New St. Louis County Historian AND Genealogy TV News

Genealogists and historians have good news to celebrate this week, as Tom Ott, director of St. Louis County's Department of Parks and Recreation, announced that the position of county historian has been filled. Beginning today, Monday, 14 October 2019, Guinn Hinman will be the Historic Sites Manager of St. Louis County Parks. In a press release, Mr. Ott said that Ms. Hinman has a "strong background of both management and historic preservation."

Ms. Hinman comes to St. Louis from North Dakota where she was the northern region sites manager for the North Dakota State Historical Society in Bismarck. During her five years there, she managed twenty-seven historical sites. Working with government and civic groups, she was an integral part of the restoration of the state's oldest courthouse in Stutsman County.

Ms. Hinman arrived in St. Louis this spring and has been working for the Missouri State Park system. We join with the Parks Department and other history/genealogy groups in our area in welcoming her and wishing her much success in her new job.

 

Genealogy TV Series Returning!

Two genealogy-themed television shows are returning to network television in 2020.

Finding Your Roots on PBS

Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s "Finding Your Roots" teased its sixth season on Tuesday, 8 October, with a new episode on PBS (locally KETC, Channel 9) featuring Mia Farrow, Angelica Huston, and Isabella Rossellini, and will air another new episode, with Melissa McCarthy and Eric Stonestreet, tomorrow, Tuesday, 15 October (KETC, 7:00 p.m., Central Time). Expect some older episodes to rerun before the show returns with a whole new season in January. No schedule has been posted yet, but one episode features one of St. Louis's own.

StLGS's "Ask Louie" volunteers were excited to help with an upcoming segment on Olivette native and Mary Institute/Country Day School graduate, award-winning actor, Sterling K. Brown. Be sure to watch for the start of Season Six, featuring twenty-seven celebrities in eight episodes during the winter and then six more episodes in the fall. Read more about the new season here. And, if you missed last week's episode, you can catch it on Channel Nine's website. It's free!

Who Do You Think You Are? on NBC

An American take on a British original, "Who Do You Think You Are?" ran on NBC for a few seasons before the network dropped it. Picked up by cable station, TLC, it had a successful run for several more years. A few months ago, NBC announced the popular show would return to its network for its eleventh season. The network has ordered thirteen new episodes but has not announced a debut date or time slot. You can read more about the return of this long-running genealogy show in Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter from May 2019.

Fun with Words in Genealogy

Did your Scottish ancestors have a pair of cod-heads? Perhaps your American ancestors helped lay a corduroy road or worked as a whitewing? German ancestors? Did they wear osnaburg or ticklenburg?

Language changes over time and our ancestors would be equally befuddled if they heard someone say "My bad" or "Catch you later" or any of the countless words and phrases we use today. Making sense of today's vocabulary is easy enough, but what do you do when confronted with words and phrases that are no longer in popular usage?

Consult a book—there are some wonderful book references that a generation of genealogists have come to rely on:

• A to Zax: A Comprehensive Dictionary for Genealogists and Historians, written by Barbara Jean Evans, is a much-beloved classic and deserves to be in every researcher's library. Published by Hearthside Press, the third edition came out in 1995 and is still available in paperback.
• What Did They Mean by That?, written by Paul Drake, is "a dictionary of historical and genealogical terms old and new." Published by Heritage Books in 2003, it, too, can still be found for purchase.
• More What Did They Mean by That?, also by Paul Drake, is a companion book to the previously mentioned volume and appeared in 2006 as a hardback and in a paperback edition in 2009. (StLGS members: Log into our store to get your member code and then go to http://store.stlgs.org/more-what-did-they-mean-by-that for your discount on the hardback, which we sell.)

Check the internet—lists of archaic words and phrases abound online. Here are just a few to get you started.

• "Archaic Words That Used to be Common," Lexico (Oxford Dictionary) https://www.lexico.com/en/explore/archaic-words
• "List of Archaic English Words and Their Modern Equivalents, Academic Kids Encyclopedia. (Don't be put off by the name of the website. This is a short but helpful list.) https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/List_of_archaic_English_words_and_their_modern_equivalents
• "Old English Core Vocabulary." (Created and maintained by the University of St. Andrews, Scotland)  https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~cr30/vocabulary/
• "Glossary of Archaic Words and Phrases," (British site with emphasis on legal terms) https://parlipapers.proquest.com/help/parlipapers/Glossary%20of%20Archaic%20Terms%20and%20Phrases.html 

(By the way, if your ancestor had cod-heads, he/she was likely from the Glasgow area of Scotland and had some shoes that wore out at the toes. A corduroy road was made from tree trunks laid side by side over a swampy or muddy area, and a whitewing was a street sweeper in a white uniform (see the illustration above). Osnaburg and ticklenburg were kinds of cloth made in Germany. Both were made of linen but the latter was more coarsely made and twice as strong.)

