Rock Island County Illinois Genealogical Society

04/19/2026

Our next presentation will be on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at 6:30 pm. Michelle Bray Wilson will present “DNA Inheritance, Our Matchlists and More Best Practices ”.

Description: Inheritance results in only tiny changes to the Y-DNA men get from their fathers and the mt-DNA we all get from our mothers. But the inheritance process makes a scramble of our autosomal DNA. Understanding inheritance is key to making sense of our matchlists, and how our matchlists are the key to both unlocking unknown parentage and to pushing back our ancestral lines. We’ll use actual case studies and explore some third-party tools to apply this knowledge for cases such as unknown parentage and pushing back brick-walled lines to the next generation. In Best Practices (part 2) we’ll explore cases where matches don’t post trees and show how to get the most out of the hints in Ancestry’s ThruLines and MyHeritage’s Theory of Relativity.

This will be a great topic to learn about how to navigate our DNA matchlists! RICIGS members will receive a Zoom invitation. Not a member, email info@ricigs.org for an invitation.

04/09/2026

If you wish to purchase a brick to honor your veteran family member, now is the time to do so. Time is running out and this will be your last opportunity to do so.

03/14/2026

Our next presentation will be on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at 6:30 pm. Scott Norrick will present “Germans to America’s Midwest, 1848-1900”.

Description:Over 46 million Americans have some German ancestry. The largest German immigration wave to America was 1848-1900, and the majority of those that came then settled in America’s Midwest. This presentation will examine the reasons why so many Germans were leaving their homeland during this period as well as why so many settled in America’s Midwest. In addition, the presentation will cover:
•German immigration trends
•Ports of departure and arrival
•Midwest German hotspots
•Local example of German settlement
•Cultural influences brought to the Midwest
•Top sites for researching your German ancestors

This will be a great topic to learn about the early immigrations of Germans to our Quad City area! RICIGS members will receive a Zoom invitation. Not a member, email info@ricigs.org for an invitation.

02/13/2026

Our next presentation will be on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 6:30 pm. Kathryn Lake Hogan will present “Revolutionary Choices: Exploring Loyalist and Patriot Roots at 250 Years”.

Description: As families chose sides–Patriot or Loyalist–their descendants sent ripples across generations. Many who remained loyal to the British Crown found refuge in what would become Canada, communities in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Upper Canada. Others remained in the newly formed United States of America, fighting for independence. How do we trace those stories today?

The United States is celebrating its 250th anniversary (Semiquincentennial) on July 4, 2026! This will be a great topic to learn about the colonists during the Revolutionary War! RICIGS members will receive a Zoom invitation. Not a member, email info@ricigs.org for an invitation.

01/17/2026

Mark your calendars for our next presentation. Jacquie Schattener will present "Organizing Genealogy – Less Piles, Better Files" on Tuesday, January 27th, 2026 at 6:30 on Zoom.

Description: Save time, get organized. Many ideas for organizing paper and computer files including color coding. Multiple file naming ideas. We’ll also cover organizing heirlooms, photos, & USB drives. This presentation will help find the system that works best for you.

A great topic to kick off the new year! RICIGS members will receive a Zoom invitation. Not a member, email info@ricigs.org for an invitation.

01/07/2026

RICIGS Past Board Member Sandra Derenbecker Passes Away

Sandra J. Derenbecker, 67, of Kenner, LA, passed away Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at her home. Sandra held a lifetime membership in Rock Island County, IL Genealogical Society. She previously held the Vice-President office on the board. Even though she lived in Louisiana, she had ties to this area through her ancestors. She attended and participated in most meetings. Our condolences to her family. She will be greatly missed. Sandra's Obituary

Sandra J. Derenbecker, 67, of Kenner, LA, passed away Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at her home. Sandra held a lifetime membership in Rock Island County, IL Genealogical Society. She previously held t…

12/26/2025

Did Santa bring anyone a Samsung TV for Christmas? I was happy to discover a Samsung Plus channel that is genealogy 24x7! Check out channel 2905 PBS Genealogy. Shows include ‘Finding Your Roots’, ‘Long Lost Family’ and ‘Genealogy Roadshow’ featuring one of our Society’s favorite speakers- Joshua Taylor.

12/12/2025

If you need your ancestors civil war record contact Brian (link below). He is much faster and cheaper than contacting NARA. These pension records are full of info that you might not find elsewhere. I know of several people that have used his service and they are very satisfied.

