This first chapter in the History of Nassau County Florida takes the reader from the discovery of Fernandina by Jean Ribault, the intrepid French Admiral and explorer, to 1748 and the treaty between Spain and England which created a no-man’s-land of Amelia Island.
Fernandina, An Island Frontier, 1562-1762 Read More »
We had a packed house for last month’s general meeting and it was good to see not only our regular membership, but many returning guests as well. I appreciate Medardo Monzon’s presentation on The Genealogy of Genes. I found it both useful and instructive! We often take for granted the wonderful creation that is the human being and forget that we are all a lot more alike then we are different from each other. DNA can bring us back to the reality of our similarities. Our beginning genealogy classes are over for 2022 and for the last class I introduced a DNA conundrum. A cousin had contacted me and believed she descended from a particular line of Martin’s in my family tree. She could not prove whom, but the DNA pointed to that likelihood. Our problem was identifying the child of Charles and Mary Martin of Highgate who was the Charles Martin who married Marguerite Commanda, an Ojibwa, her gr-gr-grandparents. Since my cousin and I will both write about our findings I’ll wait until then to provide the exhaustive details for everyone. Let’s just say we tracked Seleme Martin from his birth identity in Highgate VT and his marriage to Phebe Lucia, to that of Charles Martin who married Marguerite on the Nipissing Reservation in Ontario, to that of Samuel Martel who married Marie Presse in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, and back to his original identity when he died in St. Albans, Vermont as Seleme. In this puzzle we had to
President’s Message for March 2022 Read More »
We almost had a full house for our monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 15, which was attended by a total of 52 people, including 20 non-members! The audience listened to Medardo Monzon’s presentation “The Genealogy of Genes”, a fascinating story about the discovery of DNA.  Using simple props and historic photographs, Medardo explained what DNA is, and how the puzzle of this remarkable molecule was solved. He also described the different types of DNA genetic testing, and showed how his own DNA test results encapsulate the story of human migration. Finally, he explained how COVID-19 mRNA vaccines teach our cells how to make a protein that triggers an immune response inside our bodies, without entering the nucleus of the cell where our DNA is located. Thank you very much for a great presentation, Medardo!
The Genealogy of Genes Read More »
As I write this message today I can announce a successful conclusion to the 2022 Beginner’s Class! I wish to express my deep appreciation to Jean Mann for volunteering to head up Education Committee and spearheading the classes this year. Without her volunteering we would not have been able to have them. Volunteers is what makes this organization work, nobody is a paid employee! Please consider volunteering someplace! In 2019 I started a 102 Genealogy Class where I was going to provide instruction in the computer lab at the Fernandina Beach Library where class members could log in to the websites I was teaching from to have a more hands-on experience. Unfortunately, Covid interrupted those classes. Since I am both President and Webmaster for AIGS at this time, I believe it would be too big of a task for me to attempt to start those classes back up. This is why it is important that members volunteer!!! OK… off my soapbox. RootsTech 2022 is starting up shortly. It will run from 3-5 March and is 100% virtual and 100% free! RootsTech, for those that haven’t heard about it, is a large genealogy conference (over 1,500 sessions) put on by FamilySearch each year. Since Covid they have been doing it virtually enabling anyone to access a very large array of genealogy instruction from your home. You should take a look at what type of presentations they will have and see if any interest you. Our February monthly meeting with Medardo Monzon
President’s Message for February 2022 Read More »
AIGS started off the new year on January 18 with a presentation by Past-President Jean Dixon Mann. No less than 38 attendees, including several new members and 13 non-members (welcome!) were treated to the fascinating story of the family of Domingo and Mary Fernandez who once owned large plantations on Amelia Island. Their descendants still retain ownership of probably the Last Spanish land grant in Florida, which constitutes one acre between St. Michael’s Church and St. Michael’s School between North 4th and 5th Streets. Jean had traced many of these descendants, not only in Florida, but also in other parts of the world, and told us their interesting stories. Thank you very much, Jean!
The Last Spanish Land Grant in Florida Read More »
2021 has passed into the books and 2022 is here providing new opportunities for your genealogical research. In 2022 we can look forward to the 1950 United States Census being released and the 1921 United Kingdom Census. First up, however, is the advent of free access to the Periodical Source Index (PERSI). PERSI is the largest subject index to genealogy and local history periodical articles in the world. Our own Nassau County Genealogist is indexed within it. This index has moved multiple times through the years from website to website, first being located at Ancestry.com, then MyHeritage.com and to its present location at FindMyPast.com. It is however moving again, and this time will finally be free at the Allen County Pulbic Library Genealogy Center website. The BIG reveal occurs on a virtual genealogy program occuring Tuesday, 11 Jan 2022 at 2:30 pm EST. I plan to attend! Details on their website! As I prepare for the classes I instruct in our Beginner’s Course this year I am reminded of the importance of Land Records, a record which often is overlooked by genealogists as non-genealogically important. I discovered one of my 3rd Gr-Grandfather’s land records includes a list of personal items that he sells to his son along with his land parcel, thereby he didn’t need a will to close out his estate. There are no estate records for him. If you have ancestors for which you cannot find estate records, and they died in old age, perhaps you should check
President’s Message for January 2022 Read More »
During our Annual Meeting on November 16, members had the opportunity to talk briefly about a family heirloom or tell a family history. As always, the presenters did not disappoint, but treated us with a variety of funny and interesting stories. An old Vortalex fan blade; an even older gravy bowl; a handwritten letter about the history of the First Baptist Church; a poem from great-grandma’s wooden scrapbook about the arrival of Rayonnier; the many applications of a Scottish hat; the search for a husband’s elusive family; a couple of great-grandparents who were literally clowning around; and a distant ancestor who operated as a Barbery pirate, these were the topics of the presentations. Our thanks go to Frances Bartelt, Jim Ramage, Betty Waas, Valerie Davis, Gus Reinwald, Jean Mann and Jim Shroads for their very entertaining contributions.
Ancestor Road Show Read More »
We had a successful general meeting in October with Theron Rogers presentation about Find-A-Grave and his ramblings around the country while riding his Harley and photographing cemeteries. I thank him profusely for making the trip down here from Gainesville Georgia and I hope he enjoyed his stay while here! I understand he even ventured into Bosque Bello and photographed a few gravestones. Speaking of gravestones, I came across a photograph on Facebook, of all places, of my 5th gr-grandfather’s grave. John Predom travels around Vermont photographing and documenting Revolutionary War Soldiers memorials and places them in an album he keeps on Facebook. The first photograph he placed back in 2019 was of a grave where etched into the stone you can barely make out the name of David Rich. My genealogy tentacles stood up when I scrolled past the photo as I thought, I have a David Rich in Vermont who served in the Revolutionary War! Sure enough, it was my David. A lot of Revolutionary War soldiers served for brief engagements when the enemy neared their home location. That was the way it was for David. He first served as a scout in what was deemed the “Strafford Alarm” of July 1777 where almost the entirety of the inhabitants of Strafford fled the town, pushing their stock to the Connecticut River where they hoped they would find safety around Hanover, New Hampshire. Once there, David and three other men from Strafford accompanied the scouts back into the woods to
President’s Message for November 2021 Read More »
The 2022 candidates selected by the Nominating Committee are listed here.
2022 Slate of Candidates Read More »
If you can not be present at the 2022 Annual Meeting on Tuesday, 16 Nov. 2022, then please fill out a proxy statement so that the society understands your wishes as it pertains to both the slate of candidates suggested by the board and the budget for 2022. Thank you!
2022 Proxy Statement Read More »