StLGS Voting Opens AND October Meetings and Events

StLGS 2019 Election of Officers: 

Online Voting Opens Tuesday, 1 October 2019

October is the time to vote for StLGS officers. This year, the vice-president for programs and treasurer are up for re-election. Karen Goode and Viki Fagyal, who currently hold those positions, have agreed to run again, and your votes of confidence for them will indicate your support for the outstanding jobs they are doing.

All voting will be done online, and it couldn't be easier. Just go to our website, www.stlgs.org, log in as a member, and find the link that goes to the voting page at the very top. (See illustration below.)

On the voting page, you will find short biographies of both candidates, a link to our bylaws, if you want to look them over, and a link to the online ballot.

Voting should take you just seconds and must be completed by midnight, 1 November. Just click in the box next to each name on the ballot and then type in your own name at the bottom. This step is necessary to be sure each member number gets only one vote and that each person who votes is an active member.

Please note that the following ballots will be disqualified:

1. Ballots without names
2. Ballots with member names that appear more than once
3. Votes cast after midnight on 1 November 2019

Any questions? Call our office at 314-647-8547 during regular office hours and we will be glad to help you.

October StLGS Monthly Meeting

Saturday, 12 October 2019—10:00 a.m.

"Going with the Flow: River History and the Records That Trace It," by Porsche Schlapper, St. Louis County Library Headquarters Auditorium, free and open to all, no pre-registration needed.

More information on the StLGS website.

Irish Special Interest Group (SIG) Meeting 

Tuesday, 22 October 2019—7:00 p.m.

"Finding Irish Ancestors in the St. Louis Recorder of Deeds Office," by Richard Buthod; St. Louis County Library Headquarters Auditorium, free and open to all, no pre-registration needed.

 More information on the Irish SIG page on the StLGS website.

Other Upcoming Classes and Meetings

StLGS Classes 

• All classes are free to StLGS members; there is a fee for non-members. 
• Classes are held at the StLGS office and begin at 1:00 p.m. 
• Pre-registration required at 314-647-8547

Saturday, 5 October 2019

"Beginning Irish Research," by Carol Hemmersmeier and Kay Weber 

Saturday, 19 October 2019

"Advanced Legacy Family Tree (Genealogy Software, PC Only)," by Cathy Amen

Sappington-Concord Historical Society Meeting
Thursday, 17 October 2019—2:30 p.m.

"Bellefontaine [Cemetery]'s People of Intrigue," by Dan Fuller and Richard Lay, Friendship Village South, 12503 Village Circle Drive, Sunset Hills, Crossings Building, Rhineland Room; free and open to all, no pre-registration needed.

More information on the events page on the group's website.

Shop to Support StLGS

(Thanks to StLGS treasurer, Viki Fagyal, for contributing this reminder of how we can all support the society by simply shopping!)

Did you know there are two super-easy ways to support the St. Louis Genealogical Society by doing what you do every day—shopping? Both Amazon and Schnucks supermarkets offer free programs that help support local non-profit organizations. As you may know, StLGS is an all-volunteer non-profit organization, so every penny we receive in donations goes directly to paying for the things genealogists want to see: informative new webpages on StLGS.org, better speakers, and new publications. We rely on donations to help defray the day-to-day costs of keeping up our computer network, maintaining our website, and keeping our office doors open. How can you help?

AmazonSmile

There are several ways you can make donations to StLGS that don’t involve anything more than designating the society as your charity of choice. AmazonSmile is a program we have belonged to for many years. If you are an Amazon shopper, please consider making your purchases via the Smile program. It’s so easy!


To learn more about the program, you can read the FAQ page. Then, from the list of charities at https://smile.amazon.com/, choose St. Louis Genealogical Society, and from that point on, whenever you make a purchase, do it through the link to smile.amazon.com. Your shopping cart, Amazon account, and personal details will be exactly the same. The only difference is that Amazon will donate .05 percent of your purchase price to the society. You may want to bookmark the smile link so you always start your Amazon shopping that way.

Schnucks

If you are a customer of Schnucks supermarkets, you can use the My Schnucks eScrip card so that a portion of your purchase will be donated to StLGS. If you don't have a My Schnucks card (or an older Community Card), ask for one at the customer service desk the next time you shop. Then register your card online at escrip.com/schnucks or by calling 1-800-931-6258.

Just show your card each time you check out and up to three percent of your purchase goes to StLGS. You would be surprised to see how these charitable donations add up with all of our members helping.

And, if you work for a company that has matching gifts, please consider designating St. Louis Genealogical Society as your charity.

Your StLGS membership and continued support help make the society better for all of us. Please consider using these free, convenient methods to give to St. Louis Genealogical Society.

Thank you so much!

StLGS Adds News and Events Facebook Page

St. Louis Genealogical Society hosts a thriving Facebook group, currently almost 2,600 people and growing every week. Now, for the benefit of our members and other interested genealogists, we've created a Facebook page dedicated solely to society news and events. The new page will not accept comments and is only for announcements and upcoming meetings, classes, and other important messages from the society. We are excited that this page will supplement the calendar on our website and will also be a vehicle to reach people who want the latest society information at their fingertips.