Nine years ago today, I was at work and had what I thought was a normal work day. I was working in shipping and receiving, and the whole team got called to a meeting. They let us know that they were downsizing, and effective immediately, we were all going to be let go. At 10:00 I was working at my desk, and by 10:30, I was being walked out the door with a box of my belongings.

It was definitely quite a shock. I hadn’t seen that coming. After the initial panic wore off, I decided to take advantage of the down time I now had, and I poured myself into genealogy education. I had always thought it would be great to make money doing professional genealogy, but I didn’t think I was ready. Plus, it’s hard to take the leap into that when you already have a steady job.

I did the Boston University course, ProGen, and attended GRIP for the first time, all in 2017. Along the way I met a lot of people who I still stay in contact with. I tried my hand at taking client work for traditional genealogy projects. I got a few clients, but nowhere near enough to support myself.

I also did something else for the first time—I went to the National Archives in order to get information for my own Civil War ancestors. I loved the city, I loved the National Archives, and decided I wanted to go back again. This was the beginning of what I do now. I accidentally started my own business, working at the National Archives in Washington DC.

I have my own website now (www.CivilWarRecords.com). I’m closing in on 12,000 Facebook followers, and I have a team with three employees under me. I’ve traveled around the country to various genealogy conferences, spoken countless times to different genealogy groups around the country, appeared as a guest on many different genealogy podcasts and YouTube channels, and even started to do work for one of my favorite TV shows, Finding Your Roots. Who would have thought that?

Nine years ago, I wouldn’t have had this on my radar in any way, shape, or form. I didn’t see my unexpected unemployment as a blessing at the time, but looking back, I do now!

10/31/2025

German ancestors? I saw this on Reddit: “Around „Allerheiligen“ (All Saints' Day), i.e. from October 30 to November 4, 2025, Ancestry in Germany is offering registered users free access to all German databases.”
To use this, navigate to ancestry.de and enter your ancestry login info.

Ancestry.de bietet historische Daten und Dokumente für Ahnenforschung. Erstellung eines Familienstammbaums online und Informationen und Tipps rund um die Ahnenforschung und Genealogie.

09/18/2025

RootsMagic has released Version 11 of their popular genealogy software. President Bruce Buzbee reviews some of the changes that have taken place. Also, they are offering $10 off the purchase price until the end of September for new users and also for upgrades for existing users.

Keywords: RootsMagic 11, What’s New, genealogy software, usability improvements, labeled view buttons, page-specific menus, new header, life summary panel, i...

09/15/2025

Here is a short but sweet description of the topic Josh Taylor will present to us.

Resources of the DAR: Beyond Revolutionary War Soldiers

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) actively collects and preserves resources essential for anyone tracing ancestors in the United States during the Federal period. Learn how to use the DAR’s resources to expand your research online and onsite.

I am totally sure it will help me, not just for any soldiers in my ancestry, but also non soldiers. Maybe even more. I cannot wait to find out!

A reminder, our September General Meeting begins at 6:15 on Tuesday, the 23rd with Josh's presentation following. Zoom only. It will not be a live program because of a work commitment Josh has.

Hope to see you in the Zoom gallery.

09/11/2025

Here is the bio for our next speaker, D. Joshua Taylor. It will be a recorded presentation because Josh has a work commitment that evening. It will be tailored to RICIGS and he has agreed to take questions afterwards in email format.
All you will need to do is the same as any Zoom only presentation, namely 6:15 General Meeting, followed by Josh's program (6:30ish).
This is on Tuesday, September 13.
I am looking forward to using D.A.R. more often than I do now. I am not very familiar with their website and am sure this will help me. May be helpful for you, also.

D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS, FUGA, is a nationally known and recognized genealogist. Passionate about the diverse and dynamic field of family history. Joshua is the President of the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society (NYG&B), an organization dedicated to preserving the stories of all New Yorkers. Previously, Joshua volunteered in leadership positions for the Federation of Genealogical Societies and other organizations. In 2017, Joshua was named as one of Library Journal’s Movers and Shakers and in 2022 was named as a Fellow of the Utah Genealogical Association. A popular author and speaker, Joshua has been a coordinator for courses at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) and the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) and is the recipient of RootsTech’s Distinguished Presenter Award. He holds an MLS (Archival Management) and an MA (History) from Simmons College and has been a featured genealogist on Who Do You Think You Are? and can be seen taking America through their past as a host on the popular PBS series Genealogy Roadshow.