We have posted information on my annual group research trip to Ft. Wayne's Allen County Public Library in May of 2009. More detail is on our website at: http://www.rootdig.com/2008/11/join-michael-in-ft-wayne-indiana-may.html Registrants who sign up by Thanksgiving are automatically placed in our drawing for a free hotel stay. Michael -- ------------------------------------ Michael John Neill http://www.rootdig.com

British Isles Family History Society–USA November meeting British Isles Family History Society–USA November meeting General Meeting: "Sharing Your Family History Experiences" and a HolidayPotluck Sunday 23 November 2008 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM We hope you can be part of our annual "Show and Tell." Traditionally, this program has been one of the best of the year. Come prepared to share keepsakes, successes, and other uplifting experiences in your family history and in your research. In the past, we have seen wonderful family photos, documents, quilts, and many other items. Perhaps you have a recent research success story to share with the group. Your story might inspire another person with new ideas for research. We are also holding our Holiday Potluck lunch! Bring a dish - hot or cold. It can be from the country of your origin. BIFHS-USA will supply the beverages and paper products. Fill your plates full with good food and come, sit, and listen to family history experiences. You can always go back for seconds. Join us at the Los Angeles Regional Family History Center, 10741 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA Admission is free and there is plenty of parking. From Santa Monica Blvd., turn north on Manning and then left on Eastborne Ave. Library is down the road on left. For more information, see our website at www.bifhsusa.org

Polish Mission Wigilia - Sunday, December 7 Marcin Chumiecki, the newly appointed director of the Polish Mission at Orchard Lake MI, cordially invites all to the Polish Mission's Wigilia on Sunday, December 7. It begins with Polish Mass at 1 p.m. at the Shrine Chapel at Orchard Lake, with sharing of the opłatek and Wigilia following at 2 p.m. at the Banquet Center. The price is $35 per person. Traditional kolędy will be provided by WSDPAHS board member Steve Frayer. Please visit <http://wigilia.eventbrite.com/to print out a mail-in ticket order form. If you have further questions, please contact Bozena Chumiecki at <mailto:mchumiecki@orchardlakeschools.com>, Ceil Jensen at <mailto:cjensen@mipolonia.net>, or Laurie Palazzolo at <mailto:lpalazzolo@detroitpolonia.org>.

Good Evening All November 12th- The Genealogical Society of South Brevard is pleased to welcome Mr. Jim Lacey, genealogist and author, to speak on researching Italian ancestry. Mr. Lacey will share the story of his quest researching his Italian ancestry and the history of his paternal grandmother which he has published in the novel "La Scrittore". The meeting is held in Melbourne Florida at the Melbourne Public Library, 540 E Fee Avenue with a social time at 9:30AM and the program at 10:00AM. For additional information please go to our web site at www.gssb.net. November 17th - The French & Canadian Heritage Society of Central Florida invite you to attend a workshop "Sharing Sources". Attendees are requested to bring various research material which will be shared with other attendees. The meeting is held in Melbourne FL, at the Melbourne Public Library at 540 E Fee Avenue from 9:30AM to 11:30AM. For additional information please go to our web site at www.gssb.net or call Anne at 242 7018 Thank You Douglas Burnett Publicity Chair Genealogical Society of South Brevard ************** AOL Search: Your one stop for directions, recipes and all other Holiday needs. Search Now. (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212792382x1200798498/aol?redir=http://searchblog.aol.com/2008/11/04/happy-holidays-from -aol-search/?ncid=emlcntussear00000001)

