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Our December 2018 Newsletter is now online on the MGS webpage. You can check it out here.
Do you have an interesting family history or genealogy research story? Would you like to contribute an article to our newsletter? If so, reach out to John, our editor, at newslettermgsdarien@gmail.com.
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Join us at Westchester County Archives, Thursday January 10
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Do you have an interest in Westchester, NY genealogy? Given our close proximity to this NY county, MGS will be hosting a tour to Westchester County Archives in Elmsford NY on Thursday, January 10th at 10:30 a.m. The tour will last about an hour and is open to MGS members. Carpooling can be organized and if the group is interested we can arrange for lunch afterwards.
RSVP to taragenealogy@gmail.com.
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Our next speaker is Saturday January 26, 2019 at 2 pm
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Our next speaker will be Edwin Strickland on Saturday January 26, 2019 at 2 pm at the Darien Library. Ed will bring us up to speed on how Land Records can hold important clues for ancestry research. Doors open at 1 pm for informal conversation. We'll start the program at 1:50 with general membership news, followed by our speaker at 2 pm.
More Than "Metes" The Eye: Using Land Records In Your Research
We will open with a discussion of land ownership from the right of the king through royal charters, grants and proprietor’s records to individual ownership. After reviewing the differences between metes and bounds and rectilinear survey systems, we will examine several case studies show how the land records can answer some of your genealogical questions.
Edwin W. Strickland II comes from true yankees on one side (use it up, wear it out, make do or do without) who did not move from the same land for over 200 years and pack-rats with a wander-lust on the other. With both sides of the family being devoted to their history, he grew up surrounded by his past. He began his own research at the age of 24. Being self-taught, he tells his students that he knows every mistake they can make – because he has made it!
He is a past-president of Connecticut Society of Genealogists, charter member, past-president and genealogist for the Descendants of the Founders of Ancient Windsor, and charter member of the Connecticut Professional Genealogists Council where he is a regular consultant for their Ancestors Road Shows. He has written for CSG’s The Connecticut Nutmegger, the Foote Family Association of America (Volume III), and many books in DFAW’s Some Descendants of … series.
Since 2005, he has turned to lecturing and teaching and has appears at the University of Hartford, Connecticut Society of Genealogists, New England Genealogical Regional Conference, and several libraries and societies.
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Mark your Calendar for Upcoming Speakers
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Mark your calendar for these upcoming presentations through May 2020. All presentations are Saturdays at 2 pm at the Darien Library Community Room:
- January 26, 2019: More than "Metes" the Eye: Using Land Records in Your Research with Edwin W. Strickland II.
- March 23, 2019: Do The 'Write' Thing For Genealogy with Marian & Wally Wood.
- May 18, 2019: Content To Be Announced with Toni McKeen.
- October 5, 2019: To be announced.
- November 9, 2019: To be announced.
- February 1, 2020: To be announced.
- March 21, 2020: To be announced.
- May 16, 2020: To be announced.
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2019 Annual Membership Dues
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Kindly submit your 2019 membership renewal or consider becoming a new member. Each year MGS strives to provide our fellow genealogy enthusiasts with quality presentations, roundtable meetings, a quarterly newsletter, repository tours and genealogy research assistance. Your dues ensures that we can continue with these offerings, as well as expand our services and programs in the coming year. Click here for more specifics about the advantages of membership.
Annual dues remain at $25 per person & $30 for family. This year we are offering a discount if you pre-pay for two years. The two year fee is $45 per person & $55 per family. We have also added a lifetime membership for $300.
How about gifting someone a membership in MGS? It makes a nice gift for the holidays and all year round.
Additionally, we are offering a complimentary one year youth membership for new members up to 17 years old. So if you know of a young person who is interested in genealogy, please let them know of this complimentary membership.
Only new members are required to complete our membership application. Make checks payable to Middlesex Genealogical Society and mail to P.O. Box 1111, Darien, CT 06820, Attn: Robert Martinelli. You can also pay in person at our next speaker presentation on January 26th.
