Our next meeting is Sunday, January 16. Our speaker will be Christine Cohen, her presentation is entitled Grand Army of the Republic – Researching Your Union Civil War Veterans. The Zoom session will begin at 12:30 for social time, and Christine’s presentation will begin at 1:00.

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About the Presentation

Do you have a Union Civil War Veteran? Did you know that in 1890 there were over 400,000 Veterans who belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R)? This organization existed from 1866 to 1956. It generated records noting Civil War service, birth, marriage, death, residences, occupations, detailed biographies and even photographs. I will show you where and how to find these hidden gems.

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About Christine Cohen

Christine Cohen is a long time member of the Whittier Area Genealogical Society (WAGS), where she has served in many capacities, including President. In addition to WAGS, she is also a member of the El Redondo Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Society of Daughters of Holland Dames and the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Her interest in genealogy began in 1977 with the airing of the TV mini-series “Roots” and she was piqued when she found a typed pedigree chart of her Dutch heritage from the New Netherlands in the 1660’s. Christine is a native Californian, a graduate of UCLA in Political Science and has worked for Vitol Aviation Company since 1993.

Our next meeting is Sunday, December 19. Our speaker will be Dannell “Danni” Altman-Newell, her presentation is entitled Beyond the Draft Card: Researching Your Great War Ancestor. The Zoom session will begin at 12:30 for social time, and Danni’s presentation will begin at 1:00.

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About Danni Altman-Newell

Dannell “Danni” Altman-Newell is a native Kansas Citian. She began her family history research at an early age, courtesy of spending summers watching her maternal grandparents indexing at the local Family History Center. Danni is currently employed as Director of Operations at the National Storytelling Network and serves as an enthusiastic volunteer for the National World War I Museum and Memorial. A graduate of ProGen and proud member of OES, DAR, APG, and the APG Heartland Chapter, Danni specializes in the Great War, Fraternal Organization, and Midwest research. She can be contacted at danni@talkingboxgenealogy.com.

Our next meeting is Sunday, November 21. Our speaker will be Sara Cochran, her presentation is entitled From a Box in the Closet to a Treasured Family Heirloom: Organizing and Digitizing Your Family Photos. The Zoom session will begin at 12:30 for social time, and Sara’s presentation will begin at 1:00.

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About Sara Cochran

Every person that starts researching their family history does so for a different reason. For some, they feel disconnected from themselves or seek understanding about modern issues from the past. For others, the genealogy “bug” bites when a family member asks them for some help with research. For me, it was a desire to learn about the people I came from, all these marvelous looking people in my Grandma’s photo albums.

The Egyptians believed they were immortal if they were remembered. By seeking out our ancestors, we give them immortality. Someday, perhaps, someone will do the same for us! I’m just a little passionate about family history. A good friend helped me paint this on my wall and my long-suffering husband hung all the pictures.

I have returned a few “long-lost” family members to their spot on the family tree. Through research, I was able to discover what happened to a Great-Grandfather and one of his daughters on one side of the family, and a 2nd-Great Grand Aunt and 2nd-Great Grand Uncle on the other side. I’m not done with them yet, there are still puzzles to solve from the in-between years. But I can mark the places where they lie and there is some closure for the living family that has wondered what happened all these years. Each of them appears on this tree.

Sunday, October 17, 2021

Our next meeting is Sunday, October 17. Our speaker will be Christine Cohen, her presentation is entitled www.DAR.org. The Zoom session will begin at 12:30 for social time, and Christine’s presentation will begin at 1:00.

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About Christine Cohen

Christine Cohen is a long time member of the Whittier Area Genealogical Society (WAGS), where she has served in many capacities, including President. In addition to WAGS, she is also a member of the El Redondo Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Society of Daughters of Holland Dames and the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Her interest in genealogy began in 1977 with the airing of the TV mini-series “Roots” and she was piqued when she found a typed pedigree chart of her Dutch heritage from the New Netherlands in the 1660’s. Christine is a native Californian, a graduate of UCLA in Political Science and has worked for Vitol Aviation Company since 1993.

Sunday, September 19, 2021

Our next meeting is Sunday, September 15. Our speaker will be Ronald V. Gilmore, his presentation is entitled Irish Griffith’s Valuations. The Zoom session will begin at 12:30 for social time, and Ron’s presentation will begin at 1:00.

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About Ronald V. Gilmore

With a strong technical background (a degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Mathematics), Ron pursued a career as a management consultant in IT with major assignments in Canada, USA and Europe. Retiring in 2010, Ron and Wendy bought a golf community home in Sun City Shadow Hills in Indio, CA.

With generous amounts of spare time now available, Ron turned to genealogy for family investigations in Ireland, UK, France/Germany and Canada. Ron has presented to a variety of genealogical societies including the Sun City Shadow Hills Genealogy Club, the Palm Desert Genealogy Club, the Moreno Valley GS and the Hemet-San Jacinto GS on his favorite topic: Ireland.

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Sunday, August 15, 2021

Our next meeting is Sunday, August 15. Our speaker will be Hal Horrocks; his presentation is entitled Drilling Down for Better Searches. The Zoom session will begin at 12:30 for social time, and Hal’s presentation will begin at 1:00.

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About Hal Horrocks

A native of Long Beach and a 50-year Orange County resident currently living in Costa Mesa, Hal Horrocks is a professional genealogist, teacher, author, and lecturer and has been doing family research for over 25 years.

