CLF & BAGS Host Joshua Taylor 8-6 & My B'day 7-29

Clayton Library Friends and Bay Area Genealogical Society are excited to announce their Symposium to be held on August 6, 2016 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm in the Rice Memorial Student Center Grand Hall, Rice University Campus, located at 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005.  As a member of both of these excellent organizations, I highly encourage you to attend.

Joshua Taylor, co-host of PBS Genealogy Roadshow

Joshua Taylor, who is best known for being a co-host of the popular PBS program, Genealogy Roadshow, will present FOUR Sessions during the Symposium:

Finding the Roots of Your Family Legends
Just because Great Aunt Mable said your ancestor was from Scotland, doesn't mean that she was. Learn how to uncover the truth behind family legends and stories, and how to integrate them into your personal writing and research.

State and Local Government Repositories for Family History
Learn how to access the vast numbers of records placed online at state and local government websites during this hands-on workshop. Participants will be able to pick their "favorite state" and conduct a full search for treasures hiding under a ".gov" domain. (Bring your laptop.)

Successful Searching Online: Clustering for Genealogists
Effective Internet searching cannot be complete without clustering. Learn how to limit your search engine results to websites that will be beneficial to you without having to scroll through thousands of results! Strong emphasis is put on learning and using "Yippy," and other search engines.

Putting it Together: A Case Study
Follow a family from the early 1800s to the early 1900s as they migrated from Pennsylvania to Idaho Watch as records from the home (family bibles and letters) are combined with newspapers, tax records, census records, cemetery records, family files, and other records to compile the family.

D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS is a nationally known and recognized genealogical author, lecturer, and researcher and a frequent speaker at family history events across the globe. Passionate about family history, Joshua is the President and Executive Director of the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society (NYG&B). He also serves the genealogical community as the President for the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including RootsTech's Distinguished Presenter Award, the Federation of Genealogical Societies Award of Merit, and the Rubincam Youth Award from the National Genealogical Society.

The former Director of Education and Programs at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Joshua is the author of numerous articles in American Ancestors, UGA Crossroads, FGS Forum, Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly, New England Ancestors, and other publications. In 2013 he authored "The Keane and Sheahan Families of Bridgeport, Connecticut," a study of a family's immigration and life in New England after the Irish famine. He is also the coordinator for courses at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh.

He holds an MLS (Archival Management) and an MA (History) from Simmons College and has been a featured genealogist on Who Do You Think You Are? with Sarah Jessica Parker, Kelly Clarkson, Ashley Judd, Reba McEntire, and Rob Lowe. At the present time Joshua can be seen taking America through their past as a host on the popular PBS series Genealogy Roadshow.

More information is available about D Joshua Taylor at https://www.djoshuataylor.com

Registration Details:

Ticket
The cost of the Symposium will be $55 for CLF and BAGS members OR $65 for non-members. Registration at the door, if room is still available, will be $75.

Further details on Registration, Food and Parking can be found here: Joshua Taylor Symposium

For information on Clayton Library Friends and Bay Area Genealogical Society, use the following links:

• Clayton Library Friends-  http://www.claytonlibraryfriends.org/
• Bay Area Genealogical Society- http://www.txbayareagen.org/

 I will be there and I look forward to seeing you there!

P.S. If you are a fan of the PBS Genealogy Roadshow like me, you won't want to miss the BAGS meeting this Friday night at 6:30 PM.  Helen Mooty, one of the guests on the Houston episode of Genealogy Roadshow will describe her experience of applying, being selected and being filmed. In addition, I will be there passing out cake, as there is no better way to celebrate my birthday!

For more information go here:  BAGS General Meeting 7-29-2016

Harvesting Ancestors-Lessons from the Garden

In genealogy, as in many other pursuits, we reap what we sow.  This summarizes several lessons learned this past Saturday from professional genealogist, Sharon Batiste Gillins at the Clayton Library in Houston.  The metaphors from the garden that she used in her presentation entitled Harvesting Ancestors-Lessons from the Garden provided excellent examples of genealogical lessons with a broad appeal.  I highly recommend her as a keynote speaker for your upcoming genealogical events.

