Upcoming Meetings and Events

All CCGS meetings are free and open to the public.

For topics of past meetings, see Centre County Roots monthly meeting highlights.

Thursday, March 4, 2010
Using Circumstantial Evidence to Put Together Family Connections
Presented by Justin K. Houser
7:00 p.m.
Foxdale Village Auditorium
500 East Marylyn Avenue, State College

Every family history researcher encounters the proverbial "brick wall" at some point in time -- that ancestor beyond whom one simply cannot go. There are almost as many reasons for the "brick wall" as there are ancestors -- loss of records, migrations from unknown locations, change of name spelling, failure to keep specific types of records, and many more. In many cases, these problems can be overcome using some investigative techniques and an attentiveness to clues.

Justin K. Houser will discuss techniques to overcome these problems in family history research, and will show examples of how following clues in obscure, but available records, have led to genealogical break-throughs. Following the principle of "never give up," Justin has unraveled some very difficult lineages and will show how to approach difficult research questions.

Justin has been a member of the CCGS since 1995, and has assisted with the cemetery project since that time. He serves as the chairperson of the Clinton County Genealogical Society Cemetery Project and has edited a CD-ROM index to 70,000 Centre County marriage records. He is the co-author of the book, The Confers: Seven Centuries of Family, as well as authoring or editing many other publications of genealogical and historical interest. His research has also resulted in a 290,000+ name (and growing) database of Central Pennsylvanians and their families on Rootsweb.com. Justin, a native of Bellefonte, is a graduate of the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in History, and is presently a third-year law student at the Dickinson School of Law at Penn State, where he serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Penn State Law Review.

Saturdays, March 6, 13 and 20, and April 10, 2010
Genealogy 101 - Plus
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
(bring a sandwich & a drink)
Miller Room
Centre County Library and Historical Museum
203 North Allegheny Street, Bellefonte

CCGS is offering a series of four classes on how to begin research on your ancestry and tips to boost what you are already doing.
Class 1 - Begin with yourself!
Class 2 - Extend your search.
Class 3 - Learn to use Centre County resources.
Class 4 - Learn to use a database to organize it all!

A $15 donation covers all 4 sessions with handouts including a CD database for organizing your research. $5 per class individually. Four experienced researchers will be able to give you some one-on-one time following the classes. Sponsored by the Centre County Genealogical Society with the support of Centre County Historical Museum Library.
If interested, email president@centrecountygenealogy.org or call 814-422-8657.
Class sizes are limited and registration is on a first come first serve basis.

Other Events

First Families of Pennsylvania. First Families of Pennsylvania is open to those who can prove their descent from an ancestor who resided in what is now Pennsylvania during the following time periods:

Colony & Commonwealth – 1681- 1790
Keystone & Cornerstone – 1791-1865
Pennsylvania Proud – 1866-1900

Applications are due by November 30 of each year. New members are inducted at the GSP Annual Meeting held in the spring of each year. More information about Pennsylvania First Families is available at: http://www.genpa.org/FirstFamPA.html.

For additional information on CCGS programs,
contact CCGS Vice-President & Program Chair, Connie Cole.
Last updated on February10, 2010

Lisa S. Kerns, CCGS Website Coordinator