Classes will be presented in five sessions throughout the day and will cover a wide variety of research topics.
CLASS DESCRIPTIONS:
A Place Name: The Key to Unlocking Irish Records []
Taught by Ann Lamb. This class will focus on locating the origin of your Irish families using U.S. sources as a key to making progress in research in Ireland.
Advanced U.S. Census (1790 to 1840) [Intermediate / Advanced]
Taught by Dave Thaler. An updated class focusing on census research to find ancestors in the US between 1790 and 1840. Topics include the logic and applied problem solving, tracking heads of household over multiple years, and search techniques. Lots of tips on how to get around the problems inherent in head-of-household-only census research. Online resources and off-line resources. Class is advanced level and those with prior census research experience will get the most out of the class.
Basic U.S. Census (1850 to 1930) [Novice / Intermediate]
Taught by Dave Thaler. An updated class focusing on census research to find ancestors in the US between 1850 and 1930. Topics include the content of each census, oral record problems, comparison of on-line search engines and unusual search techniques. Lots of tips on how to get around the problems inherent in census research. Online resources and off-line resources.
Beginning Research in Spain & Mexico [Beginner]
Taught by Susana Leniski. The class will focus on beginning research in Mexico and Spain. The Class will answer questions like: How and where do I begin? What type of records do I find? Where do I find them? How do I understand them? How do I organize my information? Do I need to know Spanish? You will receive an overview of how to research Catholic Church Records, and Civil Records including, baptisms, marriage, matrimonial information, confirmations, wills, death certificates, proof of nobility, immigration records (Archivo de Indias) and church dispensations.
Building Your Own Web Page in Baby Steps []
Taught by Maureen Mead. [class description to be added]
Changes to FamilySearch.org []
Taught by Bob Mullen. FamilySearch.org is a website of the LDS church which promotes genealogical research. In the last two years the website has gone though extensive modifications and will be a work in progress for a number of years. Most of the microfilms and fiche that are in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City are being digitally scanned and indexed to make them more easily accessible on-line. In addition they are making agreements with other repositories to scan and index additional records. These new scanned in images with indexes are being put on the familysearch.org website as they are being completed. The class will summarize the current status and view the website and some of the currently existing records.
Civil War Ancestors: Putting Flesh on the Bones []
Taught by Heather McLeland-Wieser. Discover what specialized Research Guides, unique Indexes. Maps, regimental histories and Government documents offer the Family Historian who wants to breath life into the names, places and dates on their Ancestor Charts. Learn about Seattle Public Library resources that will help you go beyond the Pension Index Card and the Service Records of your Civil War ancestors.
Civil War Pension Files [Beginner/Intermediate]
Taught by Cynthia White-Wilson. A class focusing on the biographical and statistical information included in military pension files. Applicable to US research. Topics include both Union and Confederate files and the information about a soldier's spouse and family included in these records. These pension records often contain interesting information about the soldier's life many years after the completion of his service. The class also covers the application documents.
Taught by Delores Davis. This class will be an interactive presentation on developing and writing interesting, informative and entertaining memoirs on trends, themes, or individual stories on “subject” specific life stories gathered from your genealogical quest.
Detours Around Irish Roadblocks and Stone Walls [Beginner]
Taught by Steven Morrison.
Tired of making little progress finding your elusive ancestors in
Ireland? Are you down to asking for either divine intervention or seeking
the help of a leprechaun? Attempting to solve an Irish genealogical
problem like you would in the states and failing to understand the limited
sources of records is often two of the biggest obstacles in Ireland. So,
if you are ready to learn how to get around ten of Ireland’s top roadblocks and
stone walls, let this session be your springboard to finding the Irish branches
on your family tree.
Documentation, Genealogy Without it is Mythology []
Taught by Jim Terry. [class description to be added]
El Poder de Formar Redes (Power of Networking) [Principiante (Beginner)]
Enseñado en español por Don Doud. Una clase nueva con intento de ayudarles a principiantes a mejor entender técnicas en línea y fuera de línea. Temas incluyen poner información en tableros de mensajes, investigar mediante correo electrónico, inscribirse en informativos y grupos en línea, contactarles a bibliotecarias en su área de interés, hablar con conocidos y ccoperar con grupos de interés semejante. Un poquito de lenguaje de computadoras, pero a un paso más despacito.
