Last weekend I attended the Fairfax Genealogical Society’s Spring Conference, “Putting the Pieces Together.” I didn’t have much research time this week, so I’ll focus on what I learned at the conference.
The Saturday presentations were divided into four tracks of four presentations each. I chose the “Putting the Pieces Together” track, since it focused on some of the skills I need at this point in my research. This and the “Western European Research” track were shared by Warren Bittner and Leslie Albrecht Huber. The four presentations I attended were “Putting the Pieces Together: An Urban Case Study” by Bittner, “The Journey Takers” by Huber, “Welcome to the Library: Reading to Put Your Ancestors Into Historical Context” by Bittner, and “Understanding and Researching Illegitimacy: The Bittner Bastards of Bavaria” by Bittner. This last one was actually in the Western European Research track, but I found it to be a good illustration of many of the points from “Welcome to the Library.”
“Putting the Pieces Together” centered on research in New York City, so many of the techniques discussed will help in researching my husband’s family. Bittner covered a wide range of resources to check, but singled out city directories as an invaluable resource, particularly when no joy is to be found in the census. He showed how knowing where an ancestor lived and worked from year to year could be used in “reasonably exhaustive research.”
Before attending Leslie’s “The Journey Takers” I bought a copy of her book of the same name, and the lecture definitely whetted my appetite to get started on the book. I loved Leslie’s descriptions of how her obsession with her family’s history led her to immerse herself as completely as possible by spending time in Germany and often doing research under less than favorable circumstances. The historical background she provided in this presentation reinforced Warren’s points in the next lecture about learning everything you can about the time and place in which your ancestors lived.
“Welcome to the Library” was a truly inspirational presentation; during the break I spoke with a lady sitting next to me, and we both agreed that we couldn’t wait to dig into some of the historical and sociological resources pertaining to our ancestors. In addition to giving an extensive list of the types of history books to read, Bittner emphasized that “A good family history should also be a good microhistory.” I love this idea and am becoming a huge fan of microhistory. Bittner also spoke about the lasting effect exerted by certain seminal works of microhistory.
In the “Bitter Bastards” presentation, Bittner pulled all the threads together and illustrated how studies have demonstrated which factors influence legitimacy and which factors (surprisingly) do not. One of his main points was that when we research our ancestors, particularly those from a time and location distant from our own, we must throw out all preconceived notions about how our ancestors lived and how they viewed things, particularly those notions which are based on how we live and how we view things; we usually project too much of ourselves and our own experience.
In theme and content these presentations were beautifully woven together, and I came away with both inspiration and new knowledge and ideas for my research.
Showing posts with label Fairfax Genealogical Society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fairfax Genealogical Society. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
In Defense of Genealogical Societies
Or, to be more precise, in defense of my local genealogical society. Which is to say, I would like to write about what my genealogical society is doing right.
Several bloggers have recently posted their reasons for quitting or not joining their local genealogical societies. This may a symptom of the downward trend in overall genealogical society membership, one which is especially noticeable for societies that are not welcoming, especially to younger people and “noobs,” or do not do programming that reflects advances in technology, online resources, and social networking that can be used to advance our research.
At the same time, however, we see some genealogical societies with active programming and involvement and a very visible online presence to promote their activities; several of the blogs I follow are for genealogical societies, for example. Two that are probably familiar to readers are the Southern California Genealogical Society and the Illinois State Genealogical Society, and readers can probably name at least several more.
I would include my local society, the Fairfax Genealogical Society (FxGS), in this group.
What does FxGS do to attract and keep members?
It starts at the beginning of our monthly meetings, which take place on the fourth Thursday of September through through May, except for December. The Society President’s welcoming remarks include asking that people who are attending for the first time stand up, introduce themselves, and indicate the geographical areas (states or countries) where their research is focused. They are welcomed and given information on the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) that would be relevant to their research. If the SIG leaders are present, they are asked to stand up so that the new attendees can get in touch with them after the meeting.
There are quite a few SIGs: Beginners, BCG, Carolinas and Georgia, Methodology, Family History Writing, German, Irish, Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern, New England, New York, NGS Home Study Course, Old Dominion, Pennsylvania, Speakers, Surnames Projects and Genetic Genealogy, and Technology. Some of these SIGs are currently in need of leaders, it is true, but usually if there is enough interest someone will step up. I attended one of the SIG meetings held in the local Family History Center, and it was quite lively! We sat at computer monitors while the SIG leader introduced us to some new databases and provided tips on successfully navigating the databases. Afterward several people shared brickwall problems and we all brainstormed possible solutions.
On the Saturdays following the monthly meetings there is a two-hour education class which may take the form of a lecture or workshop. Each year there are usually beginning and advanced brickwall workshops.
