Blog - Page 34 of 37 - Florida State Genealogical Society

Dissecting Obituaries for New Clues

Obituaries are miniature biographies published when a person dies. They are just one of at least three possible death notices that you may encounter, and each can provide clues to your research for the deceased and the family. The writers were compelled to compress as much information into a small amount of text. Your job is to carefully analyze the content of the death notice, obituary, and/or funeral notice and discover clues. This webinar presents a methodology for dissecting an obituary, determining what information is provided or suggested, identifying record types that may be available, and determining where those records might be located and how to access them.

George G. Morgan is president of Aha! Seminars, Inc., and an internationally recognized genealogy expert who presents in the U.S., Canada, England, on cruise ships, and webinars.

Organize Your Research: Paper and Computer Files

Are you knee deep in piles of papers? Do you have a hard time finding digitized records on your computer? Let’s Get Organized! This presentation will give tried and true methods of organization for your paper records and computer records. Following these simple methods will help you be more organized and let you spend more time on actual genealogy research.

Melissa Barker is a Certified Archival Records manager currently working as the Houston County, Tennessee Archivist. She is also a Professional Genealogist where she lectures, teaches and writes about the genealogy research process, researching in archives and records preservation.

Using Civil War Pension Records: Case Studies

The U.S. Civil War involved most of the families in the country at that time. It was a traumatic era in our history, but the records created from the pension files can provide a wealth of information. Case studies of actual pension files will show examples of the data in the files and how to analyze the information to develop a plan to further research.

Diana Crisman Smith is Treasurer of the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE), Treasurer, Genealogical Speakers Guild (GSG), Treasurer, Florida State Genealogical Society, and Past District Director of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG).

Organizing and Carrying Out a Society Project

Whether big or small, a society project can be a daunting task. This presentation is designed to help the society officers and volunteers manage a society-wide project from start to completion. We will explore selecting a project, budgeting the finances, committee and individual responsibilities, timelines and due dates, and record keeping. A case study will be discussed.

C. Ann Staley, CGSM, CGLSM, is a lecturer, instructor, consultant and trip leader. Raised in Mobile, AL, Ann has been researching her family since 1980 from Alabama, Mississippi, and Virginia to France, England, and Germany. She is the Vice-President of the Genealogical Speakers Guild, on the faculty of The National Institute for Genealogical Studies, and has been an associate of the Board for Certification of Genealogists since 2000. As Education Chairman of the Jacksonville Genealogical Society, Inc. in Jacksonville, FL, Ann developed and has taught the Beginning and the Intermediate Genealogy Courses since 1995.

WordPress for Your Society: No Blogging Required

WordPress is an amazingly powerful and flexible tool for bringing your society website into the 21st century. Learn the basics and see examples of how other societies are using the platform. Consider advanced options for integrated society management. Easy to use and incredibly dynamic, take a look at the possibilities to see if WordPress is right for you!

Rorey Cathcart is a lecturer and professional genealogist at The Who Hunter LLC based in Charleston. Research specialties include South Carolina, Southern States and Irish Heritage.

Communicating on a Shoestring Budget: Cost-Effective Solutions for Societies

This presentation will introduce an arsenal of free or low-cost communication tools that can be employed by genealogical societies to boost communication effectiveness and polish the professional image of the organization. Where multiple communication options exist, the pros and cons of using a particular toolset will be weighed. Examples of practical genealogical application of these tools will illustrate how they could be used in various scenarios such as event planning or fundraising. The range of topics to be covered include: Email, Voice, Events, Calendars, Surveys, File Sharing, Online Meetings, Video, Chat, Social Media, Websites, and Tool Integration.

Deena Coutant is passionate about creating family legacies that connect the past, present and future generations, through stories, photos or by uncovering the DNA of those ancestors who were previously lost to history.

Tradition and Technology: Finding Your Society’s Balance

Explore a variety of techniques to assist your society in finding stable ground within the fast-paced world of technology.

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 of the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society (NYG&B) and also serves the genealogical community as President of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)

Pits I Have Fallen In and How to Avoid Them

The best thing about making mistakes is the opportunity to learn from them. I’ve made my share of genealogical mistakes over the years, but I’ve learned that most of them have resulted from faulty assumptions. In this talk, we’ll examine eight commonly-held but incorrect assumptions and consider some strategies and resources to help head off errors before they happen.

Pam Vestal is a professional genealogist, writer, and speaker from West Linn, Oregon, and the owner of Generations Genealogy, LLC. She lectures throughout the western United States, and her work has been published in the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly.

Desperation, Displacement, Determination and Deuteronomy: Colonial Germans and what we can learn about them

Our early Germanic ancestors’ desperation led them to board ships for a three-month journey into the unknown. What factors drove them from Europe? How did walled towns, guilds, and social status determine who emigrated? Once here, how did their religion determine what records may exist for them and those to whom they might be related? We’ll explore these topics and discuss existing records and where they are located.

Sharon Cook MacInnes, Ph.D., is a professional genealogist, author, educator, and CEO of Ancestor Tracks. She started researching in 1976, long before the internet revolution.

From Chernorudka to Chicago – Lessons Learned From Tracing One Family’s Immigration Pathway

Using case studies, this talk shows step-by-step how to determine how your family members trekked from their ancestral towns Eastern Europe to new homes in the land of opportunity.
– Identifying your ancestral town
– Lessons learned from Uncle Abe’s passport, passenger lists, oral history, microfilm and online sources
– Birds of passage: immigrants who returned to Europe for other relatives
– From Russia to Baltimore to Russia – the great-aunt who gave birth in a Ukrainian jail
– Evading the European draft – immigration just before World War I
– The final step of immigration – becoming a U.S. citizen

Jane Neff Rollins is professional genealogist who specializes in Jewish genealogy, translating Russian documents, and breaking down brick walls.

Blog (page 34)