NEW ENGLAND HISTORY FESTIVAL WHEN: Saturday, November 15th, 2008 from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM WHERE: Hibernian Hall, 151 Watertown Street, Watertown, MA 02472 PHONE: (339) 368-1971 email: historicalweather@hotmail.com TICKETS: Log on to www.historyfestival.org The second annual New England History Festival will take place on Saturday, November 15th, 2008 from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the Hibernian Hall, located at 151 Watertown Street in Watertown, Massachusetts. Come and enjoy a historical blend of reenactors, authors, collectors, historical societies, genealogists, historical researchers, speakers and vendors as we celebrate over 375 years of New England history. Presentations will be made by author and keynote speaker Stephanie Schorow. She will discuss her book “The Crime of the Century: How the Brink’s Robbers Stole Millions and the Hearts of Boston.” Living history presentations will be performed in period attire by Julia Donahue (“Mother Goose”), Linda Palmer (“Ann Vassall: A Puritan Woman in 1637”), James B. Hogan (“1775 New England Congregational Pastor”), the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment (“The Storming of Fort Wagner”), David L. Smith (“New England During the Civil War”), the Lexington Minutemen and folklorist John Horrigan, who will present brief vignettes on “The Great Nantucket Fire of 1846”, “John Winthrop’s Sudden Gust” and “The Great Meteor Storm of 1833”. The New England History Festival has been affectionately referred to by some as “Historapalooza”. It is a living history celebration and a revue of reenactors and researchers who proclaim that “the past is a blast!” The hall is accessible for the handicapped and by public transportation (a short walk from to Watertown Bus Yard). Questions? Call (339) 368-1971. Visit www.historyfestival.org

On Sunday, November 16, 2008, the Lucille Gudis Memorial Fund of the Jewish Genealogical Society of New York will present an all-day seminar, From Here to Eternity: Jewish Cemetery Research, Preservation and Restoration. The seminar will take place at the UJA-Federation located at 130 East 59th Street in Manhattan from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. There is a registration fee for the seminar, which includes the cost of a kosher buffet lunch. The registration form for the seminar can be downloaded at www.jgsny.org. ONLY ADVANCED REGISTRATION WILL BE ACCEPTED! REGISTRATION MUST BE RECEIVED BY NOVEMBER 10, 2008! REGISTRATION WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE AFTER THAT DATE! The schedule for the day is as follows: 8:45 - 9:00 Sign in Session 1 Joyce Field, JewishGen Vice President, Data Acquisition: The JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) Session 2 Ada Green, Chair of the JGSNY Cemetery Project: How to Catalog Jewish Cemeteries for the JOWBR Lunch Session 3 Rabbi Abraham Laber, founder of Jewishdata.com: Do Stones Speak? - Interpreting Jewish Monuments; Visiting Jewish Cemeteries; Jewishdata.com Panel on Cemetery Preservation and Restoration: Chaim Bruder, Heritage Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries Steve Lasky, Founder of the Museum of Family History Norman Weinberg, Executive Coordinator of Poland Jewish Cemeteries Restoration Project Advanced registration for the seminar is required for the three earlier sessions and for lunch. The panel is an open session for all JGS members and it will be the November JGS meeting, which will begin at 2:30.

Saturday, November 8 Lunch - 12:00 noon (bring your own lunch) Learn - 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Open to the public - admission is free November's activities kick off with an opportunity to spend an afternoon with Barbara Renick. Barbara is a staff member and teacher at the regional FHC in Orange, California. Barbara has authored several books and instructional videos, including Genealogy 101. Making a List and Checking It Twice There are many different types of lists and tools. This lecture covers making and using research summaries, alphabetical name lists, geographic research interest lists, surname spelling lists, e-mail filtering, searching archived mail lists, and hard drive searching. How Computers Are Changing Genealogical Research Computers are changing the way we, as genealogists, do research. This lecture covers the four phases of genealogical research (survey, research, evaluation, and publication phases) from the era BC (Before Computers) to the era AD (After Disks). The session will be held at the Southern California Genealogical Society Family Research Library, 417 Irving Drive, Burbank, CA 91504. The Library stacks are closed for research. For details on meetings, activities and projects at the Southern California Genealogical Society, visit our website at www.scgsgenealogy.com. You'll find the new issue of The News and Notes. This issue includes: - Invitation to participate in SCGS-sponsored World Archives Project indexing - Reports on the Special Interest Group activities - Strategic Planning initiatives - GENEii Writing Contest reminder - Snazzy monthly calendars for November, December, January, February - Online resources available to members at the SCGS Library - Lots of other tidbits and news items The Library is open to the public for research on: 10:00am - 4:00pm Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays 10:00am - 9:00pm Tuesdays 10:00am - 4:00pm on third and fourth Saturdays 10:00am - 4:00pm on first and second Sundays Closed Mondays Southern California Genealogical Society 417 Irving Drive Burbank, California 91504-2408 phone: 818-843-7247 email: scgs417@yahoo.com web: www.scgsgenealogy.com

