Society Membership \ Meetings \ Minutes

Society Membership
Memberships are open to anyone with an interest in genealogy!And, who is willing to share with the other members.
Membership dues are $20.00 a year for an indivdual (January to December each year) and includes the quarterly newsletter, Delta Pedigree Press, with free queries. You are encouraged to submit a surname list with your membership.

To become a Society Member, scroll down to the membership form below, copy, paste into an open blank document, print, fill in and mail it to: Delta County Genealogical Society, Box 442, Escanaba, MI 49829-0442

Society Meetings - The public is always welcome!
An annual meeting is held on the fourth Monday of September with regular monthly meetings held on the fourth Monday of each month, except for November and December. Special meetings are called as needed by the President. Programs are designed to assist in genealogical research.

Society Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the most recent meetings of the Society can be found on this page, just scroll down.

MINUTES OF THE MOST RECENT MEETINGS OF THE SOCIETY

Delta County Genealogical Society
Meeting Minutes -- 24 November 2025 Bay College, Escanaba MI
Officers Present: R. Reiffers, D. Mohler, D. Pepin
1,2. The November 2025 DCGS meeting was brought to order at 6:33pm by President Richard Reiffers. Five members and a guest were present.
3. President’s Report: R. Reiffers reported the announcement for our November DCGS meeting was published in both the Daily Press and the Action. It was also posted on our FaceBook Page. Email announcements were sent to all members.
4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s Report: Brief email to new member, J. Smith, to let him know his application and membership check were received. No further correspondence or calls regarding the books in Manistique.
5. Secretary’s Report: Minutes for the October 27, 2025 Meeting: No changes or additions. Motion for approval by Pepin, Seconded by Clairmont. Unanimously approved. Treasurer’s Report: Income for the month of October includes one new member and dues, and No Expenses. Cash Balance end of October 2025 = $403.25. No changes or additions. Motion for approval by D. Mohler, Seconded by D. Pepin. Unanimously approved.
6, Newsletter: Newsletter not available yet.
7. Website: Fr. D. Pepin reports there was a broken link on the website which he was able to fix. Also, he has been adding the meeting minutes to the DCGS Website monthly.
8. Other Business. A guest presented an interesting puzzle to the society members. He had a wedding photo of his grandparents, Hugo Jacobson and Ellen Reinholdson and their two attendants. The wedding took place at Stonington on 29 July 1920. Our Guest knew the best man was Ellen’s brother, Harry Reinholdson, but who was the woman in the photo who stood with Ellen? After much discussion and searching on various websites, the marriage record image was found on Family Search. The mystery woman was Ellen’s cousin, Elizabeth Nelson!
9. Adjournment Motion made by J. Dubin. Seconded by D. Mohler. Unanimously approved. Meeting adjourned at 7:38pm.
The next DCGS meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 26, 2026, at 6:30pm. Meetings are held at Bay College, Escanaba, in the Heirman Building room 961.

Delta County Genealogical Society
Meeting Minutes -- 27 October 2025; Bay College, Escanaba MI

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, D. Mohler, D. Pepin
1,2. The October 2025 DCGS meeting was brought to order at 6:36pm by President Richard Reiffers. Four members and three guests were present.
3. President’s Report: R. Reiffers reported the announcement for our October DCGS meeting was published in both the Daily Press and the Action. It was also posted on our FaceBook Page. Email announcements were sent to all members.
4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s Report: Correspondence and phone call to M. Krouth regarding a book collection. The books are located in Manistique. The family wants the books out of the house as soon as possible. She has not called back to tell me when we can get together.
5. Secretary’s Report: Minutes for the September 22, 2025 Meeting: No changes or additions. Motion for approval by Pepin, Seconded by Mohler. Unanimously approved.
Treasurer’s Report: Income for the month of August includes two dues renewals. No Expenses. Cash Balance end of September 2025 = $383.25. No changes or additions. Motion for approval by D.Pepin, Seconded by D. Mohler. Unanimously approved.
6,7. Activities: Newsletter not available yet. There has been one article submitted. R. Reiffers gave D. Mohler a notebook with several past Newsletter copies. It was learned that years ago, copies of the Newsletter had been sent to the Allen County Library in Fort Wayne Indiana. Perhaps they have them online?
Website: Fr. D. Pepin reports he has been adding the meeting minutes to the DCGS Website monthy. UP Logon has yet to return call in regards to adding Visitor Counter. However, Fr. Pepin found some statistics on the UP Logon website that list DCGS numbers of Visitors, Number of Pages they visited and Hits. For the year 2025, the number of visits to our webpage range from 1000-5300 visits!!!
8. Other Business: D. Puro stopped by and donated two boxes of genealogy materials from the Archambault family, saving them from the dumpster. D. Mohler took possession of them for the time being.
9. Adjournment Motion made by R. Reiffers. Seconded by D. Pepin. Unanimously approved. Meeting adjourned at 8:07pm.
The next DCGS meeting is scheduled for November 24, 2025 at 6:30pm. Meetings are held at Bay College, Escanaba, in the Heirman Building room 961.

