MONROE - The Green County Genealogical Society is nestled in the basement of the Monroe Public Library - it smells a little like old perfume and musty books, and the family history seems to have rubbed off on the volunteers who feel a kinship.
"This is what it's all about. We're family," said Donna Long Kjendlie, president of the society.
The society was formed in 2001 with a smattering of materials stacked up in houses, garages and a single file cabinet on the top floor of the library, Kjendlie said. They moved to an apartment above the Bean and Barrel in 2009, but the windowless, non-air-conditioned room filled up with records quickly and they had to rent a storage shed. Since September 2012, the society has been filling up their home in the basement of the library with marriage records, obituaries, old news prints, maps, family histories, Green, Rock and Lafayette counties' history and U.S. history books.
Kjendlie said the six to 10 volunteers who work at the society all have their own pet projects, mostly to put information online. Some volunteers index obituaries, while others cut out news items and adhere them to paper, and some input war deaths of soldiers from Green County. Their website has a wealth of information, from births, deaths and marriages to cemeteries in Green County, delineated by surname and veteran status. Some of the information is free on the website, and any book on the shelf in the society can be perused from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Tuesday and by appointment. Publications the society has produced cost from $5 to $50 for militia lists in Green County, atlases and commemorative biographies of the county.
Photos of head stones and names in cemeteries are available for $15, and Kjendlie said they have about 75 percent of Green County cemeteries catalogued.
Kjendlie said most of their records have been donated, but she and volunteers often find scrapbooks or family trees hidden away at rummage sales.
She said the volunteers get no compensation, but they dedicate a lot of their time to indexing names for the website.
"They are paid in thank-yous - sometimes they get double thank-yous," Kjendlie said. "We are very fortunate to have our dedicated volunteers."
Over the past 18 months, a pair of Latter-day Saints missionaries have stopped by the society to read marriage announcements in newspapers from the 1890s, indexing them for the website. Kjendlie said they have been a great help, and the two individuals stopped off Tuesday to say their good-byes before the holidays.
"It's just neat that they did that for us," Kjendlie said.
"This is what it's all about. We're family," said Donna Long Kjendlie, president of the society.
The society was formed in 2001 with a smattering of materials stacked up in houses, garages and a single file cabinet on the top floor of the library, Kjendlie said. They moved to an apartment above the Bean and Barrel in 2009, but the windowless, non-air-conditioned room filled up with records quickly and they had to rent a storage shed. Since September 2012, the society has been filling up their home in the basement of the library with marriage records, obituaries, old news prints, maps, family histories, Green, Rock and Lafayette counties' history and U.S. history books.
Kjendlie said the six to 10 volunteers who work at the society all have their own pet projects, mostly to put information online. Some volunteers index obituaries, while others cut out news items and adhere them to paper, and some input war deaths of soldiers from Green County. Their website has a wealth of information, from births, deaths and marriages to cemeteries in Green County, delineated by surname and veteran status. Some of the information is free on the website, and any book on the shelf in the society can be perused from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Tuesday and by appointment. Publications the society has produced cost from $5 to $50 for militia lists in Green County, atlases and commemorative biographies of the county.
Photos of head stones and names in cemeteries are available for $15, and Kjendlie said they have about 75 percent of Green County cemeteries catalogued.
Kjendlie said most of their records have been donated, but she and volunteers often find scrapbooks or family trees hidden away at rummage sales.
She said the volunteers get no compensation, but they dedicate a lot of their time to indexing names for the website.
"They are paid in thank-yous - sometimes they get double thank-yous," Kjendlie said. "We are very fortunate to have our dedicated volunteers."
Over the past 18 months, a pair of Latter-day Saints missionaries have stopped by the society to read marriage announcements in newspapers from the 1890s, indexing them for the website. Kjendlie said they have been a great help, and the two individuals stopped off Tuesday to say their good-byes before the holidays.
"It's just neat that they did that for us," Kjendlie said.