JEFFERSON COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY (JCGS)

PO Box 627

Port Townsend, WA 98368

Contact for this media release: Judy Tough 385-3065 or tough@olympus.net

A Decree of (Temporary) Divorce: My Life Without Ancestry.com

Jefferson County Genealogical Society (JCGS) is offering to the community a day-long Seminar on Saturday, September 16, featuring professional genealogist, Mary Roddy, who will give two presentations at the Tri-Area Community Center, 10 West Valley Road, in Chimacum, WA. Registration starts at 9:00 a.m. and the program begins 10:00 – 11:40 followed by the afternoon session 12:30 – 2:00. Suggested donation is $10.00 for the Seminar. Bring your own lunch, and snacks to share. Coffee and tea provided. Genealogy books from Heritage Quest will be for sale on

site. <www.wajcgs.org>

Mary Roddy says of her morning presentation A Decree of (Temporary)

Divorce: My Life Without Ancestry.com:  “Learn how I found free substitute records for many of the records I used to pay for at Ancestry.com, and how I discovered some new sites as well.  My temporary ‘divorce’ forced me to examine my genealogy from a different viewpoint with a fresh perspective.  You, too, can recharge your genealogy, and save a few pennies as well.” 

Mary says her afternoon presentation FamilyBrowse: “FamilySearch.org 

has millions of images on its website, many of which are un-indexed and

not searchable. But if you know how to get into the catalog and browse around, you can find images of birth and death certificates, naturalization papers, deeds, will, estate inventories and more. And FamilySearch is

adding more and more images every month. To take advantage of this ever-increasing bounty its important to know how to find these types of records.”

Mary Roddy

Mary Roddy, a Certified Public Accountant, earned a certificate from the Genealogy and Family History program at the University of Washington. She is an active member of the Seattle Genealogical Society and speaks frequently in the Seattle area. Mary is a regular contributor to YourGenealogyToday and Internet Genealogy magazines, and a webinar presenter with Legacy Family Tree Webinars. She is working on a novel which incorporates stories of ancestors she has discovered in her research.