MCGG Friday Group Meets Tomorrow for 1st Meeting of 2026-2027 Genealogy Season; Our Topic: Where Should I Research? Why? -- See You at 1 pm

MCGG Friday group meets in-person (hybrid) tomorrow Friday, September 4, 2026, at 1 p.m.
in the Board Room of the Mount Clemens Public Library. Our topic is ... Where Should I Research? Why? presented by Lisa Eschenburg.

Presented by Lisa Eschenburg who will cover a variety of research locations both near and far. Highlighting the Pros, some Cons as well as some tips for each location. She will also review what to make note of for any research location and provides tips for preparing for a visit to the location.

Our plan is that our meetings will be hybrid meaning the meeting will be in-person with a virtual Zoom option. The Zoom meeting link (or registration link) will now be found on our Southeast Michigan Genealogy Events Calendar and our Facebook page. The link will usually be added the night before or morning of the meeting. Members will receive a reminder email with the Zoom invite or a reminder that registration is required for a meeting. New attendees are always welcome.

See you at our favorite library!
LE

September MCGG Meetings -- Join Us!

Correction: Originally posted Sunday, August 30, 2026 at 2:20 p.m.

It's TIME!!!!
A reminder about our Macomb County Genealogy Group September 2026 meetings.

MCGG Friday group meets in-person (hybrid) on Friday, September 4, 2026, at 1 p.m.
in the Board Room of the Mount Clemens Public Library. Our topic is ... Where Should I Research? Why? presented by Lisa Eschenburg.

Presented by Lisa Eschenburg who will cover a variety of research locations both near and far. Highlighting the Pros, some Cons as well as some tips for each location. She will also review what to make note of for any research location and provides tips for preparing for a visit to the location.

MCGG Let's Talk...Genealogy discussion group meets in-person (hybrid) Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in the Local History & Genealogy Room of the Mount Clemens Public Library. Our topic is ... Where Did You Research and Why?

Let's share and learn about research locations our attendees have visited, why they visited, and, of course, what they found!

Our plan is that our meetings will be hybrid meaning the meeting will be in-person with a virtual Zoom option. The Zoom meeting link (or registration link) will now be found on our Southeast Michigan Genealogy Events Calendar and our Facebook page. The link will usually be added the night before or morning of the meeting. Members will receive a reminder email with the Zoom invite or a reminder that registration is required for a meeting.

New attendees are always welcome.

See you at our favorite library!
LE

MCGG Announces Meeting Dates for 2026-2027 Season; Topics to Come

Macomb County Genealogy Group has set its meeting dates for its 2026-2027 Genealogy Season. Topics for each meeting are in progress and will be announced when set.

MCGG 2026-2027 Meeting Schedule

September 2026
Fri., Sept. 4 MCGG at 1 pm in Board Room
Where Should I Research? Why? presented by Lisa Eschenburg

Wed., Sept. 9 Let's Talk...Genealogy at 6:30 pm in LH&G Room
Where Did You Research and Why?

October
Fri., Oct. 2 MCGG at 1 pm in Board Room 

Wed., Oct. 14 Let's Talk...Genealogy at 6:30 pm in LH&G Room

November
Wed., Nov. 4 Let's Talk...Genealogy at 6:30 pm in LH&G Room
(First Wednesday due to Veterans' Day) 

Fri., Nov. 6 MCGG at 1 pm in Board Room

December
Wed., Dec. 9 There will be no Let's Talk...Genealogy meeting due to a library program. We encourage our members to attend that.

Fri., Dec. 11 MCGG at 12 pm* in Auditorium
MCGG and Let's Talk...Genealogy Combined Annual Holiday Potluck
Bring a dish to share and join the fun! *For this meeting we start at noon.

January 2027
Fri., Jan. 8 MCGG at 1 pm in Board Room 

Wed., Jan. 13 Let's Talk...Genealogy at 6:30 pm in LH&G Room

February
Fri., Feb. 5 MCGG at 1 pm in Board Room 

Wed., Feb. 10 Let's Talk...Genealogy at 6:30 pm in LH&G Room

March
Fri., Mar. 5 MCGG at 1 pm in Board Room 

Wed., Mar. 10 Let's Talk...Genealogy at 6:30 pm in LH&G Room

April
Fri., Apr. 2 MCGG at 1 pm in Board Room 

Wed., Apr. 14 Let's Talk...Genealogy at 6:30 pm in LH&G Room

May
Fri., May 7 MCGG at 1 pm in Board Room 

Wednesday, May 12, at 5:00 p.m.*
MCGG Combined Friday Group and Let's Talk...Genealogy Annual Summer Potluck
Bring a dish (homemade or store bought) and join us for some social time. This events starts at an earlier time 5 p.m; dinner is at 5:30 p.m. We will announce any other details closer to the date. 
 

