Calendar

PROGRAM MEETINGS are held on the second Tuesday of the month. They are both in-person and on Zoom. Members and non-members are welcome. Zoom links will be available to anyone who wishes to attend remotely. Scroll down to see our upcoming meetings.

Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, 8545 E. Dry Creek Rd., Centennial, Colo.

SKILL SESSIONS are held on the third Tuesday unless posted otherwise. Members and non-members are welcome. Zoom links will be available 24 to 48 hours ahead to members and nonmembers who wish to attend remotely. Always check the website for last-minute changes or cancellations. Current class offerings are below.

VISITORS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME! If you are not a member but would like a Zoom link to a regular meeting or a skill session, send an email to ColumbineGenealogy@gmail.com. Once on the list, you will receive meeting notices and Zoom links every month.

Zoom help:  See our 1-page Zoom Cheat Sheet.

 

Upcoming Programs

♦ April 2024

Members! We have new skill sessions to help you be a better researcher. Take a look here for details and the class schedules!

Tue., Apr. 9, 1-3 p.m. – Program: Lineage Societies – What, Why and How
In-person/Zoom, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Presenter: Sandy Carter-Duff

Sandy will explain what lineage societies are and explain why it is important to join one.  The main emphasis will be on HOW you must document your lineage, i.e., what is acceptable and what is not.  Sometimes obvious documentation such as birth, death and marriage certificates are not available. She’ll present ways to get around that problem. She’ll also share a list of lineage societies with websites to explore specific requirements and make contacts.

Tue., Apr. 16, 1-3 p.m. – Skill Session: Creating a Research Plan
Zoom only
Presenter: Marilyn Edward-Roberts

When you research, do you wind up going down rabbit holes rather than work toward a goal? This is a step-by-step guide to creating a research plan.

Recent Past Programs

♦ March 2024

Tue., Mar. 12, 1-3 p.m. – Program: Women’s Lives in the British Isles and Ireland
In-person/Zoom, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Presenter: Sylvia Tracy-Doolos

Understanding how to research our female ancestors begins with understanding the context of their lives. The goal of this program is to provide you with some of the legal, social and cultural variations that can help you with your research, as well as an understanding of what their lives may have been like.

Tue., Mar. 19, 1-3 p.m. – Skill Session: Genealogy Sourcing and Other Things Learned Over 30+ Years of Researching
Zoom only
Presenter: Beverly Harbourt

Beverly says: This presentation is designed to provide you with some of my “lessons learned” that work for researchers regardless of your experience level. I will mainly focus on the what, why, and how of genealogy sourcing; touch on what a GEDcom file is and how you create and/or use one; and hopefully provide a few helpful suggestions to aid your research.

♦ February 2024

Tue., Feb. 13, 1-3 p.m. – Program: Be A Detective: Searching for an Adopted Child’s Birth Parents
In-person/Zoom, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Presenter: Marylee Hagen

Photo of Marylee HagenThis presentation is about Marylee’s daughter Cheryl, but Marylee’s research techniques can help in finding any lost person in your life. If only they had health records earlier in Cheryl’s life, it would have saved some heartache. She had to use many different research techniques as her birth parents did not take DNA tests.

Tue., Feb. 20, 1-3 p.m. – Skill Session: The “Bounty” in Bounty Land Records
Education class; Zoom only
Presenter: Eilene Lyon

image of a mapBounty lands have been issued to veterans dating back to the Revolution. Learn about the history of these records, how to request them and what types of information these files contain. Understand that land patent records often have different warrant holders and patent recipients, and why that is. Bounty land files can fill in gaps in military service records and offer clues about family relationships.

♦ January 2024

Tue., Jan. 9, 1-3 p.m. – Program: Adventures in Researching New York City Records and Data
In-person/Zoom, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Presenter: Sandy Ronayne

photo of Sandy RonayneA friend asked Sandy to research her grandmother Frances Fitzgerald Dowling. All the friend knew was that Frances died young, was married to a Harry Dowling, and perhaps lived in New York City. Sandy wasn’t familiar with NYC research, but jumped in and was able to identify Frances’ family and many interesting facts (births, deaths, marriages, immigration, multiple births and more). Sandy loved the challenge, and will talk about NYC records and how to identify and obtain them.

Tue., Jan. 16, 1-3 p.m. – Skill Session: Finding and Using Property Records and Maps for Genealogy,
Education class; Zoom only
Presenter: Eilene Lyon

See how land records and maps drive family history storytelling. Learn about various record types, where to find them, and what information can be gleaned from them. Sometimes you will find much more than just property details: relationships between family members and neighbors, financial health, business information. Maps can help you visualize the context of your ancestor’s lives. You may even discover that old family homes still exist!

♦ December 2023

Tue., Dec. 12, 1-3 p.m. – Gail Murphy, Colorado’s Rosie the Riveter, AND, Columbine Annual Holiday Potluck
In-person/Zoom, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Presenter: Gail Beaton, author

This is a finger food potluck so bring a little something savory or sweet to share. Come join us for an afternoon of genealogy, holiday fun and door prizes!

Photo of Gail Beaton“Rosie the Riveter,” the name given to women war workers during World War II, lived and worked throughout the U.S. welding, making bullets and doing a wide variety of factory jobs. From 1941 to 1945, Colorado had its own “Rosies” working at the Remington Arms Factory in Denver. Located at the site of the Denver Federal Center, the Denver Ordnance Plant produced as many as six million bullets a day for the U.S. troops. “Gail Murphy” is a composite character drawn from the records and memories of these women war workers.

