SDHS Newsletter

Notes From Your President

On Wednesday evening, March 13, 2013, thirty one members and one guest joined Jack Sheridan as he talked about the methods one can use to trace family histories. He also included insight as to the use of DNA by Ancestry.com as a way to define regions of ethnicity. The program was interesting and informative with a wine and cheese social afterward. To my memory this was one of the largest turnouts for a program in March in recent history.

On Friday I saw my first robin of the spring. Perhaps our members will start to return as well. Many people have been gone or out of the area for vacation or to find somewhere warmer than southwest Michigan.

I happened to stop in the Pump House Museum the other day and work has begun on the Dunelands exhibit --- hold on to your hats; this exhibit is one that will be well worth the wait.

The April 10 General Membership meeting will feature John Migas as he talks, walks and explains about the growing azaleas and rhododendrons at the History Center Azalea Garden. The program is sponsored by the Michigan Azalea Society. As always refreshments will be served afterwards.

On May 8 there will be a sneak preview of that amazing exhibit on the Dunelands plus introduction of the new board members that will lead the organization into the future. Please mark your calendars and plan to join us for these and other ventures.

Also, remember that this summer will bring another series of Tuesday Talks beginning on July 2 --- there is always something to look forward to at the History Center and the Pump House Museum!
submitted by Marsha Kontio

2013 Society Monthly Programs
At the Old School House History Center
except December

April 10: The Amazing Azalea & Rhododendron Show. Join with chief gardener, John Migas as he talks, walks and explains all about growing azaleas and rhododendrons at History Center Azalea Garden. Program sponsored by the Michigan Azalea Society. Bright refreshments.

May 8: How the Wow? Your Insiders Preview of the upcoming Dunelands exhibition by Jim Schmiechen, exhibit curator. And the Society's Annual Meeting & Awards Night. Wine & Cheese.

June 12: Our Local Farmland Forecast: A 2013 Crop Report and Some Ideas for Your Table by David Geen of Hungry Village Tours who talks us through the country with local growers about farm conditions and what to expect at this fall's markets.

July 10: Low-Key Genius: O.C. Simonds and his Pier Cove Simonds was one of America's most important landscapers - and had an enormous impact on our West Michigan. Meet the author, Barbara Gieger. Wine & cheese social time.

August 14: Eat Your Way to the Top Annual Picnic at the History Center. Celebrating the Garden's Mt. Baldhead Viewing Station. Note early starting time: 6:00

September 11: Now and Then: Great Lakes - Hot Topics Long time Great Lakes observer Patty Birkholz brings past and present views of our greatest local asset - the water. Swimmingly delicious deserts.

October 9: Tales from the Crypt: Visitors from the Ghostown of Plummerville (Ganges Township) Led by Kit Lane and Marsha Kontio, a virtual tour by the Cemetery Actors Group. Refreshments to Die For.

November 13: Painting: the Town: Landscape, the Artist, and People by Ken Kutzel who brings stories from the Society's art collection.

December 1: Annual Society Holiday Dinner 6:00 pm. At the Saugatuck Center for the Arts. Kick off the Holiday Season. Good cheer, Great Food, Good Friends.

If you would like to sponsor one of the Monthly Programs, please REPLY to this email. Sponsorships are $150.

Look for the 2013 Tuesday Talks weekly summer programs in an upcoming Newsletter. Sponsorships for the Tuesday Talks will also be accepted.

Welcome from Jack Sheridan and Chris Yoder leaders of the Society Family History Group. Our meeting schedule is the first and third Thursday of every month. Upcoming meetings are:
Thursday March 21
Thursday April 4
Thursday April 18
The time and place are always 3:30 in the Old School House

Please join us to see what we are all about and most importantly, share "lessons learned" about the many tools available for family research.

In this column I often talk about about family history discoveries. Such a discovery is called a EUREKA! moment. Here is my latest EUREKA! moment, well sort of EUREKA! anyway.

Last month I told you about my DNA analysis. While not exactly a EUREKA! moment, it was new and interesting information about my ethnicity. Which according to this analysis from Ancestry.com is:

Scandanavian [Sweden, Norway, Denmark] 66%
Southern European [Portugal, Spain, Italy, Sicily, Malta] 22%
Eastern Mediterranean [Turkey, Caucuses, Persia] 9%
Uncertain 3%

Surprising it was, after fifteen years of family history research and thousands of folks in my familty tree indicating that I was descended mostly from mid European and British Isles stock.

