Member Society Programs

A reminder to all member societies! Please submit your planned programs for 2010 ASAP for publication on KCGS "Calendar of Events". It is important that you not only include the speaker and subject for the program but where it will be held and the time it will start. It would also be helpful if you supplied a contact e-mail where further information can be sought.

National Family Health History Day

Submitted by Janeice Crossen, KCGS President
Just a note to alert you that several of the larger genealogy information repositories in the country are going together to make their data available online, such libraries as the Midwest Genealogy Research Center in Independence, and Ft. Wayne in Indianapolis, plus the Family History Center in Salt Lake City and others. It is an exciting time for us. You know also that the National Archives is working in tandem with Ancestry.com to digitize their records.

What I wanted to talk about today however:

Thanksgiving Day has been designated as National Family Health History Day, by the U.S. Surgeon General. What that means is you are asked to take the opportunity to create a health history for your family as you get together to visit and have a good time. Americans know that family history is important to health.

Such diseases as Macular Degeneration, Alzheimer’s, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Autism, Brain, colon, endometrial and skin cancers, breast, ovarian and prostate cancers, clotting disorders, diabetes, heart disease, Huntington’s, Muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s, Sickle-cell disease, Tay-Sachs, are health issues with ties to genetics. Early detection may help alleviate problems later on.

If you will go to The website that is highlighted on the page https://familyhistory.hhs.gov/

You will find the Access the My family Health Portrait Web tool.

There is a questionnaire for you to complete right on the computer, asking for your personal profile, name, age, height, weight, diseases, when diagnosed, etc. Then you are asked to number your siblings, uncles, aunts, parents, grandparents.

On the next section you are asked to fill out the questionnaire for each of the people you have listed. There is a pull down menu that lists possible diseases and a place to add any that are not there. If you aren’t sure what Grandpa died of, perhaps somebody else at your gathering will know.

When you have completed the answers, the computer will print out a nice chart for you that graphically illustrates your family’s health history. Why do we need this? Make a copy for each of your children and give it to them. They will be able to take them to their health care providers when next they go. Doctors will be delighted to see such a history as it will help them formulate treatments and preventive measures to prescribe for their patients.

Those of you who are reluctant to have your health data “out there” can be assured that if you don’t save your work it will disappear from the computer. All you will have is the printed copy which you can revise and edit if need be.

If you are not a computer user yourself, enlist the help of a grandchild and make a nice Thanksgiving activity for you both.

Then the latest I have found is this genetic problem. A UCI study has turned up evidence that bad driving may have a genetic basis. UCI neurologist Dr. Steven Cramer, who studies brain repair after stroke and brain remodeling, published a study suggesting that bad driving may in part be genetically based. People with a particular gene variant performed more than 20 percent worse on a driving test than people without it. About 30 % of Americans have the variant.

The study was published in the journal Cerebral Cortex. You might want to google it.

Message from KCGS President

Dear members,

I have been thinking about how we can make your state society more useful to you. Your KCGS board is always open to ideas that will help us become more viable.

Do your societies post or publish or both the obituaries from your area? Do you use your websites to post indices of your publications? Do you solicit queries for research? Do you take advantage of the free websites Helen will help you set up?

We have this KCGS website with this blog for members to use. Helen, our webmaster asks us to send her our contributions so that she can get them posted correctly. Responses are welcomed as well. We would like to post obits and other news of our members, for example. Here is an opportunity for idea exchange and so on. Not only would we like everyone to read it, but also to contribute to it.

We also have a space on Facebook that we encourage members to join. We are encouraging all societies to go digital as much as possible. Newsletters can be sent that way and websites can be used for soliciting research requests and for advertising the publications we have for sale. I am not comfortable with journals going digital because there are still genealogists who do not use computers or who have slow internet connections and who would rather have a hard copy to read that they do not have to download and print, but the increasing cost of postage and printing may make that necessary, too.

As president I would like to attend some society meetings for feedback and to bring communications. I need dates and places ahead of time so I can plan my trips.

