British Interest Group of Wisconsin and Illinois
Where and when we meet:
BIGWILL’s meetings are held at:The Community Church
5714 Broadway St.
(two blocks west of U.S. Route 12)
Richmond, Illinois
10am until noon on the third Saturday of the months of
January, March, May, July, September and November.
Visitors as well as members are always welcome. Refreshments are available for a donation at each meeting.
Getting to the Church On Time (village map)
“A” on the map above marks the location of the Community Church
Marching toward Richmond (area map)
Upcoming meeting dates and topics:
18 May 2013: Mini-Seminar with Maureen Brady Maureen Brady, a professional genealogist, BIGWILL board member, co-director of the Crystal Lake, Illinois, Family History Center, and owner of Bare Roots Genealogical Services will present two topics in a three hour (10 am until 1 pm) mini-seminar.
“Quaker Family History Research” Members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) began immigrating from England, Wales, and Germany to the American Colonies in the late 1600s. By 1700, the Society had gained considerable influence in most of the New England and middle-Atlantic colonies. During the 18th century, many Quakers followed other frontier groups, migrating to the southern colonies. Following the Revolution, many Quakers left the southern states and migrated primarily to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Canada. This presentation will focus on the types of records kept by the Society of Friends and how to access those records online, through the Family History Centers and various other libraries and archives.
“The First Frontiersmen: The Scots-Irish.” Some refer to them as Ulster Scots, others as Scots-Irish. Whatever their name, they are the US descendants of those who were “planted” in northern Ireland in the 17th century and subsequently immigrated to the American frontier. Their famous sons include Daniel Boone and Andrew Jackson, and we see their cultural influence in square dancing and country music. This presentation will review the history of the Scots-Irish and suggest resources for researching their family histories.
20 July 2013: “Heraldry” will be presented by Bess Schulmeister.
21 September 2013: Speaker and topic TBA
16 November 2013: Speaker and topic TBA
Handouts from some earlier BIGWILL meetings:
Photo Retouching in Genealogical Research, by Larry L. Pepper (17 March 2012). Handout (4 pages)
What would you like to hear about? What would you like to talk about?
BIGWILL is always on the lookout for program ideas, and Margaret Zook is our chief scout. Have you taken a trip to England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man? If so, consider giving a presentation to BIGWILL about what you saw and did. Have you heard a good talk at some other society’s meeting which was related to British Isles research? Or do you just know a topic you’d like to learn more about, even if you don’t know who could give a presentation on the topic? If your answer is “Yes” to any of these questions, help put Margaret hot on the trail of another BIGWILL meeting topic. You can contact her by e-mail, by phone (at 708-703-6996), or in person at almost any BIGWILL meeting. You can make a difference!There have been
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This site is maintained by Rollie Littlewood
This page was last modified on 10 May 2013