Dear Myrtle Presents: "7 Habits of Effective Genealogists" February 23rd

DearMyrtle of the DearMyrtle Genealogy Blog will present the Muskogee County Genealogical Society program on Thursday February 23rd beginning promptly at 6:00 p.m.   The webinar, "7 Habits of Effective Genealogists" is one of the most popular programs presented by this engaging teacher and speaker.

 Myrt is a prolific blogger and  recently served as an Official Blogger for RootsTech 2012.  She often serves as guest host for the Friday night Geneabloggers Radio program. But that isn't all!  Read more about Myrt on her blog, rated among the top five blogs in the industry, at http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/.

Computer Genealogy Boot Camp

For the last couple of months several MCGS members have been participating in our Computer Genealogy Boot Camp. First meeting on Monday but now finding Tuesday works better, we have settled on the first and third Tuesday of each month at Three Rivers Museum.

Arriving at 6 p.m. each person brings their laptop so that they can learn about their own computer and not worry about messing up one that belongs to someone else. We have covered a variety of subjects from various methods of creating your own genealogy research tool kit, to simple web site design (for your family info if you want to put it there or just a place to keep notes), to how to create good passwords. We have explored programs and websites including Dropbox, FamilySearch, WorldCat, 1000 Memories. Tonight we watched the basic training video for Legacy Family Tree.

We all find this is a great time to learn and share with each other, get some of our questions answered (or find the answer together), and also to get the encouragement we might need to try something new like figuring out how to upload a GEDCOM to our Ancestry.com tree.

Oh yes.....the food is good too!

Come join us!

September Meeting on Civil War Resources

Please join us Thursday September 22, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. in the Grant Foreman meeting room on the second floor of the Muskogee Public Library. You won't want to miss this first meeting of the new season! We haven't met since June when we enjoyed great BBQ and Genealogy Jeopardy so we are all ready to get back into the swing of things.

Speaker Paul Quillin will present our program about the contents of the Southern Historical Society Papers and how they can help you in learning about your Confederate ancestors. He will also offer a demonstration on how to search for information on a Civil War soldier using the Papers as well as various online resources.

The Southern Historical Society Papers is a collection published between 1876 and 1943 in 58 volumes. A comprehensive 1460 page index supplements the work. This collection is considered a gateway into the life of the Confederate soldier, as well as the conduct of the Confederate Armies and Government during the war between the Confederacy and Union forces.

Paul Quillin has a BA degree in Sociology from the University of Central Oklahoma and currently volunteers in the Manuscripts and Photographs departments at the Oklahoma Research Center in Oklahoma City. He serves on the board of the Oklahoma Genealogical Society as the Acquisitions Chair.

Mark your calendar now!

She Lives What She Loves

Jennifer Sparks lives what she loves. Passing out her business card at the Muskogee County Genealogical Society meeting tonight, Jennifer described herself as a 'jack of all trades.' Her card describes her as a reader, writer, historian, geographer, and genealogist. I think genealogist should have come first on her list as you certainly can't seriously get to know who your ancestors really were without knowing something about history and geography. Reading and writing also fit the genealogist's list of necessities. Jennifer loves sharing her knowledge with others and learning from them too, hence the next line on her business card:

HEARTH & HOME HISTORY TOURS
Tours for travelers interested in History

Finding herself taking friends (those of like loves) on trips to places of interest in her own car, a few at a time, and coming home to have others say they would like to go next time, Jennifer began to develop her own tours about history using buses --she calls them 'coaches' because it brings a less negative image to mind-- instead of her car. The tours are limited to about 30 people so that everyone can have a window seat as well as the seat beside them to spread out all those papers and things that we genealogists drag along with us. You are not a tourist on the coach but rather a 'traveler' and you won't visit any amusement parks or shopping malls (well, maybe in an emergency). Historical sites, museums, and the like are the bill of fare and in between stops there is plenty of bonding time with your fellow travelers and chances to tell stories and share knowledge. Jennifer's tours are not like your mother's bus trip!

Hearth & Home History Tours schedule only a couple of trips a year and from the descriptions on the fliers I imagine that they fill up really fast. This year's schedule includes the Arkansas Civil War tour on April 9, and the Steamboat Days on the Missouri Frontier tour June 9 through June 12. I will post links to the fliers on the Society website (http://www.okgenweb.org/~mcgs/) sometime this weekend. Take a look, become a traveler.

January Meeting - English Research by George G. Morgan

Muskogee County Genealogical Society will host their monthly meeting Thursday, January 27, 2010, 6 to 8 p.m. in the Grant Foreman Room of the Muskogee Public Library. This month, George G. Morgan of Odessa, Florida, will present, “Locating Anglican Parrish Records in England”. This meeting is open to members and the general public. Please bring your favorite snack to share.

