Saturday, November 15, 2014

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- What Did You Collect as a Youth?

Hey genea-folks, 
it's Saturday Night again, 

 time for more Genealogy Fun!

 


Your mission this week, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music!), is to:


1)   Most of us collect dead ancestors and relatives now - what did you collect when you were a child or teenager?

2)  Tell us about your collections in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post.

Here's mine:

I had several collections between the ages of 6 and 18, including:

*  Baseball cards:  In the early 1950s, I rode my bike all over North Park and East San Diego trying to find stores with baseball cards (5 to a pack, with a slab of pink gum, for 10 cents (?)).  Then I would trade duplicates with my brother, my friends, etc.  In 1954, I had a complete collection of all the cards published by Topps.  Eventually, I invented a dice game to play my own fantasy baseball games - my team usually won somehow.

*  Bottle caps:  I had a collection, usually gleaned from my family, neighbors, and friends who saved them for me.  I also went to grocery stores and asked for them.

*  Maps:  My father's cousin Dorothy subscribed to National Geographic, and I asked for maps from the magazine when they were finished with them.  I also obtained city maps from gas stations and studied them.  This led to making my own maps with rivers, streams, hills, railroads, bridges, highways, stop lights, etc.  In color.

*  Stamps:  My grandfather, Lyle Carringer, gave my brother and I a treasure trove of cancelled stamps when we were 8 or 10 years old.  We got stamp albums and pasted them in, both U.S. and foreign.  Then we started getting uncancelled stamps from my weekly grandfather's trips to the post office, and eventually plate blocks.  He had a worldwide correspondence of stamp collectors.  This became my sick-day or rainy-day activity.  We ended up buying uncancelled stamps for our collection at a downtown stamp shop.

*  Coins:  My brother and I collected coins also - each denomination (up to quarters), each year, each mint, etc.  We had coin books for each denomination/year/mint.  My folks and grandparents saved coins for us to catalog.

*  Bus schedules:  We lived right on the #2 bus line in San Diego, and I collected the schedules for as many lines as possible.  I loved the maps.  From my front window, I noted when a scheduled bus was late, noting the bus number to try to figure out the schedule.  Another sick/rainy day activity.

Collecting things was a big deal for me - it stimulated my curiosity and creativity, gave me goals to achieve, and I learned about geography, money, baseball, maps, etc.  

In my late teens and early 20s, I collected radio station music surveys (Top 40 lists) from all over the country.  From age 20 to 45, I listened for distant U.S. and foreign radio stations, kept a log, made tape recordings, and learned about radio wave propagation.  This was usually an evening and early morning (like 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. activity).  I also collected QSL cards and verification letters from the stations.  Then I started on genealogy and have collected thousands of dead ancestors and relatives.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-what-did.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


Surname Saturday - RICE (England to colonial Massachusetts)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week.  


I am in the 8th great-grandmothers and I'm up to Ancestor #1061 who is Hannah RICE (!658-1747)
[Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 8th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through three generations in this RICE family line is:


1. Randall J. Seaver

2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)

4. Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)

8. Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Hattie Louise Hildreth (1857-1920)

16. Isaac Seaver (1823-1901)
17. Lucretia Townsend Smith (1827-1884)

32. Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825)
33. Abigail Gates (1797-1869)


66.  Nathan Gates (1767-1830)
67.  Abigail Knowlton (1774-1855)

132.  Simon Gates (1739-1803)
133.  Susannah Reed (1745-1833)

264.  Amos Gates (1706-1783)
265.  Mary Hubbard (1712-1754)

530.  Samuel Hubbard (1687-1753)
531.  Sarah Clark (1681-1720)

1060.  Jonathan Hubbard, born 03 January 1659 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut, United States; died 17 July 1728 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 2120. John Hubbard and 2121. Mary Merriam.  He married 15 March 1681 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
1061.  Hannah Rice, born 1658 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; died 09 April 1747 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  

