Land Records and Genealogy Conference Set for July 12 - 13, 2013

Homestead National Monument of America
Beatrice, Nebraska
copyright 2012 Susan M Petersen

Nebraska genealogists will have a variety of conferences to attend during 2013. One of the perennial favorites is the Land Records and Genealogy Symposium held every other year in Beatrice, Nebraska.

Returning as keynote speaker is Roberta "Bobbie" King. She is a homestead records researcher who specializes in homestead laws, African-American homesteaders, women homesteaders and the history of the public lands survey system.

Other speakers at the conference include:

Land Records in Slave Research - Debbie Abbott

Introduction to Fold3 and Military Homesteaders - Laura Prescott

Introduction to Ancestry and Finding the Land: Cash Sales, Military Script and Finding the Land: Cash Sales, Military Script and Preemption - David Williams

Reading Photographs: How To Date Your Family Pictures and Homestead Records: Finding Your Ancestor - Gail Blakenau

Registration includes continental breakfast, lunch and symposium materials. Two day registration is $99. One day registration is $69.

July 12 - 13, 2013

Southeast Community College Beatrice Campus
4771 W. Scott Road

Beatrice, Nebraska

Source: Southeast Community College Continuing Education Course Bulletin

Descendants of Homesteaders Wanted for Oral History Project

Are you a descendant of a homesteader? Next year marks the 150th anniversary of the Homestead Act.

The Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, Nebraska wants to find relatives of people who filed claims under the Homestead Act. The purpose is to gather stories of the experiences of homesteaders.

The monument is developing a database of homesteaders and descendants. Oral histories will be taken under the direction of the University of Nebraska and Grand Valley State University in Michigan.

If you are a descendant of a homesteader, send your name, address, phone number and email address to Friends of Homestead, Homestead National Monument of America, 8523 W. State Highway 4, Beatrice NE 68310.

Source: Omaha.com

Homestead digitization project to work on Chadron area records

The digitization of Homestead Records project is now moving on to the Chadron, Nebraska land office records. Read about the latest update written by Blake Bell of the Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, Nebraska.

Homestead digitization project to work on Chadron area records

Also, mark your calendar for the evening of August 19 for what promises to be an extremely interesting episode of Geneabloggers Radio with an emphasis on homestead and land records. Blake will be one of the guests as will Lincoln's own Gail Blankenau.

Since participating in the Land Records and Genealogy Symposium last month, this topic has become very near and dear to my heart and I'm thrilled that the Nebraska records are the first to be digitized.

Social Networking at the Land Records and Genealogy Symposium - Part 3

Nebraska State
Genealogical Society Display
Land Records Symposium
July 2011

Sometimes I think that I spend so much time in the virtual genealogy world that I forget how much fun it is to hang out with my fellow genealogists IRL (in real life).

This weekend's Land Records and Genealogy Symposium in Beatrice, Nebraska was an outstanding conference that attracted nearly 100 people from Nebraska and surrounding states and from as far away as California and Massachusetts.

First of all, I want to acknowledge the Homestead National Monument of America and Southeast Community College for the sponsorship of this event. It was obvious how much work went on behind the scenes to present a well organized and informative genealogy education experience.

Kudos to Blake and Kelly

Specifically, I want to thank Blake Bell of the National Park Service and Kelly Morgan of Southeast Community College as well as all of their workers behind the scene. From the perspective of a presenter at a conference, they did everything right - from the initial contact, to keeping me informed, and especially, making sure that the needs of the presenters were met prior to and during the conference. You folks were fantastic to work with and I hope we can work together again in the future.

Networking and Socializing

Upon arriving at the Symposium, I was warmly greeted by Floyd Smith III, president of the Nebraska State Genealogical Society (NSGS). Floyd and I have enjoyed email correspondence over the past few months and I hope that this was the beginning of another genealogy friendship. Floyd is one enthusiastic genealogist and supporter of other genealogists.

I got a kick out of Floyd because he had told several people that I had the Flip-Pal scanner, so I had to bring it with me yesterday. Before I knew it, at one of the breaks yesterday, I had several people gathered around to see it in action. After my demo, one of the ladies told me she thought I was a company representative. I found that to be pretty amusing! But I think that a couple of these are probably going to be purchased in the coming days.

Several people came over and said they read this blog. I also got a kick out of that. As I mentioned in my presentation, many of us bloggers never really know if anyone is reading our blogs or not. So I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet some blog readers in the flesh. Thank you to all readers of this blog for your interest and support. It really does mean a lot.

