ROOTS VOLUNTEER AWARD Roots Volunteer Award 1 from the President 2 by Pam Wilson
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Volume 30, Issue 3 Sept. - Dec. 2014 Jan.-Apr., 2013 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: ROOTS VOLUNTEER AWARD Roots Volunteer Award 1 From the President 2 by Pam Wilson 3, 6 DAR Membership Through the years, Bev Brice has been an essen- 4, 6 tial “root” that has helped JCGS to become the Don’t Miss It exceptional research facility that it is today. She Calendar of Events 5 has given selflessly to our society for as long as I have known her. Bev’s leadership has brought to New Books in Library 7, 8 our group many new members, the branches of our Genealogy Society Tree. Jefferson Co. History 9 Clallam Co. Seminar 10 She is the FileMaker/Kiosk Guru whose technical Book Review 11 ability and troubleshooting skills have made our Kiosk the awesome resource that it is. She has 12 Historian Needed tried to teach me all the tricks to make it run smoothly, but I have to admit I will probably never be able to “formulate a calculation” like she does! Her management skills and ability to mediate any situation have been invaluable to our society. She has spent countless hours through the years, planning new member classes, leading resource corner meetings and giving presentations at our membership meetings. Whenever there was a computer mess to unravel Bev was there, working tirelessly to resolve the issue. Bev has served JCGS as Vice President from 1997-1998 and President from 1998 -2004. Since moving to the Research Center in 2004 she served as Librarian until June of this year. She has also served on the Education Committee from 2000- 2013, the Technology Committee, and worked closely with JCHS during the plan- ning and building of the addition to the Research Center. Volunteers are the sus- For many years Bev managed the library books, making sure we had resources taining “roots” of our from as many areas as possible. She recently published her own book, “The Mi- society. grants: Pennsylvania to Oregon “. It is a true legacy of her steadfast work in re- cording her family history. Bev is an inspiration to all of us who have a passion for Without them we can- genealogy. not flourish and grow. Thank You Bev for every hour you have given as a volunteer to Jefferson County Genealogical Society. Congratulations on being chosen to receive our very first “Roots Volunteer Award.” Volume 30, Issue 3 Jefferson County Sept. - Dec. 2014 Genealogical Society Newsletter Page 2 FROM THE PRESIDENT ’ S SOAPBOX By Bill Conklin I am your new president, not because I’m a superior genealogist, far from it, but I have been building my family tree for forty years. It’s pay-back time. My interest in genealogy sparked in 1975, when Sue, our three young children, and I moved to Philadelphia and bought a home west of the City near Valley Forge State Park (now National). Philadelphia had been through a decade of urban renewal in preparation for the nation’s 1976 Bicentennial celebrations, and Valley Forge was preparing for the fifty state wagon trains rumbling across America to encamp where George Washington and his army wintered in 1777/78. Sue and I volunteered to be costumed, living-history docents at Valley Forge, and as a Bicen- tennial project, we set a goal to trace our ancestors back to 1776 or the ship that brought them to America, whichever came first. Sue thought most of her ancestors were mid-nineteenth century Ger- mans, and I thought most of my ancestors were seventeenth and eighteenth century English. I had the advantage of a large corrugated box filled with years of my paternal grandmother’s unorgan- ized genealogical research, including primary source documents and books. It took me a couple of years to organize that information, but I was ahead of most starting genealogists. Sue, on the other hand, had no genealogical information to prime her pump, therefore she took the logical route and be- gan interviewing members of her family. We made huge strides building our family trees by July 4, 1976, but there were still so many empty branches, we continued our new hobby. We’ve made many discoveries over the next forty years. Yes, many of my ancestors were English, but I found French Huguenots, Germans and Dutch, most of whom immigrated between 1650 and 1750. Sue indeed had many German ancestors, but she also discovered some Swiss and English. I learned the bookbinding craft to repair many of the books I inherited, and I continued my bookbinding into re- tirement. In the 1990s when Sue and I lived in Europe, genealogy software was introduced, and while my research time was