In March the FxGS holds a Spring Conference (Friday night and Saturday) and in October there is a Fall Fair (Saturday). Vendors are present at both events, and the conference includes four tracks (one is always a beginner-level track) with speakers, workshops, and consultations.
The Society also organizes field trips; destinations have included the Library of Congress, DAR, NARA, Library of Virginia, and Pennsylvania research facilities as well as introductory sessions at the local Family History Center. In the past members have traveled as a group on Salt Lake City tours, and the Society often has a table at FGS and NGS events as well as other genealogical society events.
FxGS is involved at both the institutional and member level in a number of volunteer projects: tombstone transcription, 1812 Pension Files, Colonial Census Substitute, and Family Search indexing, to name a few. The Society solicits and delivers donations to a number of genealogical causes, including the Virginia Room of the Fairfax County Public Library, and cooperates with other local societies, such as the Mount Vernon Genealogical Society, to keep track of and publicize all local history and genealogy events.
FxGS has a website, blog (hi, Myrt!), a Facebook presence, and a newsletter that can be received in electronic and/or paper form. Members receive regular e-mail notification, including downloadable syllabi, for upcoming meetings and events. The website has maps and instructions that are also aimed at helping out-of-towners find their way to events.
All of these things would be nice but not enough to retain members were it not for the friendly and welcoming attitude of FxGS members. The Society has a large number of professionals as well as highly skilled and devoted amateurs. Yet they welcome newcomers and novices and have dedicated programming for the beginner level. When I take the initiative to introduce myself, I always get a friendly reply and usually end up in a good conversation on subjects such as research trips, brick walls, and interests.
No society, of course, is perfect. As I mentioned, not all leadership spots are always filled. The Society does have the usual skewing toward the gray end of the age spectrum, and people retire, move away, and unfortunately become physically no longer able to maintain their previous level of activity. Nevertheless, there are some relatively young people in some of the leadership spots and people “pinch hit” when they can.
Smaller local genealogical societies may not be able to emulate the larger ones such as FxGS in every aspect, but could perhaps do a few of these things (especially the welcoming part!) and might think of joining up with other local societies for some of the online alternatives that have been proposed recently, such as webinars and combined online resources. Denise Olson at Moultrie Creek Gazette has written about this in “Is It Time for a Virtual Genealogy Society?”
I continue to believe that genealogical societies can be one of the primary vehicles for continuing genealogical education and hope that by adapting, looking for new approaches, and combining resources, they will be able to survive.
Several bloggers have recently posted their reasons for quitting or not joining their local genealogical societies. This may a symptom of the downward trend in overall genealogical society membership, one which is especially noticeable for societies that are not welcoming, especially to younger people and “noobs,” or do not do programming that reflects advances in technology, online resources, and social networking that can be used to advance our research.
At the same time, however, we see some genealogical societies with active programming and involvement and a very visible online presence to promote their activities; several of the blogs I follow are for genealogical societies, for example. Two that are probably familiar to readers are the Southern California Genealogical Society and the Illinois State Genealogical Society, and readers can probably name at least several more.
I would include my local society, the Fairfax Genealogical Society (FxGS), in this group.
What does FxGS do to attract and keep members?
It starts at the beginning of our monthly meetings, which take place on the fourth Thursday of September through through May, except for December. The Society President’s welcoming remarks include asking that people who are attending for the first time stand up, introduce themselves, and indicate the geographical areas (states or countries) where their research is focused. They are welcomed and given information on the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) that would be relevant to their research. If the SIG leaders are present, they are asked to stand up so that the new attendees can get in touch with them after the meeting.
There are quite a few SIGs: Beginners, BCG, Carolinas and Georgia, Methodology, Family History Writing, German, Irish, Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern, New England, New York, NGS Home Study Course, Old Dominion, Pennsylvania, Speakers, Surnames Projects and Genetic Genealogy, and Technology. Some of these SIGs are currently in need of leaders, it is true, but usually if there is enough interest someone will step up. I attended one of the SIG meetings held in the local Family History Center, and it was quite lively! We sat at computer monitors while the SIG leader introduced us to some new databases and provided tips on successfully navigating the databases. Afterward several people shared brickwall problems and we all brainstormed possible solutions.
On the Saturdays following the monthly meetings there is a two-hour education class which may take the form of a lecture or workshop. Each year there are usually beginning and advanced brickwall workshops.
In March the FxGS holds a Spring Conference (Friday night and Saturday) and in October there is a Fall Fair (Saturday). Vendors are present at both events, and the conference includes four tracks (one is always a beginner-level track) with speakers, workshops, and consultations.