Delta County Genealogical Society
Meeting Minutes -- 22 September 2025; Bay College
Officers Present: R. Reiffers, D. Mohler, D. Pepin
1,2. The September 2025 DCGS meeting was brought to order at 6:36pm by President Richard Reiffers. Seven members were present.
3. President’s Report: R. Reiffers reported that despite him submitting the ad for the Sept 22nd meeting two weeks previous, the announcement not published in either the Daily Press nor the Action. It was posted on our FaceBook Page on Sept 22. Email announcements were sent to all members.
4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s Report:Correspondence with alivitob regarding previous query. They plan to visit Escanaba to do research. Their query is out of our hands due to privacy.
5. Secretary’s Report: Minutes for the August 25, 2025, Meeting: No changes or additions. Motion for approval by Pepin, Seconded by Mohler. Unanimously approved.
Treasurer’s Report: No Income or expenses for the month of August. Cash Balance end of August 2025 = $343.25. No changes or additions. Motion for approval by Clairmont, Seconded by Pepin. Unanimously approved.
6,7. Activities: Summer Newsletter outlined. No new articles have been submitted. R. Reiffers will send past copies. Motion by R. Reiffers regarding privacy concerns: No living person’s name to be included in Newsletter. Second: Mohler. Motion Passed.
Website: Fr. D. Pepin reports that adding information to the website is getting easier. UP Logon still hasn’t returned call in regard to adding Visitor Counter.
8. Other Business: R. Reiffers received another phone call from M. Krouth who has acquired a number of books of local historical & genealogical significance and would like someone to take the books. Estimated three truck loads! There will probably need to be more shelving if housed at Escanaba Library with our current collection. Perhaps Bay College Library, NMU Library, or the Delta Co. Historical Society Museum might be interested in some of them. Mohler offered to help with project in November.
K. Wengert delivered and donated a copy of “St. Mary’s Catholic Church Baptisms 1811-1900” for our book collection at the Escanaba Public Library. The book has Upper Peninsula Baptisms, including Native American Baptisms. Thank you very much, Ken!
Misc: -Bethany Lutheran Church is having a recognition of Native American Boarding Schools on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 11 AM. -There was a documented pirate on the Great Lakes named Capt. Seavey! -There was a Mormon named ‘King James Strang’ on Beaver Island, Michigan. Mormon King of Beaver Island, Michigan. He had something to do with starting a Mormon mission in Schoolcraft Co. The Mormons had a mill on Parent Creek south of Thompson on the Garden Peninsula. -Bishop Baraga’s house in Marquette is open to the public. Bishop Baraga was ordained in Cincinnati Ohio and active throughout Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin in the early to mid-1800’s.
DCGS had not met in November in past years because the organization met on the fourth Wednesday which conflicted with the Thanksgiving holiday. Since we now meet on the Fourth Monday of the month, D. Mohler motioned we hold a meeting in November this year. Seconded by G. Clairmont. The motion passed with 6 yea’s and one no. That meeting will be held on November 24, as long as the college allows us to use the room.
On February 5, 2026, R. Reiffers will be giving a talk on Genealogy at the Bay Sages meeting held at Bay College, Escanaba, in the Heirman Building. 10:00 AM.
The next DCGS meeting is scheduled for October 27, 2025, at 6:30pm. Meetings are held at Bay College Escanaba in the Heirman Building room 961.
9. Adjournment Motion made by R. Reiffers. Seconded by D. Pepin. Unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 7:52pm.

