Welcome
Welcome to the website of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society!
We are quite proud of our website and all it offers to family historians working
in our Pacific Northwest area. We are pleased to present it to you for your
genealogy education and researching needs......whether you live "here" or "there."
EWGS Members: check here frequently to keep "in the know" about EWGS activities.
Prospective EWGS Members and Guests: check here for posted databases
and forums that may contain answers and information for you about your ancestors.
EWGS is anxious to help those looking for information about their Inland Northwest
ancestors. If you need assistance with Inland NW research please go to our Research
Tips tap and fill out use the Inland NW Research Form. EWGS researcher Charles Hansen
has a wealth of information at his finger tips.
Many thanks to Barbara Brazington for sharing her wonderful list of Genealogy Resource Links.
We'll be adding more links and further descriptions in the near future. If you have links to share,
please email them to Cecily Kelly our webmaster. You can use the convenient form on this site.
Please let us know of additional features you would like to see on our website.
Donna Potter Phillips
President
President's Message
July 31, 2010, was a Red-Letter Day for EWGS…… our first annual Walking with Ancestors was a resounding success! If you did not participate or even come out to Fairmount Cemetery that day you missed out. Under the guidance of chair Shirley Penna-Oakes, a team of tour guides and actors, all volunteers from EWGS, hosted upwards of 500 folks that day. (Estimate from Dick Oakes, husband of Shirley and EMT on duty for the day.) John Caskey and Ron Hoff from Fairmount Memorial Association did the barbequing for the free lunch and had to make a speed run for more food due to the high attendance. Each actor gave a life sketch of a dearly departed and in many cases these were true founders and pioneers of Spokane. All the first-person stories will be compiled into a booklet and also placed on our new EWGS website, and we might even have them re-enacted for a program in 2011. But I wish to make a humungous public THANK YOU to Shirley and all those on the EWGS team!!! These good folks included: Carolyn Whaley and her granddaughter Echo Simmons (who came down from Sandpoint), Bill Hire, Michael Chandler, Clair and Barbara Brazington, Sarah Hoover, Sydny Chrittum, John Wilson, Carol Nettles, Pat Mielbrecht, Deborah LeGrand, Jeanne Coe, Doris Woodward, Ed and Cecily Kelly, Donna Potter Phillips, Pat Bayonne-Johnson (and her husband, Jerry, who was our photographer!), Susan Puhek, Janice Bueckers, Maria Balcom, Jonathan Berrige, Miriam Midkiff, and Judith McDonnell. Juanita McBride, Lola McCreary and Bette Topp manned the EWGS information table and garnered several new members. Mary Morgan was Shirley’s right-hand-man. Several of our EWGS members from the NeWGS group up in Colville came down to have a display: Susan Dechant, Karen Struve and Nancy Wright. Shirley, we’re signing you up for a repeat in 2011! And Big Thanks to all of you. EWGS rocks!!
Until next month,
Donna
Upcoming
EWGS 2010-2011 Year begins with meeting Saturday, September 11th. Immediate Past President Bill Hire will be speaking on visiting Civil War Battlefields with special emphasis on Gettysburg. Spokane Public Library Downtown, 12:30 to 3:00 PM. Bring a friend who is interested in genealogy and/or history.
EWGS October Workshop featuring Thomas MacEntee
Saturday, October 2, 2010, Spokane Downtown Public Library. Presentations include:
Facebook for Genealogists, Become a Genealogy Blog User, Building a Genealogy Blog, Google Documents for Beginners. Registration 8:30 AM, Workshop 9 AM - 3:30 PM. Fee $20 for members/$25 for non-members. Includes box lunch from Apple Spice Junction for attendees registered before September 22, 2010. For additional information and for registration form click here.
Special for EWGS Members only! Thomas MacEntee Prequel - Building a Research Toolbox, Friday, Oct. 1st.
Spokane Public Library Downtown 6:30PM - 8:00 PM
Mark Your Calendar for October 1, 2011
Mark your calendar now and make sure you are in town for our Fall Workshop on October 1, 2011. Dr. George K. Schweitzer is coming to EWGS !! He's coming in the persona of both a Union soldier and a Confederate soldier as he comes to teach us more about the Civil War and the records created during that "War of Northern Aggression," aka the Civil War or War Between the States. EWGS booked him for our Fall Workshop speaker as 2011 is the 150th anniversary of the start of that history-making event. Stay tuned for more details but plan NOW not to miss this terrific event !!!
News of the Society
Congratulations to EWGS 1st Vice President Miriam Robbins Midkiff!. Her blog AnceStories (http://ancestories1.blogspot.com/)
has been named to the Family Tree Magazine's list of the 40 best genealogy blogs.
Congratulations to EWGS Historian John Ellingson who received the Minuteman Award from the Sons of the American Revolution at the National Conference last month. This is among the highest honors issued by the SAR.
EWGS member Tony Birch has accomplished what many of us just talk about. Tony has researched, compiled and published his family history! Once he learned that he was a direct descendant of Edward Doty of the Mayflower fame, he was 100% hooked on genealogy and in short order he had his proofs in order and joined the prestigious Mayflower Society. But he didn't stop there with a lovely framed certificate upon his wall. He worked and prepared a nearly 200 page book which he titled Mayflower Pilgrim Heritage and brought the descendants down to himself. This certainly is an accomplishment to be proud of, and Tony, you have the applause and kudos of the entire memberships of EWGS. (By the by, did you know his full name is Anthony Durnford DeGray Birch? Sounds "mayflowerish" I thought.
Donna Phillips
Genealogy Interest Groups
Legacy Users Group - "LUG" If you are a
Legacy Family Tree genealogy software user, or are simply curious about this genealogy software program, you may be interested in the Legacy Users Group (LUG), which will meet next Wednesday, 15 Sep, from 12:30 to 3:30 PM in the meeting room of the Shadle Park Branch of the Spokane Public Library at 2111 W. Wellesley. Regular attendees will take turns in the role of moderator for each meeting.
Valley Clan Diggers Group - The Valley Clan Diggers is a group of ladies that meets once a month in different members' homes for the purpose of sharing in their genealogical pursuits. In the beginning its members all lived in the valler -- hence the name Valley Clan Diggers. However, the membership is not limited to the valley.
Three of its members had attended a beginners' class in genealogy taught by Donna Potter Phillips. At the conclusion of the class these three ladeis discussed the benefits of having a small support group in which their common interest in genealogy could be shared. This resulted in their first meeting hel on January 21, 1987 with four ladies in attendance. The purpose and goals for the group were discussed: sharing current projects, helping each other with acestral "dead-ends", car-pooling to workshops, and occasional field trips. At times we would invite a guest speaker who had expertise in a certain specialized area. Anyone who feels that such a group would meet their needs, and especially if you live in the Spokane Valley, who are welcomed to the Valley Clan Diggers wholeheaterdly!
Contact Alice Hostetter (928-4198) Donna Jean Carnegie (926-8985) for more information.
Cold Case Genealogy Research Group - Do you enjoy genealogical research just for the thrill of researching?
Then this group is for you. We tackle any genealogy problem that catches our attention........... tombstones in cemeteries,
"lost causes," odd stories, old photographs, etc............... and research them into stories. These
stories have been submitted to our EWGS
Bulletin for publication. No pressure, no deadlines,
only research fun. You pick your own project! If you love genealogical researching, come join us.
Contact Donna Phillips
donna243@gmail.com.
