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.