By John Beatty

Fort Wayne has an important military heritage, and it would be natural for a visitor to assume from its name that there must have once been a frontier fort located here. Actually, the city was the site of five different forts – French, British and American – between 1722 and 1819, and today Historic Fort Wayne, a reproduction of the last of these is the location of re-enactments and special events.

While in town for the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference, genealogists or their travelling companions may want to visit Historic Fort Wayne to get a glimpse of what life was like in a French frontier outpost in the mid-1700s. Fort Miamies, 1754-1763, is a special event scheduled for the weekend of the conference. The fort will be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, August 24, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, August 25. Guided tours will be offered on the hour from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday and noon until 3 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is by donation. For more information, see the Events calendar at http://www.oldfortwayne.org, or call 260-437-2836.

In the late 17th century, French voyageurs were drawn to northeastern Indiana, attracted by the prospect of trading furs with the local Miami tribe. Fort Wayne rests on a Continental Divide at the confluence of three great waterways – the Maumee, St. Joseph and St. Mary’s rivers. To the east of the divide, water flows easterly and the Maumee River serves as a corridor to Lake Erie and the Great Lakes system. West of the divide, water flows west to the Wabash River just west of Fort Wayne, continues to the Ohio River, the Mississippi and on to the Gulf of Mexico. A strip of land about nine miles wide separates the Maumee from the Little Wabash River. Early travelers arriving by canoe and bateaux had to carry their boats from one water system to the other. Controlling that portage, therefore, meant controlling a great water highway that stretched from Quebec to New Orleans. Chief Little Turtle called it “that glorious gate … through which all the good words of our chiefs had to pass from south to north and from east to west.”

The French commissioned the construction of Fort St. Philippe in 1721 to protect their claim to the portage and to regularize their increasingly lucrative trade in beaver furs with the Miami. That site, located on what is now Van Buren Street along the St. Mary’s River, housed a small garrison of French soldiers at various times in the ensuing years, but the residents were often sick because of the fort’s swampy location. In 1747, after the fort was burned by a rival tribe of Indians, the site was deemed uninhabitable.

Construction of Fort St. Joseph, a second French fort, began in 1750 along the St. Joseph River where St. Joseph Avenue is now. This was near Kekionga, a great Miami village, and the French continued to trade with their Indian neighbors. Ten years later, near the close of the French and Indian War, the French abandoned Fort St. Joseph. It was occupied sporadically afterward by British soldiers, who used it for trading and as a storehouse of military supplies. During the Revolutionary War, Auguste Motin de la Balme, a French colonel allied with the Americans, invaded Kekionga and burned it and the fort to the ground. The victory was short-lived, however, when he and his men were annihilated the next day by a combined force of
Miami braves and traders. It is this second French fort that will be featured in Fort Miamies, 1754-1763 on FGS Conference weekend.

George Washington recognized the strategic importance of the area and during the 1790s sent several military expeditions in an attempt to secure American control of the portage. In 1794 General Anthony Wayne, fresh from his victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, constructed what became Fort Wayne. From that time, the region remained under American control. Two more forts were built later, a large hexagonal structure in 1798 under Colonel Thomas Hart and another, smaller fort in 1816 under Major John Whistler. Both of these were located in what is now the downtown area near the intersections of Main and Clay streets. During these years the fort served as a major trading post, where treaties with the Indians were negotiated and annuities distributed through an official Indian agency. While the fort was besieged briefly during the War of 1812, it saw little other military activity and was de-commissioned by the U.S. Army in 1819. Various local families moved into the vacated log structures, and for a time the blockhouse was an Indian school run by the Baptist missionary Isaac McCoy. By 1852, the last remaining blockhouse had fallen into ruin.

In 1976, a group of entrepreneurs inspired by the United States Bicentennial reconstructed a replica of the 1816 fort along the St. Joseph River at a different location from the original. For many years it served as a living history museum, complete with costumed re- enactors. Today, while it is no longer a museum, the fort still serves as a location for special events, like the one taking place August 24-25.

 

The Federation of Genealogical Societies conference is an annual educational event for genealogists of all levels of experience. Among the cities where it has been held are Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, Little Rock, Orlando, St. Louis, Phoenix, Knoxville, Salt Lake City, Boston, Springfield [IL], and Birmingham. In 2013 it will be in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a place where the FGS conference is always welcome and eager registrants love to attend. The main dates are August 21-24. The renowned Allen County Public Library's Genealogy Center will have extended research hours that will be announced later on this blog.

