendar. View by week for better detail.

Step 2. Scroll to the week of GFO’s Open House.

Step 3. Click on the class you want to attend and click on the link to download.

We hope to see you at many of our upcoming, completely FREE Open House events, beginning in less than 10 days!

GFO’s Irish Special Interest Group is busy this month!

1. The All Ireland Cultural Society (AICS) has a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration and invited the GFO to have a table there. As the Irish SIG, we plan to have someone join GFO president, Vince Patton, to help spread the word about our group and extend an invitation to join us in researching our Irish ancestors. * 1. We have a program for our meeting on April 17. Jennefer White contacted us through the GFO website asking for help with a brick wall. She did a very nice job of sharing with us what she knows, and where she has looked for information. Before the April meeting we will share her information. What a great opportunity for us to brainstorm and learn from each other about strategies and resources. Perhaps we can help her breakdown that wall! * 1. At our last meeting Tom O’Brien let us know that he must step down from the Corresponding Secretary position. We are looking for someone to volunteer to take over that position from him. The primary duties are to maintain the email list of members of our group in a computer format. Tom has shared his file with us. Then, when meeting reminders need to go out, or if someone else has an announcement (ex. when we share Jennefer White’s brick wall info), the secretary sends it out to our members. If you might be interested, or have any questions, please let us know by contacting us by email at Irish@gfo.org. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all.

Surplus Books of the Week: 1850 California Census Index

If you know someone with deep California roots back to the Gold Rush era, pass this on! We have not just one, but two copies of this book to spare: Index to the 1850 Census of California. Both were published by Genealogical Publishing Company in 1972 and are in good condition. You can have either one for $24 per book. Contact booksales@gfo.org if interested.

Urgent call for a Webmaster!

Our wonderful GFO Webmaster, Maggie McNair, must step away from this important role. Do you have website experience? We Need You! Fortunately, our website service already provides a stable template so the design is already set, and our CMS is user friendly. However, we have a deep website with many searchable records and we need someone to help keep the site updated. Please contact president@gfo.org if you have the skills and some spare time to offer us. This is a volunteer position. In fact, the GFO is all-volunteer. We have no paid staff of any kind. Thank you, Maggie, for all your work on the website over the last few years!

Amnesty Reminder: Please Return GFO Books

Our recent inventory revealed a troubling statistic: 193 books are missing from our library. Collectively, these are worth thousands of dollars and many cannot be replaced. Might you have one at home that you perhaps forgot to return? Please check your home, car, etc., and help us find our missing books. If you find a GFO book, please return it, no questions asked. If it was checked out, we will waive overdue fees on books returned by March 31st.

This week at GFO .. SATURDAY, March 16th Genealogy Problem Solvers 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. William P Smith, Farmer, Klondike gold prospector, college trustee, acquaintance of President Hubert Hoover, Quaker, and soldier, who were his parents? And, how did a good Quaker wind-up carrying a musket for General Sherman? How was he connected to the Quaker marriage certificate for Benjamin Smith and Elizabeth Pearson found in his granddaughter’s effects? Come find out how the answers to these questions and more were found in War Department records. Beginners and intermediate researchers are encouraged to submit problems to work on. For more information contact Katie Daly at GPS@gfo.org. African American Ancestry Group 12 – 2 p.m. Freedmen’s Bureau records are overlooked by far too many researchers. The records have not been the easiest to work with, but now that they are online and indexed, they can yield a wealth of information more easily. These documents can include marriage dates, children’s birth dates, school records, work contracts, and, most importantly, the name of an applicant’s most recent slave holder. Learn why these records can be key to finding out more about your family. If you know of any other people interested in African American genealogy, tell them about the group. You do not have to be a GFO member to participate! For more information, contact us at African_American@gfo.org. General Membership Meeting 2 – 2:15 p.m. Find out who’s running for office, nominate someone (with their prior permission), throw your hat in the ring, and be on hand for the GenTalk to follow. GenTalk: Following American Migrations: The First 100 Years 2:15 – 3:15 p.m. Presenter: Tricia Oberndorf From the end of the Revolutionary War through the 19th century, Americans and immigrants moved westward from the eastern seaboard to the interior and ultimately to the far west coast. This presentation will discuss who moved westward, the reasons why they moved, the routes they may have taken, and the things you may discover for them along the way. Tricia Oberndorf has been engaged in genealogy research for 30 years, the last six years professionally. Her research has spanned most of the United States, from the colonial period to the 20th century. Her ancestors were not ones to stay in one place very long, prompting her to learn about U.S. migration. Living in Columbia County, Oregon, she has also become engaged in local history and research there, volunteering with the Columbia County Historical Museum. SUNDAY, March 17th Library Work Party 9 a.m. – noon There’s another work party at the GFO library today for those of you who can come. There’s lots to do and we’d love to have your help. Doors open at 9 and work usually wraps up around noon. Some people come for just an hour or so; others work the full time. You are welcome to do either. Any time you can share is valuable. Hope to see you there. Family Tree Maker Users’ Group 1 – 3 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 and an empty usb thumb drive. Facilitated by Joyce Grant-Worley. Send Joyce a question at FTM@gfo.org. French Canada Group 3:30 – 5 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. Send him a note at FrCan@gfo.org. WEDNESDAY, March 19th Learn & Chat 10 a.m. – noon At Learn & Chat some of the learning comes from speakers with particular expertise but most of it comes from the sharing of experiences and knowledge of attendees who have developed methods that work for them. And if you have been doing genealogy for any length time you have likely experienced the wonderful moments of exhilaration, the successes that you then share with others and that drive you to continue researching. Unfortunately those times can be few and far between. Join us to talk about your genealogy questions and help provide support to others. Facilitated by Jean Quan and Sandy Alto, who can both be reached at learnandchat@gfo.org. DNA Q&A 1 – 3 p.m. Lisa McCullough leads a discussion on various DNA related subjects, with each meeting focused on a particular subject. General questions are welcome at the end of each planned discussion. Questions?Please email Lisa at dna_lm@gfo.org. Library Open Late Until 8 p.m.