Interested in World War II?

Kara Martinelli will do a book signing at the Ohio Genealogical Society this Saturday, Dec. 15th, from 11 AM to 2 PM. "My Very Dearest Anna" is an analysis of letters written by the author's grandfather, Private Dick Moore, to his "dearest Anna" back home. Anyone interested in World War II should attend.

A Touch of Hurricane Snow at OGS this AM

Over 50 OGS Volunteers Honored at Annual Banquet held this past Weekend

 We had lots of leftover potatoes!!!

Volunteers Jean Barnes, Karen Novak, Missy Derrenberger, President Sunda Peters

 Trustees Paul Morehouse, Eric Johnson, Don Clark

OGS Charter Member Donna Urban, Library Director Tom Neel



What's Black & White and Read all Over?

The following Ohio newspapers have just been added to the free web site www.chroniclingamerica.org

§ Dayton Daily Empire: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026002/issues/


§ Daily Empire (Dayton): http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88077244/issues/

§ Hancock Jeffersonian (Findlay): http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042591/issues/

§ Findlay Jeffersonian: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026034/issues/

§ Jeffersonian Democrat (Chardon): http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028083/issues/

§ Stark County Democrat (Canton): http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028490/issues/

§ Tiffin Tribune (1848): http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026279/issues/

§ Tiffin Weekly Tribune: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87076793/issues/

§ Tiffin Tribune (1868): http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87076794/issues/

The 2013 Ohio Genealogical Society Conference Registration Flyer is now available on the OGS web site - www.ogs.org - first item in the rolling events at the top of the page. Please join us in Cincinnati to enjoy a great range of speakers, workshops, and events.

Consider Giving Back

We are getting ready for a busy weekend at the Ohio Genealogical Society library with the Deborah Abbott program Friday morning (10 AM) and the OGS Fall Conference with Mark Lowe all day Saturday at the neighboring Quality Inn meeting room.
Have you checked www.familysearch.org recently? They added the rest of the Ohio county probate records at the end of September, so if your ancestors were in the second half of the alphabet, you don't have to wait any longer!
Now that the 1940 census is indexed, consider giving something back to Family Search and these other database providers who aid us in our genealogical searches. FamilySearch indexers are currently working on a wide array of projects including the Ohio County Naturalization Index 1818-1954 and additional parts to the Ohio County Birth Records 1856-2005 and the Ohio County Marriages 1790-1950.
If you have an Ohio database sitting on your computer, consider sharing it with OGS for its member database web section. Many chapters provide indexes to their special collections and then ask a small charge for copies of the actual item. This is a new income source for them. Putting that index on the OGS web site makes it available to many more researchers.

Wider View of Pioneer Baptist (Strausbaugh) Cemetery

Sorry, I missed the wider view of the tombstone restoration project in my recent posting. Here it is!

Our Dearly Departed

With the dedication of the Pioneer Baptist Cemetery on SR 97 northwest of the library on Friday and the Dearly Departed workshop at OGS on Saturday, we got our fill of death and dying subjects! Mark Morton of Shelby joined the OGS Cemetery Committee while an OSU intern at the library and took on a project to properly restore what was known as Strausbaugh Baptist Cemetery at the southeast edge of Lexington just over the line in Washington Townshp. There were only two stones standing but now, everything is erect and repaired, after much archaeological excavation, tree and brush removal, studying old WPA cemetery maps, and a lot of work. These photos show the Bellville Legion Post at the dedication, past OGS President Paul Morehouse standing with Mark Morton, a descendant of Charles Boner kneeling next to his ancestor's 1830 tombstone, OGS President Sunda Peters and Trustee Deb Jeffers accepting an Ohio Buckeye Cemetery Preservation Award, the tombstone of War of 1812 veteran Samuel McClure 1833 which was provided with a War of 1812 marker by the Daughters of 1812, and a wider view of the local veterans and the restored cemetery.

Then on Saturday, several students attended the Dearly Departed workshop, a series of classes on wills and estates, death records, funeral homes, writing your obituary, memory medallions, and more. We had our fill of coffin-shaped brownies and all kinds of pie from our local V&M restaurant! After the classes, the instructors gathered for a picture - Deanna Applegate, Marlene Applegate, funeral director Tom Neel, Susan Zacharias, and Margaret Cheney. Many tears were shed for the deceased.

