PCWGS History

            POLK COUNTY WISCONSIN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY HISTORY

   (2008 Story)

    The Polk County Genealogy Group began in 1998 with a discussion between three people: Judy Wester, Marie Loughlin  and Jay Bergstrand who met in the county Register of Deeds office as each searched for their personal family data.

    From this small beginning, with counsel from the neighboring  St. Croix Valley Genealogy Society, the Polk County  group  started  meeting at a central location within the county. As the group grew  in memberships,  the meetings were held in various communities around the county  to answer the questions of an ever  increasing  number  of  residents interested in family history - once at the newly opened historic train depot  in Frederic, another time across the county at the Clear Lake library, an empty classroom in the Amery grade school, a computer lab  in  the Centuria library, and in the last couple of years in the city library  of Osceola.

    The group members visited: the  Minnesota  History  Center  in St. Paul to acquaint themselves with available government records for the greater St. Croix River Valley; the Morman Library in Oakdale for records, pertaining not only to our area,  but, across  the entire United States  and  to foreign shores for research materials; and genealogy workshops from Wisconsin Dells to Minneapolis.

    During the three summer months our  society  volunteers  spend every Monday afternoon in the county museum assisting museum guests who are researching in the genealogical and historical records. At monthly program meetings guest speakers and members alike take  the  lead  to give an informative presentation with Q and A following. A monthly newsletter keeps our society members and friends informed on new information of a genealogical nature, upcoming events and reprints of old local history and records. A mission and vision statement evolved; space recently became available for our society to share in the county historical society museum for our records, reference materials, several projects our society completed i.e. Polk County birth records/marriage records/death records from 1850-1907 on CDs, family histories, a map collection, land records from 1887, a county cemetery project, and as of 2008, hopefully, soon a computer/scanner/printer for use in utilizing our resources.

        Helen Stoltz-Wood

Jay Bergstrand, a founding member, tells about the history of the group at the 20th anniversary.   A youtube video at https://youtu.be/Q_4bS-Z-t-Q 

A typical meeting

Polk County Wisconsin Genealogy Society August 26, 2019 1:00 pm

Membership meeting held at Ravenholt Research Center at Luck Area Historical Museum.

16 members and guests present. 

Program: Researching and Finding 6,000 Relatives presented by Judy Wester. Judy shared some of her research tips, methods and books used to find her relatives. She passed around some of her research sources as well as some of her completed family research notebooks etc. This was a very interesting program. 

Membership meeting followed the program:

Open meeting: Shirley Jensen opened the meeting following the program at 2:30 pm. 

Welcome: All members and visitors were asked to tell their name and where they were from.

Secretary’s Report: Pam Girtz shared the minutes from the July 29, 2019 meeting. Harold Jones made a motion to approve the minutes; seconded by George Viellieux. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report: Kathryn Jones presented the treasurer’s report. July 1, 2019 – present. Beginning balance: $1,533.49. Current balance: $1,398.99. Motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented made by LaVohn Josten; seconded by Margo Hanson. 

Old Business:

JJWeb Services: JJWeb Services was hired to build a website for the PCWGS. The grant for this had run out. We received a new grant for 8 years. However, Russ is not sure if this website is worth continuing to pay the $300 a year for as not many people accessed it. 

Russ proposed that the PCWGS continue to use JJWeb Services until the end of this year. In 2020 we would move to using a Cloud Drive where items would be put into folders with names that people could click on and see what is located in them. We can also use the free Ancestry website.  Members were in agreement with this idea. 

Shirley’s ABC’s of Genealogy – Shirley’s presentation on the ABC’s of Genealogy was videotaped. Also copies of this were given to members who had not received this helpful form.

Tax and Land Records handout: Russ will email people who request this handout from the presentation he had at the Cushing Historical Museum at the June 24, 2019 meeting.

Polk County Fair: Problems, Successes, Next Year.

Russ reported that there were more genealogical entries for the fair and more volunteers than the previous year. Two categories of entries were submitted: Scrap book of family and Century Farm. We need to add more categories to encourage more people to participate. Some suggestions were: History of your home; History of your farm; History of a business. It was determined that we need a Fair Committee. George Viellieux, Margo Hanson, Judy Wester, and Russ Hanson agreed to be on this committee. 

New Business:

Brochure Upgrade: The PCWGS brochure went over well at the fair. It was decided that we need to upgrade the quality of the paper. Russ will bring samples for the next meeting. 

Post Newsletter Replacement: It was decided that Pam Girtz, Secretary will email the minutes of the PCWGS meetings and any other interesting information to membership. If members don’t have email these minutes will be mailed out. 

Programs:

September: The next program will take place on September 23, 2019 at 1:00pm at the Ravenholt Research Center in the Luck Historical Museum in the Luck Library building. PCWGS member LaVohn Josten will present the program: DNA and How to Use It to Break Down Brick Walls in Research. She will provide information on the various DNA companies, explain the differences between them, and tell how we can use DNA in researching our family. 

October: On October 28, 2019 at 1:00 pm at the Ravenholt Research Center, Luck Historical Museum in the Luck Library building Russ Hanson will present ”Digging Deeper for Cemetery Family Roots.” He will give a behind the scenes look at running a cemetery and the organization of a cemetery. We will learn how to use cemetery resources to further our genealogy search. “You only scratch the surface when you look at a grave stone.” Russ will tell what else we can find out at the cemetery. 

November 25th program to be determined. Please let us know what you would like to learn about. 

December: On December 9, 2019 at 1:00 pm Shirley Jensen will talk about her trip to Denmark. This is her birthday so please come and celebrate with her. 

Margo made a motion to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Russ Adams. 

Meeting adjourned at 3:15 pm.

Please remember to pay your dues of $5.00. This can be sent to Kathryn Jones 305 Peterson Lane Frederic, WI 54837.

Submitted by Pam Girtz Secretary