Union County Genealogical Society

Welcome...

to the new Union County Genealogical Society website, a work in progress.  Check back with us often as new information will be added by our volunteers.
 
The Union County Genealogical Society is dedicated to meeting the educational needs of their members through the preservation of the county's public records, cemetery records, newspapers and family histories for research by future generations.
 
UCGS is a 501(c)3 non-profit and contributions are tax deductible.  Contributions are used to purchase genealogy materials housed at the Matilda Gibson Public Library in Creston, provide additional offerings on our website and assist in providing quality educational genealogy programs.  UCGS is a member of the Iowa Genealogical Society.  
 
Monthly Membership Meetings
UCGS meets on the 4th Monday of each month except December at 6:00 PM in the Genealogy Room at the Matilda Gibson Memorial Library located at 200 West Howard Street in Creston, Iowa and are also available via Zoom. Membership meetings are open to the public.  For information on additional educational opportunities in genealogical research, check out our Events page.  

Union County Fair Genealogy-History Winners

Sweepstakes winners were Patsy Arnold and Saundra Clem Leininger.  Best of Show was Saundra Clem Leininger with an exhibit of wedding clothes from an 1894 Luxembourg wedding.  The Reserve Best of Show was awarded to Patsy Arnold for Bob Arnold’s Diary.  Brock Driskill was awarded the Junior Best of Show. A Children's Genealogy and History Coloring Contest was held and the Union County Genealogical Society held a free Beginning Genealogy Workshop.
Children’s Coloring Contest Winners
0-6 years old; 1st Place-Milah Frazier; 2nd Place-Mason Sheeley; 3rd Place-Camryn Henry
7-10 years old: 1st Place-Ava Sheeley; 2nd Place-Ella Anne Pearson; 3rd Place-Paisley ?
11-16 years old; 1st Place-Quynn Foster; 2nd Place- Emily Henry; 3rd Place-Riley Kinsella
Division I Records & Legal Documents
Class 3 Old Marriage Record; Blue- Saundra Clem Leininger; Red- Patsy Arnold
Class 4 Old Birth Certificate: Blue- Patsy Arnold; Red Tie-Phyllis Keller Keller; Saundra Clem Leininger
Class 5 Old Land Grant, Deed, Mortgage or Abstract; Blue-Saundra Clem Leininger
Class 7 Old Will/Probate Records; Blue-Jane Briley
Class 8 Old Letter: Blue -Patsy Arnold
Class 9 Old School Records: Blue- Retta Ripperger
Class 11 Church Records: Blue-Saundra Clem  Leininger
Class 15 Death Records; Blue-Patsy Arnold; Red-Saundra Clem Leininger
Class 16 Medical Records; Blue-Retta Ripperger
Class 18 Any Related Item; Blue-Saundra Clem Leininger; Red- Retta Ripperger; White- Patsy Arnold
Division II Books and Stories
Class 21 Old Diary; Blue Patsy Arnold
Class 25 Scrapbook by Entrant; Blue-Patsy Arnold; Red-Retta Ripperger
Class 27 Family Story Told by ancestor; Blue- Retta Ripperger
Class 28 Miscellaneous; Blue- Patsy Arnold
Division III Charts, Maps
Class 29 Maps; Blue- Patsy Arnold; Red-Retta Ripperger
Class 30 Family Tree, Lineage, or Pedigree Chart: Blue-Retta Ripperger; Red-Phyllis Keller
Division IV Single Pictures
Class 34 Ancestral Home; Blue -Retta Ripperger; Red-Patsy Arnold
Class 35 Ancestral Church; Blue-Saundra Clem Leininger; Red-Retta Ripperger
Class 36 Large Family Group (8 x 10 or over); Blue-Retta Ripperger; Red-Denise Fisk
Class 38 Family Group (less than 8 x 10); Blue-Patsy Arnold; Red Tied-Retta Ripperger; Saundra Clem Leininger
Class 39 Wedding; Blue-Jane Briley; Red-Saundra Clem Leininger; White-Patsy Arnold
Class 40 Baby; Blue-Patsy Arnold; Red-Saundra Clem Leininger
Class 41 Individual Picture of Ancestor; Blue-Retta Ripperger; Red-Tied by Patsy Arnold; Saundra Clem Leininger
Class 44 Miscellaneous; Blue- Retta Ripperger; Red-Tied by Jane Briley; Saundra Clem  Leininger
Class 45 Early Farm Life; Blue-Saundra Leininger
Division V Pictures in Display with Related Items
Class 46 Pictorial Family History; Blue-Jane Briley
Class 49 Ancestral Church; Blue-Saundra Leininger
Class 55 Miscellaneous; Blue- Terry Madison; ;Red-Patsy Arnold; White-Retta Ripperger
Division VI Heirlooms and Artifacts
Class 58-Glassware; Blue-Blake Fry Schormeier
Class 60 Small Household Item; Blue-Retta Ripperger
Class 63- Linens; Blue-Retta Ripperger
Class 64 A-Casual Clothing; Blue-Phyllis Keller
Class 64 B-Formal Clothing; Blue-Saundra Clem Leininger
Class 66 Religious; Blue-Leslie Brumfield
Class 69 Old Auction Sale Bill; Blue- Patsy Arnold
Class 70 A Poem/Song/Art (Historical Artifact); Blue-Blake Fry Schormeier
Class 70 B Poem/Song/Art by Ancestor; Blue-Retta Ripperger; Red-Patsy Arnold
Class 72 Miscellaneous; Blue-Blake Fry Schormeier; Red-Tied by Retta Ripperger; Patsy Arnold
Division VII Funeral and Cemetery
Class 73 Funeral Memorabilia; Blue-Saundra Clem Leininger
Class 74 Family Stone Photograph; Blue-Phyllis Keller; Red-Retta Ripperger; White-Patsy Arnold
Class 76 Cemetery Project; Blue-Saundra Clem Leininger; Red-Patsy Arnold
Class 77 Obituary; Blue-Patsy Arnold; Red-Saundra Clem Leininger
Division VIII Historical
Class 82 Historical Item; Blue-Saundra Clem Leininger
Division IX Research
Class 83 A Historical by Entrant; Blue-Jane Briley
Class 83 B Genealogical by Entrant; Blue-Saundra Clem Leininger; Red-Dixie Shinkle
Division X Juniors
Class 92 Heirlooms & Artifacts; Blue- Brock Driskill
 

