The 2023-2024 TSGS team encompasses individuals from a wide range of educational, genealogical, and historical backgrounds–a perfect blend to create content that is suited to researchers of multiple skill levels. The team of dedicated genealogists and historians is committed to providing materials that enhance your research, all while creating a community of genealogists from the tri-state area and beyond. Ready to learn more about the TSGS’s board members? Then keep scrolling!
Meet Kim Smith Van Vorst, TSGS’s President!
About Kim: I am from Evansville and lived here my whole life. I’ve been a piano teacher for over 30 years, and I’m also a church musician at Christian Fellowship Church. In my free time I love to be with family, scrapbook, and of course, continue working on my family history.
Resources That Helped Kim Discover Her Family: I had a cousin about 40 years ago, who helped me in getting started on my family tree. After that I was hooked. Some things I’ve done to get more information is talk to the oldest relatives in my family, use Family Tree Maker program to keep track of my information and sources, sync my tree to Ancestry to get more clues, connect family on Find A Grave to get other relatives involved, visit cemeteries and courthouses, start a Facebook group for cousins and share information with them, many times they’ll share pictures and obituaries and stories with you, too.
Kim’s Most Stressful or Frustrating Genealogy Moment: My brick wall of my second great grandfather and finding his parents. I thought when I found his marriage license in Warrick County, Indiana, it would have his parents names there, but the page with the parents names was missing. Also, in his Civil War pension file, he never mentioned his parents or any siblings. The other frustrating part of it is his last, O’Bryan, which is spelled about 400 different ways. I’ll never give up on trying to solve this brick wall!
Kim’s Favorite Genealogy Moment(s): Finding my Dad and Mom in their first census, getting pension files of my great great grandfathers that fought in the Civil War, finding where my third great grandparents are buried and seeing their gravestone for the first time.
Meet Jane Saltzman, Interim Recording Secretary!
About Jane: I’m a retired Medical Librarian, Education from Indiana State University and University of Evansville.
I am a volunteer-Not only on the Board of TSGS, but also Vice-President and Collections Chair of the Posey County Historical Society, and Trustee and Secretary of the Old Beech Cemetery (Posey County). The reason I volunteer: I had so many wonderful volunteers in my Library, I wanted to be that reliable person giving my free time to worthy organizations after retirement. I have been a volunteer for close to 12 years.
Personal time is spent with family, traveling, reading, and decluttering (ugh).
Resources That Helped Jane Discover Her Family: My husband was the influence behind the genealogy bug. His cousin, her husband, my husband and I would visit cemeteries when they were down from Springfield, IL. The more we ‘dug’ the more interested I became. I’ve worked on my mother’s side, my husband’s mother and dad’s side and now another cousin (on my dad’s side) is writing the History of the Yunker/Juncker Family, from the first immigrant to the United States forward. It has been a labor of love for six years; we are hoping to complete it this year (currently has over 650 pages-hoping to condense pages). Resources have included oral histories, many databases including World Ancestry, Fold 3, military databases, documents from various County courthouses, Health Departments, and Land Records.
Jane’s Most Stressful or Frustrating Genealogy Moment: Last name spelling, one way in Germany, name changed after arriving. So far, I think we’ve found 6 different ways it was spelled. Yes, the 1890 census; search trip to another state/county and not finding verified information given by family members.
Jane’s Favorite Genealogy Moment(s): Finding our German ancestors documents with their hand writing, beautiful and readable.
Meet Kassidy Cobb, TSGS’s IT Coordinator!
