Greene County Genealogical Society
~by Valerie Ogren
MEETING NOTICE: The next meeting will be Saturday, August 2, at 10 .m in the Jefferson public library. Speaker that day will be Rick Morain. He will share some family memories and tell about “Preserving Your Stories” to pass on to younger generations. Telling stories and preserving them has been the theme this year of the Greene County Historical Society. We have chosen to follow along that same theme because we believe it is important to keep family history alive. Guests are always welcome!
SUCCESSFUL COUNTY FAIR: The genealogy exhibits were plentiful this year and after the judging on Friday, nearly all were adorned in blue or purple ribbons. If you procrastinated, maybe you (myself included) need to start now and plan ahead for next year. Stop by the reference library and pick up a list. You will find there is a category for almost anything you would like to exhibit. It was also great to see so many fruits, veggies and flowers in the open class. With the drought there was hardly anything green and growing on display last year.
REFERENCE LIBRARY: Located in the basement of the Jefferson public library. Hours are Wednesday afternoon from 1 to 4 and Saturday mornings from 9 to 12. Other times may be arranged by appointment. Volunteers will assist you with any research problems you may have. Call Arlene Johnson at 515-386-5431 just to make sure someone will be there. Genealogists are on the move and we have been very busy helping travelers research their family history. Some of the surnames being researched recently are: BUCHER, SEAMAN, SHULTZ, BAKER, COOVER, COMMONS, CUDAHY and McCUE.
INTERESTING FIND: Friends shared a bit of someone’s family history with us recently. It is a single sheet of paper which their son found blowing around his neighborhood in the Iowa City area. With a few tornadoes reported in the state, who knows how far it traveled. I will share some of the pertinent info. If you know anyone researching this family, please contact us. It lists some of the descendants of Jeheil SMITH, b. 1761, d. 1825. He served in the Revolutionary War, enlisting at Bradford CT on 23 Feb 1775. He and wife, Rachel HINE, lived at Coventry, Chenango Co. NY. Their children were Lyman, Clare, Almira, Chancy, Abel, Fitch, Truman and Malinda. Other surnames mentioned are JOHNSON, PARKS, GOOD, KEENE, SIEKMEIER, OFSTEDAHL, BARNES and GLENN. Several of the later generations are buried at Waukon IA.
CONTACT US: Our web page is located at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iagcgs/. Email us at gcgsiowa@hotmail.com or P O Box 133, Jefferson IA 50129-0133.
