Darien Library, 1441 Post Road (at Hecker Avenue), Darien, Connecticut 06820. Phone: 203-655-1234

Meetings

The Middlesex Genealogical Society holds five program meetings a year in conjunction with the Darien Library. Speakers make presentations on various topics of interest to all genealogists. Meetings are at the Darien Library, 1441 Post Road (at Hecker Avenue), Darien, Connecticut. Phone: 203-655-1234.

Meetings are held on Saturdays at 2:00 pm, in the Community Room on the first floor. Meetings are free and open to the public.

Vice President-Programs Pete Kenyon welcomes ideas for future meetings.

Upcoming Meetings

October 5, 2013. To be announced.

November 16, 2013. Tony Lauriano. Program subject to be announced.

January 25, 2014. To be announced.

March 15, 2014. Toni McKeen will present "Finding Elusive Females."

Past Meetings

May 18, 2013. "Blogging Your Genealogy." Presented by Philip Hayes. Combining the power of technology and the primary sources from historical documents, Phil developed his own family history Website based on the Word Press Content Management System (Our Family History - Phil and Colleen Hayes). It has inspired many people to develop an interest in the family’s history and has connected Phil to several undiscovered relatives and their family stories. In 2010 Phil developed a presentation aimed at teaching amateur and professional genealogists how to document their family’s history on the internet using a blog. If genealogists want to get the most out of their efforts, there are some basic strategies that must be employed. These strategies were fully covered in his program. Handout.

Phil is the CEO of Sirius Innovations, LLC. In that position he served as Technology Solutions Consultant and Web Applications Programmer for Fortune 500 companies, large municipalities, and hospitals. He is fluent in SQL, ColdFusion, PHP, and Javascriipt programming languages. He is also a power user of of the WordPress Content Management System, commonly used for blogging. Phil is a member of numerous historical and genealogy societies, including the Association of Professional Genealogists.

March 16, 2013. "Cruising Long Island Sound—Tracing Its Early Families with a Regional View." Presented by Fred Hart. The program was fully illustrated, including maps, examples of migrations within the region, etc. Handouts: Some Resources for Long Island Sound Region Families; Political Affiliations of Towns in the Long Island Sound Region.

Fred is a Norwalk native and graduate of Norwalk High School, Dartmouth College, and Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering, and is now retired from an engineering management career at Northeast Utilities. Both of his parents grew up in Rowayton. In addition to being a charter member of the Middlesex Genealogical Society, he is also a member of Connecticut Ancestry Society, the Connecticut Professional Genealogists Council, and several other historical and genealogical organizations. Fred has been a Certified Genealogist since 1993 and was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists in 2007.

January 26, 2013. "Military Records Research." Presented by Tony Lauriano. See summary on page 4 of the MGS Newsletter for March 2013.

November 10, 2012. "Probate Records." Presented by Virginia Banerjee. See summary on page 3 of the MGS Newsletter for December 2012.

October 6, 2012. "Review of the 1940 Census, and Using the Steve Morse Website to Research Difficult Cases." Presented by Toni McKeen.

May 12, 2012. "Family History for the Whole Family." Presented by Virginia Banerjee. Handout 1. Handout 2.

March 17, 2012. "Exploring the 1940 Census." Presented by Christopher Zarr, Education Specialist at the National Archives facility on Varick Street in New York City.

January 21, 2012. "Letting the City Directories Work for You." Presented by Toni McKeen.

November 19, 2011. "Sources for Irish Records." Presented by Donna Moughty, a former president of the Middlesex Genealogical Society.

October 1, 2011. "Effectively Using Ancestry.com in Researching Your Family." Presented by Toni McKeen.

May 14, 2011. “Genetic Genealogy." Presented by Nora Galvin.

March 19, 2011. "Beyond Names and Dates: Uncovering Your Ancestors' Stories." Presented by Leslie Albrecht Huber. See summary on page 6 of the MGS Newsletter for May 2011.

January 29, 2011. "A Walk Through the New FamilySearch.org " - new and improved with images and new technology. Presented by MGS President Lloyd Sturgis.

November 20, 2010. "Research That Makes My Eyes Cross." Presented by Toni McKeen. See summary on page 4 of the MGS Newsletter for December 2010.

October 2, 2010. "How to Test Your DNA and Why." Presented by Peter Biggins. See summary on page 3 of the MGS Newsletter for October 2010. Slides. Handout.

May 15, 2010. The Story of DARIEN Connecticut. Presented by Kenneth M. Reiss. About the book

March 20, 2010. "Maximizing the Use of the Census." Presented by Virginia Banerjee. See Joan Rinaldi's summary on page 3 of the MGS Newsletter for May 2010. Handouts

January 23, 2010. "Uncle Sam Wants You! - 20th Century Military Research." Presented by Larry Fermi. Outline

November 21, 2009. "Navigating Ship Manifests: Researching Immigration Records Like a Pro." Presented By Toni McKeen. See Joan Rinaldi's summary on pages 4 and 5 of the MGS Newsletter for December 2009.

October 3, 2009. "Getting the Most Out of HeritageQuest and Ancestry." Presented by Toni McKeen.

May 16, 2009. "Crossing The Pond: Finding Your Immigrant Origins." Presented by Larry Fermi. Outline

March 21, 2009. "Effective Use of the Internet for Genealogy." Presented by Kathy Lenerz, Ph.D., Genealogical Lecturer. Slides

February 21, 2009. "Getting Started in Genealogy." Presented by Virginia Banerjee and Pete Kenyon, both members of MGS. Banerjee article