About Kassidy: Kassidy Cobb is a genealogist, history enthusiast, and college senior who graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in December 2021. She’s majoring in–you guessed it!–history and minoring in creative writing at Liberty University, where she’ll soon graduate with a Bachelors degree. Kassidy is also a contributing writer at The Western Theater in the Civil War and a volunteer record transcriber with National Park Service. Kassidy first became obsessed with history in eighth grade through a unit on the American Civil War. She began researching her family’s heritage and discovered that she is a direct descendant of eleven Civil War veterans, ranging from an “excellent soldier” and Andersonville Prisoner of War to a “patriotic Kentuckian” and United States Colored Troops soldier. Kassidy is passionate about sharing the stories of United States veterans, specifically those who fought in the Civil War. One of the ways she does this is by obtaining grave markers for veterans. To date, Kassidy’s procured seventeen grave markers for veterans who served in conflicts ranging from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War. Most recipients of a new grave marker have also had a corresponding stone reveal ceremony, where Kassidy likes to invite organizations (like SAR, DAR, DUVCW, SUVCW, etc.), her community, and the descendants of the veteran to celebrate the life of the brave combatant. Currently, Kassidy’s working on three large projects (one historical-related) through grants to better serve her community. When Kassidy isn’t busy giving historical presentations, placing signs at cemeteries, decorating her ancestors’ graves, or researching her family’s past, you’ll find her studying her Bible, reading, singing, spending way too much time antique shopping, and enjoying nature on her family’s farm where pets outnumber people.
Resources That Helped Kassidy Discover Her Family: When I think of resources that helped me discover my family, it’s hard to name just one! Throughout the course of my research, I’ve consulted dozens of genealogical sites, some of which are large—like Fold3 and Ancestry—and others that were smaller and based on contributions from other genealogists. Still, Fold3, as a historian/genealogist who places a big focus on military history, has helped immensely. Through Fold3, I’ve been able to uncover information about my ancestors that I wouldn’t have been able to discover in a census. Even so, I have to give Ancestry and FamilySearch lots of credit, too…their massive collections of marriage records, censuses, death certificates, and more has allowed me to make family connections and find ancestors that I’d never heard of, some of which are buried literally minutes from my house!
I’ve also been sure to talk with older family members who have first-hand stories of my ancestors. This way, I’ve found out personal characteristics and traits about family members that I would have no way of discovering via censuses and other records. I’ve also researched my Civil War grandfathers’ regiments, and studied some of their comrades, so that I gain a more complete overview of their experience in the war. Learning about battles they fought in via National Park Service or American Battlefield Trust, for example, has also helped me find more information about the experiences my grandfathers endured.
Kassidy’s Most Stressful or Frustrating Genealogy Moment: If you’ve been doing genealogy for years, you’ll know what I mean when I say— “There have been many stressful or frustrating moments in my genealogical journey.” For example, one of my grandfathers, Alexander Farris, was one of three men by that name who lived in the same area, at the same time. While I’ve tried to use probates, wills, and Revolutionary War pensions to find my Alexander Farris, I still haven’t been able to do so yet. Thus, the search continues!
Even though that was challenging, probably the most confusing, stressful, and frustrating genealogy moment has been in the case of my grandfather, John Alexander Blaine. A soldier of the 57th United States Colored Troops according to pension records, John was listed as a Caucasian in marriage records and throughout decades of censuses. However, if he was indeed white, he wouldn’t be serving as an enlisted man in an African American regiment. Did he try to hide his race in order to live an easier life, then decided to abandon pretenses when the Civil War erupted? I’m still not sure, and John Blaine remains a mystery to me…even to this day!
Kassidy’s Favorite Genealogy Moment(s): Even though I’ve had my fair share of upsetting moments while doing genealogy, I’ve had tons of favorite moments, too! One of my happiest genealogy moments was when I first began genealogy several years ago. I discovered that one of my grandfathers, Darius Skipworth, served as a sergeant in Company B of the 11th Kentucky Infantry, a Union regiment during the Civil War. Buried in a family cemetery, Darius’s grave marker dating back to 1863 (he died in the line of service due to disease) was in horrible condition. I was able to order him and his Civil War veteran son, Henry, a new grave marker through Veterans Affairs. Darius’s stone reveal ceremony, with many of his descendants present, was the first event I ever hosted…and therefore extra special. Another favorite moment was when, using Fold3, I discovered a record written by Darius’s captain that listed my grandfather as an “excellent soldier.” Finding Darius’s signature was really special too, since I now know what his handwriting looks like.
