Western Massachusetts Genealogical Society, Inc.

WMGS Monthly Meeting
2019-12-04 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
We’re excited to be bringing nationally-known Thomas MacEntee, Founder & CEO of High-Definition Genealogy, LLC, to our December 4th meeting.
The title of his presentation is,
The Genealogy Do-Over tm:
A Year of Learning from Mistakes
It isn’t often that we get a “do-over” when it comes to stuff that matters in life. When you first got started researching your family history, did you do some things that now are just plain “embarrassing” such as name collecting, not citing sources and more? Well now there’s hope since genealogists from beginner to advanced are employing new research methodologies and documentation practices. Follow genealogist Thomas MacEntee as he basically starts his genealogy research from scratch but includes sound research practices and methodologies as well as new templates, tools, and the latest technology to create a better body of family history research.
Thomas will be coming to us via a webinar. We will present the webinar at the Agawam Senior Center, and will also broadcast it to members who are watching remotely. Stay tuned for webinar details as we get closer to the event.

Special Interest Group (SIG) - Irish Research
2019-11-21 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
Join host Fran Malone as he explains how to find more about your Irish ancestry. Fran will explain how to find the information that’s needed to get across the ocean to Ireland. He’ll cover resources available on this side of the Atlantic, and then he’ll cover the many resources that are available for Irish research, including Ireland’s National Archives, Griffith’s Valuation, the Tithe Applotment Books, and other resources and websites. If you’d like help with a research problem, bring your ancestor’s name and whatever facts that you have already discovered. Bring your research questions and brick wall challenges!

WMGS Board Meeting
2019-11-18 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
Board meeting moved from November 11 to November 18, due to Veteran’s Day holiday on 11/11.

Canadian (Quebec & Provinces) Special Interest Group (SIG)
2019-11-14 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
Our agenda for this session will be a hands-on exploration of research in Canada. Whether you have Quebec or Provinces ancestry, hosts Jeanne Leblond and Dave Lapierre will help you find the information that you need. This will be a hands-on exploration of Canadian resources, so bring your research questions and brick wall problems. Please bring your ancestor’s name and whatever facts that you have discovered, such as date and place of birth, marriage, death, spouse’s name, children, and parents. If you have a success story, bring that along as well, so we can share our knowledge!

WMGS Monthly Meeting
2019-11-06 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
We’re pleased to be bringing genealogist Kathy Kaldis back to WMGS for our November 6th meeting to help us prepare for the upcoming 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ landing on our shores. Kathy’s presentation, Land Ho! Calling All Mayflower Descendants, will focus on how to find Mayflower ancestors and how to apply to a Mayflower lineage society. She’ll tell us about plans for the 400th anniversary and celebration, as well. Kathleen Kaldis fell in love with genealogy at a young age. She is a professional genealogist known as The Ancestor Finder. Her interest in genealogy started when she heard stories about how her great-great-grandfather, who was born on Cape Breton Island, came to Boston to build Fenway Park. She used to be a Genealogist at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston and enjoyed working with the patrons. She holds a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University, and has successfully completed many genealogical institute courses though the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) and the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History (ISBGFH). Kathleen is very active within the genealogical community, serving in many leadership positions within many organizations. She is a member of the Lexington DAR and personally brought in 125 new members in two years. As a lecturer her enthusiasm will show through as she shares her passion of genealogy with the audience.

Family Search: The Basics and Beyond
2019-10-24 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
We’ll cover the basics of using the free Family Search website, which contains the world’s largest collection of genealogy records from around the globe. Learn how to use the search engine, card catalog, wikis, and family trees to find what you need. We’ll also cover search techniques that go beyond the search engine to maximize your results, explain indexing, and look at the pros & cons of creating a family tree on the site.

WMGS Board Meeting
2019-10-21 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
Board meeting moved from October 14 to October 21 due to Columbus Day holiday on 10/14.

Excel for Genealogy
2019-10-17 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
We’ll explain the various ways to use Excel in genealogy research. Dave Lapierre will teach members about basic Excel skills and explore how the program can be used to organize, sort, filter, analyze, and keep track of your research. We’ll also look at some of the built-in functions you can use to parse data into different columns, as well as combine data from different fields (example: first name in one column, last name in another, full name as a combination of the two). Excel can be used to create timelines, track census findings, create research logs & more. Although not required, you may want to bring your laptop to this session.Although not required, you may want to bring your laptop.
Training Sessions are held in the Handcraft room on the 1st floor of the Agawam Senior Center.