I put out the newsletter whenever there is something to communicate and we are publishing the Review as well. Both Ruth and I would welcome contributions to those publications from our readership. My supply of society newsletters from which I can draw information, has diminished severely. I do not know if that is because fewer are being published or perhaps just not being sent to us. What I receive come mostly from the same societies located here in the eastern part of the state. Our newsletter should be a place where members can get the word out about new publications, special programs, and projects, etc. Putting out newsletters electronically is cost free and can be done as often as we need to. If you would like to email me yours, my address is jcrosson@wamego.net

We have learned that we cannot continue to advertise in the national journals as our funds are limited. We would like all member societies to help us advertise our Forgotten Settlers project in their own publications. A camera ready ad can be had for the asking. This project is not so much for earning income for the state society as it is for advertising to the world our Kansas heritage, for encouraging those with Kansas ancestors to be able to give them recognition.

Please feel free to give us any feedback and most of all ideas of how we can become more of a helpful entity.

Sincerely,
Janeice Crosson
President KCGS

Explore Your Swedish Roots This October

Kathy Meade, of Genline North America, returns to Lindsborg to repeat her popular class ‘Using Online Records to Trace Your Swedish Ancestry.’ The hands-on workshop will be presented at the Salina Public Library,Sunday, October 11, from 1-4:30 pm. Ms. Meade will be joined by experienced Swedish genealogist Mr. Jan Eurenius, from Stockholm, Sweden, for this workshop. If you are ready to learn more about your family’s roots in Sweden, don’t miss this great workshop presented by experts in the field. The session is free and open to the public, but participants are asked to call 785-227-3595 or email oldmillmuseum@hotmail.com to register.
This workshop teaches participants how to access Swedish records online and how to use them to trace families back through time. The Swedish record books, which include information dating back to the 17th century, have been digitized by the Genline company, making access to information much easier than ever before. Ms. Meade and Mr. Eurenius will be in Lindsborg for the Svensk Hyllningsfest celebration October 9 and 10, but will have extended time to work with people on their family history during the workshop on Sunday the 11th.
Based in Chicago, Illinois, Kathy Meade brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the subject of Swedish immigration and tracing Swedish ancestry. Jan Eurenius is an experienced researcher from Sweden who enjoys helping people solve the puzzles of their past. This workshop is co-sponsored by Genline and the McPherson County Old Mill Museum. For more information, call 785-227-3595 or email oldmillmuseum@hotmail.com.

Volunteers Needed for the Midtown Historic Home Tour

The annual Midtown Historic Home Tour will be Saturday, Oct 10 and Sunday Oct 11. Midwest Historical & Genealogical Society intends to participate only on Sat, Oct 10 from 9am till 4pm. We need two volunteers (one for the morning and one for the afternoon). MHGS will have a table near the Tour registration table in the Fairview Christian Church, 16th and Fairview, Wichita. Beverly Arbuckle will provide a MHGS poster and MHGS brochures to the MHGS volunteers. The volunteer task is to tell Tour attendees about MHGS and invite them to stop by the MHGS Library. Please email Beverly Arbuckle.

The Lincoln Cottage

Saturday November 14, 2009
Program: “The Lincoln Cottage” by Dr. Frank Milligan
Time & Place: 1:00 pm till 2:30 pm at the Alford Branch Library
Free and open to the public

Dr. Frank Milligan, is the Director of the Lincoln Cottage, near Washington DC. The purpose of his visit is to accept an original journal authored by Albert See, a Civil War soldier that was on duty at the Lincoln Cottage during Lincoln’s residence there. Albert See’s great granddaughter, Betty Kessler, a resident of Wichita, presently has the journal. She will present the original journal to Dr. Milligan on Nov 14, along with some garments worn by Albert See at Lincoln funeral. These items are to be retained in the Lincoln Cottage archives.