I am happy to serve as one of the National Co-Chairs of this conference along with my friend and colleague, Dawne Slater-Putt. I live in Minnesota and she is in Indiana. I have researched at the Allen County Public Library many times over the years. It's a city and a library where I always feel welcome and hate to leave. I have researched Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, California, and other localities at the ACPL. I keep a running list of what I need to work on during the next trip there. It's a place with row after row of county histories, city directories, family histories, record abstracts, and much more on open shelves. The microfilm and database offerings are extensive. The Genealogy Center is full of tables for researchers and has many rows of computers.

Anyone with an interest in family history is invited and FGS conferences draw people from all over the U.S. and from other countries. I hope to see you in Fort Wayne next August. Registration will open as it usually does in February, 2013.

In an upcoming post I will give you an overview of the week's activities and provide updates on the conference planning. As you can read earlier on this blog, the hotels are accepting reservations. At the minimum you'll want to be there on Tuesday, August 20th for registration and special activities.and depart after the Farewell Brunch on Sunday, August 25th. Oh, wait, we might want to stay longer to research. What a week it will be!

 

• Do you have a family member you would like to get more involved in family history? The Federation of Genealogical Societies 2013 Conference is for your loved one.
• Do you have a helpful librarian in your local library who is interested in family history and serves the public in that area? Most libraries don't have funds to send their staff to FGS. You (and maybe along with other members of your genealogical society) can give the person a gift of an FGS 2013 Conference registration. 
• Does your genealogical society have a deserving volunteer? An FGS 2013 Conference registration makes a great thank you gift!
• Have family members been asking what you would like for a Christmas or Hanukkah gift? A trip to Fort Wayne for the FGS 2013 Conference would make a great addition to your holiday wish list.

Although registration for the conference will not open until February 2013, the FGS 2013 Conference Committee has designed a holiday card to make it easy to give the gift of FGS 2013 to any genealogist in your life.

1. Choose a deserving recipient to give the gift of the FGS 2013 Conference.
2. Download the FGS 2013 Holiday Card at http://www.fgs.org/cpage.php?pt=43 (PDF).
3. Print the card and fold it.
4. Sign and add a personal note to the card.
5. Add some money to cover the cost of conference registration, a luncheon, a special event or hotel reservations.
6. Put the card and money into an envelope.
7. Give to a deserving genealogist, librarian, volunteer, or anyone curious about learning more about family history.

Make sure to remind the recipients to register for the conference when registration opens in February 2013.

 

By Dawne Slater-Putt

If you are excited about the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference next August, but are not excited about the prospect of driving to Fort Wayne by yourself, encourage your local genealogical society to organize a bus trip!

Many groups organize bus trips to the Allen County Public Library annually, and there are many benefits to doing so for next year’s conference, including:

• If Fort Wayne is unfamiliar to you, coming by bus means you do not need to pay attention to directions, navigate one-way streets or risk getting lost.
• It may be more economical to come by bus than to pay for gas for your personal automobile. Figure in the savings in wear and tear on your car, too!
• Parking is never a problem when the bus lets you out at the door to the library or hotel.
• It’s fun to attend a conference with friends.
• If this is your first conference, it’s likely someone from your society has attended one before and can give you some pointers.
• You can spend some time during the bus ride finalizing which conference sessions to attend, or perhaps even creating a research plan for the Allen County Public Library’s extended hours.
• When you are exhausted at the end of the conference, you do not have a long drive home ahead of you. Instead, rest or nap on the bus, or look over the materials you have collected at the conference or the copies you made at the library.

Some groups may choose to make the bus trip a fund raiser for their organization. By calculating what the actual cost will be and then adding on $2 to $5 per person, a society can make a small profit.

We hope to see a whole caravan of buses heading into Fort Wayne on August 20th next year!

 

By Dawne Slater-Putt

Are you an automobile enthusiast, or will you be bringing one with you as a travel companion when you come to the 2013 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in Fort Wayne? Several must-see automobile museums and attractions are with a half-day’s drive of Fort Wayne.

Very close is the Auburn Cord Deusenberg Museum, about 20 miles north in the town of Auburn, Indiana. Housed in a National Historic Landmark building at 1600 Wayne Street is the most extensive collection of Auburn Cord and Deusenberg automobiles in the world. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (all times are Eastern Daylight). Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for students. For more information, visit the website at www.automobilemuseum.org, or call 260-925-1444.

Auto racing fans won’t want to miss the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum five miles northwest of downtown Indianapolis – and about a two-hour drive from Fort Wayne. The museum is on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home to the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, at 4790 W. 16th Street, Indianapolis. Museum admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children 6 to 15, and free for children younger than 6. The museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For information, visit the website at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com and click on “Museum” from the “Facility” drop-down menu. Or call 317-492-6784.

