Genealogy Workshops
Cumberland Trail Genealogical Society holds a series of
Genealogy Workshops during each year. The workshops are held at
the St. Clairsville Public Library and are open to the public.
There is no charge for any of the workshops. If you are interested
in attending any of these classes or would like more information contact
CTGS at the address or E-mail listed at the bottom of this page.
Past workshops have included.
o
Beginning Genealogy
This workshop is for the beginner who has had little, if any
experience in tracing their family tree. The main focus here is to
understand the basics of genealogical research and to show where to find
the records needed in this type of research.
o
Intermediate Genealogy
In this workshop, some of the lesser known and less commonly
used genealogical resources will be discussed. These resources can
provide an alternative for those researchers who may have exhausted all
of the usual research routes.
o
Genealogy Help Session
This is not a workshop, but rather a time where those in
attendance can receive help from more experienced researchers.
There will be a great deal of genealogical data brought in by members,
as well as, all the materials already located in the library’s genealogy
room and available free through on-line library resources.
o
Organizing your Research
o
Internet Research
o
Using Family TreeMaker Software
o
Family TreeMaker Users Group meets monthly.
For more information send your name, address, e-mail address
and phone number to either of the addresses below and you will be
notified of the exact date and time when scheduled.
·
Cemetery Restoration
One of the most important projects CTGS has undertaken is
Cemetery Restoration. There are many cemeteries in Belmont County
that have been abandoned and forgotten. As a result, most of them
have fallen into states of major disrepair, as well as, been overgrown.
While it would be impossible to restore all of these cemeteries, CTGS
has worked on two cemeteries. CTGS has worked on the restoration
of Zion “OLD DUTCH” Lutheran Cemetery which is located on Section 23 in
Richland Township. The most dominate family name that is buried in
this cemetery is Ault, which is one of the first families to settle in
the area. This cemetery dates back to about 1819 and has about
50-60 gravestones. There are many stones that may still be buried.
The condition of the cemetery at the time of restoration began was
extremely poor. About 80% of the area was covered by heavy briars
and bushes with small trees having sprung up in the middle of the
cemetery. Over half of the stones had been toppled by cattle that
wondered in and some of them were broken. There were also a lot of
“gaps” that we know must have stones that were buried over the years.
Our first step was to clean out all of the brush and briars.
Once this was accomplished work could begin to locate as many of the
buried stones as possible. Working with a transcription from the
70’s we realized that many stones were still buried. Using long
thin rods as probes, a search was started to locate the buried stones.
27 stones were located and unearthed using this method, including 15
that were not on the earlier transcription. The next step in
restoration was to clear out all of the small trees scattered over the
cemetery and to leave the largest ones. This initial work was
accomplished in 2000-2001.
Our second cemetery was “BUTCHER CEMETERY”, which is just west
of St. Clairsville. A donation was received to assist with the
removal of the many large trees. This is a lovely old cemetery
with the tall entrance gate still in tack, but going nowhere now but to
the bit of church foundation that is still there
