Midwest Historical & Genealogical Society Hosts Watch Parties

Midwest Historical & Genealogical Society will host watch parties each Monday evening at 7:30 p.m. 1201 North Main, Wichita, KS.

Genealogy Roadshow

PBS announced in May that thy will have the new series, Genealogy Roadshow, in their fall lineup. MHGS is happy to be a sponsor of this program which will start on Monday September23 at 8:00-9:00 our time on KPTS. This show will run for four Mondays through October 14. This series will be part detective story, part emotional journey, and will combine history and science to uncover fascinating stories of diverse Americans. Each individual's past will line to a larger community history, revealing the rich cultural tapestry of America. 

Genealogy Roadshow's premiere season will feature participation from Four American cities - Nashville, Austin, Detroit and San Francisco - who want to explore unverified genealogical claims, passed down through family history, that may or may not connect them to an event or historical figure. Genealogy experts will work with the participants chosen and will use DNA, family heirlooms, letters, pictures, historical documents and other clues to hunt down more information. 

MHGS will hold a "Watch Party" at the Society Library at 1203 North Main each Monday evening of the Genealogy Roadshow. We will open the library at 7:30 p.m. and attendance is free. We do need to know how many are interested in the "Watch Party" so we can plan seating and get everything ready. Make your reservations by calling 316 264-3611 or e-mail mhgs1121@aol.com.

Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society

On Monday, August 26th, at 6:30 p.m., Lori DeWinkler, Lead Investigator and Historian for Moonlit Ghost Hunts, will present the program “Wellington After Dark” to Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society members and guests at the Wellington Senior Center, 308 S. Washington.

Lori DeWinkler, a paranormal investigator since 2008, loves being a paranormal investigator for Moonlit Ghost Hunts, www.moonlitghosthunts.com. 

But Dewinkler doesn’t just go to a location for the first time on the night of the investigation. She checks out the location ahead of time. Thoroughly.

She researches the building’s history, who owned it, who lived there, and maybe even who died there.

She reads newspaper articles, talks to folks who know the history of the location, and the area, searches for clues, and compiles and analyzes her findings before the group ever goes in to investigate. And she gets excited when the pieces of the historic puzzle start falling into place and she can pull together a structure’s fascinating history before an investigation.

DeWinkler will share several fascinating stories about Wellington and Sumner County and bring along some of the tools they use to investigate.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.. There is no charge for the program and everyone is welcome. In case of bad weather cancellation, contact Jane Moore at 620-447-3266. For more information, go to www.ks-schgs.blogspot.com.

HeritageQuest Drops PERSI

Read all about it at
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130714/LOCAL/307149942/1002/LOCAL
What does this mean for the societies?  But great idea for researchers.

Kansas Genealogy Society Quarterly Meeting

Kansas Genealogy Society quarterly meeting, July 11, 2013, 2 :00 p.m., USD 443 Learning Center, 308 West Frontview, Dodge City, KS (across highway north of Village Square Mall). Gary and Margaret Kraisinger of Halstead, KS will speak on Texas Cattle Trails. Program is free of charge and open to the public.

Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society Receives Grant from the Kansas Humanities Council

TOPEKA – The Kansas Humanities Council (KHC) recently awarded Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society of Wellington a $3,500 grant for the “Prairie Letters: Written in Rural Kansas in the Late Nineteenth Century” project.

Jane Moore, SCHGS president said that in 2012 the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society received a notebook containing the “Prairie Letters,” letters that had been written primarily in the 1870’s by Emily Sell, one of Kansas’ earliest setters. Sell homesteaded in the Rome, Kansas area with her husband.  Moore said that even though Kansas was opened to settlement in 1854 and became a state in 1861, there were only 22 white people living in Sumner County by 1870 (The Sumner County Story, Paul and Gwendoline Sanders, 1966, p. 9).  Sumner County was not fully organized until Nov. 7, 1871.

“When I saw that the first letters were dated 1870, and learned that there were only about 22 white people living in Sumner County in 1870, I couldn’t imagine what life must have been like for those early settlers,” said Elaine Clark, Prairie Letters Project Director and grant author.

There have been histories written about other areas of Sumner County during this time period, but very few collections of letters have been discovered which give a first-person perspective,” Clark said,  “that makes this collection of letters a priceless, irreplaceable piece of Kansas history.”

“Transcription and preservation of these letters will give future historians, researchers, genealogists, and those interested in early settlement of the Midwest a first-person account of the hardships and difficulties of early homesteaders,” said Moore.

“Historical details about settlement in the Rome, Kansas, area are sketchy, but the town was officially organized in 1884,” Moore said, adding that  SCHGS members involved in transcribing Emily’s letters to friends and family are eager to learn about early-day settlement of Sumner County through the eyes and viewpoint of the homesteader and his wife.

Clark said she and her husband, Larry Clark, traveled to Jordan Cemetery recently to view and photograph Emily’s grave stone.

“I stood there and wondered what her life was like,” Clark said, adding that “these letters reveal much about the early days of Sumner County and the hardships and sorrows that families endured.  We tend to take food, warmth, air conditioning, doctors and medical care for granted, but these letters share the facts of everyday life for Kansas’ early settlers, babies that died because no doctors were available, weeks that go by before getting letters from family and friends, and children who can’t get an education because they live too far from school or they are needed to work on the farm.”

“These situations would seem foreign to today’s young people,” Clark said.

Clark said that some of the letters are almost unreadable because of fading, so it is imperative for the SCHGS to transcribe these letters as soon as possible. 

“This Heritage Grant from the Kansas Humanities Council will assist in preserving this treasure,” Clark said, “I can hardly wait to do the transcribing.”

Clark added that as the project progresses and they learn more about the contents of the letters, they will share information on the website at www.ksschgs.com, blog at www.ks-schgs.blogspot.com, SCHGS Facebook page and in area publications. 

“KHC Heritage grants encourage the preservation of local cultural resources,” said Julie Mulvihill, executive director of the Kansas Humanities Council. “This transcription project will preserve these one-of-a-kind primary source documents for generations to come. What a treat to find out what stories these letters will tell.”

The Kansas Humanities Council is a nonprofit organization that supports community-

based cultural programs, serves as a financial resource through an active

grant-making program, and encourages Kansans to engage in the civic and cultural

life of their communities. For more information, visit www.kansashumanities.org.

2013 KCGS Conference and Annual Meeting

KCGS 2013 Conference and annual meeting, June 18 . "Research on the Range", Dyck Arboretum, Hesston, KS., 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Registration is required to guarantee lunch and a syllabus.
Speakers will include:

Art Binford	Friends University	Quaker Collection
Ashley Diaz	Emporia State University	ESU Archives at William Allen White Library
Jane Jones	Harvey County Archives	Local Historical Society Collections
John Thiesen	Bethel College	Mennonite Library & Archives Records
Lenora Lynam Lorna Nelson	Lindsborg Old Mill Museum	Swedish & Lutheran Records
Michelle Enke	Wichita Public Library	Wulfmeyer Genealogy Collection at WPL
Patty Nicholas	Ft. Hays State University	Volga German Records at Forsyth Library
Randy Roberts	Pittsburg State University	PSU Archives at Axe Library