Annual Workshop Planned For October

Kathleen W. Hinckley will discuss “The Ancestral Game of Hide & Seek” at the annual fall workshop of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society, Saturday, Oct. 4, at Spokane Falls Community College.

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. in Student Union Building 17; the workshop is from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Hinckley, from Arvada Colo., will cover the topics of “Why Bother with 20th Century Research,” “Reflex Genealogy: Knowing What to do Next,” “Alphabet Soup: Understanding the Genealogical Community,” and “Brands.”

I heard Kathleen’s lecture on “Reflex Genealogy” at the last National Genealogical Society conference in Pennsylvania, and I guarantee any genealogist, at any level of expertise, will benefit from this presentation. She says there is always something else or something more to do or glean from any given genealogical record. Your reflex, based on past genealogical research, alerts you to look again.

There will also be freebies at the workshop, door prizes and raffle items, and the biggest white elephant sale Eastern Washington Genealogy Society has ever offered. Kathy Egger, who has been collecting the white elephant items, has 75 boxes of goodies in her basement. Bring your nickels and dimes and a large tote bag for this sale!

Cost to EWGS members before Sept. 25 is $25, and $27 for non-members. After that date, and at the door, the fee is $30. Lunch and handouts are included.

Annual membership to the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society is $20, and, if you want, you can combine your check for new or renewing membership with the workshop fee. Send your check to EWGS, P.O. Box 1826, Spokane, WA 99210-1826. Do it today before you get busy and forget.

Donna Reilley Smith McGowan lived in Post Falls for years before moving to Texas. She recently wrote, posing an interesting question: “You know that Rathdrum and Athol, both in North Idaho, were named after towns in Ireland by some Irish folks who settled there. I recently found something in an Irish research book that makes me wonder if Lake Pend Oreille was Irish-named, too.”

She enclosed pages on the Reilly/O’Reillys, a numerous clan which, both with and without the “O” prefix, fill a dozen pages in Irish telephone directories.

Seems the name comes from Ragheallach - “ragh” meaning race, and “ceallach” meaning gregarious. In the 17th century, one clan of aristocrats with that name was driven from its lands and migrated to Europe. In some countries the spelling of the name remained the same, but sometimes it was considerably altered and became O’regill, O’Rahilly, O’reighle, O’rely, and O’reille.

Donna wonders if some of this Reilly-O’Reilly-O’reille clan came to Idaho and named this beautiful lake. Sounds pretty far-fetched to me, but who knows?

Lisa Grove, 131 September Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80926-9406, sent a query. She would like to hear from anyone who may have known her grandmother, Louise Flora SCHNOOR, or her son, Frank SHIPLEY. Louise lived in the Tri-Cities area from the 1920s until her death in 1978. Her son died in 1974. Louise’s sister, Celia, and several nieces also lived in that area, and Lisa says she has lost contact with all of them.

Today’s Laugh: An ancestor is a person who plays hide and you go seek.

, DataTimes MEMO: Donna Potter Phillips welcomes letters from readers. Write to her at The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. For a response, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Donna Potter Phillips The Spokesman-Review