Sunday, November 11, 2007

What You Missed: The October 2007 Computer Class

When the news was released that Bill Hire was going to present a class on land records for our October 20th members-only computer class, I received a plethora of e-mails asking to sign up for it as soon as possible! Bill brings his experience as a surveyor to our society, having previously made a presentation on land records at our October Workshop in 2005. His "Land Records on the Internet" syllabus listed nine links to major sites to further one's research in this area. He explained why land records are important to genealogy: they place an ancestor or relative at a specific location and point in time, as well as often being the only records available that show a family relationship between two individuals.

We learned about or reviewed public lands states vs. state lands states, metes and bounds vs. the township system, and discussed many resources, such as DeedMapper, plat maps online, and various genealogy books on land records research. I believe we all went away having learned many things, and excited to further our research in this area! If you would like a copy of the syllabus for this class, please contact me at kidmiffatgmaildotcom (substitute appropriate symbols).

The next computer class will be held November 17th and will be presented by Bette Butcher Topp. Her topic is "Genealogy Society Websites." If you are interested in signing up, please contact me, Miriam Robbins Midkiff, at the e-mail address listed in the previous paragraph, or see our member directory for my telephone number. Currently, there are a few spots available during the 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM and the 1:30 - 2:30 PM sessions. You must be a current EWGS member to attend.

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