The Society also organizes field trips; destinations have included the Library of Congress, DAR, NARA, Library of Virginia, and Pennsylvania research facilities as well as introductory sessions at the local Family History Center. In the past members have traveled as a group on Salt Lake City tours, and the Society often has a table at FGS and NGS events as well as other genealogical society events.
FxGS is involved at both the institutional and member level in a number of volunteer projects: tombstone transcription, 1812 Pension Files, Colonial Census Substitute, and Family Search indexing, to name a few. The Society solicits and delivers donations to a number of genealogical causes, including the Virginia Room of the Fairfax County Public Library, and cooperates with other local societies, such as the Mount Vernon Genealogical Society, to keep track of and publicize all local history and genealogy events.
FxGS has a website, blog (hi, Myrt!), a Facebook presence, and a newsletter that can be received in electronic and/or paper form. Members receive regular e-mail notification, including downloadable syllabi, for upcoming meetings and events. The website has maps and instructions that are also aimed at helping out-of-towners find their way to events.
All of these things would be nice but not enough to retain members were it not for the friendly and welcoming attitude of FxGS members. The Society has a large number of professionals as well as highly skilled and devoted amateurs. Yet they welcome newcomers and novices and have dedicated programming for the beginner level. When I take the initiative to introduce myself, I always get a friendly reply and usually end up in a good conversation on subjects such as research trips, brick walls, and interests.
No society, of course, is perfect. As I mentioned, not all leadership spots are always filled. The Society does have the usual skewing toward the gray end of the age spectrum, and people retire, move away, and unfortunately become physically no longer able to maintain their previous level of activity. Nevertheless, there are some relatively young people in some of the leadership spots and people “pinch hit” when they can.
Smaller local genealogical societies may not be able to emulate the larger ones such as FxGS in every aspect, but could perhaps do a few of these things (especially the welcoming part!) and might think of joining up with other local societies for some of the online alternatives that have been proposed recently, such as webinars and combined online resources. Denise Olson at Moultrie Creek Gazette has written about this in “Is It Time for a Virtual Genealogy Society?”
I continue to believe that genealogical societies can be one of the primary vehicles for continuing genealogical education and hope that by adapting, looking for new approaches, and combining resources, they will be able to survive.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Diane Giannini to Speak at 27 January 2011 Meeting of Fairfax Genealogical Society
At the monthly meeting of the Fairfax Genealogical Society at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 27, 2011, Diane Giannini, CG, will deliver a presentation on "Researching at the Library of Congress in Your Jammies!"
The meeting will be held in the Lecture Room of the Kilmer Middle School, 8100 Wolf Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia 22182.
From the monthly newsletter of the Fairfax Genealogical Society:
"One of the best untapped and free online websites for genealogists is the Library of Congress. This session presents the various resources which are available to researchers at the library without leaving the comfort of their home.
"Diane L. Giannini, CG, has been a professional genealogist since 2004 and received her certification in 2008. Diane's specialty is Colonial Maryland Land Records as well as Maryland and Northern Virginia Records. Another area of interest is migration between Virginia and Ohio. She is past president of the Charles County Maryland Genealogical Society and is a member of Fairfax Genealogy Society and an active member of several state and local genealogical societies."
The meeting will be held in the Lecture Room of the Kilmer Middle School, 8100 Wolf Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia 22182.
From the monthly newsletter of the Fairfax Genealogical Society:
"One of the best untapped and free online websites for genealogists is the Library of Congress. This session presents the various resources which are available to researchers at the library without leaving the comfort of their home.
"Diane L. Giannini, CG, has been a professional genealogist since 2004 and received her certification in 2008. Diane's specialty is Colonial Maryland Land Records as well as Maryland and Northern Virginia Records. Another area of interest is migration between Virginia and Ohio. She is past president of the Charles County Maryland Genealogical Society and is a member of Fairfax Genealogy Society and an active member of several state and local genealogical societies."
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Char McCargo Bah Speaks at Fairfax Genealogical Society Meeting
On 27 May Char McCargo Bah, a noted genealogist who specializes in African-American genealogy, spoke at the May meeting of the Fairfax Genealogical Society. Her topic was “Locating Slave Owners – It Is in the Details.”
Char led us through three different case studies, one of which centered on the search for the ancestors of a free black man who married a slave. The attendees followed each step and revelation in the research with rapt attention, which confirmed my suspicion that while genealogists enjoy educational presentations of all types, their favorite is always the case study.
