On-Demand Sessions for the 2021 TxSGS Family History Conference

 

“Researching Family History Records in the Collections of the 1890 Morrill Act Universities” by Deborah A. Abbott, PhD – This Act created 19 historical Black land-grant institutions. Learn about the records that can be found at these universities to enhance one’s genealogical research.

“That’s in the Archives! Digging Deeper In the Archived Records” by Melissa Barker – Genealogists use archives every day to locate records about their ancestors. Are there records that you are not accessing because you don’t know they exist? Not all records are online, indexed, or microfilmed. Digging deeper in the local and state archives to find unique and relatively unknown records just might be the next step in your genealogy research.

“Start an mtDNA Haplogroup Project and Extend Your Maternal Lineage” by Mic Barnette – Learn the ins and outs of starting, organizing, and recruiting project members for an mtDNA project. Discover the tools available to help extend one’s knowledge from ancient anthropological ancestry to more recent historical genealogical ancestry. A case study is presented which uses mtDNA and the collective lineages of project members to extend a pedigree from six to nine generations.

 “Conquering Obstacles in Hispanic Genealogical Research”  by Esther Camacho – Struggling with Hispanic genealogical research? Get tips on locating Hispanic documents. Learn the keys to naming structure, record patterns, reading dates, and basic vocabulary without having to be proficient in the Spanish language.

 “Anna and Her Brothers – Finding Relations When No Family Stories Exist” by Debra Dudek – Unmarried immigrant women living outside the family unit generate a different set of records, which makes piecing together their ancestry more of a challenge. This presentation examines a combination of family stories, photographs, and both direct and indirect evidence to rebuild the journey of an immigrant Czech family in Ohio and Nebraska.

 “Tracing Female Ancestors in WWI Military and Non-Combatant Records” by Debra Dudek – Women were essential to the success of America’s troops in World War I. This lecture will outline a plan to locate and use a variety of local, state, and national records to discover the stories of female ancestors serving in military and volunteer roles.

 “Finding Free Digital Content to Enhance Your Family History Storytelling Without Violating Copyright” by Colleen Robledo Greene, MLIS – Genealogists often incorporate digital content created by others into our personal, society, or professional work. What can you freely use without violating U.S. copyright law?

 “Getting Started Researching Your Mexican & Tejano Ancestors” by Colleen Robledo Greene, MLIS – This overview explains key online U.S., Mexican, and colonial Spanish record collections; naming conventions and search strategies; and essential reference tools for digging deeper.

 “Military Bounty Land in Genealogy” by Zachary Hamilton – Often given to encourage enlistment, reward service, or entice soldiers to stay longer, bounty land records hold a wealth of genealogically important information. Deconstruct the records and look at the background of these documents, their creation, where to access them, and their related laws and changes over time.

 “The Mississippi River: Migration, Commerce, Travel, and Exploration” by Zachary Hamilton – The early highways of America are its rivers, and none may be more critical to American expansion than the Mississippi. Explore the settlement, migration, and life along the river through the history of French and Spanish rule, American acquisition, and its role in the development of Mid-America. Breaking down the history and understanding the records around river travel and life may help you learn about your ancestors and trace them across important pages of American history.

 “A Grave Situation: Burial Records & Practices” by Jean Wilcox Hibben – Over the years, and in different locations, behaviors and documents dealing with death are varied. Some of the most commonly found practices and documents regarding death in the U.S. today are much different from those of previous generations or in different locations. Here we look at some things that may be found, as well as circumstances where documents and records may be lacking, including disasters, wars, epidemics and pandemics, and regions where recording demise of populations may be less exact. A brief discussion of occupations dealing with death, and the perception of them, will also be covered. Records and methodology examined will include newspaper sources, vital records (including death codes), church registers, and memorial cards, among others.

 “A Roadmap to Solving Genealogical Problems with Autosomal DNA (Part 2)” by Patti Lee Hobbs, CG® – This session continues the discussion of Part 1: tools abound to aid the genetic genealogist in problem solving. These two sessions give an overview of foundational principles in understanding autosomal DNA inheritance. Selective use of tools, both DNA-company and third-party, demonstrates logical processes to confirm or identify ancestors. These sessions focus on different methods and sequences in using DNA with documentary evidence. (Note: Part 1 is available as part of the TxSGS Live! program.)

 “Finding Grannie’s Daddy” by Andrew Lee – A case study in identifying the unknown father of an adoptee uses DNA from her children and grandchildren. Learn how to combine DNA plus historical records and indirect evidence to solve a one-hundred-year family mystery.

 “Prepare to Find Your Family in the 1950 U.S. Census” by Devon Noel Lee – No joke. The 1950 U.S. Census records will be released on the NARA website on April 1, 2022. Are you ready? Learn how you can prepare to find your ancestors in the documents and what you can do to make them searchable faster even for indexed portions

 “Home Guards, Confederate Veterans, and GAR in Texas” by J. Mark Lowe – Soldiers maintained ties to family whether Gray or Blue. Some were forced to cross the line or change uniforms. Learn about finding the uniform of choice or no uniform at all, and what happened to them and their organizations after the Civil War.

 “Proving Kinship Prior to 1850” by J. Mark Lowe – Identifying relatives or kinfolks is an essential part of adding to your family history. When all else fails, are there documents and records to help you prove kinship, when your regular sources are missing or fail? Try the techniques in this presentation to learn more about your pre-1850 ancestors.

