Autumn 2014 presentations! Bloomington, Kalamazoo, Terre Haute, Indianapolis

All four of my presentations this fall are in the Eastern time zone, even though I myself am in Central. Check your calendar and join in the fun if you get the chance!


Wednesday 15 October, 3 pm -- "Why We Don't Write and How We Can," Monroe County Public Library, 303 E. Kirkwood, Bloomington, Indiana (advance registration required before 5 pm 8 October: http://mcpl.info/calendar/2014-10). Plus a second hour of discussion and examples.

Short version: If we don't write, we won't need to wonder what will happen to our genealogy stuff when we're gone. New.


Monday 20 October, 7 pm -- "Probate Will Not Be the Death of You," Kalamazoo Valley Genealogical Society, Portage District Library, 300 Library Lane, Portage, Michigan. (I spoke on property records here last spring: these people ask good questions!)

Short version: Everybody dies. Most have probates. Few make wills. Good genealogists will not stop with wills. Previously given at 2013 Indiana Genealogical Society conference in Bloomington.


Monday 10 November, 6:30 pm -- "A Case Study: Are We There Yet?" Wabash Valley Genealogical Society, Vigo County Public Library, One Library Square, Terre Haute, Indiana.

Short version: Follow the Chilcote trail from the 1900 Chicago census to an unmarked Ohio grave – and decide when there’s enough evidence to prove that George and Edward are two men or one man with two names. Previously given at 2013 National Genealogical Society conference in Las Vegas.


Saturday 22 November, 10 am -- "How Hoosiers Got Hitched," Indiana Historical Society, Eugene and Marian Glick Indiana History Center, 315 West Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana (registration and entry fee: http://www.indianahistory.org/events/how-hoosiers-got-hitched).

Short version: Indiana marriage records have changed over the years. Between 1880 and 1930 in some counties more than one record was created for each marriage – some with different information than the others. A new naming system can help us tell them apart. New, based on the article of the same title that appeared in the Fall/Winter 2013 issue of The Hoosier Genealogist: Connections.





Harold Henderson, "Autumn 2014 presentations! Bloomington, Kalamazoo, Terre Haute, Indianapolis," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 4 September 2014 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : viewed [date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

April speaking engagements

I'm looking forward to talking genealogy with folks in and around Plymouth, Indiana, and then Kalamazoo, Michigan!


April 15, 6 pm EDT -- Plymouth IN, Marshall County Historical Society: "Beyond Fort Wayne, Madison, and the Newberry: Welcome to the Other Midwestern Archives"

April 21, 7 pm EDT -- Kalamazoo MI, Kalamazoo Valley Genealogical Society: "Land and Property: The Records No Genealogist Can Do Without"




Harold Henderson, "April speaking engagements," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 5 April 2014 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : viewed [date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

More resources in Kalamazoo

In addition to this previously blogged site, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, has a diligent genealogical society with a wide variety of unusual resources searchable on line, including insurance applications, suicides, peddling permits, and vigilance organizations.

They recently got a nice writeup from Valerie Beaudrault in the NEHGS's E-News (#470, 17 March), which actually has more detail on the resources than I could find on the KVGS web site.

Current projects in the works include databases of non-residential burial permits, women voters 1917-1936, and Kalamazoo County coroner's inquests. Volunteer here to help.

People To See, Places To Go

It's spring, and the genealogist's fancy lightly turns to getting out and associating with fellow aficionados of dead people:

In St. Charles, Illinois, February 28, the DuPage County Genealogical Society will feature Everton's Genealogical Helper blogger managing editor Leland Meitzler, and including Jeff Bockman, Don Litzer, Lesley Martin, and Craig L. Pfannkuche.

In Kalamazoo, Michigan, March 25 -- seeking perhaps to compensate for Michigan's lack of an effective state genealogy organization -- the Kalamazoo Valley Genealogical Society's spring conference will feature Paula Stuart-Warren, CG.

In Hudson, Ohio, April 2-4, the Ohio Genealogical Society (PDF) will feature Ian Frazier, author of Family, and a lot of other speakers who probably wish they didn't have to follow that act.

In Middleton, Wisconsin, April 3-4, the Wisconsin State Genealogical Society's Gene-A-Rama (PDF) will feature Christine Rose, CG, CGL, FASG; James Hansen, FASG; Rev. David McDonald, CG; Nancy Emmert, CG; George Findlen, CG; and Virginia Nichols.

In Indianapolis, Indiana, April 25, the Indiana Genealogical Society (PDF) will focus on military research with Pamela K. Boyer, CG, CGL.