Registration for 2023 Spring Seminar is Now Open
Our Spring Seminar is
scheduled for Saturday, April 15, 2023
and our featured speaker will be
The Legal Genealogist®,
Judy G. Russell, JD, CG®, CGLSM.
"Research in Other Countries" - Apr 13 Meeting
So you've been tracking down your ancestors and you've finally arrived to the one who immigrated to America – now what? Do you feel that the only choices you have are to travel to that country for further research (but you can't speak that language!!) or hire a professional “over there” to do the work for you? Hear what three of our own OGS members have to say about their research in Norway and Italy as Greg Nordlund, Linda Fialkowski and Jon Halvorson share their techniques, tips and recommendations with us at our next meeting.
Watch here for a Zoom link to this meeting.
"Finding Living People" - Mar 9 Meeting
.jpg)
Whether you are looking to reunite mementos with lost family, identify missing or unknown heirs, locate others who can advance your genealogical research, or find lost school mates for a reunion, finding living people online with reliable contact information can be a challenge. In this presentation we looked at well-known sites and little-known resources, free and paid, and discussed lateral thinking strategies to improve the odds of a successful living person search.
Speaker: A native Californian, Vicky Lambert has been a genealogist for over twenty years in search of her Eastern, Midwestern, and Southern ancestors, as well as veterans from the Revolutionary War to WW II. This work has led her to help others in tracking their hard-to-find ancestors and stories. Her specialization is in Forensic Genealogy with specific focus on probate, estate, kinship determination, and missing heirs.
There was no recording of this presentation.
"Faith Of Our Fathers" - Feb 9 Meeting

Our country is one of religious diversity. Except for the very early days in the colonies, there has never been a "state religion". A number of different religions and their beginnings were discussed. Before state and vital records were mandated, churches were valuable sources of information that can be used as substitutes for vital records.
Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, AG, FOGS, has an amazing ability to bring laughter into the lives of her audience members. She is a frequent lecturer at many local societies in Ohio, as well as Family History seminars. She has presented at Brigham Young University, and ICAPGen, and taught Continuing Education classes at several community colleges and The Ohio State University. Peggy is a featured columnist in Reminisce magazine, has written several Legacy QuickGuides, and has filmed as an instructor for Ancestry Academy, and worked as a researcher for Ancestry ProGenealogists. She was award the title of Fellow of the Ohio Genealogical Society in 2018.
A recording of this meeting is now available for OGS members through 19 March 2023. Log onto website. Click on Community Events / Recordings* and click on "Church Records" to view the recording. Program material is available under Publications / Downloadable Files / Program Materials - OGS Only, through 19 March 2023.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs) updates for 2022-23
It’s that time of year again to start up SIGs for the year. Make this year the year to attend a SIG meeting or two! This is a great venue to get to know more about genealogy software, DNA, how to write your story or ethnic research. The plus side is getting to know fellow members in a small group setting. Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are a benefit of membership so make sure your membership status is updated to access this wonderful benefit. As we have been doing the last couple of years, the meetings will be held virtually. However, we are switching the platform for our meetings to Google Meet. Google Meet functions much like Zoom for the attendees. You’ll find similar buttons that Zoom has. The gain for changing over is that the SIG facilitator will be the one sending out invites and creating the meeting links. The links will still be found on the corresponding SIG webpage. If you would like to be on the SIG list, please send an email to the facilitator to be included on their list of members. You’ll find their email contact on the Membership List.
Feel free to contact the facilitator to learn more about a group. More information is shared on the SIG pages and the related Forums once you have logged onto the OGS website. Access to the SIGs and Forums is a benefit of membership; if you aren't a member yet, join up and start taking in all that OGS membership offers!!
Special Interest Groups and Facilitators:
- ANCESTRY - Greg Nordlund; meets 4th Saturday 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
- DNA - Nancy Cordell; meets 2nd Tuesday 6:30 pm
- FAMILY HISTORY WRITING - Laura Carroll meets 1st Monday 7:00 - 9:00 pm (note change in start time)
- FAMILY TREE MAKER - David Abernathy; meets 4th Thursday 10:00 am
- FAMILY SEARCH.org – Carolyn Gibbons; meets 4th Wednesday 6:00 - 8:00 pm
- GENEALOGY CHAT - Peggy Cooley; meets 3rd Wednesday 1:00 - 2:30 pm
- ITALIAN - Greg Nordlund; meets quarterly (Nov, Feb, May, Aug) 1st Saturday 11:00 am.
- LEGACY FAMILY TREE - Jerri McCoy; meets 3rd Saturday 1:00 pm
OGS is always interested in starting new SIGs, if you have a topic in mind please contact Kerry Upton. Every SIG needs a coordinator, please let Kerry know if you are willing to be a SIG coordinator. All SIG meetings will be hosted on Google Meet.
1950 U.S. Federal Census Data has been released!
Welcome to Our Website!
The Olympia Genealogical Society's website is designed to allow our members to engage with each other as they trace their ancestors, fill out their family trees, and discover their family histories. We want to make this site a dynamic experience where members can share with and learn from one another. Here are just a few ways to engage on this site today:
If you aren’t already an OGS member, please consider joining and engaging with our community. To do so, see
Membership in the menu in the left column.
OGS Surname Database
OGS provides a searchable public database to which an OGS member can add the surnames of their ancestors. At this writing, the database includes 348 entries. See
OGS Surname Database for more information.
OGS Newsletter