Delta County Genealogical Society
Meeting Minutes -- 25 August 2025; Bay College
Officers present: Richard Reiffers, Fr. Darryl Pepin Members: Joe Durbin, Virginia Clairmont
President R. Reiffers opened meeting at 5:05 pm, welcomed members and shared the regrets of Deb Mohler who is ill. Reiffers initiated a discussion of correspondence from Alivitob@aol.com. Noting that the 1987-1990 inquiry is more current than the digitized Daily Press ( -1964) and would require extensive time to research the microfilm for those years, it was concluded that more information is needed.
Minutes Approved for July 28, 2025 Meeting - M/S/P Durbin/Clairmont
Corresponding Secretary Report: Ken Wengert (IL) will bring the St. Mary's Baptisms book to the September meeting.
Treasure's Report for July 2025 Beginning Balance July 1: $303.25/Income: 40.00 (Ken Wengert Dues $20.00 + Donation $20.00.) Expenses: 0.00. Cash Balance end of July:$343.25. M/S/P Pepin/Clairmont
Newsletter was emailed August 25, 2025. Submit articles about family, local history, family history, family secrets, etc. to Deb Mohler @ garthridge35@charter.net.
Old Business: UPLogon -The processing of the July 1 payment issue has been corrected according to Courtney.
The books donations are still pending as the woman who contacted DCGS did not give the potential donor's phone number to Richard Reiffers.
New Business: Fr. Pepin shared tips from his research on the DeGarmo family. The 1850 census has more details, including the names of all individuals, whereas the 1830 census and 1840 census emphasizes statistics. Later, all members shared in the challenging "deciphering" a handwritten name on a document.
Another research tip when researching the census records is to search several pages pre- and post- your individual as family members often lived near one another [in earlier times]. FAN = Family/Friends, Acquaintance & Neighbors
Fr. Pepin shared information on "Ancestry DNA Auto Clusters" and distributed "80 Old Time Illnesses and Their Current Names" from The Ancestor Hunt 2021.
Ginger Clairmont noted the Ancestry Labor Day sale of AncestryDNA [ends 03 Sep 2025 at 10am ET].
The next meeting of the Society will be September 22 meeting will be at 6:30pm.
Meeting adjourned at 6:25pm. M/S/P Pepin/Durbin
Submitted by Virginia L. Clairmont, Acting Secretary

