The Douglas County Genealogical Society, commonly known as DCGS, has been providing quality genealogical research resources, services and education to the Douglas County area since our founding in 1998.  It is our mission is to share and promote genealogy for the enjoyment and recreation of the members, and, as a public service, provide for the collection and preservation of public records which may be of genealogical interest to others.

The late Rhett Williamson, our founder, had dreamed for years of having a society of individuals who wanted to learn about their families.  He placed advertisements in the local newspapers and discussed his dream wherever he went and with everyone he met.  Eventually, in January of 1998, 16 people gathered at the Douglas County Library on Selman Drive to learn more and ultimately agreed to create such a group.  A steering committee was formed and they came up with a name and proposed constitution for DCGS.

On March 5, 1998 the first meeting was held and the constitution adopted.  With the election of Irene Jackson as President, Sandra Whittington as Vice President, and Rebecca Collins as Secretary/Treasurer, the society was off and running.  Thirty one people (our charter menbers) were present for this meeting, the official birth of the Douglas County Genealogical Society.

Below are links to our Constitution and Bylaws (as amended), both as a web page (which will open in a new window or tab) and as a PDF file, which you can download (and then print, if you so desire).

DCGS Constitution as Web Page

DCGS Constitution as PDF File

Now in our third decade, we are more excited than ever about finding and proving our family trees.  For a description of our current projects, please visit our Projects Page

Only a few of our charter members are still active but they willingly assist any new members who may need help researching their family lines.  Sadly, some have also passed on - please see our Memorial Page.

Take a look at our Current Members Page to get acquainted with or contact our current members by e-mail.  This page also lists the surnames each member is researching.  You may find a matching name, and who knows?  They might be able to help you with your research, or you may even discover they are one of those long lost relatives!

For more details on the Society, please see our History Page.  Be aware that page is very much a "work in progress," being a fairly recent addition to the web site.  Most of what is there (and the more that will come) has been collected from the archived issues of the newsletter, and is thus not subject to individual memory foibles.  In a few cases, however, there appears to be conflicting data and these are noted.  The page has also been adopted by the Web Master as sort of his personal blog.  It contains a fair amount of ramblings by the , including personal commentary, family events and other musings.

Also, check out our Events Page, for a brief photographic record of events we have staged, attended or otherwise participated in over the years.  At least for the years since I was appointed WebMaster, in 2010.  Whereupon I (voluntarily and absolutely unofficially) took on responsibility for documenting Society activities.  I try my best to make it to every event, accompanied by my trusty camera, since I don't care much for cell phone pictures (they don't provide much, if any, meta-data), and I must have a zoom lens...

As always, the is open to suggestions and submissions by members or visitors.

Douglas County was formed in 1870 from parts of Carroll and old Campbell counties plus a small section of the original Cherokee County.  It was named after Stephen A. Douglas, a U.S. Congressman and rival of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election.

Around the turn of the century, the town of Lithia Springs, in eastern Douglas County, was the site of a prestigious resort hotel for the nation's rich and famous.  Visitors from all over the nation, and even from abroad, were attracted to the therapeutic mineral waters of Lithia Springs until a fire destroyed the hotel in 1911.

There are several ceremonial mounds of the Mississippian Indians located in the county.

The city of Douglasville is located about 20 miles west of Atlanta and is the county seat of Douglas County.

The city sits on the high point of the county and was originally known as Skint Chestnut.  Folklore has it that this was due to Native American tribes stripping the bark from a large chestnut tree to provide a more visible landmark.

This tale was also the inspiration for the title of our monthly society newsletter:

Click for a sample issue of the 'Skint Chestnut Logs'

The WebMaster discovered (on February 6^th, 2019) that the August 2010 issue chosen (not by me) and linked above contains (by coincidence... or fate?) a brief auto-biography of the WebMaster.  Don't be too judgemental of the spelling and grammar.  I had only recently taken on the job of maintaining the website, and found it to be a real mess.  Then I was asked, on very short notice, to provide a bio for the newsletter.  It is what it is.

Note: There is no officially specified format for the newsletter.  It is merely left to the editor[s] at time of publication.  Thus, it has changed a number of times over the years, mostly due to the editor[s] preferences and/or tastes, but also the capabilities of the software chosen by the editor[s].  The name has changed once - from the rather unimaginative Douglas County Genealogy Newsletter (we needed a contest to come up with that?) to the current name, Skint Chestnut Logs.