Welcome

We are so excited you found us. Come join us and see why the unraveling of family history is the fastest growing hobby in the land. All members of Idaho Genealogical Society and persons interested in their family history are welcome. The Idaho Genealogical Society meets 11 months out of the year.

21 July 2012

IGS Society Annual Meeting and Conference

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Kootenai County Genealogical Society hosts the annual meeting and conference of the Idaho Genealogical Society (IGS), Saturday, September 29, 2012 at the Holiday Inn Express in beautiful Hayden Lake, Idaho on the edge of Coeur‘d Alene, Chairman Jeanne Venturino announced.

The local and state genealogical societies welcome genealogists and historians from all over Idaho, Montana and Washington. Registration begins at 8:30 am by greetings from KCGS President Jean Richards Timmermeister and IGS President Juvanne Martin, CG. 

The IGS will address issues facing both state and local genealogical and historical societies throughout Idaho including membership, volunteers, fund drives, technology, as well as elect board members and state officers.  The state IGS President, Juvanne Martin, will address various projects including this year’s indexing of the 1940 United States Census and the upcoming Sesquicentennial celebration of the Idaho Territory in 2013.

The all-day conference has invited three qualified speakers:  John Schalk, Mariam Midkiff Robbins, and Connie Godak.

John Schalk is a local resident who will share his experiences of growing up in Nazi-occupied Germany.  Schalk was born in 1927 in Langen, Germany and studied to be a lathe machinist. An aunt sponsored his entry into the United States.  Within a year, he joined the military and was stationed in New York, Alabama, the Philippines, Massachusetts (where he married his wife and raised his family), Newfoundland, Canada, and finally, Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, Washington.
Mariam Midkiff Robbins is a blogger and lecturer, and an active member of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society.  She will present “Frugal Genealogy, or How NOT to Spend a Fortune on Your Family Tree.” Her advice contains tips and tricks to cut down on genealogy expenses from subscriptions, purchasing records, to conferences.

Ms. Robbins has been interested in family history from an early age.  She grew up in Southeast Alaska, far from her extended family in Western Michigan.   In 1987, she began to collect information, interviewing relatives, reading genealogy how-to books, and filling out family group sheets and pedigree charts. In 1995, she set out with a mission to reunite her paternal grandmother, an adoptee, with her biological family.  Two years later, after tracing her grandmother’s family tree back three full generations with some lines going into the Colonial American period, she succeeded in reuniting her grandmother with her maternal relatives.

Ms. Robbins has taught online genealogy through the Community Colleges of Spokane’s Institute for Extended Learning since 2005. Her genealogy blog, AnceStories:  The Stories of My Ancestors was voted one of ProGenealogists’ 25 Most Popular Genealogy Blogs in 2009 and one of FamilyTreeMagazine’s Best Genealogy Blogs in 2010.

Connie Godak is the director of the Hayden Family History Center where she will assist conference attendees to find their ancestors on FamilySearch.org.  Her presentation, “ Finding Family with FamilySearch “ will teach you how to trace your ancestry and find the locality and primary documents you need to ensure that your sources are legitimate and accurate.    Accessing previous research, finding digitalized books, opening vital records, and printing and saving them are other avenues she will explore.  Attendees will find out where one can find research help and lessons, as well as learn about some of the newest tools to help you pinpoint where you need to be searching.  Finally, the FHC Director will show the importance of everyone working together to make the world’s records available and free to everyone.

Connie was born and raised in northwest Wyoming, the only girl with five older brothers.  She became interested in genealogy as a teenager trying to find out how various members of her family fit together.  She married husband Jack forty-three years ago. The Godaks moved to Idaho when Jack got a job with the forest service.  They raised six children and have nine grandchildren.

Connie has been working on family history for over twenty years and has served as director of the local family history center for the past four years.  She also organizes a free genealogy seminar each fall.

Conference registration is just $25 for IGS and KCGS members; all others are $30.  Both fees include lunch.  Registration deadline is Sept. 15 to assure having lunch.  Registration is by email or phone to Waneva Maymon, wmaymom@icehouse.net. or (208)772-6618.

The Holiday Inn Express, 151 West Orchard Ave, Hayden, Idaho 83835, (208)772-7900 has offered a special rate of just $89 a night plus tax for IGS Annual Meeting and Conference attendees.


Idaho Sesquicentennial Special License Plate

A REMINDER for those who enjoy Idaho history. 

Monday, July 2nd, 2012, the Idaho Sesquicentennial Special License Plate will go on sale in every County Motor Vehicle Registration and Licensing office in Idaho, (See Attachment).  In Nez Perce County,- (The Nez Perce County Court House).  Revenues derived from the sale of the Idaho Sesquicentennial Special License Plates will go to every county's historical society or designated entities in the State of Idaho. In Nez Perce County, revenues will be equally shared by the Nez Perce County Historical Society and the Lewiston Historic Preservation Commission. 

The Lewiston Historic Preservation Commission successively initiated, supported and sponsored the Idaho Sesquicentennial Special License Plate Bill.  Commissioners on the Lewiston Historic Preservation Commission include Bill R. Miller, Chair;  Jacquelyn Height, Vice Chair;  Bill McVicars;  Greg Follett;  Dwight Ferguson;  John Mock;  Ron Karlberg;  Garry Bush;  Tara Forsmann;   Dr. Dennis Ohrtman, Lewiston City Council Liaison and former commissioner, Dick Riggs.

Cost of this Special Plate will be $35 plus registration fees.  Sample Plates are $30.00.

Be sure and ask for and receive credit for the remaining months left on your current license plate when applying for the Idaho Sesquicentennial Special License Plate.

Commemorate and celebrate Idaho's Sesquicentennial 1863 - 2013, one-hundred fifty years as a territory and state. 

08 July 2012

Early Idaho Songs Programs

Wednesday, July 18.  6:30 p.m.  Roseberry.   The Way We Worked in Idaho.  This is a program of early Idaho work songs I developed last year to support the Smithsonian traveling exhibit on American labor as it visited six towns around the state during the year.

Thursday, July 19.  7:00 p.m.  Warm Lake.  Bad Asses and Disasters of Early Idaho - Songs That Should Have Been Written But Weren't.  This is a new program that includes recently written songs about unfortunate events of early Idaho, where we have been unable to find early songs.

These events take place in McCall.