Benton County Genealogical Society: Oregon

04/07/2026

REMINDER: April Program (free!) 11:00 am this Saturday, April 11 at the Philomath Museum. Bob Taylor will be talking about The Family History Guide (www.thefhguide.com) a truly educational project and website.

03/18/2026

At the library in Corvallis…

Did you know that we offer free in-library access to Ancestry and the Gazette-Times archive on Newspapers.com? If you're interested in beginning research using resources like these, join us for Research the Past on March 19 at 2 PM!

03/15/2026

Lots of great opportunities here

Genealogy Open House for 2026 with 16 free classes. Come join us!

02/24/2026

Upcoming FREE event: Saturday March 14, 11 am. Philomath Museum. "Moses & Me: Moses Family Papers at the Benton County Historical Society" presented by Walter Frankel.

02/13/2026

Monthly meeting reminder, Saturday 2/14. business meeting at 10:30, followed by free monthly program at 11:00 am. Philomath Museum, 1101 Main St.

02/03/2026

Monthly meeting, Feb 14. Presentation by Jim Birken, 11:00 am to Noon. See attached flyer.

01/12/2026

It's membership season! You can join or renew online using the link on our website.

Membership Membership in the society is open to anyone who would like to research their family history. We have a large library, and we meet once a month to learn more about subjects of interest to genealogists. Membership is for one year at a time and runs from January through December and includes...

01/10/2026

Monthly meeting tomorrow!
Saturday, January 10, 2026
Letitia Carson Legacy Project

11am-Noon
Benton County Historical Society
1101 Main St., 2nd floor, Philomath, OR

Come and learn about some Benton County history.
This presentation is about Letitia Carson, one of Oregon’s first Black pioneers. Born into slavery in Kentucky, Letitia made the 2,100+ mile Oregon trail journey in 1845 with her Irish husband, David Carson, giving birth along the way. They settled in the Soap Creek Valley in spring 1846, but she was forced off the land in 1852. Letitia was a farmer, mother, midwife, entrepreneur, and likely the first Black woman in the country to receive a homestead patent under the 1862 Homestead Act. We will tell Letitia Carson’s amazing story and also share the origins, partners, and goals of the Letitia Carson Legacy Project.

11/07/2025

Reminder: FREE Monthly meeting tomorrow, Saturday 11/8/2025.

Brent Bunker presents "Traveling to the Homeland"

Presented by the Benton County Genealogical Society
Saturday November 8th ---- 11am to Noon
The Philomath Benton County Museum 2nd floor

09/07/2025

We're back! Summer break is over, and our first meeting is Saturday September 13. General Meeting (open to all) at 11, member meeting 10:30.

From our fearless leader George:
We will have our first members meeting Saturday Sep.13th:
10:30-11:00 am members meeting
11:00 - Noon- show and tell-we would love to hear what exciting things/discoveries/stories you made during our summer break. Feel free to bring photos or anything you would like to share.

07/26/2025

The Corvallis Gazette-Times got a letter to the editor and posted the contents on social media:

Some years ago in Denver I purchased a small handmade photograph album/diary entitled “Merry Christmas to the Dodges”. The pages themselves our old and fragile but the writing is perfectly clear and the photos are absolutely charming. I would like to find a family member who would like to have this little treasure. The clues that have sent me to Corvallis are the mention of Avery Park with its duck pond, a reference to camping in the Cascades, to a trip to the beach, and to a little park that was once the site of a high school that burnt down. The names of the children in the photos are Peter, Becky, and Boo. I hope someone who reads this will recognize this family, and let me know.

The G-T asks anyone who know a Dodge family member that recognizes this to the editor at [email protected]. They will connect you with the letter writer.