June
Fri., Jun. 4 MCGG at 1 pm in Board Room 

Wed., Jun. 9 Let's Talk...Genealogy at 6:30 pm in LH&G Room

MCGG Volunteers Help Patrons with their Research; MCPL Local History & Genealogy Room Volunteer Schedule

For those interested, the following schedule is when our MCGG Volunteers are volunteering in the Mount Clemens Public Library's Local History and Genealogy Room. Days and times were adjusted based on the newer business hours of the library.

MCGG Volunteers are in the room:

Mondays
10 am to 3 pm 

Tuesdays
10 am to 3 pm
4 pm to 6 pm 

Wednesdays
4 pm to 8 pm 

Thursdays
10 am to 3 pm
3 pm to 6 pm 

Fridays
12 pm to 5 pm

Saturdays
Volunteers rotate each Saturday during the school year.

 

As a reminder, the library's business hours during the school year are:

Sunday Closed

Monday 10 am to 8 pm

Tuesday 10 am to 6 pm

Wednesday 12 pm to 8 pm

Thursday 10 am to 6 pm

Friday 10 am to 5 pm

Saturday 10 am to 2 pm (closed during the Summer)

See you at our favorite library!
LE 

Where Can You Find MCGG?

We just wanted to make sure everyone knows where they can find Macomb County Genealogy Group. We are on a variety of social media platforms.

You are Here. This is our blog/website:
www.mcgg-letstalkgenealogy.blogspot.com

You can find us on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/MacombCountyGenealogyGroup

You can find us on Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/MCGGmichigan

You can find us on Mastodon:
https://toot.community/@MCGGmichigan

You can find us on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@MCGGmichigan

You can find us on Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/MacombCoGeneGrp/

You can find us at our meetings once we return to in-person meetings at: Mount Clemens Public Library, 150 Cass Avenue, Mount Clemens. (See our 2023 Winter/Spring Meeting Schedule coming soon.)

See you someday soon at our favorite library!
LE

MCGG is Now on Mastodon ... Just in Case

Just in case ... You can also find us on Mastodon. Our handle is:

@MCGGmichigan@toot.community

We will begin posting there as well as on Twitter. Our look is pretty much the same as over at our Twitter handle just so you know that it is us. 

Getting started is the hard part (figuring out how and where to join), after that it is very similar to Twitter. As we said, just in case.

See you someday soon at our favorite library!
LE

Macomb History and Genealogy Databases are Now Working Again

Good News! The Macomb History and Genealogy Databases on the Mount Clemens Public Library's website are now working. The error has been fixed.

These databases were created and are updated (where applicable) by Macomb County Genealogy Group volunteers and Mount Clemens Public Library staff.

Giving back to the genealogy community is part of MCGG's objectives since the group was created.

 

See you soon someday at our favorite library!
LE

Temporary Remote Access Extended until End of July for Ancestry Library Edition

One of the temporary online resources that developed out of these COVID-19 times is the temporary remote access of Ancestry Library Edition thanks to its providers ProQuest and Ancestry.com. This resource is accessible via the website of the library that issued your library card.

Looking at ProQuest's support page we have learned this wonderful resource has been extended until the end of July. According to ProQuest this temporary remote access will be re-evaluated monthly.

So, we believe patrons of the Suburban Library Cooperative libraries can keep on researching! If we hear otherwise we will let you know.

You can access Ancestry Library Edition by signing into the website of the library that issued your library card and then clicking the link to Ancestry Library Edition. You will be taken to the Ancestry Library Edition home page and from there you can search to your heart's content. Ancestry Library Edition has no personalized features so among other things you can not access your personal Ancestry online tree or link records to it if you have one. So you will need to remember to download your record image finds and add the information to your genealogy trees manually.

To compliment this online resource, remember that the Macomb County Genealogy Group has created an overview video on our YouTube channel. This video is An Overview of Ancestry Library Edition. After explaining the differences between Ancestry Library Edition and a personal home Ancestry.com subscription, we walk you around the Ancestry Library Edition website and some different ways to start searching for your ancestors.

We hope you are able to utilize this genealogy resource (Ancestry Library Edition) and learn something new about your ancestors.

