EWGS Hosted HQRL Directors Jim & Debbie Johnson at March meeting.

Jim and Debbie Johnson drove over from the Heritage Quest Research Library in Sumner, Washington (near Tacoma) to share a wonderful day with EWGS. They brought 30 boxes of books for sale and the 50-some EWGS members had a delightful shopping spree.

Here's Jim unpacking some of those 30 boxes; Debbie is at the end of the long line of tables.

We had planned on Jim sharing two presentations with us but he ended up sharing three presentations with us. The first talk was on "Western Migration 1840-1869." The handout that went with this talk was a 2-page list of links for further research via online sources. One new thing I learned was that more than half who migration westward came via boat either across Panama or around Cape Horn.

And are there passenger lists for these sailing ships? "Are there passenger lists for passenger jets these days?" quipped Jim. The answer is, sadly, no there is not.

Jim's second presentation was on "Researching in Western Washington"  and he had for us an 8-page handout of online resources and "brick and mortar" addresses. He spent several minutes extolling the virtues of not overlooking public libraries. "Many, if not most, local public libraries have a collection of local history. It's a point of pride with them and reflects the current interest in history. You will find nuggets of information there that you won't find anywhere else."

The third, and extra "throw-in" talk that Jim shared with us was his favorite talk, "Using Google for Genealogy." The entire group was engaged with this talk and everybody learned some new ways to use Google. 

It was a grand day, and we members brought a wonderful potluck lunch...... which Mary Holcomb and Pat Ayers set up and took down for us. Several members came early to help the Johnsons unload those 30 boxes of books; we thank them too. It was a grand day.