Edmond Genealogical Society (EGS)

04/29/2026

Join us for a great program at our May 18th meeting.
Route 66 – The First 100 Years

The Edmond Genealogical Society’s May 18 program will be presented by Jim Ross and Shellee Graham as they get on board the time machine and help us experience the building of the Route 66 legend through its birth, life, demise, renaissance, and beyond in this captivating exploration of its first century.

Route 66 historian Jim Ross has spent 35 years researching, photographing and writing about the Mother Road. He has authored multiple books, including Route 66 Crossings and Route 66 Sightings, and is coauthor (with wife Shellee Graham) of Route 66: The First 100 Years. He serves regularly as a consultant, and his efforts as a preservationist have earned him multiple awards.
Photographer, artist, and Route 66 ambassador Shellee Graham discovered the route in 1990 while living in St. Louis. Since then, she has authored or coauthored 5 books, including Tales from the Coral Court and Secret Route 66. Her photographs of the Mother Road have appeared in national and international shows, and she is the recipient of multiple awards for her photography and he work to preserve the route.

Jim and Shellee’s new book, Route 66—The First 100 Years, released in May 2025, was named to the National Trust’s “Summer Reading List” and later listed as one of the year’s 10 best travel books by Smithsonian magazine. Jim and Shellee live on the route in Arcadia, Oklahoma, with their dog, Scout. Their book will be available for sale at the meeting.

Edmond Genealogical Society meetings are free and open to the public. Programs start at 2:00 p.m. Meetings are held the third Monday of the month at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints located at 15700 N. Penn, Oklahoma City. Enter through the doors on the south side of the building. The church offers plenty of parking and is fully handicap accessible. For more information on EGS, go to our website edmondgensoc.org, send an email to info@edmondgensoc.org, or visit us on Facebook at Edmond Genealogical Society. If any changes are made to this event, we will post the information on our page and website.

04/14/2026

Please join us for our April 20th EGS meeting where we will hear "Pirates, Oh My!". We will meet at 2 p,m, at the LDS Church, 15700 N. Penn in far NW Edmond.

The April 20, 2026 program will be presented by Marion Baumgarten via Zoom. She lives near Chicago, is a member of DAR, and a cousin to our own Karen Blagg (EGS Treasurer). Marion is a descendant of a Mr. Thomas Owsley, who at one time was a pirate prisoner. With this knowledge of his background with European pirates in the 1670s, she decided to research more about these pirates, their history, and how fighting them caused a young United States to do some important and historic things for protection from pirates in the early 1800s. Her program goes
through this history and will provide many little-know facts that may help other researchers understand parts of their own family histories over time.

Note:
We will be meeting in a larger room with a big screen monitor, making it easier for all of us to view genealogy video presentations. It is directly across the hall from our current room or just go to our previous meeting room and EGS Board Members will direct you
to the new meeting location.

Send a message to learn more

03/12/2026

Please join us at our March meeting on Monday, March 16th at 2:00 p.m. We meet at the LDS Church. 15700 N. Pennsylvania in Edmond. We will be meeting in the room across from our usual room this time.

For the EGS March 16 meeting we will have two videos to explore. The first is” Good Genealogists Don’t Guess: How to Evaluate a Record in 3 Simple Steps.” presented by Kathryn Moore. Have you ever found a record that seems to match your ancestor but something feels off? Or, maybe you’ve added a source only to later realize it doesn’t belong at all? This class offers practical tools you can use immediately to avoid common mistakes and strengthen your research. You’ll learn 3 simple questions to confidently evaluate any record before adding it to your family tree. We’ll walk through real examples, resolve concerns, and show you how to easily include record evaluation into your research process. If you’re ready to stop second-guessing your work and start researching with more clarity and confidence, this session is for you.

The second video is presented by Cathy Wallace entitled “Gravestone Symbols from A to Z.” Gravestone Symbols from A to Z will help you learn to “read” a cemetery so you can discover your ancestors’ interests, religions, club memberships, values and more. Enjoy gravestone photos from around the world, hear fun stories, learn to use GPS technology to digitize gravestone records, and get cemetery-based research tips to grow your family tree.