Char emphasized that in researching slave ancestry, it is necessary to make use of every last detail, because there is often such a scarcity of information. Nevertheless, it was surprising how many sources she checked into and how much information she was able to turn up in these cases. Another surprising piece of information was that ex-slaves sometimes “flip-flopped” in choosing a surname after emancipation; this was sometimes due to connections to more than one slave-owning family. In the 1870 and 1880 censuses, this makes it necessary to focus on first names and locations.
Both attendees searching for slave ancestors and those trying to find out more about their slave-owning ancestors had plenty of questions for Char after the presentation. She was able to give us some good pointers to guide our research and we also exchanged some information with one another. One avenue I will try is to search in ascertaining whether or not my ancestor George Floyd was actually a slave-owner is the 1860-65 tax records at the Dallas Public Library. If there is one overriding them I took away from the presentation, it is to be persistent and patient and turn over every single stone.
Char led us through three different case studies, one of which centered on the search for the ancestors of a free black man who married a slave. The attendees followed each step and revelation in the research with rapt attention, which confirmed my suspicion that while genealogists enjoy educational presentations of all types, their favorite is always the case study.
Char emphasized that in researching slave ancestry, it is necessary to make use of every last detail, because there is often such a scarcity of information. Nevertheless, it was surprising how many sources she checked into and how much information she was able to turn up in these cases. Another surprising piece of information was that ex-slaves sometimes “flip-flopped” in choosing a surname after emancipation; this was sometimes due to connections to more than one slave-owning family. In the 1870 and 1880 censuses, this makes it necessary to focus on first names and locations.
Both attendees searching for slave ancestors and those trying to find out more about their slave-owning ancestors had plenty of questions for Char after the presentation. She was able to give us some good pointers to guide our research and we also exchanged some information with one another. One avenue I will try is to search in ascertaining whether or not my ancestor George Floyd was actually a slave-owner is the 1860-65 tax records at the Dallas Public Library. If there is one overriding them I took away from the presentation, it is to be persistent and patient and turn over every single stone.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Char McCargo Bah to Speak at Fairfax Genealogical Society Meeting May 27, 2010
The featured speaker at the general membership meeting of the Fairfax Genealogical Society for May will be Char McCargo Bah, noted genealogist and expert in Afro-American history and genealogy. Her topic will be “Locating Slave Owners: It Is in the Details.” According to the summary of the presentation on the Society’s website:
“The purpose of this presentation is to provide several examples in examining the details in records to locate slave owners. The records that will be discussed are census records, death certificates, marriages certificates, church records and other records to locate slave owners.
The meeting will start at 7:30 and will be held in the lecture hall of Kilmer Middle School, 8100 Wolf Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia. You can find out more about Char McCargo Bah’s background in genealogy and a link to a map to Kilmer Middle School here.
“The purpose of this presentation is to provide several examples in examining the details in records to locate slave owners. The records that will be discussed are census records, death certificates, marriages certificates, church records and other records to locate slave owners.
The meeting will start at 7:30 and will be held in the lecture hall of Kilmer Middle School, 8100 Wolf Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia. You can find out more about Char McCargo Bah’s background in genealogy and a link to a map to Kilmer Middle School here.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Spring Conference of the Fairfax Genealogical Society
Some scenes from the vendor area of the ConferenceToday was an activity-packed second day at the Spring Conference of the Fairfax Genealogical Society. There was also Conference programming Friday afternoon and evening: individual consultations with Conference speakers, an Advanced workshop with Thomas W. Jones, CG (which unfortunately was already all filled up by the time I registered), and a presentation entitled “What is Britain?” by Audrey Collins.
In addition to another two workshops with Thomas Jones (also filled up by the time I registered) and two lunch-time mini-sessions (“Ancestry.com World Archives Project” and “Family Search Indexing Project”) with Jennifer Dondero, today there were three tracks with four lectures each: “Basic Research” with Sharon Hodges, “Research in England” with Audrey Collins, and Mid-Atlantic Colonial Research” with Charles S. Mason, Jr. I attended the two morning sessions of Mid-Atlantic Colonial Research and the two afternoon sessions (Courthouse Research and Original Records) of Basic Research. Both had lots of information that is new to me in areas where I really need to sharpen my research skills, so that alone would have been worth the modest price of admission.
But there was more! There were, of course vendors, and when I arrived bright and early at the opening time of 8:00, they were already in full swing (note for next year: remember to arrive early!). I hit one of my favorites first: Dr. A. Bruce Pruitt, who has lots of materials on North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, including a number of deed abstract books and map books he has compiled for various districts or counties of these states. The three books I bought from him last year have been hugely helpful in my research, so this was where I focused my purchases this year, in contrast to last year, when I was buying more how-to, citation, and terminology books. He is very knowledgeable about the history of these areas and the nature and location of all different types of documents of genealogical relevance and is very generous with sharing his knowledge; stopping to talk with him is like getting another educational session.
