Genealogy Presentations: Getting Out of a Research Rut

Are you in a rut in your research? Attending a webinar online or a genealogy presentation in person can help you learn more about resources in that time slot than you could possibly discover on your own. Below are a few things that will help you get the most out of presentations that you attend.

How to locate presentations

Do you feel like you are finding out about presentations at the last minute, or do you miss notices all together? If you take advantage of social media by following people who share information about events in your area, you can find out about presentations much sooner than folks do offline. Another thing you can do is to connect to your local library or genealogical society using the proper channels they use to promote events. For some, that may be e-mail or newsletters.

For events that attract a broader audience and that may require some travel, follow Twitter accounts that come up when you search "genealogy." Also, do this for Facebook. You will learn about other expert people from the posts made by those you follow. This Calendar of Genealogy Events will help you to find presentations in 2015 and 2016 and beyond.

Review topic ahead of time

If you have not kept abreast of your genealogy topic, you will get more out of a presentation by learning what you can on the topic beforehand. Choose a few articles posted or authored by the people you follow. Visit their blogs or websites, and search your interests. Write down the specific questions that come to mind as you review. You may be allowed to pose questions and receive feedback during the presentation.

Arrive early

Get to the presentation as early as allowed. Get a good seat from a vantage point allowing you to see and been seen when you raise your hand. If the presenter is there just waiting to begin, you may be able to visit.

During the presentation

Sometimes ample time is provided for questions and answers during a presentation. Others may have the same question that you will pose, so do not be hesitant to speak up. Refrain from giving too much of the story or description, and ask a specific question. This will keep you from taking up too much time from others who may also have questions. Try not to ask questions that are too far off the topic being covered.

Stay after

Stick around to listen and thank the presenter. Exchange contact information. You may get invited to join the group at a local restaurant. This can be a great opportunity to learn more. Be careful not to overwhelm the presenter, but you are very likely will find the person anxious to engage in conversation and share expertise.

Follow on social media

Do not become frustrated if you come away not understanding some concepts. You will find that you need more clarification than what can be absorbed in the time frame of the presentation. Most presenters are very active on social media. Find out where they share the most, and follow them to continue learning. Do this right away after a presentation so that the presenter will recognize you. Great friendships are forged this way.

Put into practice

Walk through all the resources and processes that you learned while they are still fresh in your mind. Look for other presentations on the same topic to receive additional insights, but give yourself time to absorb what you just learned.

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Are You Looking For Grandma's Husband?

"Are you looking for Grandma's Husband?" is an article I wrote as the National Genealogy Examiner where I showed how to find the husband of the widowed Grandma Emma Warner who has two daughters and her grandchildren living with her in Accomack County, Virginia in 1940.

I found her on the 1930 Census ten years earlier, but her husband was still not there.  I did find him with her on the 1920 Census, but by that time there were so many different children between those three censuses that it was hard to keep track of them.  I usually use a census tracker when there is such a big family group.

I created the chart below so that it would be easy to see which child I had found each year.  Now I can tell easily which children should show up on the 1910 Census.

Child	1940	1930	1920
Fannie	29
Ada	26		4
Sallie		30
Martha			16
John		28	13
Ethel			12
Frank		18	6
Helen		12	infant

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Genealogy: My quest to find the living, Part 1

An extended family: Eastpoint, Florida (Photo credit: State Library and Archives of Florida)

I really enjoyed creating this resource because it brought back so many fond memories of discovering extended family. The resources and methods described here have helped me to learn more about my ancestors (photos and stories) through many extended family members that I have discovered. This will probably take up more than one post.

One of the purposes for me in researching extended family was to discover what they could tell me about my ancestors so that I could preserve history in books for my future posterity.  I have been able to publish several books, but I still have along way to go. 

I was very fortunate as a child to have heard the conversations between family members about the past.  I would wait for the discussion to break, and then I would interject my own questions that I anxiously wanted to have answered.  I did this without pen or paper.  My interest was so great, I would often look forward to the times the family would get together so I could learn more.  I hope every young person has the opportunity to hear family stories from parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. 

While young, I began asking questions of my grandmother when we were alone.  I wanted to know about her parents and grandparents. I questioned her about what life was like growing up on the farm.  I asked her about slavery and if she knew any stories of slaves in our family.  She told me that her grandmother was sold from her mother as a slave as a very young child.  She also told me that a grandmother was freed from slavery when she was a child.  

I did not think of asking the name of her grandmother back then.  I know now that it was either Martha Sims Talley or Elenia Coleman Chick.  My grandmother, Otis, would have known both of her grandparents well.  I have documented both of them on the census back to 1870 and on other historical records.

Otis Edna Tucker was very much a lady.  She carried herself as a lady throughout her life.  I  never saw her in anything but a dress. She was very careful to teach me what it meant to be "trifling" as she would say.  I have become like her in a huge way.  She grew up in a time where it did not take much for African Americans to be treated with disrespect.  She knew it was important not to give anyone a reason to disrespect her.  

She was the oldest, and helped out a great deal on the farm.  She even taught in a one room school house where some of her siblings where her students.  Her dad introduced her to Emory Wallace Vance, and little did he know they would later elope.

I have traced the Tuckers and the Chicks clear back beyond the 1700's.  Both of my great grandparents descend from slave owners.  Our records are intertwined within the records of the former owners and their children.  

It was through a family reunion during later years that a print of the photograph of the father of George Anderson Tucker which hung in their home was shared.  A photo of Martha, George's mother, hung alongside it, but it was destroyed in a house fire.

When I began researching, I traced my ancestors back as far as I could.  I wanted to learn more, and as I looked at all the names of their descendants I had recorded on extraction forms in my search, I wondered if there was anyone alive that could tell me more.

I decided to search each census forward to identify extended family that could still be living.  I branched out on several collateral lines. In the next article, I will share some of those census discoveries and how I learned about more members of each family group. 

Related articles

• Meeting extended family.

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Ancestor's Timeline saves time, aggravation

The effort you spend recording what you know on the timeline will provide much direction to you in your research, and you will save aggravation and time that will not be wasted searching for resources in the wrong places.

Learn more about the Ancestor's Timeline here.

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