Tag Archives: Eastern Washington Genealogical Society

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Spring Seminar

by Charles Hansen


Saturday, April 1
Spring Seminar — DNA  (EWGS Meetings)
8:30 am to 3:15 pm
Country Homes Christian Church 8415 North Wall Street Spokane WA
Presenter: Mary Kathryn Kozy
Mary Kathryn Kozy has been researching her family history for over 35 years and across many different localities. She has served in multiple positions in societies on the

local & state level and as a Family History missionary. Mary is currently the Secretary of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State and speaks to many groups in

the area. She holds bachelor’s degrees in both Zoology and Information Technology & Systems and has completed the ProGen online study program with an eye toward

certification.
You can pay at the door, but you may not get a handout, so register early and be counted.

PDF Version of the flyer  EWGS Kozy Flyer

 

Eastern Washington Gen Society News

by Charles Hansen
Saturday, January 7, 2017  —  12:30 pm to 3:00 pm
The Pearl Buffet, 21 E Lincoln Road Spokane WA 99208
Lunch at 12:00 followed by program. 
Welcome to the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum!! A gem in our area that perhaps you’ve overlooked visiting. Come hear director, Jayne Singleton, tell us all about this wonderful museum AND research station for the history of the peoples of Spokane Valley. 
Born in South Bend Indiana, raised in Redondo Beach CA, Jayne moved to Spokane 33 yrs ago and was educated at SFCC, Gonzaga and EWU.
She (with a group of others) established the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum in 2004 in the Opportunity Township Hall. She is now Museum Director & Valley Historian, presented programs to community, schools, clubs, groups and is a contributing author on historical events/people to magazines, newspapers etc.
 

Diane Hunter Boyd Awarded 2016 Outstanding Volunteer Honor

by Roxanne Lowe

Since 2003, the Washington State Genealogical Society has recognized almost 500 outstanding volunteers and teams, nominated by their local society or genealogical organization for their service and dedication. These volunteers are the backbone of their local society, giving their time and expertise, to the organization and the field of genealogy. In the coming months, you will be introduced to each of the 2016 award recipients and learn why they received the 2016 WSGS Outstanding Volunteer and Team Award.

Diane Hunter Boyd

Diane Hunter Boyd

Today we’re introducing Diane Hunter Boyd of Spokane Valley, Washington, who was nominated by the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society (EWGS). She was recognized for her dedicated, creative efforts as the EWGS’s web manager.

In August 2011, Ms. Boyd agreed to become EWGS’s web manager “for a few months.” She remained in the position for the next four-and-one-half years.

In additional to her duties as web manager, including creation of a new home page at ewgsi.org, Ms. Boyd became the web coordinator of EWGS’s new digital publication, Digital Digest. When Ms. Boyd stepped down as EWGS’s web manager, she continued to answer questions from both the new web manager and the Digital Digest coordinator.

Ms. Boyd ensured EWGS had an easy-to-use, current website, and was always helping anyone that needed help. As such a dedicated member, she richly deserved being named an Outstanding Volunteer by the Washington State Genealogical Society.

For more information on the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award program, visit the Recognition page of the WSGS website or contact Roxanne Lowe, Recognition Chair, at Roxanne@thekeeffes.com.

Eastern Washington Gen Society Newsflash

by Charles Hansen

ewgs-2-640x480

Saturday, November 5

Spokane History, a New Way to Share Local History.

Cookies & Social Time: 12:30 PM.  Meeting starts at 1:00 PM

Spokane Public Library Auditorium, Downtown Spokane

Presenter: EWU Professor of History Larry Cebula

 

” Spokane History, a New Way to Share Local History.”  For decades, local history was told mostly through public plaques, small museums, and the rare public event. Starting in 2012, students at Eastern Washington University pioneered a new way of sharing local stories, through a website and smartphone app called Spokane Historical. EWU Professor of history Larry Cebula and a few of his students will demonstrate SpokaneHistorical.org, sharing some of the best stories and the excitement of local history.

 

 

Eastern Washington GS’s Tuesday Gals Awarded 2016 Outstanding Team Award

by Roxanne Lowe

Since 2003, the Washington State Genealogical Society has recognized almost 500 outstanding volunteers and teams, nominated by their local society or genealogical organization for their service and dedication. These volunteers are the backbone of their local society, giving their time and expertise, to the organization and the field of genealogy. In the coming months, you will be introduced to each of the 2016 award recipients and learn why they received a 2016 WSGS Outstanding Volunteer and Team Award.

Today we’re introducing the Tuesday Gals Team who were nominated by the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society (EWGS). Members of this dedicated team include Carol Anderson, Patricia Ayers, Patricia Bayonne-Johnson, Barbara Brazington, Mary Holcomb, Juanita McBride and Dolly Webb.

