Tag Archives: Eastern Washington Genealogical Society

GU272 Memory Project

by Charles Hansen

American Ancestors has started the GU272 Memory project which is a project that several EWGS Members form Spokane have worked on. Patricia Bayonne-Johnson a former EWGS president had found out with the help of a paid genealogist that her Butler family had been born in Maryland, were Catholic and ended up in Louisana. She formed the Butler group in Spokane and wrote a blog post on the information they had found.

This is 7 of the 8 members of the Butler Group Pat formed at the Spokane Public Library. Georgetown was pretty sure none of the 272 slaves they had sold had lived until they found the blog post Pat had done on finding her family from Maryland.

Today the GU272 Georgetown project has found more than 8000 descendants of the original slaves sold to start Georgetown University and they are still searching for more. Check here to see how to search to see if you have an ancestor connected with the GU272 Memory Project or to help with the project.

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society June Meeting

by Charles Hansen

Kathryn Laird Bowen, M.B.A.

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Meeting

June 1, 2019 1:00-3:00 PM

Main Floor Auditorium

Downtown Spokane Public Library

906 W Main Ave (cross street: Lincoln)

OUR PROGRAM WILL BE:

“BUTCHER, BAKER, CANDLESTICK MAKER,

By: Kathryn Bowen

USING OCCUPATIONS TO FIND YOUR ANCESTORS”

https://ewgsi.org/

Click here For program syllabus

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Meetings

by Charles Hansen
Saturday, May 4 Results of EWGS – Future of the Society  (EWGS Meetings) 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm Spokane Public Library Auditorium – Downtown Spokane – Main Floor Barbara Brazzington will review the ideas that have been brought forward regarding our future as a Society. This will include things from meeting times to new ideas about the topics covered in our meetings.
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Eastern Washington Genealogical Society had a great Spring Seminar

by Charles Hansen

Our speaker was Sunny McClellan Morton from Ohio. Photos courtesy of Sonji Ruttan the EWGS Secretary, Thanks Sonji.

Her first section was comparing the four major genealogical databases, Ancestry, Family Search, FindMyPast and MyHeritage. Next Section on PERSI, then lunch. Church records after lunch and finally a section on Find My Past.

Sign in table
Sharlee Mikelson our Hospitality Volunteer
Prince of Peace Kitchen
Seminar Attendee
Raffle Winner
Raffle Winner
EWGS Blogger Janice Moerschel
Harold Young Raffle Winner
Elizabeth Culver Raffle Winner
EWGS President Dolly Webb Raffle Winner & Lynn Krogh from Ways & Means
Debbie Golding Ways & Means
My sister won a Raffle Prize while she was in the restroom

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society March Meeting

by Charles Hansen

Saturday, March 2 EWGS Looking Forward  (EWGS Meetings) 12:30 pmSpokane Public Library Auditorium – Downtown Spokane Member, Barbara Brazington will lead a discussion on where the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society is going in the future. As you are aware, there have been major changes in how we conduct family history research in just the last few years. In that light, at the March meeting we will be holding focus groups to find out what your ideas are for where you think the society should be a year from now, even five years from now. Four topics will be presented for discussion: Membership – i.e., what do you want from membership in the society? Logistics – i.e., what are your ideas on the meeting schedule, location, time, format, etc.? Resources – i.e., how can the Society take advantage of modern technology to offer educational opportunities and resources? Community – i.e., in what ways can the Society partner with other community groups that benefits both? Brainstorming at its best.

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Spring Seminar

by Charles Hansen

Sunny McClellan Morton

Coming to the EWGS Spring Seminar on Saturday April 6. 2019

PRINCE OF PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH

8441 N Indian Trail Road, Spokane WA. 99208

Doors open 8:00 a.m., Registration at 8:30 a.m., Seminar begins: 9:00 a.m.

