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Page 1 Twig Talk April 2018
Founded 1972 Vol. 18 No. 4 April 2018
Membership Meeting
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Starts at 6:30 p.m.
VFW Post 3196, 5209 Grand Haven Rd
“Little Known Facts”
On Cemetery Mapping
The development and deployment of GIS mapping for use in cemetery documentation by Thomas Van Bruggen, Muskegon County GIS Administrator, and Bill Hansen, Professional Photographer and MCGS Board Member.
C O U N T Y C L E R K R E S E A R C H
TWIG TALK
A monthly publication of: Muskegon County Genealogical Society
c/o Hackley Public Library Torrent House
315 W. Webster Avenue Muskegon, MI 49440-1208
www.genealogymuskegon.org
Find & Like Us On
Newsletter
GENEALOGY TIP
Can’t find your ancestor’s Social Security record? Until 1951, the system didn’t cover the self-employed, temporary gov-ernment workers, farm laborers, domestic workers such as maids, workers in US territories, or overseas employees of American companies. Railroad workers were covered separately under the Railroad Retirement Board (the first three digits of their Social Security numbers range from 707 to 728). From Family Tree Magazine 2014 by David A. Fryxell
TWIG TALK
Muskegon County Building 990 Terrace St. (use the front entrance on Terrace Street) MCGS volunteers are there every Wednesday from 1:00-4:00 p. m. Direct phone # 231-724-7140
President’s Report
By Dawn Westcomb Kelley - We received sign-ups for “Opportunities for Everyone” last month. This is for members who are interested in the pro-cess of uploading pictures to Family Search, Ancestry, and scanning things such as Research and Pioneer files. We will contact each person to get them started on the basics. There will be more sign-up sheets available at the April meeting. Note from Linda McIntosh—Lansing Family History Center
The 2018 Family History Seminar will be held on Saturday, April 28, 2018 at 431 E Saginaw Street, East Lansing, Michigan. Thank you so very much for your past support and participation. Please feel free to con-tact me with any questions or con-cerns. [email protected]
Continued in next column
Bill Hansen Thomas VanBruggen
President’ Report continued from the previous column
Registration for the event can be completed at www.lansingfhc.org/, and paper copies of the registration form can be printed from this page: www.lansingfhc.org/docs/
LFHCRegistrationForm2018.pdf.
Page 2 Twig Talk April 2018
By Jane Weber - Our March meeting had local Whitehall, Michigan resident Steve Salter present a program on his "Killer Blues Non Profit Company." This organization provides headstones for blues artists lying in unmarked graves. His program was an interesting view of his hobby that is about helping to maintain the musical legacy of these musicians. The door prize winner of genealogical items went to (maybe some Irish-Scot descent) Karen Beam. Her St. Patrick's door hanger may bring her some extra luck! The free draw books went to John Slater with "Survival" and Marie Payne getting "The History of Knights." Our Lucky Shamrock # Game gave Paula Halloran, Kathy DeCormier, Pat Straley, Jim Clark, Jeanne Strevey and Farr Hinton a collection of surprises. The ticket book "Diamond in the Rough” went to Jeanne Strevey. She will learn about the history and educational opportunities at Muskegon Community College. Bill Hansen shared a 1936 family photo of his grandparents with their children. In the photo is Bill's father as a child. He is now 96!! Pat Straley updated us on her great grandfather's paternal connection discovered through DNA testing. It seems his father (Pat’s great, great grandfather) went off to the Civil War not knowing of his wife’s pregnancy. Pat says, “My great, great grandmother raised my great grandfather on her own for 3 or 4 years until she married a man who became my great grandfather's stepdad. Together they had 4 more children. It turned out that these were the 2 people I had been wanting to find: my great, great grandmother and great, great grandfather. The DNA proved it”. Mike and Judy Stonex were guests at the March meeting. They are looking for a memento from his family's honeybee business in the Fremont-Reeman area. It is a quart-sized honey pail with a black honeybee insignia. It would "mean the world" to them to have a specimen of this keepsake. If you locate one, contact the society! As always, your stories are a special part of our meeting. Please share items, finds, and stories with us!!
(Continued from page 1)
KRIS RZEPCZYNSKI AND JILL ARNOLD OF THE ARCHIVES OF MICHIGAN REPORTED:
• The Archives continues to update county guides listing archival materials for the county currently housed in the archives. 60+ have been completed.
• As reported last time, the Archives has started to receive an influx of county probate files because of new retention of records guide. Midland’s files have arrived.
• The 1942 Death Certificate images are being posted. http://seekingmichigan.org/
• A complete redesign of the Seeking Michigan website is in the works.
• The Naturalization indexing project is on-going (phase two is 99% complete) and is an extremely large project, so we need your support. To help with project, visit seekingmichigan.org/naturalization.
• Abrams 2018 will be held July 20-21, 2018. The presenter will be announced soon. A “Barbara Brown Family History Day” will coincide with the Abrams Seminar as a platform to bring more interest and awareness to the field of genealogy, and will feature oral history booths. More information will be available in the coming months.
