Please note: Class locations and topics are subject to change. An updated schedule will be available at the registration desk when you arrive at the conference.
Saturday, November 12, 2016
9:00am – 9:15am
- Welcome and Introduction of Teachers
9:20am – 9:50am – Keynote Speaker
- Lisa Louise Cooke
↓ View Class DescriptionExciting keynote that combines our desire to dig into our past together with technology. Get ready to experience old historic maps, genealogical records, images, and videos coming together to create stunning time travel experiences in the free Google Earth program. We’ll incorporate automated changing boundaries, and uncover historic maps that are built right into Google Earth. Tell time travel stories that will truly excite your non-genealogist relatives! You’ve never seen anything like this! ↑ Hide this description.10:00am – 10:55am
- Basic Beginning Genealogy: Where Do I Start?
Betty Jo Stockton
↓ View Class DescriptionThis is the best class for beginners who want to learn how to do family history (genealogy). Learn the basics including where to find needed information, how to record it, as well as some wonderful tips on making your family tree come alive with ancestors you didn’t know existed! You’ll receive free charts, forms, and guidelines to make you eager to get started! ↑ Hide this description.- Optimizing Your Searches on the Internet — It’s More Than FamilySearch® and Ancestry
Maureen Brady
↓ View Class DescriptionLearn how your online research can be “jump started”, or significantly expanded, by utilizing Cyndi’s List, Find My Past, Fold3, USGenWeb, and other “broad coverage” websites. ↑ Hide this description.- The Tombstone Just Said “Wife…” – Finding the women in your family history
Jack Butler
↓ View Class DescriptionThe title came from a woman’s grave marker that I once came across in a family plot. There was no name – it just said “Wife of Harold Henderson,” Women make up half of our genealogy, but because of things like this stone, it is often a hidden half. This lecture addresses a wide variety of records that often contain information about our female ancestors, along with how to find them. ↑ Hide this description.- Making Sense of a Senseless Census: Dealing with Erroneous Records
Jeff Haines
↓ View Class DescriptionMany records contain erroneous information, but this does not make them useless. We will learn to approach possible misinformation systematically with the Genealogical Proof Standard. ↑ Hide this description.- How to Make Your Research Permanent, It Can Live Forever, Unchanged!
Kory Meyerink
↓ View Class DescriptionIn an ever-changing world of technology where standards and storage media change and disappear; where others can change your genealogical conclusions or data providers go out of business, there are ways you can make sure that your research survives for centuries, and longer! Once you find the answers, you can make them permanent. ↑ Hide this description.- FamilySearch Family Tree – The Basics
Jim Greene
↓ View Class DescriptionHave you ever gone to FamilySearch.org and just sat there looking at the home page wondering what to do next? Or, have you ever found your way into the Family Tree and wondered what was happening and why things changed? Or, have you heard about FamilySearch, and since it is free you wanted to try it, but never got around to it? If any of this is you, or if you just want a basic primer, then attend this class! ↑ Hide this description.- England Research: A “Live” Case Study
Dan Poffenberger
↓ View Class DescriptionMany of you are familiar with the types of records, their contents and for what years they exist. The strategy of putting them together can seem like a combination of art and science. Explore a mid-19th English family with me and learn strategies that will help you in your own research. This class will be “live” in the sense that I’ll be relying on the class to suggest records and strategies. I’ll come prepared with as many of the anticipated documents as I can and prepared to search for others. We will discuss these and use them to guide us to more records and on until we run out of time. ↑ Hide this description.- Finding Online Treasures for Spain and Latin America
Dr. George Ryskamp
↓ View Class DescriptionAre you looking for Family History Treasures in Spain and Latin America? Go online. From nineteenth century parish records to sixteenth century biographies the Internet offers an incredible amount of material After a general introduction to research in online parish records and indexes, this lecture will introduce you to http://pares.mcu.es, the Spanish National Archives website and its Mexican counterpart, as well as other Internet websites and how to use them. ↑ Hide this description.- Beginning French Research
Peggy Ryskamp
