Daily Archives: February 8, 2025

Bill Eddelman will  present a program on “Using Court Records”

We will welcome Bill Eddleman back to expand our research skills.  Many family historians rarely use court records. These records require learning about the judicial structure of different states (sometimes counties), and often require page-by-page scanning of record books. This presentation discusses using court records to uncover family history. Learn about the different types of courts and the records they created that can be of genealogical interest. The session includes details on where to locate court records, where to find laws regulating these courts, and the basis for the legal systems. Examples illustrate the use of court records to document relationships.

Bill Eddleman is a ninth-generation Missourian. He was a professor of biology at Southeast Missouri State University for 22 years and also served as provost before his retirement in 2016. Long interested in local and regional history, he was the president of the Cape County Genealogical Society for 14 years and edited the society’s quarterly publication for 20 years. He started at the State Historical Society of Missouri as Coordinator of its Cape Girardeau Research Center in July 2017. He writes genealogy and local history columns for the Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian, and has a local history radio program, “Tales from Days Gone By,” on KRCU public radio, 90.9 FM.

Mary Huey, our 1st vice president in charge of programs, will moderate a member’s discussion of “Genealogy, A Gateway to History”

In May, we’ll do a member-sharing format for our monthly meeting.  How many times have you said to yourself in the midst of your research, “I didn’t know that?!” And does that trigger a “google” down a rabbit hole?  We’ve all discovered pieces of history we had no idea occurred because either it wasn’t significant enough for historians to write about or the facts have been lost in time.  This member conversation will give us a chance to share some of our discoveries and get to know one another better via our family’s histories.   Everyone is encouraged to participate by sharing a discovery you’ve made.  Your discovery might be an event that your ancestor experienced (think unknown political events) or an occupation/craft/skill that is lost in time or perhaps an adventure an ancestor had.

Krista Horrocks presents “Cemeteries in Genealogy Research”

Hunting for an ancestor’s gravestone can be an exciting adventure or a frustrating series of dead ends. When we find our ancestor’s gravestone, we are often in awe, as it can give important birth, death, and marriage dates. But just because that information is written in stone doesn’t mean it is always correct! Join Krista Horrocks, cemetery preservationist for the Ohio History Connection, on how cemeteries and gravestones can help, or hinder, your genealogical research.

Krista Horrocks works as Department Manager of Education & Support Services for the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) at the Ohio History Connection (OHC), where she manages a team of administrators, grant managers, GIS coordinators, and database managers in the support of all program areas for the SHPO. She also serves as OHC’s cemetery preservationist, where she works providing research support, guidance, and presentations on all-things-Ohio-cemetery-related. Krista has also worked on long-term efforts supporting better burial protection laws in Ohio. She is a 6^th generation native Ohioan originally from Fredericktown, Knox County, Ohio.