CHEYENNE – Are you lucky enough to have an ancestor who kept meticulous records? If you have Quakers in your tree, you might be one of the lucky ones.
About half of the people in the United States today who had ancestors living in or moving through the Mid-Atlantic region between 1680 and 1780 have at least one Quaker ancestor. From their beginnings in the 17th century, Quakers were meticulous record keepers.
Find out more at the Cheyenne Genealogical and Historical Society program “Researching American Quakers” at 7 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Laramie County Library. The program will be presented by Glenn York, president of the Larimer County (Colorado) Genealogical Society. He will share his knowledge of the religious group known as Quakers (Religious Society of Friends), who came to the Pennsylvania region in the late 17th century and spread rapidly along the East Coast.
By the early 19th century, many Quakers migrated to the Northwest territory, and by 1900, they had settled across the entire country. Most of Glenn’s immigrant ancestors came to colonial America, and many of their descendants were among the westward migrations who homesteaded and settled in the Great Plains. Both of his paternal grandparents were born on homesteads in Kansas.
With strong Quaker ancestry, Glenn has researched Quaker history and records in both North America and the British Isles. This presentation will cover some of the basic beliefs and organization of the Quaker communities. York will discuss migrations and records left behind that can help advance family research.
A short Society business meeting begins at 6:15, with the program starting at 7 p.m. in the Cottonwood Room of the Laramie County Library. A Zoom link will be available for those participants requesting it; send a request for the link to email@example.com by 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 7.