Family reunions great forum for genealogical research

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Don’t bypass a family reunion because the traveling is more than you had in mind. Think of it as an opportunity to poke around someplace new.

Why, if you chose to take in the Harriman reunion Sept. 20 in Manchester, N.H., you could go a couple of days early and check resources in Concord up the road. The New Hampshire State Library has a charming genealogical room, and next door is the New Hampshire Genealogical Society.

Certainly there are a “little million” Mainers who are descendants of Leonard and John Harriman, who both immigrated in 1638 to Rowley, Mass.

The Harriman Family Association will sponsor the reunion, to be held at the American Canadian Genealogical Society, 4 Elm St., Manchester, N.H.

The reunion schedule is: 9 a.m., visit with new and old friends and family; noon, brown bag lunch or eat downtown; 1:30 p.m., slide show on Jill and Aaron Galus’ renovation project of an old barn in Raymond, N.H., in the Harriman family for generations.

Bring old Harriman cemetery photos for the association collection, and write down your questions for family historian Berkeley Henley. For information, contact Henley at 7 Laurel Drive, Norway, ME 04268; or e-mail berkh@localnet.com. Information is being gathered for Volume 2 of the Harriman Family in America.

Dues are $10 individual, $15 family, $100 life membership over 55, sent to HFA, Richard Harriman, 71 Kinderhook St., Randolph, ME 04346.

The group has a Web site at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com~harrimanfamassoc. The site offers two publications:

. “Harriman History: Feudalism to Freedom,” 1998, by Lois Ware Thurston, certified genealogist, 160 pages, probable English ancestry of Leonard and John Harriman, $20.

. “Harriman Family: Research in Progress,” 1992, also by Thurston, first four generations in America and children of fifth generation, $28 for members, $31.50 non-members.

Send checks to HFA, Richard Harriman, 9634 Mainlands Blvd. E., Pinellas Park, FL 33782. The books also may be viewed at Maine State Library in Augusta.

The Kalloch Historical Association will hold its 136th annual meeting Saturday, Aug. 16, at 22 Mechanic St., Rockland. The schedule is: 10 a.m., registration; 11 a.m., annual meeting; noon, buffet luncheon; programs, 1-4 p.m. There also will be time to check out the Kalloch Archives for ancestral information. The cost is $15 a person. Advance reservations are required. Call 354-2468.

Organizers from the Maine Genealogical Society say that one of the most noted speakers they’ve ever had will be genealogist and author Patricia Law Hatcher at the fall conference, Sept. 6 at Williamson Center, School Street, Fairfield.

Elected last year as a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, Hatcher has written “Locating Your Roots – Discover Your Ancestors Using Land Records,” “Producing a Quality Family History,” “A Rhoads Family History – The Family and Ancestry of Jay Roscoe Rhoads,” “Abstracts of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots and Barren County, Kentucky Deeds 1798-1813.”

Registration begins at 8 a.m. Hatcher will speak on “Producing a Quality Family History” at 8:45 a.m., and “Look Again! What Did You Miss?” at 3:15 p.m. She will give workshops: “Documentation – More Than Just a Source,” at 10:30 a.m.; and “Turning Paper into People – Adding Context” at 1:45 p.m.

The annual meeting is at 10 a.m., and lunch at 11:30 a.m. Costumed storyteller Marian Novak will tell the story of Charles Osbourne Libby, including his Civil War service, at 12:30 p.m.

At 10:30 a.m., other workshops are:

. “Getting Started,” Phil Getchell, genealogy instructor.

. “Researching with Newspapers,” Roxanne Moore Saucier, Family Ties columnist for the Bangor Daily News.

. “This Blank Book Before Me: The Diaries of Mary Pride Knight and Persis Sibley,” Jean Hankins, historian.

At 1:45 p.m., additional choices are:

. “Maine Families in 1790,” panel discussion.

. “Windows to the World – Card Catalogs,” Susan McCarthy, reference librarian.

. “Seafaring Family Links: Births, Marriages and Deaths under Unusual Circumstances,” John Battick, historian, history professor.

To pre-register, write SRV Chaper, MGS, c/o Flossie Dere, P.O. Box 342, East Wilton, ME 04234, and note your choice of workshops. Registration is $25 for the public, $20 for Maine Genealogical Society members by Aug. 23. At the door, it’s $30.

Lunch is an additional $6, prepaid only. Choose chicken salad sandwich or cheese-vegetable sandwich, and chicken or vegetarian soup.

For information, e-mail Flossie@megalink.net or cpatten@tdstelme.net, or visit www.rootsweb.com/~megs/MaineGS.htm and select “society meetings.”

The annual Gray family reunion will be held Aug. 16 at the home of Foster and Irene Gray in Dedham. Lunch will be served at noon. Bring a dish to share and chairs. For information, call Michelle at 848-5210.

Send queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or familyti@bangordailynews.net.