Group helping others learn thier family history

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Genealogy is not about houses and buildings. It’s about the people who worked in the lumber mill to turn the trees into wood planks, the blacksmith who kept the wagons and buggies in good working order to haul the wood and who made the door hinges, and the people who lived in the house and made it a home.

Some houses have been named. For instance, Mount Vernon and Monticello. Are these houses famous because of the house? No. They’re famous because of the person who lived there, President George Washington and President Thomas Jefferson. Would the stars’ homes in Beverly Hills be interesting if the person who lived there wasn’t famous? Probably not. Have you seen the show “Home Town”? It’s about a young couple in Mississippi who remodel homes for new buyers. Each home they show to the prospective buyer has a name — the Smith house or the Jones house — named after the person or family who lived there. A building is just a building, but it’s the people who bring the building to life.

And this is what genealogy is all about. We want to help you discover the people in your family who contributed to the society in which they lived and those who maybe weren’t so successful in their endeavors, those whom are frequently referred to as the “skeleton in the closet.” But don’t avoid them as they are sometimes the most interesting of all.

Join the Delaware County Genealogical Society at 7:30 p.m. on June 5 and July 10 at the Delaware County District Library (computer room), 84 E. Winter St., Delaware, for a free seminar. Volunteers will be there to assist you in every aspect of your journey from where to start, how to get organized, where to find clues, how to accurately record the facts, and the inevitable pitfalls to avoid.

DCGS would like to help the younger generations to become interested in their family history, so please bring your children. This is a good, wholesome project which will definitely encourage quality family time.

Everyone has a story and your unique story is waiting to be discovered and told.

The presentation is open to the public and free of charge.

Submitted story

Submitted by the Delaware County Genealogical Society.

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