UpFront with NGS

10 February 2011

National Genealogical Society Quarterly Volume 98, Number 4 is now Available

The December 2010 edition of NGSQ is now available online as are past issues in the NGSQ Archives.

Feature Articles:

· Determining Linnie Leigh Gray’s Birth Date by Melinda Daffin Henningfield

· Using Lawsuits to Identify Family Origins: George Cunningham of Virginia by Victor S. Dunn, CG™

· Assembling and Correlating Evidence: Was Robert William Jemison a Planter, District Attorney, Land Register, Traitor, or All These? by Philip Burnett Adderley, CG™

Notes and Documents

· Enigmas of the 1851 Boucherville, Québec, Census by Ronald A. Hill, Ph.D., CG™, FASG

2010 Winner: Family History Writing Contest

· The Quigley Family Searches for the American Dream by Patrick C. Quigley

In addition to other regular features and the annual index.

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Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.

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NGS 2011 Family History Conference -- Exhibit Hall is FREE to the Public!

Did you know that at the NGS 2011 Family History Conference, Charleston, South Carolina from 11-14 May 2011, the exhibit hall is free to the public? This is a great opportunity for non-conference-attending companions or local community members to experience an exciting element of the annual conference – the Exhibit Hall! The exhibit hall features family history vendors from across the country.

See a list of who is exhibiting.

The exhibit hall is free to the public and will be open during

Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Show hours: 9:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Thursday, 12 May 2011
Show hours: 9:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.

Friday, 13 May 2011
Show hours: 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Saturday, 14 May 2011
Show hours: 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

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5th annual Family History Conference of the Washington DC Family History Center

The 5th annual Family History Conference of the Washington DC Family History Center will be held on Saturday, May 7 from 9:00 am - 3:15 pm, at 10000 Stoneybrook Drive, Kensington, MD 20895.

This conference is free of charge with 23 classes from beginning to advanced genealogy. The keynote address, "The Library of Congress: Pursuing Your Family History in the National Library" will be delivered at 9:00 am by James Sweany, Head of the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room at the Library of Congress.

For a description of classes and registration information, visit our website at http://wdcfhc.org/.

Carol Petranek, Conference Chair

Editor's Note: Here is the full list of available classes

SESSION 1: 10:00-11:00

#1-1: "Beginning Census Research" – Lorraine Minor

#1-2: "Planning a Family Reunio" – Nathania Branch-Miles

#1-3: "Research at the DAR Library" – Julia Coldren-Walker

#1-4: "Obituaries, A Treasure Trove" – Adrian Gravelle

#1-5: "Virtual Genealogy Education: Online Options" – Angela McGhie

#1-6: "A History of Ellis Island: Separating Myth from Reality" – Tom Sadauskas

SESSION 2: 11:15 – 12:15

#2-1: "Beginning African-American Research" – Bill Shelton and Ed Washington

#2-2: "Beyond the Death Certificate" – Phyllis Legare

#2-3: "A Genealogical Treasure Hunt in Federal Records" – Angela McGhie

#2-4: "American State Papers" – Julia Coldren-Walker

#2-5:"Using Court Records in Genealogical Research" – Robyn Smith

#2-6:"How to Be an Effective Family History Consultant" – Mary Jean Sokolowsky

SESSION 3: 1:00 – 2:00

#3-1: "How Did Your Family Get There and Why Did They Go? Migration Routes to 1850" – Sharon Hodges

#3-2: "The 5 W’s of Genealogy: Preserving Family History" – Roberta Benor

#3-3: "Double Count: Find Ancestors Listed Twice in Census" – Natonne Kemp

#3-4: "FamilySearch Indexing" – Mary Jean Sokolowsky

#3-5: "Producing a Reliable Family History: An Appellate Judge Discusses Genealogical Evidence" – Adrian Gravelle

#3-6: "Native American Research" – Margo Williams

SESSION 4: 2:15 – 3:15

#4-1: "Using Federal Land Records" – Bernice Bennett

#4-2: "Saving Private Memories" – Pamela Loos-Noji

#4-3 "What Can I Expect to Find at the National Archives" – Rebekah Fairbank

#4-4: "Overcoming "Brick Walls"" – Phyllis Legare

#4-5: "Conducting an Effective Search on Ancestry.com" – Sabrina Petersen

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Root Cellar -- Sacramento Genealogical Society

Root Cellar-Sacramento Genealogical Society welcome mat is always out at its meetings, workshops and annual seminar. Please be sure to stop by when your travels bring you to Sacramento, California during 2011.

General membership meetings are held every second Wednesday of the month, except July and August. The Society’s daytime Genealogy Workshops are held year-round every third Wednesday of the month. The workshop provides an informal setting to get help with your brickwalls and frequently a special topic is presented. The meetings and workshops are free and open to the public.

