500th ANNIVERSARY OF THE REFORMATION

This month, the world acknowledges the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. On October 17, 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed his “95 Theses”, or complaints against the Catholic Church, to the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany. His main concern was the selling of indulgences, or pardons, to raise money to build St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. His challenge to the Pope would spark the Protestant Reformation in Western Europe, splinter religious beliefs, and incite war.

Notice that the word Protestant contains the word “protest” and that reformation contains the word “reform”. Luther was gravely concerned about the way in which getting into heaven was connected with a financial transaction, but this was not his only disagreement with the Catholic Church.

Come learn more about it.

On Sunday, October 29 at the SGS Halloween Open House, there will be treats as well as an audio visual program on “The 500th Anniversary of Martin Luther’s Protestant Revolution” presented by Jean Roth, chair of the SGS German Interest Group.

The prior day, Saturday, October 28, at the Irish and German Special Interest Groups, Jean will feature “Using Church Records for Research”. Church records are important as one of the main sources we, as family historians, use in our genealogical research.

Hope to see you there.

Continue reading →

ELIZABETH HOWIE,
VOLUNTEER OF SUMMER QUARTER

Elizabeth Howie, who was selected to be SGS Volunteer of the Summer Quarter, has been an active member of SGS for many years. Currently she is the Front Desk Volunteer Coordinator, a role she has filled twice in the past.

Responsible for recruiting and training new front desk volunteers, and for coordinating the schedule of volunteers for the desk, Elizabeth makes sure there is always an able and experienced volunteer on site to greet patrons and help them with their research.

Elizabeth has many genealogical interests that keep her busy when she isn’t wrangling front desk volunteers. Past research trips include journeys to Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. These trips didn’t lead to much in the way of genealogical discoveries, as the countries were so beautiful she didn’t want to be indoors with books and papers! She had fun visiting the library in Salt Lake City and hopes to return there for more fun.

Art Loh, who was Elizabeth’s beloved companion, was an electrician who worked and set up the printers for the patrons and volunteers. Sadly, he passed away in 2011.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for your years of service. SGS couldn’t survive without the help of wonderful volunteers like you.

NEW SGS VICE PRESIDENT, GARY EPPERLEY

Congratulations to Gary Epperley! The Board approved the appointment of Gary to the position of Vice President of the Seattle Genealogical Society, which has been operating without a VP for quite a while.

In addition to his regular vice presidential duties, Gary has agreed to assume some responsibilities for the maintenance of our technology and the transference to the new website.

SGS is very happy to have Gary on board!

KICKOFF FOR THE NEW
“SECOND SATURDAY SPEAKER SERIES”

Hope you were able to catch the debut of our new program, “Second Saturday Speaker Series”, last weekend at the SGS Library. We were lucky enough to have the founder of the renowned website Cyndi’s List as our first speaker. Not only is Cyndi Ingle a talented webmaster and speaker, she is pretty funny to boot.

As the name implies “Second Saturday Speaker Series” takes place on the second Saturday of the month from 1:00 pm-2:30 pm at the SGS Library. Each month will be a new speaker and a new topic. Here’s a preview of what’s in the pipeline.

Oct 14, 2017 “Trails West: Crossing the Continent 1840-1869” Mary Kircher Roddy

Nov 11, 2017 “Using social Media for Family History: Why Bother?” Mary Kathryn Kozy

Jan 13, 2018 “Chinese Exclusion Act Files – Original Documents at NARA” Trish Nicola

Feb 10, 2018 “Using Academic Libraries for Genealogy Research” Lisa Oberg

Mar 10, 2018 “Finding and Using Historic Newspapers” Claudia Breland

Continue reading →

YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND A PRESENTATION

BY

CYNDI INGLE

NATIONALLY RENOWN GENEALOGIST

SATURDAY

SEPTEMBER 9, 2017

1:00 – 2:30 P.M

SEATTLE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY LIBRARY

“The Hidden Web: Digging Deeper”

“When Google and traditional search engines don’t return useful information, don’t stop there. We will explore resources that are invisible to Google and hidden deep within web sites and proprietary databases. The “hidden web” lies buried within the collections for commercial web sites, libraries, archives, and museums. We will also talk about the importance of indexes that deep-link into websites online, thus uncovering hidden gems of information that may not be found easily through a search engine query.”

Please join us for this fascinating presentation

by one of our favorite local genealogists

IMPORTANT DATE CHANGE
FOR FALL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Please note that the SGS Fall Membership Meeting originally scheduled for Saturday, September 23, has been postponed until Saturday, November 11. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Mary Kathryn Kozy, avid genealogist and researcher, will be the featured speaker. Mark your calendar. We hope to see you then.

SCHEDULE CHANGES FOR OUR INTEREST GROUPS

The Irish and German Interest Groups are starting up again on their usual third Saturday of the month. Their next meeting will be Saturday, September 16. Due to the Fall Seminar in October, they will move their meetings to the fourth Saturday, October 28.