Children of Jonathan Hubbard and Hannah Rice are:
*  Mary Hubbard (1682-1769), married 1699 Daniel Davis (1673-1740).
*  Jonathan Hubbard (1683-1761), married 1704 Rebecca Brown (1684-1751).
*  Hannah Hubbard (1685-1725), married 1704 John Temple (1680-1734).
*  Samuel Hubbard (1687-1753), married (1) 1709 Sarah Clark (1681-1720); (2) 1721 Prudence Temple (1692-????).
*  Joseph Hubbard (1689-1768), married 1713 Rebecca Bulkeley (1696-1772).
*  Elizabeth Hubbard (1691-1757), married 1710 Samuel Hayward (1687-1750).
*  John Hubbard (1692-1761), married (1) 1716 Hannah Blood (1700-1727); (2) 1727 Azubah Moore (1704-1795).
*  Daniel Hubbard (1694-1784), married 1717 Dorothy Dakin (1698-1769).
*  Thomas Hubbard (1696-1728), married 1715 Mary Fletcher (1695-1764).
*  Abigail Hubbard (1698-????), married 1722 Samuel Fletcher (1692-????).
*  Ebenezer Hubbard (1700-1755), married 1724 Mary Conant (1703-????).

2122.  Samuel Rice, born before 12 November 1634 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England; died 25 February 1685 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He married 08 November 1655 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
2123.  Elizabeth King, born about 1635 in Shaftesbury, Dorset, England; died 30 October 1667 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  She was the daughter of 4246. Thomas King and 4247. Anne.

Children of Samuel Rice and Elizabeth King are:
*  Elizabeth Rice (1656-1727), married 1677 Peter Haynes (1654-????).
*  Hannah Rice (1658-1747), married 1681 Jonathan Hubbard (1659-1728)
*  Joshua Rice (1661-1734), married Mary Sawyer (1671-1766).
*  Edmund Rice (1663-1726), married 1692 Ruth Parker.
*  Esther Rice (1665-1738), married 1683 Daniel Hubbard (1661-1744).
*  Samuel King alias Rice (1667-1713), married 1693 Abigail Clapp (1675-1713).

4144.  Edmund Rice, born about 1594 in probably Boemer, Buckinghamshire, England; died 03 May 1663 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 8288. Thomas Rice and 8289. unknown.  He married 15 October 1618 in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England.
4145.  Thomasine Frost, born before 11 August 1600 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England; died 13 June 1653 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  She was the daughter of 8290. Edward Frost and 8291. Thomasine Belgrave.

Children of Edmund Rice and Thomasine Frost are:
*  Mary Rice (1619-????).
*  Henry rice (1621-1711), married 1644 Elizabeth Moore (1626-1705).
*  Edward Rice (1622-1712), married 1647 Agnes Bent (1631-1713).
*  Thomas Rice (1626-1681), married 1651 Mary King (1630-1715).
*  Matthew Rice (1629-1717), married 1654 Martha Lamson (1634-1717).
*  Lydia Rice (1629-1675), married 1645 Hugh Drury (1616-1689).
*  Daniel Rice (1632-1632).
*  Samuel Rice (1634-1685), married (1) 1655 Elizabeth King (1635-1667); (2) 1669 Mary Dix (1639-1675); (3) 1676 Sarah White (1643-1711).
*  Joseph rice (1638-1711), married (1) 1658 Mercy King (1638-1669); (2) 1670 Mary Beers (1643-1677); (3) 1678 Sarah Prescott (1637-1727).
*  Benjamin Rice (1640-1713), married (1) 1661 Mary Brown (1643-1691); (2) 1691 Mary Chamberlain (1650-1716).

The English ancestry of Edmund Rice was ably covered:

*  Mary Lovering Holman, "English Notes on Edmund Rice, " The American Genealogist, Volume 10, pg. 133, 1933.

*  Donald Lines Jacobus, "Pre-American Ancestries, IX. Edmund Rice of Sudbury, Mass.," The American Genealogist, Volume 11, page 14, 1934.

Vital record and biographical data was provided by:

*  Andrew Henshaw Ward, A Genealogical History of The Rice Family:  Descendants of Deacon Edmund Rice (Boston :  C.B. Richardson, 1858) 

*  Ray Lowther Ellis (editor), A Genealogical Register of Edmund Rice Descendants (Rutland, Vt. : Edmund Rice (1638) Descendants, 1970).