The following 2011 general membership meeting programs are scheduled:
March 9^th: “Border and Immigration” with Lorenzo Cuesta
April 13^th: “San Francisco Cable Cars” with David Kiehn
May 11^th: “Planning A Research Trip” with Glenda Gardner Lloyd
June 8^th: “Preservation and Presentation of the Genealogical Process” with Robin Knutson

Saturday, April 9th is Root Cellar's 20th annual Spring Seminar featuring Geoff Rasmussen from the Legacy – Millennia Corporation. Geoff’s topics will include (1) Marketing your Ancestors using Queries, Message Boards, Mailing Lists, and Social Networking Sites; (2) Sources and Citations for Dummies and non-Dummies plus tips for using Legacy’s SourceWriter; (3) More Genealogy Technology: Google tools, mobile apps, and more; and (4) Improving Your Use of New FamilySearch. The seminar is from 9am - 3:45pm at the Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church, 11427 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks, California. Registration details are at our website.

Hot off the presses! Root Cellar volunteers just published the second volume of the Sacramento County Coroner’s Records Collection 1887-1969. This three-book volume includes Inquisition Certificates, 1903-1907; Inquests, 1903-1909; and more. Family history researchers will glean valuable clues such as place, date or cause of death; date and arrangements for burial, and personal property information.

More information about these events and publications is available at http://www.rootcellar.org/ or contact Sandi Benward at 916-412-3511.

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07 February 2011

National Archives Video on the Declaration of Independence

This video was shown yesterday before the Super Bowl. If you missed it (and I did) in watching it this morning I found it very powerful and moving.

In case you missed the National Archives before the Super Bowl, here's the full video on the Declaration!

Note that there is a :30 commercial that will appear before the video. The video itself runs 6:39.

Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society Upcoming Events

Nashville, TN, March 5, 2011, Middle TN Genealogical Society Meeting, All Day BEGINNING GENEALOGY WORKSHOP, 9:am--3:pm, FiftyForward Knowles Senior Center, 174 Rains Ave., (across from State Fairgrounds) Lunch provided. Topics to be discussed: Where to Begin, Census Records, Vital Statistics, and Military Records. Contact: dstillwell@fiftyforward.org or call Deborah Stillwell, 615-743-3487, #800 for registration and cost information.

Nashville, TN, March 19, 2011, Middle TN Genealogical Society presents its bimonthly meeting, 1:pm, FiftyForward Knowles Senior Center, 174 Rains Ave., (across from the State Fairgrounds). Guest Speaker: Carol Roberts, Director of Preservation Services at the TN State Library & Archives. Program: "Solving Mysteries Using County Loose Case Files" and "Marking Graves With Only Rock Markers Can Create More Mysteries Than Answers." We will look forward to meeting you. Refreshments served.

More information about these meetings and the society are available at: www.mtgs.org

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Browing the NGSQ Archives During Black History Month

by Toby Webb

I thought I’d take a look to see what there is in the digitized archives that is responsive to February’s focus on black history.

My first discovery was just how easy the search could be. At the NGSQ Index Search page, there is a unique box to check for “African-American Features.” Many articles in the NGSQ archives could help in a general way with family research, but this box on the search page pulls up the articles that have been specifically identified as focused on African-American forebears and records.

The first article I retrieved was a 1989 book review by Milton Rubicam, reviewing Tommie Morton Young’s Afro-American Genealogy Sourcebook. Rubicam was a tough critic and thought that sections of the book were out of date, but even in his criticism he suggested additional models for African-American research that any modern student would find helpful.

The Index has an intriguing citation to a 1978 article by Tom W. Schick on “Afro-American Immigration to

Liberia

: An International Perspective” NGSQ 66 (December 1978): 285-290. That volume of NGSQ isn’t digitized yet, but I’ll look for the paper copy. The online Index let me know it is there.

Most moving of the entries I found were original records preserved in the pages of NGSQ. In 1872, Denège Taylor became a naturalized

U.S.

citizen, renouncing in familiar language fidelity to all foreign princes and potentates, “in particular to King Wyambo, in Africa.” NGSQ 84 (March 1996): 27. And another heart-rending transcription is an emancipation document, signed by a mother who had traced her enslaved son through two owners, bought him back and, in this document, gave him his freedom. Descendants of Andrew Jackson Davis, a free man thanks to his mother’s persistence, will treasure this paper. NGSQ 87 (March 1999): 54. And we all benefit from knowing his story.

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2011 Annual Conference of Virginia Beach Genealogical Society features Dick Eastman

2011 Annual Conference of Virginia Beach Genealogical Society features Dick Eastman, of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, Saturday 19 March 2011 at Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library, 4100 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA, 23452. Map: tinyurl.com/2bpv84. Doors open 8:30 AM - 5 PM.

Eastman offers 4 topics:

1) Genealogy Searches on Google - extracting the most genealogy information possible from everyone's favorite search engine,

2) Using Online Genealogy Programs,

3) Conservation: Keeping Up with Technology - How to make sure your genealogy data is still readable by future generations,

4) Photographing Old or Delicate Documents and Photographs - Use your computer BEFORE you snap the picture!

Exhibitors offer genealogical material.

Please pre-register. VBGS members $40; nonmembers $44. All are welcome. Details and forms are on our website http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vavbgs. Contact J. B. Wright 757-495-0672 or Joanored@aol.com.

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