Also Family Tree Maker (FTM) Users Group is starting up again in October. They have elected to meet bimonthly (every other month), on the 2nd Saturday of the month, at the new time of 10:15am-12:15pm. The schedule for the next twelve months is :
•October 14, 2017
•December 9, 2017
•February 10, 2018
•April 14, 2018
•June 9th, 2018
•August 11, 2018

ANOTHER GREAT TESTIMONIAL!

Were you able to catch Jill Morelli’s presentation, “FamilySearch: the Other 70%” on August 13th? It was about locating image only records in FamilySearch.

In a nutshell, the class covered how to conduct locational searches using the map, “Find a Collection,” FamilySearch Wiki and the Card Catalog. While not indexed for surname searches, often the arrangement of the image-only record set is embedded in the images. The images, dependent on the type of document, are arranged alphabetically, geographically or chronologically, making it easier to find your ancestor. Look at the beginning of the images of the record set to find the key to finding your ancestor.

Jill was thrilled to get the following note from a grateful attendee who said we could share this with our readers.

“Hi – I was at your presentation at SGS on Aug 13th, and just had to let you know my WONDERFUL find using the ‘Catalog’ search method you taught us. I’m the one who talked to you at the end about ‘miss attributed paternity’ and the fact that my grandmother had been married twice, and that the first husband was unknown. Well, I was able to find their marriage license and certificate for June 1906 in Missouri using the Catalog search! It was such an overwhelming event for me, as I hadn’t know until a few months ago about the first marriage, and that my father was a product of this first marriage. Now I’m on the hunt for his birth announcement, but at least I know now who his father was, and his birth name. Thank you again, and I look forward to your next presentation”.

Thank you for sharing your experience. It’s nice to hear we’ve been of help.

LUXEMBOURGERS, ANYONE?

SGS member, Lisa Oberg, will be presenting a free webinar, “Luxembourgers on the Prairie: Researching Your Luxembourg Ancestors”, on Tuesday, September 12, 6-7:00pm PDT. This webinar is sponsored by the Illinois State Genealogical society.

To register, go to :
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4916431437334451204
SAVE THE DATES

SGS 2017 Fall Seminar,
“Becoming A More Organized and Effective Genealogist”
by Dick Eastman
Fairview Christian School,
Seattle, WA
October 21, 2017

SGS is excited to have Dick Eastman for the Fall Seminar. Registration will open in early September. Mark your calendar.

2017 LDS FAMILY HISTORY FAIR,
Stake Center Bellevue,
14536 Main St,
Bellevue, WA
Saturday, November 4, 2017

It’s time again for the annual LDS Family History Fair. Always free, always informative, a different venue.

SGS CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Unless otherwise indicated all programs will be at the SGS Library, 6200 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle. Check the SGS Web Site for additions, changes, and corrections. Programs may be canceled or postponed because of inclement weather. The Family Tree Interest Group with Lou Daly and the Scandinavian Interest Group will not meet in September. The SGS Library will be closed September 2 – 4 for Labor Day weekend.

SEPTEMBER

Saturday, September 9, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm, new “Second Saturday Speaker Series”, with guest, Cyndi Ingle

Sunday, September 10, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, DNA Workshop, Led by Cary Bright with first hour on a specific topic, and the second hour open for sharing DNA issues with focus on GenomeMate Pro.

Saturday, September 16 , 10:15 am – 12:15 pm, Irish SIG, with Jean A Roth
Saturday, September 16 , 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, German SIG, with Jean A Roth

Tuesday, September 26, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm, Beginning Genealogy Class, research veteran and past president of SGS, Linda Fitzgerald, will teach you how to get your genealogy project going. Feel free to bring a brown bag lunch.

OCTOBER

Saturday, October 7, 1:00p m – 3:00 pm, Family Tree Interest Group, Lou Daly, leader of this new special interest group exploring all the features of the tool Family Tree on FamilySearch.

Sunday, October 8, 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm, Scandinavian Interest Group, Karen Knudson, leader. A workshop for your Scandinavian genealogy.

Saturday, October 14, 10:15 am -12:15 pm, Family Tree Maker (FTM)Users Group, members helping one another with Family Tree Maker (FTM) the tool long associated with Ancestry.com; Reiley Kidd and Betty Ravenholt are the leaders.

Saturday, October 14, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm, “Second Saturday Speaker Series” , new with guest speaker

Sunday, October 15, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, DNA Workshop, Led by Cary Bright with first hour on a specific topic, and the second hour open for sharing DNA issues with focus on GenomeMate Pro.

Saturday, October 21, 9:00 am – 12:30 pm, SGS Fall Seminar, “Becoming a More Organized and Effective Genealogist” with Dick Eastman. Details to follow.

Saturday, October 28 , 10:15 am – 12:15 pm, Irish SIG, with Jean A Roth
Saturday, October 28 , 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, German SIG, with Jean A Roth

Saturday, October 28, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm, DNA SIG, this group meets at the Wedgwood Presbyterian Church, 8008 35th Ave NE, Seattle. For more information contact SGSDNASIG@gmail.com. Co-chaired by Cary Bright and Herb McDaniel.

Sunday, October 29, 1:00pm-2:30pm, as part of the traditional SGS Halloween Open House, Jean A Roth will give this presentation, 500th Anniversary Talk on Protestant Reform & Martin Luther