Joint Fall Genealogy Conference VGS and MVGS

Joint fall conference presented by the Virginia Genealogical Society and Mount Vernon Genealogical Society. Join is Friday (free for all) September 30 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Prince William County Library's RELIC room in Manassas for strategy suggestions for difficult genealogical problems and to research at the library 

October 1st conference will offer two tracks:
Genealogy Basics and Digging Deeper in Local and Federal Records. Speakers are Chuck Mason and Sharon Hodges $44 for members , $55 for non-members, includes lunch. 

Conference will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn Woodbridge 2500 Neabsco Common Place Woodbridge, VA 22191

Conference Schedule 

9:00-9:45 a.m. Registration (Vendors Available) 
9:45-10:00 a.m. Opening Remarks 

Genealogy Basics (Track 1) 10:00-11:00 a.m. (S-11) Myths, Fairy Tales, and Stories Grandma Told – Chuck Mason – Family stories usually contain at least some true facts. But what do you do when almost nothing is true? This program demonstrates how the Genealogical Proof Standard was used to break down a 25-year brick wall. 

11:00-11:30 a.m. Break 

11:30-12:30 p.m. (S-12) Source Citations: They are not a One Eyed Monster – Chuck Mason – It is critical to Cite Your Sources as You Find Them! But for many genealogists, this is their worst nightmare. It does not have to be. With several guides available, citing sources is not the problem it was in the past. 

12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch

1:30-2:30 p.m. (S-13) But My Family's Genealogy is All on the Internet! – Chuck Mason – There is a misconception that if the information is found on the Internet, that it must be fact. However, this is not true. It is a valuable source for clues, but all information must be verified. 

2:30-3:00 p.m. Break 

3:00-4:00 p.m. (S-14) Avoiding Mistakes – Sharon Hodges – The purpose of this beginning genealogy session is to provide those who are new to genealogy with good basic skills and information to help with your research. If you have been researching for a while, it will help with correcting any bad habits or help you realize what you haven’t been doing, but should. 

Digging Deeper in Local and Federal Records (Track 2) 

10:00-11:00 a.m. (S-21) Using Court Records - Sharon Hodges – Court and other legal documents may be searched by using court order books, marriage, and estate records, etc., but have you found everything? District Court records and loose papers are often overlooked, but may hold information that will help complete your genealogical research. 

11:00-11:30 a.m. Break 

11:30-12:30 p.m. (S-22) Historic Court Records – Fredericksburg – Sharon Hodges – Many courts were held in Fredericksburg since its founding. Until 1781 it served as the courthouse for Spotsylvania County and handled Spotsylvania District Court and various Superior Courts from 1789-1889. Learn about some of the more than 22,400 court records that have been extracted and indexed ready for you to search. 

12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch 

1:30-2:30 p.m. (S-23) An Introduction to RELIC - Donald L. Wilson – Learn about Prince William County’s genealogy and local history collection (the Ruth E. Lloyd Information Center) and what services and special materials it offers. RELIC staff are trained to help researchers locate their families, regardless of where they lived. RELIC’s Digital Library provides online access to a growing collection of Prince William history sources. 

2:30-3:00 p.m. Break

3:00-4:00 p.m. (S-24) Depression Era Recovery Program, Genealogical Gold Mine: Records of the WPA – Chuck Mason – When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated President on March 4, 1932, the country was in the throes of the worst economic depression in the history of the country. Roosevelt offered the country a “New Deal” with programs to get the workers back to work and the country financially sound once more. Many of the programs created to put citizens back to work and end the Great Depression created a Gold Mine for genealogists today

Jewish Genetic Genealogy Presentation July 25

Monday, July 25

Jewish Genetic Genealogy – A Study in Endogamy   (FxGS Education Class/Meeting)

7:00 pm

Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax, VA

Sponsored by the Fairfax Genealogical Society and the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia.

Register Online: Go to the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia events page (http://www.jccnv.org/events/), click on Register Online on the upper right corner of the events page. Then enter the key word genetic genealogy and press search.

Choose register online. New users must create an account to register for the event. Follow the instructions to create a new account by selecting “No, I am a new user.” When you get to the checkout, FxGS members should enter the promo code FXGS to obtain the discounted rate. 