Elsewhere I picked up Courthouse Research for Family Historians by Christine Rose, William Dollarhide’s Census Substitutes & State Census Records Volume 2 – Western States, and, in return for a contribution to the Society, a number of back issues of genealogy magazines. Below is a picture of my “geek” purchase for the day.
And, to counter my trend of never winning anything, I actually won a book – Fairfax County: Historical Highlights from 1607. So now I can’t say that I’ve never won anything.
My rating: A very enjoyable, genealogy-filled day! I’m still hoping to make it to Knoxville this year for the FGS Conference, and I learned at the NGS table today that their 2011 conference is to be held in Charleston, South Carolina (yippee!).
My geek purchase for the day: a lovely wooden bookmark with "Cite Your Source" carved in it
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
My Favorite Genealogical Society
What's your favorite genealogical society?
Do you belong to a society?
Tell us why! Or if not, why not?
The Fairfax Genealogical Society is so far the only genealogy society I have joined. Since I joined in Octobeer 2008, in addition to attending the regular meetings, I have participated in the following events sponsored by the Society: three field trips (Family History Center, Library of Congress, and NARA), one two-day genealogy conference, and two brick wall workshops. There were many other field trips, educational programs, and Special Interest Group meetings I could have attended as well. That’s a lot for $22 a year.
The Society works with the Fairfax County Main Library on various projects and provides the Library’s Virginia Room with genealogical books (not just on Virginia subjects) purchased with member donations. Members have participated in cemetery surveys and indexes, a Colonial census substitute project, a Fairfax County War of 1812 soldiers and veterans database, transcriptions and compilations of Fairfax County Revolutionary War muster lists, and many other projects. There is a monthly newsletter, a surname exchange list, and a calendar of upcoming local genealogical events for the area (Virginia, Maryland, and more).
The Society has a good number of members (400-500) and many are active members. There are quite a few professional genealogists and highly knowledgeable amateurs among their ranks; there are SIGs for the Board for Certification of Genealogists and for the NGS home study course.
The Fairfax Genealogical Society is not totally immune to some of the problems that plague genealogy societies these days – aging membership and a volunteer position here and there that goes untilled for a while. However, the enthusiasm and hard work of the volunteers keep the momentum up and new members are introduced at every meeting.
These are a few of the many reasons that the Fairfax Genealogical Society was the first genealogical society for me to join. It won’t be the last; I plan to join others, but gradually so that I can keep my “genealogy expenses” under control. Some societies that I plan to join are: the National Genealogical Society, Collin County Genealogical Society, North Texas Genealogical Association, the Greenville and Anderson Chapters of the South Carolina Genealogical Society, and Dallas Genealogical Society.
Submitted for the 82nd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
SNGF: Genealogical Threes
Three words: Fun, fun, fun! The latest Saturday Night Genealogy Fun proposed by Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings involves a little bit of stock-taking and a little bit of daydreaming.
1) Tell us your three responses to the questions:
2) Post your responses as comments to this blog post, in your own blog, or in a Facebook comment.
* Three genealogical libraries I frequent:
1. McLean Family History Center, McLean, Virginia
2. Fairfax County Library Main Branch in Fairfax City, Virginia (excellent genealogy resources, both local and regional, long history of working with Fairfax Genealogical Society, of which some employees are members)
3. Library of Congress (OK, so I’ve only been there a couple of times)
* Three places I've visited on genealogy trips:
None. I have visited several local repositories with my genealogical society, but have not yet made any road trips to do research, although I desperately want to (South Carolina, Texas, and Illinois probably being my first three choices for road trips). These trips will take time and money and my kids are still at a stage where I don’t have enough of either, yet.
* Three genealogy societies I belong to (or want to):
1. Fairfax Genealogical Society
2. National Genealogical Society (want to)
3. Collin County Texas Genealogical Society (want to - hard to choose among the local ones, but this one has fabulous resources, works closely with the local library, and has helped me with research in return for modest contributions to the library)
* Three websites that help my research
(Another difficult one to narrow down to three):
1. Ancestry.com
2. Family Search Record Search
3. Greenville County SC Historical Records Search (so close on this one with Greenville County Library System and South Carolina Department of Archives and History)
* Three ancestral graves that I've visited:
None. See excuse for “genealogy trips.”
