Historic Happenings Blog

Organizing Your DNA Matches Workshop: Using the Leeds Method Thursday, May 18, 2020 2 PM – 3:30 PM On-Line Webinar Genealogical Society of Bergen County, Bolger Heritage Center, Ridgewood Public Library The Leeds Method is a simple and logical way to organize your 2nd, 3rd, and possibly 4th cousin matches by family lines using color clustering—regardless of which DNA testing company you use. This FREE webinar workshop will be organized in two parts, lectures include: – Part 1 (18 May, 2pm) covers the construction of a simple Leeds spreadsheet and analysis; – Part 2 (20 May, 2pm) covers advanced topics like including 4th cousins and identifying a common surname. The webinar-workshop will also include a downloadable worksheet and sample spreadsheet. Attendees should have a basic understanding of your DNA results (Note: NOT for DNA newbies.) Experience with spreadsheets (Excel, Google Sheets, etc.) is helpful, but not required. REGISTER for this Webinar-workshop, here: https://attendee.go...

Fred Voss, a professional genealogist, will speak about “Stories from Ellis Island” on Sunday, September 8th at 2:00 pm at the Eatontown Community Center, 72 Broad St, Eatontown.      MORE STORIES FROM Ellis Island. From 1892 to 1954, more than 12.5 million immigrants were processed through Ellis Island. Coming from all corners of the world, these souls—whom nearly 40% of Americans can call "family"—left behind possessions and family to reinvent themselves in America. Most were processed through Ellis Island without incident.  But some immigrants found themselves detained due to mental or physical illness, because their paperwork was not in order, or because those who were due to receive them did not show. What kind of stories could they tell?     Mr. Voss is a professional genealogist and a volunteer tour guide at Ellis Island National Park. His talk will explore the personal, sometimes heartbreaking, stories of those who came thro...