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January 20, 2012
Hello Fellow Genealogist,
Well 2012 is here. This is going to be such an exciting year for all of us. We have exchanged our regular schedule of meetings to four a year, one for each quarter. The dates are Jan. 26, April 26, July 26, and Oct. 25. The Jan. 26 speaker will be Linda Coats, local attorney, Using Orphans Court Records For Genealogy Research. On April 26, Ben Hoksbergen, Redstone Archaeologist, will discuss The Relocation of Families to Establish Redstone Arsenal, also Archaeological Digs on The Arsenal. Then on July 26, Candace Krugh, First Chapter Regent of Maple Hill Chapter of DAR, will speak on “Researching at the NSDAR Library”. The last meeting of the year on Oct. 25, Dr. George Marchelos, Antique and Estate Appraiser, will lead us in having a Genealogy Antiques Roadshow. So find that “whatyamacallit” that great granddaddy used and bring it to the meeting to find out what it is and have it appraised. What a lot of information in these four meetings!
Our annual seminar will be May 5th. The Speaker is Dr. Joan Kirchman Mitchell from Tuscaloosa. She will speak on Elementary DNA. She spoke at the Alabama Genealogical Society seminar at Samford in Birmingham a year or so ago. It was a most interesting presentation, including the information about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings.
The Alabama Genealogical Seminar is March 31st at Samford Univ.in Birmingham. The presenter is Linda Woodward Geiger. Her topics are: W. S. Territorial Papers, 1789 – 1873; More Than Land Descriptions: Treasures Among the Deeds; Using Tax Lists to Solve Genealogical Problems; and Estate Records: More Than Just Wills. AGS will also have a fall seminar in October at the Archives in Montgomery, date and presenter to be announced later. TVGS will be selling our publication at this meeting.
August 29 through September 1, 2012, the Federation of Genealogical Societies is holding their annual meeting and seminars in the Birmingham Civic Center, hosted by the Alabama Genealogical Society. A packet of material just arrived on my front door and we will be giving them out at the January meeting and others. The various seminars – some on information for the societies, business etc. and many for the individual to learn more to help in their searches – looks really interesting, hard to choose which ones to attend. They are listed in the brochures we will be giving out. There is a Wednesday, the 29th night social at the Alabama Theater with music by Bobby Horton. On Thursday, the 30th, the social will be at Sloss Furnace, featuring a “iron pour”. Closing with a Sunday Brunch on Sept. 2nd. This is shaping up to be a big event for Alabama. We should take every advantage for ourselves and our society to be bigger and better.
A program we are most interested and proud of is our First Families of the Tennessee Valley. Since Madison County came into existence in 1809 before we became a state in December of 1819, we are attempting to identify our first families of Madison County. Our board just reviewed these files and we have 163 First Families on file. If you have an ancestor who came to Madison County prior to 1819, you might want to register them with us. Check out the information on this web site for instructions and a current listing of these families.
TVGS and I hope to see you at many of these meetings. We would love to have your help and participation. We wish you happy and successful searching for your ancestors.
Bettye Perrine
Last updated on January 20, 2012