SLIG Wrap-up and More Research

It's taken me a while to reacclimate myself to my normal schedule after the week in Salt Lake City.  My class at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy had me getting up every morning in time for sessions that started at 8:00 a.m. (8:30 the first day), not even close to what I normally do.  (I used to be a morning person, but that was years ago.)

During Thursday and Friday in my class ("Swing through the South"), the outstanding session was one by Dr. Deborah Abbott.  The main title, "Follow a Case with Land", was not as informative as the subtitle, "Identifying Slaves, Slave Owners through Land Deeds and Other Records."  In addition to demonstrating how land records over several decades showed who the slave owners were, when slaves were manumitted (prior to the Civil War), and the close family relationships between the individuals in the example she discussed (including a slave owner acknowledging his children when he freed them), she also made an excellent point about something to keep in mind before you begin this type of research.  She emphasized that you shouldn't go into it being angry and ready to blame someone; you need to be impartial.  That's the only way you'll be able to interpret the records accurately when you find them.

Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist, was the speaker for the Friday evening banquet.  Her talk, "Suffer the Little Children", was about making sure that we don't forget to tell the stories about the children in our families, particularly those who died young.  Just because a child didn't grow to be an adult and have a family doesn't mean his story is less important.  It often takes more effort to find information about children who died young, but we need to do so to ensure that those stories are not lost forever.

I'm very appreciative of the scholarship I won to be able to attend SLIG this year.  It was a great educational opportunity.

I closed out my trip with a full day of research at the Family History Library on Saturday.  In addition to some client research, I reserved time to look for records for my own family.  The big success that day was finding the birth registration for my great-grandfather Thomas Kirkland Gauntt (father of the grandmother whose birth record I found on Monday), even though it was indexed incorrectly as Garrett.  I almost didn't look at it, but something kept pulling me back to that entry.  I'm so happy I followed my instincts!

May 23, 1870, Thomas K., male, (parents) James & Amelia Gauntt, (father's occupation) wheelwright

All during the week old snow had been on the sidewalks and rooftops, slowly melting and receding.  On Friday we had a new dusting, just enough to land and not melt in some places.  As I left the library Saturday and walked to the Trax station to go to the airport, a good amount of snow landed on my hair and didn't melt right away.  I figured that was enough winter for me!  I'm glad I live in an area where snow is not a regular event.

The Traditional Gift for the Fifth Blogiversary Is Cupcakes?

Well, well, well, look what's here.  It's my fifth blogiversary today!  I'm still trucking along, talking about genealogy and having a lot of fun.  This year I"m celebrating with chocolate cake (see it to the left?).  I even had a real chocolate chip-chocolate cupcake today, and boy it tasted good.  Celebrating my blogiversary at SLIG was just an extra bonus.

I passed the 800-post mark in December, which really surprised me.  I have to admit that I am more comfortable writing than when I started, even though I sometimes still need a kick in the pants.  I have lots of stories I'm still working on that I want to share.  I honestly don't know when I'll run out of stories, which is a good thing, right?  Between my own research, working with my extended family members on their research, my volunteer work, and all the other things I do, I'm sure I will always find interesting stories in genealogy.

Thanks again to everyone for reading my blog and being such great supporters.  Genealogy is about sharing, and I appreciate you sharing your time when you stop by.  I hope you enjoy the information and photos I share.

By the way, the real traditional gift for a fifth anniversary is wood.  I don't think that "would" be quite as tasty as a cupcake, though.

Hump Day at SLIG

I'm more than halfway through my first Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), and I'm working on processing what I've learned so far.  The class I'm attending is "Swing through the South", which was originally going to be taught by J. Mark Lowe, but he unfortunately was not able to come.  Kelvin Meyers took over coordination of the course, and our other speakers are Dr. Deborah Abbot, Anne Gillespie Mitchell, and Michael Hait.

I chose this course about the South because it supports my volunteer work with the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California, where I am a board member and editor of the quarterly journal.  My volunteer work is how I earned a scholarship to attend SLIG this year.

There's no question that the best session so far has been Kelvin Meyers' talk about church records in the South.  This is obviously a subject dear to him, and his enthusiasm was clearly evident.  He discussed the First and Second Great Awakenings in religion in the United States and talked about prominent leaders in several religions.  He then explained which religions were predominant in each of the Southern states (though there were a couple of omissions).  He also supplied a fairly comprehensive listing of archives for those religions.  This presentation had a great amount of information I'll be able to use in future research.

The plenary session on Monday night, "Genealogically Speaking" by the Rev. Dr. David McDonald, was entertaining and enjoyable.  He had everyone laughing as he related family stories and reminiscences but became serious when he explained that recording and sharing those stories are so important.

Wednesday night the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen) sponsored classes, consultations, and light refreshments at the Family History Library for SLIG attendees.  I went to a fantastic talk on religious migrations to the United States, by David Dilts.  It was really interesting to see a timeline of how a round of religious dissent led to a religious split, and again, and again, and then how those disaffected migrated to this brave new land.  And his handout was jam-packed with information I'll be rereading to make sure I understand it all.  The night at the library was a new event for SLIG this year; it seemed to be very successful.

One of the really fun things at SLIG has been networking with the 350+ other genealogists gathered here in Salt Lake City to learn more about researching family history.  I've made some wonderful connections with people, and I'm looking forward to collaborating and sharing information with them in the future.

Of course, since I'm in Salt Lake, I planned ahead for some research at the Family History Library.  My big score has been finding the birth record for my paternal grandmother.  I learned she was born a year earlier than all of her later records indicate, which isn't that uncommon for someone born in the 1890's.  I was surprised and disappointed to see that her mother's name wasn't listed on the record, but at least it showed that her mother was born in England, so I'm sure it's the right person.  I did a little genealogy happy dance in my seat when I found her on the microfilm.

January 14, 1893, <no name> Gaunt, female, father Thomas, mother born in England

Two more days of classes are coming up, plus the closing banquet on Friday evening, when Judy Russell (The Legal Genealogist) will speak about researching children in your family history.  And I don't leave Salt Lake until Saturday night, so I have all day for more research at the library.  I still have a lot to look forward to!

I'm Going to SLIG!!

I am again a very fortunate person.  The genealogy gods are smiling on me.  I received the news tonight that I have earned a scholarship to the 2016 Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy!

I have wanted to attend SLIG for several years, and I'm already looking forward to this great educational opportunity (even if it does take place in Salt Lake City in January!).  The class I'll be attending is "Research in the South", coordinated by J. Mark Lowe.  I chose this class primarily because of my volunteer activities with the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California and the Alameda County Youth Ancestral Project, both of which have large numbers of people with family roots going back to the South.  I look forward to sharing what I learn about research resources and techniques, particularly regarding lost and missing records, a common problem in Southern research.

I'm also looking forward to some research time in the Family History Library.  I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I hoped to when I was in Salt Lake City in February for RootsTech.

Doing the genealogy happy dance around the house . . . .