EWGS's Tuesday Gals

EWGS’s Tuesday Gals

Started in the 1950s, the “Tuesday Gals” are a longtime tradition of Gene-Helpers in the local library. In addition to helping people with genealogical research, the Tuesday Gals support EWGS’s genealogical holdings that are housed in the downtown branch of the Spokane Public Library by ordering books, binding and/or repairing them and cataloging them. Although they’re usually at the library on Tuesday’s (thus the name), they’re quick to help if needed on a different day.

This group of dedicated volunteers richly deserve being recipients of a 2016 Outstanding Volunteer Team by the Washington State Genealogical Society.

For more information on the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award program, visit the Recognition page of the WSGS website or contact Roxanne Lowe, Recognition Chair, at Roxanne@thekeeffes.com.

Meet the Board: Charles Hansen

by Roxanne Lowe

Do you know who’s running the show at the Washington State Genealogical Society? Did you know we have an Executive Committee, six standing committee chairs and three appointed non-elected officers? Who are all these people? In the coming months, we’ll introduce them to you, so you can say “hi” the next time you see them.

WSGS Web Blog Manager Charles Hansen

Web Blog Manager Charles Hansen

In our new “Meet the Board” series, we’re introducing you to Charles Hansen from Spokane. Charles is WSGS’s Blog Master, as well as chair of the Resource Guide Project. He is a longtime member of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society where he serves as their Registered Agent, email chair, chief researcher (since 1998), head of library volunteers and one of their bloggers.

We know him as Charles, but he was born Charles Michael Hansen and called “Mike” by his family for as long as he can remember – probably to avoid confusion with his maternal grandfather Charles Rupert Kelly after whom he was named. His middle name honored his paternal grandfather Anton Mikkel Hansen.

Born in Spokane, Charles graduated from Washington State University in Pullman in 1971. For many years, he’s been an “Enrolled Agent,” someone considered by the IRS to be the equivalent of a CPA – able to do examinations, collections and appeals. In case you were wondering, the name Enrolled Agent came about soon after the Civil War when Enrolled Agents were authorized by the government to fill out paperwork for the veterans and families of the veterans for benefits provided by the government.

Charles and his grandfather Charles Kelly, Aunt Mayme McMichael and his grandmother Cleo Kelly

Charles and his grandfather Charles Kelly, Aunt Mayme McMichael and his grandmother Cleo Kelly

Charles became interested in genealogy back in 1990 after he and his sister Jacque decided to hold a family reunion. They started looking for their Hansen relatives – not an easy task considering that Charles and Jacque have more than 100 second cousins! After corresponding with their Dad’s first cousin Lorraine Erickson, a Family History Center volunteer in Arizona, Lorraine sent them a group sheet — something Charles and Jacque had never seen before! Lorraine suggested they send blank group sheets with the reunion packets.  Imagine their surprise when they got 350 family group sheets back! They dutifully typed the information into a program called the “Enhanced Family Tree” and printed a book for everyone that came to the reunion.

That started the ball rolling. Wanting to find out more about their family, they took a beginning genealogical course through the local community college taught by Donna Potter-Phillips, past president of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society — and WSGS Vice President. She encouraged Charles and Jacque to join EWGS and the rest is, well…history.

A tip from Charles: I didn’t record who sent me each group sheet, so for the first 500 names in my genealogical file today most have no sources, but I do have the hard copy group sheets. Also the Enhanced Family Tree program did not have the ability to save data as a GEDCOM so when I switched to a better program, I had to retype all the data I had.

Charles and Jacque recently returned from a road trip to visit family and the Montana State Genealogical Society conference in Missoula to hear Judy Russell and Amy Crow. Charles has also visited Minnesota where the five original Hansen brothers settled. He’s also got ancestors from Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, New England, Denmark, England, Scotland and Germany.

When Charles isn’t blogging on the WSGS Blog (or his own blog http://charles-mikkelshus.blogspot.com/), researching at the county courthouse, volunteering at EWGS or doing his own genealogy, he’s out in his garden puttering here and there.

More trivia about Charles:

  • His favorite color is blue.
  • His favorite dessert is ice cream.
  • His most used genealogy website is the Washington State Digital Archives – where he’s transcribed over 523,000 records!
  • He says the single word that best describes him is “introvert.”

Now you know a little more about one of the WSGS Board members. The next time you see Charles, say hello and thank him for his service to the WSGS.

EWGS President Pat Bayonne-Johnson meets Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia

by Charles Hansen

On the EWGS Facebook page today was a link from an article by Megan Smolenyak  telling about an article in the Washington Post by Terrance McCoy on the Georgetown University sale of 272 slaves to pay off debts owed by Georgetown University:Link here ( https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2016/06/17/georgetowns-priests-sold-her-ancestors-into-slavery-heres-how-she-cracked-the-mystery/ )

This is a copy of the Blog post I did for the EWGS blog a few days ago where Pat Bayonne-Johnson met the President of Georgetown University:

EWGS President Patricia Bayonne-Johnson descendant of slaves that were sold by Georgetown University in 1838, meets with Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia at the Spokane Public Library. Read the article by Rachel L. Swarns of the New York Times. (https://goodblacknews.org/author/goodblacknews/ ) or the article in the Spokesman Review

Here is some pictures of the meeting:

Pat and John DeGioia

Greeting the team of researchers.