COUNTY HISTORICAL RECORDS STORAGE
The State Archivist for the State of Michigan has
issued a letter announcing plans to provide for the
long term storage of county court and probate
records in light of limited space and capability at local
courthouses. See the following link:
http://seekingmichigan.org/look/2018/03/16/
probate-court-records
In this March 16, 2018 letter State Archivist, Mark
Harvey, has indicated that a detailed explanation of
any plans to make changes to records storage at
county courthouses is forthcoming.
(Continued on page 3)
HOSPITALITY HAPPENINGS MICHIGAN ARCHIVES
Page 3 Twig Talk April 2018
The National Genealogy Society (NGS) can Help You Travel through Time. Meet them in Grand Rapids, MI, for the NGS 2018 Family History Conference, May 2—5. Learn how to trace your ancestors’ steps through time at sessions designed to advance your family research. You will learn about techniques and resources to get to your roots so you can build your family tree. Join experts and genealogists from all over the U.S. and beyond, for four exciting days! Register at conference.ngsgenealogy.org/register (See the table in the next column for costs). SOCIETY NIGHT As many as 2,000 family historians and professional genealogists will attend the 2018 Family History Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, May 2—5. State and local genealogical and historical societies will be showcasing their organizations at Society Night and in exhibitions on Wednesday from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., in the Center Concourse of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.
State and local society staff will answer questions
about their society’s activities, sell their
publications, network with other conference guests,
and help promote genealogical and historical
research. This is a rare chance to reach conference
attendees and tell them who you are, what you
have done, and what services and resources you
have available.
The Muskegon Genealogical Society booth is number 408— see location below.
Finding Buried Treasure, Using Cemetery GIS
FAMILY HISTORY CONFERENCE May 2 –5
Partial Exhibition Hall Layout MCGS Booth #408
Early Bird
Regular Registration
NGS Member / Full Regis-tration (Four Days, 2–5 May)
$215 $250
Non-Member / Full Regis-tration (Four Days, 2–5 May)
$250 $285
Single Day Registration $115 $125
Social Meal Events – Reg-istration closes 20 April 2018
By Trivia Trudy, from the Torrent House -
The Muskegon Chronicle Friday, April 11, 1924, page 8
Heights Police Find Stray Tots
Bit Troublesome The Heights police do not like their
domestic duties. Several times during the last few days they have been called upon to moth-er children who had strayed away from home, or who had lost their parents. Three little waifs were brought to po-lice headquarters yesterday, and they all start-ed exercising their lungs at the same time. The officers said it was impossible to even hear the telephone when it rang. The children, all from different families, did not know their names or where they lived, and so it was up to Motorcycle Officer Stewart to produce a few bedtime stories until the parents could be found. Three lost children were also brought to headquarters Wednesday. The police would like to have Mus-kegon Heights mothers become more careful about letting their children wander from home, or to place a tag on each child, giving the names and address. This will facilitate in a speedy return of the tot, when it is found.
MUSKEGON HISTORICAL TRIVA
Page 4 Twig Talk April 2018
MCGS Meetings
2nd Thurs at 6:30 p.m.
VFW Post 3195
5209 Grand Haven Road
April 12
May 10
June 14
August 90
September 13
October 11
November 8 –Meeting & Celebration—Starts at 6 p.m.
NO meetings in July &
December
Genealogy Family History Workshops
Torrent House Local History & Genealogy Dept., 315 W. Webster
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.. Please pre-register by calling
231-722-8016 Tuesday through Saturday between 10 a.m. and
4:45 p.m. (Limited to six people)
April 14
May 5
September 8
October 13
November 3
NO workshops in June, July, August &
December
2018 Dates to REMEMBER
WHAT TO BRING!
Any genealogy items you would like to donate for the FREE table.
Money to buy 15 Genera-tion Charts—$3 ea.
Ticket Money
Editor’s Corner I repeated the information about the NGS history conference (page 3) due to its importance but this meant that there was not enough room for some other things of local interest. I’ll try to do more next month. –Ed.
Muskegon Genealogical Society
Officers
President: Dawn Westcomb Kelley Past President: Jane Appleton Schapka Vice President: Ingrid Porritt Secretary: Pat Straley Treasurer: Nancy Clark Spoon
Committees
County Clerk................. Jane Gates
Facebook ..................... Norman Dagen
Historian ...................... Board Members
History Book Project ..... Kathy DeCormier
Hospitality ..................... Jane Weber
John & Phyllis Slater
Library .......................... Barb Martin
Membership.................. Paula Halloran
Newsletter Editor .......... Tom Porritt
Pioneer Cert. Program.. Barb Martin
Programs & Publicity .... Board Members
Special Projects ........... Dawn Kelley
Cemetery Projects ........ William Hansen
Website ........................ Shelly Nelson
Board Member.............. Tom Shepherd
Mich. Gen. Council—Karen Frazier, Delegate
April Meeting Ticket Book
PRINTER CARTRIDGES FOR MCGS Donate used printer cartridges of any type to MCGS. They can be recycled for credit to offset some of the costs of printing that the society does on a monthly basis. Please bring them to the monthly meeting.