Society Saturday - Frederick County Genealogical Society

Today is the April meeting of the Frederick County (MD) Genealogical Society or FRECOGS as we say.  It is a small to medium group that meets on the second Saturday of the month (except July and August).

I decided to join after one meeting.  I do not have family in Maryland and I do not live in Frederick County (yet!) but I immediately felt welcomed.  I am learning more about the county and more importantly, the members.  Everyone has been so nice and they answer all questions, big and small!

So if anyone has Frederick County, Maryland family, check us out! The website is www.frecogs.com.

Baltimore Fun with Thomas MacEntee

Under the category of "better late than never", I am finally getting around to writing about my last event in the whirlwind that was the month of March!! (Only to get the office "bug" and be down for Easter)

On March 30th I finally got to hear the one and only Thomas MacEntee of High-Definition Genealogy and GeneaBloggers fame in person at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland.  His presentation was "New Horizons for Genealogists" including sessions on Facebook and Social Networking.  He was fanastic....of course!!   I was familiar with the topics but did learn a few tricks along the way.

I saw a few familiar faces in the crowd including a few members of the Frederick County Genealogical Society (way to go Nancy & Wanda!).  Also got to see Russ Worthington of A Worthington Weblog again (whom I met at Fairfax Fun the week before!).  And finally got to meet a Twitter buddy, Angela Raji-Walton of My Ancestor's Name and African Roots Podcast.  I believe this is the best part of attending genealogy events...meeting new people or putting a face to an online connection.

I also have to give a big shout out to Jeff Korman and staff of the Maryland Department of the Enoch Pratt Free Library for putting on the event.  It was their 10th annual Genealogy Lecture (but the first one I knew about!!) and I hope to be back next year.  They provided us with a nice notepad and pen (and cookies & drinks).   Boy there have been events that I wished had done this!!

Jeff Korman and Thomas MacEntee

Some of the highlights included lunch at G & A Restaurant.  It's a local landmark that brings back a lot of memories of a small diner and the food was excellent!!  (And lunching with librarians Jeff & Janet wasn't bad either!!) There was a drawing at the end of the presentation and guess who won something...ME!! Since I didn't win the record Mega Millions lottery the night before, I guess Thomas' Legacy Family Tree webinar "Navigating the 1940 U.S. Census" is the next best thing!!!

Oh and the branch location was the Southeast Anchor Library at the corner of ...

"Gene Card"

I've been meaning to post about my "gene card" but keep forgetting!! Since I had to print up a few more, I thought I'd post what mine looks like (front & back).  It saves someone from trying to read my writing :)

Delia Pockett/Pacquette Sharrow Pine -Obituary

The death of Mrs. Delia Sharrow Pine, aged 75 years, occurred at her home on Forge street on Wednesday morning of last week, the immediate cause of her death being stomach trouble.  The deceased was born in Canada, coming to Au Sable Forks with her parents when but eight years of age, where she has always resided.  She was a devout Catholic and highly respected by all.  The funeral was held from the Church of the Holy Name on Friday, Rev. Clarence A. Kitts officiating, interment being in the Black Brook cemetery.  The deceased is survived by six children:  Louis Sharrow of Clintonville; George Sharrow, Au Sable Forks; John Sharrow, Rutland, Vt., and Mrs. Levi Betters, Mrs. Eugene Duprey and Mrs. Oncio LaHart of Au Sable Forks, to whom the sympathy of the community is extended.

Under "Au Sable Forks News" in The Adirondack Record-Elizabethtown Post, Thursday, April 5, 1923, Page 3.

Delia was my maternal great great grandmother.  More to come on her....as soon as I find it!!

Tombstone Tuesday - New Blog

I decided to create a new blog dedicated to the cemetery trips I have been taking here in the Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia area.  I want to keep this blog for family related "stuff".  The new blog, Denise's Cemetery Journeys, will showcase the local cemeteries and non-family graves I have been finding for the last year or so.

So if you have a chance, check it out!!

Fairfax Fun!

I attended the Fairfax Genealogical Society Spring Conference in Virginia on 23-24 March 2012.  I won't go into a diatribe on the Northern Virginia traffic.  All I have to say is that I admire my friends who live in Northern Virginia and work in Washington, DC and Maryland.!!

Traffic aside, I had a great time! I was able to attend the Friday session this year (thanks boss for 1/2 day off!!) and heard Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG speak on Advanced Critical Thinking Techniques.  Among the topics he discussed were the Genealogical Proof Standard, Correlation and Organizing of Facts and Evidence.  I came away with several ideas to start working on a few brick walls.  I was surprised to see the 3 Tracks on Friday full.  As this was the first time I had the opportunity to attend on a Friday, I wasn't sure what to expect.  Very pleasantly surprised to see a large number of people there!! My only complaint about Friday was the early dinner break.  Wouldn't have been so bad if  the vendors had been open........but then again I probably would have spent even more than I did!!

Saturday was THE DAY.  The vendors were there.  A lot more people were there.  (No traffic at 8:00 am on a Saturday!!)

Saturday offered 6 tracks.  The 6 Tracks were:

• National Treasure in the Nation's Capital with Pam Sayre, CG, CGL & Rick Sayre, CG
• Effective Organizational Methods with DearMyrtle
• Seeking Virginia Resources with Barbarba Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FVGS
• Re-Examining What You Already Have with Charles S. "Chuck" Mason, Jr, CG
• Introduction to European Research with Claire Bettag, CG, FUGA and Richard Camaur, CG
• African American Research with Char McCargo Bah

I attended the second one with DearMyrtle and Russ Worthington.  Not only were the sessions great but listening to the "Cousins" at times was priceless!! Too bad the session wasn't videotaped!! I came away from these sessions as well with multiple ideas on to move forward in my genealogy and organizing the PILES.  Here are a few lecture room shots:

All the Track presenters were very nice and approachable.  I personally got to say "hi" to Myrt, Russ and Char.  All have great blogs to read.  I saw the other presenters speaking to the attendees during the breaks.  To me it's nice to have that human connection.  That is one of the reasons I feel genealogy conferences are truly for ALL of us.

But one of the best things about the conference was speaking with fellow genealogy addicts!! You had folks who have researched into the 1600's and those who just started.  You also had folks who were not up on social media and those who love it.  And you had folks who had no idea what a blog is and those who have multiples (including one for their dog--and no not me, I have a cat!!).  I love to "people watch" and seeing the light bulbs go off when DearMyrtle was talking about blogs was great! I also had a chat with a few folks about blogs and it was great to see the folks realize that anyone can do this.  You can blog about whatever your little heart desires.  Hopefully we'll see a few blogs soon that got their motivation to start with this conference!!

Overall, I had a great time.  Hope to go again next year.  The dates will be 5-6 April 2013.  Maybe I'll you there!!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Coughlin!!

Today would have been my paternal grandfather David Francis Coughlin's 103rd birthday.  He was the second  son of Daniel Joseph Coughlin and Bridget Agnes Williams born 20 March 1909 in Lake Placid, Essex County, New York.  He died on 6 June 1984 at Lake Placid, Essex County, New York.

My grandparents would come to Charleston, South Carolina for the winters when I was younger.  The excuse was, of course, to see us granddaughters BUT really it was for golf!! My grandfather loved to golf.  He suffered a heart attack getting in a round of golf in before our family made a rare visit to New York.

I don't have many pictures of my grandfather but one of my favorites is a photo taken in the 1970's in North Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina.

I took up golf for a while but I don't have the patience for it.  But I like to think, for a brief moment, I was connected to my grandfather.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!! Hope you are below par on this round!!