Falls Genealogy Recorded Programs

On Thursday, September 5^th, 2024, Michele Dutcher presented:

"Publishing Genealogical Books"

Why make a book about your family's genealogy? Understanding our ancestors in a deep, personal way can be challenging. Long lists of names and family trees can also be intimidating to young family members. Photos and stories can bring your family history to life!
You can make your book available throughout the world via Amazon Books, aiding in national and international family research. Collecting and archiving information for your self-published book can give you deeper connections to the past as well.

Thursday, June 6^th 2024

"The Steamboat Alice Dean"
Speaker: Clarence Merk, President of the Steamboat Alice Dean LLC

The Alice Dean was seized by John Hunt Morgan to ferry his troops into Indiana in 1863. She was then burned to the waterline to prevent Federal troops from pursuing. Was she just a luxury packet ship? The US Navy has recently acknowledged there was more to the story..

Thursday, May 2^nd 2024

"The Reno Brothers in New Albany"
Speaker: Justin Clark, public historian, Digital Initiatives Director for the Indiana Historical Bureau (IHB)

Often credited with the "first train robbery in America," the Renos were a gang of outlaws that roamed the Indiana and Missouri countryside in the 1860s, stealing loot from banks and county treasuries. At their peak, the Renos and their copycats stole nearly half a million dollars within a span of two years. The gang's core consisted of four brothers--John, Frank, Simeon, and William Reno--alongside a cadre of counterfeiters, ruffians, and petty thieves. While their crimes became legendary, the community's response proved equally legendary. Local sheriffs, Allan Pinkerton's men, Canadian detectives, and the Jackson County Vigilance Committee all strove to exact justice on the Renos and their accomplices. Learn learn about the trail of destruction left behind, not only by the Reno Gang, but by those who punished them. slide show.

Thursday, March 7^th 2024

"The Children of William Henry Harrison and Anna Tuthill Symmes Taylor (Plus the bonus of: The Mystery of the Symmes/Harrison Sword?)"
Speaker: Karen Schwartz, President of the Historical Society of Harrison County

presented by Karen Schwartz President of the Historical Society of Harrison County
President William Henry Harrison died in 1841 after just 31 days in the White House. But the sword he carried at the Battle of Tippecanoe is caught up in one last war. A sword said to have belonged to President Harrison was stolen in 1979. Recently, the sword — or one that looks like it — was found at an auction in Connecticut. The sword and its scabbard were seized by the police just minutes before they were to go up for auction, where organizers said they were expected to fetch at least $50,000. this journey.

Introducing Hellbenders into Blue River

Thursday, February 6^nd, 2024

"Genealogical Sources - Part II"

presented by Tom Tri
Tom showed us many examples of genealogical sources, bridging the gap between theory and practice.

Thursday, January 2^nd, 2024

"Genealogical Sources - Part I"

presented by Tom Tri
Tom showed us many examples of genealogical sources, bridging the gap between theory and practice.

Thursday, September 7^th 2023

"Journey Along Blue River"
Speaker: Karen Schwartz, President of the Historical Society of Harrison County

A meander through Washington, Harrison and Crawford Counties, highlighting, small towns, bridges, churches and other points of interest along the way.
Karen's many pioneer ancestors in the region and her lifelong personal experience with Blue River combine to provide an intriging tale. this journey.

Introducing Hellbenders into Blue River

Thursday, August 3^rd 2023

"Daniel Boone in Indiana and Boone's Indiana Track

presented by Michele Dutcher & Vicky Haralovich

While Daniel Boone is widely known for having blazed the Wilderness Trail into Kentucky, it is less known that he also spent time in Indiana, even carving out a wagon track from Cincinnati, Ohio to St. Louis, Missouri in 1799. This trail would later be known around Southern Indiana as Boone's Trace or the Upper Trail to Missouri. Their book contains the details of this portion of Boone's life, from about 1795 to his death in Missouri.

Thursday, July 6^th 2023

"Slate Run Cemetery"

presented by Autumn White
An enthusiastic account of her painstaking research into the Slate Run Cemetery.
Surnames of some of those interred there: Arganbright; Collins; Durkee; Knight; Lee; McCaffery; Scribner; Smith; Turner; Very; Ward; and Wells.

Saint Joseph Road (next to Charlestown Road Dental)

FOGS January 3^rd, 2023 meeting

"Genealogical Sources - Part I"

presented by Tom Tri
Tom presented the theory of sources, the backbone of genealogical documentation and research. Drawing on the work by Elizabeth Shown Mills, both classic and modern source were reviewed.

FOGS December 1^st, 2022 meeting

"SHOW & TELL"

Various members shared genealogical artifacts and research with the group.

FOGS November 3^rd, 2022 program

"First Families & Hoosier Heritage Celebration

First Families of Floyd, Clark, and Harrison Counties is an ongoing project of the Falls of the Ohio Genealogical Society which is designed to discover, honor, and preserve the memory of the tri-county pioneers. Membership in First Families is open to anyone proving direct descent from a settler living in the tri-county area prior to December 31, 1840. The project hopes to document the lives and contributions of some of the counties' early Native Americans and pioneer African Americans, women, immigrants, and children.

