Bucks County
Genealogical Society
December 2017 Newsletter
|
|
To all BCGS members and Friends:
I sit here in my living room surrounded by a plethora of boxes, holding 50 years of “stuff”. It is calm and still and the “snowlight” is illuminating the rooms through un-curtained windows. The renovations necessitated by a plumbing disaster resulted in these changes that we name as: redo, redecorate, remodel and do-over. All of them require reshaping something we have already done. Isn’t that what we attempt every New Year’s with resolutions? As the job is done, we re-assess what we have and trash some or donate others and make a new thing, organized in a new way. So we can think of our genealogy research. Thomas MacEntee has done a course in “Genealogy Do-over” for the past two years. We, too, can look at what research we have in a new way. We can check to see if, in our novice enthusiasm, we saved data without citations. We can look for errors on our tree and correct them. We can re-read documents to see what we missed the first time. We can start researching a new line when we are tired of the depressing brick walls of the original. We can start anew in some way and build something better.
We are in the holiday season. It is the occasion when we will spend time with family and friends. Please remember to enjoy these, our living descendants. If an opportunity presents itself, talk about Christmases past. My Polish ancestors wanted to celebrate Christmas their own way but their farm was occupied by Russian soldiers. So they got them drunk and as they slept it off, my ancestors had their Polish Christmas. A recent ancestor did not eat on Christmas for years in thanks for the Christmas they celebrated.
In any event, celebrate your holidays, your way, following traditions or making knew ones. And share it with those you care about. All of us on the Board wish you a joyful, glorious holiday season. See you in 2018!
Mary C. Butash
|
|
Join us at our meeting on
Saturday, January 6, 2018
10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon
at the David Library of the American Revolution
1201 River Rd. Washington Crossing, PA 18977
(Park behind the building and use the Conference Center entrance.)
|
|
GENEALOGY 101
presented by Michelle Chubenko
An introduction to family history or genealogy for beginning researchers, using 21st century resources. Home sources and record types along with research strategies will be discussed.
|
|
About the speaker:
Michelle Chubenko was a researcher on TLC's
Who Do You Think You Are? (season one) and appeared in the Brooke Shields episode, which aired in April 2010. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, local and ethnic genealogical societies, and is active in local history organizations. In 2013, she became the co-coordinator for the Ukrainian Historical & Educational Center's Nashi Predky Family History Group and has served as a Commissioner on the Middlesex County Heritage & Cultural Commission since 2011. Michelle has also served as a Trustee of the Genealogical Society of New Jersey, Education Chairperson for the Monmouth County Genealogy Society, and is a founding member of the New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists. In October 2016, she joined Legacy Tree Genealogists as a Researcher.
|
|
Coffee and refreshments are needed!
|
|
If you are willing to get coffee at the Dunkin' Donuts in Washington Crossing, you will be reimbursed at the meeting. Please contact Marilyn Cook so that we don't have too many folks bringing coffee - and to get directions.
If you would like to bring cookies, baked goods, munchkins, etc., your meeting
fee will be discounted. Please send an email to Marilyn so that she knows about the refreshments. Thank you!
|
|
Thanks to our terrific volunteers for a successful year!
|
|
We couldn't have done it without these folks: Mary, Peg, Jeff, Connie, Tina, Marilyn, Cathy, Nancy, Joann, Sara, Wayne, Roxan, Pat, Ann, Jack, Marla, Marijane, J.F., Barbara, Wayne, Jayne, Ed, Ellen, Joe, Linda, Ann, Lizz, Susan, Betty, Ann, Joe, Gerry, Lynda, Jayne, Cindy, Cheri, and Pennridge and Council Rock students,
Daniel, Miriam, Will, Sara, Brooke, Lily, Marcella and Rachel.
|
|
COMPREHENSIVE CALENDAR OF EVENTS
|
|
The calendar is frequently updated and includes events from all over the country. Be sure to check it every month to see what is happening.
|
|
BCGS is working on a project to honor the ladies who served their country during World War II. We are asking our members and friends to participate in this project by submitting the names, service description, dates if known, and a photograph of their mothers, aunts, grandmothers, and their friends and neighbors who participated in the war effort by serving in the military, working in a defense industry, or otherwise making a contribution to support the war effort. The photos and other information will be combined into a presentation that will be posted on this site, along with a searchable index of the submitted names. The individuals you submit do not have to be related to you, and do not have to be from Bucks County.