Taught by Don Doud. A class with a commitment to beginners covering on-line and off-line techniques. Topics include posting to message boards, emailing for look ups, joining on-line newsletters and groups, contacting librarians in the locality, talking to acquaintances and working with interest groups. A little computer talk at an understandable pace.
England On-line - Part 1 [Beginning / Intermediate]
Taught by Godfrey and Merry Ellis. An updated class focusing on online research techniques for England. Topics in Part 1 include geography and maps, church records (Church of England & Non-Conformist) for baptisms, marriages and burials and civil registration records. Applicable to England. Part 1 and Part 2 are self-contained classes. Attend one or both depending on your needs.
England On-line - Part 2 [Beginning / Intermediate]
Taught by Godfrey and Merry Ellis. An updated class focusing on online research techniques for England. Topics in Part 2 include census 1841 to 1901, parish chest materials, military records, wills, probates and tombstones. We will also take a look at www.genuki.com. Applicable to England. Part 1 and Part 2 are self-contained classes. Attend one or both depending on your needs.
Fakes, Fraud, and Forgery: The 3 F's of Genealogy []
Taught by Heather McLeland-Wieser. Why would anyone commit Genealogical Fraud? Genealogy is one of the most popular pastimes in the world. So there are lots of potential victims and lots of money to be made. Learn about historic scams and their contemporary counterparts, including commercial fakery and subtle forgeries.
Taught by Bob Allen. [class description to be added]
Taught by Constance Bailey. The search for colonial records is challenging. This presentation will discuss the frustrations inherent to this quest, and assist participants in locating and utilizing these elusive documents.
Finding Your Ancestors on Ship Passenger Lists []
Taught by Evelyn Roehl. [class description to be added]
Finding Your Irish Quaker Roots [Beginner]
Taught by Steven Morrison.
In Ireland many civil and church records have been destroyed except for
those of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as the “Quakers”.
Most Irish Quakers have English roots, were early pioneers to the colonies, and
many families changed their religions after in America. Quakers documented
births, marriages, and burials of all their members from the seventeenth century
to the present without a break. This session will help you crack the code
of Quaker record keeping. With this you can access the Quaker Archives –
the best preserved church records in Ireland.
Genealogical Hunting Grounds in the Puget Sound Region []
Taught by Evelyn Roehl. [class description to be added]
Getting Started on Writing a Personal History []
Taught by Stephanie Holmes. [class description to be added]
Introduction to the New Legacy 7.0 Family Tree Software []
Taught by Jim Terry. [class description to be added]
New FamilySearch (for LDS Members) []
Taught by
Godfrey and Merry Ellis, Julie Monson, and Stephanie Holmes. This
class is designed to help members of the LDS Church become familiar with
new.familysearch.org as they prepare family names for temple ordinances.
New.familysearch.org replaces the former Temple Ready program and allows
members to print a Family Ordinance Request (F.O. R.) from a home computer with
Internet
Norway On-line and Off-line [Beginning/Intermediate]
Taught by Sarah Thorson Little. An updated class focusing on research techniques and methodology for Norway. Topics include naming patterns, censuses, parish records, bygdebøker and Internet resources. Emphasis on Norway, but information learned can be helpful in researching ancestors from other Scandinavian countries.
Power of Networking [Beginner]
Taught by Don Doud. A class with a commitment to beginners covering on-line and off-line techniques. Topics include posting to message boards, emailing for look ups, joining on-line newsletters and groups, contacting librarians in the locality, talking to acquaintances and working with interest groups. A little computer talk at an understandable pace.
Principios de Genealogía en Latinoamérica y España []
Taught by Cruz Burrows. Esta clase esta diseñada para aquellos que no saben o no entienden como empezar sus registros genealógicos, aquí veremos la importancia que tiene el llevar a cabo una genealogía, veremos además, algunos sitios que nos permiten y nos ayudan a poder buscar nuestros ancestros en diferentes partes del mundo. Explicaremos los métodos que se pueden ulitizar para nuestra búsqueda genealógica y; aprenderemos a utilizarlos.
Profile of a Quaker: Friends in the Middle Colonies [Beginner]
Taught by Steven Morrison.
What do Miami CSI and genealogy have in
common? They both use “profiling techniques” to identify probable suspects
and make a case for further investigation. The profile of a Quaker
(Religious Society of Friends) can be as distinctive as a fingerprint.
This is largely because of their belief system, ethnic origin, marriage
practices, and separate record structure. This session will show you how
to get started so you can learn to spot the profile of a Quaker in a
crowd. Then you will understand why most genealogists wish that they had a
Friend in their family tree.