The German Genealogy Group will hold its next monthly meeting on Thursday, November 6th at: Hicksville VFW Hall—Post 3211 320 South Broadway (Route 107) Hicksville, New York 11801 The program this month will be, “German Presence in the 19th Century Orphan Train Era” with presenter Tom Riley. From life in the ghettos of New York to the Children’s Aid Society and the era of the Orphan Trains, Mr. Riley will take us on a journey through efforts to help children who were often found wandering the streets of New York. Mr. Riley has been interviewed on radio and television, appeared in a number of newspapers, served our country well in Vietnam, worked with nuclear weapons and cutting edge technology, was with the Postal Service for 28 years and now spends his time with writing and photography and, of course, presenting programs featuring his Orphan Train Video. An Orientation session for beginners and newcomers will be held at 7 PM and the regular meeting will start at 7:30. GGG members and guests will have access to the building beginning at 6:30 PM. Among the many benefits of membership are a newsletter published ten times a year, a database of surnames, a free translation service, a book and CD lending library, interesting guest speakers at the meetings, mentoring, a start-up kit of helpful information and much more. We welcome all who are interested in researching their Germanic origins. There is no fee for guests and all are welcome. Visit our website at http://www.GermanGenealogyGroup.com and while there, be sure and visit our free, searchable Church, Yearbook, Vital Records and Naturalization databases.

November 14-15, 2008 - Mesa, Arizona Family History Expo Mesa Convention Center, 263 N. Center Street, Mesa, Arizona 85201 Sponsored by the FamilySearch.org and Family History Expos.com Registration at the door begins on Friday, November 14th at 7:00 am. The keynote address will be at 8:00 am. The exhibit hall opens to the public at 9:00 am. Classes begin after at 10:00 and run through 6 pm. The complete schedule can be found on line at http://www.fhexpos.com/events/event_schedule.php?event_id=43 Admission to the exhibit hall and keynote address is FREE to the public, and classes will be offered for a minimal fee. Pre-register for classes at the low admission price of $75.00 (ends Nov 7, 2008). http://www.familyhistoryexpo.com/events/upcoming.php?event_id=43 ($90 at the door) Pre-register online at www.FHExpos.com , by phone at 801.829.3295, or send a check to: Family History Expos; PO Box 187; Morgan, UT 84050. Questions? Email: expo@fhexpos.com

