Great Falls Genealogy Society

06/14/2026

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When you visit a cemetery, don’t stop at the gravestones.

This stone structure stands near the burial site of Mercy Brown in Exeter, Rhode Island. Mercy became the center of one of New England’s most famous documented “vampire panic” cases in 1892, when her body was exhumed after family members believed she might be responsible for a mysterious illness affecting relatives.

According to local lore, this structure may have served as the receiving vault connected to Mercy Brown’s exhumation, though that specific connection has never been proven.

Whether the story is true or not, it’s a reminder to look at everything in a cemetery: stone buildings, receiving vaults, fences, pathways, family groupings, plants, and symbols. Sometimes the story extends far beyond the headstone.

📸 What’s the most unusual or interesting thing you’ve spotted in a cemetery? Share a photo in the comments!

06/14/2026

What is the best family history website? We weigh the pros and cons of Ancestry, Findmypast, TheGenealogist and MyHeritage for researching your family tree 💻

06/07/2026

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5 Free Websites for Learning about Genealogy Research
For all skill levels from beginner to advanced. Learn more: https://ldsgenealogy.com/5-Free-Websites-for-Learning-Genealogy-Research.htm

06/06/2026

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Planning a visit to the Genealogy Center? 📚Make the most of your time with the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) before you arrive. 🔎✨Search in advance, build your list of articles, and hit the ground running when you get here—so you can focus on discovering, not just searching!

Haven't used PERSI before?
View a previously recorded webinar here, so that you can make the most of your searches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnn4X4c3WzE&t=11s

06/05/2026

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As a reminder GFGS has a subscription to Fold3!!!

REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSION TIPS: If you can't find your ancestor's pension record, consider these three things. 1- Check alternative spellings. Spelling was not always so standardized. For example, McKissick may appear as M'Kissick. 2- Try a different state. Even if he lived in Virginia, he may have served from Pennsylvania. 3- Remember, it wasn't until 1832 that ALL veterans received a pension. (Before this, various pension laws entitled some veterans to apply). If your ancestor passed away before 1832, he may not have applied for a pension.

Watch for more Revolutionary War pension tips and explore our new full-text search pension records here: https://f3.social/6y0i

06/04/2026

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An unidentified photographer from the Corral in Great Falls, Montana, captured this view of Lake St. Mary (or St. Mary Lake) in Glacier National Park between 1942 and 1944.

St. Mary Lake, located on the east side of Glacier National Park, is the park’s second-largest lake. The lake is 9.9 miles long and 300 feet deep, and its waters rarely rise above 50°F. Going-to-the-Sun Road parallels the lake along its north shore, and at the west end of the lake sits Little Chief Mountain.

[MTHS , PAc 2008-77.6, Corral (Great Falls), between 1942-1944]

06/03/2026

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Old Occupations and Their Meanings - (Updated Quicksheet)

Are you researching and finding these weird names for occupations that your ancestors had? Strange words like Colporteur, Cordwainer, or Costermonger, for example? Here is a list of 360 (80 are newly added) old occupations and their meanings used in the U.S. and U.K. in various documents, such as census records and newspapers.

Get all the Quicksheet pages at https://theancestorhunt.com/blog/old-occupations-and-their-meanings/

06/01/2026

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05/30/2026

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Preserving your family history has never been easier. https://youtu.be/mNCSARmzi8k&list=UULFcvpi8XvOScBogIxmarmADw

In this video, I take you inside my experience using the new Ancestry Preserve service from Ancestry to digitize and preserve old home movies, VHS tapes, film reels, photographs, slides, negatives, documents, and audio recordings. While I personally focused on video and film transfers for this project, the service handles much more than that. I’ll walk you through how the process works, what it costs, what I liked about it, and a few improvements I’d love to see Ancestry make in the future.

This video is not sponsored by Ancestry and all opinions are my own. While Ancestry did later help cover part of my digitization project after learning I was creating this video, I had already started the process myself because I genuinely wanted to see how the service worked and whether it was worth it for genealogists and families preserving their memories.

We’ll also talk about why preserving your family history NOW matters before aging tapes, film, slides, negatives, and audio recordings deteriorate beyond recovery. Whether you want to preserve photographs, documents, VHS tapes, 8mm film, slides, or audio cassettes, this video will help you decide if Ancestry Preserve is right for you.