South King County Genealogical Society September Happenings Welcome back to a new program year! The Society has been so busy adopting new Bylaws and Standing Rules this summer that it does not feel as though we have been away. I am excited to begin working with the new governance structure developed by our hard-working Bylaws Committee. Dorothy Pretare, Marilyn Schunke, and Valorie Zimmerman have devoted countless hours during the past eleven months to bring the structure of our Society up-to-date. Please say “thank you” to each one of them when you see them. The Standing Rules were adopted at a Special Meeting of the Board of Directors, Monday, August 19. The President’s recommendations to fill the four Directors of Standing Committees were approved by the Board, and we now have a complete slate of Directors. Thank you to those who have agreed to serve: Education – Janet Camarata, Publicity – Valorie Zimmerman, Outreach – Rich Thayer, and Resource Management – Mari

Iceland has almost everyone’s family tree in a database accessible for all the country’s approximately 335,000 citizens. Everyone is related and “there is even an Android app to show each Icelandic citizen his or her genealogy, in most cases back to 874 AD.”[1] Many people in Iceland are hobby genealogists. When my guide on a tour of Iceland in 2017 discovered my interest in genealogy, she proudly told me that her grandfather had traced their family’s ancestry to a King of Norway. That would not be unusual because Iceland was settled mostly by Norwegians who may have been seeking new land to farm.  A favorite question when meeting someone new is “Who are your people”? Since almost everyone is related it is common before dating someone new to check to see that you two are not too closely related. The fact that almost everyone is descended from just a few couples has also made Iceland a heaven for those studying genetic diseases. Additionally, the homogeneity of the population has pro

William Jackson Myers, Moving West By Janet O'Conor Camarata William Terry Myers, nicknamed “Blackie” in his later years, was born December 7, 1861 In Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana at the beginning of the Civil War. He was the second son of William Jackson Myers and Mary Etta “Met” (Asher) Myers.   William Jackson Myers and his parents were originally from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and had moved west, sometime in the early 1840s, settling in south central Indiana.   By 1860, William Jackson Myers was living in Cloverdale Township, Putnam County, Indiana. He married “Met” Asher on April 30, 1857 in Owen County and shortly thereafter, moved to Clay County where his eldest son was born. When the war began in Indiana on April 12, 1861, William Jackson Myers was 31 years old living in Harrison Township, Vigo County, northwest of Terre Haute. William Jackson chose not to volunteer to serve in the Civil War. By 1862, a draft was established, and quotas were set by th

By David & Kathy Hutchinson While my daughter was attending Washington State University (WSU), she participated in the Study Abroad program.  She did the fall semester in Antibes (Nice) and the spring semester in Paris.  Being a good father, I had to go visit while she was there. Having been to Paris before, I wanted to see some other part of  France. I decided to visit Normandy Beach because of all the war films I had seen when I was growing up. Every June 6th, I watch the dignitaries visiting the cemetery at Normandy Beach,on the news.  So I did some research on going to visit that cemetery.  While I was researching, I found out that there are many US Military cemeteries and monuments throughout the world.  They are operated by the American Battle Monuments Commission.   There are 26 American cemeteries  and 30 federal memorials throughout the world.  Here are the ones I visited so far. While in Normandy,we stayed at B&B close to Omaha Beach.  At the B&B, th