Tacoma-Pierce County
Genealogical Society

About the Society:

Located in Washington state, the Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society consists of a diverse group of members — those whose families were early settlers in the area and still live here; those who live in the area now, but have few if any familial connections here; and those who no longer live here, but whose ancestors did at one time.

The purposes of TPCGS are to stimulate a popular interest in family history, to seek genealogical and historical knowledge, to preserve and perpetuate the records of our ancestors, and to collect and publish genealogical source material of Pierce County and the Puget Sound Region.

Monthly Meetings:
Guests are always welcome at our meetings. Come meet other Pierce-County genealogists and listen to great speakers.

History of the Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society:
The society was organized in the spring of 1961 and began with 6 members, ending its first full year with 54 members. There are currently around 150 members in the society, many of whom live in the Tacoma-Pierce County area of Washington state, as well as many other areas of the United States.


News & Notes:

  Society News || New & Noteworthy || Research Aids || Books & Blogs || Local Resources
This year's TPCGS Spring Seminar will be held on April 27th & 28th. Our speaker will be J. Mark Lowe.For more information go to the Seminar page.



TPCGS now has a blog! Visit it at tpcgs.wordpress.com and tell us what you think. Click on follow (in the lower right-hand corner) to receive updates by e-mail.

The Events Calendar has just been updated. It is now divided into categories for different types of events. Check it out!

Veterans Graves in Pierce County, WA — Extracted from a 1939 WPA project, this database consists of a name Index plus a further eight items extracted from the cards by society volunteers. These cards are in the holdings of the Northwest Room of the Tacoma Public Library. Contact the Library for additional information.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society is now offering a Tacoma Area Obituary Look Up Service. Due to cutbacks at the Tacoma Public Library they are no longer able to offer this service, so have asked the society if we would take it on.


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New & Noteworthy

A very interesting article ran a recent issue of the News Tribune, regarding Tacoma's pauper cemetery. You can check it out at 1,600 stories buried in forgotten Tacoma pauper cemetery


War of 1812 Contributor

Fundraising is now complete for Preserve the Pensions, the War of 1812 pension digitization project! Here is the announcement from the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS):

Springfield, IL — At its recent annual conference, the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announced the receipt of a historic $500,000 anonymous contribution to the War of 1812 Preserve the Pensions fundraising project. The unprecedented donation, which came from outside of the genealogical community, will be matched by Ancestry.com, and in total provide $1 million to the project. Those funds, along with crowdsourced funds from the genealogical community have provided more than $3 million dollars to the project. With these donations, FGS officially has announced the completion of fundraising for “Preserve the Pensions,” the landmark community fundraising project.

The largest fundraising effort ever initiated for a single genealogical record set, Preserve the Pensions involved donations from more than 4,000 individuals and 115 genealogical and lineage societies. Each donation was generously matched by Ancestry.com.

“We are humbled and grateful for the generosity of the genealogical community and those outside of our community who are dedicated to the preservation of records, thank you!” noted D. Joshua Taylor, FGS President. “This historic gift, in-tandem with the thousands of contributions from individual genealogists and societies, illustrates the incredible power of the genealogical community – together we can make a difference.”

The War of 1812 pensions, among the most frequently requested set of materials within the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), had never been microfilmed or digitized. Now, with fundraising complete for the project, and with ongoing cooperation from the project’s partners and major supporters, NARA, Ancestry, Fold3, and FamilySearch, these important documents will be made available free, forever to the general public. The project, set out to raise more than $3 million in 2010, an unprecedented amount for the genealogical community.

“It’s gratifying to see the fundraising portion of this project completed after five years, and now we look forward to ensuring these important records are preserved,” said Ancestry President and CEO Tim Sullivan. “This is a fantastic moment for FGS, the genealogical community, and future generations who will benefit from the perseveration of these rich pension records. We want to thank the more than 4,000 individuals who have contributed and are thrilled to play a matching role in this campaign.”

Research Aids

An interesting article on Eastman's Online Genealogy Blog concerns English Surnames and their French Equivalents. If your ancestors came down from Canada, this may explain a name change.

And if you have Polish Ancestors, the Polish American Marriage Database may be very helpful.

If you have ancestors from New Hampshire, check out these Maps & Atlases from the University of New Hampshire Library website.

Do you have Rhode Island roots? If so, you may be interested in checking out the Rhode Island Digital Archives.

Or are your ancestors from Chicago? Then check out this Research Guide from The Newberry Library.

141 county plat books from Missouri have been scanned and can be viewed for free on this section of the Missouri Digital Heritage website.

Approximately 6,000 Civil War Veterans are buried in Washington State. Information about them can be found at Civil War Veterans Buried in Washington State. If you know of a veteran not listed, submissions are welcome.


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Books & Blogs

Genealogy blogs may be authored by corporate entities, genealogical societies, professional genealogists, or hobbyests. Sometimes several people with a common interest will share a blog. Or one person may combine multiple interests on one blog.

The following blogs will help keep you up-to-date on news from the world of genealogy:


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Local Resources

Older News

As news items on the Home Page are replaced by newer ones, those of lasting interest will be placed here.



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Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society
PO Box 1952, Tacoma, Washington 98401, USA
Updated Saturday, 17 February 2018, 05:34:43 PM CST
 TPCGS Home Page
Copyright © 1996-2018 by TPCGS. All rights reserved.
This site may be freely linked to but not duplicated in any fashion without the consent of TPCGS.
All graphics property of TPCGS.		 Contact TPCGS

The Tacoma Pierce County Genealogical Society (TPCGS) is a registered nonprofit corporation recognized by the IRS under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code using EIN 91-1180097. In addition, the TPCGS is a registered nonprofit corporation in the state of Washington under WAC 458-20-169 using UBI 600444975. As such, your donations and contributions may be tax deductible and are greatly appreciated. Fundraising activities are occasionally held for the benefit of the TPCGS.

The purpose of the TPCGS is to stimulate popular interest in family history, to seek genealogical and historical knowledge, to preserve and perpetuate the records of our ancestors, to aid individual members in compiling their family histories, and to collect and publish genealogical source material.