Seminar taps Georgia resources

The Georgia Genealogical Society’s fall seminar will be held 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 4 at the National Archives-Southeast Region in Morrow. The speakers will be John Lyles, genealogist at the Columbus Public Library, and Monica L. Hopkins, editor of the society’s quarterly.

Lyles’ first lecture will be “Hidden Resources: Georgia Research Using Electronic Thesis and Dissertations,” covering a source virtually ignored in genealogy research. His second topic will be “Genealogical Research in Academic Archives” in which he will discuss the genealogical treasures that can be found in archives and special collections departments associated with colleges and universities.

Hopkins will present two lectures. In the first, “Understanding Deeds,” she will use sample deeds to explain how they’re used in genealogical research, including definitions, types of deeds, indexes and examining a deed in detail and platting the land. Her second topic will be “Finding Your Way Around the Georgia Archives.”

Registration for the seminar is $25 for GGS members and $35 for nonmembers. Lunch is not included. Registrations must be postmarked by Sept. 26 for handouts to be available. Registration forms can be found at www.gagensociety.org and should be mailed to Georgia Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 550247, Atlanta, GA 30355-2747. Call Laura Carter for further information, 706-369-9420.

Online books

The Georgia Genealogical Society has recently scanned several books and posted them to its Web site (www.gagensociety.org) in the online section for members. These include the “Administrator’s Manual and Clerk’s Guide (1829),” giving readers a look into the actual procedures and forms the Court of Ordinary (probate) had to follow; and a transcript of the “Ceded Lands, 1773-1775, Records of the Court of Land Commissioners at Augusta, Georgia.”

Other works will be added soon, and suggestions are welcome.

Obituary project

The Cobb County Genealogical Society, in conjunction with the Georgia Room of the Cobb County Library System, has started a project to index the obituaries found in the Marietta Daily Journal beginning in 1868 using the microfilm held in the Georgia Room.

Anyone living nearby interested in helping with this project should contact the society president, Karen Molohon, at klmancestors@comcast.net.

Having used the partial index at the library for the 1870s, it is important to note that this newspaper included obits from as far away as Columbus and Milledgeville, and no doubt well into North Georgia, so the information produced by this project will contain more than just Marietta-related data.

Contact Kenneth H. Thomas Jr. at P.O. Box 901, Decatur, GA 30031, or the Web site www.gagensociety.org