A gardner at work, 1607
SOURCE: Wikipedia citing Anonymous - Hausbuch der Mendelschen Zwölfbrüderstiftung, Band 2. Nürnberg 1550–1791. Stadtbibliothek Nürnberg, Amb. 317b.2°, via http://www.nuernberger-hausbuecher.de/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13207509

Gardening is one of Ms. Gillins favorite past times as it gives her time to "mull and ponder" about the things that occupy her mind in her genealogical research.  Her practices learned from the garden were compared to genealogical practices and illustrated with examples from genealogical research.  The content was definitely suitable and accessible to beginners, intermediate and advanced researchers.  All of us need to practice the good research habits that were demonstrated in this presentation.

For example: "you can't garden without getting dirty."  This garden reality leads to the realization that genealogy research is physically demanding and messy work.  Ms. Gillins used an image from a county courthouse to illustrate the heavy volumes that must be lifted in dusty rooms filled with allergens.  Genealogy research can be a strain on the eyes and the back.  Exploring old cemeteries exposes a genealogist to the hazards of brambles, thorns, bugs and snakes.  We must prepare ourselves for the difficult and challenging work of genealogy.

"Know your soil: it is the foundation of the garden" leads to her recommendation that we "learn the context in which our ancestors lived."  The geography, history and political organization of the localities in which we are researching, is a necessary preface to understanding the lives of our ancestors.  Laws influence the shape and form of records that were formed in the past to suit certain political purposes.  Understanding the historical context of those records that we use today for genealogy helps us to analyze and interpret our family history.  She went further by describing sources and how they are helpful in understanding the context including almanacs, city directories, maps and land information.

Some of the other lessons that she taught were:

Garden: "The harvest comes after a long growing season." Genealogy: "Credible results must be cultivated over time."

Garden: "Get in close; important details can be easily overlooked" Genealogy: "Mine every document for hidden information."

And there were many more lessons.  You will have to invite her to speak to your genealogical society to learn them all.

I was especially gratified when Ms. Gillins used another metaphor of a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle to explain the process of fitting the genealogical facts together into an image of our family history. "Some of the pieces look like they should fit but really don't."  We need to avoid the tendency to force fit the pieces of our "Ancestor Puzzles."

I first learned of Ms. Gillins talents when I read an amazing article about her discovery of some artifacts of a slave from the Moody Mansion that have been sent to the Smithsonian.  I met her last year when she spoke at the Family History Conference of the Texas State Genealogical Society.  I was impressed by the depth and the wide applicability of the examples in her presentations.

She will be one of the featured speakers at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research coming up in June 2016 in Track 10 on Researching African American Genealogy: Black Roots in Unique Collections. Sign up soon as classes at the IHGR are filling up fast.  This will also be the last opportunity for those of us in Texas to attend the IHGR in Alabama before it moves to Georgia. Hearing Ms. Gillins speak will help you to find a bountiful harvest of ancestors!

Behind the Scenes at Genealogy Roadshow

It has been a week since Genealogy Roadshow completed the filming of the Houston episode on Sunday, November 22. The air date is yet to be determined, but it will be sometime in May or June of 2016.  I had the good fortune to be behind the scenes as the Genealogy Roadshow was being taped last week.  It gave me the opportunity to meet and interview one of the people that will be featured in this episode.

Sarah Lasater is seen here in the upper left and the lower right.
Her Texas family history was revealed by professional genealogist, Mary Tedesco featured here.

Sarah Lasater became interested in the Genealogy Roadshow after she saw a Facebook posting by a friend from college.  Her friend had submitted a query about her African American family history and Sarah became intrigued by the possibility of submitting her own story.  She had been interested in her family roots for several years.  She built a family tree at Ancestry.com and compiled files from her home and family followed by more research.

Sarah's friend put the idea in her mind to submit some of her own family stories.  She went to the Genealogy Roadshow website and  submitted five questions that she had on various ancestors on her family tree in February 2015.  She did not hear anything for a couple months until she was contacted by a researcher from the show who wanted to pursue preliminary research.

Two months ago she was contacted again by the researcher and notified that they wanted her to appear on the show.  Her grandfather told her that there might be a connection to to an illustrious Texas veteran on one of the branches of the family tree.  Her grandfather knew that the family had resided in the vicinity of Eastland County, Texas where he was born.  Her great grandfather had died young so her grandfather was unable to learn much about his father’s family history.  Sarah’s grandfather passed away in 2011. She wanted to verify her ancestral connections.   We will have to wait until the 2016 season of the Genealogy Roadshow to find the answer to Sarah's question.

