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By Ginger Smith, January 20, 2012

Monday, January 30,  6:00 PM– 

Get Organized: GO Month – Truths and Myths About Being Organized:

Ever wondered how to get that organized look out of a magazine? Lori Bruhns, time management consultant and professional organizer, will share the truths and myths about being organized and what is real and realistic about getting and staying organized. January is Get Organized Month, so kick off the year with some great tips from Lori. Find out more or register online at the Orange County Public Library.

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By Ginger Smith, January 13, 2012

Bennett place – Durham Civil War Roundtable – 19 January, 2012 from 6:30 PM until 9:00 PM.

The Durham Civil War Roundtable is open to the public with an annual membership fee of $15.00 to cover the cost of guest speakers, refreshments, and administrative costs.

Click for map

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By Ginger Smith, January 5, 2012

Here are the meeting minutes from our D-OGS monthly meeting held on January 4, 2012 at the Christ Church Meeting Place at 105 Market Street, Chapel Hill.

D-OGS Meeting, 4 January 2011

The new President, Fred Mowry, introduced himself and asked for visitors to introduce themselves. There were 11 members in attendance and 5 guests/visitors.

Fred introduced the officers: Ginger Smith as Secretary and Webmaster, Ginny Thomas as Treasurer, Karen Vance is an At Large Director, Rob as an At Large Director, Richard as Newsletter Editor, Peg Edwards as Membership Director.

Richard introduced the speaker as Ann Myhre.

The topic was “The War of 1812 in the Lower South – The Rest of the Story” by Ann Myhre

The PBS special that Carol Boggs sent to the mailing list was told from the perspective of the Canadian, British and New England researchers with very little mentioned about the South. The point of Ann’s talk was to give more of a perspective from the Southern Soldiers’ standpoint.

The Conditions Leading to War:

• Trade with France was impeded by the British
• There was an impressment of 6000+ US sailors
• British supported the Native Americans
• US expansionism into Canada
• US political conflict between North and South

She showed us a map of the US in 1812

She mentioned the USS Constitution which was called an “ironside” because it resisted Britain’s cannon balls. This is the oldest ship still in commission.

Scientific American article about the New Madrid MO earthquake, similar to the one that happened in VA last year; caused the Indians to take caution about the Americans who were taking their land. They thought it was a “sign”

• Fort Mims and Other Indian Battles consisted of Red Sticks (not Friendly Creek Indians) vs the Friendly Creeks

North Carolina:

• North Carolinians were divided

Tennessee:

• More people fought from TN than any other state
• Two of Ann’s ancestors fought

James McEwen (Ann’s 3^rd great-grandfather) was from Rowan Co., NC fought from Tennessee, son of David McEwen

• They moved to Madison Co., KY about 1790, then moved down to TN about 1797 with their cattle, horses, pigs, and sheep
• Their house is now on the Vanderbilt Legends Golf Course, which John and Ann visited in 2011
• Visited the Williamson Co., Historical society and they showed her the portraits of David McEwen, and James’ 2 brothers and nephew
• Ann also found a record on Ancestry.com for James McEwen as  a patroller against the slaves in Williamson Co
• Married Betsy Goff, daughter of Andrew Goff about 1804 and they had six children

Compiled military service records for 1812 cost $20 from NARA

• Captain James McEwen
• Pay was $40/mo
• Ann showed us the muster roll of his “company”
• Mustered in Dec 10, 1812 for 12 months
• They drilled on flat boats as they floated down to Natchez

John read a letter from Andrew Goff about what happened when they arrived at Natchez. They found that the enemy had backed out and Gen’l Jackson ordered them to return to Nashville.

Ann showed a photo of Natchez Trace from present day which is the trail they walked back on. Jackson paid for their travel back.

Ancestry.com has a free? Index for soldiers for the War of 1812 which tells you what unit they served in and who their commanding officer was.

Got called up again and James got promoted to Major.

Joel Henry Region/Regen

• Parents and date and place of birth unknown, was in Williamson Co., TN by 26 Sept 1813
• Also from Tennessee
• Was a private, mustered in Fayetteville
• Built Fort Strother and fought in the battle of Talladega
• Served under Christopher McEwen
• James made a total of $259.97, Joel only made $25.95 for pay. The difference between a private and a Captain/Major
• Joel Regan married Loretta Bateman

Battles of New Orleans:

The PBS special only mentioned 1 but there were actually 3 different battles.