WMGS Monthly Meeting
2019-10-02 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
Our October 2nd meeting will feature Maria Beiter-Tucker, the Visitor Center Manager at Quabbin Reservoir who will present Exploring the History of The Quabbin Valley Through Gravestones. Maria will take our members on a virtual walk through the Quabbin Park Cemetery to explore the history of the former Swift River Valley Towns and some of its residents. The Quabbin Park Cemetery was developed in the early 1930’s for the reinterment of those who were buried in cemeteries in the flooded towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott. Nearly 8,000 graves were moved from the four towns’ 34 cemeteries, but not every family chose to have their ancestors buried in the newly created cemetery. Maria will tell us what happened to them. Before any graves were moved, detailed information was recorded about each grave, including mapping where it was located and photographing the gravestone. Maria will describe how to access that information and will tell us about the ongoing Quabbin Park Cemetery Digital Commonwealth project. Maria’s presentation will provide resources to help you locate ancestors who lived in the Swift River Valley. Whether or not you have ancestors who lived there, her presentation will be intriguing to anyone with Massachusetts roots.

French Canadian Special Interest Group (SIG)
2019-09-26 18:00 - 20:00
This is the first in our series of new Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Although not required, you may want to bring your laptop.
SIGs are held in the Handcraft room on the 1st floor of the Agawam Senior Center.
Are you just beginning research on your Canadian ancestors? Or, do you have a Canadian ancestor that you can’t find?
Our agenda will cover a brief outline of conducting research in Canada, including major databases, websites, and online & print resources. There’ll be plenty of time for questions and answers, and brick wall challenges.
If you’d like help with a research problem, bring your ancestor’s name and whatever facts that you have discovered, such as date & place of birth, marriage, death, spouse’s name, children, and parents.

Facebook for Genealogy
2019-09-19 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
This is the first in our series of new Training Sessions. Although not required, you may want to bring your laptop.
Training Sessions are held in the Handcraft Room on the 1st floor of the Agawam Senior Center.
We’ll briefly cover the basics of setting up and maintaining a Facebook account and talk about privacy and security features. Then, we’ll focus on how to use Facebook for genealogical research and sharing. We’ll discuss the difference between Facebook Pages and Groups and explore the incredible variety of pages and groups available to genealogists to solve research problems. We’ll also show you how to set up a family page to share information, family history, memories, photos, and more. We’ll also learn how to follow WMGS and other sites to learn about free resources, webinars, and discounts.

WMGS Board Meeting
2019-09-09 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States

WMGS Monthly Meeting
2019-09-04 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
Genealogist Melanie McComb will present on September 4 on the resources available at NEHGS and AmericanAncestors.org- NEHGS: Who We Are, What We Do, How We Can Help.
Melanie assists library visitors at NEHGS, both on-site and online, with their family history research. She also provides lectures on a variety of genealogical topics. Melanie holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Oswego. Her areas of research interest include Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Kansas, Prince Edward Island, Québec, and Ireland, and she is experienced in DNA, genealogical technology and social media, Jewish genealogy, and military records.

Genealogy Research Clinic
2019-08-22 18:00 - 20:00, 2019-08-15 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
Genealogy Research Clinics are free to WMGS members. There is a $10 fee per session for non-members.

The Cities That William Pynchon Built – Emphasis Ludlow, MA
2019-08-15 18:30 - 20:00 | Hubbard Memorial Library, 24 Center St., Ludlow, MA, 01056, United States

WMGS Monthly Meeting
2019-08-07 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
Do you have boxes of old family photographs just sitting in your closet? Are they fading, yellowed, damaged, water stained, or do they have mold damage? The solution is to scan them and then restore them, turning them into digital files. Does the idea of tackling that project overwhelm you? Do you even know how or where to start?
At the August 7 WMGS monthly meeting, Dave Lapierre, WMGS Vice President and Website Coordinator, will do a presentation/demonstration on “Photo Scanning and Restoration”. If you were at Skills Night on June 5, you may have had a chance to watch some of the photo scanning features Dave was demonstrating.
He will be expanding his presentation from Skills Night to include information on:

what file format to save scanned photos in
what’s the difference between a JPG and a TIFF file, and which format should you use when
the steps to take when tackling that box of photos
software programs for photo editing & photo restoration (there is a difference), and
the options available for saving/storing your scanned images

History Camp 2019
2019-07-27 00:00
History Camp is the un-conference dedicated to all things history. Everyone is welcome to attend, but registration is required, and anyone can present, assuming we have a time slot open. More information on History Camp, including photos, quotes, and the profile of attendees from earlier History Camps, is here. The goal of History Camp Pioneer Valley is to break even – there are no paid staff, no paid speakers, and no one will profit. We will charge the lowest possible fee to cover the costs of the venue and lunch, but to allow the greatest number of people to attend. This year the fee is $26.
There will also be plenty of opportunities for networking and an exhibit area for selling books and other history-related products.
Registration began on Patriots Day (April 15). To Register to Attend or Present, go to: http://historycamp.org/pioneer-valley For more Information, contact us at: pioneervalleyhistory@gmail.com

Genealogy Research Clinic
2019-07-25 18:00 - 20:00, 2019-07-18 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
Come to one of our research clinics! WMGS offers research clinics on the 3rd & 4th Thursdays of each month from 6pm-8pm at the Agawam Senior Center. This is a free benefit for WMGS members, with a $10 fee for non-members.

