Fort Osage Chapter DAR

The Daughters of the American Revolution are holding a geneaolgy workshop at the Midwest Genealogy Center on Saturday, May 18 at 1:00 p.m. Marty Tidd and Sue Luithle will tell you how to find your Revolutionary soldiers.

Underground Railroad

Even before the Civil War, slaves were taken over the state line, from Missouri and forced labor, to Kansas and freedom. Join Brother John at the Midwest Genealogy Center as he describes how this took place. Thursday, May 30, 7:00 p.m.

Who Would Have Known?

You go to an auction and buy a box of old letters. Curiosity sets in. You start reading, and some of the names sound familiar! It happened to Jack Bender. Come hear this fantastic tale on June 27 at 7 p.m.

MGC Celebrates 5th Anniversary!

On June 8th, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., the Midwest Genealogy Center will celebrate 5 years of serving the genealogical community. Watch for more information.

Genealogy Blogs

Read Genealogy Periodicals in an Unlikely Database

The Midwest Genealogy Center has a very large selection of print (hard) copies of genealogy periodicals, necessitating a trip to the Library to read them. Two of my favorites are Internet Genealogy and Family Chronicle, and I am always delighted when the next new issue arrives here. Each issue of Internet Genealogy is full of web links you can glean genealogy information from. Family Chronicle is a good periodical to read that provides instructions for searching a wide variety of genealogical subjects and places.

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What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us

For those of you researching ancestors in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as for travelers, I recommend reading The Hidden Europe: What Eastern European Can Teach Us by Francis Tapon. This is a new book published in 2012, gives entertaining insight about countries across Eastern and Central Europe, from Eastern Germany and Finland to Turkey and Russia. Together it takes the reader through 25 countries. The audience will learn in a humorous and open way how people in these countries see the world, what they think, and how they feel about the things.

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A Mexican Fiesta at McCoy Park

Cinco de Mayo has really caught on as a day of celebration with festivals around the Kansas City area. Independence had their own celebration in McCoy Park. The day was chilly, but the air was festive. People from many Latin countries came to perform and browse around. There was a group of dancers composed of enthusiastic special needs young people. Several conglomerates of beautifully dressed dancers with shining, braided hair entertained us with their lively music. Colorful costumes and dancers, magicians, and poetry were some of the entertainment.

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Finding Your Irish - Church Records

If your ancestor was born in Ireland before 1864, Irish church records should be searched. In most cases, you will need to know the name of the civil parish and the ecclesiastical parish. See A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland by Brian Mitchell for more on this.

Ecclesiastical parishes in Ireland include Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic, and Presbyterian. They are organized as follows:

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900 Miles from Nowhere: Voices from the Homestead Frontier

With springtime weather upon us, can a genealogy road trip be far behind? Maybe it is time to take what you have learned from your research and set off to follow in the footsteps of your ancestors. There is nothing quite like visiting the towns or farms they inhabited to help see through their eyes. You don’t want to miss the local cemetery, either!

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