Cheryl Brown Abernathy has been a member and supporter of numerous national and regional genealogical societies including:
Association of Professional Genealogists (APG)
Great Lakes Chapter, APG
- Charter Member
- Vice President 2009 – 2013
- Treasurer 2013 – 2017, 2019-2023
National Genealogical Society
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)
- Wooster – Wayne Chapter
- Registrar – 2018-Present
Ohio Genealogical Society (life member)
- 2nd Vice President – Current
- Trustee, representing the Coshocton District – 2013–2022
- Chapter Liaison – Go-between between OGS Chapters and OGS – 2016–Present
- Current Chair, Settlers and Builders of Ohio Lineage Society
- First Families of Ohio Lineage Society
- Civil War Families of Ohio Lineage Society
- Settlers and Builders of Ohio Lineage Society
- Century Families of Ohio Lineage Society
- Military Order Daughters and Sons of Ohio (Charter Member)
Holmes County Genealogical Society, Chapter OGS (life member)
- Newsletter Editor 1998 – 2000
- President 2012 – 2023
Stark County Genealogical Society, Chapter OGS (life member)
- Newsletter Editor – 2018 – present
- Outstanding OGS Chapter Newsletter 2023 Frances Dana Gage Award
Tuscarawas County Genealogical Society, Chapter OGS (life member)
- Trustee – 2021-Present
- Lineage Chair – First Families of Tuscarawas County and Pioneer Families of Tuscarawas County
- First Families of Tuscarawas County Lineage Society
Wayne County Genealogical Society, Chapter OGS (life member)
- President 1998 – 2000
- Treasurer 2009 – present
- Newsletter Editor 2009 – present
- Outstanding OGS Chapter Newsletter 2012 & 2014 Frances Dana Gage Award
- Wayne County Pioneers Lineage Society
- Outstanding OGS Chapter Volunteer Award 2016
Wayne County Cemetery Preservation Society (now defunct)
- Webmaster
- Assisted in reading both Fredericksburg Cemeteries
- Mt Eaton Village Cemetery
- West Lawn Cemetery, Mt. Eaton
- Maple Grove and West End Cemeteries, Marshallville
Publications
Coordinated the abstraction of information and edited
“Wayne County, Ohio Births, Deaths and Marriages 1856 – 1857”
for the Wayne County Genealogical Society
Education
Columbus College of Art and Design
- BFA in Retail Advertising
National Genealogical Society
- Home Study Course
- Course Six – Transcribing, Extracting and Abstracting Genealogical Records
Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research (IGHR) at Samford University
- Course Two, Intermediate Genealogy & Historical Studies – 2009
- Course Four, Advanced Methodology & Evidence Analysis – 2011
Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) at La Roche College
- Beneath the Home Page, Problem–Solving with Online Repositories – 2012
- Advanced Land Research: Locating, Analyzing, Mapping – 2013
- Determining Kinship Reliably with the GPS – 2014
- Law School for Genealogists – 2015
- Pennsylvania Research – 2016
- From Confusion to Conclusion – 2017
- New York Research – 2018
- Practical Genetic Genealogy – 2019
- Following Your Ancestor in Time and Place – 2020 (Tech support for the week)
- Getting Your Hands Dirty! A Workshop in and and Property Records – 2020
- Answering the Call of Uncle Sam: Research in Military Records – 2021 (Tech support for the week)
- Ireland and Northern Ireland Genealogical Research – 2021
- Following Your Ancestors in Time and Place – 2022 (Tech support for the week)
- Gateway to the Garden State, New Jersey Research – 2022 (Tech support for the week)
- U S Ancestors, 1917-1930 – 2023 (Tech support for the week)
- Putting Those Records to Work – 2023
- Midwest Family History Research – 2024 (Tech support for the week)
- Hands-on Genetic Research: Analyzing and Organizing Your Data – 2024
Conferences
Association of Professional Genealogist, Professional Management Conference (PMC)
- 2016
Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)
- 1986, 2007, 2017
National Genealogical Society (NGS)
2003, 2012, 2018
Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS)
- 1992 – 2024 Conference
- Co-Chair 2021, 2022 & 2025
- Speaker – 2023-2024
Pennsylvania Genealogy Conference 2006
Other Workshops
North Hills (PA) Genealogists’ Fall Workshop
- 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015
Ohio Genealogical Society’s Summer Workshop
- 2010
Ohio Genealogical Society’s Fall Seminar
- 2017 – Michael Lacapo
- 2018 – Kelli Jo Bergheimer
- 2020 – Eric E. Johnson & Peggy C. Lauritzen
- 2021 – Peggy C. Lauritzen, Sunny Morton, Elissa Powell & Amie Bowser Tennat
- 2022 – Peggy C. Lauritzen, Sunny Morton, Judy N. Muhn, Jessica Trotter
- 2023 – Kelli J. Bergheimer, Debbie Large, Sunny Morton, Dana Palmer
- 2024 – Cheryl Brown Abernathy, Kelli J Bergheimer, Deborah Kitko, Amber Oldenburg
Western Reserve Historical Society’s Spring Seminar
- 2017 – Virginia Research with Barbara Vines Little