↓ View Class DescriptionBonjour! Finally, here are the best methods to research your French relatives! You’ll be so surprised at some of the information that is out there just waiting for you to be discovered! So take le temps and come to this very informative class! ↑ Hide this description.- Family History Roadshow
Denise Mortorff, and Todd Knowles
↓ View Class DescriptionMeet the Experts! One-on One! Check out their biographies and then make a 15-minute appointment with any of the experts on duty that hour! First come, first served, so sign up now!! ↑ Hide this description.11:05am – 12:00pm
- The Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church: Rites, Records and Research
Dr. George Ryskamp
↓ View Class DescriptionThere are seven sacraments under Catholic Canon Law: baptism, confirmation, the mass, penance, extreme unction, ordination, and matrimony. Catholic Church records of these sacraments are the finest in the world. Learn what the records may tell you and how to find and use them to trace your Catholic ancestors anywhere. ↑ Hide this description.- Google Tools & Procedures for Solving Family History Mysteries
Lisa Louise Cooke
↓ View Class DescriptionIn this session we will put Google to the test. Discover Google tools and the process for using them to solve the genealogical challenges you face. You’ll walk away with exciting new techniques you can use right away. ↑ Hide this description.- FamilySearch What’s New and What’s Coming?
Jim Greene
↓ View Class DescriptionThis class will discuss the latest features that have been released on FamilySearch and what these features provide. We will also discuss the next set of planned features that will be added to the system including better possible duplicate checking, stopping synchronization with new.familysearch.org, sharing of living, view my relationship with anyone, sources are living people, and more impedance features to help discourage the change of good data. ↑ Hide this description.- A Flush with Two Pair? A Case of Too Many People and Not Enough Names
Jeff Haines
↓ View Class DescriptionMany difficult genealogical problems arise when we confuse people who have the same name. We will develop the concept of identity and discover strategies to sort out individuals using the same name! ↑ Hide this description.- The Courthouse Burned – What Now?
Jack Butler
↓ View Class DescriptionMost of the records that we routinely use in the search for our family history originated in the County Courthouses of America. When the records in the courthouses where our ancestors lived were destroyed by fire or other calamity, our search becomes harder. This presentation provides some steps to take when you encounter the dreaded Burned County. ↑ Hide this description.- My family came from where? Understanding the records of Immigration
Todd Knowles
↓ View Class DescriptionFor most of us the very first mention we have of where our ancestors came from is found on a document associated with their immigration. In this class we will examine those records and how best to utilize them to further our own research. ↑ Hide this description.- “It’s Elementary My Dear Watson!”: Pre-1837 Research in England
Dan Poffenberger
↓ View Class DescriptionActually, “elementary” may be a matter of perspective but hopefully after this class solving these earlier England research problems will seem easier. We will explore the records and more importantly the strategies for finding and putting together families at a time when census and civil registration aren’t yet available to make research easier. ↑ Hide this description.- Searching Ancestry Like a Pro!
Kory Meyerink
↓ View Class DescriptionWith more than 30,000 databases and 18 billion names, how can you find your ancestors in that marvelous collection? Learn the “ins and outs” that pros use to maximize their search results on Ancestry from one of the founders of Ancestry ProGenealogists! ↑ Hide this description.- Beginning Hispanic Research
Peggy Ryskamp
↓ View Class DescriptionSo many of our friends and family have family ties in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Argentina. Want to find them? Need some great information to get started? Then this is the class for you! ↑ Hide this description.- Family History Roadshow
Denise Mortorff and Maureen Brady
↓ View Class DescriptionMeet the Experts! One-on One! Check out their biographies and then make a 15-minute appointment with any of the experts on duty that hour! First come, first served, so sign up now!! ↑ Hide this description.12:00pm – 12:45pm
- Lunch
12:45pm – 1:40pm
- Genealogy on the Go with Mobile Devices
Lisa Louise Cooke
↓ View Class DescriptionTablets and smartphones are built for hitting the road and are ideally suited for genealogy due to their sleek size, gorgeous graphics and myriad of apps and tools. In this class you will discover the top apps and best practices that will make your mobile device a genealogical powerhouse! (iOS and Android) ↑ Hide this description.- Quhat’s In a Nayme?