Joel was involved in the Night Battle of New Orleans

The Treaty of Ghent ended the War, signed 24 Dec 1814, ratified by British 27 Dec and by the US 18 Feb 1815; But the Battles were still going on. The Americans gained fishing rights to the Greater St. Lawrence

Americans lost about 3,000 slaves

What the war accomplished:

For the US:

• Increased nationalism
• Increased in the Navy
• Demise of the Federalist Party

For Canada:

• Increased nationalism

For Britain:

• Return to status quo
• Return to trading with the US

For the indigenous people:

• They lost the most territory

Soldiers were allotted a certain number of acres based on how long they were enlisted for and how long they served for

Ann has provided this related information about the topic:

http://www.warof1812.ca/intro.html

http://www.ancestry.com/militaryrecords

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812

http://www.history.com/topics/war‐of‐1812

Business Meeting:

Ginny – Dec Treasury holds $3803.89 – from that, she paid $18 check for copy costs, brought in $300 deposits, including $200 check from Shirley Mallard for 10 yrs dues, final $4085.89

Ginger – the newsletter is posted to website, events are posted to the blog; and will be posted to the calendar

Peg – currently 155 members, 25 complimentary members who receive publications; she put a call out for volunteers for membership development

Fred – looking for volunteers to coordinate the Civil War workshop on Feb 25^th at Duke Homestead. A committee has been formed with Richard, Fred, Elias’; might have some slave records, scanning table, available records; Please let Fred, Richard, Cathy or Rob know if you would be interested in helping to put together a workshop for this event.

Next meeting will be Feb 1^st with Stuart Dunaway, talking about “The McCulloch Great Tracts – Their Impacts on Genealogy Research” will be at Bennett Place State Historic Site at 4409 Bennett Memorial Rd, Durham, NC.

Richard – NCGS spring meeting in Rocky Mount, March 31^st;

NC Museum of History – hosting a conservation assistance day; make an appointment, bring by your old documents to ask how to conserve it, on Jan 20^th, call Jan Sweat at 919-807-7023; Will not take live ammunition or items infested with mold or pests.

This Sunday they are doing the Music of the Carolina Series with Mr. Locklear, a Lumbee Indian who will be performing held at 3pm and is free.

NGS will be held this spring in Cincinnati.

Fred – In March, Mark Clinton will talk about State Land Grants; April – Allen Dew will talk about cemetery research and his website; May – Richard will discuss his new findings; June – David Southern, using maps for genealogical research; August – Show and Tell for members to talk about their projects; September – Carol Boggs will talk about things you find on the internet; October – Melanie Crane will talk about more advanced genealogy topics.

The computer interest group is still looking for a new moderator/leader.

There will be a genealogy workshop at the Senior Center taught by Margo next Wednesday. (She takes groups to SLC and teaches at Duke’s lifelong learning center).

End of Business

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By Ginger Smith, January 3, 2012

Peggy Boswell will be talking about the Scott Collection. The Alamance County Genealogical Society meets the second Monday of each month except June, July and August, at 7:00 p.m., at the Western Steak House, 142 N. Graham-Hopedale Road Burlington, NC 27215

Click for map

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By Ginger Smith, January 3, 2012

The January 2012 D-OGS Meeting will be held on Wednesday evening, 4 January, 2012 at 7 p.m. at the Christ United Methodist Church offices in Southern Village, south of Chapel Hill on US 15-501. The street address is 105 Market Street, rooms 103 & 105. Here is a map: http://tinyurl.com/cby3fyt. This address is the office building for Christ Church and is across the street from the church. There is parking on the streets around the church.

Our speaker for January will be D-OGS member Ann Myhre. Ann’s topic will be “The War of 1812 in the Lower South – the Rest of the Story.” James McEwen, Ann’s great-great-great-grandfather, served as a Captain and a Major in the war in the lower South. He and other members of his family left stories about the war and their service from their perspective. A great-great-grandfather, Joel Regen, also served but left only official records; he was a private. What official records are available for those who served, and how do we find them?

