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Find Your Family Stories in Free Online Newspapers

The AIGS will kick off the new year with a virtual meeting on Tuesday, January 19 at 7 pm. With the help of the Webinar Team of the Florida State Genealogical Society, we will present an archived webinar by Annette Burke Lyttle, titled Find Your Family Stories in Free Online Newspapers.The meeting will be via GoToWebinar, and you must pre-register to attend at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4559709215502153741After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing an “invitation” and information/link for joining the virtual meeting/webinar. About 10 minutes before our meeting click on the invitation link. We will join you at the time of the meeting and will then proceed with our scheduled presentation. Webinar Abstract: Beyond birth, death and marriage notices, historic newspapers can provide information that brings your ancestors and their world to life. Many of these newspapers are available on line at no cost. Learn how to find and use these valuable resources in your family history research. Annette Burke Lyttle owns Heritage Detective, LLC, providing professional genealogical services in research, education, and writing. She speaks on a number of genealogical topics at the national, state, and local levels and loves helping people uncover and share their family stories. Annette is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the Genealogical Speakers Guild, as well as a number of national, state, and local societies.

Immigrants arriving at New York
Featured

Your Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free: Immigration and Naturalization

Online
Learn how our ancestors were naturalized; when, where, and what records were created; and the information that might be found in these records. Presenter Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, Certified Genealogist, is a full-time professional researcher specializing in problem solving and compiling multi-generational family histories. As a former trained and certified Confidential Intermediary for the State of Illinois, Ms. Bloom was court appointed to locate sought-after relatives for adoptees, adoptive parents, birth parents and other birth relatives. She is a published author and lectures frequently. A case manager, she works for the Repatriation and Family Affairs Division of the Army Casualty and Memorial Affairs Operation on identifying family members to aid in the possible identification of unaccounted for soldiers from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

Web 3.0 Development Meeting

Online
The Web Development Committee meets weekly at 10am every Friday. At this time they are creating a new website to replace the current website. Members: Dennis Partridge, chair; Jean Mann; Lori Miranda; Marcia Pertuz; Rob Portegies-Zwart.

Web 3.0 Development Meeting

Online
The Web Development Committee meets weekly at 10am every Friday. At this time they are creating a new website to replace the current website. Members: Dennis Partridge, chair; Jean Mann; Lori Miranda; Marcia Pertuz; Rob Portegies-Zwart.
Pam Vestal

“Pits I Have Fallen In and How to Avoid Them”

Online
Please join us for our next AIGS Virtual Monthly Meeting, Tuesday, Feb 16, 2021, at 7:00 PM. “The best thing about making mistakes is the opportunity to learn from them. I’ve made my share of genealogical mistakes over the years, but I’ve learned that most of them have resulted from faulty assumptions. In this talk, we’ll examine eight commonly-held but incorrect assumptions and consider some strategies and resources to help head off errors before they happen.”

Linda Olsen

Finding Isaac and Dora Peckham

During our next virtual meeting, genealogist Linda Olsen will give a LIVE presentation about her research into the eventful lives of Isaac and Dora Peckham, who served as keepers of the St. Simons Lighthouse in the late 1800s.

John Philip Colletta

How to Build Historical Context

Come join us on Tuesday, June 15 at 7:00 – 8:00pm, to listen to a professional recording of a lecture by Professor John Philip Colletta, titled How to Build Historical Context. The program will be introduced by Dennis Partridge, and this month we will be using a different technology, called Google Meet. Please use the following link to login. No pre-registration is needed.Video call link: https://meet.google.com/eea-ywfj-htnOr dial: (US) +1 413-758-2715 PIN: 804 988 470#​ Professor John Philip Colletta is one of America’s most popular genealogical lecturers. He holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America. He is a faculty member of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama; the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy; and Boston University’s Genealogical Research Program. Professor Colletta also has been an instructor and course coordinator for the National Institute on Genealogical Research, the Genealogical Institute of Texas, and the Genealogical Institute of Mid-America.  How to Build Historical ContextThe lives of your ancestors provide all of the elements of engaging true stories. The challenge is to narrate the facts you’ve discovered within the larger physical and temporal world in which they were once lived events. If you want to get to know your ancestors, you must see them as real people living in a particular place at a particular time. In other words, the biographical facts you gather must be situated in their proper historical context. As we build historical context in this lecture, you’ll see how all the sources we’ve […]

