Events Calendar

Date: April 16, 2024 Time: 09:00 AM to 10:30 AM

Genealogy Information Found in Probate Records

Guest speaker: Anastasia Welsh Perrino, Esq., Barnstable Register of Probate and Family Court

Date: May 21, 2024 Time: 09:00 AM to 10:30 AM

Rakes, Rogues, and Renegades in the Family

Members Walter Murphy, Jeff Schiebe, Ellen Geanacopulous, and Susan Feinberg lead a presentation of the skeletons in your family closet.

Date: June 18, 2024 Time: 09:00 AM to 10:30 AM

After You are Gone: Future-Proofing Your Genealogy

Annual Meeting: Vote on Board of Directors

Guest speaker: Thomas MacEntee

Have you ever considered what will happen to your years of genealogy
research once you’re gone? Learn how to ensure that your hard work carries
on. Through a combination of planning, common sense and new
technologies, Thomas will review how to create an action plan for preserving
your research.

Date: August 20, 2024 Time: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Bathsheba Spooner: A Revolutionary Murder Conspiracy

Guest speaker: Andrew Spooner

 What possessed a woman from the elite society of eighteenth-century New England to conspire with an American soldier and two British run-away soldiers to murder her husband at the midpoint of the American Revolution? The story of Bathsheba Spooner (1746-1778) is the most sensational “true crime” tragedy of the American 1700s. She was the first woman in American history to be executed following the Declaration of Independence. She was just 32 years old and her penalty for “inciting, abetting and procuring the manner and form of murder” was death by hanging. Along with her three conspirators, this was carried out in Worcester’s Washington Square before a crowd of 5,000 spectators on July 2, 1778. 

Date: September 17, 2024 Time: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Using and Evaluating Mug Books for Family Research

In the 19th century, hundreds of towns and counties across the United States published biographical histories—or “mug books.” These can be valuable resources for family historians—providing a great deal of genealogical data and images—however, because the sketches are unsourced and arguably biased, the information should always be taken with a grain of salt. Join us to learn how to identify, access, evaluate, and use mug books responsibly.