Do I Really Need to Join My Local Society? I Have No Ancestors From My Area...

I have no ancestry from Ohio.  

It is my home state, but I am the only one who was born and raised here in my ancestry.

In the 1880 U.S. Federal  Census, I have a set of grandparents that are found in Darke County, Ohio.  Research into this family has occupied a good portion of my time, but I have not been able to find a single reason why they moved there from eastern Kentucky, are enumerated on one census, and are found back in Kentucky again.

Darke Co., Ohio, Image from Wikipedia

I lived in the north-central area of the state.

I also have another set of grandparents who, along with an entire neighborhood, left Grayson County, Virginia to settle in Ironton, Lawrence Co., Ohio.  More than likely, it was industry that brought them all to that area.

Ironton, Lawwrence Co., Ohio, Image from Wikipedia

Except for family members who moved north into the Youngstown area about the same time my parents came to Ohio, there is no one else.

So, why would I entertain the thought of joining either the Ohio Genealogical Society, or more especially, my local chapter here in Richland County?  I understood more clearly than ever when I attended a monthly meeting this past Saturday.  

I know many of the local members of both the local and the state societies.  They are good people, and their leadership is stellar.  They work hard to provide quality educational programs for their members, as well as activities and publications.

This past Saturday, I was fortunate enough to attend a meeting where the President of the Ohio Genealogical Society, Margaret Cheney, was presenting a program on "Women's Westward Journey".  It was one of the best gifts I could have given to myself, for not only is Margaret an excellent presenter, I was immediately drawn right into the lives of the women she talked about.  Her visuals were stunning, and I felt like I was walking along the plains with these women.

This link will give you an idea of the programs and offerings of my local society:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohrichgs/ 

Nearly every society I have presented to has someone who is in charge of arranging speakers for the year.  That is their focus - to educate the members of their society.  And, there isn't a one of us who doesn't need a refresher course every now and then.

I have found that networking with the people I have met around the country gives me the "fix" I need when I want to talk about genealogy.  Many of us have friends and relatives who are just not interested in genealogy - and may never be.  But, to be with like-minded people that can offer suggestions as to research, records, computer help, methodology, etc. is something that can benefit us all.

Plus, they are generally very inexpensive to join.  If you look at the link posted above, it's only $12.00 / year to be a member of my local society.  But, the benefits are worth far more than the amount you pay.  

Genealogy societies sometimes take a "hit", for most people believe that everything you need to research your ancestry is found on the internet.  Membership in the societies decline, and attendance at meetings lessen.  But, the internet is truly the tip of the iceberg, as illustrated in a popular meme that shows up on Facebook occasionally.

FamilySearch, Ancestry, FindMyPast, MyHeritage, and many more are wonderful tools to let us comfortably research from home.  But, think of the vast holdings that will likely never be on the internet; those that are found in teeny libraries that have a local history room.  Or, even better, the information and wisdom that comes people that have lived in a locality for many years, and know just about everything about everyone who has ever lived there.

I plan on attending many more local meetings this year, for even though I am a genealogy speaker, and I am also one who needs to continually keep learning.  I walked away from Saturday's meeting realizing that more than ever.

Give it some thought; and consider joining your local genealogy society.  They need you!

And, more importantly, you need them.

The Tiniest Level of Research - A Local Historical Society

I recently spent part of a Sunday afternoon at a local historical society near to where I live.

The Butler Museum is located in the small town of Butler, Richland Co., Ohio.  It is located just 14 miles south of Mansfield, the largest city in Richland County, and the county seat.

A friend of ours has been elected Vice-President of the Historical Society, and began telling me of all of the items that are available in this tiny society.  So, even though I have absolutely no relatives in this part of the state, I knew I just had to look.  It took us less than fifteen minutes to drive there.

Let me take you on a tour of some things I found.

Books!!! Clerk's Account Books, Criminal Dockets, and a few others that are behind glass, and very fragile.  We did find the keys and opened up a few.

A resident of the town had a huge bank collection.  Here is a beehive all the way from the Beehive State of Utah.  It was made in Ogden.  Now, how in the world did it find its place here in central Ohio?

I would have loved to look through the collection of old Bibles in the glass case.  

These books are historical records from Butler Village.  They are old, dating back to the early 1900's.

In the basement is this beautifully preserved Chrysler.  The Weekly Car Dealership has been there for years, and was a place my father would go to for his car purchase.  This car is just sitting there gleaming.

And, right beside that beautiful Chrysler is a wagon and a carriage, in perfect condition.

The above photos are among several ledgers from the Clerk's Fund Account.  They are filled with names of residents of the Village.

In the back room of the basement, there are plastic airtight containers with dozens of collections similar to the above.  Look at the one marked "Floyd Wise Diaries".  I don't even know who Floyd Wise is.  But, this container was filled with his diaries.

One of the famous residents of this area was Cyrus "Cy" Gatton.  Rick Sowash did a wonderful one-man rendition of his life.  Here he is, pictured with his wife Mary.

Dr. Betty Reed was a prominent physician in this community, and came from a long line of doctors.  She was also a wonderful genealogist, and visited us at the Family History Center often.  A special display greets you when you first enter the building, honoring this great woman.

There is also a container in the basement housing some of her records.  Have you ever looked for physician's records in your areas of research?

I didn't get this book out of the cabinet, but when I return I want to know just what kind of licenses were recorded in this volume.

There is a cumulative list of all of those old books behind the glass doors.

I don't know why a Mansfield Directory from 1908-09 would be in this town 14 miles to the south.

A very interesting display caught my eye on the first floor.  The Mt. Sinai Evangelical Church has several pages of subscriptions, which include names and amounts.  I'm going to have to find out more about subscriptions.

The newspaper collection fascinated me!  Some of them date back to 1860!!  That's before the Civil War began.  The ones I saw are in archival boxes in between archival sheets for their protection.

Little baby Frances, age 6 months, is all decked out in a beautiful little gown.  It was housed in a beautiful album, and names were on the back of nearly every photo I looked at.

This may be a bit difficult to read, but it a photo of the parents of Cyrus "Cy" Gatton, who is mentioned above.

The photos were found in this beautiful album.  The cover is like a hard plastic, and unfortunately detaches from the album.  But, they have kept it all together.

Wow!  This is a panoramic photograph from the neighboring town of Bellville.  I believe it was dated 1909.  It shows the gazebo in the background, as well as several buildings that are still standing.  There are hundreds of citizens in the photo.

I love looking through school records.  I was even asked to be an instructor for Ancestry.com on school records.  Have you seen it?

https://www.ancestry.com/academy/course/ancestors-school-records

These are old history books of Richland County.

I knew the above would be a gold mine when I saw the tattered edges.  It's a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from 1929 for Mansfield!  Again, I don't know how it found its home here.

Little wooden replicas of all of the schools that were in the area!!!  

Did I mention how much I love school records?

Now, why would I be so excited about a tiny historical society in an area that I have no relatives in?  Because these little societies exist everywhere.  

We are all familiar with the big internet sites that help us fill in so many blanks.

We are also familiar with state libraries and archives where we can glean through books and microfilms.

But, don't leave out the tiny places where you just might find information unavailable anywhere else.  I'm unsure if the above books also have copies in other places.  And, since this is not an ancestral area for me, I probably won't look.  

But, you can bet that I will be digging into historical societies like this when I am on my next genealogy trip!