WMGS July Monthly Meeting
2019-07-10 18:30 - 20:30 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
July 10, 6:30 p.m. – – Not July 3, 6:00 p.m.
Our July 10th presenter will be Kathleen Reilly, local History and Melville Collections Supervisor at the Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield, MA. Kathy’s presentation will focus on the extensive and rich collection of genealogical resources at the Athenaeum.
The Berkshire Athenaeum has long been a popular place to conduct research, because of its extensive New England state resources, and French-Canadian parish repertoires and other resources.
When the Sylvio Conte Branch of the National Archives in Pittsfield closed in 2011, the Berkshire Athenaeum acquired the books, finding aids, and microfilm collection of that branch. The microfilm collection includes US & State census records, naturalization indexes, compiled service records for Revolutionary war solders, Revolutionary war pension and bounty-land warrant applications, index to New England naturalization petitions from 1796 to 1906, ship manifests, and more.
The Athenaeum is also a FamilySearch affiliate library providing access to many FamilySearch databases that are only accessible at a center. Kathy’s presentation will pique your interest and help you to maximize a research trip there.
Please note that due to the Independence Day holiday, our July meeting will be held on July 10th at 6:30pm in the Veterans’ Room at the Agawam Senior Center.

Genealogy Research Clinic
2019-06-27 18:00 - 20:00, 2019-06-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
Come to one of our research clinics! WMGS offers research clinics on the 3
rd & 4th Thursdays of each month from 6pm-8pm at the Agawam Senior Center. This is a free benefit for WMGS members, with a $10 fee for non-members.

WMGS Board Meeting
2019-06-10 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
Board meeting for the Officers of WMGS. Members are welcome to attend the meetings which are held at the Agawam Senior Center in the Board Room.

Partitions of Poland, or How a Major European State was Wiped Off the Map of Europe
2019-06-08 13:00 - 15:00 | Chicopee Public Library & Online, 449 Front Street, Chicopee, MA, 01013, United States
Saturday, June 8, 2019 – 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
The Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts invites you to The Partitions of Poland: or, How a Major European State Was Wiped Off the Map of Europe, featuring speaker and historian Dr. Patrice M. Dabrowski.
This program is free and open to the public. Held at the Chicopee Public Library, 449 Front Street in the Community Room.

Holyoke Tours of Cemeteries
2019-06-08 10:30 - 11:50, 2019-05-25 10:30 - 11:50 | Holyoke Cemeteries
Sponsored by Holyoke Historical Commission, Friends of Historic Cemeteries and Monuments, and Holyoke History Room. All tours are free to the public. Please register at Eventbrite.com

May 11, 2019 – Calvary Cemetery (opened 1882) and Elmwood Cemetery (Est 1755)
10:30-11:50, Park at Calvary Cemetery
May 25, 2019 – St Jerome’s Cemetery (Est 1864)
10:30-11:50, Park on St Jerome Street
June 8, 2019 – Smith’s Ferry Cemetery (Originally part of Northampton, purchased by Holyoke 1909)
10:30-11:50, Park in Delaney House lot off Rte 5

Skills Night
2019-06-05 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
June 2019 Meeting – Skills Night
Our 2nd annual Skills Night will be held at our June 5th meeting this year. This is an opportunity to explore a variety of topics, tools, and resources that will assist you in your genealogy research. It is an informal event with attendees being able to freely move around stations, with facilitators at each station to chat and answer questions. We’ll be set up in the Dining Room this year, allowing us to spread out more.
We’re bringing back some of the topics from last year, but we’ll also have a few new ones. There will be something for everyone, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro. Need help with general research? We’ll have tips, techniques and search methods. Are you having difficulty finding ancestors in early census records? Or, perhaps you’re having difficulty finding military records for those who served our country. We’ve got these covered!
Would you like to know more about capturing family memories and recording methods? We’ll cover that with displays of photo & document scanning tools. Want to learn about an easy-to-use online tool to help you make sense of your DNA results?
Do you focus your genealogical research on Ireland, Quebec and other provinces in Canada, Western Massachusetts, upstate New York, or Palatine research? Do you need general resources? Or, would you like to chat about a specific research problem? If so, bring a description of the problem and you’ll be able to talk with researchers who might be able to help.
Perhaps you want to plan a research trip, but it seems overwhelming. We’ll provide information on what you should do in advance, so that you’ll make the most of your time and maximize your chances of finding what you need.

Habitants to Immigrants: The Sansoucys, the Harpins, and the Potvins
2019-06-01 13:00 | Chicopee Public Library & Online, 449 Front Street, Chicopee, MA, 01013, United States
This presentation traces the history of the French-Canadian people through the lives of two families that evolved into three branches, from their settlement by soldiers in the Richelieu Valley of Quebec in 1665, to their immigration to the
mill towns of Massachusetts at the turn of the twentieth century.
This program is free and open to the public. Held at the Chicopee Public Library, 449 Front Street.

Genealogy Research Clinic
2019-05-23 18:00 - 20:00 | Agawam Senior Center, 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA, 01001, United States
