2019 Conference Program – Sunday

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Program: Topics & Speakers • TxSGS Live!Speaker Bios 

Sunday, October 13th

8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Exhibits Open
8:30 am
TxSGS Annual Business Meeting

Time

Lecture

Track

9:00 am
What Else the CCC Built
Lisa Reed
Show Description
The Civilian Conservation Corps is well-known for reforestation and building parks and bridges. Less known is that the CCC was involved in building up its Corps members through a formal educational program and informal literacy aids, such as camp newspapers. Learn about the history and records of your CCC teacher.
All Levels, Ballroom V
Records, Resources, Repositories
  
A Look at Colonial Mexico Catholic Church Records
Moises GarzaMore by this speaker
Show Description
Prior to 1860, the only institution that would record births, deaths, and marriages was the Catholic church. In this presentation, you will learn what genealogical information each of these records contain and also where to find these records online and offline.
All Levels, Pawlusky
Ethnic – Hispanic
  
Reconstructing Communities Using Maps, Census Records and City Directories
Ari WilkinsMore by this speaker
Show Description
Recreating communities can provide rich and insightful details about an ancestor’s life and surroundings. This lecture will demonstrate ways to combine data from census records, Sanborn maps, and city directories.
Beginner, Ballroom VII
Skill Building
  
MyHeritage: New Features and Technology
Schelly Talalay DardashtiMore by this speaker
Show Description
MyHeritage is continually developing new features and technology, such as the Theory of Family Relativity, AutoClusters, and more. This program will include all new features released up to the TxSGS 2019 Conference.
Lecture sponsored by MyHeritage.
Intermediate, Lakeview
Technology
10:30 am
Digital Images Demystified
Tony Hanson
Show Description
Most of us don’t know how a JPEG file differs from a TIFF file and whether or not that difference is important. This presentation will provide you with a basic understanding of how images are digitized, and it will familiarize you with some of the fundamental characteristics of digital image files.
Intermediate, Ballroom V
Technology
  
Navigating the Freedmen’s Bureau Records – Strategies for Research Success
Sharon GillinsMore by this speaker
Show Description
Discover the various options that researchers can use to access Freedmen’s Bureau records and the strengths and weaknesses of each medium. Understand the organization of the Bureau and its record-keeping practices in order to identify and locate the records required to support researcher’s goals. Use of the Descriptive Pamphlet is demonstrated as an important component of a focused, efficient research plan.
Intermediate, Pawlusky
Ethnic – African-American
  
Women’s Suffrage: Their Rights, Roles, and Limitations
Michael StraussMore by this speaker
Show Description
Life for the early American woman was often burdened with setbacks. With no voting rights, limited educational opportunities, and virtually no legal identity, women sought to be equals in society. Explore the history of women from colonial times to the twentieth century using numerous genealogical records from English common law to citizenship and suffrage as women gained the right to vote.
Beginner, Intermediate, Ballroom VII
Skill Building
  
Raw DNA Data: Alleles, Algorithms, Analysis
Debbie Parker Wayne
Show Description
Learn how algorithms, lab processes, and imputation can affect your DNA matches at the different testing companies and third-party tools. Advanced concepts are explained in a clear and basic way.
Intermediate, Advanced, Lakeview
DNA
11:30 am – 1:00 pm
Lunch
1 pm
Using the Power of Spreadsheets to Answer Genealogical Questions
Bernard MeisnerMore by this speaker
Show Description
Learn how to import search results from web sites into spreadsheets and process them to investigate possible group migrations and family relationships.
Intermediate, Ballroom V
Technology
  
German-Texan Research at the GLO
Kevin Klaus
Show Description
An overview of the history of the Adelsverein provides background for German-Texan research from the 1840s. Learn techniques for tracing your ancestor using GLO land grant files as well as techniques for researching German records overseas. A case study of the early German immigrant Adolf Fuchs will illustrate methods for discovering your ancestors in Germany. This presentation will cover new material found this year after visiting archives in Wiesbaden, Mönchengladbach, and Dusseldorf, Germany.
All Levels, Pawlusky
Ethnic – Other
  
When Proof Isn’t Really Proof After All
Patti GillespieMore by this speaker
Show Description
This presentation is very helpful for beginning researchers. Several individuals whose life information is culled from newspapers, census records, and family trees are examined closely. Logical flaws are noted, further research is introduced, and entirely different conclusions are discovered.
All Levels, Ballroom VII
Methodology and Problem Solving
  
Making Molehills out of Mountains: Organizing Your Research Piles
Cari TaplinMore by this speaker
Show Description
Organization allows researchers to better utilize research time. In addition to time management techniques, learn methods for organizing documents and notes as well as how to build a better research log. Being organized either digitally or on paper gives you more time for the thrill of the chase and stops you from repeating research steps you’ve done before. Turn those mountainous piles into organized files!
All Levels, Lakeview
Skill Building
2:30 pm
Texas Commissioners of Deeds: How Texas Land Was Bought and Sold
Mic Barnette
Show Description
There are no Texas Commissioners of Land/Deeds today. This presentation will explain how people living outside the Republic of Texas and the State of Texas in the 19th and early 20th centuries utilized the services of the Commissioners of Land/Deeds to buy and sell Texas land.
All Levels, Ballroom V
Records, Resources, and Repositories
 
From Minsk to Manhattan: Using Maps to Retrace an Ancestor’s Journey
David PassmanMore by this speaker
Show Description
When an immigrant ancestor leaves no letters or journals, retracing their transmigrant experience proves problematic. Through steamship and railway records, wide-ranging sources reveal a complex integrated transportation system. Passenger lists, published memoirs, newspaper accounts, meteorological data, naturalization indexes, and UK census records, used in conjunction with period maps, reveal aspects of David’s journey, retracing his travels during the Age of Steam.
Beginner, Pawlusky
Ethnic – Other
 
Utilizing Automated DNA Match Clustering Tools to Further Family Lines
Dana LeedsMore by this speaker
Show Description
DNA Match Clustering tools create visual genetic networks – groups of DNA matches who are likely related to you through a common ancestor. This session, led by a pioneer in this field, will teach you to create, interpret, and analyze results from “Leeds Method-like” automated clustering tools like Genetic Affair’s AutoClustering and DNAGedcom’s Collins’ Leeds Method (CLM) tool.
All Levels, Ballroom VII
DNA
 
Gold Star Mothers – Discovering Your Veteran Ancestor’s Military records
Gale FrenchMore by this speaker
Show Description
The number of casualties in World War I was over 37 million. Many have ancestors that were among those killed. Learn how to find and record information about those ancestors included among the casualties. Discover tools, resources and approaches to find ancestors who were buried overseas. Find out how to obtain military records, photographs of Gold Star Mothers, grave markers, and other relevant documents along with tips for telling their stories.
Beginner, Intermediate, Lakeview
Military

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