Located on a picturesque hilltop in Washington, DC, President Lincoln's Cottage is the most significant historic site directly associated with Lincoln's presidency aside from the White House. During the Civil War, President Lincoln and his family resided here from June to November of 1862, 1863 and 1864. On July 7, 2000, President William J. Clinton declared the Lincoln Cottage and 2.3 acres of surrounding land the President Lincoln and Soldiers' Home National Monument in honor of the site's notable role in the presidency of Abraham Lincoln.

Midwest Historical & Genealogical Society Library

Saturday October 24, 2009
Event: MHGS Members preview of the MHGS Library Addition
Time and Place: 11:00 am till 2:30 pm at the MHGS Library
The MHGS Options Committee invites MHGS Members to come to the MHGS Library for a preview of the potential MHGS Library Addition. The development of the requirements for the Addition is still at an early state, so now is the time for Members suggestions and comments. Architectural drawings will be available for your review and we hope to have the Architect available t answer your questions. Also we intend to have an outdoor “walk through mock-up” (weather permitting) that will visually demonstrate where the addition will be located.

Kansas Genealogical Society Fall Seminar

The Kansas Genealogical Society Annual Meeting and Seminar will be held 08 October 2009, Lower Level Meeting Room of the Village Square Mall, 2601 Central, Dodge City, KS. Registration and coffee at 9:00 A.M. Lunch on your own from 12:00 – 1:15 P.M.
The featured speaker will be Alice A. Walker, Blue Mound, KS. Alice is a certified genealogist. She has conducted many workshops of various kinds including how to prove genealogical steps. Alice is an author, having written two well documented family genealogies.
“Back to New England”, will be featured at the morning session, and “New York – Impossible?” in the afternoon. Fee prior to 1 October 2009 is $15.00. At the Door is $20.00. Handouts, prizes and refreshments. Non-members are always welcome to join us.
For additional information call 620-225-1951.

WeRelate and Ancestry

From FGS conference.

The Dallan Quass discussion of Discovering WeRelate <https://wiki.familysearch.org > was really interesting. WeRelate is the world's largest genealogy wiki. A wiki website is where anyone can edit or add information quickly. Pages are created collaboratively. It is Wikipedia for genealogists. Gedcoms may be uploaded, information about how and where to look for data. Our cousins might upload some information about the people we have been researching, maybe the very dates, places, connections that have been eluding us for a long time. If someone adds something to an article in an effort to correct it, i.e. perhaps claims the wrong ancestor, and we know their information is faulty, it is possible to correct the error. A discussion can be held with those cousins and information can be shared. A history of all the changes made is kept. Managers monitor the site against vandalism. All this is free for downloading also.

Ancestry is offering FREE access to all its databases through December 21. Also they are giving new subscribers $10 off the annual subscription so it costs $49.95. Subscribers will receive a Free Ancestry Reference Library CD-ROM.(contains 15 genealogy reference books)

"How Genealogists Seek Information" by Scott Lucas

September 12, 2009, MGHS Library, 1203 North Main, Wichita, KS, 1:00 pm till 2:30 pm.
Free and open to the public.

Scott Lucas has been an avid genealogist for fifteen years. He has presented at several library and Genealogical conferences and workshops around Kansas. Dr. Lucas received a PH.D from Emporia State University in Library and Information Management in December 2008. His dissertation topic was "The Information Seeking Process of Genealogists". He also currently serves on the library boards ar Clearwater Public Library and Wichita Area Technical College. Dr. Lucas resides in Clearwater with his wife and 2 girls.

Your Society and the IRS

Provided by Cath Madden Trindle, CG, FGS Treasurer

Many genealogical organizations have applied and been accepted by the IRS as 501(c)3 organizations. In the past, those organizations that had average annual income of less than $25,000 were exempt from filing any paperwork once their initial five-year qualification
period was over.
This is no longer true. Starting in 2008, while still exempt from Federal income tax, genealogical societies are among those organizations that must file an annual return no matter how little their income is. The good news is, if average income is below $25,000 per year, the society will only need to file 990-N, or e-Postcard. This form takes just minutes to fill out. You will need your FEIN and contact information when you access the postcard from the IRS website at http://www.IRS.gov .
For those who feel slightly intimidated anytime they deal with a government form, the IRS website offers a wealth of materials to help the non-profit society determine their filing requirements, which form to use, and how to complete it. Failure to file a return for three years will result in an organization losing their non-profit status. If your society hasn’t filed for 2008, be sure to do so right away. Late is better than never.

