Pikes Peak Genealogical Society

PPGS Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

PPGS special interest groups (SIGs) are open to PPGS members; guests are welcome to attend a few meetings. If you plan to attend regularly, you must join PPGS. All are currently meeting by Zoom.
 
Point of contact for special interest groups: Jan Myers.
 
 
DNA SIG
Meets monthly,  7 p.m., third Thursdays, via Zoom. Contact Susan Davis to receive link to meeting. Guests are welcome to attend a few meetings; if you plan to attend regularly, join the society. It will be worth it! The group typically has 15 to 20 attendees who use direct-to-consumer (DTC) DNA tests as genealogy research tools. All skill levels are welcome. Members can see an introductory DNA lecture by Greg Liverman on the Speaker Videos page under Member Log In.
 
Contact: Susan Davis 
 
DNA SIG Topics for 2023
 Presenter/   Facilitator
 Date
 Comments
Map Out Programs for DNA SIG
 
 Jan. 19
Members will discuss and plan topics for the coming year.
Grandpa Clark Case Study--  Walkthrough and Dialog
 Nancy Prince
 Feb. 16
Exploration of a case of a man who may have had amnesia
Investigative Genetic Genealogy
 Melody Wilson
 March 16
Previously presented at PILLAR
 Mentoring Session
 
 April 20
Bring your questions and problems
Solving for X: Understanding X-Chromosome Inheritance and a Curious X-Chromosome Case Study
 Linda Vixie
 May 18
 
Mentoring Session
 
 June 15
 
Migration Maps for Y DNA and mtDNA at FTDNA, 23andMe, and Scaled Innovation
 Mike Arnett
 July 20
The Answers Are in Our Genes: Using atDNA to Unlock 18th- and 19th-Century Genealogical Mysteries*  Larry Cates
 Aug. 13,
 2 p.m. MDT
 
Note: on Sunday, due to speaker's schedule! See more info below on this special presentation.
 TBA
 
 Sept. 21
 
 TBA  
 Oct. 19
 TBA
 
 Nov. 16
 
 Meeting? Planning? Holiday?
 
 Dec. 21
 
 
*"THE ANSWERS ARE IN OUR GENES: Using atDNA to Unlock 18th- and 19th-Century Genealogical Mysteries"
Larry Cates describes an easy-to-understand method and provides a real-world example for using your autosomal DNA results to uncover remote ancestors you never knew you had. Many researchers and experts initially judged atDNA to be of little use past second great-grandparents. Some remain skeptical. It turns out they are wrong, and you don't need a lot of technical knowledge to be successful. It is fun. It is amazing. And chances are, you are foregoing many opportunities by giving up on your cousin match list. Forget the ethnicity results! Get back in there, and find connections that are frequently indiscernible using conventional research techniques alone.
 
Cates has a new mystery regarding a German Lutheran grandmother born probably in the 1760s or 1770s that he'll be working on for this talk. The pattern is pretty clear after relatively minimal effort, but not in my kit or my father's, uncle's, aunt's, or great-aunt's. Only my grandmother's first cousin's kit had the DNA needed for this one. She tested for me at age 88 about four years ago and died within a year after that.
 
Larry W. Cates has been a genealogy and local history librarian at the Heritage Research Center, High Point (N.C.) Public Library for 15 years. He has 33 years of experience as a genealogist and 27 editing and compiling genealogical periodicals and books. He is a past editor of the North Carolina Genealogical Society. He was presented with the award for Outstanding Contribution to North Carolina Genealogy by the North Carolina Genealogical Society in 2015 and the Filby Award for Genealogical Librarianship by the National Genealogical Society in 2017.
 
 
Colonial America and Early America Expansion West to the Mississippi River prior to 1825 SIG
Meets third Monday bimonthly at 6:30 p.m., Mountain Time, or as announced, via Zoom.
Dates: Jan. 16, March 20, June 12, 2023
Facilitator: John Putnam
 
English and British Isles SIG
Meets fourth Monday bimonthly at 6:30 p.m., Mountain Time, or as announced, via Zoom.
Dates: Jan. 23, March 27, June 26, 2023 
Facilitator: John Putnam
 
Germany and Central Europe SIG
Meets third Tuesday bimonthly at 6:30 p.m., or as announced, via Zoom.
Dates: January 17, March 21, June 20, 2023
Facilitator: John Putnam
 
The Write Stuff (Genealogical Writing SIG)
Meets via Zoom, 7 p.m., third Wednesday of January, March, May, July, September, November.
Facilitator: Nancy Wehner, CG