Passaic County Historical Society Genealogy Club

Passaic County Historical Society Genealogy Club We are headquartered at historic Lambert Castle, Valley Road, Paterson, New Jersey.

The Genealogy Club was established in 1985 for the purpose of advancing genealogical study and discovering, obtaining, preserving and perpetuating whatever may relate to genealogy, biography and family history in Passaic County, NJ. Regular meetings are held on the the second Saturday of each month, September through May. Visitors are always welcome to attend our monthly meetings as guests; howev

er membership in the PCHS automatically entitles you to membership in the Genealogy Club. Coupled with our monthly meetings, you will receive "The Castle Genie," the quarterly newsletter of the Genealogy Club and "The Historic County," the Society's newsletter. Membership also entitles you free Museum admission, and the opportunity to use the Library's abundant historical resource material at no additional charge. You will also receive advance notice of any upcoming Historical Society functions and events.

05/08/2026

Passaic County Historical Society
Genealogy Club
Meeting – May 9, 2026, 10:00am
Clifton Main Library, Room B
Piaget Ave. Clifton, N.J.

Program: “From Manuscripts to Ephermera-Navigating vast collections of NJ State Archives, Libraries & University.”

This presentation aims to provide an overview of the vast collections of historical documents, artifacts, and ephemera that are available in collections around the state. It will highlight the importance of these collections and offer practical guidance on how to navigate and access these resources. Attendees will learn about the types of materials that can be found in these collections, including rare books, photographs, maps, and manuscripts.
They will also discover how these materials can be used to gain insight into various aspects of New Jersey's history, such as the state's role in the American Revolution, the growth of industry and commerce in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the diverse experiences of its residents over time.

Presented by: Michelle Chubenko

: Michelle Tucker Chubenko, AG®, AGLTM is accredited in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen) and specializes in the Mid-Atlantic region and Eastern European research. She serves as a Board Member for the Foundation for East European Family History Studies (FEEFHS), a co-coordinator for the “Nashi Predky/Our Ancestors” Family History Group at the Ukrainian History and Education Center (Somerset, New Jersey), and in 2023, coordinated the institute course Researching Your Ancestry in the Crownland of Galicia, Austria-Hungary.
Since 2021, she has hosted a monthly Q&A Zoom session Have Questions? Get Answers for Research in Galicia and
recently authored a digital publication for genealogists— Workbook for Research in Galicia, Austria-Hungary.
Michelle is a 2025 Continuing Research Grant awardee from the American Society of Genealogists for her project which will focus on researching Austrian Land Cadastre record collections to create a new publication—A Genealogist's Guide to Austrian Land Cadastres for the Crownland of Galicia.

04/09/2026

Meeting – Apr. 11, 2026, 10:00am

Clifton Main Library, Room B
Piaget Ave. Clifton, N.J.

Program: Italian Genealogy Workshop
Presented by: Randi Koenig

Randi will explain how to research various historical records of Italian families in this workshop. Learn how to discover your family's town of origin and record research into Italy.

Randi Koenig, Principal of Legacy Genealogy Services, is a forensic genealogist with over 15 years professional experience, based in Hudson County, NJ. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, Hudson County Genealogical & Historical Society and has been associated with the National Genealogical Society, the Italian Genealogy Society , the NJ Genealogical Society, and the Ulster County historical Foundation (Ireland).

Her work outside the USA spans Europe, South America, Asia, Mexico and the Caribbean. She has provided expert witness testimony throughout NYC and NJ for Surrogate's Court kinship proceedings.

03/11/2026

Passaic County Historical Society
Genealogy Club
Meeting – Mar. 14, 2026 10:00am
Clifton Main Library, Room B
Piaget Ave. Clifton, N.J.

Program : Genealogical Timelines for Organization, Analysis and Problem Solving

In researching our family, we gather extensive amounts of records and information to be compiled. Timelines are a tool that allows us to organize our data, and to visually identify patterns, gaps, themes, and relationships. This program will provide examples of genealogical timelines (migration patterns, research gaps, specific record type, historical perspective, etc.) as well as suggestions on creating timelines in Microsoft Word and Excel.

Presented by: Laura Cubbage-Draper

Laura Cubbage-Draper, MS, CG® is a Board-Certified professional genealogist in central New Jersey. Recently certified, she has been engaged in genealogical research for over 25 years and has been the owner of LCD Genealogy Services for five years. A New Jersey native with deep Pennsylvania and German roots, she is a genealogical researcher, lecturer, and volunteer.

