Historic Happenings Blog

  Morris Area Genealogy Society February 7, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. ET British Empire Research using Findmypast.com - by Christine Cohen Online via ZOOM. British Empire Research using  Findmypast.com  - by Christine Cohen ​ Christine Cohen  is a long time member of the Whittier Area Genealogical Society (WAGS), and have served in many capacities, including President. In addition to WAGS, she is also a member of the El Redondo Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Society of Daughters of Holland Dames, and the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Morris Area Genealogy Society January 3, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. ET Psychoanalysis of Dead Relatives (not as shocking as it sounds)  - by Lisa Ilowite Online via ZOOM. Psychoanalysis of Dead Relatives (not as shocking as it sounds)  - by Lisa Ilowite Genealogy is more than names, dates, and places. Our ancestors were living people who experienced good times and bad times. They were affected by the current events of the time. From this presentation, discover how to understand their lives and how personal choices and life events echoed through the generations. Lisa Ilowite  is a research scientist who applies her scientific research skills to genealogy and has been conducting her family research for more than 25 years. Her areas of interest include Western PA, Scotland, social history, and Black Sheep ancestors. Although she has strong Western PA roots and is originally from Western PA, she has many connections to New Jersey. She is a member of Descendants of Founders of NJ; her...

The GSNJ Genealogy Webinar Series returns in 2022. The theme of Your Roots Pursuits is showcased in the presentations held monthly on the third Wednesday. Registration is now open!   December 14 – Matt Weismantel – “Are You My Mother?” A New Jersey Adoptee’s Perspective on Search and Reunion     There is always a great deal to unpack in any closed adoption search and reunion effort, and it is not easy to assess how someone will handle their discoveries. No matter the approach, it is rarely an antiseptic process— and can be further complicated by the rose-colored glasses of expectation. DNA advances have sped things up, leaving precious little time to internalize new information before reunion commences. By examining a personal case history, we will consider the implications of how search and reunion have transitioned from private investigator cases into a typical genealogical exercise along with significant changes in New Jersey law. How have these changes influenced the ...

The GSNJ Genealogy Webinar Series returns in 2022. The theme of Your Roots Pursuits is showcased in the presentations held monthly on the third Wednesday. Registration is now open!   November 16 – Mary K. Risseeuw – 19th & 20th Century Dutch Migration Patterns     Learn to recognize the economic and personal pushes that influenced the migration of Dutch immigrants from New York to Washington. Tracing small migrations within a state and larger western migrations helps to understand the connection to the original immigrant communities and how the vast distances between families affected them.

Morris Area Genealogy Society November 1, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. ET Finding Your Relatives in the Newspapers - by Casey Zahn Online via ZOOM. Finding Your Relatives in the Newspapers - by Casey Zahn Did you hear a story about Roswell dying on a houseboat he built? Or did your Caroline win first place at the fair for her Rhode Island Red hen named Rudy? Or perhaps you want to learn more about your own neighborhood 50 or 100 years ago? Sources that can help you find these answers are the newspapers! Learn how to access newspapers- both free and fee- from the comfort of your home. Newspaper sites include the Library of Congress, Genealogy Bank, Newspapers.com and others. ​ Casey Zahn ’s areas of expertise include beginning research, web site resources, researching census records, newspaper resources and immigration.

GSBC General Meeting (Hybrid—online and in-person) New Milford, “The Birthplace” of Bergen County Presentation by Nancy Varettoni Monday, 24 October 2022 @ 7pm Eastern Online and open to all, but space is limited! Registration required for online only. Online webinar registration link:  https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/2449116396005747724 Also, in person at Ridgewood Public Library Auditorium, 125 N Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450. It might seem puzzling that the borough is just celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022. This presentation explores why there's a 245-year gap between two of New Milford's most significant dates: its birthday, June 8, 1677, and its anniversary of incorporation, April 18, 1922. It also highlights the people and events that shaped its unique history. Nancy Varettoni  is Chair of the New Milford Historic Preservation Commission.  

The GSNJ Genealogy Webinar Series returns in 2022. The theme of Your Roots Pursuits is showcased in the presentations held monthly on the third Wednesday. Registration is now open!   October 19 – Tara Shymanski – Finding American Ancestors in Canadian Land Records     Did you have ancestors who lived in Canada? Land records contain valuable genealogy information but can be tricky to find. By examining actual land records, you’ll discover information of value to family historians. You’ll learn which websites and indexes contain these records and the intricacies in finding them.

No Easy Button: Using Immersion Genealogy to Understand Your Ancestors October 19, 2022 7:30 PM     8:30 PM Google Calendar     ICS Lisa Alzo’s “ No Easy Button: Using Immersion Genealogy to Understand Your Ancestors” Family history is so much more than just names, dates, and places, or boxes, lines, and charts. For 21st century genealogists, it is easy to limit our research to the documents or other facts we find online, or to what others tell us to be true. Learn how to take your research a step further to understand your ancestors’ lives through “immersion genealogy”—the process of discovering where they lived, worked, and worshipped, and experiencing those customs and traditions they passed down through the generations. Key resources, methodology, and tips for reaching out to relatives and repositories, and how to make the most out of a trip to your ancestor’s hometown (whether in North America or across the pond) will be discussed.) Lisa A. Alzo, M.F.A., is a fr...

