Saturday, Oct 11th
“Becoming Betsey” with Cluster Research : Video Presentation
Rootstech: Rebecca Whitman Koford, CG,CGL
Finding your female ancestors
Benton County Historical Society
2nd Floor
1101 Main St. Philomath, OR 97370
10:30am-11:00am Members meeting(Public Invited)
11:00am-Noon Becoming Betsey- Presentation Video
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Saturday Nov. 8th
Benton County Historical Society
2nd Floor
1101 Main St. Philomath, OR 97370
10:30am-11:00am Members meeting(Public Invited)
11:00am-Noon Guest Speaker Brent Bunker:
Traveling to the Homeland
Brent Bunker is a resident of Newport, OR for the last 35 years.
He retired from giving anesthesia around 2 years ago and has
kept busy by volunteering for the Family History Guide
Association in writing over 300 practice exercises, reviewing and
updating content, and teaching at Roots Tech in SLC, Utah. He
has been doing genealogy for over 50 years. He has 8 children, a
beautiful wife and 29 grandchildren. Brent enjoys collecting rare
old instruments and has shared them often with others.
Brent Bunker has traveled to Scotland, Switzerland, England,
New England, China and other places to find ancestral places of
residence. He will share some of his experiences that are
somewhat a miracle. Family history comes alive when you visit
where your family lived. You can more easily visualize their lives.
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Saturday 13 Dec 2025
Due to unexpected problems, there will be no December Meeting
Have a fun and safe HOLIDAY season.
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Saturday, January 10, 2026
Letitia Carson Legacy Project
11am-Noon
Benton County Historical Society
1101 Main St., 2nd floor, Philomath, OR
Come and learn about some Benton County history.
This presentation is about Letitia Carson, one of Oregon’s first Black pioneers. Born into slavery in Kentucky, Letitia made the 2,100+ mile Oregon trail journey in 1845 with her Irish husband, David Carson, giving birth along the way. They settled in the Soap Creek Valley in spring 1846, but she was forced off the land in 1852. Letitia was a farmer, mother, midwife, entrepreneur, and likely the first Black woman in the country to receive a homestead patent under the 1862 Homestead Act. We will tell Letitia Carson’s amazing story and also share the origins, partners, and goals of the Letitia Carson Legacy Project.
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Saturday 14 Feb 2026
11am-Noon
Benton County Historical Society
1101 Main St., 2nd floor, Philomath, OR
February Program
“A Trip to Discover my Polish Roots”
Presented by Jim Birken
“With the help of a Polish organization that does
ancestry research, and an excellent tour service in
Krakow, I journeyed to the town my grandmother left
in 1888.”
Jim grew up in Los Angeles, and moved to Corvallis in 1980. He has worked at Oregon State,
Western Oregon, and Linn Benton. He began his career in administration with an emphasis on
accounting, and ended in the area of Planned Giving. Since his retirement, his focus has been on
travel. He has visited many countries with plans to visit more.
February 14th
A wheelchair ramp is located at the northeast corner of the building.
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March 14th, 2006 Meeting
Benton County Genealogical Society
presents (Click March 2026 link)
March 2026 Program Flyer
Saturday March 14th
11:00 am – Noon
FREE
Moses Family Papers at the
Benton County Historical Society
On the second floor at the
Philomath Museum, 1101 Main St.
A wheelchair ramp is located at the northeast corner of the building.
Please do not bring food or drinks into the museum.
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Saturday 11 April
Topic – “Sharpen Your Skills with The Family History Guide”
Benton County Historical Society
2nd Floor
1101 Main St. Philomath, OR 97370
10:30am-11:00am Members meeting(Public Invited)
11:00am-Noon Guest Speaker: Bob Taylor
In 2014, Bob Taylor volunteered as a family history consultant at the new Sandy Granite Family History Center. He noticed that many guests to the center asked the same questions, so he created a website to answer those questions. Using his background in instructional design, he built a learning framework into the website: Projects, Goals, Choices, and Steps.
He and Bob Ives, the Technology Coordinator for the Sandy Granite Family History Center, soon formed an LLC company to promote the website. This later became a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization, The Family History Guide Association, which opened the door to tax-deductible contributions. The Family History Guide website remains free to use and free of advertisements.
Since then, the website has grown and improved dramatically. Some notable milestones include
- Launch of the website in 2015
- Creation of a Board of Directors and Management Team
- Approval by FamilySearch as an official training partner
- Inclusion of Learning Paths on the website for Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast
- Welcoming visitors to the website from over 150 countries
What We Do
Webinars: Sponsor webinars given by representatives of The Family History Guide, such as through Brigham Young University.
Learning and Activities: Involve more people in family history activities and learning by sponsoring the website for The Family History Guide.
Training: Promote family history training, from individuals to groups, by means of the training materials in The Family History Guide.
Presentations: Enable representatives of The Family History Guide Association to present The Family History Guide at trade shows, conferences, family history fairs, etc.
Social Media: Promote The Family History Guide and the Association through social media.