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Local genealogical society celebrates 40-year milestone

By Tim Neral editorial Assistant 5 min read

The society’s mission statement emphasizes the importance of local history and family upbringings and helping others by compiling data of all sorts on Greene County and the surrounding regions.

“If people don’t continue to share their genealogical history, it will be forgotten or lost,” said Kiger.

The Society has become a vehicle for discovery and unearthing family histories. Even the building that houses it is historical.

“We’re told this is the only original courthouse on its original property in Pennsylvania,” said librarian Ruth Craft.

It has not always been a courthouse. The building has changed hands multiple times since 1796.

At one point, the courthouse was an apartment building and a home remodeling business. In all that time, it has withstood the effects of weathering. When the building was planted, the walls were paneled on both the inside and the outside, which has kept the logs in great condition.

Now, however, the building is back to looking the way it used to and now serves as a visual reminder of what once was.

Inside the building, there are plenty of reminders to be found. Through multiple donations and collections of local clippings, the society has a thorough written record of the American Civil War and even some works before that.

At its centermost, the Cornerstone Genealogical Society seeks to be a helping hand, a cornerstone in the discovery of lost family members.

When people track down their family’s genealogy, they sometimes hit “the proverbial brick wall, the one or two ancestors, you just can’t find,” said Kiger.

With the amount of resources at their disposal, the society is able to uncover the clues and stories that had been lost. That also means bringing visitors from outside the local area to Waynesburg.

“We bring a lot of people from other states. People have called us the greatest tourist attraction in Greene County,” said Kiger. “We have people from four states in one day. It’s a promotion for Greene County. 99.9 percent go away happy because of the vast amount of resources we have.”

The volunteers at the society get a sense of fulfillment when they’re able to uncover a hidden branch on someone’s family tree.

“You get a little high from helping that person discover,” said Kiger. “I come out of here on a cloud because of what we can do for people.”

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