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/surname-saturday-rice-england-to.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


Friday, November 14, 2014

Zap the Grandma Gap Book Releases - Getting Kids Hooked On Family History

I received this book release notice via email from Janet Hovorka and Wendy Johnson:

=======================================


November 15, 2014

Sisters Janet Hovorka and Amy Slade announce the release of their new My Mormon Ancestor, My Jewish Ancestor and My Pioneer Ancestor activity books for youth, ages 6-14, as part of their Zap The Grandma Gap “My Ancestors” series.  These 52-page activity books encourage youth to ask questions and delve into the history of their family in a fun way. The “My Ancestors” hands-on workbooks create bonds between generations with hours of activities, puzzles, games, recipes, stories and crafts that can involve the entire family. Timelines, paper dolls, coloring pages, maps, music, dot-to-dots and crossword puzzles combine to give youth ownership of their own genealogy and the send them on a quest to bring their family history to life.

“If you are looking for concrete ideas for sharing your family history and inspiring the next generation, look no further. Janet’s passion for the power of family history in the lives of today’s busy families shines throughout the pages!”  asserts Lisa Louise Cooke, host of The Genealogy Gems Podcast, referencing Hovorka’s companion book, Zap the Grandma Gap. Likewise, these new children’s workbooks are designed to help kids gain the benefits of family history and start asking their family members about their shared past.   Studies have shown that greater knowledge about family history strengthens and empowers youth by creating self-esteem, resilience and a greater sense of control over their lives. Learning about the family's past also strengthens the relationships between living family members by creating a shared experience and core identity that no one else in the world can duplicate.  

These books make wonderful gifts for the holidays. Take advantage of the pre-release sale, 20% off all books at zapthegrandmagap.com, till November 30th, 2014. Excerpts from the books can be viewed on the website at zapthegrandmagap.com/brandnewbooks. Additional pages will be previewed in the coming weeks on the blog at zapthegrandmagap.blogspot.com. Other great online and print resources to help families connect to each other by connecting to their past can be found at zapthegrandmagap.com.

With the “My Jewish Ancestor Activity Book” you can:
· Learn about Jewish history, traditions and culture
· Make and braid Challah bread with your family
· Solve a Jewish calendar crossword puzzle
· Record your family’s recipe for Charoset
· Find your family’s place in the Diaspora
· Learn the Hebrew alphabet
· Complete a genealogy word search
· Enjoy a Yiddish folktale and Nasrudin stories
· Color, cut out and tell stories with Jewish ancestor paper dolls
· Explore many other activities about your family’s history

With the “My Mormon Ancestor Activity Book” you can:
· Plan an ancestor Family Home Evening
· Learn about priesthood line of authority and how to trace it
· Find the patriarchal blessings of your ancestors
· Complete a temple dot-to-dot
· Document the church service and callings of your ancestors
· Gather information on your family’s missionaries
· Record information about the first LDS members of your family
· Make a handkerchief doll for church
· Explore many other activities about your family’s history

With the “My Pioneer Ancestor Activity Book” you can:
· Map out the pioneer route of your ancestors
· Decide what you would pack for a journey across the plains
· Learn how to find direction by the sun
· Compare your day to the day in the life of your ancestor
· Try classic pioneer recipes
· Write a Pony Express letter to a pioneer ancestor
· Play a game about the risks along the trail
· Contrast pioneer schools and modern schools
· Explore many other activities about your family’s history

About the author: Janet Hovorka received a B.A. in Ancient Near Eastern History and a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from BYU. She and her husband, Kim Hovorka, own Family ChartMasters (www.familychartmasters.com), award winning printers for most of the genealogy software and database companies. She is the past president of the Utah Genealogical Association and teaches courses in library skills and genealogy at Salt Lake Community College. Janet writes The Chart Chick blog (www.thechartchick.com), has written for numerous genealogy publications and has presented countless lectures all over the world to help people learn more about their past.

Previous books in the Zap The Grandma Gap collection include:  Zap the Grandma Gap: Connect With Your Family by Connecting Them To Their Family History by Janet Hovorka, Zap the Grandma Gap Power Up Workbook: The Particulars About How To Connect With Your Family by Connecting Them To Their Family History by Janet Hovorka, My British Ancestor, My German Ancestor, My Civil War Ancestor and My Swedish Ancestor all by Janet Hovorka and Amy Slade. 
_________________________
Family ChartMasters--Everything you need to engage your family with their family history.

Also at www.zapthegrandmagap.com check out the Zap The Grandma Gap books and workbooks to connect with your family by connecting them with their family history.

======================================


copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


New or Updated Ancestry.com Databases - November 8-14, 2014

The following databases were added or updated on Ancestry.com during the period from 8 to 14 November 2014. 