Westchester County Genealogical Society (NY) Upcoming Meeting The next meeting is this coming Saturday. TOPIC: Westchester County Genealogical Society is pleased to welcome Jo Heffernan with her talk on Gravely Speaking: the Who, What, When, Where & Why of Effective Cemetery Research this coming Saturday, November 8, 2008 at 10am. Jo Heffernan is the author of several articles for both Italian Genealogical Group and the Hudson County Genealogical Society of NJ. Mrs. Heffernan is a licensed NY State Teacher. She is also a member of the Italian Genealogical Group and served for 10 years on its Executive Board. With an email address like “Bonedigger”, you know that Jo Heffernan knows how to dig up the old bones in the family tree. MEETING INFO: TOPIC: Gravely Speaking: the Who, What, When, Where & Why of Effective Cemetery Research SPEAKER: Jo Heffernan WHEN: Saturday, NOVEMBER 8, 2008 @ 10 a.m. WHERE: Aldersgate Methodist Church, 600 Broadway in Dobbs Ferry (across from Mercy College on route 9) For information about Westchester County Genealogical Society (Westchester Connection or Surname List), visit WCGS home page -- _http://www.rootsweb.com/~nywcgs/_ (http://www.rootsweb.com/~nywcgs/) Hope to see you on Saturday! RESERVED THESE DATES FOR WCGS Future Meetings Dec 13, 2008 Holiday Party – Special Interest Groups / Study Group Meeting Jan 10 2009 Return of the Ring Mary Hoar Feb 14, 2009 Hauntings of the Hudson River Valley Vincent T. Dacquino Mar 14, 2009 City Directories Toni McKeen Apr 11, 2009 Getting the Most Out of the US Census on Ancestry.com Gordon L. McDaniel May 9, 2009 Voyage to America Leslie Albrecht Huber June 13, 2009 NYC 1890 Police Census Debra Braverman

The next meeting of the French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan will be held next Saturday, November 8, 2008 at the Mount Clemens Public Library, 150 Cass Avenue, Mount Clemens, Michigan. The meeting starts at 10:00 a.m. Our speaker, Lori Feret, will talk about "Lighthouse Ghost Stories – Part II". Light refreshments will be served. The meeting will be followed by a FCHSM board meeting. French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan meetings are open to the public. For additional information, please visit our website at http://habitant.org/fchsm. If unfavorable weather conditions exist (snow or storms), call the Mount Clemens Public Library at 586-469-6200 to check if the meeting has been canceled We hope to see you there! -- People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors. - Edmund Burke (1729–1797) -

March 7, 2009 Surrey, British Columbia, Canada All day seminar with Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak. Topics: Trace Your Roots with DNA; Reverse Genealogy: Techniques for Finding Your Lost Loved Ones; Introduction to Ancestry.com; Cases That Made My Brain Hurt Co-sponsored by the British Columbia Genealogical Society and the Cloverdale Branch of the Surrey Public Library. See www.bcgs.ca for details.

The East Texas Genealogical Society will hold its regular monthly meeting on Saturday, November 8, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. at the Tyler Public Library in the Taylor Auditorium. The featured speaker will be Elizabeth “Liz” Nitschke Hicks, a fourth generation Texan. Ms. Hicks descends from early German settlers of Comal, Travis, and Austin Counties and is the genealogy editor for the German-Texas Heritage Society and Angel Chair for the Clayton Library Friends. The title of her program will be “All I Know Is Great Grandpa Came From Germany.” Ms. Hick’s presentation will instruct the researcher in how to get started on his German or European ancestor and will include a discussion of various records and where to find them. The goal will be to determine the ancestor’s place of origin in Germany. Attendees will be given a handout with helpful websites to use in their search. The information will be valuable to anyone starting their genealogical research. Approximately thirty minutes following the conclusion of the regular program and refreshments, the Computer Interest Group of East Texas Genealogical Society will meet and Joe Guzzetta will present a program titled “How to Find a Grave.” ETGS meetings are free and open to the public. For more information about ETGS go to our web-site: www.etgs.org or contact June Everheart, Publicity Director at 1stvp@etgs.org or (903)877-4501.

MEETING REMINDER - Our November meeting will be held November 8th, 2008, at the Secaucus Public Library. Our meeting will start sharply at 11:00am. We will have a very short business meeting, followed by our excellent speaker, Kathleen Dodds,D.A. Kate is Archival Assistant at the Msgr. William Noe' Field Special Collections Center and Archives at Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ. The topic of her discussion is "The Use of Catholic Sacramental Records in Genealogy Research". Her indepth talk will cover,among other things, searching out hidden clues, deciphering Latin entries, faded ink, and other challenges. Please join us for an exceptional meeting. As always, refreshments will be served. Ellen Healy Secretary Hudson County Genealogical Society

