ROOTSTECH 2020 ~ The classes I took and scenes from the conference–See you next year

Most of you know that, like other conferences, Rootstech provides an app for your mobile devices.  It’s a great way to keep track of your schedule, your friends, what’s currently going on at the conference and provides interactive maps to help you navigate.

I can look back at My Schedule now and see which classes I attended and review my notes.

 

For me, the conference isn’t necessarily about going to as many classes as I can.  I will choose the ones of most interest to me and spend the rest of my time either in the Expo Hall or over at the Family History Library.  It’s kind of like when Ron and I cruise.  We don’t like to be wall to wall busy every day.

Here are the classes I attended.  Each one was excellent.

QUICKLY FINDING COMMON ANCESTORS THROUGH DNA – Speaker – Robert Warthan

KICKING DNA UP A NOTCH TO UNMASK UNKNOWN ANCESTORS – Speaker – Roberta Estes

THE LEEDS METHOD: GROUPING DNA MATCHES TO IDENTIFY SHARED ANCESTORS – Speaker – Dana Leeds

ATTACKING 18th and 19th CENTURY MYSTERIES WITH DNA – Speaker – Blaine Bettinger

DNA CLUSTERS: POWER IN NUMBERS – Speaker – Randy Whited

3 COOL CASES SOLVED: HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR PHOTOS – Speaker – Lisa Louise Cooke

You might be saying, “you were at the conference for 4 days and only attended 6 classes?  Yup!  And I have no regrets about that.  Why?  Because many of the classes are available via the Virtual Pass that my friend Pam and I purchased.  We will be able to watch them at home, at our leisure.  When you been doing genealogy for many years and have attended a great many classes and conferences, you find that you can pick and choose the subjects that are most important to you.  In this case, it was clear that I wanted to learn as much as I could about working with my DNA matches.  In that respect, I succeeded.

During my free time I had a lot of fun visiting with friends and exploring the Expo Hall and revisiting the FHL hoping for one more good find.

My thanks to Pat Richley-Erickson & her husband, Gordon, for inviting me to their home.  What a wonderful group of people.  We sure laughed a lot.

Here are some scenes from the conference

The Family History Library with it's new sign

In front of the Salt Palace Conference Center holding the bag we all received

Dana Leeds

They had this wonderful story wall that all of us could write on

Devon Lee of Family History Fanatics

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings who received a Lifetime Achievement award from his "tribe" the Geneabloggers

Jonny Perl, creator of DNA Painer

Me standing next to the Mayflower replica - I've applied and am hoping to receive my official certificate of approval to the Mayflower Association in the next few months

The Expo Hall not long after it opened on Thursday - such a busy place

Pam Mohrman Paxton, Thomas MacEntee of Abundant Genealogy & me

Geoff Rasmussen from Legacy Family Tree Software and me

Marian Pierre-Louis, me and Pam

Randy Whited

Blaine Bettinger

Blaine doing what he does so well - teaching

At Pat Richley-Erickson's house - Judy Russell makes her entrance

Nathan Dylan Goodwin - author of The Forensic Genealogist and Mrs. McDougall Investigates series

Gathered in Pat & Gordon's basement 

A view from our room the morning I left.  It finally snowed.

Home sweet home - flying into San Diego with a view of the Coronado Bridge and the ocean

If you’d like to see a bunch of photos from the conference (way more than I took), please go to Roberta Estes blog Roots Tech 2020 - It's a Wrap

Until next year Rootstech – see you then.

All photos have been used with permission

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SEMINARS ~ A Day with Warren Bittner at the San Diego Genealogical Society

Warren Bittner, C.G.

There are many reasons to join a genealogy society.  Attending seminars and classes ranks high on that list.  To read more about why I believe it is important to belong to and support our genealogical societies read this post SEMINARS, WEBINARS, SOCIETIES–WILL THEY HELP YOUR RESEARCH?

