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.