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Buffalo is sponsoring a power point presentation by Dr. Chana Kotzin, Archivist/Historian of the Jewish Buffalo Archives. Dr. Kotzin will speak on the the Jewish Buffalo Archives Project and collating history using Family Stories and Documents. Sunday, November 9 at 2:00 pm. at the Jewish Community Center, 2640 North Forest Road, Getzville, NY All are welcome RSVP or for further information call 716-689-9670

Hi listers and colleagues Oxfordshire FHS visits "foreign parts" on Saturday 1 November 2008, when the annual Open Day of the West Surrey FHS takes place at Woking Leisure Centre. Traditionally, this is one of the larger society Open Days that we attend, with a substantial number of stalls in attendance. I'm delighted to report that the Oxfordshire FHS stall will be selling our CDs and some items from our bookstall. In addition, we will have our "Search Services" available on computer, featuring an array of Oxfordshire and North Berkshire indexes to censuses, baptism registers, marriage registers, burial registers and monumental inscriptions. Those researchers wishing to plan their visit to our stall in advance can view our resources on the following webpages :- CD sales ; _http://www.ofhs.org.uk/CDsales.html_ (http://www.ofhs.org.uk/CDsales.html) bookstall ; _http://www.ofhs.org.uk/books.html_ (http://www.ofhs.org.uk/books.html) Search Services ; _http://searches.oxfordshirefhs.org.uk/_ (http://searches.oxfordshirefhs.org.uk/) The Open Day of the West Surrey FHS takes place on Saturday 1 November 2008 at Woking Leisure Centre. The doors open at 10.00am. Further details about the event itself, its location and other stallholders can be obtained from :- _http://www.wsfhs.org/Openday.htm_ (http://www.wsfhs.org/Openday.htm) That URL even links to a plan of the hall, so why not organise your day now ? Best wishes. Paul Gaskell Minutes Secretary and Publicity Officer Oxfordshire Family History Society Web : _www.ofhs.org.uk_ (http://www.ofhs.org.uk/)

Colleagues The next meeting of the Oxfordshire Family History Society will take place on Monday 27 October 2008. It will be held at the usual venue at Exeter Hall, Oxford Road, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1AB. Doors open at 7.15 pm for coffee, help with both genealogy and computers, and the bookstall. The subject of the talk at 8.00pm is "Tales from the Bawdy Courts – Records of the church or ecclesiastical courts of Bishop and Archdeacon", which will be presented by Mark Priddey. He will look at the records of the church or ecclesiastical courts of Bishop and Archdeacon, particularly for the period from the sixteenth century to mid-nineteenth century when they were most prominent. These courts were often referred to as the Bawdy Courts because they dealt with cases of sexual immorality among others. The records are under-used but can be very useful for family history, as a wide range of people appear as accusers, defendants or witnesses, and their words and biographies are recorded. Mark tells me that his case examples are all from Oxfordshire. Our speaker Mark Priddey was born in Bristol, studied Classics at Exeter University, and did his postgraduate archive studies' diploma at University College London. Mark came to Oxford for an archivist's job at Oxfordshire Record Office in 1987, and became Senior Archivist in 1999, just in time for the office's move to St Luke's Church in 2000 ! Mark still holds the role of Senior Archivist to this day, and is a well-known and friendly face in that repository. All members, potential members and their guests are welcome. For directions as to how to get to the Exeter Hall, please see :- _http://www.ofhs.org.uk/ExeterHall.html_ (http://www.ofhs.org.uk/ExeterHall.html) For a list of future OFHS meetings, please see :- _http://www.ofhs.org.uk/meetings.html_ (http://www.ofhs.org.uk/meetings.html) Any queries, please contact me off-list. Paul Gaskell Publicity Officer Oxfordshire Family History Society Web : _www.ofhs.org.uk_ (http://www.ofhs.org.uk/)

