Taking well-honed genealogical skills a step further is the point of upcoming classes at the Briggs Lawrence County Library.

“We will be having a set of classes on joining a lineage society,” Lori Shafer, adult services librarian, said.

To become a member of a lineage society, genealogists must prove their family fits into certain categories. For these classes there are four societies that local genealogists can determine if their family fits in.

There is the Century Family where someone in the family lived in Lawrence County a hundred years ago. Next is the Civil War society.

“You have a relative who served in the Civil War, on either side,” Shafer said. “The relative has connections here. They lived here or were from here or moved here.”

First Families society lived in Lawrence County prior to 1840s and the last is the Settlers and Builders who lived in the county between the first families and the Civil War.

“It is a process that can be overwhelming and intimidating,” Shafer said. “But it is something fun to do. It is a kind of way to recognize the work that you have done.”

There are organizations, such as the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Ohio Historical Society, that require this kind of genealogical research for membership.

“And it helps people who are doing research later on,” she said. “This says I am a genealogist and I am really serious and I can back up what I am saying.”

The classes are at 2 p.m. July 14 at the Chesapeake branch; 6 p.m. on July 20 at the South Point branch; and July 23 at 6 p.m. at the Ironton branch.