* Three ancestral places I want to visit:
1. The Upcountry of South Carolina
2. Four corners area of Texas (Collin, Fannin, Grayson, and Hunt counties, and oh, Dallas is right next to them)
3. Greene and Jersey counties in Illinois (I’m counting this as one because my ancestors were actually in the Jersey County part but it was Greene County when they lived there)
* Three brickwall ancestors I want to research more:
1. Susan Elizabeth Smith Bonner Brinlee
2. Samuel Moore of Greenville County, South Carolina, d. 1828
3. John T. Brindley of Kentucky, d. 1823 in Caldwell County – probably the father of Hiram and George Brinlee, the brothers from whom all known Brinlees are descended.
Thanks, Randy!
1) Tell us your three responses to the questions:
2) Post your responses as comments to this blog post, in your own blog, or in a Facebook comment.
* Three genealogical libraries I frequent:
1. McLean Family History Center, McLean, Virginia
2. Fairfax County Library Main Branch in Fairfax City, Virginia (excellent genealogy resources, both local and regional, long history of working with Fairfax Genealogical Society, of which some employees are members)
3. Library of Congress (OK, so I’ve only been there a couple of times)
* Three places I've visited on genealogy trips:
None. I have visited several local repositories with my genealogical society, but have not yet made any road trips to do research, although I desperately want to (South Carolina, Texas, and Illinois probably being my first three choices for road trips). These trips will take time and money and my kids are still at a stage where I don’t have enough of either, yet.
* Three genealogy societies I belong to (or want to):
1. Fairfax Genealogical Society
2. National Genealogical Society (want to)
3. Collin County Texas Genealogical Society (want to - hard to choose among the local ones, but this one has fabulous resources, works closely with the local library, and has helped me with research in return for modest contributions to the library)
* Three websites that help my research
(Another difficult one to narrow down to three):
1. Ancestry.com
2. Family Search Record Search
3. Greenville County SC Historical Records Search (so close on this one with Greenville County Library System and South Carolina Department of Archives and History)
* Three ancestral graves that I've visited:
None. See excuse for “genealogy trips.”
* Three ancestral places I want to visit:
1. The Upcountry of South Carolina
2. Four corners area of Texas (Collin, Fannin, Grayson, and Hunt counties, and oh, Dallas is right next to them)
3. Greene and Jersey counties in Illinois (I’m counting this as one because my ancestors were actually in the Jersey County part but it was Greene County when they lived there)
* Three brickwall ancestors I want to research more:
1. Susan Elizabeth Smith Bonner Brinlee
2. Samuel Moore of Greenville County, South Carolina, d. 1828
3. John T. Brindley of Kentucky, d. 1823 in Caldwell County – probably the father of Hiram and George Brinlee, the brothers from whom all known Brinlees are descended.
Thanks, Randy!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Spring Conference of the Fairfax Genealogical Society
For work and family reasons I have started to fall behind on various blogging prompts and planned articles; in addition, this weekend I attended the Spring Conference of the Fairfax Genealogical Society, held at the Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks Mall. I’ll tackle a report on that event first and hope to catch up on other posts later this week. (Madness Monday will probably be Wacko Wednesday, for instance.)
This year for the first time, Fairfax Genealogical Society sponsored a Friday evening session of the Conference, and selected a fabulous presentation to inaugurate the new feature: Google Earth for Genealogists by Pam and Rick Sayre. The conference room for this event was packed on a rainy Friday night, and attendees were bowled over by a spectacular presentation involving dual screens. Rick handled the PowerPoint screen describing the processes involved in various aspects of Google Earth that can be used for genealogy, while Pam did a live demonstration on Google Earth. It was fascinating to see how Google Earth has added certain features called “layers” (pictures, boundaries, etc.), while the individual user can add items (“overlays”) such as maps. If you ever have a chance to see this presentation at a genealogy conference, you must definitely go see what Google Earth has to offer by way of genealogy-related applications.
The Conference schedule indicated that on Saturday the vendor displays would be open for business at 8:00, an hour before the day’s presentations were to begin. This is the first genealogy conference I have ever attended and I live nearby, so I did not worry about getting there at 8:00 on the dot. I arrived at about 8:15, and attendees were already swarming the vendor tables. However, ample time was left open during the day in between presentations to examine the displays and wares. I headed for the first one to hit my eye, Heritage Books. Here again, as a newbie, I was not prepared. That is to say, my resistance was low. I bought. Lots. Of. Books. Next time, I hope to have a little more self-control. Make that a lot more self-control.
