Projects ::: Western Michigan Genealogical Society - A genealogy society in west Michigan especially Kent County and the surrounding counties of Ottawa, Muskegon, Newaygo, Montcalm, Ionia, Barry, and Allegan.

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Western Michigan
Genealogical Society
c/o Grand Rapids
Public Library
111 Library Street NE
Grand Rapids, MI
49503-3268
Email - wmgs@wmgs.org

PROJECTS

DINING WITH THE DEAD

A Cemetery Walk scheduled July 17, 2010 is called Dining with the Dead. WMGS will be hosting a Cemetery Picnic, Walk & Work Day at the St. Peter & Paul Cemetery on the corner of Preston and Richmond NW, Grand Rapids. We are looking for people to help us transcribe the tombstones. We will be working in pairs. You can bring a significant other to work with or we can assign you a partner. WMGS will provide supplies (clipboards, paper, pens, etc.) and drinks. Please bring a dish to pass for the picnic lunch. The project may be continued on July 18 if needed. Please register in advance at the June 12 meeting/program at the GRPL or by contacting Wanda Schottler at wandaschottler@gmail.com. Once you have signed up, you will be sent additional information and instructions.

WMGS OBITUARY INDEX LINKING PROJECT

Linking the WMGS Obituaries to actual death records is a new project begun in May. We are seeking volunteers to link the results in WMGS’ online newspaper obituary database to the images of death certificates at SeekingMichigan.org. This is a project that can be done at home with your computer. This is a great opportunity to hone your search skills at SeekingMichigan.org. You can sign up at the June meeting or contact the Project Leader, Don Bryant (email:president@wmgs.org)

WMGS CHURCH RECORD INDEXING PROJECT

We are seeking volunteers to transcribe early West Michigan church records. This is a project that can be done at home on your computer. You will be recording the surname, given name, Church name and page number for each record. You can sign up for packets that will be handed out at the June meeting or contact the Project Leader, Roger Moffat (email: DataMaster@wmgs.org) for a packet.

GRAND RAPIDS PRESS AND GRAND RAPIDS HERALD OBITUARY INDEX

This fully searchable database of our obituary index. Roger Moffat updates this index as more information becomes available. This means you can type in a name or part of a name and all obits for that name will be reported to you. No need to look in more than one place. Included are 1910 through current. Try it on your computer or one at a library. http://data.wmgs.org

Pat Rademaker and crew has done a terrific job of going through the newspapers and extracting the name and date of the person with an obituary notice. This has been a tremendous undertaking and our society has benefited a great deal from this project. If you can help with this process please see one of the librarians in the Michigan History Area of the Grand Rapids Public Library and they will get you all set up.

The other side of this project is looking up the obituaries that people order because of the online index we have. If you can help in this area please call or write to one of the board members and we will get your name to the right coordinators of that project.

TAKE HOME TYPING PROJECTS

Small projects are always available at the WMGS monthly meetings to be taken home and typed. Any and all help is welcome!

*Includes Kent County and the counties immediately surrounding; namely Ottawa, Muskegon, Newaygo, Montcalm, Ionia, Barry and Allegan Counties. There is some extension beyond these counties into other areas of the Western Lower Peninsula.