Declaration of the Rights of Genealogists

At NGS 2104, the Declaration of the Rights of Genealogists was announced by Jordan Jones, president of the National Genealogical Society and a sponsoring member of the Records Preservation and Access Committee. It is a statement which advocates open access to federal, state, and local public records (such as birth, marriage, and death records). More information is available on Upfront with NGS. Many people signed the declaration at NGS 2014. It may also be signed online at http://bit.ly/gen-declaration.

NGS 2014: Day 4

Today was the final day of the NGS 2014 conference. I began the day with Barbara Vines Little's session "A Treasure Trove of Rarely Used Records". Processioning records and road orders were among the sources that she talked about. I then attended Vic Dunn's session "Colonial Migrations in and Out of the Shenandoah Valley." He gave us specific information about every county in the Shenandoah Valley. That level of detail is very helpful! I I then went to the New England Historic Genealogical Society luncheon, where David Allen Lambert spoke about researching Confederate veterans after the Civil War. After lunch, I attended Donald W. Moore's session "Seventeenth Century Virginia Ancestors: A Research Case Study". My final session of the conference was Ann K. Blomquist's session "Virginia Colonial Parish Records". I need to get her book Southam Parish Land Processioning, 1747-1784: Goochland, Cumberland, Powhatan Counties. She had a copy with her and I saw the surname Mayo in the index more than once. I will definitely need to try to locate parish register records for my ancestors. Finally, I attended the National Genealogical Society annual meeting, and then headed back to my hotel. It has been a very educational and productive week. I plan to attend NGS 2015 in St. Charles, Missouri.

NGS 2014: Day 3

I started off Day 3 of NGS with Craig Roberts Scott's 8:00 session on the Virginia militia. I had not realized that by law, every able-bodied man had to be in the Virginia militia (although some people, such as those who did not believe in fighting, might choose not to show up). At 9:30 I heard A. B. Pruitt speak about land grants in Tennessee. I have many Tennessee ancestors, so this session was very relevant to my research. Ernest Thode's 11:00 session on online historic German newspapers was very relevant for me as well, because I am 1/4 German. Until I learned about this session, I had not realized that these newspapers were available online. It was very exciting news for me! I then attended the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History luncheon, where Michael Leclerc spoke about researching Benjamin Franklin's family. At 2:30 I attended Elizabeth Shown Mills' session "Problem Solving in the Problem-Riddled Carolina Backcountry". She demonstrated how contextual knowledge can help us to analyze the information in documents, and talked about research principles. At 4:00, I attended Patricia O'Brien Shawker's session "Marylanders Migrating South." My Greer ancestors migrated from Maryland to Virginia and then to North Carolina. In the evening, I went to the NGS banquet. It was another long day, but very educational!

NGS 2014: Day 2

Day 2 of NGS 2014 was also long and busy, but very educational and enjoyable. I spent the earlier part of the morning learning about land records. At 8:00 I attended Barbara Vines Little's session on the records of the Virginia Land Office, and at 9:00 I attended Vic Dunn's session on the records of the Northern Neck Proprietary. At 11:00 I heard Nathan W. Murphy speak about colonial ancestors who came to America as indentured servants. I then attended the Palatines to America luncheon, where Victor T. Jones spoke about the founding and early days of New Bern, North Carolina and the Swiss and Palatine immigrants who settled there. At 2:30, I heard Greg Crawford speak about the Augusta County, Virginia chancery court records and the stories they told. It was fascinating to learn that these court records could contain information about events that happened 50 or more years earlier. At 4:00, I attended Rebecca A. Ebert's session on Frederick County, Virginia and its history and settlers. I found more books I needed in the Exhibit Hall. I finished off the day with the Virginia Genealogical Society host society event "Land for the Taking" at 6:00. The entertaining one-hour presentation was given by the character of Robert Lucas, a surveyor in 1774 Virginia.

NGS 2014: Day 1

Today was the first day of the National Genealogical Society's 2014 Family History Conference. And what a busy day it was for me! In the opening session, Sandra Gioia Treadway, Librarian of Virginia and State Archivist, talked about the Library of Virginia and its modernization. I then went to the Exhibit Hall and found many books that I needed to add to my collection. At 11:00, I heard Eric Grundset speak about the challenges of researching early Virginia ancestors and possible ways to break through those brick walls. I then attended the Virginia Genealogical Society luncheon. Conley L. Edwards shared some of the experiences he had had working with genealogists over the years. At 2:30 PM, I heard Kathy Huber speak about the records of the Southern Historical Society. She mentioned some of the articles that were published in the Southern Historical Society's papers. One was on Rock Island Prison. My 3rd-great-grandfather's brother John G. Gatlin was imprisoned there. I will have to track down that article. At 4:00, I heard Nathan W. Murphy speak about colonial ancestors who arrived as transported convicts. With all the black sheep in my family, I would not be at all surprised to find out that one or more of my ancestors arrived as a transported convict. I then visited the tables of some Virginia genealogical and historical societies. Some of them, such as the Augusta County Genealogical Society and the Goochland County Historical Society, focus on areas where my ancestors lived. Finally, I headed to the Library of Virginia. The library had special late hours and was open until 9:00 PM. I found an indenture for an apprenticeship for a Chapman Gordon who may be my ancestor. I found an estate appraisal for Andrew Corn; I wonder if he was the father of my ancestor Elizabeth Corn. I also found my ancestor William Isbell's estate inventory, an account of guardianship for my Mayo ancestors (my 5th-great-grandfather was guardian of his children with my 5th-great-grandmother Ann Isbell, because they had received bequests from William Isbell, their maternal grandfather). I found my ancestor Edward Lucas' will and estate appraisal. I found deeds for land transactions involving my ancestors Russell Blakely and Abel Gower. It was a long but very productive day!

Librarians' Day and FamilySearch NGS Media/Blogger Dinner

Today I attended the Librarians' Day pre-conference program, sponsored by ProQuest, at the Library of Virginia. Leslie Anderson, reference librarian, Special Collections, Alexandria Library, spoke about the creation of the Virginia Slave Births Index, 1853-1865. Louise Jones, Director of Special Collections and Library at Kentucky Historical Society, spoke about the creation of finding aids and facilitating access to archival collections. William Forsyth, Director of Product Management, ProQuest, spoke about resources for researching the War of 1812, the Civil War, and World War I, and also mentioned some of Ancestry.com's new offerings, such as Quaker records. We heard about the free African-American genealogy resource AfriGeneas. Jason Harrison, research consultant, FamilySearch, spoke about the FamilySearch Wiki. Renee Savits, project coordinator, spoke about the Civil War 150 Legacy Project; original sources relating to the Civil War, such as letters and manuscripts, are identified, located, and digitized.

This evening I attended the FamilySearch NGS Media/Blogger Dinner. We heard that indexed obituaries will be available on FamilySearch; more information on the project is available at https://familysearch.org/blog/en/indexing-obituaries-faq/. A new indexing program is coming soon; it will include enhanced project selection and the ability to join multiple indexing groups. A worldwide indexing event will take place between Sunday, July 20, 6:00 PM (MDT) and Monday, July 21, 6:00 PM (MDT). FamilySearch's free Civil War records were also mentioned.