He is a member of several professional genealogical associations and is the immediate past president of the Orange County California Genealogical Society (OCCGS) headquartered at the Huntington Beach Central Library.

Hal is a graduate of CSULB. He has been lecturing to genealogical and other societies for the last 15 years on a range of subjects that include why people get involved in genealogy to conducting research in early England.

Sunday, July 18, 2021

Bring a chair, lunch and beverage and join us for a picnic at Heartwell Park! Look for the Questing Heirs sign in the area across from–or nearby–the Masonic Lodge. (Please do not park in their parking lot.)

We won’t have a speaker but will have time to visit and share our genealogical findings this past year.

We look forward to seeing everyone again in person!

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Sunday, June 20, 2021

Our next meeting is Sunday, June 20. Our speaker will be Linda Ivers; her presentation is entitled Genealogy Research and Writing Incorporating Newspapers: Using Newspapers to Provide Context to Our Ancestors Lives. The Zoom session will begin at 12:30 for social time, and Linda’s presentation will begin at 1:00.

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About Linda Ivers

Linda Sausen Ivers is an avid genealogist. Inheriting boxes of photos and other family heirlooms and ephemera increased her desire to find out more about her ancestors. She comes from a two-generation family–15 years separated her from her older sister. “Although I was lucky enough to have known my grandparents and to have met one of my great-grandmothers, I really didn’t know many specifics about who they were or where they came from. All I had to go on were some family stories and a lot of photographs.”

Linda’s genealogy addiction started in the late 1980’s with two goals: (1) to document family stories so they would not be lost to her children, and (2) to locate members of family she did not know or had lost touch with. Over the last thirty or so years, Linda has traced her father’s family back to Germany in the 1600’s and her mother’s family back to pre-revolutionary war America. But the quest continues to fill in the missing pieces.

Born in Long Beach, raised in Oregon, Linda returned to Long Beach with her family in the mid-1980’s. While in Long Beach, she taught computer science, owned her own small business, worked for a City Council member, was a member of Questing Heirs Genealogical Society, the Southern California Genealogical Society, and a board member of the Historical Society of Long Beach.

Linda has done presentations for Questing Heirs and other groups on Beginning Genealogy, Methods of Genealogy Research and Getting More out of Ancestry.com. For over a year, Linda taught beginning genealogy classes for Questing Heirs before moving to Oregon in 2013.

Publishing credits include articles for: Book by Authors: North Long Beach Anthology, “War Stories”; Oregon Digital Newspaper Program, “Newspapers: A Genealogists Treasure Trove!”; Willamette Valley Genealogical Society, “Researching Using Historical Newspapers”.

Sunday, May 16, 2021

Our next meeting is Sunday, May 16. Our speaker will be Kristin Wenger; her presentation is entitled Finding Our Female Ancestor: Research Strategies to Discover More About Women in Family History. The Zoom session will begin at 12:30 for social time, and Kristin’s presentation will begin at 1:00.

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About Kristin Wenger

Roots & Wings Research, LLC was founded by Kristin Wenger in December 2017 upon her completion of Boston University’s certificate program in genealogical research. Kristin is passionate about giving others the gift of experiencing fulfillment and inspiration through discovering, preserving, and sharing their family histories.

As a lifelong Lancaster County, Pennsylvania resident, she specializes in Pennsylvania research, particularly Anabaptist groups (Mennonites, Brethren, and Amish) as well as the Moravians, who settled her hometown of Lititz.

Before pursuing her career in genealogy, Kristin was a teacher and librarian for nearly two decades. She graduated summa cum laude from Messiah College with a degree in Elementary Education. As an educator, she loves to provide coaching and instruction to others who want to learn more about their own family histories. Kristin presents engaging lectures and classes on a variety of research topics, volunteers as the in-house genealogist for the Lititz Historical Foundation, serves as Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Lititz Public Library, and is involved in teaching and music ministries at her church.

For more information, please visit her website https://www.rootsandwingsrearch.com and blog at https://www.rootsandwingsresearch.com/blog.

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Our next meeting is Sunday, April 18. Our speaker will be Diane Boumenot; her presentation is entitled Produce Your Family History Book for $20. The Zoom session will begin at 12:30 for social time, and Sara’s presentation will begin at 1:00.

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Produce Your Family History Book for $20

Self-publishing has gotten easier and cheaper in the last ten years. For those who have spent decades researching a family tree, gathering stories and pictures, but keep delaying the production of a book, now is a good time to explore the next steps. Learn how your digital documents can come together to produce a book that is affordable and simple to distribute within your family, ready to be discovered years from now by your family’s next “story keeper.” It’s not hard, and you can easily start with just one book.

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About Diane Boumenot

Diane MacLean Boumenot specializes in southern New England family history research and publishes genealogical guidance on her website, One Rhode Island Family. In 2018 she co-authored, with Maureen Taylor, the National Genealogical Society’s NGS Research in the States volume, Research in Rhode Island. Diane speaks on Legacy Family Tree Webinars on New England genealogy and also TechZone topics. She holds a B.A. in American History and English from Wesleyan University. Diane is also a graduate of ProGen 28, Coordinator of Progen 40, and Mentor in the GenProof program. She is currently serving as Vice President of the Rhode Island Genealogical Society and on the Membership Committee, National Genealogical Society.