New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial Scholars Series: Larry Berman October 18 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Scholars Series invites the public into a moderated conversation with leading historians and individuals whose experiences offer new and inclusive insights into the complexities of the Vietnam Era. Join us on Tuesday, October 18, at 7:30 p.m. for a live-streamed via Zoom Webinar with Larry Berman Moderated by Museum Committee Chairs, Curator Mike Thornton, and Monmouth University Professor Melissa Ziobro, NJVVMF’s Scholars Series is part of our ongoing effort to engage broad audiences in a meaningful and diverse exploration of the Vietnam War era. This limited series will be archived on our website as a resource for teachers, students, and general audiences nationwide. This series is free to the public through the generosity and support of the New Jerseys Council for the Humanities.

Join us at 7:15 PM on Thursday, October 13. We have resumed in-person meetings at Camden County College in Blackwood, NJ, in the Connector Building Room 101 at 7:15 PM. We will continue to simulcast the programs on Zoom for the benefit of those members and friends who are unable to attend. Health and safety protocol at the college will require that masks be worn in all indoor public spaces regardless of vaccination status. We plan to meet at the Lamp Post Diner at 5:30 before the meeting for dinner and fellowship. This month’s topic is Jim Remsen and Brad Upp on “Back From Battle: The Forgotten Story of Pennsylvania’s Camp Discharge and the Weary Civil War Soldiers It Served” In the final year of the American Civil War, a special Union Army post was constructed just outside Philadelphia to handle a jumble of returning citizen-soldiers. Many soldiers bore bullet wounds, broken bones, and other scars of combat. Some had lost limbs. Some were laid low by illness. Hundreds arrived half-dea...

Morris Area Genealogy Society October 11, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. ET Preserving Family Photographs - by Gary Saretzky ​O nline via ZOOM, or Hybrid Note: For October 2022 this meeting is on 2nd Tuesday instead of 1st Tuesday. Preserving Family Photographs - by Gary Saretzky  Since the introduction of photographic portrait studios in 1840, photographs have been among the most treasured of family records but, while most are long-lasting when stored optimally in archives, in the home environment, they are all to often prone to fading and discoloration. In this slide lecture, Gary Saretzky will provide guidance on how the life of family photographs can be extended so that they can be passed down to future generations. The lecture includes examples of how old photographs can be enhanced or restored in the computer after digitization. Gary D. Saretzky , archivist. and photographer, worked as an archivist for more than fifty years at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Educational T...

GSBC  Extra!  (Online) Four Unfamiliar Bergen County Resources Presentation by Peggy W. Norris, MS, MLIS, Monday, 10 October 2022 @ 2pm Eastern Online and open to all, but space is limited! Registration required. Registration link:  https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/2303745565650588432 A tour of some rich, but often overlooked Bergen County (New Jersey) Resources, including the Dutch Door Genealogy website, the George Olin Zabriskie papers, the Revolutionary War Erskine maps, and the Bergen County Division of Cultural and Historical Affairs website. Peggy W. Norris, MS, MLIS,  is a librarian retired from the Bolger Heritage Center at Ridgewood Public Library. She has been researching family history for over 30 years and in recent years has been using deeds to solve genealogical problems. She is also interested in quilts and quilt history.

The Middletown Township Historical Society holds public events on the fourth Tuesday of the month, March through November.  All are free to attend, and unless otherwise noted, are held online and/or at the Middletown Township Public Library promptly at 7:00 pm. Speakers are authors, historians, educators, and Society members. We hope to see you there! Please note that in-person events are subject to change due to COVID restrictions or increased transmission numbers. Prevailing masking and distancing protocols of the Middletown Township Public Library must be followed for all in-person events. Middletown Township Public Library 55 New Monmouth Road ​Middletown, NJ 07748

The GSNJ Genealogy Webinar Series returns in 2022. The theme of Your Roots Pursuits is showcased in the presentations held monthly on the third Wednesday. Registration is now open!   September 21 – Sara Cochran – Who Needed It Anyway? Getting Around the 1890 Census     The loss of the 1890 Federal census is a source of great frustration for American Genealogists, but all hope is not lost! Learn strategies and gather tips for success in locating your family in other records between the 1880 and 1900 Federal censuses.

Click here to register for this free author zoom event. Click here to purchase our author's book, and other works on Valley Forge. Proceeds benefit the Sons of the American Revolution Genealogical Research Library TenCrucialDays.org is a 501©3 non profit historic education organization that promotes the sites and venues of the Ten Crucial Days of the American Revoluion, Washington Crossing the Delaware, the battles of Trenton, Assunpink Creek and Princeton. Please  Click here to make a donation  to support our volunteer efforts.  Click here to make a donation. Thank you

110 years after its sinking, the legacy and tragedy of the  Titanic  still endures. Why? Join Historian Greg Caggiano for an overview of the voyage and sinking of the  Titanic  in a commemorative virtual lecture. Included will be an overview of the ship's construction, daily life for passengers, and what went wrong. As an avid food blogger, Greg will also be focusing on culinary aspects of the journey, such as the last meals served to the first, second, and third class passengers. Q&A session will follow the lecture. Greg Caggiano is a published author, historian, lecturer, and consultant. He holds a degree in history from New Jersey City University and NJ State teaching certifications in history and elementary education. Since 2014, Greg has worked as an instructor for Brookdale Community College in their Lifelong Learning department and as a field guide for their Ocean Institute on Sandy Hook. He has served on the Board of Dir...