Delta County Genealogical Society
Meeting Minutes -- 28 July 2025; Bay College
Officers Present: R. Reiffers, D. Mohler, D. Pepin
1,2. The July 2025 DCGS meeting was brought to order at 5:00pm by President Richard Reiffers. Two visitors. Six members, one of whom recently joined.
3. President’s Report: R. Reiffers reported the ad for the July 28th meeting was in the Daily Press, Action and on our FaceBook Page. Email announcements were sent to all members.
4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s Report: Correspondence with our newest member, K. Wengert, regarding his research on Groleau, Hardwick, Sagataw, and Ross families.
5. Secretary’s Report: Minutes for the June 23, 2025 Meeting: No changes or additions. Motion for approval by D. Pepin, Seconded by G. Clairmont. Unanimously approved. Treasurer’s Report: No Income for the month of June. Expenses were $94.70. Cash Balance end of June 2025 = $303.25. No changes or additions. Motion for approval by G. Clairmont, Seconded by D. Pepin. Unanimously approved.
6,7. Activities: No Spring Newsletter as yet. There have be no articles submitted. It was suggested we reprint an old newsletter. Only one newsletter is on file at the Escanaba Library, that being the Sept. 2023 issue. R. Reiffers says he has past copies. D. Pepin believes he gave all of his copies to our previous newsletter editor, S. Whitman. D. Mohler will contact S. Whitman for past copies. Website: Fr. D. Pepin reports there have been Program changes/software “updates” by UP Logon. He is having issues uploading info onto the DCGS website. UP Logon was contacted about the issues, with minimal results. UP Logon to let him know about a visitor counter on the website.
8. Other Business. D. Pepin says what used to be the website Seeking Michigan.org is now michiganology.org
R. Reiffers received a phone call from Mary Krouth who has acquired a number of books of local historical & genealogical significance. She would like to donate the books to DCGS with the stipulation they aren’t sold in a rummage sale. One book of interest is “The Durant Roles”, a listing of Chippewa and Ottawa people in the Sault Ste. Marie area ca. 1907. The membership voted to get more information about the acquisition; motion by D. Mohler seconded by J. Durbin; Unanimous approval.
R. Reiffers will contact Ms. Krouth to find out how many books there are and their titles Someone needs to check with Carolyn Stacy, Escanaba Librarian, to get her thoughts on adding more books to our collection, where to display the books and if more shelving is needed. Someone will need to go through the books already at the library to see whether the donated books are needed or will be duplicates. Also, someone needs to contact the Bay College librarian to see what local historical/genealogy books they have and if the donated books might be a good addition to the Bay College library.
Thinking ahead to future projects, DCGS should update the cemetery book and those records that our on our website. There was a query regarding the Pioneer Park Trail Cemetery. It’s believed K. Rose wrote an article for the Daily Press about a cleanup of that cemetery.
K. Wengert would like to donate a copy of St. Mary’s Catholic Church Baptisms 1811-1900. The book has Upper Peninsula Baptisms, including Native American Baptisms. It is sold by the Chippewa County Historical Society.
Fr. D. Pepin suggests a couple of genealogy websites: “Genealogy TV” with Connie Knox: Genealogy TV – Helping you go further, faster, and factually with your family history research. “The Formidable Genealogist”: The Formidable Genealogist | Family History Research [website(s) may require subscription(s)]
A reminder that the DCGS Annual meeting is usually held in September, which is coming up soon! Elections are usually held at the Annual meeting. Please let Richard know if you would like to work on a program for the annual meeting.
The next DCGS meeting is scheduled for August 25, 2025 at 5:00pm. Meetings are held at Bay College Escanaba in the Heirman Building room 961.
9. Adjournment Motion made by J. Durbin. Seconded by G. Clairmont . Unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 6:31pm.

Delta County Genealogical Society
Meeting Minutes -- 23 June 2025; Bay College
Officers Present: R. Reiffers, D. Mohler, D. Pepin
1,2. The June 2025 DCGS meeting was brought to order at 5:02pm by President Richard Reiffers. No visitors. Four members.
3. President’s Report: R. Reiffers reported the ad for the June 23rd meeting was in the Daily Press, Action and on our FaceBook Page. Email announcements were sent (albeit late) to all members.
4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s Report: Nothing to report this month.
5. Secretary’s Report: Minutes for the May 19, 2025 Meeting: Motion for approval by J. Durbin,Seconded by D. Mohler. Unanimously approved. Treasurer’s Report: No Income for the month of May. Expenses were $113 for 6 mo. P.O. Box. Cash Balance end of May 2025 = $397.95. No changes or additions. Motion for approval by D. Pepin, Seconded by J. Durbin. Unanimously approved.
6,7. Activities: No Spring Newsletter as yet. There have be no articles submitted. It was suggested we reprint an old newsletter. Website: Fr. D. Pepin found on the DCGS website a Free Version of CKEditor. He is hoping that will suffice our website needs, as the other versions have a monthly fee.
8. Other Business. R. Reiffers announced Bay Sages has asked him to do a genealogy presentation for their organization in February 2026. He plans to do a general talk on genealogy research and have blank handouts of family trees and family group sheets, along with information about DCGS and membership forms.
We had a short discussion on possibly changing the start time of our meetings, but because we need to be out of the building by 7:00pm, there was a general concensus to keep the start at 5:00pm. Members are welcome to arrive even after the 5:00 start time if more convenient. Karen Lindquist at the Delta Co Historical Society mentioned to D. Pepin that we could use their meeting room on occasion, but probably not on a regular basis. They are not open during the winter. However, the Delta Co Historical Society Archives is open through the winter on Mondays from 2-4pm.
Another good discussion covering a variety of topics followed the formal business meeting. Fr. Pepin was contacted by some Florida visitors who were researching their Levesque family. He was able to help them find several original records in the Bark River parish records. “It’s wonderful to be able to help people find their roots!”
R. Reiffers is looking for information about Mueller’s Restaurant when they were on N. 16th St., Escanaba, specifically in the mid 1960’s. He’s heard stories about a deer crashing through the window of the restaurant, and a fire in the building, but has not been able to verify. This led to stories about various Music Shops, Restaurants and Dance Halls in the area in times past. Wonderful reminiscing.
If looking for Michigan Death Records, try the website: seekingmichigan.org Several members have had good luck finding gems on this website.
The next meeting of the DCGS is scheduled for July 28, 2025 at 5:00pm. Meetings are held at Bay College Escanaba in the Heirman Building room 961.
9. Adjournment Motion made by D. Mohler. Seconded by J. Durbin. Unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 6:05pm.

