On October 24, 2020, the Virginia Genealogical Society will hold its first virtual conference. The speaker is Cari A. Taplin, CG. For more information, please go to https://vgs.org and view Upcoming Events.
Category Archives: News
AAHGS 2020 Annual Conference October 14-17
The AAHGS Annual Conference is the largest international African American conference that promotes African-ancestored family history and genealogy. The conference begins October 14 and continues through Saturday, October 17. It is being held virtually. Please visit https://web.cvent.com/event/375a05f9-62b5-4829-80c7-5560766e1286/summary for more information.
Library of Virginia reopens – appointment required
The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce that its reading rooms will reopen to researchers by advance appointment beginning at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, July 7, 2020. During the initial reopening phase, researchers will be able to use the collections by appointment Tuesday–Friday, 10:00 AM–4:00 PM. To make an appointment, please call 804.692.3800.
Revised Bylaws Approved
At our November meeting, a revision of the bylaws was approved, replacing the last version, dated 14 September 2002. Some of the changes reflected in the revision are the transition to digital publication of Central Virginia Heritage, acknowledging the association’s website, updated responsibilities of the officers, and disposition of the group’s assets in the case of dissolution.
Read the revised bylaws here.
CVGA News
CVGA needs your help to keep our association running smoothly. Please read on for the three items we would like to bring to your attention.
First of all, we are announcing that our president, Patricia Lukas, will resign from her post at the end of this year. This means that it is necessary for members to come forward and place their names in the hat as candidates for this office. An election will take place at our November meeting so please step up, contact Linda Gore at lggore46@gmail.com and let her know that you are interested in this position.
The next item is the update of our bylaws. The last time they were amended was in 2002 and it is time to put in place a revised document that reflects our current organization. WHAT YOU CAN DO is to read a draft version of the bylaws and give us any feedback. We need two members to help us with this. If you have experience with non-profits that might be helpful but a careful, critical eye is most important. Please let us know if you can help out and we will send you the files of the current and draft bylaws.
The final request is for help auditing our financial records. Our treasurer has done an excellent job of keeping our books. However, our bylaws state that the Audit Committee shall “…audit the financial records of the Treasurer and present a report at the December meeting.” The CVGA financial records are quite simple so someone with a background in accounting or bookkeeping would find that this task is not very time consuming. WHAT YOU CAN DO is contact us and our treasurer will send a file of our financial records. If multiple volunteers come forward, we will form a committee and see that you are in touch with one another.
Thank you for reading this and please step up and help your CVGA!
Honors for Jean Cooper, Editor of Central Virginia Heritage
The Phillis Wheatley Book Awards are given to books published within the last 5 years that cover the topic of American Slavery. The awards are sponsored by the Sons & Daughters of the United States Middle Passage, “a lineage society dedicated to the memory of our freed and enslaved ancestors and to the education and historic preservation of the artifacts and landmarks of slavery in the United States of America and its economic, psychological, and cultural impact on today’s society.”
Two of the 5 books honored with a 2019 Phillis Wheatley Award were published by the Shortwood Press, which is the publishing house of Jean Cooper, our very own editor of the Central Virginia Heritage! The books are Tracing Their Steps, by Bernice A. Bennett, and Freedmen of the Frontier, vol. 1, by Angela Walton-Raji.
Congratulations, Jean!
Preservation of Revolutionary War Veteran Gravesites
You never know where you are going to find useful information.
I was randomly searching on the Internet, and came across a JLARC (Joint Legislative Audit And Review Commission) Report on the Preservation of Revolutionary War Veterans Gravesites. Why would I be interested in a Virginia government audit? Because this audit just happens to have “Lists of the Revolutionary War Veterans Buried or Recognized at Specific Locations in Virginia” in its appendices. These reports give the first and last names, the birth and death dates (if known), and the location of burial (city/state) in various indexes.
- Appendix B-1: Index of Revolutionary War veteran burials reported during this review, organized alphabetically by the last name of the veteran
- Appendix B-2: Listing of veterans reportedly buried within the boundaries of Virginia’s counties, organized alphabetically by the name of the county
- Appendix B-3: Listing of veterans reportedly buried within the boundaries of Virginia’s independent cities, organized alphabetically by the name of the city
- Appendix B-4: Listing of the French veterans honored at the French Memorial Cemetery, organized alphabetically by the last name of the veteran
- Appendix B-5: Listing of veterans honored by the Yorktown Victory Monument Tablet, organized alphabetically by the last name of the veteran
- Appendix B-6: Inventory of the sources used in compiling these lists of veterans reportedly buried in Virginia
I was delighted to find this report! The link is http://jlarc.virginia.gov/pdfs/reports/Rpt264.pdf
I think I’m going to look through the JLARC files and find more historically useful reports!
Charley Moore, CVGA Past President, Dies
Charley Moore passed away on Wednesday, August 1, 2018 in Charlottesville, Virginia. He served the Central Virginia Genealogical Association as an officer for many years. His official roles in CVGA were as president, corresponding secretary, treasurer, editor and librarian.
To read Charley’s obituary, please visit Charlottesville Daily Progress Obituary.
23andMe Class Action Lawsuit (KCC Settlement Administrator)
If you bought a DNA test kit from 23andMe between October 16, 2007 and November 22, 2013, you probably received an email from the ‘KCC Settlement Administrator’ concerning a class action lawsuit brought against 23andMe by a group of customers who raised a “…variety of claims ranging from false advertising to consumer protection issues…”, according to Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist. Judy’s blogpost from September 24, 2017, is the place to go to learn about this lawsuit and get the information you need to make a decision concerning your options in this case.
Click here to go right to Judy Russell’s blog. There are deadlines for your response, depending on which option you choose, so it’s important to act soon by reading Judy’s blog and then go looking for that email that probably looks like a spam message. If you already deleted it, don’t worry, Judy has a link to the correct website. Good luck!
Legacy Purchased by MyHeritage
As it says on the Legacy blog (http://news.legacyfamilytree.com/legacy_news/2017/08/legacy-family-tree-has-a-new-home-with-myheritage.html), the company has been purchased by MyHeritage.com. You can read more about it at the website above. They are also offering a discount:
To celebrate the acquisition, we are offering a limited time, never-offered-before discount on Legacy 9 software and annual webinar memberships. Through Sunday, August 13 (Geoff’s birthday), take 50% off:
Legacy 9 software – from
$34.95$17.481 year webinar membership (or extension) –
$49.95$24.98Click here to get Legacy software or webinar membership at 50% off.
I’ve tried out the Legacy software before, and find it’s relatively easy to use (although I get annoyed at the multiple clicks it takes to insert a reference or citation). But currently, I’m using the free standard version available here: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/