Secrets, discoveries at annual luncheon

Society’s meeting a chance to recall genealogy finds.

The Georgia Genealogical Society’s annual luncheon meeting will be held Dec. 1 at the National Archives in Morrow. I will be speaking on “Adventures in Genealogy: Fifty Years and Counting,” recalling some of my experiences.

Having started in genealogy while in high school, I will reflect on some major changes in the field, especially during the 35 years of writing this column. I will discuss how I unearthed some of my family’s information, as well as such unique events as watching the exhumation of great Aunt Ida and meeting a Confederate widow.

I’ll also talk about some of the interesting collateral relatives I discovered, including Elisha J. King, co-author of the “Sacred Harp” songbook, and Horatio Marbury, Georgia’s second secretary of state. One great discovery was proving a major family secret through DNA testing.

Registration starts at 10:30 a.m.; the program and lunch run 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Cost is $25 for members, $30 for nonmembers if a check is mailed and postmarked by Nov. 20, or via PayPal by Nov. 24. There’s a $5 surcharge for late registration. Send checks to the Georgia Genealogical Society, Dept. W, P.O. Box 550247, Atlanta, GA 30355-2747. See www.gagensociety.org for PayPal or other information. If you have questions, contact Karen Molohon at 404-406-7159 or gagensocprograms@g mail.com.

Marriage records

Familysearch.org recently added Georgia marriage records up to about 1900 and has them fully indexed. You can search for a couple’s marriage by full name or just two surnames statewide within the Georgia records in case you don’t know where they married.

This is a very valuable new resource.

A drawback is that they do not include the actual book and page; for that you must check the county courthouse, the microfilm at the Georgia Archives or the Ar- chives’ Virtual Vault online to view the original digitized certificates. Also, on Familysearch.org no distinction is made about whether the couple is white or African-American; here again, you must check the original source.

The site also includes digitized original probate office record books, such as recorded wills, minute books, bond books, as well as many loose estate files from most Georgia counties. This makes an incredible body of source material accessible to researchers at home.

Archive usage

Recent situations involving what hours the Georgia Archives and the National Archives at Atlanta are open have shown how important it is that patrons sign in when using a facility and, if management is going to use those statistics to verify usage, that they make sure people sign in.

We often view sign-in books as a hassle, but we should always sign in so that statistics reflect actual usage.