Lydia O’Connor
The April meeting of the SaddleBrooke Genealogy Club was opened by introducing guests Gerri Taylor, Diane Hodel and Carol Unger. They shared their reasons for interest in the club ranging from being returning members and needing help when running into a “brick wall.”
Our guest speaker, Holly Ann Gibson from Oro Valley, was introduced. She attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and The University of Boston for Genealogy and has been involved with National Conferences on Genealogy.
Her topic of discussion was called “Sources, a Short Story of Harry Melville Leslie.” He was and still is a mystery man who only appears in official records in Tombstone, Arizona in 1882, but married into a prominent Tucson family. The majority of her research was done through archival materials, letters, newspaper articles and the “Annual Announcement and Catalogue of the Missouri Medical College.” Much of her research followed a “Melville Leslie” around various states, even Hawaii. He possibly attended medical school in Missouri. What was interesting was to learn that it took only the attendance of five medical classes and the passing of an examination to become a doctor. That was an eye-opener! We are not sure he graduated from any medical school but he did call himself “Dr. Leslie.” Holly demonstrated that one can do research by investigating documents without relying solely on computer records. She is still trying to find positive proof of this man’s life. Researching just one person’s life with a box of papers Grandma had in her closet can take years and not everything is easily proven. Some of the best resources are libraries, newspapers and historical centers.
At next month’s meeting, the proposed budget and election of officers will be addressed. The nominating committee of Sharon Scanlan, Bonnie Lucas and Wanda Buehler announced that current officers have agreed to serve another year.
Door prizes were awarded to Nancy Bush, Sandy Williamson and Paul St. Clair. A full program of Special Interest Groups is scheduled in April including a DNA speaker, Mike Neal, at 9:00 a.m. April 16 in the Cactus Room at the MountainView Clubhouse. Additionally, on April 19 at 1:00 p.m. a speaker on Irish Genealogy, Bridget LeFever, will make a presentation in the Coyote Room, SaddleBrooke One Clubhouse. Also, on April 17 and 24, a class using the Family Search program will be presented from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the Saguaro Room at the MountainView Clubhouse. Please bring your own electronic devices for this class. Contact the Genealogy Club at http://sb-genealogy.org for further information.
The next club meeting will be May 3 in the Coyote Room, SaddleBrooke Clubhouse at 1:00 p.m. Please join us and get hooked on genealogy!