If you need help starting genealogy see our MCGG Beginner's Packet for Family Research on our Research Help page.

Remember to have fun researching your ancestors everyone. And stay safe.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Effective Immediately: Comments Feature to Our Blog has been Disabled

Effective immediately, the Comments ability of this blog have been disabled.

Despite the comments feature always being moderated so that spam junk ads and inappropriate comments never make their way onto this blog/website, the actions of a few spammers have necessitated turning off the Comments feature. One would think that after a couple attempts the person(s) would realize their junk will never make it to our readers, but no, they continue to persist their unproductive efforts.

Our time wasted in management of this problem can be better spent elsewhere. MCGG members you know how to get a hold of us. For everyone else, maybe sometime in the future we can return the feature but unfortunately not for some time.

Have a good weekend everyone and stay safe with safe actions! Wear a mask for yourself, your family and everyone.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!

It is May 4th aka Star Wars Day!

Watch the Star Wars movies, or as many as you can, and get inspired to research the stories in your own family tree.

There are many free online resources and quite a few more now due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Use your library card to take advantage of them. Read our earlier posts to learn about these various free online resources.

Do not know where to begin? See our Beginner's Packet located on our Research Help page. Need some help with Ancestry Library Edtion? See our YouTube channel with our new video, An Overview of Ancestry Library Edition.

Have fun researching your family tree!

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Mt. Clemens Public Library Closed thru May 28, 2020; Temporary Free Remote Access to Ancestry Library Edition Extended thru End of May 2020; MCGG Releases Ancestry Library Edition Overview Video on its YouTube Channel

Our favorite library, Mount Clemens Public Library.
Note: this photo is from a prior year not this year so
we do not have an open house scheduled this year.

Our favorite library, Mount Clemens Public Library, will be closed until at least May 28, 2020, due to State of Michigan efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Like many libraries around the world, our favorite library and the rest of the libraries in the Suburban Library Cooperative are working to bring alternative online resources to its patrons. So do not forget to take a look at the website of the library that issued your library card to see all the online resources offered during this time.

One of these online resources is ProQuest and Ancestry's temporary free remote access offer to Ancestry Library Edition which is extended to the end of May. So, patrons of the Suburban Library Cooperative libraries can keep on researching!

You can access Ancestry Library Edition by signing into the website of the library that issued your library card and then clicking the link to Ancestry Library Edition. You will be taken to the Ancestry Library Edition home page and from there you can search to your heart's content. Ancestry Library Edition has no personalized features so among other things you can not access your personal Ancestry online tree or link records to it if you have one. So you will need to remember to download your record image finds and add the information to your genealogy trees manually.

To compliment this online resource, the Macomb County Genealogy Group has created and finally released a new video on our YouTube channel. This video is An Overview of Ancestry Library Edition. After explaining the differences between Ancestry Library Edition and a personal home Ancestry.com subscription, we walk you around the Ancestry Library Edition website and some different ways to start searching for your ancestors.

We hope you are able to utilize this genealogy resource (Ancestry Library Edition) and learn something new about your ancestors.

If you need help starting genealogy see our MCGG Beginner's Packet for Family Research on our Research Help page.

Remember to have fun researching your ancestors everyone. And stay safe.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

MCGG Creates YouTube Channel, Other Genealogy-Related Stuff to Occupy Time

Note: This post was originally posted on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, at 6:29 p.m. EDST. It was updated to confirm how to access the temporarily free record collections at Ancestry.com website.

Hi Everyone!

We hope you are staying safe and are well. Besides doing what we need to and have to do, as some are able to do so they are filling time with genealogy doing things like actually doing their own genealogy, cleaning up and organizing their genealogy, and/or taking some time for some genealogy education.

Take a look around and you will find a variety of free things genealogy related. We will list some that we have found here but take a look around yourself at your favorite sites to see what is out there and available to you.

MCGG
First off, we want to tell you about our new Macomb County Genealogy Group YouTube Channel. It is free and available for anyone to view. We have started off with three Tech Tips videos. The first (about 12 minutes long) is on how to do a Screenshot on Windows and Mac computers. The second (about 2 minutes long) is on adding the Calculator and Character Map to either your Start Menu or Taskbar on your Windows computer. The third (about three minutes long) is on printing a website page as a PDF file. While it is demonstrated on a Windows computer, the technique can be used on a Mac as well.

For Michigan residents, please remember that through the Michigan Electronic Library aka mel.org you have free access from home to a variety of databases including MyHeritage Library Edition. There are lots of databases there to search.

