At our March 2025 meeting, we’ll welcome back Susan M. O’Connor, who will present “Deconstructing Obituaries.” Obituaries are treasure troves of genealogical information, offering insights into family and social relationships, community ties, and even historical events. In this presentation, we’ll … Continue reading
Join us for our next Canadian Special Interest Group meeting on Thursday, March 20 at 7 p.m. on Zoom. In our inaugural session, we explored Canadian genealogy resources available through Library and Archives Canada and FamilySearch. This time, we'll delve … Continue reading
From mining iron ore in the colonial period to searching for copper, iron, tin, coal and precious metals, many of our ancestors were miners. Do you have ancestors who participated in the Gold Rush? Or immigrant ancestors who worked in … Continue reading
We’re very happy that Howard Vincent Kurtz will be joining us again at our April 17 training session for another presentation of “Our Ancestors’ Clothing”! If you have participated in Professor Kurtz’s previous visits to WMGS, you’ll know what a … Continue reading
We’re excited that Tom MacEntee will be joining us again in May to present another useful feature: “Creating an Ancestor Sketch.” Tom will describe the essential elements of an ancestor biography sketch and explain different sketch formats. He’ll also tell … Continue reading
Our annual meeting will be held on May 7, following our presentation by Thomas MacEntee. At the meeting, our Assistant Treasurer will give a brief financial report, announce the results of our annual audit, and provide membership numbers. We will … Continue reading
How do you organize your genealogical research? Do you use physical storage (binders, papers, hanging files, notebooks, etc.), digital storage (genealogy program, Microsoft Word/Excel, PDF files, your laptop, the cloud, etc.), or a combination of both physical and digital? Is … Continue reading
While many of us rely on the databases of popular genealogy companies and large organizations to research our ancestors, we may be overlooking a wealth of information available in libraries and archives. For those with limited experience searching these resources, … Continue reading
At our June 19 training session, Diane Romanowsky will present “Enriching Your Ancestor’s Story Using Occupational Records, An Introduction.” Occupational records are helpful in genealogy as they provide insights into an ancestor’s daily life, socioeconomic status, possible education, and skills. … Continue reading
For many current residents of Western Massachusetts, it isn't easy to imagine that the hilltowns of Becket, Blandford, Chester, Granville, Huntington, and Middlefield were once vibrant and larger. They were deforested mainly during the 19th century to support their traditional … Continue reading