Please check the OGS web site and sign up for the next cemetery restoration workshop to be held on the Bob Evans farm at Rio Grande with classes in Gallipolis on October 19th and 20th. There are still spots available. Walt and Mickie Walters from Graveyard Groomers in Indiana will again give students a hands-on explanation of cemetery tombstone repair - all the problems involved and the methods to solve them.

Chapter Management Seminar in Chillicothe

Getting Ready to Teach a Class on Access to Chapter Materials - About 50 Chapter Officers Attend OGS Chapter Management Seminar in Chillicothe this Weekend

New Treasure on FamilySearch

The addition of the Ohio Probate Records for Adams County through Lawrence County on FamilySearch June 5th totally slipped by me. I am scrolling through my home county of Huron and it is absolutely amazing how many films have been digitized. Please explore!

Summer Workshop in Full Swing

Between cataloging Norwegian bygdeboks that came in from the Clifford Wig estate, I had time to snap this photograph of the summer genealogy workshop in full swing. Go to www.ogs.org - events tab (workshops) - if you wish to get in on the last few days of this session.

Last Chance to Visit the Booth at OGS Conference

The Exhibit area at the NGS Conference will close at 3 PM. You have just over two hours to make your last visit to the OGS sales booth! Great event! Over 2200 attendees.

Scenes from Fountain Square Cincinnati

Visitors to the NGS Conference in Cincinnati this weekend enjoy the many scenes of Fountain Square just a block from our hotels.

NGS Conference in Cincinnati

Be certain to pay a visit to the Cincinnati & Hamilton Co Public Library while at the National Genealogical Society Conference this weekend. We got to see the original 1848 Cincinnati waterfront panorama and the wonderful local history collection and bought a ton of books at the Friends of the Library used book store. What a great time in Cincinnati!

Susan Zacharias accepts the President's Award from OGS President Sunda Peters this morning for all her work on the OGS Conference syllabus each year as well as her service on the membership committee and graphical talents designing logos, advertising, and brochures for OGS. Sue was not able to make the awards ceremony at conference and was surprised with the honor as she was preparing to give a class on Genealogy and the Stars to a group of students in the OGS Library.

NGS Conference Volunteers Needed

Will You Have Some to Volunteer for NGS?

 

Once you get a chance to look at the NGS 2012 Conference syllabus (http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/2012syllabus) and pick your sessions, you might see that you'll have some spare time during the Cincinnati conference. Please consider volunteering! It takes many, many people to keep everything running smoothly during such a large conference, and it's a fun way to get to know other genealogists.

 

Registration workers, Ask Me hosts, Exhibit door monitors, Syllabus Station attendants and a few Session monitors are still needed. If you would like to volunteer but you're not sure what is involved, email Jean Nathan and she will send you a copy of the Volunteer Manual which explains everything. If you have questions or wish to volunteer, contact Jean at ngsvolunteers@gmail.com.

 

The Ohio Genealogical Society and the Hamilton County Chapter are the local hosts for the Conference, and it's our job to provide the volunteers. We thank you in advance!

CHRONICLING AMERICA PODCASTS

Just got word from Jenni Salamon that the Podcasts are done for using Chronicling America for your Ohio newspaper researcher. These were prepared by our Ohio newspaper project staff at OHS. Links to the YouTube videos are given below. Enjoy!

Using Chronicling America Podcast Series
Background
In collaboration with the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress, the National Digital Newspaper Program in Ohio developed and produced a series of video podcasts that will help teach you how to access the rich content available on the historical newspaper database Chronicling America (www.chroniclingamerica.org).
 Podcasts 2-9 provide the basic information you will need to use the website.
 Podcasts 10-11 provide more advanced search tips to help you understand why the results you want do not always show up the way you expect.
Episode
Title
Host
URL (YouTube)

NDNP Podcast 1
About The "Using Chronicling America" Podcast Series
Jenni Salamon &
Kaylie Vermillion
http://youtu.be/6NKMwneZF20

NDNP Podcast 2
What Is Chronicling America?
Jenni Salamon
http://youtu.be/Bvg73KAyTDA

