52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 13 Local Societies

This is week 13 of Amy Coffin’s Abundant Genealogy series.

Local Societies :  Local genealogical and historical societies are the lifeblood of genealogy.  Members and volunteers give of their time and money to preserve local history and promote family history.  Tell us about a local society for which you are thankful.

The Greene County, Virginia Historical Society truly is the lifeblood of genealogy, especially for families that can trace their roots back to the beginning of the county in 1838 – families with names like Jollett, Shiflett, Powell, Snow, Frazier, Gear, Eaton, Lamb, Marsh, Morris, Taylor, Jarrell, etc.

Greene is very much a rural county with small towns, so it surprises me how vibrant the historical society is.  The volunteers are truly dedicated to discovering and collecting artifacts that keep the history of the area alive.  They manage to run a small but interesting museum in the old jail house where they have on display letters, diaries, journals, photographs, portraits, and objects from daily living that help increase our understanding of what our ancestors’ lives were like. 

Greene County Historical Society
Dedication of the new museum housed in the old county jail
Stanardsville, Virginia

Right now the society is preserving written history by holding twice-monthly “Clip, Tape, and Copy” workshops to cut out newspaper articles documenting life in Greene County.  The articles will be copied and displayed in notebooks for future researchers. 

The GCHS also is a wonderful source for genealogical research.  They have a database of over 100,000 names plus many family histories.  One of the foremost authorities on the families of Greene is an active volunteer who has published several collections of marriage records and census records.  He is my first contact when I have a question about ANYONE who ever stepped foot in Greene County.  Other members have worked on locating and indexing all cemeteries and burials.  The GCHS website even has an information request form. 

I’m especially excited about a coffee table book the GCHS has in the works.  See – this group is not sitting in the dust.  They are alive and well.  If I didn’t live 3 hours away, I’d be a more active member.

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