Hmmmm. Giving it some thought, I realized that my tree research shows the ethnicity of maybe one percent of my great grandparents over the last 1000 years. The Vikings invaded and began to settle in the British Isles and parts of Europe begining in about 800 AD. The Romans were there much before that. So the definition of my ethnicity in the case of my DNA analysis is different compared to the ethnicity as determined by my family tree.

Actually, although the DNA ethnicity is interesting, it is not the most important benefit of DNA analysis. The real benefit with the Ancestry.com project is that my DNA can be compared to other project submitters and close matches communicated to the participants.

More on that angle next month.

If you have always wanted to learn more about your family history, but have not known where and how to begin, our SDHS Family History group wants to help you. A starting point is to record what you know about your parents, grandparents, and great grandparents and send it along for a review by our volunteers to SDHS Family History Box 617 Douglas, Michigan 49406, or email a copy to either cyoder@tds.net or jack.sheridan@gmail.com Give us time for an initial assessment. We will soon be back to you with readily found data and with suggestions on the next steps to take to learn more. Future further help is always available from the Family History group.

Your family history does not have to have any connection to the Saugatuck-Douglas area.

Still wondering? Questions/comments/advice/needs: Contact me at: jack.sheridan@gmail.com or 269 857-7144 . Chris is in Arizona for another month, so I am the guy on the cold seat!

Click on the picture for a higher resolution copy.

The Big Cut

This historic photo was made in the fall of 1905 or the spring of 1906. The photographer was on the high ridge which can be reached today by the path through the Tallmadge Woods leading to the Crow's Nest dune. Steam derrick smoke can be seen coming out of the sand dunes as the derrick was digging the new channel. Other vessels are working on the new piers.

On Friday May 25, 1906 the Commercial Record reported:

". . . at 4:30 P. M. last Friday, the cut, which has been watched for months by all of the people in this vicinity, was gotten nearly enough completed to let the water through to Lake Michigan and leave Fishtown and the lighthouse on an island. The operation was watched by a crowd and a little later the yacht, Green Devil, in charge of Capt. Henry Perkins, took a party through, which was the first to use the new cut."

It is known that the new channel cut through an area once occupied by a Singapore lumber mill as the diggers complained about the difficulty of digging through sawdust. Looking a the scene one realizes how the sand dunes must have moved since the abandonment of Singapore some thirty years previously.

In June 1905, the Commercial Record reported the construction details of the project - see the text attached to the photo.

Next month - we see and discuss the area from another vantage point!

Click on the picture for a higher resolution copy.

submitted by jack.sheridan@gmail.com

Welcome New Members

We would like to welcome the new members who have joined the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society since the last newsletter - an impressive list.

l Lynne Snyder, Saugatuck, MI
l S & K Staffing, Clinton Township, MI
l Mollie & Tom Weber, Saugatuck, MI
l Floyd Fleming, South Haven, MI
l Richard & Sara Ann Barilla, Douglas, MI
l Joe Russell, Douglas, MI
l Jean Rayko. Fennville, M
l Larry & Lisa Pentiuk, Saugatuck, MI
l Mark LaChey & Bryan Hoffman, Saugatuck, MI
l Mac & Barb McDonald, Saugatuck, MI
l Dan Fox, Saugatuck, MI
l Philip Raywood, Douglas, MI
l Jim & Candy Jeltema, Saugatuck, MI
l Don Schipper & John Seros, Saugatuck, MI
l Betsy Good & James Bouck, Saugatuck, MI
l Peter Kauffman & Tim Augsten, Saugatuck, MI
l Chris Seidel & Mike Mulcahy, Holland, MI
l Barbara W. Carr, Hobe Sound, FL
l Mark O. Davis & Nathan Keag, Douglas, MI
l Mark Zancanaro & Peter Carideo, Douglas, MI & Chicago, IL

Volunteer Corner

Cynthia Sorensen has been a volunteer docent for the Saugatuck Douglas Historical Society since the Pump House Museum opened in 1993. She helps Mike Economos in the museum garden by watering, raking and sweeping the walks, and wiping off the learning stations.

Cynthia also works along side Jane Osman getting the many postal mailings out to the membership. For the last three years, Cynthia has been volunteering in the archives every Monday afternoon. Since she was raised in Saugatuck, she has a firsthand knowledge of the history of the area and how it connects with the people who reside here. This has been a great help to both Ken Kutzel (art collections manager) and Mary Voss (collections/archives manager). We really appreciate your dedication and faithfulness in all you do for the Society. Thank you, Cynthia!

Cynthia Sorensen working at the
Old School House archives