Goochland Historical Society
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Announcements
SPRING MEETING WITH KENNETH BRANHAM
Join us at Dover Baptist church, 635 Manakin Rd., Manakin-Sabot, VA 23103, on Sunday, May 19, 2024, at 3:00 pm for an afternoon with former Monacan Tribal Chief Kenneth Branham. He will be featuring a talk on the history of the Monacan Indian Nation in Virginia. A reception will follow.
SPRING LECTURE WITH PAT GARBER
Join the Goochland County Historical Society at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, 2024 at the Goochland Branch of the Pamunkey Regional Library to hear local author Pat Garber give a presentation about Operation Drumroll: World War II on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
In December of 1941, after the attack on Pear Harbor, Adolph Hitler declared war on the United States. Soon thereafter, German Submarine Admiral Karl Doenitz put into action a plan to close off the shipping of good along the east coast, a plan he called “Paukenschlag”, translated as “Drumroll”. German submarines, known more often as “U-boats” were sent to blow up freight ships traveling along the coast of North Carolina. The United States government, in an effort to prevent panic, kept the attacks secret from most Americans. The residents who lived on Ocracoke Island, southernmost of the Outer Banks, were very much aware, however, of the war that had landed on their shores and of the highly classified Naval base that was commissioned there in October of 1942 to protect their coast, which came to be known as Torpedo Alley.
The slide presentation will depict, often in the words of the people who were there, what happened in those dark days.
GENEALOGY CLASSES 2024
Once again, the Goochland County Historical Society is offering Beginning Genealogy classes. This is a must if you have ever wanted to discover your family’s history, but didn’t know how or where to begin. Classes will provide the basics you need to get started. There will be four sessions; each will be two hours long, for a total of eight hours of instruction. All classes will be held in the meeting room of the Goochland Branch of the Pamunkey Library from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. The first two sessions are scheduled for Saturday, January 20 and Saturday, February 24; the final two sessions—one in March and one in April—are yet to be scheduled, but they also will be held on Saturdays. We are also planning an extra session on Goochland County records, but no date has been set for this extra session.
Topics to be covered include finding information on births, deaths, burial locations, and marriages of family members; identifying lost ancestors; using the U.S. census; judging information when two or more sources conflict; determining date ranges and resolving conflicting dates; online and local information sources; and genealogy programs for use on your computer.
To register, call or email the GCHS at 804-556-3966 or goochlandhistory@comcast.net.
2023 SNOWFLAKE SALE AND OPEN HOUSE
If you are in the Courthouse area this Friday and Saturday, December 8 & 9, from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm, stop by the History Center and say hello. It is a good time to get those last minute gifts for the history lover in you life. We have 2024 calendars and other items ready to go!
VOLUME 52 HAS ARRIVED!
Volume 52 of the Goochland County Historical Society Magazine has arrived! In this Issue: Saved from the Ashes: The Thorncliff Collection, Anthony Gavin: Wickedness in High Places, Joseph “FreeJoe” Harris: The Man from Goochland Who Made His Mark in Tennessee, Record of Marriages of Hugh Davis Ragland, The Tomb of Henry Wood. 88 pages and for the first time with full color images. Members will receive the magazine as part of your membership or you can order a copy through our website here or stop by the History Center and pick up a copy, only $12.00.
