Georgetown University President Meets with EWGS President Pat Bayonne-Johnson

Another great article on EWGS President Pat Bayonne-Johnson and the meeting with Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia at the Spokane Public Library June 13, 2016. This article tells about the cooperation between Georgetown and the genealogists tracing their ancestors back to the 272 slaves sold by Georgetown in 1838.
The earlier article is located here 

The EWGS group researching the Butler genealogy.

Georgetown University President John DeGioia meets Pat Bayonne-Johnson

EWGS President Patricia Bayonne-Johnson descendant of slaves that were sold by Georgetown University in 1838, meets with Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia at the Spokane Public Library. Read the article by Rachel L. Swarns of the New York Times. (https://goodblacknews.org/author/goodblacknews/ ) or the article in the Spokesman Review .
Here is some pictures of the meeting:

Pat and John DeGioia

Greeting the team of researchers.

Sitting down to talk about the research.

June 9th, A 2-Star Learning Day for EWGS

The Ancestry Users Group (TAG), honcho'd by Marge Mero, met at the Shadle Library at 12:30 on Thursday, June 9th. After introductions and welcomes (and donut bits!) the time was turned over to Doug Floyd for the lesson on understanding what probate is and finding probate records on Ancestry. 

Doug explained that probate means "the official proving of (as in a will)," or "establishing the validity of (as a will)."  He quoted the Legal Genealogist, Judy Russell, as saying that "probate records are the best records in genealogy." Doug explained the difference in some legal terms; testament refers to disposition of personal property while will spells out personal wishes and guardianship was not necessarily for the child but for the child's property. 

Doug directed us to the Ancestry Academy where there are two specific learning videos there for us to watch. Next he directed us to the Ancestry Card Catalog to look under the topic of "probate records" or jump to doing a locality search and see what Ancestry includes for probate records in your area of focus. 

The TAG meeting was followed by meeting #2 of the Genealogy Re-Focus group honcho'd by Teresa Smick, Liz Hawn and Sonji Ruttan. Teresa gave a most thorough lesson on finding and using the basic forms needed for genealogy, namely family group records/charts/forms.  Some 25 folks, eager for a basic-beginning-restart-focus attended. 

TAG will not meet in July or August. The Re-Focus group will meet the second Thursday, 12:30, Shadle Park Library and all are welcome. 

Check out their website:  www.genealoggyrefocus.wordpress.com 

Thursday, June 9th, was, indeed, a great learning day for EWGS. 

Spokane Valley Heritage Museum: Go Visit This Summer!

Spokane Valley Heritage Museum

Need an idea for a summer educational-staycation?  How about a visit to the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum where you can show your children how Grandma used to get water at her kitchen sink!

First it was the Opportunity Town Hall, built in 1912, and which is today on the Historic Landmarks Register. Since August 18, 2005, the historic building has been home to the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum. Jayne Singleton has been the motivating force behind the coming together of this museum and is currently the director.

The mission of the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum is “to collect, preserve and exhibit the history and culture of the Spokane Valley for the education and inspiration of the community.”

Collecting the history of an area bordered on four sides by Peone Prairie (north), Havana Street (west), Post Falls (east) and Rockford (south) has been no small undertaking. Today the collection includes 2245 items in house, which includes 1188 objects or artifacts, 903 photos and 497 items of reference in their archives.

What you Missed at the EWGS June 4, 2016 Meeting

The day started out with the EWGS board meeting, and Oweta Floyd presented President Pat Bayonne-Johnson with  a birthday cake:

The meeting was delayed as the cake cutting started and we all got a piece of the birthday cake.

We finished our delicious cake and the board meeting.
Like a dummy I did not get any photos of the general meeting, but Jesse Tinsley from the Spokesman Review was the speaker. He is a photographer and does the Then and Now column that appears every Monday. He showed several of the columns and the handout on how he does the research so we can all do our own Then and Now photos.