Kokomo, Indiana, about 90 miles southwest of Fort Wayne, is known as the “City of Firsts.” In 1893, Elwood Haynes hired brothers Elmer and Edgar Apperson to build one of the first gasoline-powered automobiles in the United States. The Haynes-Apperson Company produced automobiles from 1896 to 1905, and the Haynes Automobile Company continued in the auto business from 1905 to 1924. Visitors to the Elwood Hayes Museum in the Haynes Mansion at 1915 S. Webster St. in Kokomo can view artifacts relating to the automobile industry, other products invented by Haynes, and additional Kokomo “firsts.” See a description of the Elwood Haynes Museum on the City of Kokomo website at www.cityofkokomo.org/main.asp?SectionID=50&SubSectionID=113&ArticleID=205&TM=45357.58. For more information, call 765-456-7500.

Also in Kokomo is the Kokomo Automotive Museum at the Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo Event & Conference Center, 1500 N. Reed Road. This museum has more than 100 antique cars on display and is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $5. For more information, call 765-454-9999 or visit www.kokomoautomotivemuseum.org.

Those who may be flying into Detroit on their way to the conference, or who don’t mind a drive, may want to visit the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. These attractions are about three hours northeast of Fort Wayne at 20900 Oakwood Boulevard in Dearborn, Michigan. The Henry Ford Museum is open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and admission is $17 for adults, $15 for seniors 62+, $12 for children 5 to 12 and free to children younger than 5. For more information, visit the website at www.hfmgv.org.

 

Fort Wayne is excited for genealogists around the world to visit for the FGS 2013 Conference. Below is a blog post written by the folks at Visit Fort Wayne.



Welcome to Fort Wayne, Indiana! We are thrilled to host the 2013 Federal Genealogical Societies Conference from August 20-24 in our first-class and downtown facilities: the Grand Wayne Convention Center and the Fred J. Reynolds Historical Genealogy Department at the Allen County Public Library. The two buildings, along with the Hilton and Courtyard hotels, are within a one block radius of one another, providing easy walking convenience during the conference.

While in Fort Wayne, you will notice our clean and visitor friendly downtown streets will lead you to many fun activities. The Fort Wayne Tincaps will host league-rival South Bend from Aug. 20-23 at the eye-catching Parkview Field. The historic Allen County Courthouse is a  must-see for any history or architecture buff. Surround yourself with nature at the Botanical Conservatory with its lush seasonal displays, such as the Tropical Garden, where orchids and palms thrive in the shadows of a cascading waterfall, or retreat to the quiet beauty of the Desert Garden. We also suggest making stops to Science Central and the Fort Wayne Museum of Art.

Away from downtown, check out two of Fort Wayne’s shopping centers: Glenbrook Mall, Indiana largest shopping center, and Jefferson Pointe, an outdoor shopping mall. If you’re in the mood for a group tour, we recommend exploring cinda b and DeBrand Fine Chocolates.

These ideas are just a few ideas for your visit to our charming city. We hope participants from FGS will walk away with memories that will last a lifetime!

For more information, what’s going on in Fort Wayne, maps, or general information, visit us at www.VisitFortWayne.com/fgs or call us at 800-767-7752.

 

This post continues our series that will highlight research opportunities in the Midwest. Between lectures, collaboration, research at ACPL and research around the Midwest, FGS 2013 will be a great opportunity to break down your brick walls.

Indianapolis
By Harold Henderson 

Indiana's capital city, a little over two hours southwest of Fort Wayne, is a great place for a quick strike
in library or archives on your way to the FGS conference. The downtown canals and state capitol make
for plenty of photo opportunities as well.

Indiana State Library, 315 West Ohio Street, http://www.in.gov/library/index.htm. The microfilm
room on the second floor houses the world's best collection of Indiana newspapers along with the
state's most complete collection of Indiana county records. On another wing of the second floor are the
manuscript collections, with finding aids and a card catalog.

Indiana Historical Society, 450 West Ohio Street, http://www.indianahistory.org. Investigate their
massive manuscript and visual holdings at http://www.indianahistory.org/our-collections/manuscript-
and-visual-collections. Their store and “Indiana Experience” shows may be just the thing for any non-
researchers on board.

These two buildings are across the street and less than a block apart. Bring quarters for IHS lockers,
ISL copiers, and street parking. If you haven't been to Indianapolis in a while, allocate some time to
adjust to the higher on-street parking fees and the computerized payment system. IHS parking is free
with library use; its downstairs cafe looks out on the canals.

