A Genealogy Community Necrology for 2012

Marcia Rice with the War of 1812 Quilt
FGS 2012 Conference, August 2012, Birmingham, AL

As 2012 winds down to an end, many of us focus on setting goals and resolutions for 2013, some even related to genealogy. In addition, we have a tendency to look back at not just our accomplishments, but those family members and friends who left us during the year.

Many genealogists know the importance of a “necrology” which would be prepared at year’s end and posted in the local newspaper. The list would usually be organized in date order listing who had died, their age and perhaps some other information useful for family history research. A necrology was also a way to pay tribute to those that were lost during the previous year.

Honor Those We’ve Lost

One way that you can honor any person – a loved one, a favorite ancestor, a member of the genealogy community – is by contributing to the Preserve the Pensions - War of 1812 Digitization Fund and utilizing the Honors and Tributes section of the donation form:

All donations are tax deductible and each time a genealogist uses the War of 1812 Pension Files, you’ll know that you helped make such access possible.

In Memoriam

• John Humphrey, 64. A well-known and respected professional genealogist, John’s most noted contributions were as an author, educator and speaker. He produced the fifteen-volume Pennsylvania Birth Series, and focused on Pennsylvanian, German, Welsh and Moravian ancestry. Read the full obituary here.

• Kim Kasprzyk, 57. A long-time volunteer with the Illinois State Genealogical Society as well as FGS, Kim was instrumental in the success of the FGS 2011 conference in Springfield, Illinois. Kim was passionate about her family history research and will be missed by many at ISGS and FGS. Read the full obituary here.

• Marcia Rice, 64. A well-known volunteer with various FGS conference and projects, Marcia was loved and respected for her enthusiasm for family history, and the work of various genealogy societies. Marcia passed away suddenly on October 12, 2012. Read the full obituary here.

• Louise B. Stern, 101. The wife of noted genealogist and historian Rabbi Malcolm H. Stern, Louise Bergman Stern passed away in February 2012. The Stern-NARA Gift Fund, administered by FGS, was named to honor the late Rabbi Stern. Read the full obituary here.

FGS Radio: FHISO: Family History Standards for Your Genealogy Society

Click here to create a reminder to listen to FGS Radio:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mysociety/2012/12/15/fhiso-family-history-standards-for-your-genealogy-society

Saturday, December 15, 2012
2-3pm Eastern US
1-2pm Central US
12-1pm Mountain US
11am-12pm Pacific US

Join us for the next episode of FGS Radio - My Society, an Internet radio show on Blog talk Radio presented by the Federation of Genealogical Societies.

Roger Moffat

This week’s episode hosted by Randy Whited is entitled FHISO: Family History Standards for Your Genealogy Society. Our guest this week will be Roger Moffat, co-organizer of FHISO - Family History Information Standards Organization. Join us as we discuss standardization in the genealogical community. We will also be featuring FGS member society the Illinois State Genealogical Society in our weekly Society Spotlight feature.

Tune in to FGS Radio – My Society each week to learn more about genealogy societies and join in a discussion of the issues impacting the genealogical community.

Join Us Each Saturday Afternoon at FGS Radio

Tune in to FGS Radio – My Society each week to learn more about genealogy societies and join in a discussion of the issues impacting the genealogical community.

FGS Member Society ISGS Raises Over $40,000 During War of 1812 Records Preservation Campaign

Preserve the Pensions Project to Digitize Important Pension Records and Provide Free Access to the Public

December 11, 2012 – Springfield, IL. The Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) is proud to announce that it has completed its recently launched $10,000 War of 1812 Pension Match Challenge with strong support from ISGS members as well as the genealogical community.

On June 18, 2012, the 200th anniversary of the declaration of the War of 1812, ISGS announced its $10,000 War of 1812 Pension Match Challenge. ISGS made a commitment to match any contribution (up to the first $10,000) made to the Preserve the Pensions project before December 31, 2012. In addition, Ancestry.com announced that it would also match all monies donated during the campaign, resulting in all contributions being quadrupled. A total of $40,000 to be donated to the Preserve the Pensions project will result in 88,888 additional pages of the War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files being digitized over the next few months.

The Preserve the Pensions campaign (http://www.preservethepensions.org), sponsored by the Federation of Genealogical Societies (http://www.fgs.org) along with Ancestry.com, Fold3 and the National Archives, seeks to raise over $3.7 Million needed to digitize the War of 1812 pension files that are currently stored in the National Archives and make them freely available online. With over 180,000 Pension files in this historic record set and over 7.2 million pages, access to these records will benefit not only genealogists and family historians, but a variety of researchers. In addition, the digitization project will help preserve and halt further damage to these historical documents. The files are being digitized as funds become available and many files are already viewable by visiting http://go.fold3.com/1812pensions/.

ISGS President Jane Haldeman notes: “The ISGS board made a strong commitment to the preservation of the War of 1812 Pension Records when it issued the fundraising challenge earlier this year. ISGS thanks all who contributed, especially those members of the genealogy community who are not members of ISGS. Digitizing these records will benefit ALL genealogists and hopefully result in more people locating information about their ancestors.”

About Illinois State Genealogical Society

The Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) was formed in 1968 through the cooperative effort and forward thinking of Illinois genealogical society representatives, who envisioned a statewide genealogical organization. ISGS is a not-for-profit, nonsectarian, educational organization. ISGS was established for the following purposes:

• To stimulate an interest in the people who contributed to the establishment and development of the State of Illinois.

• To seek, preserve, and make available data pertaining to individuals, families, and groups who lived in Illinois and to events which took place therein.

• To inform people of the value of, and need for, preserving family and local history for posterity.

• To encourage the formation of local genealogical societies and to coordinate and disseminate information.

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