Rock County Genealogical Society
RCGS Home Page

An Affiliate Member of The Wisconsin State Genealogy Society
Rock County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 936, Janesville, WI 53547-0936

Email RCGS:RCGS Library Research Request

Email RCGS:RCGS Webmaster

Thanks for a GREAT 35th Year - Check Back for Fall Programming

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Society Meetings:
The Rock County Genealogical Society meets monthly on the third Tuesday of the month, September through May at 6:30 PM. The December meeting, if any, is a holiday social event and there are frequent summer field trips and hands-on training, so check the RCGS newsletter, our web page, and local newspapers for details. Most meetings are held at St. Mark Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall, 2921 Mount Zion Avenue, in Janesville, WI and are open to the public. RCGS Board of Trustees meets at 5 P.M. on the same dates and at the same location. Board meetings are open to the membership three times yearly at the April, October and November meetings.

Society Contact Information, Location and Library Hours:

Volunteers Needed ! We need your help to staff hours at the library. If you can spare a couple hours per week as a volunteer helper at the RCGS library, the Society welcomes your help. No special training is required. Click here for Volunteer Information.

MAILING ADDRESS: Rock County Genealogical Society, P. O. Box 936, Janesville, WI 53547-0936

LOCATION: The RCGS library and office are located at 933 Mineral Point Ave. (the corner of N. Jackson St. and Mineral Point Ave.) in the Wilson King Stone House building adjacent to the Tallman House Restoration in Janesville, Wisconsin.

HOURS: The RCGS library and RCHS archive are open to the public from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Wednesdays & Thursdays and Noon to 3 P.M. Fridays. Contact us by phone to confirm we will be open on a particular day or to request special accommodation.

EMAIL: The RCGS webmaster can forward your email questions or requests to the Society Librarian, our staff of researchers, the Society newsletter editor or others.

PHONE NUMBERS: RCGS library at 608-752-5891.

Society Newsletter:
RCGS members receive the Society Newsletter quarterly. The newsletter provides timely tips and research suggestions to aid you in your genealogical research. We also publish the latest news and events in Rock County and the Midwest. Members may submit queries about their Rock County ancestors at no charge.

Society Membership:
Joining the Rock County Genealogical Society provides you with an opportunity to connect with others dedicated to collecting and preserving genealogical and local historical materials. Current projects include copying and indexing of Rock County public documents including area cemeteries and newspapers. To join the RCGS call 608-752-5891, or view a Printable Membership Application form or write the Society at the address at the top of this page.

RCGS MEMBERSHIP FEES:

Individual/Couple Membership: $20
(single address)
Lifetime Membership: Details Soon

RCGS MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS:

Priority Response to Research Requests of the RCGS Library and RCHS Archive,
10% discounts on purchases of RCGS publications and Indexes,
Waiver of the $10 per day admission & research fee when visiting the RCGS Library and RCHS Archives,
50% discount on photocopies of Library/Archives materials,
Members-Only Look-up Service from among Rock County Genealogical Reference Books,
Four Quarterly Issues of the RCGS Newsletter in which You may Post Your Research Queries,
Post Your Ancestors' Names, Locations, Dates Online plus Your Contact Info to the RCGS Ancestral Surname Index,
An Annual "Genealogy Jump-Start": A free once a year search of occurrences of a single Rock Co. surname in the Library & Archives.

Search this RCGS Site:
use the dialog box below to search all RCGS pages simultaneously:
This is a quick way to find your surnames among all the online RCGS indexes.

REMEMBER: Our ancestors (and county clerks) were devilishly creative when writing surnames.

Try all surname variations; example: Search name variants individually: first search Smith, then search Smyth, and finally search Smythe.
Search more efficiently by looking for the all variations at once: Smith OR Smyth OR Smythe (Remember: Google needs you to capitalize the OR's)
Use Phrase Search (" ") to find the exact phrase "Rock Township" but exclude Rock River and Rock County.
More search tips are available at Google Search Tips.

If you get "no hits" using this method, you can still manually scan each alphabetized index individually in the INDEX Menu, above in order to look for even more creative spelling variations.

Smart Search the Web for Ancestors:
use the link below to create a menu of smart searches of the World Wide Web:
This is an easy way to research specific ancestors. Enter a little family information and receive a list of focused Google searches that are both wickedly intelligent and conveniently pre-formatted.

Smart Search Link

Society Meeting Dates and Speaker Information

May 2012 Program

Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 6:30 p.m.

Program Title: RCGS 35th Anniversary Celebration!

Location: Meet at Helen Jeffris Woods Museum Gallery Room, 426 N. Jackson Street, in Janesville, WI.

Cost and Invitation: Free and Open to the Public.

Program Sponsors: our RCGS Board.

Event Summary: The public is invited to celebrate the Rock County Genealogical Societys 35th anniversary. Light appetizers and soft drinks will be provided. Rock County was a crossroads for many families westward migrations. And for many family researchers outside of Wisconsin, their ancestors footprints lead back and through Rock County. Consequently, since its founding in 1977, the Rock County Genealogical Society (RCGS) has assisted thousands of people connect to their roots, and its membership has grown from a humble few to hundreds - around the country and around the world. We hope you are able to join us as we commemorate our many successes. In addition to the celebration, guided tours of the neighboring Charles Tallman Home (CTH) will be offered. The CTH is located next door, between the better-known Lincoln Tallman Restorations and the Helen Jeffris Wood museum. The CTH is in the midst of a major remodeling, funded by an anonymous grant and guided by the Rock County Historical Society and volunteer general contractor and RCGS board member, Dan Evans. In recent years the CTH has fallen on hard times. For many years, it served as a halfway house for recovering substance abusers. Upon completion of the remodeling, he CTH will become the new home of the RCGS Library and RCHS Archives.

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