P.O. Box 144, Falmouth, MA 02541-0144 - Barnstable County

Falmouth Genealogical Society

For the Falmouth Public Library "Joy of Learning Series"

"Let's Do Genealogy!": presented by Tim Martin & Ralph Wadleigh

Four Thursday evenings Oct 2022:

Oct. 6th : "Overview of Genealogy" - for Class #1: handout and slides and video.
Oct. 13th : "Researching Sources" - for Class #2: slides and video.
Oct. 27th : "Building a Family Tree - Applying to Lineage Societies" - Class #3: slides and video.
Nov. 3rd : "Genetic Genealogy" - Class #4: slides and video.

Saturday, October 24th, 2026 - 10:00AM EDT - (TBA)

Please note this meeting will be held on the fourth Saturday of October.

Saturday, September 12th, 2026 - 10:00AM EDT

Please note this meeting will be held on the second Saturday of September.
Hybrid Meeting with Live Presenter

"Noble Volunteers, the British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution"

with author Don Hagist

Redcoats. For Americans, the word brings to mind the occupying army that attempted to crush the Revolutionary War. There was more to these soldiers than their red uniforms, but the individuals who formed the ranks are seldom described in any detail in historical literature, leaving unanswered questions. Who were these men? Why did they join the army? Where did they go when the war was over?

In Noble Volunteers: The British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution, Don N. Hagist brings life to these soldiers, describing the training, experiences, and outcomes of British soldiers who fought during the Revolution. Drawing on thousands of military records and other primary sources in British, American, and Canadian archives, and the writings of dozens of officers and soldiers, Noble Volunteers shows how a peacetime army responded to the onset of war, how professional soldiers adapted quickly and effectively to become tactically dominant, and what became of the thousands of career soldiers once the war was over.

In this historical tour de force, introduced by Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson, Hagist dispels long-held myths, revealing how remarkably diverse British soldiers were. They represented a variety of ages, nationalities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and many had joined the army as a peacetime career, only to find themselves fighting a war on another continent in often brutal conditions. Against the sweeping backdrop of the war, Hagist directs his focus on the small picture, illuminating the moments in an individual soldier’s life—those hours spent nursing a fever while standing sentry in the bitter cold, or writing a letter to a wife back home. What emerges from these vignettes is the understanding that while these were “common” soldiers, each soldier was completely unique, for, as Hagist writes, “There was no ‘typical’ British soldier.”

*****

Don N. Hagist is managing editor of Journal of the American Revolution. His historical studies focus on presenting an accurate picture of individual soldiers and their families, especially those of the British army who served in America. This research is done using exclusively primary sources, mostly from archives in North America and Europe. He was a consultant for the PBS documentary The American Revolution produced by Ken Burns and the Netflix series Turning Point: the American Experiment. He has written several recent books including Noble Volunteers: the British Soldiers who fought the American Revolution, The Revolution’s Last Men: The Soldiers behind the Photographs and the forthcoming Invisible Lives: British Soldiers’ Wives in the American Revolution. Don is an engineering consultant, and also writes for several well-known syndicated cartoonists. For more information, see his web site, donhagist.com

Non-Members can request Zoom login credentials by sending an email to

Please give your full name and reason for the request.

.

fgspresident@gmail.com

Saturday, July 11th, 2026 - 10:00AM EDT

Please note this meeting will be held on the second Saturday of July.
Hybrid Meeting with Zoom Presenter

"Using Genealogy to Unlock Dual Citizenship: Beginner Strategies "

with Diane Henriks

Ideal for those new to genealogy and the dual citizenship journey, this presentation introduces the benefits of dual citizenship, walks you through the steps to gather essential genealogical evidence, and provides valuable resources to support your application process.

Diane Henriks, also known as the Descendant Detective and founder of Know Who Wears the Genes in Your Family, is a passionate and seasoned Los Angeles County-based professional genealogist, investigator, speaker, and author who specializes in descendancy and brick wall research, along with living people search and unknown parentage. Diane has worked closely with private investigators to find living people while also assisting in background investigations, in both civil and criminal cases. She is a proud member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the Genealogical Speakers Guild, the Southern California Genealogical Society, the Utah Genealogical Association, and various genealogical interest groups. What started out as a small hobby well over a decade ago, when a hand-drawn family tree chart was given to her by her father, has since become a great obsession, and she now helps others discover and preserve who they are and where they come from!

Saturday, August 8th, 2026 - 10:00AM EDT

Please note this meeting will be held on the second Saturday of August.
Hybrid Meeting with Zoom Presenter from Ireland

"How to Pinpoint Your Irish Ancestors Using DNA"

with Claire Bradley

Many Americans have Irish ancestry and are keen to know more about their Irish forebears. However, a stumbling block to researching those ancestors is not knowing where in Ireland they came from. On most census information, the person simply wrote “Ireland” until the mid-20th century. However, the advent of DNA testing may be just the thing to help you over this obstacle. Join Irish genetic genealogist Claire Bradley as she explains how to use the valuable clues in your DNA results and how to marry them with modern Irish genealogical records.

Claire Bradley is a professional Irish genealogist working with both paper records and genetic genealogy. She holds a Certificate in Genealogy from University College Dublin and a Master of Arts in History of the Family from the University of Limerick. As well as regular client work, Claire is passionate about teaching people how to research their own ancestry. She teaches a beginners’ adult education course now running for over 15 years covering all the Irish major sources in Dublin and regularly lectures both in person and online to a wide range of family history and historical societies in Ireland and countries with Irish diasporas. Her website is www.cbgenealogy.ie.

NEXT MEETING:

Saturday, November 14th, 2026 - 10:00AM EDT - (TBA)

Please note this meeting will be held on the second Saturday of November.

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Our Monthly Meetings are held at 10:00am at the Falmouth Public LibrarY

300 Main Street, Falmouth MA 02540

Downstairs in the hermann foundation room unless otherwise noted

TUESDAY AFTERNOON GENEALOGY ASSISTANCE EXPERTS - FREE!

Tuesday afternoons from 2:00 pm-4:00 pm at the Falmouth Public Library in the Lemke Reference Room. Falmouth Genealogical Society members assist anyone with their genealogical research. This is a free drop-in session with no appointment needed. FGS video about Library Sessions.