Edmond Genealogical Society meetings are free and open to the public. Programs start at 2:00 p.m. Meetings are held the third Monday of the month at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints located at 15700 N. Penn, Oklahoma City. Enter through the doors on the south side of the building. The church offers plenty of parking and is fully handicap accessible. For more information on EGS, go to our website edmondgensoc.org, send an email to info@edmondgensoc.org, or visit us on Facebook at Edmond Genealogical Society. If any changes are made to this event, we will post the information on our page and website.

A is for anchor; B is for book; C is for Celtic Cross "Gravestone Symbols from A to Z" will help you learn to "read" a cemetery so you can discover your ancestors' interests, religion, club memberships, values, and more. Enjoy gravestone photos from around the world, hear fun stories, learn to use G...

02/11/2026

Come join us for our 16 Feb. monthly meeting. Remember the new time is now 2:00 p.m.! Same location. We hope to see you there!

February 16, 2026 EGS’s speaker, La Nell Shores, will make a presentation on First Families of the Twin Territories and The Settlers and Builders of Oklahoma. First Families was founded to recognize, honor and perpetuate the memory of early pioneer and Indian families who were residents of Oklahoma or Indian Territory on or before the date of statehood. Settlers and Builders was founded to recognize, honor and perpetuate the memory of the residents that helped build the new state of Oklahoma from statehood.

Mrs. Shores has had a keen interest in genealogy for many years. She is a member of many genealogical societies, including Oklahoma Genealogical Society where she presents programs on a variety of topics especially those related to OGS’ Computer Special Interest Group.

Edmond Genealogical Society meetings are free and open to the public. Programs start at 2:00 p.m. Meetings are held the third Monday of the month at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints located at 15700 N. Penn, Oklahoma City. Enter through the doors on the south side of the building. The church offers plenty of parking and is fully handicap accessible. For more information on EGS, go to our website edmondgensoc.org, send an email to info@edmondgensoc.org, or visit us on Facebook at Edmond Genealogical Society. If any changes are made to this event, we will post the information on our page and website.

01/07/2026

Please note that effective with our 19 January meeting, our meeting time has changed to 2:00 p.m. We will no longer meet at 6:30 p.m. Our location remains the same. See you there!

11/10/2025

Come join us for our November EGS meeting on Nov. 17th. We'll hear a fun program presented by our President, Jan Beattie, that is sure to get us in the holiday spirit! Come find out where some of your family traditions may have originated!

We have many tried-and-true Christmas traditions in the United States: decorating your Christmas tree, baking holiday cookies, and keeping up with the Elf on the Shelf. However, have you ever wondered about how our ancestors might have celebrated Christmas? The November 17, 2025 Edmond Genealogical Society’s program entitled Christmas Traditions of Our Ancestors, will be presented by our EGS president, Jan Beattie. Come find out if your family celebrates any of the old traditions.

Jan Beattie is a native of California, but came to Oklahoma more than 45 years ago to attend college and never left. Now she is married with two children and two granddaughters and retired from the medical field. She now has time for her genealogy hobby.

She is involved in several genealogy and lineage-based societies and loves to share her knowledge with others. She is President of the OHCE (Oklahoma Home and Community Education) Genealogy Group in Oklahoma City and President of the Edmond Genealogical Society. She is Registrar for Cordelia Steen DAR Chapter in Edmond and a member of OK DAR State Speakers Staff and OSDAR State Application Team (SAT). She is State/Department Registrar for DUV (Daughters of Union Veterans) and State/Division Chaplain for UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy). She holds memberships in Oklahoma Genealogical Society, First Families of the Twin Territories, Colonial Dames 17th Century and several other genealogical organizations and lineage societies and holds chapter and state offices in most of them. She is also involved in "Cemetery Hopping" to help others locate the final resting places of their Oklahoma ancestors. She has been researching her family for almost fifty years and is passionate about genealogy.