July 2021 Business Meeting

Online
The Amelia Island Genealogical Society board and officers meet monthly to handle the society business. AIGS membership is welcome to attend.
John Philip Colletta

How to Write Biography

You’ve explored a broad array of sources for discovering the facts of your ancestors’ lives, and you’ve depicted those facts schematically on pedigree charts and family group sheets. In last month's meeting you saw how those bare-bone facts may be fleshed out into real-life events, which is what many of us are seeking in genealogy. A narrative genealogy or family history is a collection of biographies of people related by blood—in other words, an anthology of the life stories of kinfolk. In this lecture, we’ll see the process of constructing and narrating the biography of an ancestor. Come join us on Tuesday, July 20 at 7:00 – 8:00pm, to listen to a professional recording of a lecture by Professor John Philip Colletta, titled How to Write Biography.

August 2021 Business Meeting

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
The Amelia Island Genealogical Society board and officers meet monthly to handle the society business. AIGS membership is welcome to attend.

UNF Excavations at the Mocama (Timucua) Indian Village of Sarabay (Big Talbot Island)

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
Presentation by Keith Ashley, UNF Professor of Anthropology. Located on Big Talbot Island, Sarabay was one of the local Mocama Indian communities mentioned by French and Spanish explorers during the 1560s. The University of North Florida (UNF) first investigated the site in 1998-99 and returned for more excavations in the fall 2020 and summer 2021. Artifacts recovered so far include thousands of fragments of indigenous pottery along with bone, shell, and stone tools. The recovery of a small collection of Spanish artifacts dates the site to AD 1580-1620.  This presentation discusses the findings of ongoing excavations at the site of Sarabay. Bio: Keith Ashley is an archaeologist and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Florida.. His current research focuses on the indigenous peoples and histories of southeastern North America, particularly Florida. He is actively involved in archaeological excavations with UNF students throughout northeastern Florida.
Amelia Island Genealogical Society Collection

August 2021 Library Committee Meeting

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
The library committee will hold it’s regular bi-monthly meeting at the Fernandina Beach Library on 30 August, 2-4pm. Anyone interested in joining this committee and/or attending this meeting should contact Marcia Pertuz at library@aigensoc.org.

September 2021 Business Meeting

Online
The Amelia Island Genealogical Society board and officers meet monthly to handle the society business. AIGS membership is welcome to attend. Join with Google Meet: meet.google.com/cwt-ekde-nihJoin by phone: (US) +1 650-667-2463 (PIN: 495225113)
Featured

Fundamentals of Land and Probate Records for Genealogists

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
Fundamentals of Land and Probate Records for Genealogists, with particular focus on Nassau County court records The purpose of this program is to provide an overview of the land and probate record keeping systems used in the United States of America. Land and probate record systems were created for economic and legal purposes, so understanding why and how those systems work aids the genealogist’s search to determine who our ancestors were, what they did, where, and when.
Free

September Education Committee Meeting

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
The AIGS Education Committee will hold it’s first meeting in anticipation of starting back our Beginning Genealogy classes in January! All current (and past) members of the committee are encouraged to attend, so that we can get ourselves off on the right course. The committee chair is Jean Mann, and please contact her from your personal members page.

September Membership Committee Meeting

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
This meeting will discuss the duties of the Membership Committee and begin work on developing a New Members Welcome Packet.

October Programs Committee Meeting

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
The programs committee will meet at the Fernandina Beach Library to discuss potential programs for 2022.

October 2021 Business Meeting

Online
The Amelia Island Genealogical Society board and officers meet monthly to handle the society business. AIGS membership is welcome to attend. This meeting is virtual: https://meet.google.com/cwt-ekde-nih or phone in at +1 650-667-2463 (PIN: 495225113) Required Agenda Items The Board must approve the slate of candidates to serve in 2022. Board will also appoint an Audit Committee for 2021.