News from the Kansas State Historical Society

Provided by Sara Keckeisen -

As you may have heard or read in the newspaper, the Kansas Historical Society (like all state agencies) was recently required to reduce budgetary expenditures to help the state achieve a balanced budget. At the Historical Society, that has meant a reduction in our professional staff (here in Topeka and at some of our historic sites) and in some of the services we are able to provide. We are, however, still striving to provide researchers, both in person and distance-researchers, with accurate and efficient reference help, and our facilities are still open their regular hours (Tuesday-Saturday from 9:00am-4:30) but we did lose one reference librarian in the recent cuts and we have had to raise our research fees. We can now do one obituary search (when the death date and place are known) for a $15.00 research fee. All other research requests for in-state patrons are $20.00 and for out-of-state patrons are $25.00. These fees are payable in advance and include 30 minutes of research and up to 5 pages of photocopying if we find anything. As of now, per-page photocopy charges and postage charges for copies above the 5 included copies are remaining the same. More complete information can be found on our website: http://www.kshs.org/contact/ask_question.htm or feel free to call the Reference Desk at 785-272-8681, ext. 117. There is still no charge to use our collections in person.

Part of the budget cuts has affected our ability to purchase new books and materials for the library research collections. So donations are more important and appreciated than ever! If you have been working on compiling a newspaper index or compiling cemetery inscriptions or transcribing vital record information from county records, please keep us in mind. We would love to have a copy of our work, even if it is not Kansas-related. If you have identified photographs of Kansas-related people and places, we’d love to consider them for our photographs collection. Nowadays, loaned-for-copying or donated photographs are digitally scanned (as well as having a preservation copy made) and most are uploaded to our swell Kansas Memory website (www.kansasmemory.org). You can find photographs on everything from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad to the St. Marys, Kansas pharmacy in the 1920s to the Greensburg tornado on this searchable database. And the images available there grow every day.

I want to highlight a couple of outstanding cemetery books that have recently been cataloged. Viola Schwind Gouvion’s St. Francis Hieronymo Parish Cemetery, St. Paul, Neosho County, Kansas not only covers interments there between 1852 and 2008 but Ms. Gouvion went beyond recording dates of birth and death and cemetery plot locations. She also, for many of the burials, went to the newspaper obituaries and funeral home memory cards and has published those additional sources of information in her book. This is such a valuable additional piece of research and will save the researcher precious time. This book also features an index.

Likewise, Von Rothenberger has compiled a 936-page compilation of Osborne County, Kansas Burials 1866-2000. His alphabetically-arranged work includes additional information for each name where it could be determined, like military service, cause of death, parents’ and childrens’ names, and burial locations. This massive work will be invaluable for Osborne County researchers. Bibliographical information on both of these books is available on our on-line catalog, ATLAS, which you can explore on your home computer.

Reno County Genealogical Society Receives Grant

RCGS was awarded a grant in the amount of $260 from Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak of Honoring Your Ancestors. She awards a monthly grant that is funded by her personally. Megan serves as Chief Family Historian and spokesperson for Ancestry.com. She is also President of RootsTelevision.com. RootsTelevsion is online TV for genealogists.

The grant is for the Reno County Cemetery sign project. You can read about it here:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ksrcgs/events/events.htm

"Lincoln Comes to Kansas"

Atchison Genealogical Society will meet Tue, Sept. 1 at 6:30 at the Atchison Library. Jorgine Drake, Referencing and Senior Programs Director of the Troy Library, will give the program: ”Lincoln Comes to Kansas” in honor of the 200^th birthday of Abraham Lincoln celebrated this year. Free to the public, Refreshments served.