*  UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 and 1939-1947; 560,902 indexed records, updated 11/14/2014
*  U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935; 5,981,756 indexed records, updated 11/11/2014
*  England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970; 2,530,704 indexed records, updated 11/10/2014

*  U.S., List of Interred Soldiers of the U.S. Army, 1827-1889; 11,354 indexed records, new 11/10/2014
*  California, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1959; 4,918,092 indexed records, updated 11/10/2014

*  Savannah, Georgia, Select Board of Health and Health Department Records, 1824-1864, 1887-1896; 28,803 indexed records, new 11/10/2014




The recently added or updated page on Ancestry.com is http://www.ancestry.com/cs/reccol/default.

The complete Ancestry.com Card Catalog is at  http://search.ancestry.com/search/CardCatalog.aspx.  There are 32,493 databases available as of today, an increase of 10 over last week. [How can that be?  They have two NEW items on the list above since 11/8/2014.  Strange, unless they miscounted last week, or an earlier week.]

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/new-or-updated-ancestrycom-databases_14.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 46: #53 Mary (Bell) Smith (1805-1865)

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" in her blog post Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  Here is my ancestor biography for week #46:

Mary Bell (1805-1865) is #53 on my Ahnentafel list, my third great-grandmother.  She married in about 1835  to #52 Ranslow Smith (1805-1873).


I am descended through:

*  their son, #26 Devier J. Smith  (1839-1894), who married #27, Abigail A. Vaux (1844-1931) in 1861.
*  their daughter, #13 Abbie Ardell "Della" Smith (1862-1944) who married #12 Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946) in 1887.

*  their son, #6 Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976), married Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977) in 1918. 
* their daughter, #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002), who married Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) in 1942.
*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

 =====================================================

1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):


*  Name:                       Mary "Polly" Bell[3]
*  Alternate Name:       Mary Smith[4–7]   
*  Sex:                          Female   

*  Father:                      James Bell (1778-1838)   
*  Mother:                    Cornelia Bresee (1780-1840)   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL FACTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Birth:                       23 April 1805, New York, United States[1-2]
*  Deed:                       7 December 1839 (age 34), Henderson, Jefferson, New York, United States[3] *  Census:                    1 June 1850 (age 45), Henderson, Jefferson, New York, United States[4]
*  Census:                    1 June 1860 (age 55), Oak Grove, Dodge, Wisconsin, United States[5]
*  Death:                      12 May 1865 (age 60), Burnett, Dodge, Wisconsin, United States[6–7]
*  Burial:                     after 12 May 1865 (after age 60), Burnett Corners Cemetery, Burnett, Dodge, Wisconsin, United States[8]
  
3)  SPOUSES AND CHILDREN (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Spouse 1:                Ranslow Smith (1805-1873)   
*  Marriage:                before 1835 (before about age 30), Probably Jefferson, New York, United States   

*  Child 1:                  Mary Jane Bell Smith (1838-1911)   
*  Child 2:                  Devier James Lamphier Smith (1839-1894)   
  
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

 In the Abigail (Vaux) Smith list of births, marriages and deaths:[2]

Parents of D J Smith
Mary Smith Borne April 23, 1805
....................... Died May 12, 1865
Ranslow Smith borne July 11, 1805

No information has been found for the marriage date of Ranslow Smith and Mary (Polly) Bell.  Since they were married at the time of the writing of the deed by Mary's father, James Bell, in 1839 in Jefferson County, New York, it is certain that they were married before the deed was written.  

On 3 December 1839, six heirs-at-law of James Bell sold 65.68 acres of land in Henderson to Jedediah McCumber for $1,046.86.[3]  The six heirs-at-law included Harvey Smith (and wife Sarah), Ranslow Smith (and wife Polly), John Clark (and wife Nancy), David Bell (and wife Emeline), Cornelia Bell, and James G. Bell (and wife Nancy).  The property in Henderson was part of subdivision 1 of great lot 13, bounded by stakes and stones.  Another heir, Orin Bell, owned a seventh part of the lot, which was not included in the purchase.

Ranslow and Mary (Bell) Smith had two children.  We know that their son Devier J. Lamphier Smith was adopted.  It may be that their daughter, Mary Bell Smith was also adopted.  She may have been a child of one of Mary's brothers.

