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Bucks County
Genealogical Society
September 2015 Newsletter
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
To all BCGS Members and
I am so completely impressed with the amazing, talented and passionate group of genealogists in our organization! TWO terrific events were held in September.
The first was the BCGS regular monthly meeting at the Council Rock High School North on September 12th, which was a computer-based event, where attendees found new information about their families with help from more experienced researchers. Thanks once again to Jeff Sipler and Kathy Pagano for making this event possible!
The second event this month was our biggest of the year - the Ninth Annual Bucks County Ancestry Fair, held for the first time at the Bucks County Community College on September 19th. A tremendous effort by many volunteers went into the planning and execution of the Fair. Please see the article below for more details.
I encourage everyone to "Like" the Bucks County Genealogical Society page on Facebook. Did you know that FamilySearch recently released digital images of Pennsylvania marriage records, which include Philadelphia? Like our page and get the latest on BCGS events, and what's new online!
Fall brings change in the weather, and this year there will be changes at BCGS. With mixed emotions, but with certainty that BCGS will carry on in good hands, I will be stepping down as your President. The October newsletter will include the nominees for the Board, and elections will be held at our annual meeting in November. It's not too late to nominate yourself or someone else - just email me at [email protected].
Warm Regards,
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3
, 2015
1
0:00 AM-12:00 PM
at the David Library of the American Revolution, 1201 River Rd., Washington Crossing, PA
(Park behind the building and use the Conference Center entrance.)
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Get the Dirt: Finding Your Ancestors in Land Records
presented by
Christine Roberts
Property deeds are an often overlooked resource for genealogists. Using deeds in your research can confirm family relationships, identify the places where your ancestor lived, and can help you break through those brick walls. Designed for beginners to deed research, this lecture will cover grantor and grantee indexes, definitions of the terms you will encounter in deeds, and a review of the kind of information you might find in these records.
About the speaker:
Chris is the Founder and Charter President of the Bucks County Genealogical Society, and serves on the First Families Committee of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. She is also a member of the National Genealogical Society, the New York Genealogical and Historical Society, the New England Historical and Biographical Society, and the Association of Professional Genealogists.
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The Ninth Annual Bucks County Ancestry Fair
was a great success! Attendance was higher than ever before, there were more exhibitors than ever before, the speakers were excellent, and the Main Event ("Your Roots Are Showing: Get the Scoop on Colin Goodnoe") was a big hit!
Special thanks to the organizing committee members and chairs: Cathy Ivins (Publicity), Chris Roberts and Joyce Homan (Speakers), Connie Ace, Connie Taylor, Cindy Wahlig, Jeff Sipler (Exhibitors), Joann Cosgrove (Main Event), Marguerite Mogila (Budget), Marijane Meckling, Marilyn Cook (Hospitality), Mary Butash (Recording Secretary), Nancy Heath (Webmaster), Pat Gessner (Facilities), Peg Felter (Volunteers), and Carol Sheaffer and Susan Koelble with the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. We are grateful for the many other volunteers who assisted on the day of the event by staffing tables, monitoring classrooms, and helping direct attendees.
We would also like to thank the staff at Bucks County Community College for their assistance in making this year's fair a success at our new venue!
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REFRESHMENTS ARE NEEDED FOR THE OCTOBER MEETING
Can you help for this meetings or a later date?
We need someone to pick up two containers of coffee at Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts. Both places supply the cups, stirrers, sugar and cream. You will reimbursed by the BCGS treasurer at the meeting. We also need one person to bring a snack. 
Also, if you are a member and bring refreshments to a meeting, the meeting fee is waived. If you are a non-member and bring refreshments,
the meeting fee is reduced from $10 to $5.
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NEW MEMBERSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The Bucks County Genealogical Society is now using a new computerized system, Manage Membership, for maintaining its membership records. The Manage Membership system has streamlined the process for new membership applications and renewals, replacing the multiple steps and spreadsheets kept formerly with a single membership database.
This system was designed specifically for BCGS, and allows our VP-Membership and Treasurer to enter new memberships and renewals, record payments of dues, and generate emails to our members when their payments have been received. It also registers new members automatically for the Members-Only section of our website, and will send them an email with their assigned user name and password for logging into the website. Current members whose membership is due for renewal will receive email reminders about a month before their renewal due date.
An enhancement coming soon to the new Manage Membership system will allow current members to process their own renewals directly from the Members-Only section, with options for multi-year renewals and payment by Paypal or check. Members will also be able to update their personal information and add Bucks County surnames to be added to the Surnames page of the website.
The new system was developed by our webmaster, Nancy Heath, who
devoted many volunteer hours to establish the new system. We are very grateful to Nancy for her hard work and are excited with the tasks that are accomplished with Manage Membership!
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WOW - TAKE A LOOK AT THE DATABASE NOW!
More than 35,000 records have been added to the database since last month! They are records from Christ Evangelical Lutheran Lutheran Church, Lower Tinicum, Pipersville, PA.
The database now contains:
25,555 birth and baptism records
17,271 marriage records
86,443 death and burial records
37,896 other miscellaneous records
293,143 total searchable names
Your feedback is welcome! Please email Nancy Heath at
[email protected] with your comments.
