History of the Cape Cod Genealogical Society


The Cape Cod Genealogical Society was founded on August 25, 1971, and the first meetings were held in the Albro House in Harwich, Massachusetts. In 1973, meetings were moved to the Brooks Library in Harwich, with 15-20 people attending. The Brooks Library was also the repository for the growing genealogical materials collection.

The meeting site moved to the South Yarmouth Library as space was outgrown; then to the Brewster Town Hall and finally to the Brewster Ladies' Library on Route 6A with its meeting room large enough to accommodate the now 300 plus members. The Cape Cod Genealogical Library, however, was moved to the Dennis Public Library just off Route 28 in Dennisport where it has its own Genealogy Room.

Originally, the members were primarily focused on Cape Cod ancestors, but today a large portion of the membership does not have Cape Cod ancestry and the focus of the workshops and programs has changed accordingly. The Society has met monthly since 1972 and offers bus trips to repositories in New England, as well as frequent genealogy workshops. The award-winning Bulletin is published three times per year.


Presidents
1 1971-77 Perry Smith
2 1977-78 Louise Kelley
3 1978-80 Jane Mercier
4 1980-82 Mildred Young
5 1982-84 Mary “Polly” Magenau
6 1984-86 Abner Pratt
7 1986-88 Watson Mosher
8 1988-89 Theodora Thayer-Eschelbach
9 1989-91 Leroy Houck
10 1991-93 Abner Pratt
11 1993-96 Mary Ella Parrott
12 1996-98 Eleanor and Joseph Darby
13 1998-01 Elsie Gustafson
14 2001-03 John W. Bower
15 2003-06 Phyllis Koscso
16 2006-08 David S. Martin
Margaret M. Spellman
17 2008-09 Robert Ward


Charter Members Honorary Members
1 Charles Allen 1 Walter Babbitt
2 M. Kermit Bain 2 Virginia Doane
3 Helen Bain 3 Russell Lovell
4 Mrs. James Black 4 Herbert McKenney
5 Marion Carlson 5 Watson Mosher
6 Kenneth Cole 6 Mary Streeter
7 Esther Cole 7 Evelyn Dasey
8 Priscilla Eldredge 8 Mildred Young
9 Jane Franklin 9 Richard Haskell
10 Gary Hackett 10 Duane Sawhill
11 Homer Huffield 11 Mary Ella Parrott
12 Trudy James 12 Natalie Ross
13 Ruth MacQuarrie 13 J. Samuel Slicer
14 Charlotte McKean 14 Edward Fettes
15 Ralph Phillips 15 Mark Russell
16 Stephen Scudder 16 Margaret Reed
17 Mrs. Stephen Scudder 17 Roberta G. Bratti
18 Nettie Sheridan 18 Eleanor D. Darby
19 J. Samuel Slicer 19 Elsie N. Gustafson
20 Perry Smith 20 Phyllis Phinney Koscso
21 Mary Smith 21 John W. Bower
22 Eliot Stacy
23 Mrs. Eliot Stacy