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Research Methodologies

 

Alison Barnes

Alison Barnes

Fire in the Courthouse: Using Alternate Records and Deductive Reasoning for Researching in Burned Counties

Saturday, Oct. 13 - Session IV - 4:00pm-5:00pm

There are many obstacles that plague genealogical researchers.  Of these, researching in “burned counties” can be the most frustrating.   This presentation chronicles the research in the burned county of Jasper, Mississippi and the techniques used.

     

Amy Bertsch

Amy Bertsch

Who Were "Felix Richards Slaves"? Identifying Enslaved People Photographed Near Alexandria, Virginia

Friday, Oct. 12 - Session III - 2:45pm-3:45pm

Two women and seven children in a Civil War-era photograph were identified as “Felix Richards slaves.” Amy discusses how probate records, pension applications, and the former owner’s compensation claim allowed her to identify the individuals in the photo, now in the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
     

Dr. Cheryl Janifer LaRoche

Dr. Cheryl Janifer LaRoche

Following Emancipation’s Footprints:  Searching for Descendants at Hampton Plantation

Saturday, Oct. 13 - Session I - 10:30am-11:30am

Hampton Ethnographic Project traces descendants of 300 plus people once enslaved at Hampton Plantation, Towson, MD. The 1829 death of Governor Ridgely, the state’s largest slaveholder, prompted the gradual emancipation. Using inventory lists and other historic documents and relying on the memory of Park Service employees, we are understanding what happened to the newly freed after emancipation between 1829 and 1864 and into the modern era.
     

Edward McLaughlin

Edward McLauglin

The Cemetery Monument Hidden in Plain View: Black Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Buried at Philadelphia National Cemetery

Saturday, Oct. 13 - Session I - 10:30am-11:30am

There are 1,000 Civil War soldiers and sailors, including about 350 USCT soldiers who died at Camp William Penn during the war who are buried at Philadelphia National Cemetery (PNC). On April 21, 2018 the Veterans Administration, the 3rd Regiment of the US Colored Troops Re-Enactors, the Camp William Penn Museum and the Mutter Museum celebrated the unveiling of an informational storyboard describing the USCT buried at the cemetery. Prior to this storyboard the troops buried at PNC were less well known that the presence of the 187 Confederates buried in the cemetery. Genealogist Edward McLaughlin will describe how his genealogical and historical research led to installation of the storyboard. He will share the sources and methods of his intimately detailed account of the deaths, war service, pension records, and life stories. 
     

Justin McHenry

Building a Slavery Database - Presentation Narrative

Friday, Oct. 12 - Session III - 2:45pm-3:45pm

A look into how to build a database of slave names for Franklin County, Pennsylvania and also hopefully help provide new ideas for sources for those looking into researching slavery in Pennsylvania or anywhere else.
     

Dr. Paula Whatley Matabane

Dr. Paula Whatley Matabane

Georgia Supreme Court Case of Alison vs Settle, 1850:  A Peep into the Enslaved Life of My Great Great Grandmother

Friday, Oct. 12 - Session II - 1:30pm-2:30pm

Discovery of a Georgia State Supreme Court case contesting ownership of my ancestors opened previously unknown facts about their lives and the lies told to possess them.  The case broadened my perspective in researching and understanding life of my enslaved forebears. 
     

Robyn N. Smith

Robyn N. Smith

Using Court Records To Uncover The Lives of Slaves

Friday, Oct. 12 - Session IV - 4:00pm-5:00pm

Court records can be intimidating with their legal language. It can be difficult to understand what the records mean. In this lecture, Ms. Smith provides a brief description of the various kinds of courts and the records they create. For those researching slaves and slaveholders, court records can be rich terrain since families often fought over their “property.” The audience will learn through examples and case studies what kinds of information can be discovered about their ancestors and their communities in county –level court records.
     

Rosalyn Green

Rosalyn Green

Strategies for Answering Genealogy Research Questions and Breaking Through Brickwalls

Saturday, Oct. 13 - Session II - 1:30am-2:30pm

The presenter will give and explain seven research strategies she routinely uses to research her family genealogy. She will show how they were used to answer seven research questions. The quest to answer them helped her expand her family tree, break through brickwalls and find both free and enslaved ancestors.
   

Joyce Mosley

Joyce Mosley

Let's Get Organized

Friday, Oct. 12 - Session I - 10:30am-11:30am

In this presentation Ms. Mosley explains her system for organizing over three hundred year of family history.  Her system of preserving/cataloging her family’s history is easy to learn and apply.  Being organized helps you to better collate sources, compare them, evaluate them, identify discrepancies, and make reasonable conclusions. Well-documented family group records are the best source of ideas for research objectives. Up-to-date family group records also help you judge the reliability and fit of newly discovered sources with what you already know.  Being well organized saves you time, and it contributes to better research and results.  Let's take your documents and pictures out of those shoe boxes and get organized.
   

Adrienne Whaley

Adrienne Whaley

Finding Revolutionary Ancestors: Understanding Your Resources

Friday, Oct. 12 - Session III - 2:45pm-3:45pm

People of African descent played significant roles in the American Revolution, as soldiers, sailors, spies, camp followers and more. Some were Revolutionaries, others Loyalists, and many were people in-between. This presentation explores useful resources for uncovering African American participation in the Revolution, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.
   

Dr. Heather Williams

Dr. Heather Williams

Help Me Find My People

Friday, Oct. 12 - Session III - 2:45pm-3:45pm

Journey into an innovative history of the individual, familial, and communal pain that resulted from forced separations of black families, charting their grief and sense of loss, as well as their resilience and hope. After the Civil War, African Americans placed poignant ''information wanted'' advertisements in newspapers, searching for missing family members. Inspired by the power of these ads, Heather Andrea Williams uses slave narratives, letters, interviews, public records, and diaries to guide listeners back to devastating moments of family separation during slavery when people were sold away from parents, siblings, spouses, and children.