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The History of the Lorain County Chapter In 1981,
there were three (3) separate genealogy-based organizations in Lorain County:
the Genealogical Workshop (of the Lorain County Historical Society) in
Elyria, founded in 1968; the Wellington Genealogical Workshop (later
"Group") and Black River Genealogists of Lorain, each founded in
the late 1970's. Early in 1982 application was made to become a chapter of OGS.
The Chapters Charter was presented to newly elected Chapter president, Anne
Glendening, at the OGS Annual Conference in April of 1983. During the
Chapter's first year of existence, 1983-84, members completed the first
Chapter project, indexing the 1880 census of Lorain County as part of the OGS
statewide project; and in late 1983 to early 1984, with Dale Kellogg's
guidance and editorship, the Chapter's quarterly newsletter THE RESEARCHER
was launched. First Families
of Lorain County was started in 1984 with the charter inductions held at the
1985 Chapter Banquet. This group honors member's ancestors who resided in
what is currently Lorain County before 1850. In 2004, Settlers of Lorain
County was started honoring ancestors that lived in the County between 1851
and 1880. Inductees are recognized at the chapter's annual banquet with
certificates and pins. Not only
have many of our members participated by being officers, many of them have
also participated as members of the OGS Board. These are the presidents of
the chapter and their contributions to OGS: Anne E. Glendening, President
1982-1985; Nancy M. Applebee Meyers, President 1986-1987; OGS Trustee
1988-1993; Jeff Sigsworth, President 1988-1989; Linda Navarre, President
1990-1991; OGS Trustee 1992-1995; Dale C. Kellogg, President 1992-1993; OGS
Trustee 1980-86; OGS VP 1986-1990 and an OGS Fellow. Barbara A. Reining,
President 1994-1997; OGS Recording Secretary - 1989-1992; OGS Treasurer
1992-1998; Suzanne Strick, President 1998-2001; Margaret Cheney, President
2002-2005 and 2008-2009; OGS Trustee 2008-2011; and President of OGS
2014-2017; John Earley, President 2006-2007; OGS
Volunteer, Peter Hritsko, President, 2010-2015,
Norman Lewicki, President, 2016-. Our Chapter
was given a grant by our County Commissioners to pursue the indexing and
abstraction of the Probate Court Birth and Death Records from 1867-1907. To
date, Volume I of births has been completed and Volumes I and II of deaths
has been completed. These books are duplicates of the original court records
with an every name index. Two of these publications have received the coveted
Simeon Kenton Book Award from OGS. At the OGS
2006 Conference, Margaret Cheney was awarded the OGS Chapter Officer of the
Year award. At the OGS 2007 Conference, Jean Copeland was awarded the OGS
Chapter Officer of the Year award. The Chapter is extremely proud of these
two individuals. The
chapter continues to work on new projects and presents a variety of speakers.
We are especially proud of being so closely associated with OGS. Our web
pages have recently been updated and our newsletter has new editors. We
currently have about 70 members. If you have ties to Lorain County, we’d love
to have you join our organization. |