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INSIDE BCGS
There are lots of volunteers doing things for Bucks County Genealogical Society behind the scenes. (We have no paid employees.) In the coming months, we'll tell you about some of the work that is being done by our board members.
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You may know Jeff Sipler as our stand-up comedian/emcee for frequent programs. However, do you know the real Jeff Sipler?
He wears many hats as VP of Programs and Board member. He beats the bushes looking for fascinating speakers and topics for our monthly programs. Finding a speaker is just the start. He then must finalize the details. Speakers are noted for being difficult communicators by email. But Jeff plugs away until we have a signed speaker's agreement. You know the calm, cool Jeff on meeting day? Well he is stressing until our presenter arrives ready to speak. Then there is computer set up. Now Jeff can relax and enjoy the program with us.
Add to that, the technology skills that allow Jeff to act as resource in technology to the Board.
Jeff can trace his earliest ancestors to the founding of Bucks County. He discovered that most settled in the area of Bensalem. The Siplers apparently used the Delaware River as a highway, most migrating to nearby Burlington, NJ, Morrisville, PA and Trenton, NJ. He enjoys corresponding with anyone with similar roots.
Outside of BCGS, Jeff has been a Social Studies teacher and assistant department coordinator at Council Rock High School North for more than 30 years. Yes, the same school where we enjoy "hands on" programs.
In addition to his love of family history, Jeff spent most of his life in gymnasiums involved in the sport of wrestling. He competed at Council Rock High School and Kutztown State College. He continued his career as an assistant coach. Jeff was inducted into the SE Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015.
Jeff loves his living family more than his dead ancestors. Jeff and his wife Lisa are the proud parents of their daughter Kasey, a recent graduate of Rider University and Nathan, a freshman at BCCC. He enjoys traveling and fishing with them. He recently returned a phone call from a Board member from the side of a lake in Canada! So that is Jeff, our gem in Programs.
By the way, he uses your suggestions for speakers and topics, so, if you hear an amazing speaker or have ideas for programs, Jeff would like to hear from you at [email protected]
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MARRIAGE QUERY FROM A MEMBER
Robert Gill has a marriage record for Jane Dungan and John Gill (1791-1852) on 16 March 1815. However, he hasn't been able to find out where the marriage took place. If you can help, please contact Robert at
[email protected]
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BEGINNERS CORNER
A good place to get you started on your research - or to get some additional information - is the Bucks County Genealogical Society website. Take a look at the different pages:
- the Database has over 293,000 records of births, marriages, deaths, newspaper extracts, and more
- the Resources page helps guide where to look for Bucks County records
- the Cemeteries page has lots of information on almost 250 Bucks County cemeteries
- the Member Surnames lists thousands of surnames with links to the email addresses of people researching those names
The website is
www.bucksgen.org and the pages are listed on the left side of the home page. Click on one of those pages and see what you can find!
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RESEARCH TIP
There are lots of interesting Sanborn Fire Insurance maps at Penn State University Libraries. Do you want to know the
building footprints, building material, height or number of stories, building use, lot lines, road widths and water facilities of your Pennsylvania ancestors property? You can search by city or town at the following website:
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COMPREHENSIVE EVENTS CALENDAR
Click the link for a listing of upcoming genealogy events for our organization and others in our area:
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Have you looked at our Facebook page?
Cathy Ivins, BCGS Director of Publicity, posts great genealogy information almost every day. Click here and take a look...
www.facebook.com/bucksgen
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Do you have a query about a Bucks County ancestor, and don't know where to send it?
If you would like an answer from our Query Coordinator, Tom Myers, please send your query to Tom at
[email protected]
If you would like the query published in a BCGS newsletter, please send your query (or comment) to VP Membership, Pat Gessner, at
[email protected]
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Membership Fees for One Year Membership
Individual: $20 Dual/Household: $35
Organization: $75
Our membership fees help to pay for speakers, facility rental, website costs, insurance and more. Membership in BCGS is on a rolling basis and lasts one year from the month you join. Won't you join and help us continue to grow?
See this list of the Member Benefits - with more to come:
- Discount on Society educational programs and events.
- Members can have their surnames posted on our website with a link to the member's email address.
- Members-only section of the BCGS website. Participate in discussion forums, share files, photos, and information with other members; see members' favorite genealogical websites and contribute your own.
- Meeting handouts are available to members unable to attend the Society's regular monthly meetings.
- Free scanning of documents is available by appointment.
- GenealogyBank: 20% ($14) discount - members may subscribe for $55.95 per year.
- Fold3: 37% ($30) discount - members may subscribe for $49.95 per year.
- Saving Memories Forever: 12% discount - members may receive a one-year premium subscription for $35.00.
- FindMyPast: 50% discount on annual membership
- Dell purchase program: provides discounts on products sold through the Dell website to FGS member societies' members, their families, and their friends. BCGS is a member of FGS (Federation of Genealogical Societies) and the discounts are available to our members.
Join or renew by mail using our
membership application/renewal form
, on line on the Society's website via PayPal or by paying with cash or check at our next meeting. And, we now have the ability to accept credit card payments at our monthly meetings!
If you have questions and to get access to the above discounts,
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More information about us:
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