Genealogy News from the Hayes Presidential Center
Genealogy News from the Hayes Presidential Center
2011 Classes Sponsored by RootsMagic ™
All classes are held at the Hayes Presidential Center, 9:30- 11:30 a.m.
Call 419.332.2081 to register.
Sept. 17 – Saturday - Searching Your Ohio Roots – Becky Hill, Head Librarian, will concentrate on Ohio resources for tracking down your family in the Buckeye state – vital records, land records, printed and online materials. She will also touch on the migration patterns to the state.
Oct. 22 – Saturday - Care and Identification of Family Photos – Gil Gonzalez
Nov. 5 – Saturday- Using RootsMagic Genealogical Software- Becky Hill, Head Librarian, will give a basic workshop on how to use RootsMagic - how to get started, add sources, print out reports, add photos, share with other researchers, etc. Genealogical software is the best way to organize and share your research.
$10.00 fee for each class ($5.00 for students through high school) -
May be paid the day of the class
Ohio Obituary Index 
Hits TWO Million Names!
The Ohio Obituary Index www.rbhayes.org/index has been steadily growing since our last newsletter in the Spring. Marysville (Union Co.) and Findlay-Hancock Public Libraries have all received training and are currently entering new data into the Index, bringing the total of partner libraries up to 50. Findlay-Hancock imported their obits database of over 220,000 names which kicks up our total to almost 2.1 million entries!
We keep getting requests for obit copies here at Hayes from all kinds of places looking for their Ohio ancestors. It is always fun to see where some of the requests come from. In just the last four days orders have come in from AZ, WA, MT, VA, TX, GA, KY, FL, IN, PA, OH, NY, IA, MI, Canada and Great Britain.
Library Staffing Changes
This year has seen some changes to our small staff here in the Library. After over 10 years each, both Marie Paulson and Mervin Hall have retired. We miss their wit and experience and wish them well. Once in a while, visitors to the Library will still see Marie, as she has graciously consented to substitute as needed, but Merv has moved to Florida and although he likes us, he wouldn’t volunteer to commute when we are shorthanded! We welcome Sharon Barnett and Julie Erchenbrecher to the Library who bring different skills and interest to our workplace and are doing a great job learning the ropes. Both enthusiastically embrace the genealogical aspects of their jobs here and have already helped many patrons with their tough research questions.
It is fun working in a Library!
This past spring and summer Patti Wilkins corresponded with me and other  Hayes Center Staff about a project of the heart - researching, transcribing and posting letters from 1944 about young women serving in the Women’s Land Army during World War II in Fremont. As she did the research, we found that the women lived close to the Hayes Center, (then Hayes Memorial Library) and visited the museum. Genevieve “Jean” Wolf’s account is posted below. Explore the whole web site for a snapshot of life on the home front in 1944.
http://lettersfromlandarmycamp.org/?page_id=1966
Genealogical Benefits to Hayes Membership
If you are a $45 or over member of the Hayes Presidential Center, you get the benefit of having at-home access of HeritageQuestOnline and our new partner, www.Archives.com. Both of these sites provide searchable databases of over one billion vital records and historical documents and newspapers and books. The newspaper component alone makes this a very useful new resource in your genealogy toolkit.
To join and get these genealogical benefits, go to
http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/joinmember/ scroll down and click on the appropriate box to renew or join as a new member.
Great new content for Ohio researchers from FamilySearch.org
FamilySearch continues to upload great records for Ohio researchers. One of the latest ones is the digital images of Ohio County Marriages from 1790 to1950 . This includes a name index and images of 2.7 million county marriage records acquired from local courthouses. Currently this collection is 76% complete. Additional records will be added as they are completed. Check here for further details:
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Ohio_County_Marriage_Records_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)
Volunteer Extraordinaire
Dennis Smith, of Fremont, has been volunteering over ten years for the Hayes Library, busily indexing all kinds of historical resources for the local researchers. His latest accomplishments include indexes for all the Seneca and Wood County Genealogical Societies newsletters and for local history books on Booktown and Erie County birth records. Thanks, Dennis, for making our life a little easier here in the Library. Genealogists LOVE indexes!
Microfilm printers
We now have FIVE (!) functioning microfilm printers in the library due to the donation of an older machine from the Clyde Public Library and a monetary donation from a friend of the Library to get it running properly. There should be no lines at the printers anymore. Thanks to those who made it possible.
Thank You
Thanks to the following who have given donations of money or materials to the
Hayes Library and its genealogical collections since the last newsletter:
Sandra Zenser 
Jill Carter Knuth
John and Vera Sengstock
James Weaver, Jr.
Mervin Hall
James Downing
Sandusky County Kin Hunters – In Memory of Ivadel Crowell
Margaret Geller
VFW Post 2480 – Port Clinton
Eve Yeakel – In Memory of Great-grandfather, Christopher Dougherty
Bonnie Miller
Ralph Billow
Jan Appel
Marilyn Gill
Robert E. Stewart
Donald Speck
Summit County Chapter, OGS
Thomas Yost
Patricia Wilkins in Honor of the Land Girls of Sandusky County
Toledo Colony of Mayflower Descendants in Memory of Russell Patrick
Carroll Township (Ottawa County) Trustees
New Books at the Hayes Library
Please check our website often to see the list of new books we receive. http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/libnews/newbooks.asp
On The Road
Becky Hill will be speaking at the following events the next few months:
Sept. 15 - Bucyrus – Crawford County Genealogical Society– Internet Genealogy. Bucyrus Public Library, 7 pm.
