These sessions are suggested for novice and intermediate researchers

Session 1: Reasons for Immigration, Basic Ancestry Research Plan, Exploration in Usage of 3 Research Websites, and Description of Research Software. Virtual Zoom class scheduled for Wednesday, November 5th, 2025, from 01:00 PM to 3:00 PM Eastern Time.

Why did our ancestors venture to America? Their important reasons drive research to find out more about them. Understand the research process and learn the steps! This class presents four research websites, real time how-to usage, as well as a look into one helpful research software for maintaining your tree. Class handouts will be highlighted during the presentation so participants can access them later at home. Ask questions any time during the presentation.

Join the Pastfinders of the South Lake County Genealogical Society for an online class. Family History Research classes are made up of three distinct sessions. Each session operates independently of the others, allowing you to participate in one or all three. These classes are available to you at no charge. Register Today!

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/FamilyHistoryR1105-1PM

 

Session 2: Family History Research: Digging into Vital Records, Uncovering Census Basics, Avoiding Research Errors, etc. Virtual Zoom class scheduled for Wednesday, November 12th, 2025, from 01:00 PM to 3:00 PM Eastern Time. 

In this class, become acquainted with types of vital records, learn how to recognize first and second sources, interpret census, naturalization and military draft registration data. You will see how to avoid common research mistakes and see varieties of simple family tree publications. Class handouts will be highlighted during the presentation so participants can access them later at home. Ask questions any time during the presentation.

Join the Pastfinders of the South Lake County Genealogical Society for an online class. Family History Research classes are made up of three distinct sessions. Each session operates independently of the others, allowing you to participate in one or all three. These classes are complementary and available to all. Learn more at PastfindersSLC.org

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/FamilyHistoryR1112-1PM  

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Session 3 – Family History Research: Obituary Notes, Steps in the Naturalization Process, Government Website Sources. Virtual Zoom class scheduled for Wednesday, November 19th, 2025, from 01:00 PM to 3:00 PM Eastern Time. 

This class will cover the various types of obituary notices and their genealogical value. The phases of the US Naturalization Process and their connection to the US Census will be explored. We will look at Alien Files in the National Archives Database, the history of US Visas needed/used by ancestors, and understand how the US Archives Publication List can uncover sourcing for research. Ask questions any time during the presentation.

Join the Pastfinders of the South Lake County Genealogical Society for an online class. Family History Research classes are made up of three distinct sessions. Each session operates independently of the others, allowing you to participate in one or all three. These classes are available to you at no charge. Register Today! To learn more please visit our website: PastfindersSLC.org.

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/FamilyHistoryR1119-1PM 

The Bremer County Genealogical Society is presenting an Ancestry.com program Saturday, Nov. 1, at 10 a.m. at the Waverly Public Library, offering training on how to navigate its genealogical tools to trace family history, including marriage, birth and death records and so much more.

Lindsey Kuhlmann, WPL librarian, will be showing how to get started with researching your ancestors with the library edition of Ancestry at the Waverly Public Library. This program is only available for use through a library that has a subscription.

The Bremer County Genealogical Society welcomes guests. Membership is $10 per year and includes two newsletters during the year. Programming is March-May, field trips are during the summer, then there is programming again September-December.

This Halloween, MyHeritage is offering free access to over 1.5 billion death, burial, cemetery, and obituary records from October 30 through November 2, 2025. These records are rich with genealogical details, such as names, places, dates, and family connections, and can open doors to new family history breakthroughs. Since last Halloween, 18 collections in this category have been added or updated, making the chances of finding something new even better. By the way, the MyHeritage DNA kit is now on sale for Halloween as well — it’s a great opportunity to take advantage of our new Whole Genome Sequencing technology (which, is now the exclusive processing method for all new MyHeritage DNA kits).

Henry County archivist Stephanie Routon Tayloe was honored by a state historical organization earlier this month for her efforts to preserve records from the American Civil War.

Tayloe received the Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal from the United Daughters of the Confederacy of Tennessee. The award, which is one of the organization’s highest honors, was presented Oct. 11 at the UDC Tennessee Convention in Greeneville.

A Paris native, Tayloe has headed the Henry County Archive and Genealogy Library for the past 18 years.

