Happy 2020 from NGS!

Wishing everyone a prosperous and genealogy-filled new year!

NGSQ December 2019 Issue Now Online!

The outside and inside front covers feature a photograph and biographical
sketch of “Old Uncle Davie” who is a collateral relative of Mr. Burroughs.

The December 2019 issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 107, Number 4, is available online in the Members Only section of the website. Members should see the new edition in their mailboxes in the next few weeks.

CONTENTS:

FEATURE ARTICLES 

• How Old Was ‘Old Uncle Davie’ Truman of Fayette County, Pennsylvania? by Tony Burroughs
• Two Probates and Three Richards: Who Was Richard Bedell of Hempstead, Queens County, New York? by Shannon Green, CG

• Thomas James Allen of Lyme Handley, Cheshire County, England: One Man or Two? by Allen R. Peterson, CG, and Stephen J. Allen.
• Dr. Peter Trisler and the Younger Woman: Parents of John Trisler of Kentucky and Indiana? by Constance T. Shotts, EdD, CG

COMMUNICATIONS 

EDITORS’ CORNER

• Where Was Your Ancestor Listed?

ADMINISTRATION

SIDELIGHTS

• Borrowing the Baby
• An Elopement and Robbery in Oldham, Lancashire County, England
• Two Ducks and Bigamy in Yorkshire, England
• The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth

REVIEWS
ANNUAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
ANNUAL INDEX

The National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ) is published four times per year, in March, June, September, and December. The journal is edited by Nancy A. Peters, CG®, CGLSM, and Allen R. Peterson, AG, CG.

Happy Holidays from NGS

Season’s greetings from the NGS Staff & Board of Directors.

The NGS office will be closed on the following dates:

• Wednesday - December 25, 2019
• Thursday - December 26, 2019
• Wednesday - January 1, 2020

New NGS Course: Understanding and Using DNA Test Results

NGS Introduces Its Newest Online Course: 
Understanding and Using DNA Test Results

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) unveiled the newest course in its Continuing Genealogical Studies series, Understanding and Using DNA Test Results. The course is designed to help the millions of individuals, who have taken a DNA test to learn more about their family tree, get the most out of their test results. Students learn at their own pace, in their own home, on any tablet or computer.

“Taking a DNA test is easy,” noted NGS Education Director, Angela McGhie, CG. “Understanding the results and knowing how to use the data to identify your ancestors is more challenging. We are pleased to be able to offer a new course that will teach family historians about patterns of genetic inheritance and how their DNA matches can lead to building a broader family tree. 

In a step-by-step format, expert genetic genealogist, Angie Bush, MS, teaches the basic types of DNA tests and the value and limitations of their results. The course also explains how to read and interpret DNA charts and cousin match pages; how to apply test results to traditional genealogical research; and much more. To learn more about Understanding and Using DNA Test Results, visit the NGS website.

Registration Now Open for NGS 2020 Family History Conference

Registration Now Open for 

NGS 2020 Family History Conference

Registration is now open—2 December, 11:00 a.m. ET—for the forty-second NGS Family History Conference, Echoes of Our Ancestors, which will be held 20–23 May 2020 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. To register, visit the NGS conference website and complete the online registration form.

Pre-conference workshops and tours, the conference’s banquet, its many luncheons, and special events sell out quickly so be sure to register as soon as possible.

This year’s four-day conference will feature more than 175 lectures on DNA, heritage, immigration and migration, records, religion, resources and research techniques, and women. Attendees will discover lectures that focus on tracing ancestors of African American, Asian, European, Hispanic, Native American, and Polynesian decent. Conference participants also may enroll in workshops on specialized collections at the world’s largest genealogical library. Learn about the full NGS program of extraordinary lectures by reviewing the conference brochure.

In addition to the perennial pre-conference favorites—including the Board for
Certification of Genealogists® workshop and Librarians’ Day—local area tours include
visits to Utah State Archives and Records Service, BYU Family History Library and
Special Collections, Utah’s Natural History Museum, and Red Butte Garden. Guest
speakers at sponsored luncheons will discuss a broad range of topics such as exploring
archives around the world, DNA success stories, tactics for adapting your business to
the 2020 client, and more. The Exhibit Hall and Family History Expo will feature more
than seventy exhibitors.

