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Page 1 Twig Talk June/July 2018
Founded 1972 Vol. 18 No. 6 June/July 2018
Membership Meeting
Thursday, June 14, 2018
Starts at 6:30 p.m.
VFW Post 3196, 5209 Grand Haven Rd
Program: Bring items, things, pictures, memories, or what-have-you
to share
And Kathy DeCormier will present information about enhancing pho-
tographs and using land tax records to locate ancestors
TWIG TALK
A monthly publication of: Muskegon County Genealogical Society
c/o Hackley Public Library Torrent House
315 W. Webster Avenue Muskegon, MI 49440-1208
www.genealogymuskegon.org
Find & Like Us On
Newsletter
GENEALOGY TIP
Don’t limit obituary searches to the location where your ancestor died. They may also appear in newspapers near locations where your ancestor lived during their lifetime
TWIG TALK
President’s Report
By Dawn Westcomb Kelley -
I would like to thank all the volunteers from our society who took time out of their busy schedule to help at the NGS Conference in Grand Rapids. Some of you wanted to know where I bought the Levi long sleeve shirt and funny shirt that I was wearing at the May meeting. Name is Funk & Stuff and the website www.FunStufforGenealogists.com We received the following message from Mary Koole, Western Michigan Genea-logical Society President: I just wanted to send a note of apprecia-tion to each and every one of you. The NGS Conference has been declared a success by quite a number of people! I
have been thanked and praised many times - but it should all go to you. Because of your willingness to serve in a volunteer posi-tion we were able to successfully host the conference. THANK YOU! Your willingness to help others was a blessing to many and quite an encouragement to me. So…. On behalf of the con-ference committee (Maureen, Sue, Denise, Roger, Don, and myself) thank you for the time, effort, and energy you expended on our behalf! You were greatly appreciated! Grand Rapids and her people were seen as a warm and welcome place. Please see the information on page 6 about DNA testing.
Dedication Service of the Unmarked Children’s Graves at Shady Rest Cemetery
Muskegon County, Michigan May 31, 2018
The Shady Rest Cemetery is the only County owned cemetery in Muskegon County. Many of the graves are unmarked. That is the case with 72 chil-dren who were buried there in unmarked graves from 1956 to 1970.
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A ceremony was held to remember and mark their final resting place. The process to locate their names and provide suitable markers in-volved many people in an effort spearheaded by the Muskegon County Genealogical Society. A special thanks goes to all of the following: The Muskegon County Board of Commission-
ers County Clerk, Nancy Wa-
ters The Muskegon County
Department of Public Works
Mike McGarry Worksmart inc. - ground
penetrating radar survey to locate the graves
Muskegon County Gene-alogical Society mem-bers
Community volunteers Star13 for headstone
plates—Brian Hansen Christine Bouwkamp and
staff of Superior Monu-ment providing the head-stones
Muskegon Floral Lynzie Rose and Leah
Houseman of Oakridge Girl Scout Troop 380 for names of the children
(Continued from page 1) The dedication was officiated by Pastor Bruce Demp-sey from the Wolf Lake United Methodist Church. The closing song, Nearer, My God, to Thee was per-formed by Delphia Rucks with accompaniment by David Rucks from The Church of Jesus Christ of Lat-ter Day Saints.
In all, 34 people attended the dedication including the following public officials:. Beth Dick—Assistant County Commission Admin-istrator Ben Cross, County Board of Commissioners—Chairman Matt Farrar, Public Works Director Jennifer Hernandez, Muskegon Township Super-visor Susie Hughes, County Board of Commissioners— District 3 Also among the attendees was Carrie V. Wade with her son Jerome and daugh-ter Shalon. They learned about the event through a
(Continued on page 3)
Page 3 Twig Talk June/July 2018
report on Fox17 and came to the dedication. While the service was taking place Carrie inquired if her daughter's name was among the names on one of the headstones. At the close of the prayer, she went to the front and told her story. At the age of
18, in 1969 she had a daughter. Her baby girl died at 4 months and was buried in an unmarked grave at Shady Rest. She now has a marker after 49 years that she can use to remember her daughter, Sheronda Lynn Wade (see page 5).