I loved the opportunity to get to know my fellow presenters - they are amazing people with a vast amount of knowledge to share. I'm really looking forward to continued contact with them.

And perhaps the biggest surprise of the day came as I finished my presentation and a woman approached me and asked, "Are you the same Susan Petersen I knew in my former life?" I looked up, checked her name tag and realized she was one of my Kansas counterparts from my "day-job"! We first met 25 years ago and had some great times at many a regional and national conference over the years. The last time I saw Sandi was in Omaha in 1999. She retired a few years ago and I'd heard through the grapevine that she was doing genealogy. Now I have to do my best to talk her into attending the Family History Expo in Overland Park, Kansas in two weeks! Seeing her again was just icing on the cake.

Homestead Records

Plan on seeing a lot about homestead records on this blog in the coming months, as the 150th anniversary of the Homestead Act of 1862 approaches. The digitization project is extremely significant for those genealogists whose families moved west. I will do my best to keep blog readers informed about activities at the Homestead National Monument of America and resources that are available regarding this significant era of American history.

Read about Day 1 >

Read about Day 2 >

2011 Land Records and Genealogy Symposium Rocked!

Day 1 - Friday, July 15, 2011

What better timing to participate in the Land Records and Genealogy Symposium in Beatrice, Nebraska than on the eve of the Homestead Act of 1862.The 150th anniversary of this legislation is coming up next year. Millions of homestead record images are being digitized that will eventually be made available to the public. With my roots firmly set in Nebraska soil, I feel extremely fortunate that the Nebraska homestead records are the first to be digitized and will be completed before the project moves on to other states. This is definitely going to be a landmark research base for genealogists who are tracking ancestors through their westward move.

Homestead National Monument of America
display at the Land Records and Genealogy Symposium
July 2011

The past two days have been a whirlwind of activities in conjunction with the Land Records and Genealogy Symposium. I've been looking forward to the symposium for months - not only as an attendee, but because I was one of the speakers at the event. This was my first presentation at a major genealogy conference, so I was extremely honored and humbled that the organizers asked me to participate.

This symposium is held every two years and this year's event attracted nearly 100 people from Nebraska, several surrounding states and as far away as Massachusetts and California.

Friday began with me meeting the Genealogy Ninja, Thomas MacEntee, at the Lincoln airport. Those of you who know Thomas know that it's always great to get together with him. We arrived in Beatrice in time for lunch. Unfortunately, that meant that we were not able to hear the first two presentations by Sylvia Murray on Genealogy: You Can Do This and Carla Anders on Introduction to Land Platting.

Fortunately for me, I sat next to Carla during the conference and I'm certain that a new genealogy friendship was born. A lot of business cards and email addresses were exchanged! Carla operates Collecting Missing Ancestors and is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists. She has a wealth of experience in Midwest research.

During lunch, we were entertained by Chris Sayre, a native Lincolnite known for his dedication to traditional and contemporary folk music. Chris' CDs are available here.

After lunch, we were treated to two fantastic sessions on Land Records presented by Gail Blankenau. Gail and I live in the same city, have been Facebook friends for a while, but this was the first time we met in person. Gail really knows her stuff when it comes to land records! She is an outstanding and knowledgeable presenter. Gail is also a member of APG  and the Genealogical Speaker's Guild. I enjoyed getting acquainted with Gail and hope we can "do coffee" every once in a while.

The afternoon ended with an excellent session on Finding Women Homesteaders by Sylvia Murray. Her stories and photographs of these exceptional women were very interesting and inspirational. It makes you wonder if you could have done the same thing under those circumstances. Sylvia is also a member of APG and the Genealogical Speaker's Guild.

Homestead National Monument of America

After the close of the presentations, Thomas and I went in search of the coolest place in Beatrice. I don't mean "cool" as in "hip" - but literally, cool. The Nebraska temperature exceeded 100 degrees this weekend. We went to the visitor center at the Homestead National Monument of America. [Photo] The monument is operated by the National Park Service. The land is exactly the size of the original homesteads - 160 acres. We explored the museum and decided we needed to find an even cooler spot in Beatrice!

It was on to the Education Center down the road. This was the coolest place in Beatrice, so Thomas and I found a couple chairs and talked shop until it was time for the special dinner event. We were treated to a nice dinner, more music from Chris Sayre and learned more about the Homestead Act and the homestead records digitization project.

Learn more about the Land Records Project.

Other useful Homestead Records links:

About Nebraska Homestead Records - Footnote.com

Search the Nebraska Homestead Records on Footnote.com

Search the Broken Bow land office records

Read about Day 2 of the Symposium >