Monday, March 26, 2007
Connecticut Gravestone Network Symposium 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
New England CONNECTions: New England Regional Genealogical Conference, April 26-29 2007

Ninth New England Regional Genealogical Conference
April 26-29 2007
Connecticut Convention Center
and Hartford Marriott Downtown
www.nergc.org
In keeping with the Conference theme, Patricia Law Hatcher, Cyndi Howells, Hank Jones, and over 45 other speakers will help genealogists “connect” to:
~ Ancestors who immigrated to and migrated out of New England (including settlement and migration patterns)
~ The wealth of information available in New England’s archives, libraries, and historical societies
~ Specific types of source materials (church, cemetery, vital, and military records; newspapers; city directories)
~ Advances in genealogical technology
MEALS AND WORKSHOPS REQUIRE ADVANCE REGISTRATION AND ADDITIONAL FEE. SOME WORKSHOPS REQUIRE SPECIAL EQUIPMENT. SEE THE FULL BROCHURE AT www.NERGC.org
Wondering about the DAR Application Process or Need Assistance?
Saturday, March 31, 2007, 10 am -2 pm
Freelove Baldwin Stow Chapter House
55 Prospect Street
Milford, CT
Thursday, March 15, 2007
CHS Collections: Research 101
Sharon Steinberg, Reference and Research Librarian at the CHS Museum, guides you to the many resource treasures available in special collections libraries – including those abounding at the CHS Museum. Rare books, diaries, and letters; broadsides, maps, vintage newspapers, vital records, scrapbooks, and more are at the ready to make you a historical research whiz. Admission: $3-$6. Reservations: (860) 236-5621, x238.
FREE GENEALOGY WORKSHOP SERIES PRESENTED BY THE CT IRISH AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
"Getting Started: US Sources"
Speaker: Paul Keroack
Time: 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
"Looking in Ireland (Part 1)"
Speaker: Janet Pestey
Time: 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
For more information call 203-877-9618 or 203-269-0166
Location of Event:Irish American Community Center,
9 Venice Place, East Haven, CT
From I-95, take exit 48 to I91-From I91 Northbound, take exit 8, Middletown Ave. Bear right at end of ramp onto Route 80/Foxon Blvd. Take right at 3rd traffic light onto Eastern St., proceed 1 mile to Venice Place (right turn). Club is at end of road.
From I-91 South, take exit 8, Middletown Ave. Bear left at end of ramp onto Route 80/Foxon Blvd. Take right at 4th traffic light on to Eastern St., proceed 1 mile to Venice Place (right turn). Club is at end of road.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
PAN-SLAVIC GENEALOGY SEMINAR
Come learn how to trace your Eastern European roots from leading experts: Jonathan D. Shea, Professor of Foreign Languages at Housatonic Community College and Central Connecticut State University, Matthew Bielawa, Associate Registrar at Central Connecticut State University, and Lisa A. Alzo, author, instructor, lecturer, and researcher specializing in Slovak genealogy and immigration history. Lectures will cover research in Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia, Carpatho-Rus, and other areas of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Topics will include: Utilizing key U.S. resources (census, church, citizenship, immigration and vital records) Historical geography (working with maps, atlases, and gazetteers) Top Eastern European Web sites Archival sources in Eastern Europe Networking with fellow researchers and much more!
To register for this seminar, please call 203-332-5279 or send an e-mail to: pgsctne@yahoo.com.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Scottish Patterns of Migration to the United States
Speaker : Betty Oderwald, DAR and Member of St Andrew’s Society of CT
Ms. Oderwald will talk about the Highlanders, the Lowlanders, and the Scots-Irish and how these groups differed and came at different times. She will discuss the reasons why people leave and why they choose the places to which they go. One specific example will be the deportation of soldiers after the Battle of Dunbar through the 19th century. Betty will also bring a display of books that are useful in anyone looking at Scottish immigration, hand-outs of suggested research sources and will be happy to answer questions. Ms Oderwald is a member of the DAR through her mother’s family and her father was born in Scotland. She is currently the registrar of her DAR and C.A.R. chapters and has co-chaired all day Scottish genealogy workshops for 5 years in addition to attending many local and national genealogical conferences.
Saturday 9 am to 1 pm
Exit 15 onto Route 66 West (also Washington Street). At fifth traffic light turn right onto Route 3 North (also Newfield Street). The Library is approximately 1/4 mile on the right.
From the South on I-95, take the I-91 North exit to exit 18 (Route 66 East),
follow Route 66 east to Route 3 North (also Newfield Street).
Turn left on Route 3. The Library is approximately 1/4 mile on the right.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
"A Slave's Story": BBC Documentary about Venture Smith of East Haddam and Haddam Neck, CT
By Paul Murphy and Joe Bilton. World Premier Screening.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
This year's program is part of the Beecher House Center for the Study of Equal Rights, the Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation, in hull England, and the University of Connecticut’s ongoing Project – Documenting Venture Smith. A Slave’s Story was filmed in Connecticut in 2006 during the Project’s excavation of Venture’s family gravesite in East Haddam and the development of an extraordinary DNA map of the family.
Venture Smith was born in West Africa (as Broteer Furro) c. 1727-29 and sold into slavery in 1739. After being transshipped to New England and after years of terrible struggle, Venture purchased freedom for himself his family and several other enslaved people. He then developed a far-flung trading enterprise and became a major landholder in Haddam Neck where he died a free man in 1805.
As he outlined in his 1798 Narrative, Venture’s was an epic saga of emancipation and achievement spanning two centuries and affirming the power of the human spirit.
Program and Buffet Brunch-Luncheon at the Torrington Country Club in Goshen, CT
$45. Checks payable to Beecher House Society, Inc.
Beecher House Society, PO Box 124 Torrington, CT 06790
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Related Links about Venture Smith:
Story and photos: http://www.flogris.org/exhibitions/2006/06Venture.html
Click of Listen: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6096911
Tourism: http://www.visitconnecticut.com/freedom.htm
Town Library: http://www.rathbun.lioninc.org/collection.htm#family
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Schooling the Heart: Emotion at the Litchfield Female Academy
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Sawyer or Lawyer? Using the 1841-1901 British Census
Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 10:00 -12:00 PMSpeaker: Kathryn Black, Professional reseacher and CPGC Member-at-Large.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
African American & Native American Genealogy Program