You do not have to ask to join the new page. Just "like" it and "follow" it so you get the updated announcements in your feed. You do have to join the group, however, if you want to post or make any comments.

If you are in the Facebook group, how do you get to the News and Events page or vice versa? Easy!

From the Facebook group to the News and Events page: Look at the right-hand side of the group page and you will see a white rectangle that says "St. Louis Genealogical Society N . . ." It's actually a link to the other page. Try it!

From the News and Events page to the Facebook group: Find the News and Events page at https://www.facebook.com/stlgs.newsandevents. If you want to go directly from there to the group, again look on the right-hand side of the page. You will see a blue button that says "Visit group." Click it and you will go to the group page.

 

Searching in the Facebook group: Did you know you could search for older posts in the Facebook group? Again, look at the side of the page, this time on the left. See the search box? Just pop in a keyword and it will find the messages in which that word appears. It's a simple way to search for popular topics like orphanages or cemeteries!

We look forward to seeing you on Facebook! And don't forget we're on Twitter, too. Follow us there at @StLGS or go to https://twitter.com/StLGS.

Researching Marriages in Jackson Co., Missouri, Just Got Easier!

(Thanks to society treasurer, Viki Fagyal, for alerting us to this website.)

Jackson County, Missouri, Recorder of Deeds Office Marriage Records Online

Do you have Kansas City or Jackson County, Missouri, ancestors? The Recorder of Deeds office in Jackson County has digitized all marriage licenses and applications from the county's beginning in 1826. You can view and print copies free of charge! Go to the Web Access page to begin your search.

As with many search engines, less is more on this site. Unless you are searching for a very common surname, try just typing in either the groom's or the bride's surname and let the search bring up all of the people with that name. You never know what you might find. If your surname is too common to do that, then begin to narrow down by date. In the following screen capture, you can see a simple search for Haycraft and the result of just one marriage. The first field in the search result is "Image" and under it, you will see it says "View." Clicking on that link will bring up a digitized copy of the marriage license and the application.

Even better, though, is clicking on the next link, the string of numbers, under "Book/Page." As you can see in the screen capture below, this link will give you a column on the left with certificate number and other information that might be on the documents.

While you are on the website, take a look at the tab called "Official Public Records." Let your mouse hover over the tab and you will see lists for grantees and grantors as well as a subdivision list and a real estate index. Of most use to genealogists, of course, are the grantee and grantor lists, but be aware that these are fairly recent, from 1962 to the present. For earlier records, you will have to look at microfilm at the Recorder of Deeds office. Another road trip, perhaps?

September Genealogy Meetings and Events

September StLGS Monthly Meeting

Saturday, 14 September 2019—10:00 a.m.

"Preserving Home Movies and Family Photographs," by Ellen Mays, St. Louis County Library Headquarters Auditorium, free and open to all, no pre-registration needed

More information on the StLGS website.

German Special Interest Group (SIG) Meeting 
Wednesday, 18 September 2019—7:00 p.m.

"Using Deutsches Geschlechterbuch and Deutesche FamilienArchiv," by Scott Holl; St. Louis County Library Headquarters Auditorium, free and open to all, no pre-registration needed.

 More information on the German SIG page on the StLGS website.

Other Upcoming Classes/Meetings

StLGS Classes 

• All classes are free to StLGS members; there is a fee for non-members. 
• Classes are held at the StLGS office and begin at 1:00 p.m. 
• Pre-registration required at 314-647-8547

Saturday, 21 September 2019

"Beyond Parish Records: Other Useful German Records at the Family History Library,"
by Carol Whitton, CG

Saturday, 28 September 2019

"Using Technology in Genealogy Research," by Cathy Amen

Saturday, 5 October 2019

"Beginning Irish Research," by Carol Hemmersmeier and Kay Weber

View the entire summer/fall 2019 genealogy class schedule here.

St. Louis County Library Classes
Numerous classes at all branches in September. More on the library website.  

Click on the September calendar and scroll down the page.

Carondelet Historical Society Meeting
Sunday, 15 September 2019—1:30 p.m.

Discussion of the historic photograph collection of Dr. William Swekosky by Andy Hahn, 6303 Michigan Avenue, St. Louis, free and open to all, no pre-registration needed.

More information on the group's website.

Czech Genealogical Researchers Monthly Meeting
Saturday, 14 September 2019—1:30 p.m.

"Czech Research Time," open research time with volunteers on hand to provide assistance, St. Louis County Library Headquarters History and Genealogy Department, free and open to all, no pre-registration needed.

More information on the group's website.

Maplewood Public Library Special Meeting
Thursday, 19 September 2019—6:30 p.m.

"Maplewood Through the Years," by Doug Houser; join Maplewood's resident historian as he speaks about the history of this dynamic city. Maplewood Public Library, 7550 Lohmeyer Ave., Maplewood, Mo. 63143, free and open to all, no pre-registration needed.

More information about the library on its website.