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Page 5 Twig Talk June/July 2018
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Cindy Brady, Muskegon, MI Denise Picard Lindgrin, Comcord, MA David Workman, Ann Arbor, MI NEW BOOKS – Hackley Public Library - Torrent House, Local History & Genealogy Department
Dirty Waters: Confessions of Chicago's Last Harbor Boss, by R.J. Nelson
Citizen Mary: A Political Memoir, by Mary Valentine
Sherman Family History
By Jane Weber— Our May meeting had speakers Barb Martin present-ing Pioneer Certificates, Bill Hansen's update on the Shady Rest Cemetery plaques and those attending the Family History Conference sharing their experi-ences. Pat Straley will find her gas card door prize helpful in her travels to search out ancestors. There were two free draw books which had Barb Martin getting "The Other Queen" featuring Mary, Queen of Scots. Lar-ry Rosenkrantz will learn about historic maritime ships and shipwrecks along Muskegon's shoreline from the second book "Beyond the Windswept Dunes." The ticket draw book "Discovering Your English Ancestors" was won by Pat Straley who will learn how to find & record her ancestors of Eng-land. Monica Smith, Jim Clark and Isabell Amund-sen were lucky to get a packet of genealogy items. At snack time, there was a noticeable rush to the snack table. Members knew there was a special treat of Klondike Bars waiting for them. Bill Hansen is thanked for this all-time favorite! Chris Nowak brought a healthy selection of veggies. The dip was a nice addition for these goodies! Phyllis and John Slater provided our refreshing water. Our volunteers who bring the snacks help make our meeting so much better. You are greatly appreciated!!
INFO The 2018 Abrams Foundation Family History Semi-nar will be Friday, July 20 to Saturday, July 21 at the Archives of Michigan, Lansing. The presenter will be announced soon. A “Barbara Brown Family History Day” will coincide with the Abrams Seminar as a platform to bring more interest and awareness to the field of genealogy, and will feature oral history booths. For more information and registration see the follow-ing link: http://seekingmichigan.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018-Abrams-Seminar-Registration.pdf
HOSPITALITY HAPPENINGS
NEW MEMBERS - May
This is a notice regarding DNA testing infor-mation. The news comes from Richard Hill THE LAST NEWSLETTER FROM DNA TEST-ING ADVISER “This is Richard Hill. At one time you download-ed my Guide to DNA Testing, registered for my periodic mailings or asked me about DNA test-ing. That earned you a free subscription to my newsletter. “GDPR, the new EU regulation on data protec-tion and privacy is killing off some longtime re-sources in genetic genealogy. World Families Network, Ysearch, and Mitosearch are all shut-ting down before the May 25 effective date. “Compliance with these regulations is onerous, especially for one person like me. Even though I have never asked for subscriber names, your email address alone is considered personal da-ta. And some of you may be in Europe. The risk of a fine is too great. Therefore, I am shutting down this newsletter and destroying the subscriber list”. Richard continues, “Fortunately, there are sev-eral other ways to follow my writings on DNA, genealogy, and adoption”.
Page 7 Twig Talk June/July 2018
Continued from page 6
Richard listed the following links to help in your DNA searches: https://www.facebook.com/DNATestingAdviser/ https://www.dna-testing-adviser.com/dna-testing-blog.html http://bit.ly/GuideDNA http://FindingFamilyBook.com https://www.facebook.com/DNATestingAdviser/
SHADY REST PROJECT Here are photographs illustrating the “behind the scenes” activity that went on prior to the wonderful ceremony depicted earlier in this edition of Twig Talk.
Setting Bases
Delivery and Setting of Headstones
Page 8 Twig Talk June/July 2018
MCGS Meetings
2nd Thurs at 6:30 p.m.
VFW Post 3195
5209 Grand Haven Road
June 14
August 90
September 13
October 11
November 8 –Meeting & Celebration—Starts at 6 p.m.
NO meetings in July & December
Genealogy Family History Workshops
Torrent House Local History & Genealogy Dept., 315 W. Webster
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.. Please pre-register by calling
231-722-8016 Tuesday through Saturday between 10 a.m. and
4:45 p.m. (Limited to six people)
September 8
October 13
November 3
NO workshops in
June, July, August & December
2018 Dates to REMEMBER
County Clerk Research Muskegon County Building
990 Terrace St.
MCGS volunteers are there every Wednesday from 1:00-4:00 p. m.
Direct phone # 231-724-7140
Muskegon Genealogical Society
Officers
President: Dawn Westcomb Kelley Past President: Jane Appleton Schapka Vice President: Ingrid Porritt Secretary: Pat Straley Treasurer: Nancy Clark Spoon
Committees
County Clerk .............. Jane Gates
Facebook ................... Norman Dagen
Historian .................... Board Members
History Book Project .. Kathy DeCormier
Hospitality .................. Jane Weber
John & Phyllis Slater
Library ........................ Barb Martin
Membership ............... Paula Halloran
Newsletter Editor ....... Tom Porritt
Pioneer Certificate Program..
................................... Barb Martin
Programs & Publicity . Board Members
Special Projects ........ Dawn Kelley
Cemetery Projects ..... William Hansen
Website ...................... Board Members
Board Member ........... Tom Shepherd
Michigan Genealogical Council...
…………………………Dawn Kelley, Delegate
June Free Ticket Draw
Pictured above is a small wood box holding a thumb drive which contains the software for “Family Tree Maker”. It goes to the person who wins the free ticket draw at the June 2018 meeting of MCGS.
WHAT TO BRING!
Any genealogy items you would like to donate for the FREE table.
$3.00 for the 15 Generation Charts
$3.00 for the 2-pack Magnify-
ing Glasses, 90mm & 60mm