Delta County Genealogical Society
Meeting Minutes -- 19 May 2025; Bay College

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, D. Mohler, D. Pepin

1,2. The April 2025 DCGS meeting was brought to order at 5:07pm by President Richard Reiffers. No visitors, but a good turn out of members.

3. President's Report: R. Reiffers reported the ad for the May 19th meeting was in the Daily Press and on our FaceBook Page. Email announcements were sent to all members.

4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s Report: Nothing to report this month.

5. Secretary’s Report: Minutes for the April 28, 2025 Meeting: Motion for approval with changes by G. Clairmont, Seconded by Fr. D. Pepin. Unanimously approved.Treasurer’s Report: Two New Members’ dues in April plus donation from Matt Flath (ideally earmarked for converting website to updated version). No Expenses. Cash Balance end of April 2025 = $510.95. No changes or additions. Motion for approval by J. Durbin, Seconded by G. Clairmont. Unanimously approved.

6,7. Activities:No Spring Newsletter as yet.
Website: Fr. D. Pepin suggests we have some sort of counter on the DCGS Website so we have an idea of how many visitors we have. There was also a question as to the cost of upgrading the website to the new version.

8. Other Business. A good discussion covering a variety of topics followed the formal business meeting. One Suggestion for finding information on relatives is using Newspapers.com.

Fr. Pepin continues searching for information about his relative, John Lanham b. 1855 VA. Alternate name spellings: Lannum, Langham. In April 1884, John Lanham married Elisa Jane Fusselman/Fosselman in Ossian, Wells County, Indiana. Elisa was 26 years old. Her father was Jeremiah Fusselman. At some point, John Lanham changed his name to Charles Degarmo and lived in the Trenary, MI area. Please contact Fr. Pepin for further details.

Fr. Pepin told us of a Digitizing service in the Powers-Spaulding area for transferring movies/tapes/VHS, etc. Contact Luft’s Printing Service, W5472 Third St., Hermansville 906-498-2265

Charles Lundquist gave a presentation of the Bonifas Family at the recent Delta County Historical Society Meeting.

The next meeting of the DCGS is scheduled for June 23, 2025 at 5:00pm (5:00 due to summer hours at Bay College through August). Meetings are held at Bay College Escanaba in the Heirman Building room 961.

9. Adjournment Motion made by D. Pepin. Seconded by D. Mohler . Unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 6:25pm.

Delta County Genealogical Society
Meeting Minutes - 18 April 2025; Bay College

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, D. Mohler, D. Pepin

1,2. The April 2025 DCGS meeting was brought to order at 6:32pm by President Richard Reiffers. No visitors, but a good turn out of members.

3. President’s Report:  It was reported the ad for the April 28^th meeting was in the Daily Press and on our FaceBook Page. Email announcements were sent to all members.

4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s Report: A Thank you was given to our newest member, Matt Flath, for his generous donation. It was reported that two of our members have passed away, Sherry Hughes of Gladstone, and Arthur G. “Doc” Souter of Manistique.

5. Secretary/Treasurer’s Report:  Minutes for the March 24, 2025 Meeting: No changes or additions. Motion for approval by Fr. D. Pepin, Seconded by G. Clairmont. Unanimously approved. Treasurer’s report: One New Member dues in March plus monetary donation for donated book, “Pioneers of Delta County”. Cash Balance end of March 2025 = $370.95. No changes or additions. Motion for approval by G. Clairmont, Seconded by Fr. D. Pepin. Unanimously approved.