Yesterday I attended our annual January seminar.  The San Diego Genealogical Society has been putting on twice a year seminars for, at least, the 10 years I’ve been a member.

 

Here’s the thing about classes or seminars.  Even though you may think the subject matter is not of interest, or not pertinent to your own research, you will ALWAYS learn something of value.

This seminar was the perfect example.  The subject was all about researching in German records.  I only have ONE line that is German.  At least so far.  That would be my 7th great grandparents Johannes WUNDERLICH and Anna Barbara DENSLER.  Read more about my Wunderlich family Family History Library Trip - Day 2 - A Red Letter Day! or Surname Saturday - Wunderlich - Johannes (1700-1760) my 7th great grandfather 

Here’s what I learned and why it’s of value and can be applied to other regions of the world.

Session 1 – Meyer’s Gazetteer:  Gateway to Germany 1871-1918

• This Gazetteer lists all towns in Germany as they existed in 1910
• You can find population data, political jurisdictions, transportations and communication information and whether the towns included “dependent” villages.

Mr. Bittner explained in excellent detail how to use this information and helped us to understand the various German words.  Decipher the colons and semi colons and break down all the great information included in this resource.

Here’s a new website that can help you get started.  And…the good news, all the levels of jurisdiction are given in English https://www.meyersgaz.com

WHY WOULD THIS INFORMATION BE OF VALUE IF I DON’T HAVE GERMAN ANCESTORS?

• Because Gazetteers can be found in many countries, including the United States – we learn the value of one, we are learning the value of all of them.  Certainly an underused resource in my genealogy journey.

Session 2 – German Maps and Territories (You can’t do research without them)

• An overview of German boundary changes – And let me tell you there have been plenty.  How do they affect your research?
• Techniques to find where any village would be on a map, even the very small villages.
• How to find a Nobility Region of a town
• And, Mr. Bittner gave us a list of 10 sources for locating Maps & Territorial Histories.

Session 3 – German Marriage Laws and Customs

This was the after lunch session.  You know, that time when all of us are full and perhaps a little sleepy.  Let me tell you.  There was no sleeping during any of the sessions as Mr. Bittner kept us all intrigued and interested.I’ll condense this session as follows: 

• There were so many forces that had input into whether a couple was allowed to marry, it was incredible!  I never suspected there could be so many outside sources that would influence a couple’s right to marry.

Here are examples of some of them:

Noblemen, Parents, Church, Town or Village, Courts, Craft Guilds and Territorial States 

And a big influence was your “place” in the particular town or village.  A couple was supposed to marry within their own social class.  Weddings went on for as long as 3 days, with engagements, posting of banns, exchange of vows, feasts, a procession of the bride’s dowry, the “bedding” event (not something that was the actual consummation of the marriage), the feasts and various other traditions.

The control and restrictions of marriages went on until 1918 with the end of the second empire.  Just think.  Until just over 100 years ago, a couple could not decide for themselves to get married.

• We also learned that there are dozens of places you can find marriage records.  Not always in churches or courts. 

Another subject that was discussed was the many illegitimate births that were common place.  Is it any wonder that many of us are discovering that our DNA tests are leading us to unexpected turns in our family trees?

Session 4 – The Fisherman Who Wanted to Marry the Executioner’s Daughter

This was a true story.  The Fisherman was in a class above the Executioner’s daughter and everyone from parents to the Fisherman’s Guild, the courts and the Town Council objected to this union.  They were finally allowed to marry, but only after both attempted suicide.

Warren Bittner, our SDGS President Diane Lott and me

In closing.  If you get a chance to hear Warren Bittner, C.G. speak, I would highly recommend you attend.  Whatever subject he may be speaking about, you will find him very knowledgeable, affable and entertaining.

I have an entirely new outlook now on what may have influenced my ancestors in their journey through life.  Whether or not they were in Germany or another part of Europe, Canada or even here in the U.S. I know I can be a better researcher with this information.

