Climbing Your Family Tree Class

There are still a few seats left in the Genealogy and Local History Department's Climbing Your Family Tree class series.  The classes will be held from 9:15 - 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays, March 3, 10, 17, & 24 at KHCPL Main.  This four-week beginning genealogy series
will teach you how to begin climbing your family tree to find your ancestors using vital records, census records, and databases.  You will receive a three-ring binder full of helpful information.  The class is free but registration is required because class size is limited.  Register in the Genealogy and Local History Department or call 765.626.0839.  Don't miss this informative series of classes.

Howard County Genealogical Society

The 2018 officers for the Howard County Genealogical Society are:
President - Karen Sosbe
Vice President - Kathy Smith
Secretary - Amanda Monroe
Treasurer - Pam Carter
Committees include:
Publicity - Cindy Stover
Book Chairman - Ron Tetrick
Newsletter Editor - Melanie Vess
Queries - Janice Blanchard
Library Liaison - Amy Russell

HCGS meetings are on the second Monday of each month from 6 to 8 pm in the lower level meeting rooms of KHCPL Main.  An enlightening and entertaining program is presented at each meeting.  Dues are $15 per year and new members are always welcome.  Call 765.626.0839 for more information.  Come join the fun.

February Display Case

Ron Tetrick has put together a display case to go along with the program that he will present to the Howard County Genealogical Society on Monday, Feb. 12, from 6 to 8 p.m.  The title is:

“Newbury Preparative Meeting: Union Township, Howard County, Indiana, 1842-1857”

Friends (Quakers) began settling around the Forks of the Wildcat Creek as early as 1842, when the land was still part of the Big Miami Indian Reserve.  Most came from Deer Creek Antislavery Monthly Meeting in Mill Township, Grant County, Indiana, but others came from Friends meetings in Henry, Randolph and Wayne counties.  Early family names were Bailey, Anderson, Mendenhall, Felton, Jones, Baldwin, Lancaster, Fry, Horine, Dean, Mason, Moorman, Wright, Ellis, and Macy.  Many moved farther west in the late 1850s and 1860s to Kansas, Iowa and Missouri.  Those who died here were buried at the Forks of Wildcat Creek Cemetery, Simpson Cemetery, Jerome Cemetery and New Salem Cemetery.  Only descendants of the Ellis, Horine and Mendenhall families remain in the county today.  The display shows how Union Township was created out of what had been Green Township; a photo of the cemetery; photos of some of the people who lived here from 1842 to 1860; and several tombstones of those who were buried here or farther west.  This is a part of our county history which never before had been documented.  This information will become part of our Vertical Files Collection after the HCGS presentation on February 12.

Climbing Your Family Tree Class

The Genealogy and Local History Department is again offering it's Climbing Your Family Tree class.  The class will be held from 9:15 - 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays, March 3, 10, 17, & 24 at KHCPL Main.  This four-week beginning genealogy class will teach you how to begin climbing your family tree to find your ancestors using vital records, census records, and databases.  You will receive a three-ring binder full of helpful information.  The class is free but registration is required because class size is limited.  Register in the Genealogy and Local History Department or call 765.626.0839 beginning Feb 3. 

Genealogy Humor

• My ancestors must be in a witness protection program.
• Success is relative - the greater the success, the more the relatives.
• I'm not stuck, I'm ancestrally challenged.
• A Family Tree can wither if nobody tends its roots.
• That's the problem with the gene pool:  No lifeguards.