NDNP Podcast 3
How Do I Browse?
Kaylie Vermillion
http://youtu.be/a9mD5A-c5jg

NDNP Podcast 4
How Do I Perform A Basic Search?
Jenni Salamon
http://youtu.be/cIB_Eso44B0

NDNP Podcast 5
What Will My Search Results Look Like?
Jenni Salamon
http://youtu.be/lzKLUwgzTuA

NDNP Podcast 6
How Do I Perform An Advanced Search?
Kaylie Vermillion
http://youtu.be/rEs4YgtpqB8

NDNP Podcast 7
How Do I Use The Image-Viewing Screen?
Jenni Salamon
http://youtu.be/iHvdqCOd4hw

NDNP Podcast 8
How Do I Zoom On An Image?
Jenni Salamon
http://youtu.be/Au-XwW50hJw

NDNP Podcast 9
How Do I Print An Image?
Jenni Salamon
http://youtu.be/NlguUm8agBE

NDNP Podcast 10
Overcoming Historical Language Barriers & Learning Alternatives To Controlled Vocabulary
Jenni Salamon
http://youtu.be/L_SBG7RLQIs

NDNP Podcast 11
Understanding Keyword Searching
Kaylie Vermillion
http://youtu.be/Dhf8Sx0ap-Q

1940 CENSUS DAY IS HERE

There is probably no need for this blog to announce that the 1940 Census was released early this morning as it has been an event anticipated for months and years. The free NARA images are available at http://1940census.archives.gov and since there is no index yet, they suggest entering the 1930 census enumeration district into their handy converter. For example, my hometown of New London, Huron County, Ohio was 39-17 in 1930 and becomes 39-19 in 1940. Images load slowly or not at all today because everyone is trying this out. To explore the 1940 census today, familysearch.org has Delaware loaded as a sample and I had no trouble viewing this. The image was clean. Some actual birthplaces in foreign countries were on the pages I viewed. It gives the residence of each person in 1935 also, a great way to trace migration patterns. Ancestry.com as of noon had loaded in American Samoa, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Guam, Indiana, Maine, Nevada, the Panama Canal Zone, Rhode Island, and the Virgin Islands. What fun for genealogists!

Perrysburg and Fremont Newspapers go Online

Good Morning!

I am pleased to announce that the following papers (over 10,000 pages!) have been
added to Chronicling America:

Perrysburg Journal (1853):
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026192/issues/
The Weekly Perrysburg Journal: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026193/issues/
Perrysburg Journal (1868): http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87076843/issues/
Fremont Journal: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026050/issues/
Fremont Journal Extra: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87076766/issues/
Fremont Weekly Journal: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038229/issues/

I will send out press releases to you and media outlets around the state to
announce the newest additions to the website soon.

Cheers,

Jenni Salamon
Project Coordinator
National Digital Newspaper Program in Ohio
Ohio Historical Society

ASG Scholar Award

The American Society of
Genealogists gives an annual $500 scholarship that can be applied to any of
three genealogical institutes: (1) the National Institute of Genealogical
Research at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.; (2) the Institute of
Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.;
and the Certificate Program in Genealogical Research at Boston University. For
details see the ASG website, www.fasg.org.

Mark Your Calendars!

Upcoming Summer of Learn Programs at the OGS Library - ALL FREE:
Apr 28 - "Genealogy with the Stars: Using Astrology" - with Susan Zacharias at 10:00 AM
May 19 - "It's All About Time: 200 Years of Clock Making" - with Doug Osborne at 1:00 PM
Jun 1 - "Using Online Resources" - with Dr. Deborah Abbott at 10:00 AM
Jun 2 - "Using Newspapers in Your Research" - with Julie Wilson at 10:00 AM

OGS at Statehood Day

OGS President Sunda Peters sits at the display we did for Statehood Day in Columbus on March 1st. We met with other historians/genealogists/educators and legislators to congratulate them on renewing the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit program and creating the Ohio Historical Society tax check-off box for a new grant program. We also expressed our concerns about Senate Bill 181 (now in the House) which includes a committee to address cemetery legislation. We recommended adding social studies testing back into the grades 5 to 8 age group. We suggested that funding be provided to have more than the one current staff member in charge of public records management for Ohio. John Glenn and his wife Annie were guests at the event and he gave an excellent speech about the importance of history and reaching our young people. It is the 50th anniversary of his flight in space and his 90th anniversary on Earth!