Collecting family history with a Harley and a camera

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
Theron Rogers, as a volunteer for Find a Grave, goes around on a Harley Davidson taking pictures of gravestones. Theron will give us a short introduction to Find a Grave, a website that allows you to see the burial sites of your family and friends. He will then tell us about his adventures on his motorcycle, the many cemeteries he visited and the fascinating graves he discovered and photographed.
Free
Sharon Cook MacInnes

Migration Patterns of Germans within America

This is a virtual webinar put on by the Florida State Genealogical Society for free. Any AIGS member can attend. The GoToWebinar link to register is here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2978814905850037262 We’ll explore how historical events channeled Germans into certain areas and how chain migration drew allied families together. Many migrated from NY/MD/PA down the Shenandoah Valley into VA, NC and SC. Accessible rivers and railroads led to the establishment of the German Triangle between Cincinnati, Milwaukee and St. Louis. The National Road and German-language advertisements channeled them to Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin and points west. The 1848 Revolution led them to the Texas German Belt. Knowing where your ancestors settled in the mid-1800s can often lead you backwards by considering the migration routes of other Germans, particularly allied families. Presenter Sharon Cook MacInnes, Ph.D., CG, is a former member of the Board of Directors of the National Genealogical Society. She specializes in Pennsylvania land records, colonial research, and methodology. Her 35-year chase over Pennsylvania for elusive ancestors revealed the importance of land to our ancestors and led her to publish the series “Early Landowners of Pennsylvania: Atlas of Township Warrantee Maps of *** County.” To date, she has compiled and published 8 volumes of county atlases pinpointing the original tracts and their owners. Sharon is the CEO of Ancestor Tracks (http://ancestortracks.com) which is dedicated to publishing online free, downloadable 19th-century maps of every county of Pennsylvania to be used with census records and published county histories.

Membership Committee Meeting

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
Membership committee meeting.

Amelia Island Genealogical Society Collection

November 2021 Library Committee Meeting

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
The library committee will hold it’s regular bi-monthly meeting at the Fernandina Beach Library on 30 August, 2-4pm. Anyone interested in joining this committee and/or attending this meeting should contact Marcia Pertuz at library@aigensoc.org.

November 2021 Business Meeting

Online
The Amelia Island Genealogical Society board and officers meet monthly to handle the society business. AIGS membership is welcome to attend. This meeting is virtual: meet.google.com/emj-mgsq-bba or join by phone: 405-492-6125 PIN: 183 027 445# Required Agenda Items Board must adopt a budget for 2022.

Ancestors Road Show and 2021 Annual Meeting

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
The Amelia Island Genealogical Society will hold its annual meeting at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at the Community Room of the Fernandina Beach Public Library, 25 N 4th St. Following the election of officers and approval of the budget for the next year, there will be short introduction to the new AIGS website. After that it will be time for our popular show-and-tell, a.k.a. the “Ancestor Road Show”. Members are invited to bring heirlooms, photographs, scrapbooks or other items for general display, and give a short (3 minutes) verbal presentation on these items. If you wish to share a story with us, please let us know well in advance by writing to programs@aigensoc.org Public welcome. Annual Meeting Information: Proxy statement 2022 slate of candidates AIGS budget for 2022
Free

December 2021 Business Meeting

Online
The Amelia Island Genealogical Society board and officers meet monthly to handle the society business. AIGS membership is welcome to attend. Google Meet joining infoVideo call link: https://meet.google.com/guf-hdmj-vpmOr dial: (US) +1 747-231-0349 PIN: ?241 101 347#More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/guf-hdmj-vpm?pin=4851630674544

January 2022 Membership Committee Meeting

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
Membership Committee will meet in person at the FBL to create the membership packets for the Beginner's Class.

Introduction to Family History and Census Research

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
Introduction to Family History Marcia will start this session out with an introduction to the Amelia Island Genealogical Society membership benefits as well as providing a brief look at the AIGS website. Once this has been done she will introduce the class to getting started with genealogy in the right way. Building Your Family Tree Using Census Records Whether you are a seasoned genealogy researcher or a brand new researcher, understanding the basics of census research is essential to finding your ancestors. While the examples in this post are from U. S. census records, the tips and strategies apply to your census research for any country. Class Instructor: Marcia Pertuz Marcia Fleming Pertuz is a retired elementary school teacher and principal. She serves as the chair of the AIGS Library Committee, is currently the registrar for the Princess Amelia Chapter of Colonial Dames XVII Century and is an application reviewer for the Florida Pioneer program of the Florida State Genealogical Society. Marcia has been doing genealogy for over 40 years. She holds a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University and participated in the 18 month Professional Genealogy Online Study Group (ProGen). Her personal research areas of interest include Pennsylvania, Colonial New England, Columbia, Spain, France, Poland and Slovakia. Marcia is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Amelia Island Genealogical Society and is currently chairman of the Library Committee.