Maureen Brady
↓ View Class DescriptionThe spelling of individual and family names was often “in the ear of the listener” and was not standardized until well into the 20th century. This presentation will look at the history of names, various naming patterns and research strategies for locating the “right” spelling of a name in various types of records. ↑ Hide this description.- So You Think You Have Native American Ancestry – Trying to Prove It With DNA Testing
Denise Mortorff
↓ View Class DescriptionA discussion of the state of DNA testing for Native American ancestry, including Cherokee and other tribes. What are some companies performing this testing? How do they approach this type of testing? What can they tell you based on the type tests they utilize? And, what does or does not make you a good candidate for this type testing? ↑ Hide this description.- Getting Started with Jewish Research – The Basics
Todd Knowles
↓ View Class DescriptionWe have all faced the same roadblock – the courthouse burned and so, you think have all the records. But wait! Help is on the way! Learn new work-arounds and new ways to think outside the box to obtain the same information! Either attend or send a friend to make sure someone comes to this class! ↑ Hide this description.- Before They Were States…Finding and Using Territorial Records
Jack Butler
↓ View Class DescriptionThe United States was born owning territory outside the 13 original states and the thirty two U.S. States that were carved out of that original excess land and the other territory gained over the years had Territorial governments before they became states. Territorial records are those records generated by the organization and settling of those 32 territories held by the U. S. prior to their eventually achieving statehood. ↑ Hide this description.- The New Lexicon: What if The Records I Want Are Not Indexed? Not Digitized? What Does That Mean?
Jim Greene
↓ View Class DescriptionFamily history and genealogy has really had its own lexicon for many years. For instance what is the difference between family history and genealogy? And now with modern tools there are so many words and phrases that are new, or are used in ways most don’t immediately understand. This class will start at the beginning and define words and terms and phrases in easy to understand ways. Then, we will examine what it all means and how knowing what it means can help you find what you want. ↑ Hide this description.- Out of the Ashes: Key Websites for Irish Research
Dan Poffenberger
↓ View Class DescriptionWhile burned records cannot be directly replaced, not all Irish records burned and in fact finding Irish records online has never been better! This class will demonstrate the key websites for finding your Irish ancestors. This includes recently released access to civil registration records. You’ll also see a demonstration of the “dream” that is locating your family land locating old and current maps. ↑ Hide this description.- “Who Baked the Bread?” Reconstructing Life in Your Ancestral Hometown
Peggy Ryskamp
↓ View Class DescriptionPeggy Ryskamp, a certified genealogist, said she fell in love with a town in Spain called Garganta la Olla. She and her husband, George, researched the people in the small picturesque town. “As I began to search in these records these people became real to me. And I realized there was a lot about Garganta that I didn’t know.” This class will describe ways to reconstruct a sense of what life was like in a particular place and time. Some of the ways to look at a culture include speech ways, building ways, dress ways, marriage ways, child-rearing ways, death ways, and food ways. “Or what did my ancestor eat? The most common thing that you know that the ancestor ate is bread.” For example, throughout Spain there are regional breads. Different areas made different types of bread. She found a document that had the names of all the women in town who were licensed to bake bread.” Because we had started to think differently, we researched differently. While researching she noticed a prayer that the women would say over the bread. She also found that bakeries had small stamps or brands they would used to mark the bottom of bread to identify them in their impartiality. Come to this class, not only for the bread, but to learn to think outside the box and round out your ancestors’ lives! ↑ Hide this description.- Becoming an Excellent Genealogist
Kory Meyerink
↓ View Class DescriptionThe drive. It’s part of us. Human nature; trying to be the best we can be.