Tracing Elusive Female Ancestors []
Taught by Sarah Thorson Little. Finding women in traditional records can be difficult in part due to historic legal rights and status. This talk will cover research methodology and strategies to locate and identify elusive female ancestors.
Using Maps in Genealogy: A Case History Using Norwegian Farm Maps []
Taught by John LaMont. In this session we'll explore both print and online sources for discovering the location of a Norwegian farm. On our journey, we'll use gazetteers, maps of varying scale, family information, and other resources to guide the way.
Why the Mormons Do Genealogy []
Taught by Nyle Kinghorn. [class description to be added]
Taught by Delores Davis. LifeStories by Design is an interactive discussion presentation designed to assist the writer on how to prepare creative and entertaining memoirs to be passed on to children, grandchildren, family members or others - or a written history of your experiences by and for yourself. The series focuses on developing an interesting and readable document instead of limiting it to a chronological listing of factual experiences. In this workshop, I hope to share the process and some of the information from the class I teach on the subject:
• Writing, Why, How and
What to include in writing,
• Organizing your thoughts and the story material by the use of computer
• Enhancing the project by adding poems, pictures, recipes, etc.
• Editing, Finishing and Follow-up
SPEAKER BIOS:
Ann Moloney Lamb is a retired Lake Washington School teacher, member and former vice-president of the Eastside Genealogical Society, and has been a volunteer librarian at the Bellevue Family History Center. She has been researching her father’s Irish ancestors and teaching Irish Research Skills as well as general genealogy for 15 years. She has visited her Irish families’ places of origin several times and recently returned from her latest sojourn there.
Bob Allen [bio to be added]
Bob Mullen
started getting interested in family history at 26 years old and started
collecting information from an aunt and great aunt as well as others in the
family. Over the year bits and pieces were collected and when he finally spend
additional time by visiting various ancestral homes, based on the earlier bits
and pieces of information, he finally had a break through and learned that
family history just takes time if you want to be successful.
Bob is a past president of the Eastside Genealogical Society, and is currently
the director of the Bellevue Family History Center for the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been involved with American genealogy
research for 45 years. He has spoken to many community groups including senior
citizens, Rotary Clubs, Eastside Genealogical Society, the Jewish Genealogical
Society of Washington and the African American Workshop. He is a graduate of
Oregon State University with B.S. and Masters degrees in Aerospace engineering.
He retired in 1995 after 36 years with the Boeing Company.
Constance Bailey was a reading specialist in her professional life, teaching at Central Michigan University, University of Wisconsin Parkside, and South Puget Sound Community College. She is now retired, and devotes much of her time to her passion for family history. Connie has had much experience sharing her interest and experience in genealogy with groups in Michigan and Washington. She was, for several years, the family history consultant for the Olympia Stake of the LDS Church. She has worked for many years in the Family History Center there. She also has served in leadership roles in the Olympia Genealogy Society.
Cruz Barrios Carrascosa [bio to be added]
Cynthia White-Wilson is a native of Washington, D.C. with ancestral roots in Patrick County Virginia and Alamance County North Carolina. More than 15 years ago, it was suggested that she do a photo family history. Since that time, Cynthia has published several articles for AAGHS Journal, participated in television productions on genealogy, was the keynote speaker at Patrick County Historical Society’s Black History Month event, instructed classes in Discover Your Roots II & II Workshops and Family Expos, and assisted many individuals from all other the US with their research. She presently holds the position of Chair of the Black Genealogy Research Group of Seattle.
For the past several years, Cynthia has concentrated her genealogy education on slave research and Civil War Pension Records. She has been very successful in her own slave research – finding and documenting 20 owners in both her direct line and collateral families.
Dave Thaler has been a Family History Center staff member for several years and is one of the co-chairmen for these Family History Expos. Dave is the historian for the Thaler family organization, and has published a book "The Thaler Family in Germany and North America, 1655-1995", containing the ancestors and descendants of the family that immigrated to Canada in 1830. Over the years, Dave has taught several classes in German, US Census and Internet research. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science.
Dave has traveled to Germany to visit the Thaler ancestral home, although most of his other lines go back to early New England settlers. He collects books on royal ancestry of New England immigrants, and maintains a web site on a number of lines to make available which have been accepted and which have been disproved.
