News

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.

NAME THAT DECADE OF FASHION:  After a delicious supper, Cathi Weber, lifelong Willoughby resident and the current director of the Little Red Schoolhouse will join us.  She leads the program at the school house where 4th grade students experience a day in a one-room school house in 1901 and 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.

Join us on February 27, 2025 via Zoom at 10:00 to here Mary Jamba present, “Where Are They? Strategies for Navigating Challenging Names in Databases.”

Exploring proven strategies for locating those hard-to-find relatives in genealogical databases. Don’t let elusive names hinder your research – equip yourself with the tools to triumph over these obstacles and bring your genealogical quest to new heights.

Mary Jamba is a seasoned genealogist with over 30 years of research expertise. She has actively volunteered with numerous organizations within the genealogical community, both in the past and present. Mary is a sought-after speaker, regularly delivering genealogy-focused programs to audiences at local, state, and national levels.

Join us at a special Sleeves Up session where member Bob Coltrin will help us get started using the Silver Books collection that have recently been added to the Morley Library Gen room. Bob is a member of the Cleveland Colony of the Mayflower Descendants.

The Silver Books are a collection of genealogy books that trace the descendants of the Mayflower pilgrims. The books are published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants and are considered to be the best genealogy available for Mayflower families.

Contact Mary Huey if you have any questions — maryhueyquilts47@gmail.com

Join us on January 30, 2025 for a hybrid meeting.  We will meet at 10:00 in-person and via Zoom to hear Amber Oldenburg speak on “Fantastic and Fun-Filled World of the FamilySearch Wiki and Catalog.”

We will then enjoy our annual potluck at 12:00.  Those attending the in-person meeting at Morley Library should bring a dish to pass, tableware and a beverage.

Have you ever wondered where professional genealogists go to begin their research? Do you need help creating a research plan or just need to know when a state began keeping birth records? Or do you want to know how to access millions of records that have yet to be digitized? All these questions can be answered with the FamilySearch Wiki and catalog. In this session you will learn how to navigate both and how they can help you be a better family history researcher.

Amber Oldenburg is a genealogist, lecturer, and social media manager at Your DNA Guide, with a degree in Family History Research from Brigham Young University-Idaho. She currently serves as an online instructor in the Family History Research program at BYU-Idaho. She specializes in Midwest and Great Plains research, and she is passionate about pioneers and homesteaders and is currently pursuing accreditation in the North Central Region from the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists.

Beth Stachiw will do a presentation on your photos and stories at Sleeves Up on December 12^th at Morley Library. As a 30 year advisor with Creative Memories, a photo safe scrapbooking company from Minnesota she has information on preserving your photos and documenting those stories that go with them.

Come listen to advice she gives on getting those photos out of shoeboxes.

Contact Mary Huey if you have any questions — maryhueyquilts47@gmail.com