limited, many evenings were spent transcribing our paper records to the com- puter. As the calendars flipped over to the twenty-first century, genealogical research was very different from our days in 1976. I was fortunate that I was able to transfer my outdated computer-program records to Ancestry, and I began a new chapter in my research. Sue and I became fulltime residents of Port Town- send in 2000, but I didn’t join the Jefferson County Genealogical Society, because I thought its mission was to provide local information and to support descendants of earlier Jefferson County residents. It wasn’t until 2011 that I realized JCGS was a much more encompassing genealogical society than I erro- neously assumed. Today I do less research, but I write what I hope are interesting family stories that put flesh on the dry bones of birth, marriage and death dates. Since joining JCGS and the Writers Group, I’ve written over three dozen family stories, ranging in length from one page to ten pages (my editor Sue’s limit), and in the course of researching these stories, I have discovered many more ancestors on my tree. I feel privileged to be part of such a well-run genealogical society. Undoubtedly there will be challenges ahead as the Internet takes over many of the roles played in the past by genealogical societies. We have adapted during our thirty-year history, and we will continue to adapt to an increasingly intercon- nected world. Our greatest strengths are our knowledge of Jefferson County and our members who want to learn, share, and help others find their ancestors. Jefferson County Volume 30, Issue 3 Page 3 Sept. - Dec. 2014 Genealogical Society Newsletter M Y R EVOLUTIONARY W AR P ATRIOT T HE ROAD TO DAR M EMBERSHIP By: Pam Wilson Several years ago I found a photo of the gravestone of my 4th Great Grandfather, John Rouse. He is buried in Tomkins County, New York alongside his infant grandson. John Rouse was born in 1741 and entered service Jan 1, 1777 as Lieutenant in Captain Israel Thompson's Company, Col. Morris Graham's New York Regiment. He was Captain from April 1, 1777 to August 25, 1778. I had never thought about applying for membership into the Daughters of the American Revolution until I recently met the registrar of the Elizabeth Ellington Chapter of the DAR in Silverdale. She encouraged me to consider it as I had al- ready done most of the research required for application. There were a few an- cestors that I had difficulty linking to my line, but with the help of a cousin in Cali- fornia I was able to locate records from Pittstown, New York Baptist Church from 1791 which helped prove John Rouse was indeed my 4th Great Grandfather. Additional proof was found in his Revolutionary Pension record dated 8 March 1835, which included an affidavit of his son Anthony, who is my 3rd Great Grandfather. Anthony’s son, Daniel Elliot Rouse, was the father to German M. Rouse who was a U.S. Cus- toms agent and blacksmith here in Port Townsend. Captain John Rouse’s gravestone reads: "In Memory of Deacon and Captain John Rouse a Revolutionary officer, who lived and died a devoted Christian and pa- triot, who departed this life January 19, 1834, aged 92 years, 1 month ." The National DAR “The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded on October 11, 1890, during a time that was marked by a revival in patriotism and intense interest in the beginnings of the United States of America. Women felt the desire to express their patriotic feelings and were frustrated by their exclusion from men's organizations formed to perpetuate the memory of ancestors who fought to make this country free and independent. As a result, a group of pioneering women in the nation's capital formed their own organization and the Daughters of the American Revolution has carried the torch of pa- triotism ever since. The objectives laid forth in the first meeting of the DAR have remained the same in 125 years of active service to the nation. Those objectives are: Historical - to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence; Educational - to carry out the injunction of Washing- ton in his farewell address to the American people, "to promote, as an object of primary importance, insti- tutions for the general diffusion of knowledge, thus developing an enlightened public opinion…"; (continued on page 6 ) Volume 30, Issue 3 Jefferson County Sept. - Dec. 2014 Genealogical Society Newsletter Page 4 D ON’ T M ISS I T ! General Meetings: held on the third Saturday of each month at the Tri-Area Community Center at 9:30am. There is a social and coffee half hour before the program begins at 10am and is con- New Members cluded at 11:30am.