Ancestry.com
Today, Ancestry.com announced on its Ancestry blog that it is making teacher-developed lesson plans available for free for anyone to download, covering a range of educational topics for various ages. Ancestry has collaborated with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration to offer temporary free access to millions of historical records and images from the federal government. And says it will continue providing free online tutorials and video courses to help people get started with family tree building. A list of lesson plans and more information can be found as well as a sampling of the temporary free access collections here. There are also free videos explaining getting started with family history in the Ancestry Academy. Ancestry's promotion says you just need to provide your email to take advantage of the completely free promotion.

While a link to create free username/membership was not given, do remember that usually a free username will not request your credit card information. Do not click on the free trial because that will require your credit card information. This page here is often the one needed to create a free username (no credit card) but sometimes Ancestry has a special search page where the free access is given. We will update this when we confirm the method to access the free records offer. Another website has said the search/index is free but to access the images you have to do the free trial which is not free if you forget to cancel before you are charged. If you already have a guest/free username account you can sign in and see if you can access the temporarily free collections. Update: On March 26, 2020, at 4:07 p.m. ESDT. we have personally confirmed if you already have a free username account meaning one without a paid data membership (or create one using the link above meaning not the free trail membership that asks for your credit card information) you can access the temporarily free collections and see the record images. This was tested by signing into a free username account that does not have a paid data membership and searching a few of the collections appearing in the sample listing of temporarily free collections. Record images were viewable from the search result lists. So get searching!

Family Tree Magazine
Family Tree Magazine is giving its March/April 2020 issue in digital (PDF) form away for free. Here is the link to the PDF. The issue's main article is a comparison of the four major genealogy websites. Along with a Roundup of Free Online Record Collections.

Family Tree Webinars
Legacy Family Tree Webinars almost always has its latest webinar free to view for a week after its initial live presentation. This week's webinar today was on Using the Fold3.com website. Did you know Family Tree Webinars also has a variety of recorded webinars available for free anytime. Just to to the Webinar Library tab and select View All - Free. On March 12th of this month Family Tree Webinars hosted a 24 hour marathon of live webinars, and now all these marathon recordings are available to view for free thru April 6, 2020. So, take some time to learn something new.

MyHeritage.com
MyHeritage.com has decided to make its MyHeritage in Color feature free and unlimited for one month (until April 22, 2020) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. See its blog post for details. MyHeritage in Color takes scans of black and white photos and colorizes them. Normally only 10 photos can be colorized by anyone without a Complete subscription plan.

Archion.de
Archion.de is a website of the Evangelical Church of Germany where church books from the various regional churches are digitized and placed online for family researchers to access and view. The site is in German with some English translated pages. For four weeks from March 31 to April 27, 2020, there will be a sale on access Passes. A one-month pass regularly 19,90 Euro will be 17,90 Euro; a three-month pass regularly 52,20 Euro will be 43,50 Euro; a one-year pass regularly 178,80 Euro will be 139 Euro. The passes do not auto-renew and each pass allows only a certain number of image downloads. See details on the site's Available Passes page.

You are able to browse the contents of the website. The church books are organized first by the regional holding archive and the regional division and the parish location where you can then see what records types and time periods are available. At this time the digitized church records are mostly not electronically index so this is a browse and manually search like you would have done in the days of microfilm.

We can not list every offer out there so keep an eye out for the websites you visit and use.

Stay Safe Everyone!

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Today is Day Two of the 2019 Used Book Sale at Mount Clemens Public Library

Today, Friday, Sep. 20, is Day Two of the Mount Clemens Public Library's 2019 Used Book Sale, hosted by the Macomb County Genealogy Group. The sale is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There are still lots of books so that you can find yourself some to enjoy.

The 2019 Used Book Sale at Mount Clemens Public Library is open until 8 p.m. tonight.

The 2019 Used Book Sale at Mount Clemens Public Library is open until 8 p.m. tonight.

We have a variety of books, including a large Children's Corner full of books for a variety of ages up to tween ... shop early for the best selection. Admission is free.

2019 Used Book Sale Days and Hours: 

September 20, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. is Day Two of the Sale. 

September 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. is the Last Day of the Sale. 

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year 2019 to Everyone!

There are cookies to bake, gifts to wrap among other things. We'll be back posting late next week about our January meetings.