I’d love to hear about the classes, seminars, conferences or webinars you’ve attended or watched that have changed or influenced your research strategies.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SCGS JAMBOREE 2019 ~ It was a fun time with friends and lots of learning

This is the third year that I’ve been fortunate to attend Jamboree in Burbank.  This conference is hosted by the Southern California Genealogical Society, of which I am a member.

I first went in 2016 with my friend Debby Warner Anderson.  She and I attended again in 2018.  This year, along with Debby, I invited my long time friend, Pam Mohrman Paxton to join us. She flew in from Colorado.  Now there were three of us to exchange ideas, laugh and learn.

 Each time I attend a conference I learn.  Whether I get one new piece of information from a class or a dozen new things, it’s always worth it.  This conference is well run (all by volunteers) and well attended.  They also invite many nationally known speakers.  Such as Cyndi Ingle of Cyndi's List and Thomas MacEntee of Abundant Genealogy shown below.

I cannot say enough positive things about attending these conferences.  Whether you can attend every day or only one of the days, you will always come away with new info.  Being there for the entire time allows you to network with other genealogists, meet new people, reconnect with those you haven’t seen in a while and in my case, meet a new cousin. 

Some of the classes I attended were:

WHAT ARE THE ODDS (WATO) WORKSHOP – presenter was Leah Larkin, PhD

FOLD3 – DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING – presenter Anne Mitchell

GENEALOGY PIT STOP – RESEARCH IN 15 MINUTE INCREMENTS – presenter Thomas MacEntee

MINING THE CANADIAN CENSUS – presenter Dave Obee LLD

THE CASE OF THE BROKEN LINK, DECODING THE URL – presenter Cindi Ingle

ONLINE LIBRARY CATALOGS, A GENEALOGIST’S BEST KEPT SECRET – presenter D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS

BORDER-WHAT BORDER? OUR ANCESTORS WHO CALLED BOTH CANADA AND THE USA HOME – presenter Annette Lyttle, LLC

It would take me several pages to write about what I learned in these classes.  Suffice to say, I came away with new information and more knowledge than when I got there.  I’m a better researcher because of the many classes, seminars and conferences I’ve attended over the last 16 years.

Here’s some blog posts I’ve written where I’ve shared my experiences and in some gone into more detail about what I learned.

The i4GG Conference in San Diego is over for this year ~ here’s a quick take away–What a GREAT 2 days!!

ROOTSTECH PREPARATION ~ MY FIRST TIME ATTENDING
ROOTSTECH IS OVER BUT ~ We had fun……..meeting other bloggers, wandering the Expo Hall, enjoying the classes and researching at the Family History Library

TAX & ESTATE RECORDS ~ What I learned at a seminar featuring Michael Lacopo

OTHER POSTS THAY YOU MAY FIND OF INTEREST

SEMINARS, WEBINARS, SOCIETIES–WILL THEY HELP YOUR RESEARCH?

Happy hunting and I hope to see you at the next conference or seminar,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TAX & ESTATE RECORDS ~ What I learned at a seminar featuring Michael Lacopo

San Diego Genealogical Society

Guest Speaker: Michael Lacopo, D.V.M.

Session 1: More than the Census-Our Families did exist within those ten-year intervals

Session 2: Using Tax Records for Genealogical Problem Solving

Session 3:  Estate Files: Are you getting the most out of them?

Session 4: The German Immigrant experience in the 18^th Century

It’s always fun to attend classes, seminars and conferences.  In a dozen plus years, I’ve never attended one and walked away without more knowledge than I started with.  In addition to learning how to do research by actually doing it, and watching various webinars, I cannot say enough about attending seminars and conferences.

I wrote a blog post about this subject in 2014 and what I said still holds true today.

You can read it here SEMINARS, WEBINARS, SOCIETIES–WILL THEY HELP YOUR RESEARCH?

The San Diego Genealogical Society will be celebrating it’s 72nd year next month.  It’s still very active and up to date. Please visit our web page here San Diego Genealogical Society.

