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Virginia Ancestry |
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Vic is available for the following lectures:
Title: Burned County Research Methodology Target Audience: Intermediate Researchers. Outline: Lecture discusses the effective use of surviving county records and then focuses on Federal and state records that provide genealogical information such as military, pensions, Southern Claims, Serial Set and state land grants that help fill in research gaps. Non-Government sources such as church records, manuscripts, cemetery records and local histories are also reviewed.
Title: Colonial Migrations In and Out of the Shenandoah Valley Target Audience: Intermediate Researchers Description: Before migrating to the Carolinas or westward, many Scotch-Irish, English and Germans first came down through the Valley on the Great Wagon Road. This lecture examines the ethnic and religious groups who traveled from the Northern states as well as eastern Virginians who crossed the Blue Ridge into the Valley. County-by-county origins are examined.
Title: Confederate Civilian Records Target Audience: Intermediate Researchers Description: Following the Civil War, a number of claims were filed by southern citizens for property damage. As a result of these claims, a number of records of Confederate civilians were preserved and are available at the National Archives. These sources can provide excellent biographical and genealogical information on non-combatant ancestors both pro-Confederate and pro-Union. Records discussed include Union Provost Marshall’s Files, Confederate Quartermaster General’s Department Records, Confederate Papers Relating to Citizens or Business Firms and the Southern Claims Commission.
Title: Efficient and Effective On-Site Research Strategies Target Audience: All Levels Description: Do I need to make a photocopy or not? Learn how to make the most of your time on a research trip to a courthouse, library or other repository from a full-time professional genealogists. Pre-trip planning and use of electronics are discussed.
Title: Finding your Ancestors in Local Histories Target Audience: Beginning to Intermediate Researchers. Description: Focuses on research strategies for locating ancestral biographical and genealogical information in local histories published in the United States between 1880-1920. Myriad examples demonstrate methods of verifying the data. Repositories, indexes and electronic databases are examined.
Title: Getting the Most from Court Records: Order Books, Minute Books & Associated Loose Papers Target Audience: Intermediate to Advanced Researchers. Description: Examines the important genealogical and biographical information found in county court records which is often not found in other court documents such as probate and land documents. Lecture focuses on locating and accessing records along with search strategies. Chancery (aka equity), common law and criminal records are discussed along with the various types of information that may be found in often overlooked loose papers.
Title: Land Platting and DeedMapper Target Audience: Intermediate. Description: This double session explains the benefits of land platting in problem solving. It demonstrates manual land platting and then shows how DeedMapper software can be utilized to plat land and reconstruct ancestral neighborhoods. Advanced features of Deedmapper including adding plats to historic maps and overlaying on Google Earth are also discussed.
Title: Magic in Manuscripts and Business Records Target Audience: Intermediate. Description: Manuscripts can provide a wealth of genealogical and biographical data. Types of manuscripts such as personal papers and genealogists records are explored as are business sources such as merchant records, physician records and lawyer’s ledgers. Methods of locating and accessing the records such as NUCMC and other databases and guides are discussed.
Title: Newspaper Research – More than Deaths and Marriages Target Audience: Intermediate. Description: Local newspapers contain a hidden treasure of genealogical information beyond obituaries, marriage notices and birth announcements. Learn how to put your ancestors in social context and solve brick-walls. Published estate data, court suits, “letters at the post office,” political and civic affiliations are examined. Local news or gossip sections are discussed for their use in identifying family members. Access via local and state libraries or historical societies, Library of Congress as well as on-line sources is explored.
Title: Out of State, Out of Mind? Finding the Answers in Virginia's Neighbor's Records Target Audience: Intermediate Researchers. Description: Virginia and West Virginia share borders with a number of neighbors: Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. Often the borders are artificial boundaries resolved after years of disputes. In other cases, natural boundaries such as the Ohio and Potomac rivers and Chesapeake Bay could be easily accessed. This lecture focuses on a number of records of Virginians that were created outside the state. Records included newspapers, marriages, church, probate, court and others. Specific geographical situations where Virginians migrated out of the state and back are discussed.
Title: Records of the Northern Neck Proprietary Target Audience: Intermediate Researchers. Description: Also known as the Fairfax Proprietary, this area consists of over 5 million acres in present day Northern Virginia and West Virginia including the northern section of the Shenandoah Valley. This lecture discusses information found in warrants, surveys and grants which is frequently rich in genealogical and biographical data. Discussion also focuses on other manuscript records largely overlooked by researchers such as correspondence, rent rolls and proprietary leases.
Title: The Research Process Target Audience: Intermediate to Advanced Researchers Description: Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) Standards offer guides for the way we should conduct our work. This overview will demonstrate using standards in research, reporting, and problem solving. Specifically examines using the standards in problem definition, analysis, formulating research plans, the research process and reporting for personal and client research. Emphasis on efficiency is stressed and specific examples are discussed.
Title: Sacred Sources: Virginia Church and Bible Records Target Audience: Beginner to Intermediate Researchers. Description: Pre and post-colonial Virginia church records can provide a wealth of information, particularly when court records are lost. Focus is on identifying the major religious groups and accessing their surviving records. Virginia’s vast collection of Bible records available to the public are also examined.
Title: Solving Problems with Tax Records Target Audience: Intermediate. Description: When other sources fail, tax lists often provide resolution to same name scenarios, direct or indirect evidence of family relationships, estimated birth and death dates, proof of migration and place ancestors in social context. Learn how to effectively use these records.
Title: Statistically Speaking – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Vital Record Research Target Audience: Beginner. Description: How do I obtain great-grandma’s death certificate and how do I know the information is correct? Learn how to access and analyze vital records for veracity and find additional sources to extend ancestral lines. Sample documents are reviewed for each piece of information with focus on how to analyze and determine additional sources that may be available. The pitfalls of registers vs. actual documents are examined. Discusses evaluation of information and how incorrect data can be used to identify valid genealogical information.
Title: Using Associates and Collaterals to Extend Ancestral Lines: James and Hannah Dunn of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Target Audience: Intermediate to Advanced Researchers. Description: A case study of records of associates and collaterals of a family illustrate the use of information to determine migration and establish a family unit. The lecture focuses on the methodology used in “Reconstructing Parents from Indirect Evidence: Robert Dunn of Frederick County, Virginia” which was published in the September 2006 edition of National Genealogical Society Quarterly. Potential record sources naming associates and collaterals are also discussed. |