Ranslow Smith moved his family in the 1843 time frame to Dodge County, Wisconsin, in the township of Burnett, and built an inn called the Four Mile Inn just a short distance from the railway station in 1853.  

In the 1850 US census, the Ranslow Smith family resided in Burnett township, Dodge County, Wisconsin.[4] The household included:

*  Ranslow Smith, age 44, male, a farmer, real property of $2000, born NY
*  Mary Smith, age 45, female, born NY
*  Mary J. Smith, age 12, female, born NY
*  Devier Smith, age 11, male, born New York.

In the 1860 census, this family resided in Oak Grove, Dodge County, Wisconsin.[5]   The household included:

*  Ranslow Smith -- age 55, male, farmer and inn keeper, $7800 in real property, $930 in personal property, born NY
*  Mary Smith -- aged 55, female, born NY
*  Devier Smith -- age 21, male, farm laborer, $1232 in personal property,  born NY

The Abigail (Vaux) Smith family papers list the death date of Mary Smith as 12 May 1865.[7]  The Wisconsin death index p[rpvides the same date [6], as does the gravestone[8].

Mary (Bell) Smith's gravestone is in Row 9 in the Burnett Corners Cemetery (Section 20 NW) in Burnett, Dodge County, Wisconsin.[8]  The gravestone inscription is:

Wife 
R. SMITH
DIED
May 12, 1865
AE 60 y 19d  
 
5)  SOURCES

1. unknown, Devier J. Smith, 1889-1920, Devier J. Smith Family Bible [loose pages of Birth, Marriages, Death and Note Pages] (no publication information).

2. Smith/Carringer Family Correspondence (Loose Letters, 1888–1902), Abigail (Vaux) Smith list of family births and deaths, Mary Smith birth entry, 23 April 1805, originals privately held by Randall J. Seaver, [address for private use], Chula Vista CA 91911, 1988 (great grandson). Family letters to and from Abigail (Vaux) Smith, Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer, and Della (Smith) Carringer. written by Abbie (Vaux) smith in about 1895, passed to Della (Smith) Carringer in 1931, to Lyle L. Carringer in 1946, to Betty (Carringer) Seaver in 1977, and to Randall J. Seaver (2nd great-grandson) in 1988.

3. Jefferson County [N.Y.] Clerk, "Deed Records (Jefferson County, New York); index, 1805-1966, 1805-1907," Family History Library (Salt Lake City, Utah), on 194 Reels of microfilm, citing original records in the Jefferson County Courthouse, Watertown, New York, Deed Book I3, page 534, heirs of James Bell deed, accessed on FHL Microfilm US/CAN 0,886,700.

4. 1850 United States Federal Census, Dodge County, Wisconsin, Burnett; Page 43, Line 36, Ranslow Smith household, online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll 996.

5. 1860 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Dodge County, Wisconsin, Oak Grove; Page 745, Dwelling #704, Family #701, Ranslow Smith household; online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, Roll 1406.

6. "Wisconsin Death Records - Pre-1907 Death Index," online index database, Wisconsin Historical Society (http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/vitalrecords/;  Madison, Wis. : 1996-2011), Mary Smith entry, 1865.

7. Smith/Carringer Family Correspondence, Abigail (Vaux) Smith list of family births and deaths, Mary Smith death entry, 12 May 1865.

8. Jim Tipton, indexed database, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com), Burnett Corners Cemetery, wife of R. Smith memorial #32501437.

==================================

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


Thursday, November 13, 2014

My Relationships to U.S. Presidents - Post 2: Presidents 34-38

I can't seem to stay away from Geni.com and their search capability to find relationships with living persons.  I spent some time today working backwards in time looking for my connections to the Presidents.  I did six of them in My Relationships to United States Presidents - Post 1: 39 to 44 (posted 2 October 2014).

1)  Gerald R. Ford (born Leslie Lynch King), 38th President of the United States, is my 8th cousin:



The common ancestor is Elizabeth (Mott) (Ricketson) Wing (1659-1723).  I am fairly confident that this relationship is correct.

2)  Richard Milhous Nixon, 37th President of the United States, is my 8th cousin twice removed:



My common ancestors with Richard Nixon is Henry Howland (1604-1671) and his wife, Mary (1605-1674).  I am fairly confident that this relationship is correct.

3)  Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States is my 13th cousin:


My common ancestor with Lyndon Johnson is Sir Robert Throckmorton of Coughton Court (1451-1518).  I have little confidence that either my line or Lyndon's line from Sir Robert is correct.