Cost: $8/$5 members/$10 at the door

Presenter: Israel Pickholtz

Lecture Description: DNA results are especially complicated for Jews, who have largely "married within the tribe" for hundreds of years—a practice known as endogamy. This phenomenon, with variations, occurs in other populations including early American colonial. In this presentation, Israel Pickholtz will tackle this challenge head on. Since every family is different, rather than taking a "how-to" approach, he will demonstrate how he dealt with endogamy in his family and identify general lessons that apply to all DNA research. His goal is to inspire listeners and readers to say, "I can do this!" Following the talk, copies of his book, ENDOGAMY: One Family, One People, will be available for purchase and signing.

Israel is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-born genealogist who has been living in Israel since 1973. His personal research includes single-surname research in Galicia (formerly Austria, now Ukraine) as well as families from Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, Hungary and later in the US, UK and Israel. From there he developed skills relating to more general Jewish genealogy, including Holocaust research.

Israel has participated in grave translation projects, searches for missing relatives and Holocaust-era insurance claims, as well as traditional genealogy research using European, American and Israeli sources. His most frequent assignments from Israeli sources involve locating and photographing graves, locating living people, Mandatory Citizenship records, records for Galician residents in the 1920s and 1930s, inheritance matters and Holocaust research.

Registration Reminder for the July 25th genetic genealogy presentation.

While this presentation is focused on Jewish genetic genealogy, the practice of inter-family marriages is one that was not uncommon in many early American families and to an extent still occurs in many smaller rural communities. This presentation focus on the challenges faced in examining the genetic relationships of descendants from endogamous communities. 

Flashback Thursday: 1790 US Census

The law that created the first United States Census was signed by  President George Washington, Vice President John Adams and Speaker of the House Frederick Muhlenberg on March 1, 1790. On August 2, 1790 all the households in the 13 states were supposed to be visited and the information recorded to create the record. Who was included on this census?

• Free white males of 16 years and upward (to assess the country's industrial and military potential)
• Free white males under16 years
• Free white females
• All other free persons
• Slaves

It ended up taking more than 9 months to do the visits and record that information and in the meantime, Vermont had become a state so really it is a census of 14 states and some territories including what became the state of Tennessee

Information was gather in  Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Not all the records have survived, North Carolina, New Jersey, Kentucky, Georgia, Virginia and Delaware were lost but some of them have been reconstructed using other records. 

Slightly less than four million people are included on that census. If your family goes back to that time period, where can you find these records. If you have a membership at ancestry.com they are available there. Family Search has an index to the records.

While this early census is not for everyone, it can be used in conjunction with some of the later ones to see where your family was living at the time and to develop a migration pattern.

Montanta State Genealogy Conference

Montana State Genealogical Society

27th ANNUAL STATE GENEALOGY CONFERENCE

HILTON GARDEN INN, MISSOULA, MONTANA

September 22, 23, 24, 2016

Featuring Two National Speakers:

Judy Russell and Amy Johnson Crow

Full Registration is only $80.00 without meals,

$124.00 with 3 meals

Judy Russell will speak on Dowered or Bound Out: Records of Widows & Orphans, How Old Did He Have To Be...", What does THAT mean" Understanding the Language of the Law, DNA and the Golden Rule.

Amy Crow will speak about After Mustering Out: Researching Civil War Veterans, Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker: Using Occupational Records, Timelines: The Swiss Army Knife of Genealogical Research, and How Do I Know That's My Ancestor?

Preserving & Sharing Our Family Treasures Summer Seminar

The DGS Summer Seminar in Dallas, Texas will feature  Denise Levenick,The Family Curator. The seminar takes place July 29-30 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.at the 1st floor Auditorium J. Erik Jonsson Central Library. Parking is included in the seminar fee.

Friday, July 29, 2016

§  Session 1: Be Your Own Family ArchivistFamily historians who inherit photos, documents, and memorabilia, and genealogists who work with family collections, must often go beyond the role of researcher to become archivists and curators. This session introduces best practices for long-term preservation of family treasures including photos, film, documents, artifacts, and other heirlooms. We’ll discuss “what to save, what to toss,” how to choose appropriate archival storage containers, and where to set up your own home archive.