Indiana State Archives, 6440 East 30th Street, http://www.in.gov/icpr/2358.htm, with an auxiliary
on-line digital archive at http://www.indianadigitalarchives.org. Seven miles east of downtown, this is
an archive, not a library, so figure out what records you're looking for and call ahead to arrange to see
them. Parking not a problem.

Crown Hill Cemetery, 700 West 38th Street, http://www.crownhill.org, makes a great out-of-the-
car break with a genealogical and historical flavor. The beautiful pictures on the site do not lie. Burial
locator at http://www.crownhill.org/locate.

Every city deserves a blogger who's old enough to know the secrets and young enough to tell them.
Check out Ron Darrah's IndyGenealogy blog at http://indygenealogy.blogspot.com.

 

This is the first in a series of blog posts that will highlight research opportunities in the Midwest. Between lectures, collaboration, research at ACPL and research around the Midwest, FGS 2013 will be a great opportunity to break down your brick walls.

Chicago
By Harold Henderson

The de facto capital of the Midwest, a little over three hours west of Fort Wayne, has ample entertaining destinations for any non-genealogists in your group. Travelers can consider parking at an edge location (such as O'Hare or Midway airports) and taking transit into one or more repositories.

The Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, http://www.newberry.org. Mammoth historical collections, national and international in scope, with very knowledgeable genealogy and local history librarians. Quality in-house bookstore. If you can only visit one location, this is the one.

National Archives at Chicago, 7358 South Pulaski Road, http://www.archives.gov/chicago. Federal records for six states, both microfilm and physical archives. Call ahead.

Chicago Public Library, 400 S. State (Harold Washington Library Center), http://www.chipublib.org. A public library with significant genealogy and local history holdings. Note special and neighborhood collections at Woodson Regional, 9325 S. Halsted, http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/woodson-regional, and Sulzer Regional, 4455 N. Lincoln, http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/sulzer-regional.

Chicago Historical Museum, 1601 N. Clark, http://www.chicagohistory.org/research. Entry fee. The ultimate for specifically Chicago research – old phone books, newspapers, manuscripts. Note that the research center has shorter hours than the museum.

 

The Allen County Public Library and the Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana are the local hosts of the FGS 2013 conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

ACGSI board member, Marge Graham, introduces conference attendees to the society:

The Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana is active in preserving county records, presenting educational programming nine months of the year, September through May. Our computer interest group also meets nine months of the year. The Society sponsors workshops several times a year. Members volunteer their services and expertise to the Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center. The Society purchases needed items for the Genealogy Center when requested or to fulfill a “wish” list.

The Society publishes a quarterly, Allen County Lines. The publication offers members an opportunity to submit their family histories, stories, photos, and queries. The Society maintains a website www.acgsi.org which contains numerous indexes and records for your searching pleasure. The “members only” section contains many valuable records plus back issues of Lines. Be sure to check out our wiki for links to other great sites. The Society also participates in USgenweb and you may find us at http://acgsi.org/genweb Check us out on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ACGSI and if you are a blogger, join us at http://acgsi.wordpress.com or for the Twitter fans, find us at @ACGSI For those wishing to contact us try info@acgsi.org with your request or if you prefer, our address is Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana, Inc., P.O. Box 12003, Fort Wayne, IN 46862.

 

By Dawne Slater-Putt

The Allen County Public Library (ACPL), home of The Genealogy Center, is excited to serve as one of the local co-hosts for the 2013 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in Fort Wayne!

The Genealogy Center celebrated its 50th birthday in January of 2011 and added the one millionth item to its collection of books and microform items just before that milestone. As the nation’s second-largest genealogical research collection – behind the behemoth Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah – the Genealogy Center’s scope of coverage is primarily North America, with some additional subject concentrations, including the British Isles. The collection encompasses more than 420,000 bound volumes, including more than 61,000 published family histories. In addition, The Genealogy Center has more than 660,000 microfilm and microfiche items. Specific holdings vary for each geographic location, and can be explored through the Center’s online catalogs found at www.GenealogyCenter.org.

Extended research hours are planned at The Genealogy Center during conference week. Specifics will be announced when they become available. Ensuring that visitors to The Genealogy Center have an enjoyable and productive time while researching is a goal of the department’s staff. Seven librarians with many decades of combined genealogical research experience, along with small army of knowledgeable volunteers gathered specifically for the conference, look forward to helping you navigate the multitude of resources available at ACPL while enjoying a tremendous conference just across the street!

Website: http://www.genealogycenter.org
Blog: http://www.genealogycenter.org/Community/Blog.aspx
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GenealogyCenter

 

Want to know the latest news about the FGS conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana, August 21-24, 2013?