4)  John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States is my 11th cousin twice removed:


My common ancestors with John F. Kennedy are John Irby (1520-1553) and Rose Overton (1521-1579).  I have some confidence that both my line and Jack's line from John and Rose are correct.

5)  Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States is my 12th cousin 5 times removed:


 My common ancestors with Dwight D. Eisenhower are Richard Melton (1485-1550) and his wife.  I have little confidence that either my line or Dwight's line from from Richard Melton are correct.

6)  I did not check the records for each relationship shown in the charts above.  I am confident that my lines back to the immigrant ancestors from England are correct, but I have no idea how accurate the lines are from the immigrants back to the common ancestors to the Presidents.  Some are well researched, and have entries in the book by Gary Boyd Roberts, Ancestors of American Presidents (1989).  

The URL for this post is:  
http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/my-relationships-to-us-presidents-post.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver



My FGS Conference Experiences

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) 2015 Conference is February 11-14, 2015 in Salt Lake City at the Salt Palace Conference Center.  You can register for the conference, see the FGS speakers and schedule, etc. at https://www.fgsconference.org/.

I have been to two FGS conferences in past years:

1)  The 2009 Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas.  We took a Midwest vacation in 2009, and one of the stops was in Little Rock at the FGS Conference - see the trip plan at Off on our Midwest Vacation (posted 27 August 2009).   This was the only significant genealogical experience on this vacation.  I  summarized each day, see:

*  Day 0 at FGS Conference  (posted 1 September 2009).
*  Day 1 at FGS Conference - Post 2 (posted 2 September 2009)
*  Day 1 at the FGS Conference - Post 2 (posted 2 September 2009)
*  Day 2 at the FGS Conference - Post 1 (posted 3 September 2009)
*  Day 2 at the FGS Conference - Post 2 (posted 3 September 2009)
*  Day 3 at the FGS Conference (posted 4 September 2009)
*  Day 4 at the FGS Conference (posted 5 September 2009)

I also made two post-conference posts with photos in FGS Conference Photographs - Post 1 (posted 17 September 2009) and FGS Conference Photographs - Post 2 (posted 18 September 2009). 



2)  The 2011 Conference in Springfield, Illinois.  We took another Midwest vacation, including attending the FGS Conference, and also did some genealogical research in Fort Wayne and Madison, and visited some family towns in Dane and Dodge County, Wisconsin, plus a visit to the Ranslow Smith four Mile Inn at Old World Wisconsin.  The trip compendium, including the FGS days, are in  The Seaver Family History Mystery Tour Compendium (posted 29 September 2011).

The FGS posts are:

*  We're in Springfield, Illinois for the FGS Conference (6 September 2011)
*  FGS Conference Day 1 Summary (7 September 2011)
*  Day 2 (Thursday) at the FGS Conference (8 September 2011)
*  Day 3 (Friday) at the FGS Conference (9 September 2011)
*  Day 4 (Saturday) at the FGS Conference (10 September 2011)
*   FGS Photos - the Geneablogger Lounge (19 September 2011)
*  FGS Photos - Some Vendor Shots (20 September 2011)
*  FGS Photos - More Vendor Shots (21 September 2011)



3)  What do I expect from FGS 2015 Conference in Salt Lake City?

I expect a similar experience to the two FGS conferences I attended, but on a larger scale, much more hectic, and with more educational options.  The 2015 Conference is in a shared venue with the RootsTech 2015 Conference, although there are two separate speaker presentation lists, separate registrations, but a shared Expo Hall and Keynote events.  I expect to:

*  Spend a lot of time in the Expo Hall in the Media Center (as an FGS Ambassador and RootsTech Ambassador).  I may never leave the Expo Hall!  I usually write blog posts, talk with geneabloggers and attendees when they come by, visit many of the exhibitors in the Expo Hall, and watch people.

*  Attend one or two presentations each day in either the FGS or RootsTech tracks.   I haven't picked out which presentations to attend.  Sometimes this is an on-the-spot decision.

*  Enjoy the Keynote talks, the evening social events, perhaps a vendor-sponsored event, and impromptu meals and get-togethers as invited or discovered.  

*  Have at least one day (probably Wednesday) in the Family History Library working on items on my research To Do list.  

Other than that, it should be a lot of fun!

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Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver