FGS National Conference by Janet Camarata and Michelle Lyons The Federation of Genealogical Societies national conference was August 21-24, 2019, in Washington DC.  SKCGS members Janet Camarata and Michelle Lyons attended and are sharing their highlights. Janet: “We arrived at the FGS conference one day early and spent Tuesday at NARA (National Archives and Records Administration).  I was able to locate two homestead applications for my husband's family--his grandmother and his great-grandfather--a cash-sale receipt for land for his 2-great-grandfather and the bounty land claim based on his 4-great-grandfather's service in the War of 1812 and claimed by his wife in Hickory County, MO.  While we were there, over the PA system an announcement was made that a thunderstorm was passing over the building and we were asked not to leave until it passed.  I then got on the computers and was able to collect all the military records, including pay and rank records of an uncle who l

The Northwest Genealogy Conference  is the largest annual genealogy and family history event in Washington, and Arlington is not a long drive for us south King people. Some SKCGS members have been attending for years, but this was the first year for me, Valorie Zimmerman . I was excited to see that Janet Camarata had volunteered to teach the free beginner class, open to all. I really loved how she organized the material, drawing in beginners and showing them how to do quality research and documentation *from the beginning* -- which all of us wished we had done. Following the Genealogical Proof Standard from day one will save time in the end, since you can always consult your notes. There were three other attendees from our SKCGS membership and I asked each for their thoughts, takeaways and memories -- in a few sentences. My own takeaway is that I need to up my game! I have the evidence, often, but I need to write it up more often. That last step in the GPS seems difficult

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 Janet O'Conor Camarata   Between 1900 and 1915, 3 million Italians immigrated to America becoming the largest nationality of “new immigrants” during the late 19th and early 20th century. They were mostly artisans and peasants. Many were unable to read, write or speak English and were listed as “laborers” on passenger lists. The migration included representatives of all the regions of Italy, primarily from the Mezzogiorno region of Italy-- southern Italy including the “boot” of Italy and the Islands of Sicily and Sardinia. Alfonso and Antonina (Pastorello) Aronica with their children and grandchild are one such family. Santa Caterina Villarmosa, Caltinasetta Province, Sicily, Italy, 1920 The Aronicas are an example of “chain migration,” a simple concept where early immigrants are known to be more likely to move to a new country or community if people they know already live there. And in turn with each new immigrant, they also are more likely to move where people they now