Our next meeting will be on Saturday, September 26th at 10:00 a.m.  This meeting will be held via Zoom.  Michael John Neill will be our presenter, and the topic will be "I've Found it Now What?".

This presentation discusses what do to when you've located that elusive document. We'll briefly talk about transcription and it's importance, why citations are advised and how not to stress out about them, and organizing the actual item that has been located. The bulk of the presentation will include ways to get the "most" of the document, making certain to interpret it in the historical, legal and other contexts. The presentation will wrap up with a discussion of how to create further research plans based upon what has been located.

Michael John Neill began researching his family genealogy in the early 1980s and grew up a few miles from the county courthouse in the county where many of his family members have lived since the 1860s. He has spent many days rummaging through old original records in a variety of locations across the United States attempting to discover more ancestral details other than vital event dates. Foraging those records for clues has taught him a great deal about research, his ancestors, and himself.

Michael writes and lectures on a variety of genealogical topics, with particular interest in immigration, women’s rights, research methodology, and problem-solving. He has also led annual research trips to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, since the late 1990s. His lectures and trips emphasize helping researchers improve their research skills so they can more effectively conduct their own research because he knows that no one cares as much about a genealogist’s family as the genealogist themselves.

Michael has a master’s degree in mathematics and has been a community college instructor since the early 1990s. He maintains a web presence at genealogytipoftheday.com 

 

 

 

Note: Regularly scheduled in-library Genealogy Desk help hours are not currently available due to Covid-19.  However, we are continuing to offer one-on-one help via Zoom.  Please use the links below if you would like to sign-up for an online help session.

 

JCGS volunteers are available Monday - Saturday from 9-5 at the Genealogy Desk at the Johnson County Central Resource Library for general questions.  For those looking for a little extra help with either Basic Genealogy or DNA & Genetic Genealogy we also offer free one-on-one sessions that can be booked in advance.

 

Basic Genealogy sessions are available most Tuesday mornings. This is not for brick wall or advanced research help.

 

 

 

DNA & Genetic Genealogy sessions are available most Friday mornings.

 

 

 

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Congratulations to Joyce A. Mitchell, JCGS member, for her first-place award from the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors. The award-winning article, "Gold Star Mothers Visit Overseas Cemeteries," appeared in the September 2017 quarterly on page 7.

 

Joyce has been a regular contributor to The Genealogist since 2014. Lately she has researched and written a WWI series, focusing on men from Johnson County who served in that conflict. At other times, she contributes an article just because the topic is of interest to her. In addition to her writing, she works behind the scenes as a proof-reader for the quarterly and spends a lot of time finding the little things we miss, thus making us look good. We were thrilled when we heard she had won an award and are thankful for all her contributions to JCGS.

 

In honor of her award, the full September 2017 Quarterly is available to everyone by clicking here. Other issues of our Quarterly can be accessed on our website by current members of JCGS.  To become a member, please click here.