• Like the FGS 2013 Conference page on Facebook by visiting http://www.facebook.com/fgsconference.
• Follow the FGS 2013 Conference Twitter feed by going to http://www.twitter.com/fgsconference and clicking the Follow button.
• Add the FGS 2013 Conference blog to your favorite RSS reader with the following link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/FgsConferenceNewsBlog.
• Sign up to have the latest posts from the conference blog delivered to your email inbox. Visit http://www.fgsconferenceblog.org/ and enter your email address into the box under the "Subscribe Now" heading.

You can also hear the latest buzz about the conference by using and searching for the Twitter hashtag #FGS2013.

 

By Dawne Slater-Putt

The Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference for 2013 is still several months away, but it’s not too early to begin to plan your preferred method and route for traveling to Fort Wayne. Whether you live in Indiana, in the Midwest, or across the country, getting here is easy!

Fort Wayne International Airport serves four major carriers, Allegiant, American, Delta and United, with non-stop connections to nine airports – Atlanta, Chicago (O’Hare), Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Myrtle Beach, Punta Gorda (Fla.), Orlando and St. Petersburg-Clearwater. Beyond those, hundreds of airports are one stop away from Fort Wayne International. Consult the individual airlines’ websites or www.flyfwa.com.

If you plan to drive to Fort Wayne, Interstate 69 comes into the city from the north and south. In addition, Fort Wayne is on four U.S. highways – 24, 27, 30 and 33.

The closest Amtrak stations are in Waterloo, Indiana (about 30 miles), Bryan, Ohio (about 52 miles), Elkhart, Indiana (about 70 miles) and South Bend, Indiana (about 90 miles). Find more information at www.Amtrak.com.

Finally, if you choose to leave the driving to Greyhound, Fort Wayne’s terminal is downtown at 929 S. Lafayette Street. Make your arrangements at www.Greyhound.com.

 

The FGS 2013 Conference committee is busy planning a fantastic conference for August 21-24, 2013 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Want to sneak peak at some of the events planned for the conference? The FGS 2013 conference flyer is available to download now as a PDF on the FGS website.

You can download it directly using this link: http://www.fgs.org/upload/files/FGS2013_Conference_Flyer.pdf

And don't forget to share it with your friends!

 

The Courtyard by Marriott is across the street from the Grand Wayne Convention Center and is also connected by a covered skywalk.

Courtyard by Marriott Downtown Fort Wayne
1150 South Harrison Street
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46802
Phone: 260.490.3629
Toll Free: 866.704.6163 (reservation code is GENO)
Rates: $129.00 plus tax
Website for reservations: http://cwp.marriott.com/fwadt/fgs (not supported by Google Chrome)

Reservations may be made online or by phone starting September 1, 2012, through July 21, 2013. The reservation code is “GENO” (to be used for call-in reservations only).

 

You will see a few posts here that wrap up the 2012 Federation of Genealogical Societies Birmingham conference. Delegates from FGS member societies are a special part of each FGS conference. From among those whose registration form indicated they were a Delegate from their society, a random choice designates a special Delegate of the Day for each of the four days. The 2012 Delegates of the Day were:

• Wednesday: Mary Choppa - The Irish Ancestral Research Association  http://www.tiara.ie
   
• Thursday: Linda Woodward Geiger – Georgia Genealogical Society  http://www.gagensociety.org
   
• Friday: Billie Fogarty – Oklahoma Genealogical Society http://www.okgensoc.org
   
• Saturday: Elissa Scalise Powell – North Hills Genealogists  http://www.NorthHillsGenealogists.org

From those four, the name of the Delegate of the Conference was drawn. That is Billie Fogarty from the Oklahoma Genealogical Society! The OGS wins a free registration to the 2013 FGS Conference in Fort Wayne. They can award the in any way they wish.

Will your FGS member society's Delegate participate in the 2013 conference in Fort Wayne? Is you society a member of the Federation? Check the list here and if you don't see your society's name urge your board to consider joining forces with all those wonderful societies.

 

We now have the website for online reservations at at the Hilton in Fort Wayne. The Hilton is attached to the Grand Wayne Center as show in the photo below. The parking ramp is directly across the street from where these vans are parked and is connected to the second level of the Hilton by an enclosed skywalk.

Hilton Fort Wayne at the Grand Wayne Convention Center
1020 South Calhoun Street
Fort Wayne, Indiana  46802-3005
 
Group Name: Federation of Genealogical Societies
Group Code: FGS
Check-in as early as: 14 August 2013
Check-out as late as: 28 August 2013


 Rate: $119 plus tax per night
Phone Number: 260.422.4002
Website for reservations: Click here