6,7. Activities: A Spring Newsletter is still in the works. Articles are welcomed! Suggested topics around a Springtime Theme: Farming, Gardening, Easter, Mother’s Day and Memorial Day.

Website: Fr. D. Pepin had no additional information regarding the DCGS Website. New member, Matt Flath, has offered to help with converting to a newer version of the UP Logon website.

8. Other Business.  A lively discussion covering a variety of topics followed the formal business meeting. Fr. D. Pepin is a wealth of information on the Catholic Church records in our area. He mentioned there was at one time a Polish National Church branch, but is no longer active. Records from the Polish National Church may be found in Milwaukee, the Polaski, WI area, and/or Scranton, Pennsylvania. The Schaeffer Catholic Church book ledgers are located at the Bark River church. Catholic Church Records are usually found to be in Latin.

Members suggested a few websites to find German Records: FindMyPast.com; WikiTree.com and MyHeritage.com

Mention was made that the Delta Co. Historical Society Open House is to be held Wed. May 14^th.

The next meeting of the DCGS is scheduled for May 19, 2025 - the THIRD MONDAY, May 19^th (because Memorial Day is the 4^th Monday) at 5:00pm (5:00 due to summer hours at Bay College through August). Meetings are held at Bay College Escanaba in the Heirman Building room 961.

Please note the June DCGS Meeting will be back to the FOURTH MONDAY, June 23, 5:00PM.

9. Adjournment Motion made by J.Durbin. Seconded by D. Mohler. Unanimously approved.

The meeting adjourned at 7:50pm

Delta County Genealogical Society
Meeting Minutes - 24 March 2025; Bay College

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, D. Mohler, D. Pepin

1,2. The March 2025 DCGS meeting was brought to order at 6:32pm by President Richard Reiffers. We had one visitor, Matt Flath who is researching both his and his wife’s families.

3. President’s Report: It was reported the ad for the March 24^th meeting was in the Daily Press And the Advertiser. There was an announcement on DCGS FaceBook page. Email announcements were sent to all members. Other places we could post meeting announcements is: Delta Co. Historical Society FB page.

4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s Report: A Thank you was sent to our generous donors, Mike and Martha Jackson of LaGrange, IL. Correspondence with Joe Durbin regarding his Civil War ancestor, William Durbin of Ohio.

5. Secretary/Treasurer’s Report: Minutes for the February 24, 2025 Meeting: No changes or additions. Motion for approval by R. Reiffers, Seconded by Fr. D. Pepin. Unanimously approved. Treasurer’s report: One Member renewed their dues in February plus 1 donation. Stamps were purchased. Cash Balance end of February 2025 = $330.95. No changes or additions. Motion for approval by R. Reiffers, Seconded by Fr. D. Pepin. Unanimously approved.  Additionally, R. Reiffers offered a monetary donation for a book donated to us by the Marquette Genealogy Society. The book was Pioneers of Delta Co. and the Civil War.

6,7. Activities: The Winter Newsletter has been published and sent to all members. Articles for the Spring Newsletter are welcomed! Suggested topics around a Springtime Theme: Farming, Gardening, Easter, Mother’s Day and Memorial Day.

Website: Fr. D. Pepin reiterated that DCGS is still using the old version of the UP Logon website and is not sure how much longer it will be supported. UPLogOn will transfer our information to the new version for a fee, and the new version will be more expensive. Fr. Pepin explained that the DCGS minutes are added to the website.

8. Other Business. Guest, Matt F. told us of a brick wall he has regarding supposedly same person with spellings of the same name and different names in the U.S. Censuses. This prompted a lively discussion about online and local sources of genealogy information. One member has had luck with WikiTree. There was discussion about 23andMe filing for Chapter 11, what might become of 23andMe as a company, and what could potentially happen to members’ private data.

A former/new member wants to start researching her family again after several years. She is looking for someone to help her start where she left off. It was mentioned that several genealogy websites are helpful, as is DNA Testing. Websites include FamilySearch dot org (free but must register), Ancestry dot com (pay), MyHeritage dot com (pay), etc. The Escanaba Public Library houses the book and microfilm/microfiche collection of DCGS for those who are looking for physical resources rather than online research. Some Delta County Michigan townships listed in the 1930 U.S. Census are on the DCGS website.

