Southeastern Colorado Genealogical Society

Next Southeastern Colorado Genealogical Society meeting will be March 11, 2023 at the Pueblo West Library located at 298 S. Joe Martinez Blvd in Pueblo West at 1pm. From 1-2pm we will have the regular Society meeting and discussion and at 2pm Pat Stuckey will present a program on "Finding Names of Female Ancestors"
There is no fee - BUT if you are interested in joining our Society, please do so. ALL are welcome to attend from noon on AND we look forward to seeing you.

Don’t miss out on this awesome event!! Put it on your calendar, August 3rd 😃

DON’T FORGET ABOUT THIS AWESOME EVENT ON JULY 7th AT 10 AM!! Pre-registrations are due June 28th!! 🤗 If you have any question please feel free to call (719)-250-5782 👍 We hope to see everyone there! 😁

🚨REMINDER🚨 There will be a tour of the Steelworks Museum, June 2nd @ 12:30pm with Archives Research @ 2. Make sure to mark your calendars and we hope to see everyone there!!! 😃

On November 5th, our own Craig Garcia gave a very informative presentation about two of the most popular DNA databases, Ancestry.com and FamilyTree DNA. Craig began pursuing his family history in earnest about a year ago and has delved heavily into the DNA side of genealogical research. He pointed out the features of both websites and answered many questions from the meeting attendees. Craig emphasized that one must have the paper to back up the DNA. He also explained the AncestryDNA ethnicity breakdown, DNA matches and DNA circles. He told us that a more complete and shared tree is the best way to find your DNA matches. On the FamilyTree DNA side he explained the Family Finder and the many combination of tests available for purchase. Even though Craig has only been searching his family history for a short time, his enthusiasm for research, DNA and genealogy education has made him a definite asset for the Southeastern Colorado Genealogical Society. We are very grateful for his willingness to speak at our November 5th meeting and we look forward to any additional information he will present to us in the future!

On Saturday, April 2nd, our own C. Jacob Hobson, member of the Southeastern Colorado Genealogical Society since August 2015, presented a fascinating program about his 20 plus years of experiences in Middle America. He talked about the way the different villages identified their inhabitants through their unique clothing and customs. He also explained the naming conventions and marriage customs the peoples of these areas use. This was very interesting to us, as genealogists, and was ably illustrated through Jacob’s own original documents and artifacts. Jacob’s personal insight, stories of his time there and sense of humor made this a presentation that appealed to all in attendance. We look forward to learning more from Jacob’s fount of knowledge from his time in Middle America.

The March 12th Genealogy Studies and Program were both interesting and inspiring for our attendees. The Genealogy Studies session was a hands-on experience that involved a quick overview of old handwriting and tips for transcribing documents. The members were then tasked with partnering up and trying their hand at transcribing a couple of sample documents. Everyone was surprised at how difficult transcribing old handwriting can be. Everyone was encouraged to practice, because as we know practice makes perfect!

Our guest speaker, Vickie Smejkal, then gave a fascinating talk that showcased her research and efforts at identifying individuals in Riverside Cemetery, specifically in the Potters Field in Block 12. The approximately 3885 babies that are buried in Block 12 drew Vickie and her friend, Diane Nygaard, to find out who those babies were. Her presentation included how she and Diane mapped the area and used the small stone markers and an overhead satellite image of Block 12 as an aide in finding the markers. She also talked about some unique grave stones and gave tips on doing cemetery research. I, for one, was enthralled. Vickie has a website in which she is documenting her research of “Riverside, Denver’s Pioneer Cemetery”. I encourage you all to visit it to keep abreast of the progress Vickie and Diane are making in recording the graves in “Denver’s Potters Field.”

We had a full house at the February meeting of the Southeastern Colorado Genealogical Society this past Saturday! In the Genealogical Studies session, members and guests alike learned about four of the most popular genealogy software programs available. We talked about RootsMagic, Legacy Family Tree, Family Tree Maker and My Heritage Family Tree Builder. I hope this helped folks understand some of their choices when it comes to genealogy software. Our second session was an incredibly informative overview of Fold3.com presented by Sandy Ronayne, president of the Colorado Genealogical Society. Fold3 is a subscription based web site that gives users access to US military records. Even though it is a fee-based site, Sandy showed us samples of the many free documents available to users. She also demonstrated how easy it is to find military documents related to our ancestors who served in the military. Sandy also talked about the many non-military records available. I will absolutely give the 7-day free trial a go! In addition, Sandy generously brought two door prizes to give away: a one year subscription to Fold3 and a one year subscription to Newspapers.com! Thank you, Sandy, for a wonderful and informative presentation!

It is time to renew your Southeastern Colorado Genealogical Society membership or become a new member! You can download our membership form at http://secogensoc.org/SECGS_Membership_form_2016.pdf. With membership you will receive our outstanding quarterly publication, Pinon Whispers.

We hope that you will be able to attend our regularly scheduled monthly meetings. In February and March our meetings will be held on the second Saturday of the month. Starting in April, our monthly meetings will be moved to the first Saturday of the month. We will hold a full day seminar in partnership with the Rawlings Library and the FACC chapter of the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America on June 11, 2016. Please look for more information to come about the seminar as the date gets closer. Our meetings consist of a Genealogy Studies session and a program presented by a guest speaker. We also are still meeting at the Rawlings Library at 100 E. Abriendo in Pueblo, Colorado.

Our website at secogensoc.org provides excellent resource information about the society. Our Society email is [email protected]. Like us here on Facebook where you will find notifications about upcoming programs and other Society news.

Southeastern Colorado Genealogical Society The Southeastern Colorado Genealogical Society organized in April 1978 to foster interest in genealogy, preserve genealogical materials, and educate in effective and accurate techniques of research.

This past Saturday, Jennifer Moore Lowe gave an enlightening, informative and highly entertaining presentation to the members of the Southeastern Colorado Genealogical Society at the Rawlings Library in Pueblo. Jennifer knows her material well and everyone was riveted to the story of Cotopaxi, Colorado and the Jewish immigrants who settled there in 1882. Her research is well documented and does a great job in supporting the facts about the Cotopaxi settlers and what their lives were like in the high altitude and arid land of Fremont County. All attendees learned something new, either about the Jewish settlers or about how to conduct sound genealogical research. Thank you, Jennifer!

Next Month's Meeting
Jennifer Lowe will be presenting at the Southeastern Colorado Genealogy Society’s meeting on Saturday, 1/9/2016, at 12:30 pm located at the Rawlings Library, 100 E Abriendo, Pueblo CO 81004

The topic for the presentation will be The Cotopaxi Colony - The Jewish Immigrants

In this presentation, we will learn the history of the Jews who arrived in Cotopaxi in 1882. We’ll look at some interesting research techniques like how to use land maps to build a story and how to drag information out of local government offices. We’ll create our own version of “yiddish” in order to do better research. All the while, we’ll talk about the true story of Cotopaxi and how that’s been altered over the last 133 years to meet the needs of whoever is telling the story.

Was Emanuel Saltiel a “good guy”? or did he wear a black hat? Were the Russian immigrants really mistreated? or was it just a matter of circumstances….the wrong place at the wrong time? We’ll talk about creating fictional history and what that does to actual history.

This presentation will be very interactive, so come prepared to ask your questions and discover the still unresolved murder/mystery that will give you new insight into what it was like to live in the wild west in 1882!!!