To complicate matters Sarah got sick and was in the hospital until 3:30 PM Saturday.  The production crew had hoped to do additional filming with Sarah on Saturday.   She had nothing but compliments for the staff of the Genealogy Roadshow and was amazed that they would send a car to Victoria, Texas to pick her up on Saturday night and provide her with a hotel in Houston that night.  She has the highest regard for the whole production team.  The experience was great from the moment she found out that the Roadshow was interested in her story.  All of the Roadshow staff were very kind, generous and approachable.

Visitors swarm the exhibit hall at the Genealogy Roadshow.
This episode was filmed at the historic Julia Ideson Building of the Houston Public Library.

Sarah also found all of the booths in the Exhibit Hall to be very informative.  She is intrigued by the possibility that she might be eligible to join one or more of the lineage societies.  She had fantastic conversations and she is hoping to explore more about her ancestral connections.  She was so excited to be one of few chosen from thousands of applicants.  All in all, she had a great time!  And so did I! I can't wait to see the finished episode when the new season of Genealogy Roadshow debuts in May 2016.

Do You Want to Be a Genealogy TV Star?

The two worlds of reality TV and genealogy collided in Houston yesterday at the filming of the PBS Genealogy Roadshow.  I was there yesterday in the Exhibit Hall in the Julia Ideson Building of the Houston Public Library representing AncestorPuzzles.com,  the Bay Area Genealogical Society and the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Nick Cimino representing AncestorPuzzles.com and APG in the Exhibit Hall for the Genealogy Roadshow.  Helen Mooty and her husband, John Dickey were being filmed for her upcoming appearance on the show.

The Bay Area Genealogical Society (BAGS) was well represented at the Genealogy Roadshow with a cadre of members volunteering throughout the Exhibit Hall.  First and foremost was BAGS member, Helen Mooty who will be featured in the Houston episode of the PBS Genealogy Roadshow.

Helen Mooty will learn about her family history in the 2016 season of Genealogy Roadshow.
Genealogist Mary Tedesco is seen here with Helen revealing the results of the family research.

Helen Mooty described the entire Genealogy Roadshow experience as thoroughly enjoyable.  The Roadshow staff was very professional, on-time, and friendly.  The production team spent a half day scouting locations for the episode and another entire day filming Helen before the event on November 22.   They filmed Helen portraying Jane Long, “Mother of Texas.” Helen and John took four members of the production team on a Galveston Bay sailboat trip  to give the television viewers the authentic Gulf Coast experience.

Helen Mooty portraying Jane Long, "Mother of Texas"
SOURCE: Houston Chronicle, www.chron.com

BAGS had an information table in the exhibit hall.  Thanks to all of the BAGS members who worked the table from setup at 8 AM until closing at 6 PM.  In addition to our own table, BAGS members worked at tables provided by Clayton Library Friends, Daughters of the American Revolution and several other genealogy and lineage societies.

Mary Tedesco visited the AncestorPuzzles.com table yesterday at the Genealogy Roadshow.  Mary is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.  Debbie Parker Wayne and Nick Cimino, fellow APG members, listen attentively as Mary explains some of the inner workings of the Genealogy Roadshow.

The Lonestar Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists had several members on hand to pass out information on hiring and becoming a professional genealogist.  When you work with a professional genealogist, we recommend that you write down what you know about your research challenge.  The more accurate and concise the information provided, the more help a professional genealogist will be able to provide. A written statement describing what you know about your ancestor will maximize the research productivity:

• Name of focus person:
• Lifespan (approximate if unknown):
• Describe each problem to be analyzed  (1-2 sentences)
• List the resources you have already consulted (for example, 1850 census Washington Co., TX, Civil War pension file, land & probate records, etc.) AND what you found in each.
• Provide a timeline of the key events in the life of the person of interest to this research question 

Visitors swarm the Exhibit Hall in the Julia Ideson Building
of the Houston Public Library at the Houston Genealogy Roadshow.

Your next opportunity to become a star of the Genealogy Roadshow is in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the Old Airport Terminal – Saturday December 12th (9am – 6 pm).  The show is also planning to film another Roadshow event in January 2016 in Los Angeles.  Go here and fill out the casting application. Good Luck!

#Genealogy #Texas #GenealogyPBS @originsitaly #houstonlibrary