This program is sponsored by the Friends of Cragin and is free and open to all.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Forgotten Money – Found!

Check-out this database for “unclaimed funds" at Connecticut State Treasury Unclaimed Property Owners List:” http://www.ctbiglist.com
While I tried to find forgotten money for my immediate family, I could not. However, I did find forgotten money for other relatives! Although there are many types of unclaimed funds, most of my relatives had funds coming to them from past jobs. As you would expect some funds were from jobs of long ago, yet some jobs were fairly recent. It appears that the owners had moved without forwarding addresses. One forgotten fund was nearly $700 while another was as a mere $45.
What was my reward for passing along this discovery to family? I received one big Thank You by email. No one offered to pass along a 10% finder’s fee. Well, what is family for anyway if not to help one another out with the skills we enjoy. All were surprised about the money. You or your relatives may be surprised too.
Other tips: try alternate spellings, search only surname, use surname and first initial of given name, use the % key as a wild-card.
Don’t forget to tell them … Deborah Tajmajer sent you!
Not a Connecticut resident? Check your state for similar database.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
"Cyber-filing Comes of Age" How it relates to Genealogy

Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 10:15 am at the Manchester Town Hall
Directions available at the town hall website.
CPGC Members will learn how Connecticut town clerks are utilizing new technologies and how that will assist genealogist with their research. Prospective members and guests are welcome to attend our genealogical programs. The Connecticut Professional Genealogical Council, Inc (CPGC) was formed in 1993 to foster excellence within the profession and provide support to professional genealogist and repositories in Connecticut.
Contact Deborah Tajmajer, Membership Chair, to request a brochure, a current list of professional researchers, an application, or to ask questions: CTPGC@hotmail.com
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Are you qualified to Join the Connecticut Professional Genealogists Council, Inc?
Many meetings are held in Hartford. However, we have also hold meetings in repositories around the state such as Fairfield, Mystic, Middletown, Manchester, and Simsbury. Emails are sent to all members to keep them abreast of activities, directions, and to announce last minute happenings. If a member cannot attend a meeting, minutes and program summaries/handouts are mailed to keep them abreast of activities.
As a group, CPGC helps others. The following is only a sampling:
~ CPGC members initiated the Historic Records Preservation Act of 2000 which provides funds to Connecticut towns for the restoration and preservation of original historic records.
~ Members organize Ancestor Road Shows that are hosted by Connecticut town halls and Libraries. This is a free event where resindents can meet one-on-one with a CPGC member to help them with their family tree or research.
~ Raise funds to donate eguipment or books to Connecticut Repositories including the CT State Library, CT Historical Library and Godfrey Memorial Library.
~ This year we are preparing for a large genealogical conference (NERGC 2007) to be held at the new Conference Center in Hartford April 2007. Please visit the CPGC website for more information. http://www.rootsweb.com/~ctpgc/
Contact Deborah Tajmajer, Membership Chair, to request a brochure, an application, or ask questions: AncestorConnect@aol.com or 860-873-3330
Sunday, January 07, 2007
"Two New Londons: Frances Caulkins and the New London Ladies’ Seamen’s Friend Society"
(Photo: The Shaw Mansion Historic House Museum)Dr. Nancy Steenburg, presenting new research based on our manuscript collection: “Two New Londons: Frances Caulkins and the New London Ladies’ Seamen’s Friend Society".
In the 1840s, women of New London, including historian Frances Manwaring Caulkins, founded a Ladies’ Seamen’s Friend Society to aid indigent and injured sailors. At first glance the Society seemed to have laudable goals in providing a safety net for local seamen. Yet a majority of members were the wives, daughters, or sisters of the men who owned the major whaling and shipping companies in the city. Were the charity efforts of the ladies merely a salve for the consciences of their menfolk, or did the women of New London have their own agenda of reform?
Steenburg is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point. She received her AB from Harvard, MA from Trinity College, and PhD from the University of Connecticut, all in history. She is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowship grants, and has published widely on Connecticut history subjects. Her 2005 book, Children and the Criminal Law in Connecticut, 1635-1855: Changing Perceptions of Childhood, was recently recognized as the year’s best book on Connecticut history by the Association for the Study of Connecticut History.
Dr. Steenburg is currently working on a biography of Frances Caulkins, a pioneering female historian, whose collected papers are part of our collection. The Society, planning a new edition of Caulkins’ unmatched 1860 work, History of New London, has called upon Steenburg’s expertise to write a new introduction to the republished book. The Second Sunday presentation will share photographs and images that will provide a rare view of 19th-century New London.
Refreshments will follow the lecture. Admission is free for members of the historical society, $5 for others.
Shaw Mansion is located at 11 Blinman Street, New London, near the intersection of Bank and Tilley Streets.
Second Sunday programs are the regular adult lecture series offered as a benefit of membership in the New London County Historical Society, and are held on the second Sundays of most months. Program admisson is free for members and $5 per person for non-members. For further information, please contact the Society at 860-443-1209. http://www.newlondonhistory.org/events.html
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor Using Military Records at the National Archives (NARA)