I chose to take a counterclockwise route around the displays, so that it was later in the day when I found the vendor table with items specifically for one of my high-priority areas, South Carolina. This was the table for Bruce Pruitt Books, which includes a number of materials and compilations by Dr. Pruitt as well as some by Brent Holcombe covering the Carolinas and Tennessee (if you do serious research in these areas, these guys are true celebrities). Dr. Pruitt was there himself, and was very courteous and helpful in finding the materials I needed and giving me advice on where to find other kinds of information relevant to my research. There were several other tables with books for sale, but a large proportion of the area-specific books covered Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
Conference presentations on Saturday were divided into four tracks, with four presentations in each: Basic Research Techniques with Chuck Mason, Finding Germans in Germany with John Humphrey, Land Records at the National Archives with Claire Bettag, and Electronic Organization with Carole Magnuson, Liz Kerstens and Pam Sayre. I split my day, attending the Land Records at NARA lectures in the morning and the Electronic Organization lectures in the afternoon.
Each attendee was given 40 tickets to drop into bags around the vendor area to compete for a number of very nice door prizes (I did not win any). One of the prizes for which I dumped in a lot of tickets was three hours of lookups at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, which was sponsored by Dear Myrtle, who was one of our celebrity attendees.
The conference was very well organized, and the balance of time devoted to presentations relative to “down time” was just about perfect. This is an event that I will definitely put on my calendar every year.
(If I go this crazy at a local conference, I’m not sure anyone should let me near a national conference.)
This year for the first time, Fairfax Genealogical Society sponsored a Friday evening session of the Conference, and selected a fabulous presentation to inaugurate the new feature: Google Earth for Genealogists by Pam and Rick Sayre. The conference room for this event was packed on a rainy Friday night, and attendees were bowled over by a spectacular presentation involving dual screens. Rick handled the PowerPoint screen describing the processes involved in various aspects of Google Earth that can be used for genealogy, while Pam did a live demonstration on Google Earth. It was fascinating to see how Google Earth has added certain features called “layers” (pictures, boundaries, etc.), while the individual user can add items (“overlays”) such as maps. If you ever have a chance to see this presentation at a genealogy conference, you must definitely go see what Google Earth has to offer by way of genealogy-related applications.
The Conference schedule indicated that on Saturday the vendor displays would be open for business at 8:00, an hour before the day’s presentations were to begin. This is the first genealogy conference I have ever attended and I live nearby, so I did not worry about getting there at 8:00 on the dot. I arrived at about 8:15, and attendees were already swarming the vendor tables. However, ample time was left open during the day in between presentations to examine the displays and wares. I headed for the first one to hit my eye, Heritage Books. Here again, as a newbie, I was not prepared. That is to say, my resistance was low. I bought. Lots. Of. Books. Next time, I hope to have a little more self-control. Make that a lot more self-control.
I chose to take a counterclockwise route around the displays, so that it was later in the day when I found the vendor table with items specifically for one of my high-priority areas, South Carolina. This was the table for Bruce Pruitt Books, which includes a number of materials and compilations by Dr. Pruitt as well as some by Brent Holcombe covering the Carolinas and Tennessee (if you do serious research in these areas, these guys are true celebrities). Dr. Pruitt was there himself, and was very courteous and helpful in finding the materials I needed and giving me advice on where to find other kinds of information relevant to my research. There were several other tables with books for sale, but a large proportion of the area-specific books covered Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
Conference presentations on Saturday were divided into four tracks, with four presentations in each: Basic Research Techniques with Chuck Mason, Finding Germans in Germany with John Humphrey, Land Records at the National Archives with Claire Bettag, and Electronic Organization with Carole Magnuson, Liz Kerstens and Pam Sayre. I split my day, attending the Land Records at NARA lectures in the morning and the Electronic Organization lectures in the afternoon.
Each attendee was given 40 tickets to drop into bags around the vendor area to compete for a number of very nice door prizes (I did not win any). One of the prizes for which I dumped in a lot of tickets was three hours of lookups at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, which was sponsored by Dear Myrtle, who was one of our celebrity attendees.
The conference was very well organized, and the balance of time devoted to presentations relative to “down time” was just about perfect. This is an event that I will definitely put on my calendar every year.
(If I go this crazy at a local conference, I’m not sure anyone should let me near a national conference.)
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Fairfax Genealogical Society: Surname Distribution
This week’s blogging prompt is: Talk about highlights and events from your local genealogy society. I had hoped to address this subject by writing about my visit on Tuesday, arranged and sponsored by the Fairfax Genealogical Society, to the National Archives and Records Administration. Unfortunately, snow and cold happened in the Washington, D.C. area and so the field trip did not happen.
So, I decided to write instead about the presentation given at our last Society meeting on 26 February: Surname Distribution, delivered by Leslie Dalley Bouvier. (And this is another twofer, since this is also Celebrate Your Name Week, which I am using as an excuse to talk about names in general.) Leslie spoke about how to use surname distribution in our research and provided some names and locations of both ready-made surname distribution maps and fee-based services. These include Ancestry, which will fill in the maps based on federal censuses if you input the name (the different services use different databases to compile the maps). In Ancestry, you can do these maps in the Learning Center section under Facts About Your Surname: Name Distribution. I did find, however, that they appear to be available only for the 1840, 1880, and 1920 censuses.