Sunny is an internationally known, award winning writer and speaker for the genealogy industry

ALL DAY SEMINAR

Topics:

Finding Historical Records on the Giant Genealogy Websites

Meet PERSI and Discover Treasures in Genealogy Periodicals

Exploring Church Records

Finding your way on Findmypast.com sunnymorton.com

Deadline to register March 20, 2019

Member $35 – Non Member $40 – Pay at the door $40

Box lunch by Christ Kitchen -$12-must be preordered

Or you may bring own lunch

Click here for more information and to register

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Meeting

by Charles Hansen

Saturday, February 2 Black History Month  (EWGS Meetings) 12:30 pm to 3:00 pmSpokane Public Library Auditorium – Downtown Spokane – Main Floor Black History Month 2019 Poetry – Genealogy – History Join Spokane poet Stephen Pitters as he reads poetry, discusses genealogy, and shares his personal experiences as the first black student to live on an all-white campus in Louisiana.   Pitters hosts the Spokane Open Poetry Program on KYRS-Thin Air Community Radio. He has published five volumes of poetry, with a sixth arriving in February or March.

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society January Luncheon

by Charles Hansen

At our January 5 2019 meeting of EWGS we will have three functions.

***We will honor our past presidents who will be with us at the meeting.

***We will install our new 2019 officers including Dolly Webb and those who will serve with her.

***We will experience a live webinar with Diahan Southard entitled: “Three Next Steps for Your DNA Test Results.”

Please arrive at the Fosseen Room at Mukogawa by 11:30 so we can start promptly and complete our full agenda. Thank you!

This all takes place at the Fosseen Room at Mukogawa (4000 W. Randolph Road). We will dine on a soup, sandwich and salad bar for $20.00 which includes tax and gratuity. The Webinar will be visible on two large monitors in the room so they should be easily visible.

There are 2 registration options:  To pay with a credit card go to EWGSI.ORG and click on the upcoming Meetings and Events menu on the left side. The first event on the page is this meeting. The button at the bottom of the event will allow you to pay the $20.00 with a credit card (through PayPal) so it arrives right away. You can send a check to EWGS, PO Box 1826, Spokane, WA 99210-1826 for $20.00 Please make your payment as soon as possible so the correct number of lunches can be provided. December 15th is the cut off date for registration and we will only be able to accommodate 80 people, so please register now so you don’t miss out!

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Christmas Party

by Charles Hansen

 

Annual Christmas Party - Your Pioneer Ancestor

Saturday, December 1
Annual Christmas Party – Your Pioneer Ancestor  (EWGS Meetings)
12:30 pm to 3:00 pm
Spokane Public Library Auditorium, Downtown Spokane
This year’s theme is “Your Pioneer or Early American Ancestor.”
Tell us about a family, or family member, that came from somewhere other than the United States of America. America is the “Great Melting Pot” so we should see some wonderful diversity in the presentations. Each presentation will be limited to a maximum of 5 Minutes.
The following questions come to mind: Why did your ancestors come here? When? How?
Maybe your story will enable the group to learn a new research trick or prompt some ideas for you to solve a brick wall. Visual aids are always welcome. Show and tell!!
Our annual cookie parade will continue. Please bring a couple dozen of your favorite homemade holiday cookies to share. Don’t forget your recipe! We still have hopes of a cookbook some day.
There will be door prizes so be prepared for a fun and festive holiday get together.
Organizer – Mary Holcomb.
If you have questions or suggestions please contact Mary at:  mkholcomb@live.com

Eastern Washington Gen Soc Hosts Successful Fall Seminar

by Roxanne Lowe

Dave Obee with the WSGS Blog Team: Charles Hansen, Roxanne Lowe and Donna Potter-Phillips.

Despite a last minute venue change, the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society‘s annual Fall Seminar went off without a hitch — at least to the 70+ attendees.

Leading Canadian genealogy expert Dave Obee delivered five presentations in an information-packed day. One of my favorite gems was my introduction to CanGenealogy.com — a Canada only version of Cyndi’s List. So many resources to investigate to learn more about my New Brunswicker great-grandparents!

Organizers of the EWGS Fall Seminar should be very proud of themselves for pulling off this event. I felt so welcome — just like one of the group. If you’re looking for a well-done workshop, mark your calendar for Saturday, April 6, 2019. EWGS is hosting popular lecturer Sunny Jane Morton for their Spring Seminar. Donna Potter-Phillips (my gracious weekend hostess and fellow blogger) gave us a heads-up in this blog post.