July meeting

On Tuesday, July 12, Mattie Sue McMillan Dunlap, a 100-year-old resident of Michigan City, will tell the La Porte County Genealogical Society her story of growing up African-American in the South and moving to the North.

The society's board will meet at 6:30 pm, followed by the business meeting at 7:15 pm, and then the program -- all at the Swanson Center for Older Adults, 910 State Street, La Porte. The society meets at 7 pm on the second Tuesday of each month at the Swanson Center, weather permitting. The public is welcome at all meetings.

The June meeting was the exception, when the society visits and learns about a county cemetery. On June 14 more than a dozen members and guests convened at the Eahart-Reed Cemetery in New Durham Township. A copy of the listing of internments copied from the Pioneer Cemeteries website was provided, as well as a partial list of veterans buried there. After the visit, ten members and guests assembled at Denny's Restaurant in Michigan City.

It's not too early to apply for one or more residency certificates for 2011. Our web site 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.

June genealogy meeting recap

President Alan Zeller on the La Porte society's June cemetery tour:

Last Tuesday, 14 June 2011, about thirteen members and guests of the LPCIGS convened at the Eahart-Reed Cemetery in New Durham township. A copy of the listing of interments copied from the Pioneer Cemeteries website was provided, as well as a partial list of veterans buried there.
After the visit, ten members and guests assembled at Denny's Restaurant in Michigan City, where they enjoyed some discussion of the cemetery and of genealogy.

Former La Porte postmaster William Banks on WeRelate

William Allen Banks (1836-1904) was a progressive farmer and La Porte postmaster. A thorough biography page on him has been posted at the WeRelate wiki (which is affiliated with the Allen County Public Library and claims to be the world's largest genealogy wiki). Alan Zeller notes that it is the featured post on the site as of June 14. The full biographical site, with source citations, is here. It's a great sample of what people can do on this collaborative website.