The next meeting of the DCGS is scheduled for Monday APRIL 28, 2025 at 6:30pm (winter hours) at Bay College Escanaba in the Heirman Building room 961.

Please note that the MAY 2025 meeting will be on the THIRD MONDAY, May 19^th at 5:00pm (5:00 due to summer hours at Bay College through August).

9. Adjournment Motion made by Fr. D. Pepin. Seconded by D. Mohler. Unanimously approved.

The meeting adjourned at 7:48pm

Delta County Genealogical Society - Meeting Minutes
24 Feb 2025; Bay College

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, D. Mohler, D. Pepin

1,2. The DCGS meeting was brought to order at 6:39pm by President Richard Reiffers. We had introduced visitor, Joe Durbin of Gladstone. Joe inquired about finding information about a paternal grandmother, Margaret Mary SAPP of Bluffton OH, needing death place and burial info. Fr. Pepin was able to find an obituary on Newspapers.com for Margaret, along with surviving children and burial info. Joe was also looking for Civil War enlistment for Margaret’s husband, William DURBIN, b. 1832 OH, d. 1881, OH. He was possibly in the 145 OVI.

3. President’s Report: It was reported the ad for the Feb 24^th meeting was in the Daily Press And the Advertiser. There was an announcement on FaceBook: DCGS, RR History, Escanaba History and Stonington FB pages. Email announcements were sent to all members. Other places we could post meeting announcements is: Garden Historical Society FB page and Schoolcraft Co. Historical Society FB page.

4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s Report: A Thank you was sent to our generous donor, Fr. Darryl Pepin. Correspondence with Pat Casteel regarding her Marquette grandfather. New Member, Lori Johnson of Marquette knows of Pat’s family and will contact her. Various Correspondence with members about meeting attendance and dues. Correspondence with as Sheri Carr seeking information about her Fuhrimann family in Perkins from the early 1900’s.

5. Secretary/Treasurer’s Report: Minutes for the January 27, 2025 Meeting: No changes or additions. Motion for approval by Fr. D. Pepin, Seconded by D. Mohler. Unanimously approved. Treasurer’s report: 2 Members renewed their dues in January plus 1 donation. Cash Balance end of January 2025 = $305.55. No changes or additions. Motion for approval by Fr. D. Pepin, Seconded by D. Mohler. Unanimously approved.

6,7. 2024-2025 Activities: No Winter Newsletter has been published as yet. Articles for the Winter Newsletter can be submitted soon. There was discussion about where information for news articles can be found. One source is old DCGS Newsletters. Other sources may be information through national speakers who have articles for genealogy societies, like Thomas MacEntee. Website: Fr. D. Pepin reiterated that DCGS is still using the old version of the UP Logon website and is not sure how much longer it will be supported. UPLogOn will transfer our information to the new version for a fee, and the new version will be more expensive. R Reiffers explained that a previous DCGS member, Dr. Bassinette indexed the Escanaba Newpapers from early 1900s, and that index is on our DCGS website.

8. Other Business. There was discussion about online sources of genealogy information: The Formidable Geneologist; WikiTree; Connie Knox.

Members discussed how we might attract more people to the meetings. Speakers may help. At one time, members took turns presenting various genealogy topics at meetings. Hosting meetings on Zoom may also help those out of town members. No one in attendance is familiar with hosting a Zoom presentation at this time.  Family Search is hosting RootsTech Mar. 6-8, a FREE online Genealogy Conference with a variety of topics. Sign up Free at RootsTech.org.

The next meeting of the DCGS is scheduled for Monday March 24, 2025 at 6:30pm (winter hours) at Bay College in the Heirman Building room 961.
Please note that the MAY 2025 meeting will be on the THIRD MONDAY, May 19^th at 5:00pm (summer hours at Bay College through August).

9. Adjournment Motion made by R. Reiffers. Seconded by Fr. D. Pepin. Unanimously approved.

The meeting adjourned at 7:25pm

Copy the form below, then paste the Form into an open blank document, print, fill in and mail it to:
Delta County Genealogical Society, Box 442, Escanaba, MI 49829-0442

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