Our speaker yesterday was Michael Lacopo.  He has an impressive resume and once you attend one of his classes, you’ll want to hear him speak again. When I attended a class back in 2016 at Jamboree, I couldn’t wait for another opportunity to hear him lecture.  He’s knowledgeable, easy to understand and has a great sense of humor.

Here are some of the highlights from the seminar:

Session 1 – make sure you are paying attention to where your ancestors went during those 10 year intervals between U.S. censuses.  Michael pointed out, using real examples, the surprising movements that could occur during those intervals.  We all know that, contrary to what me might have been told, our ancestors didn’t always stay put.  There are many resources you can use to obtain information between censuses: tax records, land records, probate records, church records, voter and poll records and newspapers are just a few. 

Session 2 – Tax Records – I learned a lot during this session.  I’ve used tax records before, but not often.  And, I never understood the real value of them until Michael explained it.  I can’t possibly cover, nor do I want to duplicate, what Michael told us.  It is after all his presentation.  Here’s what I realized though – from tax records you can determine what kind of property your ancestor owned and where.  This could lead to you finding probate and land records.  Who was taxed in the same location as your ancestor?  Are they related?  Did your ancestor’s property increase or decrease between taxations?  Take a look, you won’t regret it.  I’m doing just that today and I’ve already located quite a lot of information.

Session 3 – Estate Files – I expect that most of you have looked at estate files, probate records, wills etc.  BUT, are you like me and just look for the actual will among those papers?  I always kind of skipped over the administration papers, bond papers and something called a Vendue List (an auction list of the value of items). Who bought items at the auction?  Michael shared that if a buyer came from a county over or some other long distance, they were probably related.  Why was there still activity going on for a probate 15 years after someone died?  It could have been the executors weren’t doing their jobs.  If there was more than one auction of items, check those names.  Did the same name show up again and again?  Probably a relative.  I now realize I may have missed some extremely important clues to family connections.  I have vowed, as of today, to change my ways.  Michael recommended and so do I, that you use Cyndi’s List as a place to find more links to estate files.  I have a lot of work to do now that I know better what to be looking for.

Session 4 – German Immigrant Experience – This was a case study for one of Michael’s ancestors who came to America from Germany.  But, the things we learned can apply to any immigrant experience.  Learning more about what our ancestors went through, just to get here, makes us appreciate all the more, their sacrifices.

I’ve been busy today revisiting tax & estate records for my own ancestors and my approach is completely different.  Thank you Michael.

YOU MAY FIND THESE POSTS HELPFUL

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS ON LOCATING A PROBATE RECORD ON FAMILY SEARCH

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

ROOTSTECH IS OVER BUT ~ We had fun……..meeting other bloggers, wandering the Expo Hall, enjoying the classes and researching at the Family History Library

I’ve been home from Rootstech for two days.  Of course I caught the obligatory cold during my visit.  But, it was on the last day, so it never ruined my fun.

This was my first time attending. I was fortunate to have my friend Pam join me.  She and I have been friends for over 30 years, she lives in Colorado and is fairly new to genealogy.  Quite an overwhelming experience, that’s for sure.

We arrived on Monday afternoon so we would have all day Tuesday at the FHL (Family History Library).  This was my third time at the Library and Pam’s first.  Many of us know what a wonderful and inspiring place it is.

We woke up Tuesday morning, had breakfast at JB’s and headed to the library.  Pam had a great day and was able to find lots of information in the books about North Carolina marriages.  I worked, yet again, on some of my brick wall families and came up empty.  I’ll never give up though.

They might not be in this book, but I will find them eventually

Pam, hard at work

My happy place

We were all given the option to check-in to the conference on Tuesday.  Boy, was that a process. Two hours in line with hundreds of others.  The Rootstech staff really did a great job keeping the line moving, kudos to all of them.  We received a nice bag and a flash drive with the syllabus for all the classes.

