Genealogy Club – April 19, 2018

The Ripley Library will be adding a Genealogy Club in the meeting room on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. The 1st gathering will be in April. This will be a very informal group to share tips, stories, and help each other with research. This is an open group, and everyone is welcome to attend.

Melody Kokensparger will be our guide into genealogy. Melody started doing her own research in high school after listening to her grandfather who was born in 1876 tell stories about the family. Over the years her research included both sides of her family. Melody was born and raised in Manchester and has been a resident of Ripley since 2002. She is the Librarian at St. Michael School in Ripley.

The interest in genealogy is at an all-time high. The media reported that DNA kits and memberships to genealogy sites was one of the most popular gifts for Christmas last year. One of the major sites now has over 6 million DNA test results in their database. In early 2017 that number was 2 million.

One million more test results have been added in the 1st 2 months of this year.