Edmond Genealogical Society meetings are free and open to the public. Programs start at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are held the third Monday of the month at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints located at 15700 N. Penn, Oklahoma City. Enter through the doors on the south side of the building. The church offers plenty of parking and is fully handicap accessible. For more information on EGS, go to our website edmondgensoc.org, send an email to info@edmondgensoc.org, or visit us on Facebook at Edmond Genealogical Society. If any changes are made to this event, we will post the information on our page and website.

10/18/2025

At the Edmond Genealogical Society’s Monday, October 20, 2025 meeting two videos, by genealogist Lisa Lisson, will be shown. The video What AI Can and Can’t Do video will introduce one to different AI platforms and describe where they can and can’t be used for genealogy. The second video, The Three Free AI Tools I Use For Genealogy Research, will delve into ChaptGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. You’ll see a demonstration of questions to ask, a variety of results, and ways to winnow down the information to what you’re actually wanting to find. There will be time for questions and answers afterward (answers hopefully given by those members familiar with AI).



Edmond Genealogical Society meetings are free and open to the public. Programs start at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are held the third Monday of the month at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints located at 15700 N. Penn, Oklahoma City. Enter through the doors on the south side of the building. The church offers plenty of parking and is fully handicap accessible. For more information on EGS, go to our website edmondgensoc.org, send an email to info@edmondgensoc.org, or visit us on Facebook at Edmond Genealogical Society. If any changes are made to this event, we will post the information on our page and website.

09/09/2025

We all have our unique skills and talents and one of mine is the ability to "grave dowse" to determine unmarked graves. I can even determine if the person interred is male or female, man, woman or child.

In preparation for my program I'll be giving to the Edmond Genealogical Society on Monday evening on "Grave Dowsing ..... Plus the Oklahoma Cemetery Directory", several members had asked me in advance for a hands-on dowsing demonstration and tutorial. So this morning, Jerry Heppler from EGS plus Ricia Allen and Vicki Adkins from the Cordelia Steen DAR chapter, met me at a local cemetery to learn the technique. And they all successfully learned the art of grave dowsing. I had some great students! All were also able to determine gender! Practice makes perfect so I am sure they will be practicing a lot in the upcoming weeks to hone their new-found skills! If you'd like to learn about this wonderful addition to your genealogy toolbox, don't miss our September program on Monday, Sept. 15th at 6:30 at the LDS Church at 15700 N. Penn. I'll also be discussing the Oklahoma Cemetery Directory which is a wonderful resource for anyone with family buried in Oklahoma. Don't miss it!

09/07/2025

Program: Grave Dowsing .. plus, The Oklahoma Cemetery Directory.



The September 15, 2025, program, presented by our very own EGS president, Jan Beattie, will cover Grave Dowsing and The Oklahoma Cemetery Directory. Grave Dowsing, is the ability to identify unmarked graves and whether the interred are male or female and infant, child or adult, and how to make dowsing rods. We’ll also see a demonstration video of the different techniques used in grave dowsing.

The Oklahoma Cemetery Directory, a publication with photos, driving directions, GPS coordinates and cemetery histories of almost 5,000 cemeteries across the state will help you locate the cemetery where your Oklahoma ancestors and family are buried.

Jan will explain that family researchers who want to trace their family trees and find where their Oklahoma family is buried now have the benefit of tracking down even the most obscure cemetery, thanks to the endeavors of Oklahoma Home and Community Education (OHCE) Genealogy Group in Oklahoma City (of which she is President). Per Jan “Many may know the name of the cemetery where their ancestor is interred but have no idea where it is located; much less how to find it. We also realized that we were losing a lot of Oklahoma’s history because there was simply no record of many of the small cemeteries where our ancestors are buried. We endeavored to locate all known cemeteries and single burial locations from all 77 counties across Oklahoma. There are almost 5,000 of them! We published this tool to help people locate the cemetery their Oklahoma ancestor or family member is buried. It provides cemetery entrance or overview photos, driving directions from a fixed point, legal descriptions and cemetery histories of the cemeteries if they are known as well as any famous burials the cemetery may contain or other interesting information. It is a great research tool for anyone with Oklahoma ancestors.”