The 2022 revival of the program, last presented in 2019, was very successful.
2022 Meeting Program 2022 FF Biographies
2022 Brochure (First families brochure containing the pioneer surnames through the 2022 event)

Get started for 2023! Get the fillable PDF Application form. Contact: Donna Kepley Foster at 812‑923‑3492, FirstFamilies@FallsGenealogy.org

FOGS October 6^th, 2022 program

"EARLY MAN'S VENTURE TO THE FALLS OF THE OHIO REGION

presented by Vic McCauley, R.P.L.S.
A sweeping history of the Falls region from a surveyor’s perspective.

FOGS September 1^st, 2022 program

"Falls of the Ohio Archaeology Society and Heirloom Collections"

presented by Robert DeMent, FOAS
An introduction to FOAS, its mission, and current projects. Focusing on the possible value of family heirloom "arrowhead" collections to Archaeology, offering an opportunity for those who want to know more about their collections, and to provide help identifying and classifying them. Keen interest was exhibited by many attendees, some bringing private collections for examination. Projectile Point Identification

FOGS August 4^th, 2022 program

"Location, Location, Location -- Places in Genealogical research"

presented by Tiare Fullmer, Family History Center, New Albany
A stellar presentation of using place information to guide your genealogical research.

FOGS July 7^th, 2022 program

"Free Genealogical Resources that all may access"

presented by Diane Stepro MFA, MLS
Genealogy and History Librarian, Jeffersonville Township Public Library

links to resources ...

FOGS June 2^nd, 2022 program

"Medications and treatments used during the American Revolution - Then and Now"

presented by Dr. David Bell, Ph.D, DP Associates ‑‑ to discuss this and other programs call (304) 482‑3155 (Cell) (812) 903‑0526 (Land) ‑‑ dpassociates@usa.net

more ...

FOGS May 5^th, 2022 program

"The Indiana Room in the New Albany / Floyd County Library"

presented by Allison Kilberg, Special Collections Librarian

FOGS April 7^th, 2022 program

"Afro-American Families in the Indiana Territory"

presented by Chuck Lewis, former Funeral Director, current lecturer in Mortuary Science, and board member, Clark County Museum.

FOGS March 3^rd, 2022 program

"Pioneer Families on their Covered Wagon Journeys"

by presented by Dr. Claudia Crump (Professor Emeritus and former Co-Director of the Center for Cultural Resources at Indiana University Southeast).

Recording of FOGS February 3^rd, 2022 program

"Persons in my Family Tree"

presented by Bob Sterrett. YouTube version

Recording of FOGS December 2^nd, 2021 program

"DNA Topics"

by presented by Bob Sterrett. This presentation was converted to a PDF. Sorry, no audio.

Recording of FOGS November 4^th, 2021 program

"Family History Projects in the Jeffersonville Library MakerSpace"

by presented by Jeffersonville Township Public Library's Technology Services Manager Allison Fredrickson..
Cosponsored by Jeffersonville Township Public Library and Falls of the Ohio Genealogical Society.

Recording of FOGS October 7^th, 2021 program

"Chaplain John J. Hight"

by Jim Munford, President of the Friends of Fairview Cemetery, Civil Engineer, Historian.
Rev. John J. Hight, D. D., was a Chaplain in the army during the war. At Stone River and Chickamauga he took a musket and bravely fought with his regiment. In 1854 he was admitted to Indiana M. E. Conference, at Wesley Chapel, New Albany, served served two years as pastor of Roberts Chapel, (now Main street M. E church, New Albany), one year as pastor of John Street church, four years as presiding elder of New Albany District, and served as Assistant editor of the Western Christian Advocate.
The slide show accompanying Jim's presentation was converted to a PDF. Sorry, no audio.

Recording of FOGS September 2^nd, 2021 program

"Civil War Jeffersonville"

by Kraig McNutt, Civil War history blogger. He has won the praise of professional historians and the admiration of many fans for his investigations. He runs the largest Civil War history page on Facebook.
His research extends not only to the great deeds of the Civil War, but into his own family. He is the descendant of several Union veterans.
The presentation focuses on Civil War sites in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Recording of FOGS August 5^th, 2021 program

"1849 Cholera Epidemic"

Cholera swept the country in 1849. Mortality was great. St Louis lost 4,557, Cincinnati 5,969, and Detroit 700. That year, a group of young men set out from Jeffersonville, Indiana, determined to join other "Miner 49ers" in making their fortunes panning for California gold. Their luck took a turn for the worse when they boarded a steamship at St. Louis, Missouri. An outbreak of cholera forced the boat ashore at Jefferson City, Missouri, where the sick and dying crew and passengers were discovered by an area teenager.
presented by Gary Elliot, history writer from Jefferson City, MO. Mr. Elliot reveals the fates of the men from Jeffersonville, some of whom have descendants in this area to this day.

Recording of FOGS July 1^st, 2021 program

"Louisville's Bloody Monday"

August 6, 1855, Protestant mobs attacked German and Irish Catholic neighborhoods. 22 dead, many injured and much property damage.
presented by Jim Tomes, Archivist at the Diocese of Louisville;
John O'Dwyer, Ancient Order of Hibernians; and Gerald McDaniel, author of "AINDREAS the Messenger"

Recording of FOGS June 3^rd, 2021 program

"A History of the US Census"

presented by Joe Hardesty, Director of the National Sons of the American Revolution Library

Freedomland Cemetery Video

Highlighting the need to preserve and restore a New Albany African-American cemetery.