Leslie suggested two main uses for these maps: (1) An interesting illustration to add to reports on family research, and (2) a way to get ideas for where to start searching for a difficult family line, adding the caveat that the maps’ usefulness for number (2) would depend on how many different data points were used and the accuracy of the transcription of the names. She also suggests that a researcher compare surnames, including those of ancestors’ neighbors, over time to ascertain whether they might have followed similar migration paths.
This in turn brought up an issue that I have been aware of since getting heavily involved in family research: common names versus uncommon names. For my own research, I have found that the less common names in my family lines have tended to be the ones that have been the subject of the most research/most intensive research, and I think this is because their uniqueness makes it easier to track them and distinguish related versus unrelated lines. And since I choose to research the least researched lines, this means that the main names I am researching are Moore and Lewis, with Smith as my great brick wall. This does not mean that I neglect my Brinlee and Highsmith lines, but I know that a lot of good research has already been done on them and I’ll be filling in the holes (such as the Brinlee trials for murder). So this somewhat limits the usefulness of surname distribution maps in my research.
On the other hand, I have to admit that there are exceptions to this “rule,” which is not really a rule but simply a general trend in the anecdotal evidence that I have. For instance, on my husband’s lines, which are all mid- to late nineteenth century immigrant lines, European surname distribution maps would probably be helpful. One of the brick walls I am having trouble with for his family is Fichtelman(n), which isn’t a common name. This may be a common occurrence for more recent European immigrants, since tracking ancestors back to Europe is usually more difficult, no matter how common or uncommon the name is. And the likelihood of these names being misspelled, especially the uncommon ones, increases that difficulty. So I will probably be using this tool for some of the names in my husband’s family: Koehl, Fichtelmann, Lochner, Terrana, Davi, D’Arco, and Terzo, though perhaps not for Greenberg. And I’ll give Leslie’s tip on the neighbor names a try for my “common name” ancestors.
So, I decided to write instead about the presentation given at our last Society meeting on 26 February: Surname Distribution, delivered by Leslie Dalley Bouvier. (And this is another twofer, since this is also Celebrate Your Name Week, which I am using as an excuse to talk about names in general.) Leslie spoke about how to use surname distribution in our research and provided some names and locations of both ready-made surname distribution maps and fee-based services. These include Ancestry, which will fill in the maps based on federal censuses if you input the name (the different services use different databases to compile the maps). In Ancestry, you can do these maps in the Learning Center section under Facts About Your Surname: Name Distribution. I did find, however, that they appear to be available only for the 1840, 1880, and 1920 censuses.
Leslie suggested two main uses for these maps: (1) An interesting illustration to add to reports on family research, and (2) a way to get ideas for where to start searching for a difficult family line, adding the caveat that the maps’ usefulness for number (2) would depend on how many different data points were used and the accuracy of the transcription of the names. She also suggests that a researcher compare surnames, including those of ancestors’ neighbors, over time to ascertain whether they might have followed similar migration paths.
This in turn brought up an issue that I have been aware of since getting heavily involved in family research: common names versus uncommon names. For my own research, I have found that the less common names in my family lines have tended to be the ones that have been the subject of the most research/most intensive research, and I think this is because their uniqueness makes it easier to track them and distinguish related versus unrelated lines. And since I choose to research the least researched lines, this means that the main names I am researching are Moore and Lewis, with Smith as my great brick wall. This does not mean that I neglect my Brinlee and Highsmith lines, but I know that a lot of good research has already been done on them and I’ll be filling in the holes (such as the Brinlee trials for murder). So this somewhat limits the usefulness of surname distribution maps in my research.
On the other hand, I have to admit that there are exceptions to this “rule,” which is not really a rule but simply a general trend in the anecdotal evidence that I have. For instance, on my husband’s lines, which are all mid- to late nineteenth century immigrant lines, European surname distribution maps would probably be helpful. One of the brick walls I am having trouble with for his family is Fichtelman(n), which isn’t a common name. This may be a common occurrence for more recent European immigrants, since tracking ancestors back to Europe is usually more difficult, no matter how common or uncommon the name is. And the likelihood of these names being misspelled, especially the uncommon ones, increases that difficulty. So I will probably be using this tool for some of the names in my husband’s family: Koehl, Fichtelmann, Lochner, Terrana, Davi, D’Arco, and Terzo, though perhaps not for Greenberg. And I’ll give Leslie’s tip on the neighbor names a try for my “common name” ancestors.
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