Sitting down to talk about the research.

Genealogists In the News

by Charles Hansen

Genealogists in the news

ewg-nyt

We are honored to share that the President of Eastern Washington Genealogical Society (EWGS), Pat Bayonne-Johnson, appeared in a story on the front page of the New York Times on Sunday, April 17. We hope you’ll find the story as interesting as we do. You can read the entire story here.

Bayonne-Johnson first learned her ancestors were reported to have been enslaved by the Jesuits of St. Mary’s Count, Maryland in 2004 while making plans for a family reunion. She sent documents to a genealogist in Baton Rouge for examination who discovered that Pat’s great-grandmother was born in Maryland. The rest might in fact be history but it’s a history worth uncovering.

In November 2015, Bayonne-Johnson formed the Butler Team at the library (pictured above) to continue to do research on her ancestors. Janette Birch (not pictured) is also a member of the team. Seated Pat Ayers, Pat Bayonne- Johnson, Dolly Webb. Standing Juanita McBride, Mary Holcomb, Carol Anderson and Barbara Brazington.

This is just one of many projects the genealogists are working on in any given week.

We invite you to stop by the downtown library on Tuesdays between 10 am and noon and 1 pm and 3 pm when volunteers are at the library to provide assistance to our customers on their own genealogical research. In addition to EWGS on Tuesdays (and some Thursdays—ask the downtown staff for more specifics on those dates), our reference librarian, Becky Menzel is our resident genealogist. She can assist you in getting started or answer any questions you might have while sending you in the right direction toward doing your own research.

The library also has a number of local history items as well as access to Family Search and American Ancestors, the New England Historic Genealogical Society’s database, which Becky can show you how to use.

More about the Eastern Washington Genealogy Society →

From the Spokane Public Library Newsletter copied with permission

Mary Malone Holcomb Named Outstanding Volunteer in 2015

by Roxanne Lowe

Since 2003, the Washington State Genealogical Society has recognized more than 450 outstanding volunteers and teams, nominated by their local society or genealogical organization for their service and dedication. These volunteers are the backbone of their local society, giving their time and expertise, to the organization and the field of genealogy. In the coming months, you will be introduced to each of the 2015 award recipients and learn why they received the 2015 WSGS Outstanding Volunteer and Team Award.

Today we’re introducing Mary Malone Holcomb of Spokane, Washington, who was nominated by the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society (EWGS) . She was recognized for her dedicated volunteer efforts within EWGS and beyond.

Mary Malone Holcomb

Mary Malone Holcomb

Ms. Holcomb has been a member of EWGS since 1999 where she served as 1st Vice President for two years, long-time hospitality chair and library volunteer. Ms. Holcomb was a volunteer for the 1940 Census Roll-Out celebration promoted by the Spokane Public Library. She is also a volunteer and board member of the Evergreen Cemetery Association, helping lead their efforts to restore the cemetery grounds, research interments, and obtain military headstones for Civil War veterans buried there.

Ms. Holcomb’s varied volunteer activities also extend to the Spokane Firefighters Memorial Association, honoring local firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty, and as a “Lookup” volunteer for the Durham-Orange Genealogical Society in Durham, North Carolina.

Ms. Holcomb is a valued, important part of the EWGS. Her efforts illustrate that she richly deserved being a recipient of a 2015 WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award.

For more information on the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award program, visit the Recognition page of the WSGS website or contact Roxanne Lowe, Recognition Chair, at Roxanne@thekeeffes.com.

Eastern Washington Gen Society Newsflash

by Charles Hansen
Finding Missing Family Members Through Public Records

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Saturday, March 5, 12:30 to 3:00, Spokane Public Library Auditorium, Downtown Spokane
Finding Missing Family Members Through Public Records
Speaker Chuck Delgado.
Chuck is a licensed private investigator with Delgado Investigations, LLC
After 10 years in law enforcement in Spokane & Stevens County, Chuck worked in the mining industry in Alaska, returning to Spokane in the winter as a Private Investigator. He also spent 14 years in the Public Defenders office administering polygraph exams.
His interest in learning how to access public records was the result of working as a private investigator.  He had to teach himself how to obtain information which agencies did not want to provide.
As it applies to Genealogy, finding that missing person can be the key to completing the family tree.  Thinking “outside the Box” will be part of the class.
Cookies & Social Time: 12:30 PM.  Meeting starts at 1:00 PM.  All interested genealogists are welcome to attend.