Augusta Public Library Local History and Genealogy

Here in the Georgia Heritage Room, we have some interesting programs planned for this summer. The first will be held on June 21st at 2:00 with our Genealogy Forum. If you have some experience with genealogy, enough to have reached a roadbock or two,  have questions or would like to help others, come on in! We will hold a round-table type discussion on common problems and ways around them.

On June 23rd at 6:30 we will have another Beginner’s Genealogy Program. This program is for beginners only and requires registration. It will be a small class where participants can get one on one help.

On July 21 we will have a program in the computer room. It is called Tips and Tricks for Ancestry and HeritageQuest. Space is limited and registration in required.

August 16rd we will have program about Researching Your House. Registration will be required because space is limited. Please call the Georgia Heritage Room if you have any questions.

Dottie Demarest

We have another historical building trivia question!
A Summerville resident came into the Georgia Room this morning wanting information on her home at 728 Milledge Road. Part of the house originally belonged to John Forsyth, but the actual date it was built is unclear (1810-1818). The Sand Hills cottage that exists today was built in 1857 and has been owned by the Mackie, Dickey, Dennis, and Bennett families. Our patron would like to find any information on the original house before 1857.
Does anyone have any information or pictures they would be willing to share?

by Aspasia Luster

Two new books have arrived in the Georgia Room today: The Centennial History of the Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1906-2006 by Charles Adams and Gravely Mistaken: Tales of Medicine, Mishaps, and Body Snatching in Augusta, Georgia by local writer Janis Ann Parks.

 The Centennial History traces the roots of the Court of Appeals in 1906. The state of Georgia was experiencing a population boom at the turn of the twentieth century. More people meant more court cases. The Supreme Court of Georgia was drowning in a case overload, and subsequently, the Georgia legislature created the Court of Appeals in 1906.

 Gravely Mistaken is a book of historical fiction short stories that were inspired by the true-life story of Grandison Harris. Grandison Harris was a slave that was hired by the Medical College of Georgia to dig up cadavers in the local cemetery. The cadavers were then transferred to the college so that the medical students could learn about human anatomy in a hands-on, interactive way.

by Aspasia Luster

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