"The Friends of the Godfrey Memorial Library, Inc. is an association whose purpose is to foster awareness of the library and its resources, and to strengthen and help preserve this valuable resource for genealogical and historical research for future generations."
134 Newfield Street
Middletown, CT 06457-2534
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Preserve your Family Heritage with Nathan Hale Memorial DAR

Tuesday, January 02, 2007
~A CELEBRATION~ Please join us for the 300th presentation of Pvt. William Webb: An African-American Connecticut Civil War Soldier
Remarks by Diane Smith, Host of Positively Connecticut $10 donation at the door is suggested. Donations will support the State Library and Museum of Connecticut History’s Outreach Programs. Light refreshments will be served.
Kevin Johnson is an employee of the State Library’s History and Genealogy Unit. He has been presenting William Webb for eight years and has done 299 presentations.
The Connecticut State Library provides high quality library and information services to state government and the citizens of Connecticut. It also preserves and makes accessible the records of Connecticut's history and heritage. The focus of the Museum and its collections is Connecticut's government, military and industrial history. Permanent and changing exhibits trace the growth of the State and its role in the development of the nation from the Colonial era to the present. Additional information about the State Library and the Museum of Connecticut History can be found on its Web page at http://www.cslib.org/.
Monday, January 01, 2007
REVISITING THE COLONIAL REVIVAL - “A Delightful Form of Madness”: Amer. Textiles & the Colonial Rev
Location: Phelps Tavern Museum/Simsbury Historical Society
800 Hopmeadow Street Simsbury, CT 06070
Hours: 2 PM; Admission: $6.00
Contact: (860) 658-2500
Sponsor: Phelps Tavern Museum/Simsbury Historical Society
Joshua Ruff, F. Henry Berlin History Curator at The Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages, will cover the appeal of early American textiles and the contemporary wearing of and the use of colonial patterns in products made from the 1870s to the 1950s. Colonial Revival in the United States was at its height from the Philadelphia Centennial through the Depression as Americans began to romanticize their past to fit a future that included changing gender roles, immigrants, urban living and rapidly advancing technology. As in many New England towns, previously ignored homesteads in Simsbury were purchased and restored architecturally and decoratively as touchstones to an imagined past. It is the strong Colonial Revival presence in Simsbury that inspired this year’s theme.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Your Family Tree Using the Internet - Spring 2007
Students will use individual computers with time set aside each class to explore favorite genealogical sites. $5 for handouts payable at first class. Length: Once a week for 6 weeks - 6:30-8:30.
Two Locations:
~ New London Adult Education at Shaw Cove computer lab.
~ Wethersfield Adult Education at the Wetherfield High School. Wednesdays: Beginning March 2007. Sign-up: via th elink above, phone 860-571-8250, or email the instructor with your questions, AncestorConnect@aol.com
Wondering if this course for you?
Email or phone me for specifics and/or a course outline.