October 4 - Tiffin – Who Do You Think You Are – Seneca County. – The subject will be radio host, Keith Hodkinson; Nov. 1- the subject will be the
winner of a raffle who will be picked at the Sept. 6th meeting of the Seneca County Genealogical Society. Raffle tickets ($5 each) still available from Becky Hill (bhill@rbhayes.org). Meetings held at the Tiffin Seneca Public Library
Oct . 26-27 -Toledo- Ohio Library Council Convention and Expo. The Hayes Library will have a booth in the Expo Hall to promote the Ohio Obituary Index. Tell your Ohio public librarians to stop by and see us and sign your library up for the Obit Index.
Thanks to all my new friends I met the past few months as I spoke to groups in Amherst, Urbana, Wapakoneta, Bowling Green, OGS in Columbus, and ALA in New Orleans. I also have given two radio interviews which are available online if interested.
August 31, 2011 – Genealogy and the Seneca County Genealogical Society (about 10 minutes)
http://radio.securenetsystems.net/radio_player_large.cfm?stationCallSign=WTSC-OD
Click on “Becky Hill” to hear it.
July 16, 2011 - As a result of the talk I gave at the American Library Assn's genealogical librarian meeting in New Orleans, I was asked to participate in an online internet radio show this Saturday given by the Federation of Genealogical Societies. I talked to Drew Smith about the Who Do You Think You Are programs that the Seneca Co. Society gave last year and will do again this Fall. If interested, click here to download the archived version:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mysociety/2011/07/16/who-do-you-think-you-are-events-for-genealogy-societies
or go to this link
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mysociety
and scroll down the list of programs to July 16th. My part lasts about 30 minutes, but you can fast forward it!
If you are involved with a library or genealogical society, you might be interested. The programs we have been doing have generated a nice amount of interest from people who aren’t usually active in the society.
2012 Genealogy Classes
We have put together our calendar of genealogy classes for 2012 and list them below.
Thanks to RootsMagic Inc. for its continued support of these classes.
Learning about YOUR Past – Genealogy, Photos, and House History
Class Schedule 2012
All classes 9:30- 11:30 Sponsored by RootsMagic Inc.
Jan. 21 – Saturday – Beginning Genealogy – Becky Hill, Head Librarian– An overview of how to get started doing your family history, especially using the resources available at the Hayes Library.
Feb. 11 – Saturday – Internet Genealogy I – Free genealogical websites - Becky Hill - Attendees will be provided with instruction on the basics of how to utilize the free genealogical websites in their family history research. Such internet sources as the Center's Ohio Obituary Index, along with FamilySearch.org, USGenweb.org, Worldcat.org, EllisIsland.org and other popular websites will be explored in depth
March 10 – Saturday – Internet Genealogy II – Becky Hill - How to make the most of the paid subscription sites available at the Hayes Presidential Center – Ancestry.com, HeritageQuest, Fold3(formerly Footnote.com); NewEnglandAncestors.org and Archives.com. Learn the tricks of how to search efficiently and printing out and sharing what you have found.
March 31- Saturday - Care and Identification of Family Photos – Gil Gonzalez
April 28 – Saturday – Tracing Your House’s History – Becky Hill, Head Librarian, will switch gears and explore the genealogy of a house. She will explain how to use printed and online sources to track down the owners and history of a property through deeds, Sanborn Maps, city directories, tax records and other sources.
May 19- Saturday - Beginning Genealogy - Becky Hill
June 16 – Saturday - How to Copy and Preserve Your Family Photos – Gil Gonzalez
July 7 – Saturday - Internet Genealogy I – Free genealogical websites. (Ohio Obit Index, Family Search, USGenweb) - Becky Hill
Aug 18 - Online Resources for Photo Management - Gil Gonzalez
Aug.25 – Saturday – Internet Genealogy II – How to make the most of the paid subscription sites (ancestry, heritagequest, fold3(footnote)) - Becky Hill
Sept. 15 – Saturday - Searching Your Ohio Roots – Becky Hill, Head Librarian, will concentrate on Ohio resources for tracking down your family in the Buckeye state – vital records, land records, printed and online materials. She will also touch on the migration patterns to the state.
Oct. 20 – Saturday - NEW! - Make a Book - Learn how to make your own great quality, customized book economically with Blurb.com. Great for photo books, family history memorabilia, heritage cookbooks, personal stories or children's books. Becky Hill, Head Librarian and Gil Gonzalez, Head of Photographic Resources.
Nov. 3 – Saturday- Using RootsMagic Genealogical Software- Becky Hill, Head Librarian, will give a basic workshop on how to use RootsMagic - how to get started, add sources, print out reports, add photos, share with other researchers, etc. Genealogical software is the best way to organize and share your research.
Becky Hill, Head Librarian
Hayes Presidential Center
Spiegel Grove
Fremont, OH 43420
419.332.2081
bhill@rbhayes.org
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