Delores Davis has been teaching computer classes for many years at SeniorNet of Puget Sound and Mercer Island Community Center in Mercer. She has written “The Male Connection,” “God’s blessing to me” (1995), her personal autobiography “Turning Stumbling Blocks into Stepping Stones” (2000). Delores wrote these books for her children and their children and then developed a class for this purpose which is still being taught today .
When her youngest child said he didn’t remember his father ever working, Delores knew the legacy of hard work and endurance needed to be written down. Her husband had his first heart attack when their son was 4, became disabled, and died when their son was 6. Delores expanded this legacy with an inspirational book of quotes, sayings and humor entitled “A Book of Entertaining and Enlightening Words”.
Don Doud is a Seattle native. It could almost be said of him: “He lived in a log cabin which he helped his father build.” Don was an accountant/financial analyst for over 25 years, and so enjoys solving mysteries and tracking things down. He currently is a financial worker at Washington State Dept. of Social and Health Services. He has also worked as a Spanish interpreter/translator for DSHS, King County Courts, Federal Way Public Schools, and others, and served a two-year mission for his church in Mexico. Don has been an adjunct professor at City University for over 13 years, teaching mostly undergraduate business courses. In 1977, Don and his wife Vicki moved from Seattle to Redmond in order to get out of the big city (that worked well, didn’t it?).
As with most of us, Don’s family roots are varied. His father’s ancestors came from England to America in the 1600’s, served in the Revolutionary War, came through Ohio and South Dakota, and eventually ended up here in Washington. His mother’s ancestors were also English, but also had a healthy component of French Canadian and even Native American (A French fur trader working for the Hudson’s Bay Co. next to then Fort Walla Walla married a local native girl from the tribe which later massacred the Whitmans). With some diligent research, Don was able to tie his father’s line back into the already researched Doud genealogy. His wife’s family has a large Icelandic component, and one of her genealogist cousins recently gifted her with some research tying the family line back to about the year 800 AD.
Evelyn Roehl [bio to be added]
Godfrey Ellis is a Family History Consultant in Lacey, Washington. He has been tracing his genealogy and English family roots, off and on, since adolescence. Dr. Ellis recently presented on English genealogy at the Washington State conference on Family History and has lectured on several cruise ships - he and his wife Merry have sailed in the Caribbean, up to Alaska, and to Hawaii giving presentations on this addiction we call family history.
Not everyone is descended from royalty and famous figures, someone has to be descended from the commoners. Dr. Ellis has been working on a series of fact-based fictional accounts of several of his family lines embedding his ancestors in their personal and their social history. With dialogue and description, He hopes his books hook the next generations onto family history.
Heather McLeland-Wieser has been a genealogist for over 25 years and
a librarian for nearly 16 years. She joined the staff of the
Seattle Public Library as a part-time genealogy librarian 10 years
ago and became the manager of the History Travel & Maps Department
in 2002. In 2005 Heather completed the process to become a Certified
Genealogist. She says the quest was grueling but very
rewarding and she wishes she’d become Certified sooner. As a
genealogist her specialties are early New England, and the watershed
of the Ohio River Heather has 2 children, a daughter who is already
an accomplished family historian at the age of 14 and a 12 year old
son who is looking forward to researching his Russian roots someday.
Her husband tolerates the family obsession as long as Heather
remembers to work on his German ancestors from time to time.
Jim Terry is the Webmaster, Newsgroup Administrator and Customer Support Representative for Millennia Corporation, which produces the Legacy Family Tree genealogy program. He majored in genealogical research at Brigham Young University. After graduation, he worked as a professional genealogist in Salt Lake City, but eventually pursued a career in public relations and photography. In 1996, Jim returned to college to study computer networks and database management.
Jim does professional research for a small number of favored clients. He has written published articles on the use of the Internet and Scottish church records. In addition he has spoken to a number of genealogical societies and groups in Illinois, Wisconsin, California, Utah and Washington.
Julie Monson
is a Family History Consultant at the Bellevue Family History Center.
Julie knew she was hooked on genealogy in 1983 when she used the free
time while her son was in kindergarten to search census records at the nearby
National Archives. Today she
continues to enjoy learning genealogy and computer skills, most recently this
July at the BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy in Provo, Utah.
She will use information gained there to add to her new.familysearch.org
classes at this Expo.
Julie has a BA degree with a secondary education teaching certificate.
Julie enjoys presenting on
beginning genealogy at Expos, women’s groups, and family reunions.