George is the author of eight landmark genealogy books. These include: The Genealogy Forum on America Online: The Official User's Guide; Your Family Reunion: How to Plan It, Organize It, and Enjoy It, How to Do Everything with Your Genealogy, The Official Guide to Ancestry.com, Genealogical Research in the Major Repositories of London. The second edition of How to Do Everything: Genealogy.

Muskogee County Genealogical Society was established in 1983 to provide education and support to those interested in family history research. The society contributes to the Local History and Genealogy collection at the Muskogee Public Library and other genealogy and history related projects and is a member of the Federation of Genealogical Societies. They maintain a website of databases at: http://www.okgenweb.org/~mcgs/ providing material as well as research services to those interested in research in Muskogee and the surrounding area. For information: muscogeso@yahoo.com or 682-6657

Technology Brings Genealogy Learning Right Into Your Home

There is just no excuse anymore! Anyone wanting to further their genealogy education can do so easily now. You don't have to travel long distances to attend a conference, (although you will miss out on a lot if you don't), or travel miles down the road for a workshop. Technology has put new learning experiences as close as our computer.

Genealogy has gone very hi-tech! Many of the top notch genealogy lecturers are moving into the virtual world. They are providing lectures for workshops and genealogy society meetings via Skype, GoToMeeting and others. They are providing online classes and webinars, many of which are free or cost a minimal fee.

For example, today I received the newsletter Genealogy Newsline -Vol 1 #2-January 18, 2011 edited by Leland K Meitzler for Family Roots Publishing Co., LLC. This is a brand new e-news letter and it is FREE. To subscribe yourself, enter your email address in the box titled "Signup-Free Genealogy Newsletter" found on the upper left hand corner of the Family Roots Publishing Company website, just under the Family Roots Publishing logo. There are several really good articles and it looks like this newest e-news will be a good way to help keep you up to date in the genealogy world. Along with articles, they announce educational opportunities like the following:

FREE "FINDING YOUR FEMALE ANCESTORS" WEBINAR -February 16, 2011.
Registration is now open for an upcoming webinar: Chasing Women-Finding Your Female Ancestors, hoted by Legacy Family Tree's Geoff Rasmussen and presented by GenealogyBlog.com's Leland K. Meitzler.

While the live webinar is not until Wednesday February 16, 2011, space is limited to the first 1,000 attendees, so register today to reserve your virtual seat. Registration is free.

Webinar Description: Locating the names of our female ancestors can be difficult-principally because their names changed upon marrying. However, women historically haven't produced as many records as their husbands, since women's suffrage largely didn't exist until the twentieth century. This adds to the difficulty of finding their names, let alone the details of their lives.

There are two major search areas that we deal with in locating women's names, the first being the search for their maiden names, and secondly, the search for their married names. One search can be as hard as the other, and you may find you're doing both types of searches on the same women.

This webinar is very "source" oriented, giving detailed information on a wide variety of sources, starting with the obvious, and working its way through sources that you may not have thought of using previously.

About the presenter: Leland K. Meitzler founded Heritage Quest in 1985, and has worked as Managing Editor of both Heritage Quest Magazine and The Genealogical Helper. He currently operates Family Roots Publishing Company, writes daily at Genealogyblog.com, conducts the annual Salt Lake Christmas Tour (now in its 27th year), and speaks nationally, having given over 2000 lectures since 1983.

Registration is free but space is limited to 1000 attendees. Click Here to go to the GotoWebinar site and reserve your webinar seat, by clicking on the REGISTER NOW button.

So...keep up to date, improve your genealogy knowledge. No excuses anyone.


Some content used with permission from: Genealogy Newsline Vol 1 #2, Tuesday, January 18, 2011; a publication of Family Roots Publishing Co. LLC -www.FamilyRootsPublishing.com

Night Owls Lock In For Genealogists

Come find your family treasure!
Hosted by and at Muskogee Public Library
Friday, October 22, 2010
6:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.
PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Enter in the back door

-An evening of research -Upstairs computers also available (we are taking over the library for the evening)
-Door prizes-Blue light specials
-Bring your favorite snack (to share - or not)
-Security Available to escort you to your vehicle at 10 p.m. or earlier if you want
-No charge to attend! Come and have a good time without working!

Displays and help with getting started with your research, joining lineage societies and other organizations, and how to register and contribute to Oklahoma's WWI registration project. Muskogee County Genealogical Society members and Library staff will be available to answer questions.

REGISTRATION ENDS 12 NOON ON OCTOBER 21! Call the library at 683-6657 ex. 257 and let them know you want to come!