More Free Newspapers!

The following additional Ohio newspaper titles have been posted to www.chroniclingamerica.org Users can search for surnames or browse the issues page by page at no charge. This is a project of the National Digital Newspaper Program in Ohio in which OGS is a participant.
Highland Weekly News (Hillsboro) 1857 to 1886
Belmont Chonicle (St. Clairsville) 1855 to 1894
Belmont Farmers Mechanics and Manufacturers Advocate (St. Clairsville) 1853 to 1855
Urbana Union (Champaign Co) 1862 to 1872
Xenia Sentinel (Greene Co) 1863 to 1865
The theme for newspaper choices this year is the Civil War anniversary. Around 10 to 15 titles have been added each year through this grant.
Tom Neel, OGS Library Director

RPAC Fight Against Social Security Death Index Closure

The Records Preservation and Access Committee
has built a considerable set of resources over the past few days to help garner
support for the Social Security Death Index.

Access the kit at http://www.fgs.org/rpac/sddi-call-to-action-kit/.

If you have questions concerning the Social
Security Death Index and its possible loss as a resource for the genealogical
community, please check all the resources available in the kit including:

· Educational videos and FAQ sheets.
· Information on the Stop Identity Theft NOW! petition via the We
The People website.
· Form letters that you can use to contact Congress and let them
know you do not support removal of the Social Security Death Index.
· And ways to spread the word to other members of the genealogical
community.

Western Reserve Hist Soc open for OGS Conference

Sent: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 8:53 AM
Subject: WRHS supports OGS conference

The Genealogical Committee of the Western Reserve Historical
Society is planning activities to support the OGS Annual Conference in
Cleveland April 12-14, 2012. Your members will be interested in these
plans, as the Western Reserve Historical Society is located only a few minutes
from the InterContinental Hotel where the Conference will be held.
First, the Research Center at WRHS will be open for
extended hours during the OGS Conference. On Thursday, April 12, hours
will be from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm. On Friday and Saturday, the Center will
be open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. And on Sunday, April 15, it will be
open from Noon to 5:00 pm. In addition, admission and parking at the WRHS
will be free for all OGS Conference attendees. They need only show their
Conference registration materials. Research Center staff and volunteers
will be on hand to assist in research.
The Genealogical Committee will have an exhibit in the
OGS Conference Exhibit Hall and will conduct daily prize drawings offering WRHS
and Committee memberships, free research time, and other prizes. Members
will be on hand to answer questions and describe the research help and
resources available at the WRHS Research Center.

Bob Gardner
WRHS Genealogical Committee

Even More Free Access Newspapers on ChroniclingAmerica

I am pleased to announce that the following papers have been added to Chronicling America:

Just go to www.chroniclingamerica.org for background on this wonderful collection.

Tom Neel, OGS Library

Highland Weekly News (Hillsboro): http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038158/issues/
Urbana Union: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026309/issues/
Xenia Sentinel: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038244/issues/
Belmont Chronicle: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85026241/issues/
Belmont Chronicle, and Farmers, Mechanics and Manufacturers Advocate: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028479/issues/

Winter Doldrums - OGS on a Sunnier Day!

More Ohio Papers on chroniclingamerica.org

Good Morning:

I am pleased to announce that the following papers (over 7,000 pages!) have been
added to Chronicling America:

Cleveland Morning Leader: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83035143/issues/
Gallipolis Journal: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038121/issues/
Holmes County Farmer: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028822/issues/
Holmes County Republican
(1856): http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028820/issues/
Holmes County Republican (1870): http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028821/issues/

Please be aware that only one reel of the Cleveland Morning Leader is currently
available; the remaining reels from that paper are on a separate batch and will
be uploaded over the coming months.

I will be sending out press releases to both you and media outlets around the
state announcing the addition of each paper to Chronicling America.
Please let me know if you have any questions.

Happy
Holidays!

Jenni Salamon
Project Coordinator
National Digital Newspaper
Program in Ohio