About the Society:
Located in Washington state, the Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society consists of a diverse group of members — those whose families were early settlers in the area and still live here; those who live in the area now, but have few if any familial connections here; and those who no longer live here, but whose ancestors did at one time.
The purposes of TPCGS are to stimulate a popular interest in family history, to seek genealogical and historical knowledge, to preserve and perpetuate the records of our ancestors, and to collect and publish genealogical source material of Pierce County and the Puget Sound Region.
Monthly Meetings:
Guests are always welcome at our meetings. Come meet other Pierce-County genealogists and listen to great speakers.
History of the Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society:
The society was organized in the spring of 1961 and began with 6 members, ending its first full year with 54 members. There are currently around 150 members in the society, many of whom live in the Tacoma-Pierce County area of Washington state, as well as many other areas of the United States.
News & Notes:
Society News || New & Noteworthy || Freebies || Research Aids || Books & Blogs || Local Resources
This year's TPCGS Spring Seminar with Judy Russell, also known as The Legal Genealogist, was a great success. Hope you were able to attend. We are excited to announce that next year' Spring Seminar will be held on April 27th & 28th. Our speaker will be J. Mark Lowe. |
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TPCGS now has a blog! Visit it at tpcgs.wordpress.com and tell us what you think. Click on follow (in the lower right-hand corner) to receive updates by e-mail.
The Events Calendar has just been updated. It is now divided into categories for different types of events. Check it out!
Veterans Graves in Pierce County, WA — Extracted from a 1939 WPA project, this database consists of a name Index plus a further eight items extracted from the cards by society volunteers. These cards are in the holdings of the Northwest Room of the Tacoma Public Library. Contact the Library for additional information.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society is now offering a Tacoma Area Obituary Look Up Service. Due to cutbacks at the Tacoma Public Library they are no longer able to offer this service, so have asked the society if we would take it on.
New & Noteworthy
A very interesting article ran a recent issue of the News Tribune, regarding Tacoma's pauper cemetery. You can check it out at 1,600 stories buried in forgotten Tacoma pauper cemetery

Fundraising is now complete for Preserve the Pensions, the War of 1812 pension digitization project! Here is the announcement from the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS):
Springfield, IL — At its recent annual conference, the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announced the receipt of a historic $500,000 anonymous contribution to the War of 1812 Preserve the Pensions fundraising project. The unprecedented donation, which came from outside of the genealogical community, will be matched by Ancestry.com, and in total provide $1 million to the project. Those funds, along with crowdsourced funds from the genealogical community have provided more than $3 million dollars to the project. With these donations, FGS officially has announced the completion of fundraising for “Preserve the Pensions,” the landmark community fundraising project.
The largest fundraising effort ever initiated for a single genealogical record set, Preserve the Pensions involved donations from more than 4,000 individuals and 115 genealogical and lineage societies. Each donation was generously matched by Ancestry.com.
“We are humbled and grateful for the generosity of the genealogical community and those outside of our community who are dedicated to the preservation of records, thank you!” noted D. Joshua Taylor, FGS President. “This historic gift, in-tandem with the thousands of contributions from individual genealogists and societies, illustrates the incredible power of the genealogical community – together we can make a difference.”
The War of 1812 pensions, among the most frequently requested set of materials within the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), had never been microfilmed or digitized. Now, with fundraising complete for the project, and with ongoing cooperation from the project’s partners and major supporters, NARA, Ancestry, Fold3, and FamilySearch, these important documents will be made available free, forever to the general public. The project, set out to raise more than $3 million in 2010, an unprecedented amount for the genealogical community.
“It’s gratifying to see the fundraising portion of this project completed after five years, and now we look forward to ensuring these important records are preserved,” said Ancestry President and CEO Tim Sullivan. “This is a fantastic moment for FGS, the genealogical community, and future generations who will benefit from the perseveration of these rich pension records. We want to thank the more than 4,000 individuals who have contributed and are thrilled to play a matching role in this campaign.”
Freebies
Subscription genealogy websites occasionally offer free access to specific databases in their collections. Such offers will be listed here.
Check out Legacy Family Tree Webinars, as most remain free for a week after airing live. You are sure to find an interesting and useful topic that applies to your research.
Research Aids
An interesting article on Eastman's Online Genealogy Blog concerns English Surnames and their French Equivalents. If your ancestors came down from Canada, this may explain a name change.
And if you have Polish Ancestors, the Polish American Marriage Database may be very helpful.
If you have ancestors from New Hampshire, check out these Maps & Atlases from the University of New Hampshire Library website.
Do you have Rhode Island roots? If so, you may be interested in checking out the Rhode Island Digital Archives.
Or are your ancestors from Chicago? Then check out this Research Guide from The Newberry Library.
141 county plat books from Missouri have been scanned and can be viewed for free on this section of the Missouri Digital Heritage website.
Approximately 6,000 Civil War Veterans are buried in Washington State. Information about them can be found at Civil War Veterans Buried in Washington State. If you know of a veteran not listed, submissions are welcome.
Books & Blogs
Genealogy blogs may be authored by corporate entities, genealogical societies, professional genealogists, or hobbyests. Sometimes several people with a common interest will share a blog. Or one person may combine multiple interests on one blog.
The following blogs will help keep you up-to-date on news from the world of genealogy:
- Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society
- Washington State Genealogical Society
- UpFront with NGS
- NEHGS Vita Brevis
- The Legal Genealogist
- Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
- Genealogy Tip of the Day
- Rootdig.com
- Genealogy Search Tip
- Geneas-Musings
- Ancestry.com Blog
- Evidence Explained
- DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy
- The Knitting Genealogist
Local Resources
- Tacoma Public Library
- eResources: Local History & Genealogy
- Northwest Room & Special Collections Be sure to see the listing for the Topical Shelf List of the Genealogical Collection at the Tacoma Public Library.
- Tacoma/Pierce County Obituary Index
- Pierce County Library System
- Tacoma Historical Society
- The Seattle Public Library Special Collections
- The National Archives at Seattle
- National Archives Microfilm Collection in Seattle
A list of 549 microfilm publications available at the regional branch of the National Archives in Seattle, Washington. Take a look to see what else they have to offer on microfilm besides copies of the U.S. Federal Census! - Genealogy and Histocal at The National Archives at Seattle
- Special Events and Workshops at The National Archives at Seattle
- National Archives Microfilm Collection in Seattle
- Puget Sound Genealogy Resources
A list of research libraries and institutions in the greater Puget Sound area. - Washington Digital Archives
- Washington State Genealogical Society
- Washington State Historical Society
- The Washington USGenWeb Page
- Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
- TAPCUG - Tacoma Area PC Users Group
- Genealogical Societies in Washington State
As news items on the Home Page are replaced by newer ones, those of lasting interest will be placed here.