Conference Sessions followed by Q&A

Tax Records or Why did Scarlett Make a Dress of Her Mother’s Drapes?

For most genealogists a tax list is merely a substitute for a missing census, but there are many other uses for a tax list. You can determine when an ancestor comes of age, estimate the time of death of an ancestor, or maybe identify a nameless wife. Learn what your ancestor’s social standing was in the community. Maybe you can determine the short stay of a family in a county between decennial censuses, as well as give positive clues to the location of land owned in that county. Also learn where to find these tax lists and how to access them.

Can a Dead Man Sign a Deed?

His tombstone says he died in 1928 his name is on a deed in 1932, did a dead man sign a deed? When given conflicting evidence how do you resolve the issue at hand? This lecture will look at the five-point formula of the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) and how it helps resolve conflicting evidence with a fascinating case study.

How Great Thou Art! How Great They Are! Church Records

Underused and underutilized this vast group of records can be a challenge to the “un-churched”. Determining the denomination in which your ancestor was a part can be the biggest challenge. The second challenge is to find those records. With these two things accomplished, many genealogical questions can be answered.

The Hand That Rocked the Cradle Could Rule the World

Half the people on your pedigree chart are female and may be the most difficult to identify. Identifying female ancestors is a challenge for all genealogists. She changes her name when she gets married and identifying her parents may become time-consuming. With the basic knowledge of sources created about and by women, and how to locate these sources, finding the females in your family may not be so hard after all.