♦ November 2023

Tue., Nov. 14, 1-3 p.m. – How Karval, Colorado, Got its Name (not what you’d think!) (and Columbine Annual Meeting)
In-person/Zoom, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Presenter: Roger Dudley, librarian, author & researcher

Photo of Roger DudleyRoger demonstrates how easy it is to repeat bad information until it is widely believed, though easily shown to be inaccurate. Karval was named after Roger’s great grandfather and is seen on many local weather maps as the only town besides Limon in Lincoln County.

♦ October 2023

Tue., Oct. 10, 1-3 p.m. – Follow Your Ancestor’s Footsteps from Their Home Country and Across America
In-person/Zoom, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Presenter: Marylee Hagen

Photo of Marylee HagenMarylee traces her Irish great-grandparents from their homelands and across the United States to where they settled. (One great grandmother lived in 8 states.) Her Norwegian grandfather went by ship to England and on to New York. He took a train across the U.S. to South Dakota. She uses Primary and Secondary records, certificates, books, maps, train schedules, state & federal census records, photos.

Tue., Oct. 17, 1-3 p.m. – Advanced Research on Passenger Lists
In-person/Zoom, Englewood Public Library
Presenter: Julie Miller, Certified Genealogist

Photo of Julie MillerPassenger arrival records are the link that connects the old country to the new and completes a chain of events for our ancestors. These records may provide a wealth of personal information or only basic data. But they are more than a list of names. If you have found a passenger list, you may have overlooked some clues. Knowing how to mine these records for information could lead to additional knowledge about your immigrant ancestor.

♦ September 2023

Wed., Sep. 6, 1-3 p.m. – Expand Your Genealogical Research
In-person only (no Zoom), Englewood Library, Englewood
Presenters: Barbara Elliott, Jean Adams

If you’ve started researching your ancestors but have hit some brick walls this class will give you some additional resources.  We’ll look at archives, historical newspapers, land records, military records, immigration sources and more. The library has copies of “How to do Everything Genealogy, Fourth Edition” by George G. Morgan. This class will feature highlights from Part II of this excellent book.

Tue., Sep. 12, 1-3 p.m. – Breaking Down Brick Walls with Reason and Logic
In-person/Zoom, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
Presenter: Greg Liverman, genealogist

Photo of Greg LivermanThis lecture showcases the skills of analyzing evidence and arriving at valid conclusions through the use of reason and logic. These skills are applied to the problem of discovering the great-grandparents and great-great- grandparents of the author and in the process uncovering some surprising unknown facts about the Liverman family.

Wed., Sep. 13, 1-3 p.m. – Expand Your Genealogical Research
In-person only (no Zoom), Bemis Library, Littleton
Presenters: Barbara Elliott, Jean Adams

See Sept. 6 above for class description. This 9/13 session limited to 20 participants. Fee: $35.00 ($45.00 family) includes notebook, 6 continuing education sessions, mentor connection, newsletter, and membership for one year in Columbine Genealogical and Historical Society. Current Columbine members may attend for free, but must register. Register by calling Bemis Library by Friday, Sep. 8, 2023.

Tue., Sep 19, 2023, 1-3 p.m. – Introduction to Family Tree Maker
In-person/Zoom, at Englewood Library, Englewood
Presenter:  Mark Olsen, Family Tree Maker Ambassador

Join us for an introduction to Family Tree Maker. We will discuss what makes it different than other genealogy products and software, and take a quick walk through the various family tree building features such as how to get and install the software, basic use, and creating or downloading your own family tree. We will discuss how it works with Ancestry.com and with FamilySearch.

♦ May 2023

Tue., May 9, 1-3 p.m. – Cracking the Code: DNA Myths and Reality
Zoom/in-person, at Good Shepherd Church
Presenter:  Greg Liverman, Genealogist

Greg will present an overview of DNA testing and its use in genealogical research. This program will be particularly suitable for those who are new to DNA testing.

♦ April 2023

Tue., Apr. 11, 1-3 p.m. – Writing Up the Results – Don’t Leave Us Hanging
In-person/Zoom, at Good Shepherd Church
Presenter:  Carol Cooke Darrow

Carol will discuss the Genealogical Proof Standard, which is a guideline for establishing the reliability of a genealogical conclusion with reasonable certainty.

Tue., Apr. 18, 1-3 p.m. -Voting Records: Genealogy’s Best Kept Secret
Zoom/in-person, Englewood Public Library
Presenter: Pam Vestal, author, researcher, member Association of Professional Genealogists

Looking for a date of birth or death?  When and where your ancestor became a citizen?  Where he disappeared to or where he came from?  Voting records may have the answer.  These often-overlooked gems can be packed with genealogical information, and you won’t believe what they can tell us about our ancestors.

♦ March 2023

Tue., Mar. 14, 1-3 p.m. – The Bad Old Days of Colorado
Zoom/in-person, at Good Shepherd Church
Presenter:  Randi Samuelson-Brown, Colorado author

Randi will discuss her 2020 book “The Bad Old Days of Colorado: Untold Stories of the Wild West.” This book celebrates the Centennial State’s glorious and rowdy past. She will detail several of the colorful characters she discovered, the research challenges she faced, and what it takes to get a book published.

Tue., Mar. 21, 1-3 p.m. – Attics and Archives, Or What You Will Miss if You’re Stuck Like Glue to Ancestry
Zoom/in-person, at Englewood Public Library
Presenter: Dina Carson, Niwot, CO, Author, lecturer, Boulder Pioneers Project

While Ancestry.com is one of the most useful tools for genealogical research, if you haven’t ventured much beyond the confines of your own computer, you have no idea what you’re missing. A trip through an attic, while dusty perhaps, can yield never before seen or published records. The courthouse holds much more than the tax and land records. Major archives held by the state, county, town or university often pay the best dividends for your research time and money, but archives also can be found in businesses, schools, clubs, churches, hospitals, and a whole host of organizations. There is great value in getting out into the community where your ancestors once lived.