January 2022 Business Meeting

Online
The Amelia Island Genealogical Society board and officers meet monthly to handle the society business. AIGS membership is welcome to attend Google Meet Joining Information Video call link: https://meet.google.com/pfk-tyhq-zveOr dial: (US) +1 346-908-0731 PIN: 722 543 807#More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/pfk-tyhq-zvepin=6838325626893

Evidence and Analysis, Timelines, Vital Records Research, and Fundamentals of Land and Probate Records for Genealogists

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
Evidence and Analysis, Timelines, and Vital Records Research Jim will provide a brief overview of Evidence and Analysis of genealogical records, how to create and utilize timelines in your ancestral research, and finish off this session with a look at Vital Records research. Fundamentals of Land and Probate Records for Genealogists The purpose of this program is to provide an overview of the land and probate record keeping systems used in the United States of America. Land and probate record systems were created for economic and legal purposes, so understanding why and how those systems work aids the genealogist’s search to determine who our ancestors were, what they did, where, and when. Class Instructor: Jim Shroads James L. Shroads is a retired attorney. A graduate of the University of Florida, Jim served in the U.S. Air Force as a Missile Combat Crew Commander in the Titan II ICBM systems. After leaving the military, he enrolled in the University of Miami School of Law, and upon graduation was employed by The Deltona Corporation as corporate counsel. A few years later he joined ITT Community Development Corporation, the developers of Palm Coast. In 1983, he was transferred to ITT Rayonier in Fernandina Beach, and remained with Rayonier after it was divested by ITT and became an independent company. From 2000 until his retirement, he maintained a private law practice focused primarily upon real estate matters. Jim is currently serving as Vice President of the Amelia Island Genealogical Society.
Featured

The Last Spanish Land Grant in Florida

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
Join us at the Fernandina Beach Branch library on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at 7pm to hear the fascinating story of the family of Domingo and Mary Fernandez who owned large plantations on Amelia Island, donated land for the Fernandina Lighthouse, but whose descendants 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. Descendants were plantation owners, not only in Florida, but also in Kenya; they were attorneys, scholars, ordinary people whose influence has been felt around the world.
Free

Organization, Documentation and Researching at Repositories, Citing Your Sources, and Researching at Depositories

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
Document Organization The two most important tasks in genealogical research is organizing your findings and documenting the sources of your findings. Be kind to yourself and start these tasks immediately. The key for you is to find or create a system that works with your style of thinking! Marcia will review the variety of methods researchers have developed to record their family trees. We will also use this time to take a brief look at our own genealogy book collection. Citing Sources Documentation Will Make Your Research Easier and Faster Documentation Helps Prevent Duplication of Research Documentation Gives Others Confidence in Your Research Documentation Doesn’t Have to Be Hard Researching at Repositories A repository in genealogy terms is a physical location where genealogical material is held. Marcia will provide instruction on how to develop a research plan before you head off to a repository and also review the different types of genealogical evidence you can find. Genealogy Websites Comparisons Marcia will review the big 4 genealogy research sites and show how they stack up to one another.

Books, Periodical/Newspapers, and Special Collections and Immigration and Emigration Records

Fernandina Beach Library 25 N 4th St, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States
Dennis will review and demonstrate how to access the various free online book repositories for your genealogical research. He will share the benefits of PERSI and periodical research, as well as Newspaper research through free and paid repositories. Finally, he'll discuss Special Collections that can be found online and offline that can assist you with your research. Dennis will review the push and pull reasons your ancestors may have had for leaving their old country and moving to the United States. He will review the variety of ports they may have arrived at, and then review searching the Ellis Island Passenger List website as well as Castle Gardens. He will finish the class with a look at naturalization records, where they can be found, and what type of evidence you can find in them.
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