Parmelia and Pluma Bailey

Is anyone out there interested in a file folder of family information for John Aberne(a)thy's family and the collateral family of John LaBore? The wives of these families were sisters, Parmelia and Pluma Bailey. Most of the family lived in Wisconsin, but at least three groups came to Kansas to Cawker, Ft Scott, and Salina.

Some of the persons were born in Canada and some in Vermont. Names included are Smith, Brown, Gilbert, Dugas, Duvall, Edgar
Shadowen, Hardwicke.

Also in the file are four photographs: Eliza Nattier, Celenie Nattier, widow of Arthur Nattier, and a baby possibly Lillian Nattier, plus one of the farm home of Lorenz and Aurora Nattier Junker, which was four miles east of Neodesha, Kansas. The Nattier story is that Aurora was born near Clunny (sp) France in 1843 and came to America with her mother Victorine Nattier, about 1856 after her father, mayor of Autreville, France, had been recently assassinated They first went to a farm in Wisconsin near Port Washington. Aurora later married Lorenz Junker, b Germany. They moved to Ft Scott, Kansas in 1870, and then to Neodesha that same year. They were accompanied by Albertine Nattier daughter of Emile and Eliza Nattier, the girl being Aurora's niece.

Aurora, her mother and her husband are buried in Bethel Cemetery. Is that Neodesha?

This material was rescued at an estate sale in Riley County and is available for anyone who has a connection to these families or who will give it a home in their library. email jcrosson@wamego.net

KCGS on Facebook

Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies announces the development of a space on Facebook as another means of networking with genealogist interested in the happenings of Kansas Genealogy. Visit the space, sign up to become a "Friend" and help spread the word.

Kansas Forgotten Settlers Volumes

The KANSAS COUNCIL OF GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES has published volumes containing the application and pedigree charts of those individuals who qualified for one of these certificates.

Each volume is soft bound and is 8-1/2" by 11"(while supply lasts) or on CD. Each volume contains the names of approximately 100 KANSAS pioneers. Each application contains the name of the pioneer, birth date and place, death date and place, pioneer's father's name, mother's maiden name and spouse's name as well as the names of the parents of the spouse. The date and place of settlement in KANSAS is also stated. The individual making application for a certificate also sends in his/her pedigree chart. Each volume is fully indexed and contains 200 to 230 pages.

Index of Volumes One through Ten
Index of Volumes Eleven through Twenty
Index of Volumes Twenty-one through 25
Index of Volume 26

KCGS will not make copies of individual pages of the Forgotten Settler Volumes. If interested order the volume(s) you need on the order form below or visit your local library.

Order Your Volume(s) Today
Complete Forgotten Settlers Order Form
Return with payment to
KANSAS COUNCIL OF GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES
PO BOX 3858
TOPEKA KS 66604-6858

View lists of Forgotten Settlers of Kansas

Territorial Certificates

Pioneer Certificates

Early Settler Certificates

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Kansas Forgotten Settlers

Many of the early pioneers who have helped make Kansas a great state have been lost in history because no other information existed except in family records. In order to gather information on these pioneers, the Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies has a project of issuing a Territorial, Pioneer or Early Settler certificate to a direct descendant of a person who lived in Kansas before 1900.

Eligibility

1. To receive the Territorial Certificate an applicant must be a direct descendant of an ancestor who lived in Kansas prior to 29 January 1861.
2. To receive the Pioneer Certificate an applicant must be a direct descendant of an ancestor who lived in Kansas between 29 January 1861 and 31 December 1880.
3. To receive the Early Settler Certificate, an applicant must be a direct descendant of an ancestor who lived in Kansas between 1 January 1881 and 31 December 1900.
4. Applicant must be able to prove descent with an official record of some type or some other acceptable source of proof (i.e.: census records; obituaries; county histories; birth, death or marriage records; school or church records; newspaper clippings and any other records showing proof.)
5. Applicant does not have to live in Kansas or ever have lived in Kansas.