During her tenure, Tayloe and the archive’s volunteers have cleaned, indexed and prepared records to be microfilmed that span 180 years of the county’s history. The records start with the county’s founding in 1821 and continue through the year 2000.

Tayloe has compiled more than 70 genealogy and history books, including 14 focusing on the Civil War period. These comprise the obituaries, letters and biographies of Henry County’s Confederate veterans.

In addition, she authored 38 articles in The Post-Intelligencer’s “Tennessee Trailings” column about the county and state’s history before, during and immediately after the Civil War.

Tayloe is the recipient of two previous awards for her work in historic preservation. She received the UDC’s Judah P. Benjamin Medal in 2013 and was honored with the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Excellence in Historic Preservation Award — its highest national award for preservation of historic records — in 2015.

Nevada State Archives to hold a celebration of life event after the former Nevada state archivist Guy Rocha died on September 18, 2025. 

The event will be held on Friday, October 31 at the Nevada State Library, Archives, and Public Records in Carson City.

According to Nevada State Archives, the program begins at 10 a.m. and attendees are invited to stay afterward to look at the Archives Reading Room which will have photos and other Rocha artifacts.

The Nevada State Archives also says checks donations can be mad through the forms of checks and cash. 

Both checks and cash should include a note that specifies the donation is for the Nevada State Archives in honor of Guy Rocha.

Organizers say there will be a donation box at the memorial.

Checks and cash can also be mailed to Nevada State Archives, 100 N Stewart Street, Carson City, NV 89701.

The Sno-Isle Genealogical Society (SIGS) continues its “Our Nation, Our Families: The Tapestry of Us” series in November by welcoming Dr. Alicia Valentino from the Edmonds College Anthropology Department to share insights from their archaeological dig at Japanese Gulch in Mukilteo.

The SIGS November meeting is on Wednesday, Nov. 5, at the Wickers Building in Heritage Park in Lynnwood. The event includes a pre-meeting social hour starting at 6:30 p.m. where guests can meet SIGS members, enjoy refreshments and get answers to their questions about how to start family research. Don’t worry if you’re new — no experience is needed, just curiosity. There will be activities designed to spark conversation and help you discover your own connections to history.

At 7:30 p.m., the main presentation begins in-person and online. Japanese Gulch has been an important locale since the first human habitation of Puget Sound. Used by Native Americans for its resources, its vicinity later became the site for the signing of the Point Elliott Treaty and eventually home to Japanese mill workers.

Today it remains a quiet plot with trails and a fish-bearing stream, but buried below the surface are remnants of the immigrant community that thrived for 30 years. Edmonds College explored the remnants of the Japanese Gulch community during the summer of 2025 and Dr. Valentino will trace the gulch’s history from local Tribes to modern trails.

The meeting is free and open to the public. For more details, including live-stream information, visit the SIGS calendar page.

Researchers and archivists will share experiences tracing family histories. Participants will learn tips and tools on how to find family branches. The free online program focuses on Cape Verdean-descended families. It connects to the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s Cape Verdean Contemporary project. The event is Tuesday, Nov. 12, from noon to 1 p.m. on Zoom.

Speakers include Carl J. Cruz, a Cape Verdean historian who studies local family lines. Cynthia Evans is Director of Research for the 10 Million Names project and specializes in African American genealogy. James L. Lopes has worked in museum education and researched Cape Verdean American family networks.

Human remains discovered in Walnut Creek belonged to an Olean woman who was reported missing last year.

According to the Milcreek Township Police Department, the remains belonged to Rebecca (Foley) Hakes. Relatives reported Hakes missing during the third quarter of 2024.

The remains were discovered on Oct. 24, 2024, near the northern edge of the Millcreek Mall property. 

An autopsy determined that the remains were those of an adult female who showed no sign of trauma or natural disease. 

Millcreek police partnered with Othram Inc., a Texas-based company specializing in forensic genetic genealogy. DNA extracted from the remains was analyzed and compared to publicly accessible DNA profiles. Genealogists at Othram and investigators from Millcreek Township Police and the Erie (Pa.) Police Department collaborated to build potential genetic networks connected to the remains.