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We Have A Need For New Board Members
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Family history research is one of the fastest-growing interest areas today. It has never been more popular! At the same time, many long-standing genealogical societies are discontinuing operations, not because of lack of public interest, but because of lack of volunteer support.
Knowledgeable volunteers retire or move out of the area. Organizations change.
At MGS, we KNOW there are many well-educated, skilled family researchers in the Fairfield County area. Also business, marketing and legal professionals, historical/cultural studies supporters, administrators. Or skilled in another language or two. You may be one! If you're into family history research like us, why not become a board member?
If time-commitment is your concern, it needn't be. We meet 7 Monday evenings a year to plan and coordinate behind the scenes. We share in the efforts. No one does more than they have time for.
On the plus side, if you're still working, being active on a community Board like MGS is resume-worthy experience and an excellent networking opportunity.
Contact any board member for more information, or sit in on any future monthly board meeting to decide if it's for you. Our next meeting is Monday January 21 at 7 pm at the Darien Library. Join us. |
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Overflow Parking at the Darien Library
As a reminder, if the main parking lot is full, you can park at the overflow lot which is behind the office building on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's Flowers).
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Do you have a speaker recommendation?
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MGS is on the lookout for future speakers. If you've listened to an interesting family history/genealogy research speaker recently, please let us know at mgsvolunteer@gmail.com.
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The Darien Library is in need of volunteers to help index obituary listings from local newspapers back to the year 1900. Their goal is to post online a comprehensive index listing of thousands of death notices printed since 1900 in Darien-area newspapers. This way any person, any where, who is researching their Darien area roots can check the online list to see if a death notice has been printed on a person, or surname, they are researching. If so, they can follow-up at the library to get a hardcopy of that death notice. This is a personally enriching project, many hands needed to bring to completion. Skills desired: keyboard accuracy, an eye for reading large amounts of print from microfilm and actual newspapers, ability to work independently and in collaboration with librarians. For further information, contact cwood@darienlibrary.org.
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MGS/Genealogy Display at Darien Town Hall in January 2019
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We are in the process of creating an informational display about genealogy research and MGS at the Darien Town Hall. Check out our work in the glass display case at the Town Hall lobby during the month of January.
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MGS On Facebook
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Join us on Facebook! Check out us out by clicking on the " f " logo below, and "like" us if you have a facebook account.
With about 100 members, something of interest is posted almost every day. If you have a specific question related to your own family research, this is a great place to ask it. We have members very experienced in different research areas, happy to jump in with suggestions and comments related to your question.
Be aware that our MGS facebook page is private, closed to the public. This means that posts in our group can only be viewed and accessed by members of our group. You'll need to ask permission to join. Three basic questions are asked to help rule out fake accounts and spammers. Once admitted, you'll be able to post your own questions or postings and scroll through earlier posts.
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MGS On Twitter
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MGS is also now on Twitter! Check us out by clicking on the "birdie" logo below, and "follow" us if you have a twitter account.
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WHAT'S IN A NAME?
The Middlesex Genealogical Society (MGS) name was created years ago. The original founders of our group lived in the Darien Connecticut area. They adopted the word "Middlesex" because Darien was part of Middlesex Parish, Connecticut in colonial days.
Today, most members and friends of MGS live in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The majority of our members today had ancestors who first settled in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Our genealogy interests lead to villages, towns and cities all over the world.
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Why did I get this email?
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- You're a current or former paying member.
- You presented at one of our meetings in the past.
- You came as a guest to one of our Saturday speaker meetings at the library and signed the sign-in sheet.
- You may have met with one of our volunteers at a Genealogy One-on-One or other outreach event.
- You contacted someone in our organization for genealogy research advice.
Either way, we're happy to keep you in the loop about new speakers and programs. If you aren't interested, simply "unsubscribe" at the bottom.
If you're a guest, feel free to come again for free to any of our speaker events. We hope you'll find our programs so interesting, and helpful, that you'll become a member someday soon. A $25 contribution spread over 5 speaker meetings is less than half the price of a movie ticket per speaker.
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