The In-Depth Genealogist a digital community for all genealogists

Of the many sessions offered during the course of the week at the NGS 2013 Family History Conference; several focused on the western states and resources available to those of us on “this side” of the Mississippi. One such presentation was given today, entitled “The Civil War in the American West,” with Rick Sayre, CG, CGL. (Find more information on the presenter: APG Profile) (For those of you with access to the conference syllabus, you can find this session on page 141.) During the war, the Trans-Mississippi West theatre’s primary operations were in Missouri, Indian Territory, and New Mexico. Although the duration of the lecture was very interesting, one effort made by Mr. Sayre caught my attention; and that was providing numerous references to attendees for further reading. His bibliography included twenty-two sources. Some of those included: (Brown, Dee Alexander. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1963.) . (Josephy, Alvin M. New York; A.A. Knopf, 1991.) . (McPhersoon, James M. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.) . (Wagner, Margaret E., Gary W. Gallagher, and Paul Finkelman. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.) Other interesting titles that were mentioned, but not provided in the bibliography included: . (Pittman, Dr. Walter Earl. The History Press, 2011.) . (Cottrell, Steve. Pelican Publishing, 1995.) One of the many tools provided for research of this nature was the concept of how to approach your search. Mr. Sayre suggested understanding, in this order: The war. Utilizing general resources for understanding the war, the political and social climate of the time. The organization. Look to The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference (see above) for a broad overview of how the two sides of the conflict were internally organized and managed their forces. The records. As the vast majority of records are held within the National Archives ... Read More »

There is incredible value in traditional conference sessions. The person chosen to speak on a topic stands in the front of the room, gives the audience a pre-planned, rehearsed presentation. The audience in turn listens attentively, takes notes, makes a valiant attempt to suck in as much as possible of the information that speaker is providing. But there is another, just as valuable option. There are many conferences around the world – not necessarily genealogy conferences – do it very well. It’s called un-conferencing, and it can take many forms. Sitting here in the airport waiting for my flight, I do not believe that the NGS 2013 Family History Conference in Las Vegas has any un-conference events on the official schedule. However…. There are several events that are taking place in the exhibit hall, the internet café, and other sites around the conference center that have been able to partner with the team at NGS to utilize this event to showcase their products, collaborative projects and educational opportunities, and much more. The team at The In-Depth Genealogist is incredibly excited to be leading one such event: #genchat LIVE! from NGS 2013! We are grateful to the Conference Committee and to the incredible generosity of sponsors Findmypast and FamilySearch for the complimentary internet service; allowing us to make all of this possible. In the exhibit hall, there is one group of people we know of specifically that are bringing this un-conferencing experience to their booth. Pentandra is providing what appear to be extremely comfy red chairs for many of us to take advantage of. They are planning a series of scheduled conversations, on a variety of topics, and are hoping to create an engaging and dynamic space for people to share, collaborate and generally come together during the conference. Instead of ... Read More »

Here we are, at the end of our first full day in Las Vegas for the NGS 2013 Family History Conference. As we sat discussing what this post should be, we were able to pinpoint exactly what the topic shall be: the people. At various times during the day, we were sitting in the Internet Café, people watching. We were mingling with volunteers, other conference participants, bloggers and even a speaker here and there. We were able to catch J Paul Hawthorne, Randy Seaver, Denise Levenick, Stefani Evans (the conference chair), Craig Scott, Valerie Elkins… even a glimpse of D Joshua Taylor from across the lobby. We made it to the APG Roundtable in the evening, and heard comments from Michael Hait, J Mark Lowe, and many more. All in all, a pretty good round of people considering the conference has not even officially begun yet! What really stuck out, though? It was Mary Jane and Julie. Who are Mary Jane and Julie? They are genealogists. Isn’t that about all that matters this week? We met Mary Jane and Julie while waiting for our table for dinner at Burger Bistro, just around the corner from the registration desk. We started chatting, and the conversation was entertaining, enlivened, and interesting. When the hostess came to seat us, we invited our new friends to join us, because… well… why not? We all have a common interest, we had some lively conversation going, and we could sit and share a meal. We learned that one of these lovely ladies is practically neighbors with one of our own at IDG. We learned that we shared a common interest in Irish research, the DAR and military history. We were able to swap ideas and stories with one another, and we had an amazing time doing ... Read More »

From our friends at Find My Past.   Newly added collection documents hundreds of years of significant life events and media headlines  LOS ANGELES (May 1, 2013) – Findmypast.com, an international leader in online family history, has published more than 23 million new records and 121 million pages of U.S. and world newspapers to its already extensive collection of historical records. New records, including Irish birth, marriage and death records, highlight important life events for our ancestors. Researchers can find their ancestors in a newspaper article among thousands or find their grandfather’s military service documented through World War II Enlistment Records. Those with a criminal in their past can find their ancestors throughout the extensive United Kingdom’s Courts, Crimes and Convicts record set.   The United Kingdom criminal records collection is the largest collection of historical criminal records from England and Wales to be published online, and is published in association with the National Archives (U.K.). These unique records offer a fascinating look at the colorful details of the criminal side of society from 1770 to 1934.   Another collection, the U.S. Veteran’s Gravesites, contains 7.6 million death records of people who served or are related to those who served, and are buried in various Veterans Affairs National Cemeteries, state veteran’s cemeteries, or other military gravesites. This collection offers a chance to trace the family members who answered the call to service, and is especially useful for genealogists who may not have a clear picture of details surrounding a particular ancestor.   “The new U.S. and world newspapers on findmypast.com broaden the scope of our collection to countries such as Denmark, France and even South Africa,” said D. Joshua Taylor, lead genealogist for findmypast.com. “This gives users an amazing opportunity to explore the events their ancestors lived through.”   The full collection of records recently added by findmypast.com includes:   United States ... Read More »

Friday, May 10 is a very special #genchat! We will be coming to you LIVE! from the 2013 NGS Family History Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada… but wait! There’s more! We are grateful to the conference planning committee and NGS for allowing us to have the ultimate social media social event! The In-Depth Genealogist and Conference Keeper will be co-hosting this #genchat from the Internet Cafe inside the conference venue, and we are incredibly excited. This means that all #genchatters attending the conference will be able to sit down face to face, utilize the complimentary internet provided by NGS, FamilySearch and Findmypast, and chat both in person and on Twitter. We hope that many of our #genchat friends will join us for this very special it-only-happens-once-a-year event. New to Twitter? New to Twitter chats? That’s ok! We would love to see you there as well. We’d love to show you how it works help you through the process and introduce you to our awesome little community. Be sure to follow @indepthgen and @confkeep for news, updates and other information surrounding #genchat. It doesn’t just end in Vegas, we’ll be chatting all year! You can find our schedule on the Conference Keeper website, and you can find fantastic resources on all of our chat topics on The In-Depth Genealogist. If you have any questions, connect with Terri O’Connell (@tracingmyfamily) or Jen Baldwin (@ancestryjourney) through the NGS 2013 conference app or on Twitter. Read More »