The annual Fayette County Genealogical Society Lineage Dinner will be held on Monday, May 16 this year.
The dinner is at 6 p.m. at the Pinkerton House, located at 605 S. North St. in Washington Court House. The cost of the dinner is $25, which includes the tip and is payable the night of the dinner.
Reservations for the dinner need to be made by May 7 by contacting Sue Gilmore at [email protected] or 614-560-4970 or Cathy Massie White at [email protected] or 740-333-7227.
Individuals who have been accepted into one or more of the Society’s three Lineage Societies — First Families of Fayette County, Century Families of Fayette County, and Civil War Families of Fayette County — will be inducted and honored at the dinner.
Also at the lineage dinner will be a cake in celebration of the 40-year anniversary of the founding of the Fayette County Genealogical Society.
The dinner will also serve as the next meeting of the Society.
In other news from the Fayette County Genealogical Society, member Peggy Lester took the members and guests attending the Society’s April meeting on a research adventure with her presentation of “How We Railroaded Our Entry Ancestors.”
Lester narrated the pictorial presentation of the train trip she and her husband Dick Lester had taken to research their entry ancestors, the first ancestors to live in America.
Their train trip began at Union Station in Cincinnati in the very early hours of Sept. 8, 2021. Throughout their trip, they traveled in sleeper cars and by regular coach to their destinations. Their first research stop was in New London, Connecticut, where Dick was able to find documentation of his entry ancestor Andrew Lester. Included in this documentation was a copy of a writing signed by Andrew in 1786.
This was a lucky find as most of the early documents of New London were lost when Benedict Arnold burned New London during the American Revolution. Benedict Arnold is still one of the most hated individuals in New London history. New London is also the home of the American Revolutionist Nathan Hale, and the Coast Guard Academy where their tall ships anchor in the harbor.
Then it was off to the Chester County Pennsylvania Archives where Lester researched her entry ancestor Peter Amole, Amole being Lester’s family name. Peter had become an indentured servant to be able to pay his passage to America. After he had paid his debt, he worked and saved and bought land in Chester County. Within her research, Lester found the land document of this purchase and Peter’s lawyer had been John Dickerson, whose name appears as a signer of the Constitution of the United States.
Peggy and Dick finished their adventure with a sightseeing trip of historical Philadelphia before boarding the train once again to return to Cincinnati and home.
Peggy suggested that anyone who wants to plan such a research trip should plan with a travel agent with the agent knowing your goals for the trip. She also said that you should contact the libraries, archives, or any other places of research you wish to visit and make appointments in advance letting them know what you will be researching.
Peggy, besides researching her family, is the research chair for the Society and assists our members and other individuals who contact us for assistance. She is a retired school librarian from Washington Court House City School System, and Dick Lester is a retired teacher from Miami Trace Local Schools.
For information concerning the meeting, Society membership, any of the Lineage Societies or research, contact Cathy Massie White (Lineage Chair) at [email protected] or 740-333-7227, Sue Gilmore (President) at [email protected] or 614-560-4970, or Peggy Lester (Research Chair) at [email protected] or 740-495-5720.
