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President's Message

To all BCGS members and friends:

Katie Melua, in a song entitled Spider's Web, muses that "the keys of a piano are black and white, but sound like colors in our mind". As family historians, we certainly deal in a lot of black and white. There are names and dates on the printed page, a plethora of documents and digital citations. Most of us start there, trying to fill in those names important to our family history. Definitely, these are facts and lineage in black and white. At some point, however, this is not enough. In fact, if this is all we do, it is hard to get anyone in the family interested in genealogy.
 
We need to find the "colors" that put flesh on the bones of our history. So how do we do that? I began my interest in genealogy because I never knew my grandfathers. Once I found that Andrew was a miner, I read every book I could find on anthracite mining in Luzerne County. Not scholarly books but ones filled with photo history of the mines. I stood on the grounds of the Dorrance mine and I tried to imagine his life. 

How else do we find what our ancestors' lives were like? We can look at timelines that place their lives into history. Reading newspapers of their time and place can tell us how society lived at that time. When you look at city directories, many times there is an article about what happened in the locality that year.  Visiting the places where they lived, even though they are changed, can give us a feel for them. Although I am not overly fond of museums, I have found that tiny, dusty museums in small towns contain the items of everyday living, instead of historical artifacts.
 
So take some time this month to make your "black and white" family history show its colors.

Mary C. Butash, President,  info@bucksgen.org

Join us at our meeting on 
Saturday, March 4, 2017
10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon
at the David Library of the American Revolution
1201 River Rd., Washington Crossing, PA
(Park behind the building and use the Conference Center entrance.)
___________________

7 Habits of Highly Effective Genealogists
presented by
Pat Richley (DearMYRTLE)

Through the wonderful world of technology, Ol' Myrt will appear
"virtually" from her office, direct via the internet.

DearMYRTLE is the nom de plume of Pat Richley-Erickson, author of the award-winning  DearMYRTLE Genealogy Blog, consistently among the top 5 family history blogs internationally, where her focus is on beginning genealogy topics. She is the National Genealogical Society's  2015 President's Citation recipient.

Renowned for multiple live video hangouts weekly, including Mondays with Myrt and Wacky Wednesday, DearMYRTLE eschews the lecture format in favor of  the "home-work-first with panelist moderation format" in her Mastering Genealogical Proof and Genealogy and the Law and other study group sessions. Over 400 videos are archived on  DearMYRTLE's YouTube Channel.

A speaker at regional and national conferences including live videocasts at RootsTech 2011 and 2012, Myrt is co-founder of the Genea-Quilters group on Facebook, and founder of  www.GeneaWebinars.com, a centralized calendar and blog for all known genealogy webinar hosts and virtual presenters.  Myrt is also an active member of the Second Life (SL) Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and coordinator of SL's Just Genealogy including the Inferential Genealogy Study Group.
 
Online since 1985 in membership development with Q-Link's Your Family Tree and later on the leadership team of AOL's Golden Gate Genealogy Forum, Pat is a retired post-secondary computer instructor.  She and her husband live in South Jordan, Utah, happily combining their genealogy and history libraries following their marriage in 2009.   Blog:  http://blog.DearMYRTLE.com

_______________

The meeting is open to the public.  Reservations are not needed.  
Cost is $5 for members and $10 for non-members.
Arrive at 9:30 to enjoy socializing, refreshments, and to check our BCGS store!

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 Roxan Schneider (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 Roxan so that she knows about the refreshments.  Thank you!

Roxan Schneider may be reached at  rcs57082@verizon.net

Our Heroes:  World War I Wall of Honor

2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. To mark this
occasion, BCGS will be constructing a Wall of Honor on our website to honor those who served. 

We invite all members to submit their soldiers, whether they were ancestors, extended family or just family friends. Each entry on the Wall of Honor will feature a short description of the soldier (download form here) and, ideally, a photograph. If you do not have a photograph of your soldier, we will substitute an appropriate emblem from their branch of service. 

We will have the BCGS's scanner at the March meeting to scan photographs, should you need to copy yours. If you would like to scan items, plan to arrive at 9:30 so that we have time to do the scanning prior to our meeting!  

Also, when completing the form, please don't submit your original documents or photographs. Email the completed forms and photographs to research@bucksgen.org.

We will be rolling out the wall in time for the 100th anniversary in April, so gather and submit your data by the March meeting so we can include it as we construct the wall.  

Any questions, please contact Connie Ace at research@bucksgen.org

INTERESTED IN A FIELD TRIP TO EXPLORE SOME GENEALOGICAL RESOURCES? 

Wayne Campbell has volunteered to organize field trips for BCGS and would like feedback from you.  Where would you like to go?  

Send your suggestions to Wayne at  trips@bucksgen.org
HELP US PLAN THE APRIL MEETING!

Our April 1st meeting will be held in the Library at Council Rock High School North, Newtown. We want to make this a helpful event for you.   You can help by letting us know what topics interest you.

For example...do you want to find out how to scan and save documents?  Do you need help using Family Search.org or Ancestry.com?  Do you want to know what other resources would help in your research?  Do you want to learn how to use an Excel spreadsheet for a research log?  

Send your questions, comments and suggestions to Jeff Sipler, VP Programs, at programs@bucksgen.org

Mount Olive Cemetery's New Gateway 

A transition from an unmarked cemetery to this beautiful gateway arch was accomplished by the fundraising efforts of the local Langhorne, PA Juneteenth Committee. (Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States.) 

Mount Olive Cemetery is located on North Street in Langhorne Borough, PA and is an historic African American graveyard. It was established in 1816 by then Neshamina Quakers, now know as Middletown Friends Meetings.  There are 104 graves of which some are African slaves, some are African American soldiers from different wars throughout history, and some are ancestors of African American families who are still living in Langhorne today.

Thanks to Brenda Cowan for her committee's efforts to mark this cemetery and for the information for this article.
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. 

Here is the link:  

Save the Date - November 11, 2017

The 11th Annual Bucks County Ancestry Fair will be held on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at Bucks County Community College, Perkasie. Watch our newsletter and Facebook page for more information in future months. 
RESEARCH TIP

Want some help figuring out your DNA matches on Ancestry.com?   Take a look at this blog written by former BCGS President Chris Roberts:

(For those of you who don't know, Chris retired from her job, sold her home, bought an RV and is enjoying life as a traveling genealogist!)

WHAT ABOUT YOUR FUTURE GENEALOGY RECORDS?

Do you keep your photos in a JPG file format and documents in PDF on a USB drive? What will happen to those formats in 25 or 50 years? 

Thomas MacEntee, GeneaBloggers.com, is passionate about preserving genealogy and has offered a free e-book with lots of helpful information.  It is called:
After You're Gone - Future Proofing You're Genealogy 
and is available here:


Membership Fees for One Year Membership

   Individual $20          Dual/Household $35          Or ganization $75     

Membership Fee for our new Lifetime Membership

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 above discounts, contact Peg Felter, VP-Membership at  membership@bucksgen.org

Bucks County Genealogical Society
P.O. Box 826, Washington Crossing, PA 18977