You can submit your information in either of two ways:
Go to our online Rosie the Riveter
submission page
and fill out the information on your female ancestor; or
|
|
A Few Things Happened on Our Way to Research!
by Susan Williams, BCGS Member
|
|
My compadre, Betsey Davis (pictured here with a Colonial era scarecrow), and I go back a long way, purportedly to Isabel de Warrenne b. 1137 – d. 1203. But for our joint genealogical adventure to South Jersey this past summer, we focused on our more immediate ancestors. These 17
th-century forebears, from both of our families, helped to settle the South Jersey area in the mid to late 1600’s. The plan for our whirlwind trip was to visit three county historical societies during our four-day, three-night jaunt in late July.
We each called ahead to our joint destinations to let the research staff know that we would be there on a certain day and what we hoped to find. It is generally accepted that surnames are a place to start a search unless you have another sort of historical question. At one of our stops, for instance, I wanted to know more about Fenwick’s Colony and its beginnings since I had several ancestors who were part of that group. At another stop, I wanted to try and unravel the records I had found that belonged to three Isaac Townsend grandfathers, all in a historical timeline row.
My trip down the shore started a few days prior to my meeting Betsey at the Atlantic County Historical Society in Somers Point, NJ. I had been reminiscing in Ocean City, NJ with four other women with whom I had spent my elementary and high school years for three days prior to my meet up with Betsey. For those unfamiliar with the area, Ocean City, NJ is the next town over from Somers Point.
|
|
I still marvel at the fact that I had been going to Ocean City, NJ on summer vacations for 68 years and went right past the Somers Mansion without ever noticing the building high up on the only hill in sight or having any inkling that I was related to its first occupant. Mind you, this building is hard to miss for that many years if you understand that you ‘have’ to pass it to go over the 9
th street causeway on the way to Ocean City and the beach. And worse still, I spent a lot of hours over the years staring in the direction of the Somers Mansion when stopping at the Point Diner for a late-night snack or dinner after a frequent family drive from Philadelphia, PA to my grandparents’ summer home at the shore.
Read more...
|
|
We hope you can make it to our January 6th meeting to hear about Genealogy 101 for beginning researchers! If you can't attend the meeting and are a BCGS member, you will be able to access the meeting handout from the Members Only section of the BCGS website. (The handout will be posted a day or so after January 6th.)
For those who can't attend the meeting and aren't members of BCGS, take a look at the Wiki on FamilySearch.org. There are several beginning research articles at the bottom of this Family Search page:
FHC Quickstart Genealogy
|
|
RESEARCH TIP
Getting acquainted with the revised FindAGrave
|
|
Last month Ted Bainbridge shared an article about the revised
www.findagrave.com.
This month Ted followed up with a detailed article about searching that website. So that you may have the entire article, it may be downloaded by clicking here:
|
|
BCGS Fees for One Year Membership
|
|
Individual $20 Dual/Household $35 Organization $75
Lifetime $250
Our membership fees help to pay for speakers, facility rental, website costs, insurance and more. Membership in BCGS is on a rolling basis and lasts one year from the month you join.
You don't have to have Bucks County ancestors to enjoy the benefits of membership!
Won't you join and help us continue to grow?
See a list of BCGS Member Benefits on our website:
Join or renew by mail using our membership application/renewal form, on line on the Society's website via PayPal or by paying with cash or check at our next meeting.
If you have questions and to get access to the discounts, contact Peg Felter, VP-Membership at
membership@bucksgen.org
|
|
Stay connected with us on Facebook!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
