At their meeting in Salt Lake City on October 11, 2014, the Fellows of the American Society of Genealogists granted their annual A.S.G. Scholar Award to Chip Rowe of Garrison, New York, for his article, “Who Was Joel Holcomb of Wallingford, Connecticut?” which appeared in the July 2013 issue of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. The ASG Scholar Award rewards talented genealogists with stipends to pursue advanced academic training in genealogy. Mr. Rowe has elected to use his stipend to attend the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University (Birmingham, Alabama) in 2015.

At its meeting in Salt Lake City on October 11, 2014, the Fellows of the American Society of Genealogists voted to give the Donald Lines Jacobus Award to Descendants of Governor Thomas Welles of Connecticut, Volume 1, 2nd ed. (Wetherfield, Conn.: Wells Family Association, 2013), by newly-elected Fellow Barbara Jean Mathews. This volume treats four generations and lists children of the fifth, beginning from Thomas Welles, an early governor of Connecticut. This book is an update to the first edition by the late Donna Holt Siemiatkoski, with Mathews providing greatly expanded biographies and thorough documentation of all sources.

The Fellows of the American Society of Genealogists held their annual meeting on Saturday, October 11, 2014, in Salt Lake City. Michael F. Dwyer of Pittsford, Vermont, and Barbara Jean Mathews, CG, of Lexington, Massachusetts, were elected to the Society as its 162nd and 163rd members, respectively.

Michael F. Dwyer has published articles in all of the major New England scholarly genealogical journals over the past twenty-five years. His expertise spans numerous ethnic groups, including New England Yankee, the immigrant Irish, French-Canadian, and French; his many articles have treated families in Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and French Canada. He currently is the head of the English Department and an English and Social Studies teacher at Otter Valley Union High School in Rutland, Vermont. In 2004 he was named Vermont Teacher of the Year.

Barbara Jean Mathews, CG, has published four books and numerous genealogical articles. Over the years she has actively promoted scholarly genealogy, both as a trustee of the Board for Certification of Genealogists and through lectures and articles in other venues. She is currently the Verifying Genealogist of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.

Here are 28 of the Fellows at the ASG annual meeting, held Saturday, 12 October 2013 (at 13:54 MDT) at the Family History Library, Salt Lake City.

Seated: Greene, Hyde, H. Jones, Byrne, Saxbe, Hatcher, Zubrinsky, R. Anderson.
Standing: J. Anderson, Remington, Thompson, Joslyn, Taylor, Sperry, Dearborn, Hill, Hinchliff, Harris, J. Hansen, Baldwin, Bamberg, Reed, T. Jones, Stott, Mahler, Ullmann, C. Hansen, Hart.

At its meeting in Salt Lake City on October 12, 2013, the American Society of Genealogists voted to give their annual Donald Lines Jacobus Award to David Kokernot: Rogue Soldier of the Texas Revolution, by Alan Barber.

Published in 2012, this biography and genealogy describes the fascinating life of the author’s ancestor, David Kokernot (1805–1892). Born in Amsterdam to poor Jewish parents, Kokernot moved with his family at age 13 to New Orleans. He eventually made his way to Texas where he became a fervent admirer of Sam Houston and left his mark as a ruthless and controversial pursuer of those who failed to back the cause of Texas independence. The book expertly documents Kokernot’s family, beginning with his great-grandfather in Amsterdam and concluding with his children in America, relying heavily on original records and meticulous documentation.

Here are 13 of the Fellows at a meeting held 8 August 1976 at the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland. Identification of all in the photo would be most welcome.

A photograph of the Fellows attending the 1969 World Conference on Records in Salt Lake City, August 3-9, 1969.

They are identified as follows:

Standing: Colket; Doane (rear, partly obscured); Rubincam; Zabriskie; Farnham; Dorman (behind Stern); Stern; Sheppard (obscured, also behind Stern); Stryker-Rodda; von Frank; Harriet Stryker-Rodda; Coddington.

Seated: Julia Colket; Virginia Livingston; Mrs. Farnham; Mary Harter; Annie Jester; Hannah Roach.

Here are the Fellows at the 1972 meeting in Columbia, South Carolina, on the front steps of Lace House:

The Fellows, spouses, and hosts are identified as follows:

Top to Bottom rows, left to right:

Top Row: Winston De Ville; Milton Rubincam; Rev. Dr. Walter Lee Sheppard, Jr.; John Frederick Dorman; Virginia Pope Livingston; Margaret Dickson Falley.

Middle-Back Row: Kenneth Stryker-Rodda; Dagmar [Mrs. Nils W.] Olsson; Lucy Mary Kellogg; John D. Austin, Jr.

Middle-Middle Row: George McCracken; Frances Prindle; Paul Wesley Prindle; Marcia Austin.

Middle-Front Row: John Insley Coddington; [Mrs. Huxford’s granddaughter]; Rachel E. Barclay; Mary E. McCollam Harter; Jean Stephenson.

Front Row: Judge and Mrs. Folks Huxford; [Mrs. Huxford’s daughter, Mrs. Clark]; Florence Harlow Barclay; Malcolm Stern.

Fellow Dr. Nils William Olsson took the photograph. Malcolm Stern (lower right), holds his camera at the ready to swap with Dr. Olsson.

In this version (below), taken by Malcolm Stern, Dr. Olsson is now standing at the lower right, holding his (obviously superior) camera.

Applications are now being accepted for the ASG Scholar Award for 2014. This is an annual grant of $500 awarded for study at one of three major academic genealogical programs in the United States—the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) at Samford University (Birmingham, Ala.), the National Institute on Genealogical Research (NIGR) in Washington, D.C., or the Certificate Program in Genealogical Research at Boston University.

The award is open to all genealogists; application includes a résumé, a sample of work (a genealogy manuscript of 5000 words or less), and a brief statement of intent. Applications close on September 30, 2013, for the grant to be used next year (2014). Read more about the award and how to apply at Awards > ASG Scholar Award.

Greetings from the American Society of Genealogists, and welcome to our newly-updated website. We hope that it will serve both our own Fellows, and the public, as a point of access, and a reminder of the role of our Society in the genealogical community.

ASG Fellows strive to teach by example. Formats change, source access waxes and wanes, but excellence in genealogical publishing should always have a timeless quality. Our Jacobus Award goes to exceptional published genealogical works. A list of award-winning books appears here. Some of our Fellows have selected bibliographies linked here. Several years of first-rate genealogical articles in The Genealogist are listed here, with a few samples available in full here. In the pages of these works you may find inspiration, techniques, and answers. Sometimes the best path to a solution is knowing whom to ask. Most active Fellows are very willing to field questions in their areas of interest.

— Melinde Lutz Byrne, President