WESTERN MICHIGAN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY ONLINE!

MONTHLY MEETINGS

We meet at 1:30 p.m. in the Ryerson Auditorium of the Grand Rapids Public Library on the first Saturday of the month, September through June. Should the first Saturday fall on a holiday weekend, another day will be scheduled. The June meeting is often times changed to the 2nd Saturday. Unless a special program, each meeting has a one-hour lecture on a genealogy related subject by a knowledgeable speaker. 

Books and charts are sold at our meetings and a "Hospitality Hour" follows. Looking at a genealogical book on the internet?  See if it’s for sale at the WMGS sales table.  Our books are sold for same price as the Internet….but at our sales table and as a member of WMGS that same book has a 10% discount and you don’t pay for shipping.  Talk to Lisa and Wanda about items you don’t see. 

All meetings are free and open to the public. 

REMINDER: Parking is free at the library on Saturdays. Just make sure you validate your parking exit ticket in the machine in the first floor lobby.

Please review our weather cancellation policy so you'll be aware how we'll inform you when it is necessary to cancel a meeting.

MONTHLY MEETINGS

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September 11, 2021 Virtual Meeting (1:30pm)

Virtual presentation via Zoom Webinar
Click for Zoom Meeting Link

Beyond Ancestry.com: Searching for your ancestors online. 

Presenter: Claudia Breland 

Ancestry.com is one of the largest genealogy databases on the internet today, and they have the advertising dollars to make themselves known.  However, there are many, many other online resources (most of them free) that can supplement the information you have on your family and fill in the missing puzzle pieces.  We’ll talk about census records, vital records, online newspapers, state archives and libraries, cemetery records, military records, and more.  
 
Presenter Bio:
Claudia Breland began researching her family in 1974, after she received family papers from her paternal grandfather. She became a professional genealogist in 2009 and has had clients from around the world, and has lectured in Western Washington, Canada and at the National Genealogical Society conference. She’s written two books on genealogical research and has transcribed and published two volumes of her grandfather’s journals; she has also published a family history for one of her clients. She is an avid user of DNA, and has worked on several unknown parent & grandparent cases. Claudia recently broke a 45-year brick wall, using DNA genetic networks, finding a black sheep 2nd great grandfather who deserted during the Civil War, and discovering a motive for murder in the death of her 2nd great-grandmother in 1883.

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RESEARCH TRIPS

Allen County Public Library

Western Michigan Genealogical Society’s
Bus Trip to Fort Wayne’s
Allen County Public Library

The Next Bus Trip is  scheduled for Monday - Tuesday, October 25-26 * 

Registration form (PDF) now available for download at this URL

SAVE THE DATES
* subject to change depending on Fort Wayne Library conditions as we get closer.

  

WMGS WRITERS GROUP

We help and support each other's desire to write about our families with a kind eye and lots of humor. Everyone is welcome.

Please see current information on the Writers Group page.

OTHER ACTIVITIES AT MONTHLY MEETINGS

Refreshments:   Many WMGS members are great cooks!  They share homemade cookies and other goodies with us during our social time!  Social time for gene-people is as must!  Who else wants to listen to how you found G-G-G Grandpa except another WMGS member?   If you can bring cookies, contact Joann Fast, our Hospitality Chairperson.

WMGS Book Sales:  WMGS stocks quite a large number of new  books and materials for your inspection.  We feel that most people want to browse through genealogy books before they purchase. Valuable genealogy materials are  difficult to find in the normal bookstores.  Got ideas?  Want to help?  Let us know!   Watch for our Christmas Special in December!