To apply for a certificate, each applicant will need to complete a the four-page application form. This form includes the certificate application (page 1), permission to publish (page 2), a line of descendant chart (page 3) and a pedigree chart (page 4). In addition, each application will need to submit documentation to substantiate the information included in the line of descent chart. Pages 1 and 4 will be printed in a Forgotten Settlers book at a later date.
The documentation sent to establish eligibility for a certificate is placed in the Library and Archives Division of the Kansas State Historical Society. It is available to researchers as part of The Forgotten Settlers of Kansas manuscript collection, no. 206. For information about doing research in person at the Center for Historical Research, please go to the KSHS website, http://www.kshs.org/places/chr/index.htm. Information on reference policies and requesting copies by mail is at http://www.kshs.org/contact/ask_question.htm. When requesting copies, the file number, either a letter-number combination such as G28 or a number such as 5922, should be included if possible. It appears at the bottom of each Form #1 in the published The Forgotten Settlers of Kansas volumes, available in many Kansas and some out-of-state libraries.
The cost of the certificate is $12.00 for out-of-state residents and $13.00 (includes KS sales tax) for Kansas resident.

Apply for Your Certificate Today
Complete Forgotten Settlers Certificate Application in PDF Format
Please click on "Shrink to Fit" when printing

Return all four pages of the completed application with copies of documentation to
KANSAS COUNCIL OF GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES
PO BOX 3858
TOPEKA KS 66604-6858

Atchinson County Genealogical Society

MEET THE AUTHORS, SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2009, ATCHISON LIBRARY: CAROL AYERS, 9:30 A.M. - "LINCOLN IN KANSAS". BILL MCFARLAND, 10:30 A.M. "KEEP THE FLAG TO THE FRONT"
“Lincoln in Kansas” is the story of Lincoln’s historic campaign stop in northeast Kansas where he tweaked his famous Cooper Union Address along this particular leg of the presidential campaign. Ayers is a Leavenworth resident and based her research from a rare document collection archived at the University of St. Mary.
“Keep the Flag to the Front” is the story of the Eight Kansas Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, traveled 10,750 miles, participated in 17 battles and was the last Kansas regiment to be discharged after the war. McFarland has taught in the public school system for over 30 years has been a Civil War reenactor for more than 15 years.
REGISTRATION 9:00. THE PROGRAM IS FREE TO THE PUBLIC with REFRESHMENTS and DOOR PRIZES

Past KCGS President

VICTORIA - Schippers, Francis, 68, died May 2, 2009, at his home. He was born Sept. 18, 1940, in Hays. He was a U.S. Army veteran. He conducted tours of the Cathedral of The Plains and other area churches and was Chairperson for the Hays Oktoberfest for the last 40 years and chairperson for the Cancer Council of Ellis Co. Polkafest for the last 30 years. Survivors: brother, Gilbert "Gib" and wife, Rosalyn, Hays; sister, Eleanor Schippers, of the home. Service 10 A.M. Wednesday, St. Fidelis Catholic Church, Victoria. Visitation 3-9 P.M. Tuesday and 8:30-9:45 A.M. Wednesday at the mortuary. Memorial: Fort Hays State University Foundation Scholarship Fund.

Published in Wichita Eagle on 5/4/2009

KCGS Annual Conference - Register Before May 30

Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies Annual meeting and conference will be held on June 20, 2009 in Wichita, KS with Wichita Genealogical Society as co-host. Megan Smolenyak will present four lectures:Trace Your Roots with DNA, Welcome to Roots Television, Reverse Genealogy: Techniques for Finding Your Lost Loved Ones and Find That Obituary: Online Newspaper Research. Keep in touch for registration information but mark your calendar now.

Hodgeman County Genealogical Society

Hodgeman County Genealogical Society, located in Jetmore, Kansas, is pleased to announce their new web site where they plan to add records for use by Hodgeman County researchers. View the new site at: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/society/jetmore/index.htm