Missouri State Genealogical Society Conference

Not only did the genealogists come to town this summer, but I got to meet up with some of my long time genealogy friends at the annual conference of the Missouri State Genealogical Society (MoSGA) in Columbia, Missouri in August.

The keynote speaker was D. Joshua Taylor, president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and on-air talent for Genealogy Roadshow and Who Do You Think You Are? I had not heard Josh speak in person before, so that was a real treat. The conference was also an opportunity to meet up with my fellow bloggers, Jenna Mills of Desperately Seeking Surnames, Diana Ritchie of Random Relatives. Also part of the "Genealogy Girls Gone Wild" weekend were Beth Foulk (Genealogy Decoded) and Diana's friend, Nancy Knight. I also got to spend a few minutes catching up with Kathleen Brandt of A3 Genealogy, another researcher on Who Do You Think You Are?

Beth Foulk

Beth Foulk has been speaking about genealogy regionally for quite some time. I first met her when she spoke at the state conference of the Nebraska State Genealogical Society a couple years ago. Beth is knowledgeable, energetic and enthusiastic. Many of us have commented that she should be on the national genealogy speaking circuit. That is going to happen when she speaks at the conference of the National Genealogical Society in St. Charles, Missouri next May. If you are going, make sure you attend Beth's sessions. Beth totally rocked it in Columbia with her pre-session. Even though I heard her speak about timelines at the Nebraska conference, I learned even more this time around.

Josh Taylor shares some "behind the scenes"
stories of genealogy on TV

Josh Taylor's conference sessions were informative and interesting. However, the talk I enjoyed the most was his after dinner presentation with some "behind the scenes" stories from Genealogy Roadshow and Who Do You Think You Are? While contract provisions don't allow him to tell all of the secrets, he was able to share enough to give us a glimpse that it's not always like you see it on TV!

It's always a treat when you find something in the book sale that relates to your family.
My Revolutionary War ancestor, Johannes Bellinger,
is included in this volume I found on Early Families of Herkimer County New York.

The highlight of the weekend was hanging out with my friends and talking genealogy.

Me and Diana Ritchie
I still don't have that "selfie" thing quite figured out!

Jenna Mills - probably Tweeting about the conference

Diana, Nancy and Me
Diana and I were winners in the prize drawings.
Apparently I didn't understand the "rules" so I dropped my ticket in any old basket I found.
So my prize was donated to the library of my local society.
Photo (c) Jenna Mills 2014

After enjoying a wonderful meal with friends,
overlooking the Missouri River at sunset.

Coming Up in 2015!
Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist
will be the featured speaker next year.
I'll be there!

Sometimes I don't always make it to the conferences I register for, but when I do, it's well worth it! I'll be making two trips to Missouri next year - for the NGS conference in May and the MoSGA conference in August.

When the Genealogists Come to Town

I admit that I haven't been blogging much this year. It's been a period of transition following the death of my father, moving and adjusting to my new life. That doesn't mean that I haven't been doing genealogy, however!

My last post was last spring when I wrote about meeting up with Dear Myrtle and Mr. Myrt, Pat Richley-Erickson and Gordon Erickson. Since then, I've met up with two more genealogists who came to Lincoln. I still find it fascinating that we genealogists are able to get acquainted on social media, so once we meet IRL (in real life), we are already friends.

In August, one of my Facebook genealogy buddies, J Paul Hawthorne of Escondido, California was in town for business so we made plans to get together. 

Susan and Paul at the Nebraska State Capitol

We had a nice dinner, during which we talked nonstop genealogy. I gave Paul the ten cent tour of Lincoln, which included a photo op outside of the Nebraska State Capitol and the statue of our city's namesake, Abraham Lincoln. The next afternoon, in nearly unbearable heat, we toured Wyuka Cemetery, visited several of the points of interest on the self-guided tour and stopped at the memorials for 9/11, the Nebraska firefighters and the Nebraska Holocaust Memorial. We also made a stop at my Dad's grave in the veteran's section. A serviceman was there, placing pennies atop the stones of the veterans. He told me that he comes as frequently as possible to pay his respects.

This past weekend, Laura Prescott was making her way across the country as she is moving to Utah to work for Ancestry.com. She posted on her Facebook page that she was hoping to meet up with other genealogists along Interstate 80 to help break up her trip. I first met Laura when she spoke at the Nebraska State Genealogical Society's conference a few years ago. So, along with my fellow Lincoln genealogist, Gail Blakenau, we made plans to have breakfast on Sunday morning.

Gail, Laura and Susan

One thing you can count on when you get together with other genealogists, it's non-stop talking about family history and research. And I always learn something new! It was great seeing Laura again and to learn about her new adventure with Ancestry - developing online education classes. This is definitely something to look forward to in 2015.