02/03/2026

PLEASE NOTE THE TIME IS 10 AM AND NOT 10:30
REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED
BRING YOUR GENEALOGY QUESTIONS!

Passaic County Historical Society
Genealogy Club

Meeting – Feb. 14, 2026 10:00am

Clifton Main Library, Room B
Piaget Ave. Clifton, N.J

Program : “Ask the Questions-Informal Workshop”

Presented by: Everyone

Are you just beginning, need to organize your files, find different types of records? Learn to utilize genealogy sites. Our seasoned genealogists to assist you with your questions.

01/09/2026

Meeting – Jan. 10, 2026 10:30am

Clifton Main Library
292 Piaget Ave. Clifton, N.J.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026 TO ALL MEMBERS

Program : Annual Members Exchange
Presented by: Members

Our January meeting is always for our members to share their successes, brick walls and family anecdotes. It’s a great opportunity to learn how others have applied some of the information we’ve been exposed to with our professional speakers and also to learn some more about how our members are using their family information.

It’s also a great time to introduce guests to the Genie Club and what we are all about; so invite some friends.

01/03/2026

Passaic County Historical Society
Genealogy Club
Meeting – Jan. 10, 2026 10:30am
Clifton Main
292 Piaget Ave. Clifton, N.J.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026 TO ALL MEMBERS

Program : Annual Members Exchange

Presented by: Members

Our January meeting is always for our members to share their successes, brick walls and family anecdotes. It’s a great opportunity to learn how others have applied some of the information we’ve been exposed to with our professional speakers and also to learn some more about how our members are using their family information.
It’s also a great time to introduce guests to the Genie Club and what we are all about; so invite some friends.

Please rsvp (see flyer) by Nov. 30.
11/29/2025

Please rsvp (see flyer) by Nov. 30.

11/05/2025

Passaic County Historical Society Genealogy Club

Meeting – Nov. 8, 2025 10:30am

Clifton Allwood Branch Library
Lyall Rd. Clifton, N.J.

Program : Finding your German Ancestors
Presented by: Peter Lubrecht

Bio :“PETER T. LUBRECHT, PhD, is an author, German-American historian, and adjunct professor of writing at Berkeley College, New Jersey. He is a retired theatre director, and has published: The Butterfly Boys in the Civil War ; Germans in New Jersey; Liebe Kück-A German Soldier's Story of the Great War and New Jersey Hessians Truth and Lore . In 2018, he won the Steuben Society of America's Eric Hartleb Memorial Lecture Award in 2018 for excellence in the field of German-American Studies.”

09/29/2025

NEXT MEETING SATURDAY, OCT. 11TH AT 10:30 AM AT THE
CLIFTON LIBRARY, ALLWOOD BRANCH.

The speaker for the October 11, 2025 meeting is Mark Szep at the Clifton Library, Allwood branch at 44 Lydall Ave Clifton, NJ.07012. This branch opens at 10:00.

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Program : Buried in The Garden State:
The Who, What, When and Where of New Jersey Burial Records

Presented by: Mark Szep

Explore the many burial and burial-related records available to New Jersey genealogists. Records to be discussed include transit and burial permits, burial card indexes, day books, grave registers, plot records, cemetery transcriptions and our ancestors’ headstones and burial markers. Focus will be placed on what types of burial records exist, where those records can be accessed and what information can be gleaned from them.

Bio:
Mark is a New Jersey-based professional genealogist, lecturer, and co-founder of DiscoverURhistory, a genealogy, family history and house history research firm. His areas of genealogical research include New Jersey/New York, Germany, Ireland, Galicia (Poland), Austrian-Silesia (present-day Czechia) and Slovakia.

08/27/2025

Passaic County Historical Society
Genealogy Club
Meeting – Sep 13, 2025 10:30am
Clifton Allwood Branch Library
Lyall Rd. Clifton, NJ

Program : Case Study: William McBridge - Investigating Family Lore

Presenter: Lisa Ilowite

Researching collateral relatives can unearth family secrets, sometimes ones "hidden in plain sight". Follow along the document trail that shows William McBride's life.
Lisa takes us through her research discovering another black sheep in her genealogy.

Lisa Ilowite

Lisa is a research scientist who applies her scientific research skills to genealogy and has been conducting her family history research for more than 25 years. Her areas of interest include Western PA, Scotland, social history, and Black Sheep ancestors. She has strong Western PA roots and is originally from New Castle.

06/19/2025

Stay tuned…
We’ll be back in September.

Address

3 Valley Road
Paterson, NJ
07503

Telephone

+19732470085

Website

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