It is what brought our ancestors to the New World. And it’s what makes genealogists strive to learn more in an effort to become the best family historian we can, so we can find more solutions to those perplexing genealogical problems. ↑ Hide this description.- Family History Roadshow
Jeff Haines and Dr. George Ryskamp
↓ View Class DescriptionMeet the Experts! One-on One! Check out their biographies and then make a 15-minute appointment with any of the experts on duty that hour! First come, first served, so sign up now!! ↑ Hide this description.1:50pm – 2:45pm
- Introduction to Using DNA Data as Genealogical Evidence
Jeff Haines
↓ View Class DescriptionGenetic testing is a rapidly growing aspect of family history. We will explore the various types of DNA tests, the information they return, and how the data can be used to establish relationships and solve genealogical problems. ↑ Hide this description.- A Bite of the Big Apple: Starting New York City Research
Dan Poffenberger
↓ View Class DescriptionMillions of our ancestors migrated through New York City. Many spent some time there before moving on. New York City research, including the 5 boroughs, can seem daunting. This class will demonstrate a variety of sources critical to research success there including some unique to this city. ↑ Hide this description.- Researching Canadian Records
Maureen Brady
↓ View Class DescriptionOur neighbor to the north was often the “gateway” for U. S. bound immigrants. Some families may have lived in Canada for a generation or two before continuing on to the U. S. This presentation will include a brief overview of Canadian history and immigration, and a review of the major record sources for Canada and the best websites to locate those records. ↑ Hide this description.- The Best Websites for Your Research That You Probably Aren’t Using
Kory Meyerink
↓ View Class DescriptionSure, you know about the “big two” and a few other websites, but there are hundreds of genealogy websites out there with information you need to be successful. Search engines, directories, other online trees, blogs and, of course, data sites for American, British and European records. Make sure you’re not missing the answers you need. ↑ Hide this description.- Best Approaches for Communicating With Others about Your Family History
Denise Mortorff
↓ View Class DescriptionEver wonder why you don’t get the responses you are looking for when you connect with people about your family history? The different means available, figuring out the best resources for beginning your inquiry, thinking through how to engage the contact with your problem or info, selecting the information as the focus of your dialogue, and more will be covered. ↑ Hide this description.- The Knowles Collection: What is it and how do I use it
Todd Knowles
↓ View Class DescriptionFor over 40 years I have been searching for records of my Great Great Grandfather, a Polish Jew. The search has led me to the records of many different archives and repositories in numerous countries. Now after 40 years of searching all those names have come together in 6 databases. Those databases, are; The Jews of the British Isles, The Jews of Europe, The Jews of North America, The Jews of South America and Caribbean, The Jews of the Pacific Islands, and The Jews of Africa, Middle east and the Orient. The combined databases now hold the records of over 1.3 million people, and is growing by about 15,000 names a month. In this presentation, we will learn how to use this collection, and how to access it. The Knowles Collection is free and available at Familysearch.org. ↑ Hide this description.- It Was a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Putting Ancestors in Their Place
Peggy Ryskamp
↓ View Class DescriptionHere is the class where you will learn how to identify geographical places your ancestors may have lived. You’ll learn research methods to make a very good picture of the geographical region they lived in. ↑ Hide this description.- Circumstantial Evidence Adventures on the Research Roads of Europe
Dr. George Ryskamp
↓ View Class DescriptionStrong, vigilant governments and State churches make the records of Europe excellent, offering direct or indirect evidence of most genealogical facts. However, missing and incomplete records can often block research paths. While wandering those paths in Europe, we have learned many universal principles for good research using indirect and circumstantial evidence. Explore with us road signs that guided us along the paths of using such evidence. ↑ Hide this description.- What’s New at the Orange County Genealogical Department 2016
Gregg Gronlund
↓ View Class DescriptionEvery year brings exciting new discoveries, additions to the collections, and more importantly newer technologies to help you with your family history searches. ↑ Hide this description.- Family History Roadshow
Jim Greene, and Jack Butler
↓ View Class DescriptionMeet the Experts! One-on One! Check out their biographies and then make a 15-minute appointment with any of the experts on duty that hour! First come, first served, so sign up now!! ↑ Hide this description.2:55pm – 3:45pm
