24 February 2014

WCGS Meeting - February 2014 and Info on March Gathering

By Pamela Pattison Lash

Our Co-VP Pat Goebel has information on the February 2014 meeting of the Williams County Genealogical Society and a sneak-peek of what's happening in March.  Here's Pat's report:


The February meeting of the Williams County Genealogical Society was held in the Harmon Room of the West Annex to the Bryan Public Library. Members weathered the cold to join in watching a DVD about Samuel Clemens. Samuel was born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. 4 years later his family moved to Hannibal‚ Missouri‚ on the banks of the Mississippi River. When Sam was 11‚ his father died.

Shortly thereafter he left school‚ having completed the fifth grade‚ to work as a printer’s apprentice for a local newspaper. His job was to arrange the type for each of the newspaper’s stories‚ allowing Sam to read the news of the world while completing his work. At 18‚ Sam headed east to New York City and Philadelphia‚ where he worked on several different newspapers and found some success at writing articles. By 1857‚ he had returned home to embark on a new career as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River.

With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861‚ however‚ all traffic along the river came to a halt‚ as did Sam’s pilot career. Sam joined a volunteer Confederate unit called the Marion Rangers‚ but he quit after just two weeks.

In search of a new career‚ Sam headed west in July of 1861‚ at the invitation of his brother‚ Orion‚ who had just been appointed Secretary of the Nevada Territory.

Next month, the continuing story of Samuel Clemens, his career, family will be shown. Come and join the members on March 10, 2014 at 6:30 pm in the Harmon Room, West Annex to the Bryan Public Library, Bryan, OH.