As possible relatives were identified, investigators conducted numerous phone interviews in search of individuals willing to provide DNA samples. A genetic network centered around McKean and Potter counties in Pennsylvania and Cattaraugus County in New York was eventually identified. Following additional interviews, two DNA samples were submitted to Othram by potential relatives.

Those samples allowed Othram to conclusively identify the remains as belonging to Hakes.

After nearly three decades of investigation, law enforcement officials have identified the now-deceased suspect who they believe raped several elderly women in Bastrop Co. between 1997 and 2005. The suspect, Emory Earl McVay, of Smithville, died in 2010 at 48 years old.

Back on March 27, 2004, an elderly woman was asleep in her bed when an unknown man broke into her Bastrop Co. home and sexually assaulted her. After reporting the assault to local authorities, investigators collected DNA and submitted it to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) — a national database used to check for possible DNA matches between arrestees and unsolved cases nationwide — through the Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Crime Laboratory Division. Later that year, in October 2004, the DPS Crime Laboratory in Austin notified the Texas Rangers of a possible DNA match between the 2004 case and another sexual assault from July 1997 involving a male suspect breaking into an elderly woman’s residence in Smithville. 

The following year, DPS’ Crime Laboratory notified the Texas Rangers of a possible DNA match with a third sexual assault cold case with a similar narrative from July 2005. It was clear there was a serial rapist in Bastrop Co. Investigators continued to collect several DNA samples from potential suspects, but none yielded a positive match. 

Then, in 2021, the Texas Rangers identified the case as eligible for testing and comparison through DPS’ Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) program. The program is funded by the Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance (DOJ/BJA), which provides investigative funding for agencies across the United States to further unsolved sexual assaults and sexually related homicides, aiming to bring justice to the victims and their families. On Aug. 11, 2021, Bode Technologies began conducting additional Advanced DNA testing and genealogy research on the samples obtained from the 1997, 2004 and 2005 sexual assaults. 

Finally, in August 2025, after several years of advanced testing and research, investigators received a positive match with a male suspect from Bastrop Co.: Emory Earl McVay. It was later learned that McVay had been deceased for more than a decade, and no arrests were made. Of note, McVay had a lengthy criminal history in Central Texas, which included multiple convictions for burglary.  

The Texas Rangers would like to thank the Bastrop Co. Sheriff’s Office, Bastrop Co. District Attorney’s Office, Smithville Police Department, Bode Technologies and members of DPS’ Austin and CODIS Crime Laboratories for their dedication, which ultimately led to McVay’s identification. Cases like this highlight the importance of collaborative investigative work between the Texas Rangers and our partner law enforcement agencies to keep unsolved cases alive, ultimately bringing closure to victims’ families and the community.

For the second time, the Hampden District Attorney’s office is asking people in the Brimfield area to contribute DNA samples to help solve a 32-year-old murder.

On Nov. 9, the office will set up in the town’s Public Safety Complex, at 34 Wales Road, and take DNA samples of willing residents through cheek swabs.

The goal is to use information gathered to generate new leads into the murder of Holly Piirainen. She was 10 when she went missing in the summer of 1993 from her grandparents’ home in Sturbridge. Her body was found that October in woods off Five Bridge Road in Brimfield.

The cold-case approach being taken is called Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy, or FIGG.

By using an expanded DNA database, investigators can compare DNA gathered from a crime scene to publicly available genealogy databases. That enables them to ID distant relatives of as-yet unknown suspects. Materials discovered with Holly’s remains have been maintained by the Massachusetts State Police.

In a statement, the DA’s office said investigators “use those connections to build family trees, narrow down possibilities, and, in some cases, identify offenders who have eluded justice for decades.”

By participating, people will receive information on their own family ancestry.

“Each new DNA sample has the power to bring us closer to the truth,” District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said in a statement. “Holly deserves justice, and her family deserves answers. This effort is about remembering her and using every available tool to find the person responsible.”

The office said the case remains open and active.

Anyone with information related to Holly’s murder can contact Holly’s Tip-Line at 413-426-3507. People can also use Text-a-Tip by texting the word CRIMES (2-7-4-6-3-7) and typing the word SOLVE into the body of the message, followed by the tip