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 5:30 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.

To become a member or to renew your membership, click here

To make a donation, click here.

Genealogy Program January 27

If you’re looking to learn more about your family history, you’re in the right place! On Monday evening, 27 January at 5:30 pm in the Genealogy Room at the Gibson Memorial Library, 200 West Howard Street, Creston or over Zoom, you will learn genealogy for beginners and gain a detailed understanding of how to kickstart your family history research.

The Union County Genealogical Society (UCGS) will kick-off their 2025 meeting year with “Genealogy 101” program, followed by their monthly meeting. The presentation will be taught by Terry Madison, experienced Genealogy Librarian with the Gibson Memorial Library.

So. if this is the year you want to get started on your family history research, for a school project, a Scout Badge, a 4-H project or just for yourself, this class will give you the tools.

Pre-registration is requested for planning purposes for the speaker either on-line at our website, https://unioncgts.org under the Roots Seller tab or by calling 515.868.1415. If registering for Zoom, be sure to include your email address so that we can send you the link to join the meeting. For information on future Society presentations and monthly programs for 2025, check out the society’s website or Face Book pages.

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.

How to Analyze Your Research

Check out this excellent article by Any Johnson Crow 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.

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
Free access to the MyHeritage website
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.

Iowa PBS and IGS Together Again

Green tree on a white background with the text Genealogy Workshop

Iowa PBS is partnering with the Iowa Genealogical Society to offer a beginner to intermediate genealogy workshop series,

Genealogy for All: Essential Tools, Records and DNA Insights.

This series will consist of four (4) two-hour sessions focused on the public records individuals can research in order to find more information about their ancestors.

Each session will feature a combination of lecture and discussion, question and answer time and a homework assignment relating to your family search. The Zoom webinars will be recorded and registrants can view the sessions later; however, because this workshop is interactive, we encourage all registrants to attend the live sessions in order to get the most out of the series.

These sessions will provide valuable information to guide researchers as they dive into genealogical pursuits and each session will use Iowa examples.

Registration is $100 and includes access to all four sessions, the recordings and any supplemental materials provided by the instructors. Registered attendees will receive each workshop recording within 48 hours after the workshop.

To register go to www.iowagenealogy.org

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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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