Special Interest Groups at IGS

The Iowa Genealogical Society has nine Special Interest Groups.  Special Interest Groups are a great way to network with others.  Participation is a benefit of an Iowa Genealogical Society membership.  If you are not a member yet, you may attend 1 complimentary meeting.  Select the Group that you wish to learn about.  The following is a list of the groups and the time that they meet. All times are in the Central Time Zone.
  1. Ancestry Interest Group meets the Second Sunday of the month at 1:00 pm. Register in advance.  Whether you have a paid or a free Ancestry subscription, this group will help you learn the ins and outs of Ancestry.
  2. DNA Interest Group meets the First Tuesday of every month at 6:30 pm. Free. Register in advance.  The DNA group discusses various testing companies, what they have to offer as well as tools and techniques for reviewing your DNA matches to identify family.
  3. Family Tree Maker Group meets the Second Sunday of the month at 3:00 p.m. Free Register in advance. Learn how to take advantage of the features of the Family Tree Maker genealogy software.
  4. German Interest Group: This meeting occurs at 7:00 pm on the first Monday of every month. This meeting gives attendees the opportunity to share knowledge about German research.  You will find experienced researchers, translators, and travelers with extensive personal knowledge of the various regions in Germany.
  5. Irish Interest Group meets the Third Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. Free Register in advance. Emphasis is divided between documenting the family in the US to uncover the county of their Irish origins and using Irish resources.
  6. Legacy Interest Group meets the Third Thursday of every month at 1 p.m. This group learns how to use the Legacy Family Tree software as more than just a method of storing names, dates, and places.
  7. Norwegian Interest Group meets the Fourth Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. This group specializes in locating, reading the script, and translating the five vital categories of digitalized church records and the population censuses.
  8. Publishing & Preserving Family History Interest Group meets the Fourth Sunday of every month at 1:30 p.m. This group discusses a variety of topics that will help you be a better storyteller and writer and how to use the available technology to help you in the writing process.
  9. RootsMagic Interest Group meets the Second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. Please register in advance.  This group is for software users of RootsMagic.  It is a great place to share with others and learn how to get more out of the software that you already own.
Many if not all of these groups are available over Zoom.  To learn more, contact IGS at 515. (515) 276-0287, igs@iowagenealogy.org or visit www.iowagenealogy.org

Membership in Iowa Genealogical Society

 Your membership in the IGS contributes to the preservation of genealogical and family history records.  Benefits of membership are:
  • Access to IGS research facility
  • Access to FamilySearch affliage records when in the IGS Library
  • Access to Ancestry Library Edition when in the IGS Library
  • Bimonthly newsletter
  • Discounts on classes and conferences and research fees
  • Networking opportunities
  • Join a Special Interest Group
  • Email notification of upcoming events and classes
  • Access to genealogy interest groups
  • Access to free queries in Hawkeye Heritage
  • There are annual spring and fall conferences with lectures, workshops, and vendors.  To become a member of IGS go to IowaGenealogy.org and click on membership. 

New Research Links

Several new resarch resources have been added to the Research Links page.  A DNA catagory has been added with several sites to visit.  Check them out.  Check back offen as more are being added in the future.

The Best Social Media Accounts for Genealogy

Check out this excellent article by Rachel Christian on our latest blog post.

Free Resources to Assist With Your Research

Explore upcoming webinars on Legacy Family Tree Webinars at https://familytreewebinars.com/upcoming-webinars/  They are free the day of the webinar and for the next seven days so you can fit them into your schedule when convenient. They can help you learn new techniques and resources. 
 
Check out the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) award winning website, americanancestors.org     As the online repository for more than 1.4 billion searchable names from America and beyond.  Although their name says New England, they provide expertise and research across American family history.  This is a membership organization but they provide some in-depth learning online seminars, and lectures that are free.
 
Also check out our Research Links page for more FREE websites that can assist you with your research from the comfort of your home.  Do you have a good site link that you would like to share?  If so, please emai it to unioncgs.org for consideration.  If you find a link that is no longer dworking, please let us know so that we can correct it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~         
BEHOLD the Work of the Old…..
Let your Heritage not be lost.
But bequest it as a Memory,
Treasure and Blessing…..
Gather the lost and hidden,
And preserve it for thy Children.
                    Christian Metz, 1846
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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UCGS Celebrates Ruby Anniversary

40th Anniversary Picture
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                                   Charter members at the 40th Anniversary of the Society organization.
 

November 25
Annual Meeting and Christmas Party
Program: Christmas Tradition of an Immigrant Ancestor Presenters: Society Members
March 28
Monthly Meeting