June tour of Maple Grove Cemetery

The La Porte County Genealogical Society will hold its annual cemetery tour at 6 pm (Central time), Tuesday, June 12, at Maple Grove Cemetery on 1000 N, a quarter mile east of 700 E in Hudson Township.

This cemetery has been described as slightly spooky, perhaps because it is surrounded by maple and cedar trees and not much light enters the cemetery, giving it a rather dark appearance.  Dorothy Palmer and Gloria Arndt will discuss the history of the cemetery, as well as the Civil War veterans and War of 1812 veteran -- and the other people buried there.

Weather permitting, the society meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 7 pm at the Swanson Center for Older Adults, 910 State Street. The public is welcome at all meetings. Membership dues are $10 individual, $12 family.

It's not too late to apply for one or more residency certificates for 2012. Our web site at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inlcigs/categories.htm has information for those who believe they have La Porte County ancestors (and can prove it!). There's information on how to apply for First Families of La Porte (before December 1840), Pioneer Families (1841-1860), Settler Families (1861-1880), and Civil War Families (1861-1865).

You can also read or search back issues of the society's newsletter, December 2005 through December 2009, including genealogical and historical information from members' research and abstracting work in local records, on our blog at http://lpcgs.blogspot.com.

April meeting wrapup

A few seats are still available on the April 18 bus to the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center, leaving Michigan City at 7 am and La Porte at 7:30, returning in time for supper. You can't drive there any cheaper or faster. The annual research trip is co-sponsored by the Michigan City Public Library and the La Porte County Genealogical Society. Details on the society web site, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inlcigs/printable.pdf.

At the April 10 meeting, the members discussed 1940 census indexing, the bus trip, and the program provided by Kathlyn Sonntag of the Lake Station Historical Society on the Bailly families and their homestead. The program was well illustrated with old photographs and out-of-print books. At the May 8 meeting, David Nowicki will speak on Polish and Latin documents.

Weather permitting, the society meets at the Swanson Center for Older Adults, 910 State Street, La Porte, on the second Tuesday of each month at 7 pm. The public is welcome at all meetings. Membership dues are $10 individual, $12 family.

It's not too early to apply for one or more residency certificates for 2012. Our web site at has information for those who believe they have La Porte County ancestors (and can prove it!). There's information on how to apply for First Families of La Porte (before December 1840), Pioneer Families (1841-1860), Settler Families (1861-1880), and Civil War Families (1861-1865).

You can also read or search back issues of the society's newsletter, December 2005 through December 2009, including genealogical and historical information from members' research and abstracting work in local records, on our blog at http://lpcgs.blogspot.com.

April meeting

Have you visited the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore's Bailly Homestead and Chellberg Farm and wondered about the families who lived there? Come hear Kathlyn Sonntag talk about them at the La Porte County Genealogical Society's meeting 7 pm Tuesday, April 10, at the Swanson Center for Older Adults, 910 State Street.

Weather permitting, the society meets there on the second Tuesday of each month at 7 pm. The public is welcome at all meetings. Membership dues are $10 individual, $12 family.

The society's annual bus trip to the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne is Wednesday, April 18. Paid reservations are due by March 30 -- use the form on our web site at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inlcigs/printable.pdf.

It's not too early to apply for one or more residency certificates for 2012. Our web site at has information for those who believe they have La Porte County ancestors (and can prove it!). There's information on how to apply for First Families of La Porte (before December 1840), Pioneer Families (1841-1860), Settler Families (1861-1880), and Civil War Families (1861-1865).

You can also read or search back issues of the society's newsletter, December 2005 through December 2009, including genealogical and historical information from members' research and abstracting work in local records, on our blog at http://lpcgs.blogspot.com.

March meeting

Have you found something in your genealogical research that may not be related to your family, but is too good not to pass along? Then bring it to the meeting of the La Porte County Genealogical Society 7 pm Tuesday, March 13, at the Swanson Center for Older Adults, 910 State Street. Members and friends will share their favorite "lucky finds" of all sorts.