Jan Beattie is a native of California, but came to Oklahoma more than 45 years ago to attend college and never left. Now she is married with two children and two granddaughters and retired from the medical field. She now has time for her genealogy hobby.

She is involved in several genealogy and lineage-based societies and loves to share her knowledge with others. She is President of the OHCE (Oklahoma Home and Community Education) Genealogy Group in Oklahoma City and President of the Edmond Genealogical Society. She is Registrar for Cordelia Steen DAR Chapter in Edmond and a member of OK DAR State Speakers Staff and OSDAR State Application Team (SAT). She is State/Department Registrar for DUV (Daughters of Union Veterans) and State/Division Chaplain for UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy). She holds memberships in Oklahoma Genealogical Society, First Families of the Twin Territories, Colonial Dames 17th Century and several other genealogical organizations and lineage societies and holds chapter and state offices in most of them. She is also involved in "Cemetery Hopping" to help others locate the final resting places of their Oklahoma ancestors. She has been researching her family for almost fifty years and is passionate about genealogy.

Edmond Genealogical Society meetings are free and open to the public. Programs start at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are held the third Monday of the month at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints located at 15700 N. Penn, Oklahoma City. Enter through the doors on the south side of the building. The church offers plenty of parking and is fully handicap accessible. For more information on EGS, go to our website edmondgensoc.org, send an email to info@edmondgensoc.org, or visit us on Facebook at Edmond Genealogical Society. If any changes are made to this event, we will post the information on our page and website.

08/29/2025

Please join the OHCE Genealogy Group for a Fall Genealogy Workshop! Oct. 4th from 9-4 at the OSU Extension Center in Oklahoma City. They will have 4 great programs (all presented by EGS members, by the way!) plus representatives from local libraries, repositories and historical/genealogical societies. Don't miss it! Registrations are now open. Includes lunch and all handouts and materials! They will have several door prizes including an Ancestry DNA kit! Flier with registration blank follows. Print it off and mail in your registration. Remember to indicate your lunch choice. Mark your calendars for Oct 4th and plan to attend this fantastic, interesting workshop! Even if you are an experienced genealogist, there is still a lot you will learn!

08/10/2025

Come join us for our August program on Aug. 18th. Past Director of the Family History Library, Sherrie Furber will present an interactive program on Using the Familysearch.org Website.

The August 18, 2025 Edmond Genealogical Program will be presented by real estate agent Sherrie Furber, who has 35+ years of experience as a volunteer genealogist. Mrs. Furber will present a hands-on live with FamilySearch.org where program attendees can ask questions and she’ll answer/show them how to search for the information they want.
Sherrie Furber has researched many generations of her ancestors and currently provides assistance to hundreds of people seeking her help individually at the Family History Center, at 5020 NW 63rd, Oklahoma City.

“In high school I did a family tree project for my English class. When I interviewed my grandparents and heard all of the great stories behind their lives, I wanted to know more. They shared their old photographs and documents with me, and I knew I wanted to help them create a record that could be enjoyed by all of their children and grandchildren.” Furber said. And today, she said, “It’s never been easier to find your ancestors, especially with FamilySearch.org.”

A native of San Francisco, Furber met her husband Dan at Brigham Young University’s Hawaii campus. His work brought them to Edmond, OK in 1997, where they chose to stay and raise their three children and re-establish the family real estate business.

Edmond Genealogical Society meetings are free and open to the public. Programs start at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are held the third Monday of the month at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints located at 15700 N. Penn, Oklahoma City. Enter through the doors on the south side of the building. The church offers plenty of parking and is fully handicap accessible. For more information on EGS, go to our website edmondgensoc.org, send an email to info@edmondgensoc.org, or visit us on Facebook at Edmond Genealogical Society. If any changes are made to this event, we will post the information on our page and website.