- The US Census – Thirteen Things That You Probably Didn’t Know
Jack Butler
↓ View Class DescriptionThe U.S. Census is typically one of the very first research resources that a new genealogist encounters, and with good reason. The collection of U.S. Census reports constitutes the single largest collection of information about our American ancestors in the 19th and 20th centuries. Unfortunately, many of its excellent clues are routinely missed by researchers. This presentation is designed to help you fully utilize this great resource. It addresses where and how to find the information most frequently missed by genealogists, and how to take advantage of what you find. ↑ Hide this description.- How to Reopen and Work a Genealogical Cold Case
Lisa Louise Cooke
↓ View Class DescriptionBecome a genealogical detective in this vital session. You’ll learn to track ancestors like a criminal cold case detective, sniffing out holes in your research and getting missing information on the record with cutting edge technology. ↑ Hide this description.- Researching Your Conch Ancestors from the Bahamas to Florida
Jeff Haines
↓ View Class DescriptionMany Florida families can trace roots to the Bahamas. We will explore methods and sources to find Conch ancestors and learn about their lives. ↑ Hide this description.- Tracing a Chicago Family’s Roots: A Case Study
Maureen Brady
↓ View Class DescriptionChicago area family history research can be a challenge due to historical events and the physical size of the area and population. Using examples from Chicago area research, this presentation will demonstrate strategies for tackling these problems and review record availability, repositories and online resources. ↑ Hide this description.- Database Search Tactics
Kory Meyerink
↓ View Class DescriptionOnline or off, modern genealogy research requires effective searching of databases. With billions of names in thousands of different databases, it’s easy for an ancestor to get lost. Your success depends on knowing the best way to search each different collection. ↑ Hide this description.- Researching Colonial Ancestors: Groundwork in America and Crossing the Waters to Their Homeland
Denise Mortorff
↓ View Class DescriptionFurthering your Colonial Ancestry requires resourcefulness. Move your search forward based on knowing the unique identity of your immigrant ancestor, the historical context in which you are searching, the knowledge and skills required to conduct research, record types, their availability and how to determine their “fit” with your research needs. ↑ Hide this description.- The Jewish Communities of the Caribbean
Todd Knowles
↓ View Class DescriptionThe early Jewish settlers in the countries of the Caribbean were mainly from European countries such as France, England and Amsterdam. In many cases they were also the first settlers into early American Jewish communities. To truly study our ancestors in America, one should study the Caribbean communities. This lecture will deal with those communities, their people and records, and how best to access those records. ↑ Hide this description.- Recording My Family’s Legacy: More Than Just Dates & Places
Jim Greene
↓ View Class DescriptionJust think if your great grandparents had the tools available today to document their lives and those of their parents! How cool would it be to see pictures and hear recordings of their voices telling stories from their youth? You can’t create something now if the person is gone, but if you do that now for you, with our modern tools, think how your legacy will last for years to your great grandchildren and beyond. How do we record today for tomorrow? Let me show you. Audio, pictures, documents, if it’s important to you it will be to them. Come find out how to do it when you use FamilySearch and its online tools. And we will store it for you for generations to come! It’s more than just dates and places, it is our individual story, our legacy. ↑ Hide this description.- When Is Enough? Do I Have Enough Yet? An American Case Study Applying Concepts of Evidence
Dr. George Ryskamp
↓ View Class DescriptionElizabeth Shown Mills has said, “Any fact is worthless until its source is identified, checked and proved correct.” Is the genealogy you are doing properly proved? Through a case study approach, learn about the principals of evidentiary proof. ↑ Hide this description.- Family History Roadshow
Peggy Ryskamp and Dan Poffenberger
↓ View Class DescriptionMeet the Experts! One-on One! Check out their biographies and then make a 15-minute appointment with any of the experts on duty that hour! First come, first served, so sign up now!! ↑ Hide this description. - How to Reopen and Work a Genealogical Cold Case
- A Bite of the Big Apple: Starting New York City Research
- Quhat’s In a Nayme?
- Google Tools & Procedures for Solving Family History Mysteries
- Optimizing Your Searches on the Internet — It’s More Than FamilySearch® and Ancestry
- Basic Beginning Genealogy: Where Do I Start?