West Michigan Junes are wonderful. There are many things to do and the weather generally cooperates. As genealogists, we need to take advantage of the summertime weather and longer daylight hours and do some outdoor activities – like cemetery trips, family reunions, and vacation/research trips to areas where our ancestors lived. Genealogically speaking, I hope [...]
Browsing Posts in General Genealogy
What do you do when you can’t find an obituary for someone important in your family line? One of my 2nd-great grandmothers lived in small communities all across northern Michigan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The family worked in the woods, moving from town to town following the lumber companies. I haven’t [...]
The 2010 WMGS Awards were presented at the Saturday 4 December 2010 membership meeting. Seven Awards were announced and/or presented: AGO Organisation Award: Grand Rapids History and Special Collections Department of the Grand Rapids Public Library AGO Individual Award: Dawn Kelly Communication Award: Lisa Christensen President’s Award: Janet Jensen Volunteer of the Year Award: Patrick [...]
Every few months the Grand Rapids Public Library has a “genealogy lock in” on a Friday evening. They are very popular and well attended. Western Michigan Genealogical Society helps out with volunteers to assist the researchers, many of whom are just getting started in their genealogy. Below are a few pictures from the most recent [...]
I thought I’d catch up with what Megan Smolenyak Smolyenak is doing in these weeks prior to coming to west Michigan to speak at our Annual Seminar in November. She’s one of five world-class speakers that have been lined up for the 6th Annual Genealogy Conference and Cruise starting tomorrow, September 18th. This week-long conference [...]
This article was posted recently on the City of Grand Rapids website – www.grcity.us Find Burial Records Online “If you are searching for loved ones who are buried at any of the City’s six cemeteries (Fairplains, Fulton, Greenwood, Oakgrove, Oakhill, or Woodlawn) you can now find information online 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. Simply go to [...]
An interesting ancestor was Timothy Townsend. He died 11 March 1832 at the advanced age of 94 in Canaan, Columbia County, New York. Not only was he one of the first settlers of Canaan, he was among the original founders of the town of Champion, Jefferson County New York as well (settled 1798). He returned [...]
I haven’t been a subscriber to Ancestry.com for about two years. At the time, I had noticed a lot more free information on the Internet surfacing and I had depended primarily on Ancestry.com as my source for a long time. After a few weeks, I was amazed how infrequently I felt I needed Ancestry.com in [...]
We received notice that the MCIR Board’s final recommendation adopted June 25th has been acknowledged by Governor Granholm’s office. That June 25th document appears to have been posted yesterday or over the weekend. A press release dated July 19th was posted on the Governor’s website. Some have commented this is good news. Not to rain [...]