The conference brochure in PDF format features both an overview of the sessions and information about tours, pre-conference events, workshops, registration times, and rates as well as general conference and hotel details. The online searchable program allows you to search by speaker, topic, or date of the sessions.

Take advantage of the discounted Early Bird registration fee and reserve your tickets for luncheons, conference meals and the conference banquet before they fill up. Be sure to register today or as soon as possible.

Don’t forget to sign up for the conference blog, which will feature tips on local and regional research facilities, things to do in and around Utah, and updated information on hotel availability and local restaurants.

We hope to see you in Salt Lake City!

Happy Thanksgiving From NGS

The National Genealogical Society wishes you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

NGS thanks all of our members for their continued support throughout the year. And a heartfelt “thank you” to the many volunteers who make our success possible.

—The NGS Staff and Board of Directors

Nominations to the 2020 National Genealogy Hall of Fame

National Genealogy Hall of Fame 

Seeks Nominations for 2020 Election

The National Genealogy Hall of Fame is an educational project sponsored by the National Genealogical Society (NGS). The entire genealogical community is invited to participate in this project. Through annual elections to the Hall of Fame, we honor those individuals of the past who made significant contributions to genealogy and set the high standards by which we work today.

Would your society like to honor a genealogist whose unique, pioneering, or exemplary work lives on today? Perhaps there was a notable genealogist in your state or county whose name should be memorialized in the National Genealogy Hall of Fame. If so, NGS and the National Genealogy Hall of Fame would like to hear from you. We are seeking nominations from the entire genealogical community for persons whose achievements or contributions have made an impact on the field. This educational program increases appreciation of the dedication and useful advancements achieved by committed genealogists whose work paved the way for researchers today. This is an opportunity for your nominee to receive National exposure for their contributions to genealogy.

A nomination for election to the National Genealogy Hall of Fame must be made by a genealogical society or similar organization on the official nomination form and National Genealogical Society (NGS) affiliation is not required of nominees, nominating societies, or electors. Thirty-four outstanding genealogists have been recognized for their contributions since 1986. Those elected are permanently commemorated in the virtual Hall of Fame on the NGS website. 
The formal Call for Nominations and the Nomination Form can be downloaded from the NGS website.

NGS 2020 Family History Conference Program Now Online

Program Now Online for 

NGS 2020 Family History Conference

The program for the National Genealogical Society's 2020 Family History Conference, to be held 20-23 May 2020 in Salt Lake City, Utah, is now available online and as a downloadable sixteen-page brochure.

This year’s program, Echoes of Our Ancestors, will feature a variety of lecture tracks and topics on

• DNA
• Heritage 
• Immigration and Migration 
• Records 
• Religion 
• Resources and Research Techniques 
• Women 

In addition to lectures that focus on tracing ancestors of European descent, attendees will discover lectures on African American, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, and Polynesian ancestry.

The Board for Certification of Genealogists will again sponsor a skillbuilding track. Conference participants may also enroll in workshops on specialized collections at the world’s largest genealogical library. In all, the conference will offer family historians and genealogists more than 175 lectures, an array of social events, several workshops, and a family history expo with more than seventy exhibitors.

The program will begin with Dani Shapiro, author of Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love, who has spent a lifetime writing fiction and memoirs about the corrosive power of secrets within families. She stumbled on a secret of her own: her beloved father was not her biological father. As she writes in Inheritance, “I always knew there was a secret. What I didn’t know: the secret was me.”

The conference will take place at the Salt Palace Convention Center. Registration opens on 2 December 2019. NGS has planned a number of special events with limited seating, so register on 2 December, or as soon as possible thereafter, if you plan to attend any of these events.

To learn more about our special events, see the conference brochure and our program. Participants also will want to sign up early for tickets to the NGS banquet on Friday evening, featuring Steffani Raff, an award-winning storyteller, who will take us on a journey through the history of women’s suffrage.

For up-to-date information about the availability, amenities, and rates for conference hotels, visit the conference website. Be sure to sign up for the NGS conference blog so you do not miss conference news or announcements.