Meeting and Events

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Monthly meetings are held in the Meeting Room of the new York County History Center facility at 121 N. Pershing Avenue, York, Pennsylvania, unless otherwise noted. Free parking available behind the building. Meetings are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.

The business portion of the meeting begins at 2:30 PM, followed by the program.

​To register for in-person attendance or Zoom registration, visit
 https://www.yorkhistorycenter.org/event/south-central-pennsylvania-genealogical-society
Use Zoom to watch the meetings live or watch later on the  SCPGS playlist of the YCHC You Tube channel.
Note: Facebook livestreaming of these meetings in no longer available. 
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​Our upcoming meetings are scheduled as follows ...

August 24, 2025
"A Carnival of Grief" - The Lincoln Funeral Train in Pennsylvania
by Scott Mingus

The funeral train carrying the remains of the slain President Abraham Lincoln passed through the commonwealth of Pennsylvania on April 21-22, 1865, on its way to New York City, and again on April 28 as it headed west from Buffalo to Cleveland and passed through the Erie region. Tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians passed by the coffin as Lincoln lay in state in Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Massive, untold numbers of residents watched the funeral train slowly steam past their farms, small towns, communities, and whistle stops. Many onlookers left personal reminiscences. Author Scott Mingus will discuss the funeral train, including its two stops here in York County.

Scott Mingus, a retired scientist and executive in the global pulp & paper industry, holds patents in self-adhesive postage stamps and bar code labels. He was part of the research team that developed the first commercially successful self-adhesive U.S. postage stamps. He has written 28 Civil War and Underground Railroad books. His biography of Confederate General William “Extra Billy” Smith was nominated for or won multiple awards, including the Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr. Literary Prize. He also wrote several articles for Gettysburg Magazine and other journals. Scott maintains a blog on the Civil War history of York County PA (www.yorkblog.com/cannonball) and received the Heritage Profile Award from the York County History Center for his many contributions to local Civil War history. He also has written six scenario books on miniature wargaming and was elected to the hobby’s prestigious Legion of Honor. His great-great-grandfather was a 15-year-old drummer boy in the 51st Ohio Infantry, and other family members fought in the Army of the Potomac at Antietam and Gettysburg.
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November 1, 2025
Climbing Your Family Tree - A Workshop for Beginners

The South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society (SCPGS) and the North Eastern York County History In Preservation (NeyChip) organization are holding a half-day family history research seminar for beginners at the NeyChip History Center (York Haven Library) in York Haven, PA.

​Registration (free!) is required.  Click here for more details.

November 2, 2025 - Note off-site meeting
A Tour of the Quaker Meeting House
​By York Meeting member Lamar Matthew

The November meeting of the SCPGS will be held at the historic York Friends Meeting House, 135 West Philadelphia Street, York, Pennsylvania 17401
located immediately East of the York County History Center
at 2:30 p.m. on  Sunday November 2, 2025. 

William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, was a member of the Society of Friends, whose members are also known as Quakers.  The York Meeting House is one of the oldest houses of worship in York County.  The eastern section was constructed in 1766 and the western section in 1783.  Our visit to the York Friends Meeting House will be hosted and presented by York Meeting member Lamar Matthew, a native of York, who has served as Clerk of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting. The York Monthly Meeting is a part of this larger governing body.  In addition to information about the York Meeting House, the presentation will cover information about the history of the Society of Friends and their worship practices.

No December meeting
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January 4, 2026
Show and Tell and Ask

Start the New Year with entertaining or enlightening our SCPGS audience by sharing an intriguing family find or story which has special meaning for you. Maybe it’s a memorable photo of an ancestor, or a trinket, or garment. Maybe it’s a request for assistance or a recent discovery that created a hole in your Brick Wall. On any account this relaxed, informal event has in the past led to some serendipity and mutual discoveries. 
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February 1, 2026
Mt. Pisgah Cemetery, Wrightsville
Speaker Becky Anstine
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March 1, 2026
Using Estate Records
Speaker Richard Konkel

​PAST PROGRAMS ARCHIVE
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June 2025 - When Peach Bottom Welsh quarried slate to make roofs that seem to last forever
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April 2025 - Farview State Hospital: Pennsylvania's Institution for the "Criminally Insane"

March 2025 - History and Genealogy of New Sweden

February 2025 - Veiled Chapters of The Hampton Plantation
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January 2025 - Show & Tell & Ask
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November 2024 - Not Your Typical Cemetery - Local Native American Burials
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October 2024 - Tour of the new PA State Archives

August 2024 - A Visit to YCHC’s New Reading & Research Room

May 2024 - A Visit to Conewago Chapel, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

April 2024 - Research at the New Pennsylvania State Archives Building

March 2024 - How to Find a Needle in a Haystack Without Even Looking
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February 2024 - Tracking the Migration of Black Families

​January 2024 - Show & Tell

November 2023 - Catharine Ziegler and Her Defense after Being Accused of Witchcraft in 1829
in York County

​October 2023 - The 1863 Pennsylvania Campaign
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August 2023 - Pennsylvania German Language Heritage

June 2023 - Unearthing Camp Security
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​May 2023 - Tour of Saint Luke's Union Church Cemetery
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April 2023 - Researching PA Civil War Draft Records

March 2023 - Pennsylvania Prison Records
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February 2023 - African American Genealogy

January 2023  - Show & Tell & Ask
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​November 2022  - Revisiting Online Research of German Ancestors

October 2022 - Indian Languages Influence in the Susquehanna Region
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August 2022 - Using Online Deeds in Family History Research
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June 2022 - Henry James Young Awards
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May 2022 - Researching the History of Institutionalized People in Pennsylvania

​Apr 2022 - The Challenges Facing the Continental Congress in York

Mar 2022 - 18th Century Gunsmithing in Eastern PA
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Feb 2022 - PA’s Celtic Language Heritage

​Jan 2022 - The Architecture of the Dempwolfs
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Nov 2021 - The Churches and Chaplains of York County During the Civil War

​Oct 2021 - Genealogical Resources of the York County History Center’s Library and Archives

​Aug 2021 - Pennsylvania State Archives’ Online Resources

Jun 2021 -History of the Henry James Young Award

May 2021 - MA & PA Railroad  Heritage Village visit

​Apr 2021 - Cumberland County Records
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Mar 2021 - PA State Archives Moves Into the Future

Feb 2021 - York County Coroner's Office
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Aug 2020 - Using Online Newspaper Collections in Research

Oct 2020 - Genealogical Adventures During the Pandemic

Nov 2020 - Using Oral History in Genealogical Research