Celebrate Family History Month at the Public Library

*Co-Sponsored by the Hamilton County Genealogical Society

Saturday, October 6

Day with the Experts*
Main Library, Genealogy and Local History Department
Family History Month kickoff event features tours, classes, presentations, and free genealogy consultations with experts.

Tours—10:00 a.m. and Noon
Discover the Library’s top ranked and vast family history resources through a guided tour.

Researching Your Civil War Ancestor Online—11:00 a.m.
Join technology expert and professional genealogist Liz Stratton as she presents online sources and strategies for Civil War genealogy research, along with additional historical, photographic and military resources available on the web.

Individual Consultation with Experts—Noon–2:00 p.m.
Need assistance getting started or finding an elusive ancestor or record? Twenty experts with specializations including African American, German, and Irish genealogy as well as land records, maps, and newspapers share their expertise.

General William Haines Lytle—2 p.m.
Mike Rhein of the Cincinnati Civil War Roundtable presents the life of Cincinnati’s legendary military officer, Congressmen and poet.  

Saturday, October 27

Genealogy Lock-In*—6:30–11:30 p.m.
Registration is required
Join fellow genealogists for after-hours research at the Main Library.

During the lock-in, HCGS Tech Programs will have a series of 'Taste of Tech' programs in the Computer Lab. Each program will be 10-15 minutes long. Topics include:  Creating Genealogical Bookmarks, Google+ for Genealogists, Introduction to Family History Blogging, Name Search Strategies and Using the HCGS Google Calendar to Get Event Reminders. 

Introductory Genealogy at Branch Libraries
October 8     Symmes Township Branch—7:00 p.m.*
October 15   Covedale Branch—6:00 p.m.*
October 20   Groesbeck Branch—2:00 p.m.
October 22   Miami Township Branch—6:00 p.m.*

Main Library
800 Vine Street
(513) 369-6900
www.CincinnatiLibrary.org

Information provided by Chris Smith, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

Imagine My Delight . . .

I just got home and opened my copy of the Ohio Genealogy News for the Fall of 2012. Boy, did our Chapter ever look good!  On p. 5 there was an article entitled "OGN Wins NGS Award."  To quote the first paragraph,

For the third time, the Ohio Genealogy News has won the top honor in the National Genealogical Society's annual Newsletter Competition.  OGN took first place in the major genealogical and/or historical society category and was awarded the prize at the NGS 2012 Family History Conference in Cincinnati.  Deb Cyprych and Jennifer Hershberger, OGN co-editors for the previous five years, accepted the award on behalf of OGS.

Credit:  http://ogs.org

I turned to p. 6 and saw a mention of our own Patrica Van Skaik of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County receiving the Griffin Yeatman Award from Hamilton County Recorder Wayne Coates in July. "This award recognizes volunteers who help preserve Hamilton County history."

If that wasn't enough, Shelley Bishop who writes A Sense of Family blog and has been linked to this blog had an article published on Using Genealogy Blogs for Ohio Research (pp. 16-20).  In it she referenced our blog and referred to "University of Cincinnati's online database of Cincinnati Birth and Death Records from 1865-1912" where she found her great-grandfather and his siblings. She also referred to a post on the Great Flood of 1937 and an "update about online access to local deed indexes."

I think this speaks to the incredible contributions made by our members to not only Hamilton County genealogy but also to Ohio genealogy.  Congratulations to Jennifer Hershberger, Deb Cyprych, and Jim Dempsey for putting the Hamilton County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society on the map -- and thanks, Shelley, for the mention.

Submitted by Kathy Reed

It's a Small World, Even in a Big City

Submitted by:  Linda Dietrich, Program Director

Hamilton County Research Essentials

Researching your ancestors in Hamilton County, Ohio? When it comes to publications, there are two essentials that should be on everyone's shelf. The first is A Guide to Genealogical Resources in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, 6th Edition and the second is the collection of back issues of the Tracer and Gazette 1979-2008. More recent issues of the Tracer and Gazette are available in the members section of our website, hcgsohio.org.

A Guide to Genealogical Resources in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, 6th Edition provides detailed research guidance including reproductions of numerous period maps, lists of publications and microfilms, a gazetteer, a list of street name changes, addresses and holdings of many county libraries, archives and government offices, and more! The table of contents can be viewed on our website by clicking, http://hcgsohio.org/guidecontents.pdf.

Back issues of the The Tracer contain an amazing number of articles of benefit to Hamilton County researchers. The Hamilton County Genealogical Society (HCGS) website has both a topical index (1979-2008), http://www.hcgsohio.org/tracerarticleindex.pdf and also a name index (1979-2005), http://www.hcgsohio.org/tracernames.shtml. These sources can be used in conjunction with the text search capabilities available on the CD or DVD to locate all the relevant articles that contain your ancestor or topic of interest.

Both of the publications can be purchased using the Publications Order Form (http://www.hcgsohio.org/publicationsorderform.pdf). The HCGS is experimenting with taking orders using credit cards. As part of our beta-test, these publications can now be purchased online.

	The Tracer and The Gazette 1979-2008 on 1 DVD	$16.00
	The Tracer and The Gazette 1979-2008 on 2 CDs	$20.00
	A Guide to Genealogical Resources in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, 6th Edition	$11.95

Please let us know about your experience. We love to hear from you!

Submitted by Liz Stratton, Treasurer

Note: When we discussed this project at the board meeting, many complained of difficulties keeping track of all those pesky passwords. (Yes, if you choose to open a PayPal account, you will need to password protect your account or you can opt to pay by credit card.) There are many programs available to manage passwords. Reviews of the top 10 password management programs can be found at: http://password-management-software-review.toptenreviews.com/.

If you are receiving this message via email, please go to http://hcgsohio.blogspot.com/2012/09/hamilton-county-research-essentials.html to make a purchase.
 

Choosing A Genealogy Software Program

Now is the time to mark your calendar for a program scheduled for 7:00 PM on September 25th at the Blue Ash Branch Library (Click on the link for a map and directions). John Tholking will lead a presentation comparing a few of the most popular genealogy software programs.  In addition, three Chapter members will describe some of the features of the software they use. Following the presentation members will be able to see online demonstrations of the software and ask questions of the presenters.  We hope to see you there.

Reunion software is designed specifically for those using Macs.
Although all of the featured software programs have many things in common, they do not always work across platforms. If you use an Apple-based product, this may be the software for you.

Submitted by Kathy Reed

The September Tracer Now Online

The Tracer is one my favorite publications. Filled with research guidance and the latest upcoming events, I eagerly read each new issue from cover-to-cover to find the nugget that might lead to new discoveries about my ancestors. “The Foreign Population in Cincinnati, 1912” is a fascinating reprinting of a pamphlet published in 1912, “Report on the Survey of the Foreign Population in Cincinnati.” The reprint is one of many great articles in the September issue, now available to members online. Headlines include:

The Foreign Population in Cincinnati, 1912

Chapter Programs

            September 25: “Choosing a Genealogy Software Program”

October 1, 8, 15, 29: “Learn to Read Old German Script”

October 6: “It’s a Small World Even in a Big City”

Family History Month

            October 6, 27: HCGS Tech Programs during Family History Month at the Library

            October 6: Day with the Experts including a library tour, Expert tables, “Researching Your

                              Civil War Ancestor Online,” and “General William Haines Lytle”

            October 8, 15, 20, 22: “Falling into Genealogy,” introductory genealogy class

            October 27: Genealogy Lock-In

Chapter and OGS News

             November 3: Heritage Luncheon

             OGS Conference Coming to Cincinnati in April 2013

             Get your OGS Lineage Society Honors in Cincinnati Next Year

             Congratulations, Pat!

Calendar of Upcoming Events

Hamilton County Early Surveys and Maps, JIM DEMPSEY

Hamilton County Records Online: Probate, 1940 Census

New Library Catalogs, War of 1812, Newspapers

An Irish Rose By Any Other Name..., MARY ANN FALOON

Probate Record Extracts before 1821 in Support of Hamilton County Lineage Programs, JEFFREY HERBERT

Hamilton County Recorder’s Office Early Indexes and Records, JIM DEMPSEY

Hamilton County Probate and Naturalization Records on FamilySearch

Using Fold3: A Powerful Internet Research Tool, BRENT MORGAN

German-Americana Collection at University of Cincinnati

Public Library Acquisitions, MARK SCHMIDT

Book Reviews BY COLLEEN PHILLIPS: Literary Cincinnati: The Missing Chapter by DALE PATRICK BROWN

Queries, COMPILED BY BARBARA WEGLEY

New Members, EILEEN MUCCINO

The Tracer is available online to all members on our website, http://hcgsohio.org/membership.shtml. Additional information about upcoming programs are also available on the calendar, http://hcgsohio.blogspot.com/p/calendar.html.

Submitted by Liz Stratton