Review of the Year'S Activities

REVIEW OF THE YEAR'S ACTIVITIES The program of events sponsored by the Society during the season 1962-1963 was opened 25 September 1962, by Miss Martha L. Simonetti of the State Archives, who discussed the genealogical resources available in that depository. These include tax lists, some of which have been partially published in the Pennsylvania Archives, Third Series, the originals of which, however, include much data not published, and military records of the Office of the Comptroller General, such as accounts, pensions, roles, fines and similar categories. Many of these have come to light since the publication of the Fifth and Sixth Series of the Archives. Records of the Auditor General, with particular reference to the early nineteenth century, were also noted by Miss Simonetti; records of the War of 1812, election returns, Septennial Census records, Civil War records and other useful sources were discussed. An outing to the Tyler Arboretum near Media, Pa., on 20 October, a beautiful autumn Saturday, proved thoroughly enjoyable. In addition to the lovely grounds, the unusual collection of records relating to Quaker families of the neighborhood, collected by the late Minshall Painter, and a brief talk by Miss Dorothy Lapp of the Chester County Historical Society on that organization's genealogical resources, were added attractions. The first of two Workshops on "Do-It-Yourself-Genealogy," held 23 October, was led by Hannah Benner Roach. The unusually large attendance indicated the ever-mounting interest of amateurs in their own family histories. Mrs. Roach discussed the initial steps to be taken in starting such work in her first talk; in the second, held 26 February 1963, she continued her exposition with reference to the use of secondary source material. She also presented a Workshop discussion of the use and interpretation of Pennsylvania militia records on 29 January. Mr. Dale Fields, of Philadelphia's Municipal Archives, spoke at three Workshops. The first, held 27 November 1962, dealt with the naturalization records on deposit in the Archives. The other two, held 30 April and 28 May, were devoted to a most informative explanation of the Archive's holdings of Philadelphia Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas court records, sources not often consulted in genealogical research, but rich in information. At the Seventy-first Annual Meeting of the Society, held 26 March 1963, Mr. Lundie Weathers Barlow, Herald of the National Genealogic.11 136 Review of the Year's Activities 137 Society, spoke on "Heraldry for Americans." He deplored the indiscriminate and unwarranted assumption of coats of arms, merely on the basis of similarity of surname, by those anxious to establish "status," but pointed out it was often possible to acquire a genuine coat of arms through the authorized grant of same by a body authorized to grant arms, such as the College of Arms in England. Dr. Ralph Dornfeld Owen, chairman of the Society's Publication Committee, on 9 September 1962, was elected a corresponding member of the Association for the Promotion of a Center for German Biography and Genealogy, as certified by Dr. N. Herbert Spruth, its president, in Berlin-Dahlem, West Germany. Dr. Owen's Schwefel,Dornf eld,SchoenIke Genealogy, published in Philadelphia in 1953, was extensively reviewed in the German publication Genealogie (Familie nnd Volk.), No. 4, 1962. Dr. J. Bennett Hill, President of your Society, talked to the Delaware County Historical Society on 14 November 1962, on "Genealogy is Fun," in response to their request for a speaker from our newly inaugurated Speakers' Bureau. Similarly, Dr. Wallace E. Davies, member of the Board of the Genealogical Society, addressed the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society at the Union League of Philadelphia 19 November 1962, on "Everyone Has Ancestors." During the winter he delivered five other addresses on such divergent subjects as "Flora Adams Darling, Founder of the D.A.R., Patriot or Perjurer?" at the Franklin Inn Club; on American social novels, at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio; on historical sites in Philadelphia before the Colonial Philadelphia Historical Society; delivered a talk on "A Novel View of American History" at the Art Alliance; participated in a panel discussion with novelist John O'Hara at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; and has been serving as Rapporteur for the Philadelphia Committee on Foreign Relations at its monthly meetings at the Philadelphia Club. On 15 November 1962, Mrs. Roach addressed the Society Hill Residents' Association at the Philadelphia Mariners' Bethel, on "The Free Society of Traders and Society Hill," discussing the formation of the Society, its relation to the founding of Philadelphia, and how its name down through the years came to designate an area far in excess of that originally belonging to the Society. At the Annual Meeting on 7 February 1963, of The Elf reth's Alley Association, of which she is historian, she spoke on "Interesting People I have met in Elf reth's Alley History."