Sunday 26 October 2008 1:00-4:30PM British Isles Family History Society–USA presents 1:00-3:00PM GENERAL MEETING *Patronymics: Blessing or Curse? * *Using Welsh patronymics to trace ancestry to the 16th century and beyond.* *Speaker: *George P. Coulter This presentation deals with the nature and use of Welsh patronymics and epithets in the days before fixed surnames began to be adopted and used in Wales. To keep track of their pedigrees, the early Welshmen used patronymics in lieu of fixed surnames. The pedigrees could be recited by family members and bards long before there were written records in the land. George will demonstrate how the ancient patronymic pedigrees can be located, and how patronymics and epithets (additional descriptive words, akin to nicknames, that often were attached to a Welshman's name) can be used in genealogical research, sometimes allowing one's Welsh ancestry to be established back to a time long before the 16th century. The patronymic is not necessarily a stumbling block. It can be a stepping stone. George P. Coulter, a genealogical writer, speaker, and consultant, honed his skills in those endeavors during his years as a California attorney, before becoming a professional genealogist. He is a life member of the National Genealogical Society, a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors, the Genealogical Speakers Guild, the Society of Genealogists, the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, the Dyfed Family History Society, and a number of local historical and genealogicial societies. He was a member and the treasurer of the Association of One-Name Studies, with which he registered as a specialist in all variant surnames derived from the Welsh ap Rhydderch patronymic. George is now in the final stages of editing a history of the American Prothro family. He is currently the Board Administrator for the Prothro, Prothero and Protheroe boards of the Ancestry Message Boards Center. 3:30-4:30 ENGLISH STUDY GROUP *Expecting the Unexpected, Part Two *Speaker: Peggy Wishon Following Mr. Coulter's presentation, the English study group will meet for part two of Peggy Wishon's continuation of the presentation she began at our February meeting. Learn how an open mind and sheer tenacity helps in tracing English ancestor. Explore items, such as: selected online resources, FHL gems and County Record Office search requests – sources such as A2a and (British) National Archives "Documents Online," Multimap.com, Stirnet.com, Free BMD Search, Victorian County Histories, etc; Parish Chest items and tax lists from FHL; burials reconsidered; Land records for rich, poor, farmers and merchants; analyzing existing pedigrees, ordering research in England Peggy Wishon, a part-time professional genealogist for the past ten years, has been doing English and American research since 1986 when she discovered her LDS neighbor with family group sheets spread all over her living room – and Peggy was instantly addicted. She has taken classes, attended seminars, read much and experimented a whole lot, and says she is at home with the ordinary sources, but finds expanding into "untried" sources and methods, plus adding details to the lives of ancestors to be just plain fun The meeting will be held at: Los Angeles Regional Family History Center<http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Ebifhsusa/fhcwhere.html> 10741 Santa Monica Blvd. (enter from Eastborne at Manning) Los Angeles, CA 90025 (310) 474-9990 For more information, see the British Isles Family History Society–USA's website: www.bifhsusa.org

A new database has gone up on the GGG website: http://www.GermanGenealogyGroup.com This database contains an index to the below naturalization records that were issued in Richmond County (Staten Island). Petitions: years = 1898-1903, 1907-1959 Declarations: years = 1906-1953, 1957 Military: years = 1918, 1919, 1921-1924 Intentions: years = 1883 - 1898

November 12th- The Genealogical Society of South Brevard is pleased to welcome Mr. Jim Lacey, genealogist and author, to speak on researching Italian ancestry. Mr. Lacey will share the story of his quest researching his Italian ancestry and the history of his paternal grandmother which he has published in the novel "La Scrittore". The meeting is held at the Melbourne Public Library on Fee Avenue with a social time at 9:30AM and the program at 10:00AM. For additional information please go to our web site at www.gssb.net. ************** New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your destination. Dining, Movies, Events, News &amp; more. Try it out (http://local.mapquest.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000002)