Day One at Rootstech.  We had picked classes to attend so we knew where we needed to go.  What we didn’t expect was the long lines for some of the more popular classes. This was the case on all four days of the conference.  The other thing we didn’t know, was that we had to pre register for the Lab classes. I guess we missed that in the Welcome to Rootstech emails.  Pam and I had quite different agendas, based on our levels of experience.  She picked up some great information at her classes.  I ended up attending only a couple of classes during the four days because the Labs were full.  Lesson learned for next time.

The Expo Hall opened for a sneak preview on Wednesday evening, but we waited until Thursday morning to go there.  WOW!!  What a wonderful setup.  It was like Disneyland for genealogists.  All the software and DNA companies had booths.  Lots of society, book, charts and many other fun booths.  There were classes and demonstrations being held every where.  The media hub was full of activity and interviews with the genealogy movers and shakers in the industry were going on a lot of the time.
 
There were displays all over the Expo Hall.

The Legacy staff hard at work

I was able to finally meet, face to face, other bloggers & genealogists I’ve been friends with on Facebook for many years.  Of course we took photos of the occasion.   

With Pat Richley-Erickson aka Dear Myrt

Marian Pierre-Louis and Geoff Rasmussen from Legacy Family Tree software

David Robison, Professional Genealogist & author of Old Bones Genealogy of New England blog

Deidre Erin Denton author of  Twisted Twigs on Gnarled Branches Genealogy

Laura Wilkinson Hedgecock from our Geneabloggers Tribe Facebook group

Russ Worthington from Monday's with Myrt and author of Family Tree Maker User blog

Jonny Perl - Innovator award winner for the year for his program DNA Painter

Linda Stufflebean - author of Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog

Susan Howard, Facebook friend

Michelle Ganus Taggart author of A Southern Sleuth blog

Randy Seaver, author of Genea-Musings blog and my friend Pam Paxton

Yes, I admit it.  I like to collect the ribbons given out at various booths

On Friday, as many bloggers as could make it, gathered near the media hub for a group photo.  You should have seen us all trying to squeeze together.  If you find Thomas McEntee in his colorful shirt in the front row, you’ll see my head just above his. There’s about 40 of us represented here.  More bloggers were at the conference, but some couldn’t make it for the photo shoot.



The conference was over on Saturday evening.  My friend Pam and I made our plans to have a couple of extra days after the conference.  The FHL is closed on Sunday.  It was a day we had planned to stay at the hotel so I could share some technology and research tips with her.  It couldn’t have been better……it snowed!  Being from southern California, I get excited any time I see or am in snow.  I apologize to all of you who live in places that have snow, but this was great!! 

The view from our 8th floor room at the Plaza Hotel

Snow covered street near the Salt Palace where Rootstech was held

Pam & me enjoying the cold weather on our way to Squatters Pub for dinner

Our last day was Monday.  Neither of us were flying out until late afternoon.  So, where did we go?  Not difficult to guess. Right back to the FHL.  By this time, Pam was really making progress in her tree and finding more and more evidence.  Lots of information on the third floor (my favorite – the books).
 
Takeaway from my first trip to Rootstech.  It was a bit overwhelming at first.  They do a great job with such a large crowd.  There were vendors selling food and drink items, so even if you attended lots of classes, you didn’t go hungry.  There was a good variety of classes, but they weren’t always easy to attend, because of the high volume of people.  The Expo Hall was, hands down, my favorite part of the entire experience.  Meeting up with so many longtime virtual friends was fantastic!

Would I attend again?  I think that I would, but with a different agenda.  Perhaps just go for a couple of days during the conference and spend the other days going to the Library
. 
Did you go to Rootstech this year?  If so, what was your experience like?  Was it your first time, or had you attended before?  If you haven’t attended, do you want to in the future?
Stay tuned because I had a BIG breakthrough at the library involving my husband’s great grandfather, John Doller.  A blog post about that will be coming up soon.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION