Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society - NWIGS

06/05/2026

Something big is coming to GEDmatch — and you're invited to the reveal. 🧬

📅 Friday June 19, 10AM PST — Join us live for the first public preview of the all-new GEDmatch. Rebuilt, redesigned, and faster across the board. This is the platform we've always wanted to put in your hands, and you'll be among the first to see it. Open to everyone, with the recording going up on our YouTube channel afterward.

Then join us again on Friday, June 26 at 12PM PST for Reconstructing Ancestors with GEDmatch: Lazarus, My Evil Twin & Phasing. Learn how to reconstruct an ancestor's DNA without a fresh test, separate maternal and paternal lines, and understand what these powerful tools can (and can't) do. (Recording wil be posted in the Tier 1 forum for members.)

Both webinars are free and open to all users. Registration links below 👇

GEDmatch preview: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5563744796617411927

Reconstructing Ancestors & More: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2346933314047086940

06/05/2026

QUICK TIPS: Clues from a Processioning List: Part 3
LAND OWNERSHIP & LEASES
https://www.evidenceexplained.com/quicktips/clues-processioning-list-part-three
Our past two postings have focused on a critical skill for researchers: Taking research notes that do not simply “extract facts” but also allow us to study the context of those facts.

Yesterday, we invited you to study a research note detailing the 1755 processioning of lands in Capt. William Christian’s company, Augusta Parish, Augusta County, Virginia. Focusing on the long and boring list of names, we asked: What clues, context, or patterns do you see that would help you understand the person and the society you are researching?

Today and tomorrow, we'll offer our own thoughts, focused on neighborhood patterns and implications of kinship or distance between residences—starting with this one:
ISSUE 1: LANDOWNERSHIP vs. LEASES

06/05/2026

Free through June 10th

The replays from our German Genealogy Deep Dive are now available.

Watch these 3 webinars from leading German Genealogy experts Ursula Krause, Andrea Bentschneider and Ernest Thode!

Free through June 10th.

06/05/2026

06/05/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GLR3Q6J7x/

From a small gathering on the courthouse lawn to one of Northwest Indiana’s biggest public traditions, the Porter County Fair grew rapidly in its earliest decades.

By the late 1850s, the fair had already outgrown its original home and moved to the grounds of the woolen mill on South Campbell Street in Valparaiso (in the vicinity of where Journeyman Distillery is located in the present day). But the outbreak of the American Civil War brought the fair to a halt, and by 1863 the event disappeared entirely for nearly ten years.

When local leaders revived the fair in 1871, they reimagined it on a much larger scale. Within a year, twenty acres were purchased north of Valparaiso's city limits for permanent fairgrounds, giving the fair a lasting home and helping transform it into a regional attraction.

One unforgettable moment came in 1873, when former Vice President Schuyler Colfax spoke at the fairgrounds. Newspapers described Valparaiso’s streets as overflowing with wagons, teams, and visitors - the largest crowd the city had ever seen.

By the 1870s, the Porter County Fair had become much more than a local agricultural exhibition. It had become a major community event that brought the entire region together.

Image: This detail from an 1876 plat map of Center Township shows the location of the fairgrounds after their move in the early 1870s. Although the Chicago & Lake Huron Railroad appears on this map, the line was not completed until October 1873 - meaning no railroad existed near the site when the fairgrounds were established there.

06/02/2026

How to Research People with Common Names (New Quicksheet)

Researching ancestors with common names is one of genealogy’s most difficult and time-consuming tasks. When dozens—or even hundreds—of people share the same name in the same state, county, or decade, traditional record-by-record searching quickly becomes overwhelming and misleading. But common-name problems are rarely impossible. The key is to stop relying on the name as your primary identifier and instead build a context-rich profile using residence, occupation, relatives, associates, timelines, and patterns of movement. This Quicksheet provides a practical, method-driven approach to identifying, isolating, and verifying the correct individual when the name alone is nearly useless.

Get the Quicksheet PDF at https://theancestorhunt.com/blog/how-to-research-people-with-common-names/

06/02/2026

REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSION TIPS: If you can't find your ancestor's pension record, consider these three things. 1- Check alternative spellings. Spelling was not always so standardized. For example, McKissick may appear as M'Kissick. 2- Try a different state. Even if he lived in Virginia, he may have served from Pennsylvania. 3- Remember, it wasn't until 1832 that ALL veterans received a pension. (Before this, various pension laws entitled some veterans to apply). If your ancestor passed away before 1832, he may not have applied for a pension.

Watch for more Revolutionary War pension tips and explore our new full-text search pension records here: https://f3.social/6y0i

06/02/2026