Until then, we hope you and your family near and far have a safe and happy holiday season.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Don't Forget the Genealogy Open House on June 1 at Mt. Clemens Public Library

Don't forget this Friday, June 1, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. the Macomb County Genealogy Group (MCGG) will hold a Genealogy Open House in the Local History and Genealogy Room of the Mount Clemens Public Library.
 
What is happening at the Open House?

• Learn about the library's Local History and Genealogy Collection upstairs;
• Learn about (and use) our MCGG Special Collections located downstairs;
• Learn how to use the various equipment available in the Gene Room and get any questions you have about the equipment answered;
• Get research assistance from our volunteers -- bring your questions and problems whether they are with your family research or with using a particular genealogy website;
• Get help with ethnic research questions -- we have experts in several areas such as Polish, German, English, Scottish, Canadian, French-Canadian, etc.;
• Work station tables will be set up near electrical outlets in the Auditorium for attendees who bring their laptops;
• Just starting out? We have a beginner's table in the Auditorium with a moderator to give you some starting advice and answer questions. (Don't worry you will have time to explore our collections and work with our volunteers.);
• Light refreshments will be available in the auditorium too!

Please note that unlike our Open House last year which was held when the library was closed due to staff training, this year the library will be open to all patrons during the Open House.

Do you need to bring anything? If you have a question/problem make sure to bring your information so our volunteers can see what you have done already. Bring a USB drive in case you want to copy/digitize a found record. Bring your laptop if you want. 

Get help with your research and socialize with other family historians/genealogists too. The cost? Free! MCGG members and anyone who is curious about researching their family tree are welcome to attend.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library! 

LE

This Friday, June 1, is the MCGG Open House at Mt. Clemens Public Library

This Friday, June 1, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. the Macomb County Genealogy Group (MCGG) will hold a Genealogy Open House in the Local History and Genealogy Room of the Mount Clemens Public Library. (Yes, we decided to reschedule our Open House that got cancelled due to the burst pipe back in January.)

Come learn about this great collection. Take a tour upstairs and down. Watch demonstrations on how to use the scanning equipment. Learn tips for using the local database computer. We will have a beginner's table as well as consultations.

Get help with your research and socialize with other family historians/genealogists too. The cost? Free! If you have a laptop feel free to bring it to use the library's in-house resources and pick up some tips and tricks.

MCGG members and anyone who is curious about researching their family tree are welcome to attend.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library! 
LE

MCGG Adds Privacy Policy to this Website

Just in case, the Macomb County Genealogy Group has added a Privacy Policy to inform readers how this site and MCGG handles your information. The European Union has enacted a very complicated regulation today called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that potentially effects those located anywhere who may have contact with European Union residents.

We have created a standing webpage for so our Privacy Policy will always be easy to locate. (See the page tabs at the top of this website.) As needed our Privacy Policy will be updated so if you have any concerns check our Privacy Policy page occasionally.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Thank You for Supporting the MCPL Used Book Sale and Mt Clemens Public Library

If you made a purchase at the MCPL Used Book Sale ...
If you passed the word of the MCPL Used Book Sale ...
If you volunteered to staff the MCPL Used Book Sale ...
If you volunteered to help set up the MCPL Used Book Sale ...
If you volunteered to help take down the MCPL Used Book Sale ...
If you volunteered to sort the donated books throughout the year for the MCPL Used Book Sale ...

We thank you for supporting the MCPL Used Book Sale and Mount Clemens Public Library!

As you can see there were a lot of people that made this happen. And, we did good.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Last Day of the MCPL Used Book Sale Shop Today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Hurry in before the MCPL Used Book Sale closes.

It is Day 3 of the Used Book Sale at the Mount Clemens Public Library's Used Book Sale and there are less than two hours left. Today is the last day of the sale and it is Bag Day ... buy a paper grocery bag from us for $5 and fill it with anything you can fit in it. The Used Book Sale is hosted by the Macomb County Genealogy Group and proceeds support the library.

Sale hours today (Sat., Sept. 23) are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If you have shopped the MCPL Used Book Sale, thank you for supporting the library.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

It is Day 2 of the MCPL Used Book Sale Shop Today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Amazingly we still have a good selection of used books
available. Please come buy a book or several books.

Day 2 of the Used Book Sale at the Mount Clemens Public Library's Used Book Sale kicked off today a couple hours ago. There is still a great selection to pick from in a wide variety of categories. The Used Book Sale is hosted by the Macomb County Genealogy Group.

Sale hours today (Fri, Sept. 22) are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Used Book Sale Days and Hours are: 

September 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. is the Last Day of the Sale. 

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE