This an online event and will be held via Zoom.  Access the event here:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87375795335?pwd=MRxeWqoj9sl19KwTxMmYxCsGmWZ0Ni.1   

Tim Benson will discuss the 1798 federal direct tax, the first federal property tax.  He will talk about the reason for the tax, what was taxed, how it was implemented, and what records are available to researchers.  He will focus on the records for St. Mary's County and bring insights into the socio-economic situation of St. Mary's County at the turn of 19th century.  He will describe his effort in transcribing the 1000+ names in the 44-page tax record into an Excel spreadsheet and give examples of how to access it.

Timothy Benson grew up in Kansas City and received degrees from the University of Kansas, University of Illinois, and Grace Theological Seminary. He retired from the Naval Air Warfare Center at NAS Patuxent River as a systems engineer in 2023 and is now a member of the  board of directors of the St. Mary’s County Historical Society. He has interest in Swedish and Mennonite genealogy, as well as U.S. History, particulary the Revolutionary War era.  He is also a pastor of a house-church in La Plata. He can be reached at tb@bensonfamilies.net.

Patricia Samford, PhD will talk about archaeological finds at Westwood Manor, a plantation near Zekiah Swamp in Charles County.  The findings, which include a variety of expensive ceramic and glass vessel, silver spoon and an ivory handled walking stick, indicate that the residents were striving to mimic an English lifestyle. Patricia is currently the Director of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum. Patricia Samford holds a doctorate in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and an MA and BA in Anthropology from the College of William and Mary. Her research interests include African diaspora archaeology in the American South and in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century ceramics. She was a staff archaeologist for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for thirteen years and has also worked in North Carolina, Maryland, and Bermuda. 

This is a Zoom meeting - click here to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87375795335?pwd=MRxeWqoj9sl19KwTxMmYxCsGmWZ0Ni.1 

Maybe it has always been a dream of your to create a book out of your research, but you have felt too overwhelmed to start.  Rebecca Shamblin will help break this process down into simple, manageable steps.  She will tell us abot the research process, what to include, how to turn facts into stories, how to organize your book, how to get it printed and how to share it.  

This is a Zoom meeting - click here to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87375795335?pwd=MRxeWqoj9sl19KwTxMmYxCsGmWZ0Ni.1

Donald Brown will share his experience in finding his family, African American and White, in Calvert and Anne Arundel Counties. This will be a joint presentation with the Anne Arundel County Genealogical Society.

This is a Zoom meeting - click here to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87375795335?pwd=MRxeWqoj9sl19KwTxMmYxCsGmWZ0Ni.1

Eve Love will give an overview of the push and pull of the Maryland to Kentucky exodus in the late 1700s.

This is a Zoom meeting - click here to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87375795335?pwd=MRxeWqoj9sl19KwTxMmYxCsGmWZ0Ni.1