Weather permitting, the society meets there on the second Tuesday of each month at 7 pm. The public is welcome at all meetings. Membership dues are $10 individual, $12 family.

The society's annual bus trip to the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne is Wednesday, April 18. Paid reservations are due by March 30 -- use the form on our web site at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inlcigs/printable.pdf.

It's not too early to apply for one or more residency certificates for 2012. Our web site at has information for those who believe they have La Porte County ancestors (and can prove it!). There's information on how to apply for First Families of La Porte (before December 1840), Pioneer Families (1841-1860), Settler Families (1861-1880), and Civil War Families (1861-1865).

You can also read or search back issues of the society's newsletter, December 2005 through December 2009, including genealogical and historical information from members' research and abstracting work in local records, on our blog at http://lpcgs.blogspot.com.

February meeting recap

The La Porte County Genealogical Society met on February 14. Alan Zeller and Harold Henderson presented a two-part program on the 1940 census -- Harold on what information will be in it, and Alan on how he has been finding enumeration districts and addresses for where his relatives lived that year. This is crucial information since the census will not have a name index when it is first unveiled on April 2.

The society's annual all-day bus trip to the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center will be April 21, and paid-up reservations are due by the end of March. Details are on the society web site and a form for signup is available at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inlcigs/printable.pdf. It's amazing how much more you can get done when you don't have to drive the four-hour round trip! The bus will hold 42 people, and eleven have signed up so far. All books there are in open stacks and advice is available on the bus if it will be your first time visiting. This is one of the best genealogy libraries in the country.

The society will meet next on March 13, when the program will be members' discoveries of serendipity or trivia, not necessarily related to their own families, especially in local newspapers.

The society meets at 7:15 pm on the second Tuesday of each month at the Swanson Center for Older Adults, 910 State Street, La Porte, weather permitting. The public is welcome at all meetings.

It's not too late to apply for La Porte County residency certificates; the deadline for submitting a documented application is July 31. Our web site at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inlcigs/ has information for those who believe they have La Porte County ancestors (and can prove it!). There's information on how to apply for First Families of La Porte (before December 1840), Pioneer Families (1841-1860), Settler Families (1861-1880), and Civil War Families (1861-1865).

You can also read or search back issues of the society's newsletter, December 2005 through December 2009, including genealogical and historical information from members' research and abstracting work in local records, on our blog at http://lpcgs.blogspot.com.

Photo added to Genealogist of the Year post

We have at last added a photograph to the December 14 post on Fern Eddy Schultz's being selected as the society's second Genealogist of the Year. And here it is as well!
Left: Fern Eddy Schultz. Right: Dorothy Palmer.

1940 census meeting February 14

Seventy-two years and one day after the 1940 US census was taken, its handwritten house-by-house returns will be made public on line April 2, 2012.

What questions were asked -- and answered -- by the 132 million Americans then living?

How can today's researchers find their families when there is no name index yet?

The La Porte County Genealogical Society will meet at 7 pm Tuesday, February 14, weather permitting, at the Swanson Center for Older Adults, 910 State Street. Following a short business meeting, Alan Zeller and Harold Henderson will answer these questions and more.

The society meets there on the second Tuesday of each month at 7 pm. The public is welcome at all meetings. Membership dues are $10 individual, $12 family.

It's not too early to apply for one or more residency certificates for 2012. Our web site at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inlcigs/ has information for those who believe they have La Porte County ancestors (and can prove it!). There's information on how to apply for First Families of La Porte (before December 1840), Pioneer Families (1841-1860), Settler Families (1861-1880), and Civil War Families (1861-1865).

You can also read or search back issues of the society's newsletter, December 2005 through December 2009, including genealogical and historical information from members' research and abstracting work in local records, on our blog at http://lpcgs.blogspot.com.