News

Kassidy Cobb – “Civil War Songs and Games .”

With the holidays looming, let’s relax and enjoy a light program and explore nineteenth century patriotic tunes, examining how they boosted morale and became musical successes. Kassidy will also detail another pastime that soldiers held dear –playing games. From checkers and chess to cards, there are lots of games that we still play today that were just as popular over 150 years ago. And there are even a few games many people might not have heard of before!

With a Bachelor of Science in History/Creative Writing Minor (Liberty University, 2024) and a love for the past that inspires her to pursue her Masters in History (Liberty University, 2026), Kassidy is serious about sharing history in authentic and relatable ways. Even Mike Wolfe (star of American Pickers) called Kassidy “energetic” about history. Recognized by Congress, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, DAR, SAR, DUVCW, and countless others for her efforts to promote the past, Kassidy has found that history isn’t just a career–it’s a way of life.

Diane Richard –  “Select State-Level Digitized Memory Platforms You Don’t Want to Miss!”

Many states now have so-called Memory or Digital Archives platforms, which contain a ton of material relevant to genealogists, whether original documents, historical context, images, and more, often covering from the state’s founding to now. In this webinar we’ll focus on these platforms for New England and the mid-Atlantic states, through which many of our Ohio ancestors migrated.  These are all FREE to access.  Additionally, many tips, tricks, and strategies for using these digital memory websites will be shared to make sure you squeeze all that is genealogically relevant out of these resources.

Diane L. Richard, MEng, MBA, is a professional genealogist and owner of Mosaic Research and Project Management (MosaicRPM). With over 35 years of experience, she researches client ancestors and shares her expertise through writing and speaking.   She is a prolific author, having written over 600 articles for Internet Genealogy and edited several genealogical publications, including Upfront with NGS and the North Carolina Genealogical Society journal. She is also an international speaker, presenting webinars and in-person programs on various genealogical topics.

CARLA CEGIELSKI  “Mastering the Art of Reading Old Handwriting: Strategies for Success.”

Even though we have access to nerdy apps that read and transcribe old handwriting on deeds and wills, it’s not 100% accurate so we still need to build deciphering skills.  Learning to read old handwriting can be time-consuming and requires patience. In this presentation, Carla will share several strategies for deciphering old handwriting.

BIO:  Carla Cegielski, a familiar face for LCGS, is a full-time family history researcher specializing in Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia research. She has been providing professional research services to attorneys, historians, genealogists, hobbyists, and others since 2007. Carla is the author of the NGS course Reading Old Handwriting. She was also creator and coordinator of the 2021 Reading, Transcribing, and Abstracting Old Documents course at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP)

Even though we have access to nerdy apps that read and transcribe old handwriting on deeds and wills, it’s not 100% accurate so we still need to build deciphering skills.  Learning to read old handwriting can be time-consuming and requires patience. In this presentation, Carla will share several strategies for deciphering old handwriting.

BIO:  Carla Cegielski, a familiar face for LCGS, is a full-time family history researcher specializing in Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia research. She has been providing professional research services to attorneys, historians, genealogists, hobbyists, and others since 2007. Carla is the author of the NGS course Reading Old Handwriting. She was also creator and coordinator of the 2021 Reading, Transcribing, and Abstracting Old Documents course at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP).

Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m., July 31, 2025, is the Annual Summer Picnic Potluck.  It will be held at the Concord Woods Shelter, 11211 Spear Rd., Concord, Ohio.**    Enjoy a relaxing evening visiting with fellow genealogists.  Bring a dish to share and your own place setting and beverage.

This year, we will return to Concord Woods for our annual summer potluck supper – bring your best dish!!  The evening will start at 5:30 p.m.   After a delicious supper, Cathi Weber, lifelong Willoughby resident and the current director of the Little Red Schoolhouse will join us to share ideas on how to NAME THAT DECADE OF FASHION in your old family photos.  Cathi leads the program at the school house where 4th grade students experience a day in a one-room school house, circa 1901.  She also curates the fashion collection of the organization.  She will share tips on how we can use clothing styles from the mid-1800’s thru the early 20^th century to date our mysterious family photographs.  Bring along a few old photos from your collection to display and share.

**Spear Rd. is off Auburn Rd on the north side of I-90.  Follow the entrance drive past the buildings at the front of the park to the shelter.  Here is a link to the park’s information – https://www.lakemetroparks.com/park-trails/concord-woods-nature-park/

May Sleeves-Up at Morley – 10 a.m. to Noon, May 8 – A RootsMagic software study group will have their first gathering.  Lou Lentine will moderate this “members only” group and the purpose of this gathering is to gauge interest and find direction.  Lou has shared the following to help folks prepare for the gathering:

We will start with a very basic tutorial using RootsMagic (Regardless of the version you may have).    Please prepare as follows:

1. Have the software installed on your laptop
2. Bring your laptop to the Sleeves Up gathering (be sure it is fully charged or bring A/C adapter)
3. If you have an Ancestry or Family Search account, be sure to have your sign in information
4. Bring as much information you have on your ancestors (D.O.B., Marriage Date, D.O.D., Maiden name etc.)

We should be able to log into the library’s Wi-Fi, with your personal laptop, if need be.

                      If you don’t have the program yet, you may come to observe.

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.

Join us on March 27, 2025 T 10:00 Via Zoom, to hear Kate Penney Howard enlighten us on “Filling in Those Pesky Blanks: Solving Maternal Surname Mysteries With DNA.”

We all have that ancestor with a first name, but no family name. When traditional genealogical techniques fail to turn up an answer, we can turn to DNA to find more opportunities to discover clues. Follow along as Kate explains how she used traditional genealogy, and DNA clustering to write her ancestors’ surnames in their family tree!

Bring your favorite note-taking tools and come away with a worksheet created to help you address your own brick walls.

Kate Penney Howard is a genetic genealogist, specializing in brick wall work, HighRoH, and endogamy. During a bout with cancer, she discovered that she loves sharing her knowledge with other genealogists. She is intentional about addressing injustice and myths in her presentations. Kate has presented at Rootstech, East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference, the International Congress on Medieval Studies, NAAP/RTK’s Untangling Our Roots, and the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

2025 speaking engagements include Rootstech, Ohio Genealogical Society 2025, and Ontario Ancestors Webinar Series, as well as local library and genealogical society gatherings. Kate studied vocal music and earned a Master of Divinity from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis in 2011, and has been pastor of North Christian Church since her ordination in 2012.