02/08/2026
Windham County Genealogy Interest Group Meeting
Working with Handwritten Records for Genealogical Purposes
&
Using Google’s Gemini AI for Genealogy
10:30 AM to 12:30PM, Saturday, February 21,2026
The next hybrid In-Person and Zoom meeting of the Windham County Genealogy Interest Group will focus on “Working with Handwritten Records for Genealogical Purposes, presented by WCGIG member, Lynne Snyder, and & Using Google’s Gemini AI for Genealogy,” presented by Wayne Blanchard, on Saturday, February 21, 2026, from 10:30 AM to 12:30PM, Zoom and at Brooks Memorial Library. In case of inclement weather, it will be Zoom only.
Free and open to all.
Please register at this link https://bit.ly/WCGIG2025 A Zoom link will be sent before the meeting. For those people in the local vicinity, an in person meeting will also be conducted at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., Brattleboro, Vermont.
“Working with Handwritten Documents for Genealogical Purposes”
Handwritten documents present a variety of challenges to genealogical researchers, from deciphering penmanship and writing style.
Using real-world examples written by or about Vermonters, we’ll examine resources for reading old (or poor) handwriting, transcription tips and techniques, using context to decode content, short-and long-term publication decision-making, and using additional resources to add depth to your final result.
Lynne Snyder has been immersed in genealogy and local history since childhood, with longtime Vermont ancestry in Windham and Franklin counties. She holds a Certificate in Genealogical Research (Boston University, 2016) and is a past attendee at the National Institute on Genealogical Research (now Gen-Fed).
Since retiring from the military in 2006, she has worked as a background investigator, research analyst, and training coordinator. She lives in Maryland with her husband and adult children.
Using Google’s Gemini for Genealogy
Gemini can be a useful virtual genealogy assistant. Wayne Blanchard uploaded images of handwritten documents and asked for a transcription. Not only was Gemini able to “read” the documents with its handwritten text recognition, but it then provided its own prompts that were helpful suggestions for further research.
Using information it found and additional facts that he provided, Gemini was able to produce a narrative of the person’s life, a timeline of the family, a family group sheet, and a narrative map of where family members moved. In addition it could generate proper citations for footnotes in a document that summarized the research. In this presentation he shows how the conversation with Gemini unfolded to give new insight into an ancestor.
Wayne Blanchard & Jerry Carbone
Windham County Genealogy Interest Group
[email protected]
For those people in the local vicinity, an in person meeting will also be conducted at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., Brattleboro, Vermont. To those who would like to attend via Zoom link, a link will be sent before the meeting.