Believing there is always something new to discover, she anticipates her
next genealogical challenge.
Kaylene Thaler is a staff member at the Redmond Family History Center. She has been involved in family history for many years and always has good ideas on how to find missing ancestors. Kaylene also has years of group teaching experience and is very thorough in covering a topic. Two years ago while becoming an expert in US land records for the Expo, Kaylene studied and attended FGS/UGA conferences to keep current with new resources and techniques for land record research.
Kaylene's own family history required her to prove that there were two cousins with the same name living in different parts of the country, not just one person as was widely published in books and on the Internet. For the past two years, Kaylene has taught the first detailed how-to class for land record research and she is back by popular demand.
John LaMont has pursued genealogy for the past 14 years and has been a genealogy librarian at the Seattle Public Library since graduating from the University of Washington in May 2004. He teaches "Genealogy: Databases & the Internet" classes, which cover Ancestry Library Edition, HeritageQuest, and other Internet resources at the Seattle Public Library. He has a Bachelor's in Computer Science and a Master's in Library and Information Science.
Maureen Mead
grew up in Oregon with a love for art, story-telling and history. One childhood
Christmas, her grandfather shared letters from a niece to "Uncle Lester,"
reporting her research on the colonial Mead and Slocum family of New England and
New York. It wasn't until 1990, using the old letters as clues, that Maureen
began her own research in earnest as a distraction from the stress of a family
member's illness.
Maureen majored in art at Portland State University, leaving to pursue graphic
design and fashion advertising. In the early 80's, she moved with her family to
California, where she was the Sr. Art Director at a San Francisco ad agency. It
is there that curiosity for family history and technology converged.
Merry Ellis is a Family History Consultant in Lacey, Washington and has been fascinated with her family history for many years. She has spent many days conducting research on pilgrim lines in the family history library in Salt Lake City. Merry has visited England several times for purposes of learning more about her and her husband's family histories. Along with her husband Godfrey Ellis, she has also lectured on genealogy on cruise ships to Alaska and other exotic locales.
Related to the same Mayflower pilgrim fathers as Joseph Smith and Winston Churchill, Merry has family lines extended to England, France, Germany, and French-Canada.
Nyle Kinghorn [bio to be added]
Sarah Thorson Little is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and been a Professional Genealogist for 30 years. She has been the lead instructor at the University of Washington Certificate Program in Genealogy & Family History since 1989, and is also an instructor in family history and computer research at North & South Seattle Community Colleges. Ms. Thorson Little has specialized research expertise in Northwest Native Americans, Norwegian, 19th & 20th Century U.S. research and Washington State.
Sarah has been interested in family research since a young child. By the age of 14, she had been to every state in the United States at least twice, visiting historical landmarks and battlefields with her history professor father. She has since researched throughout the United States and in Europe visiting and researching in courthouses and archives in all areas where her known ancestors have lived.
Stephanie Holmes [bio to be added]
Steven Morrison is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists. He is a past president of the Olympia (WA) Genealogical Society. Steven has a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Planning from Western Washington University and Master’s degree in Public Administration from The Evergreen State College, where he taught as an adjunct faculty for seven years. An urban planner by training, family history has been his second profession since 1992. Steve’s areas of interest are: Quaker research, Ireland, Western Outlaws, and the Oregon Trail.
Susana Leniski was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico. She attended “Universidad Metropolitana” in Mexico City where she majored in International Business. Following her education, Susana worked for various US based firms in Mexico. While living and working in Mexico, Susana gained experience researching her family history. In 1990, Susana moved to the United States following her husband’s career and has lived in New York, Philadelphia, St Louis, and Seattle. Susana is both bilingual and bicultural in English and Spanish and holds dual citizenship in both Mexico and the United Sates.
Because of her family history, Susana specializes in Mexico and Spain research from late 1900’s to the 1500’s. Susana has successfully traced some family lines to the 1600s in diverse areas of Mexico including Michoacan, Queretaro, Zacatecas, and Mexico State. Other lines have led to research in the Basque, Catalonia, and Andalusia region of Spain as far back as the 1500’s.
Susana has acted as a Genealogy volunteer in the family centers in Philadelphia and Seattle helping others with research and translations of records in Spanish. Susana has also attended classes and researched genealogy in the Family History Library in Utah, as well as researched historical data at the “Archivo General de la Nacion”, and “Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia” in Mexico City.
Page last updated November 1, 2008 by Dave Thaler