 “They Came in Waves: The Pushes, Pulls, and Records of German Immigrants to America” by Bernard Meisner – German immigration to the United States can be grouped into four waves, based on time period. The waves can be differentiated by the pushes and pulls that drove the immigration, and the types of records produced during each wave. Learn the factors that may have drawn your German speaking ancestors to the United States, and the records where they most likely can be found.

 “Wishing for a Boy Named Sue? Don’t Let Family Naming Customs Confuse You!” by Bernard Meisner – Can’t find your ancestors in the records? Have you found two couples with the same names? Which family is your ancestor’s? What were the names of the parents of your ancestors? What was that mother’s maiden name? In the absence of any unique family names, learn some of the traditional naming customs that may enable you to answer these and similar questions.

 “Dealing with Courthouse Record Loss” by Kelvin L. Meyers – We all face it: record loss. Whether the courthouse burned; the clerk tossed them; the relative, autograph hunter, lawyer or surveyor took them; they succumbed to heat, humidity, insects, or fading ink or war or distance from the courthouse which was a barrier to their creation – the records that we want, the records that could answer our questions, aren’t there. The solution: in many cases it’s possible to overcome the problem, but it requires diligence, perseverance, and willingness to look beyond the obvious.

 “DNA Next Steps: Shared Matches, Cluster Charts, DNA Painting and WATO Analysis” by Alan Rabe – You have done an Ancestry DNA test and made links to all close family. You have used leaf connections to identify more cousins. Now you are interested in identifying more of your DNA matches—your mystery cousins. This presentation discusses four amazing tools to utilize the power of DNA in your genealogy. These techniques are of special interest to people looking for birth parents.

 “1867 Voter Registration and Beyond” by Diane L. Richard – Learn about the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which implemented regulations regarding voter registration. Males 21+ years of age, regardless of skin color, were eligible to vote. Surviving 1867 voter registrations are invaluable. After rampant late 19th-century racist restrictions on voters, Grandfather Clause laws were passed in many states. Though these laws significantly reduced the voter registrations of African Americans, immigrants, and the poor, they often help us link sons to fathers or grandfathers. Plus, many formerly enslaved or their descendants did register. Let’s explore the resulting records.

 “A World of Clues – Using County Histories to Find Your Family” by Mary Kircher Roddy, CG® – Hundreds of county histories were created in the late 19th and early 20th century. They are filled with valuable information about the counties where your ancestors lived and include biographical and genealogical detail about some of the prominent citizens in the area. Learn where to find these books and how to use them to explore your ancestor’s life and community. Even if your ancestor wasn’t featured in a biographical sketch, a county history can be a great resource for discovering your ancestor’s story.

 “So You’re Irish, Are You Now? – Beginning Irish Genealogical Research” by Mary Kircher Roddy, CG® – Are you ready to begin tracing your ancestors in Ireland? What must you know before jumping into Irish records? What’s in them? How can you access them? This presentation is geared toward genealogists beginning to trace their 19th and 20th century Irish immigrants ancestors.

 “The 1870 Community-Cluster: Gateway to Your Ancestor’s Enslavement” by Franklin Smith – Learn how to use the 1870 census community-cluster to locate the gateway that identifies the slaveholder and build a narrative around their history of enslavement.

“Underutilized Texas Sources for Identifying Texas Enslaved Ancestor’s Slaveholder” by Franklin Smith – Learn tips and strategies for accessing seldom-used Texas sources. These materials supplement standard sources to identify the slaveholder of your Texas enslaved ancestor.

 “How to Conduct Research in the Cuban Papers” by Mary Anthony Startz – A collection of Spanish Colonial records primarily for the Gulf Coast region, the Cuban Papers consist of more than 100 reels of microfilm comprising more than a million documents relating to the Spanish Colonial era. Part of the Spanish Colonial administrative records, this collection began in the 1570s with the founding of St. Augustine and ends in the 1820s after cession to the U.S. If your ancestor was in Spanish territory prior to 1821, there may be records of them here. Learn what this collection holds and how to drill into it.

 “Hispanic Records at the Texas General Land Office” by Dr. Brian Stauffer, Carlos Varela – The Spanish Collection at the Texas General Land Office houses the earliest records for Texas land ownership. Learn about the Spanish and Mexican land granting programs and dig deeper into the “anatomy” of a Mexican Title. See how to use GLO finding aids to explore these pre-republic records of Texas.

 “Crossing the Border: Records of the Punitive Expedition of 1916” by Michael Strauss, AG® – On March 1916, forces of Pancho Villa attacked the U.S. The resulting Punitive Expedition launched by the U.S. proved to be a training ground for World War I and produced a records bonanza for participants including Buffalo Soldiers, regular Army soldiers, Marines, and National Guard. Learn how to access the Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF) plus military claims and pensions for those who participated in this expedition.

 “Expansion and Growth: Finding Clues in the Federal Census, 1850-1900” by Michael Strauss, AG® – The period of 1850-1900 witnessed growth in the U.S. as we expanded westward. The United States census records made it possible to record these changes. Learn about the various census enumerations including population schedules, non-population schedules such as manufacturing, agriculture, mortality, slave, veteran, and social enumerations, plus how instructions to census enumerators affect your census research.

 “Unique African American Records” by Ari Wilkins – A wide variety of unusual records can be used for African American research. Many of these documents can be used to identify parents, dates of birth, and names of former slave holders. Learn about some of the most unusual and underutilized African American records and where to find them.