08/17/2026
The Cattaraugus County Museum’s annual “Summer at the Stone House” event series will conclude its 2026 season on Thursday, Aug. 27, with a presentation by an expert in genealogical research.
The talk, titled “Beefing up an Ancestor’s Timeline,” will be given by Jeanette Sheliga, an educator, blogger, lecturer and librarian from Lockport.
“So often there are unanswered questions and brick walls surrounding a person on your family tree. This presentation focuses on techniques and good practices on how to obtain and organize all of the information that you can locate on a person and, hopefully, help to answer your questions and break through the brick walls," Sheliga explained.
Topics include home sources, online family trees, accepting hints, online collections, local repositories and much more.
“Time to focus in on one person and see how much you can add to their profile!” added Sheliga.
Sheliga began genealogical lecturing in 2011 and soon after formed the North Tonawanda Library Genealogy Club, which she managed for 10 years. In 2013, she became a board member for the Niagara County Genealogical Society. She is also the society vice president, NGS Delegate and the program chairperson.
Sheliga is a member of many lineage societies, including the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, First Families of Pennsylvania, National Society Descendants of American Farmers and the National Society of Mayflower Descendants.
In addition, in the fall of 2020, she became the Virtual Genealogical Society's (VGA) corresponding secretary and was elected to become a member of the board of directors for the Western New York Genealogical Society (WNYGS). While serving on the board for WNYGS, she became a contributing editor for the WNYGS's quarterly publication, The Journal, and selected as the programming chair.
For more information on Sheliga, visit jeanettesgenealogy.com.
The program will begin at 7 p.m. and will take place under a tent on the museum lawn, rain or shine. Some seating will be available, but attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs if they wish. This event is free and open to the public.
The program will be livestreamed on the museum’s YouTube channel for those who are unable to attend in person. A link to the livestream will be posted on the museum’s page closer to the date of the event.