Ann Regen Myhre grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee, but has lived in Garner more than two-thirds of her life. She has a BA and an MS in Biology from East Tennessee State University and a BS from NCSU. She has taught, worked in a lab and was a church administrator. She began her genealogy search over 55 years ago and has researched her ancestors and those of her family members in New England, the South including Texas, the upper Midwest, Canada, Norway and the Czech Republic. She and husband John have two married children and two grandchildren.

Ann has provided this related information about the topic:

http://www.warof1812.ca/intro.html

http://www.ancestry.com/militaryrecords

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812

http://www.history.com/topics/war‐of‐1812

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By Ginger Smith, November 21, 2011

The next general meeting of the Durham-Orange Genealogical Society (D-OGS) will be held on Wednesday evening, 7 December 2011 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Golden Corral on NC55, just south of the intersection of NC54 and NC55. Address: 5006 NC Highway 55, Durham, NC 27713, (919) 544-2275 – Map. There is a “Senior Discount,” if you qualify.

This is not a regular meeting. There will be no speaker or fixed program. This is our annual “birthday party” for everyone to enjoy. Come and enjoy the fellowship of your fellow D-OGS members and their guests. Dress will be as formal or casual as you require.

When you arrive, pay for your meal and proceed to the back right of the restaurant to their meeting/party room. This is a good time to bring your spouse, a significant other, friend or potential new member so that you can introduce them to all those people that you have mentioned during the last year – yes, we plan on having name tags.

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By Ginger Smith, September 27, 2011

The next D-OGS meeting will be Wednesday, October 5th at 7pm at Duke Homestead.
Map

The speaker will be Thomas H. Krakauer, Ph.D. He will be speaking about the Museum of Durham History, a new virtual community that ties elements of Durham’s past together into a cohesive story for generations to come. More information can be found on their website at the Museum of Durham History.

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By Ginger Smith, September 15, 2011

Thanks to Bill Reid for bringing this to our attention:

**For those of you who are planning to attend the D-OGS Computer Interest Group that is starting back up again this Saturday at 9 am at the Orange County Public Library**

Hey Gang . Listen up! *PARKING !*:

The County has rented parking for the library on the BOTTOM floor of the
parking deck (which is between the library and Weaver Street Market). You
can enter the deck on the bottom by driving past the front of the Market all
the way to the end. Turn right through the gate and go straight as far as
you can and park there. Take the elevator (or climb the stairs) to library
level, turn right for the exit and walk down to the 2nd building.You’re
there..

OR

From Churton St. take Margret to the west. Turn left into the road next to
the library and park if you can find an open space (some are limited time).
If there in nothing open in front of the 2 buildings..Don’t panic. Drive
straight to the gate at the entrance to the Parking deck. It’ll open. Drive
to the bottom deck and park as described above.

I was told yesterday that you will need a number to get out of the Deck. You
can get it in the library.

Sorry this is so complicated but the deck is privately owned (County is
saving $$) and the owner is making all the rules.

Hope to see you there, I need lots of help… Bill Reid

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By Ginger Smith, September 14, 2011

From Carol Boggs:

Finally!  We have heard from the library and we will meet at the  Orange County Public Library in Hillsborough for our “Rally ’round the CIG” get  together this Saturday, September 17, from 9am to 11am.

We may bring  food, drinks, etc. but must bag out what we bag in and try not to leave crumbs.  <G>

Please plan to bring a friend, neighbor, spouse, or any  newbie who may be interested in any way in what we do at our  meetings. Our meeting will be truncated by the dollar as you will have seen from  the previous message, but that’s all right this time. Two hours will do.

Bring along articles, URLs, resources (or resource people!) to share with  the group. We will discuss what we want to do from here forward and see if there  is a pattern or system that meets our needs. Please think this through ahead of  time so we won’t waste any of our valuable fun learning time head-scratching  over administrative details.

So much has gone on in the world of genealogy since we last met that we  will have no lack of subjects to discuss. Did you see that Ancestry’s stock took  a dive recently? What else is new that pertains to technology and rooting around  in our ancestors’ lives? I’m looking forward to hearing all about it.

With great relief,

Carol