§  Session 2: How to Scan an ElephantPreserving family collections begins with a master plan for digitizing all kinds of materials. But, how do you scan an elephant? This session will give an overview of popular scanners and other devices to show you how to digitize awkward artifacts and oversize items, and highlight the apps, accessories, and expert tips to help you achieve great digital images.

§  Session 3: Caring for Keepsakes: The Top 10 Family TreasuresLearn how to care for the Top Ten Family Treasures from photographs to furniture, from love letters to lockets, clocks, and Bibles. Learn to identify common hazards such as silverfish, mold, acid migration, and how to safely store your heirlooms for easy research access.

§  Session 4: Dirty Pictures: Save Your Family Photos from RuinDirty negatives, smudged old photos, curled panorama pictures, and photos stuck in sticky albums. Learn how to rescue your family photos, albums, and scrapbooks from the ravages of time. This practical presentation will show you simple and safe methods for working with old and fragile family photos, as well as 20th century vintage snapshots and film.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

§  Session 1: Secrets in the Attic: Break Down Brick Walls with Home SourcesFamily history begins at home. Case studies highlight photos, documents, and hidden details that led to new kinships and previously unknown ancestors. From a crumbling Family Bible to a fading post-mortem photograph, follow the trail of “things they left behind” to solve genealogical mysteries with clues in family sources.

§  Session 2: You Can’t Take It With You: Estate Planning for GenealogistsWho will care for your family archive when you’re gone? This session will look at creative solutions for distributing family heirlooms when settling an estate, how to be an attractive donor to institutional archives, and how to prepare a simple genealogical codicil. We’ll also discuss options for preserving your family history stories and photos in legacy online digital archives.

§  Session 3: Heirloom Roadshow

The Heirloom Roadshow is coming and you can be part of it! Did you inherit a beautiful antique table or chair from your ancestor? Do you know how to preserve the historical and cash value of your treasure? Wondering how to preserve your ancestor’s military medals? Submit your keepsake preservation challenges to The Family Curator prior to the event for a chance to be featured in this interactive presentation where you’ll learn the best way to rescue, preserve, and archive your family heirlooms.

Flashback Thursday: What the census can do for your genealogy research

It is no secret that the census is one of the best tools that is available to genealogists. Even though it is a great resource, you need to realize that until 1940 it is a secondary source not a primary one. You don't know who give the information to the enumerator. Do you want to trust a neighbor to know all your family information? I don't!!

Having said that, there is an immense amount of information to be gleaned from the census returns. I am sure you are thinking U.S. censuses and yes they exist from 1790 (with the exception of 1890) but the U.S. is not the only country to take censuses. 

Great Britain, Canada and other countries also have censuses. Early French Canada censuses exist as well if your family goes back to Quebec or some of the maritime provinces. 

The more recent the census, the more information is included. To learn more you can go to the government census  website and get additional information.  The census site explains the censuses but the National Archives actually holds the records. 

They offer help for genealogist and it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the type of records that they have. I will go into more detail and each census in the future but for now if you are ready to get going, start with the 1940 census and go back from there.  

I am going to suggest that no matter which census you are going to look at, you print out a blank copy so that you know what each of the columns is asking. It will save you lots of misunderstandings. 

#genealogy #censusesandgenealogy

Genealogy website:Townland of Origin

My most popular blog post ever was my one about dispelling Irish genealogy myths. I have Joe Buggy to thank for the seeds of that post. I thought that I would reintroduce him to you and tell you a little about his website, Townland of Origin. 

Joe is extremely knowledgeable about Irish genealogy especially when it comes researching from North America. Originally from Ireland he is now based in the Washington DC area. He is an author and writes a bi-monthly column in the Irish genealogy magazine Irish Lives Remembered. 

He is a popular speaker both in the United States and in Ireland and his website will keep you abreast of the latest things that are happening in Irish genealogy. It is one fascinating post after another and be prepared to spend a bit of time catching up on the posts you have missed.  

Most of us who are Irish have come up against the same brick wall on at least one line, trying to figure out where in Ireland our ancestor came from. Thus the title, the holy grail of Irish genealogy is the townland of origin.