Augusta Public Library Local History and Genealogy

This past February, Rob Pavey, from the Augusta Chronicle, wrote a story about the correspondence of Cornelia Polhill Miller that had been donated to the Georgia Room by John and Linda Beck. The letters, dated from 1848 to 1909, were written to Mrs. Miller by friends and members of her family.

The newspaper article was published here in Augusta and picked up by a newspaper in Athens, Georgia. Since the publicity, we have received letters and phone calls from members of the Miller and Polhill families. Last week we were visited by Sara Barron and Orlean Castronis, descendants of Cornelia Polhill Miller. They were delighted and surprised by the collection of letters and they showed us several photos of Cornelia Miller and her family that they had brought with them. They graciously allowed us to make copies of their photographs and a handwritten family history.

The February Augusta Chronicle article is here:

http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2012-02-26/hephzibah-womans-memoirs-offer-personal-glimpse-life-1800s

The letters and Polhill/Miller family history can be viewed upon request in the Georgia Room.

Related to a horse thief? Did your great grand uncle go awol from the army? Every family has skeletons in the closet. On June 7th at 6:30 the Georgia Heritage Room will have a Black Sheep Genealogy Class where you can share your stories.

Come tell us about the Black Sheep in your family and learn how to find and investigate those relatives that past generations swept under the carpet. Earn a Black Sheep Certificate!

The Friends of the National Archives-Southeast Region will be hosting a monthly webinar this Monday, May 14th at 7pm. The topic will be “Social Networking- New Horizons for Genealogists.” According to the Friends of the National Archive website, “Thousands of genealogists and family historians have discovered new ways to expand and improve their genealogy endeavors using social networking, also called social media networking. Learn the basics of blogging, Twitter, Facebook, wikis and more in an easy-to-follow session that cuts through all the hype and the lingo.”

The webinar is free and easy to use and you can sign up here: http://www.friendsnas.org/webinarSch.htm.

by Aspasia Luster

The date for the Beginner’s Genealogy class has been moved to Saturday, June 23 at 2pm. The class will be held in the Georgia Room and preregistration is required. For more information and to preregister please call the Georgia Room at 706-826-1511 or you can preregister by email: lustera@ecgrl.org.

The Georgia Room will be hosting two classes in June. The first one will be “Black Sheep Genealogy” on Thursday, June 7 at 6:30 pm. Bring stories of your “black sheep” relatives and how you found them. Our second class, will be the ever popular “Beginner Genealogy” on Saturday, June 16 at 2pm. Both classes will be held in the Georgia Room and pre-registration is required. For more information and to pre-register, please call the Georgia Room at 706-826-1511.

by Aspasia Luster