I know every researcher is probably biased toward their ancestors (guilty!), but I was ecstatic when I found out that my grandfather Joseph Stewart Carneal, a sergeant in the 25th and later 17th Kentucky Infantry, was a “patriotic Kentuckian” according to his discharge certificate. An added bonus of finding his discharge certificate on Fold3 was that I found out he was present at the Battle of Shiloh where, even though he was sick with tuberculosis, he still fought for his country, an action I deem very courageous and admirable. Ultimately, though, fighting caused Joseph to become “prostrated” and he was discharged from service. With the assistance of Veterans Affairs, I was able to get my grandfather a new grave marker to replace his old one, which was nearly illegible and also broken.
My most recent favorite moment actually happened earlier this year. There were some adoption issues in my family, which resulted in a family line I was unable to research. However, after unearthing a bit more information, that part of the family was searchable! It took a few days as I looked through lots of censuses, marriage records, and death certificates in order to take the family line back as far as I possibly could. While doing research, I discovered that one of my grandfathers is Jesse Christmas, a soldier in the 11th Kentucky Infantry who fought at Shiloh, was held in reserve at Perryville, and served at Stones River before being captured by Confederates in October 1863. He was likely held at Belle Isle in Richmond, Virginia. (As an aside, most of my family served in the 11th Kentucky Infantry, making the regiment extra special!) Arriving at Andersonville Prison (or Camp Sumpter) in February 1864, Jesse was actually one of the first Federal soldiers confined in the prison. He perished there in May 1864—due to disease—and is buried at the National Cemetery. I had actually visited Andersonville in 2019, and it was one of my favorite historical sites. November 2021 I took a trip to Andersonville National Historic Site and had the opportunity to see my grandfather’s grave. It was a touching experience!
Meet Dorothy Marie Fox, TSGS’s Board Member & Treasurer!
About Dorothy: Moved back to Indiana after living in Alabama for 25 plus years. Went about life in reverse, moved into an over 55 apartment & decided I wanted to go to college. Here I am in my late “50’s” taking college courses with 18 year olds. After 4 years, I received an Associate degree in Human Services. I moved from the apartment to a house in December of 2019. I told you that I did life in reverse. My goal was to have my own home & also a dachshund. In December of 2019, not only did I obtain the goal of the house but also not one dachshund but two dachshunds that I named Bella & Lexi. I had contacted the breeder that I had purchased my last dachshund from. She knew me very well & wanted me to have the other dachshund she had. Her prices were beyond fair & she allowed me to have both dachshunds for $600, (which would have been the cost of one here in Indiana.) I believe that God answers prayers in his own time, because everything fell into place. I became involved with Ancestry after my cousin sent me a booklet full of our family history. The more I learned about our family history the more I wanted to dig to find out more. Still have a lot of unanswered questions. I also volunteer with CASA & have used Ancestry in my cases. I enjoy working with Ancestry, there is still more to learn, just don’t like it when I hit a wall or go down a rabbit hole.
Resources That Helped You Discover Your Family: I would say Fold3, as it has so much information on facts about your ancestors that were in the war.
Your Most Stressful or Frustrating Genealogy Moment: Trying to find my aunt’s husband. His real last name was Barker, but he changed it to get back into the service. The last name he used does not exist anywhere. When you trace down his death, you will not find him under O’Royt, but under Barker. Even though I only knew him as O’Royt & all his children’s last name is O’Royt. I have never seen a picture of him, so I have no clue what he looks like nor do I even know if my aunt even married him. It is all a mystery that none of the kids will tell me. Mind you, these are my cousins that I grew up with.
Your Favorite Genealogy Moment(s): I was excited when Shirley Risinger helped me put together my family tree to be part of the National Society
Daughters of the Union. Now, I am even more excited to find out my family history points me to being into the Daughters of the American Revolution!