GenFriends Genealogy Chat Show-Advice on Attending RootsTech 2025 In-Person and Online!

 

 The panel, Jenny Hawran, Laura Hedgecock,  Shelley Murphy, and I gather to discuss one of their favorite events: RootsTech!

Watch as we share our thoughts about attending and what we love about the world's largest Family History Conference.

Will you be attending RootsTech 2025?

Do you have advice on either viewing online or going in person?

Please leave a comment!

If you are coming in person, please say hello to me, Jenny, and Laura!

We'd love to meet you!

Links in This Episode:

The Accidental Historian

https://beacononlinenews.com/2023/02/04/margaret-seidler-the-accidental-historian/

Last Minute Tips for RootsTech 2025

https://www.treasurechestofmemories.com/last-minute-tips-for-rootstech-2025/

RootsTech 2025 Registration

https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/registration/

RootsTech On-Demand Library

https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/search

Connect with Cousins Around the World

https://www.familysearch.org/en/connect/902d49a6-414c-49ad-8370-4129535e9e83/

Nathan Dylan Goodwin

https://www/nathandylangoodwin.com

Contact the panelists:

Melissa Barker -A Genealogist in the Archives

http://agenealogistinthearchives.blogspot.com/

Bernice Bennett-Bernice Alexander Bennett

http://www.BerniceAlexanderBennett.com

Jenny Hawran-Like Herding Cats Genealogy

https://like-herding-cats.com/

Laura Hedgecock-Treasure Chest of Memories

https://treasurechestofmemories.com/

Mary Kircher Roddy-MKR Genealogy

https://www.mkrgenealogy.com/

https://appliedgen.institute/

Shelley Murphey-Family Tree Girl

https://familytreegirl.com/

Thank you so much for watching!

                   Don't miss an episode. Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Helping you climb your family tree,

GenFriends Genealogy Chat Show: African American Genealogy with Bernice Bennett and Shelley Murphy

 

The panel, Melissa Barker,  Bernice Bennett, Jenny Hawran, Laura Hedgecock, Shelley Murphy, and I discuss African American genealogy.

Bernice and Shelley take the lead and give tips and tricks for searching for African American ancestors.

Watch as they share common myths often associated with going back through the generations.

Do you have any tips to share?

Make sure to post your questions about finding your family!

Links in this episode: 

Ancestor's Footprints -Bernice

https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ancestor-s-footprints--6436157

Freedman Fridays-Shelley

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/.../tZMkcO6trzgrEtQ_2LEZM288... 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Black Pearls of Genealogy

https://thebpog.org/

FamilySearch Wiki

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/African American

 Contact the panelists:

Melissa Barker -A Genealogist in the Archives

http://agenealogistinthearchives.blogspot.com/

Bernice Bennett-Bernice Alexander Bennett

http://www.BerniceAlexanderBennett.com

Jenny Hawran-Like Herding Cats Genealogy

https://like-herding-cats.com/

Laura Hedgecock-Treasure Chest of Memories

https://treasurechestofmemories.com/

Mary Kircher Roddy-MKR Genealogy

https://www.mkrgenealogy.com/

https://appliedgen.institute/

Shelley Murphey-Family Tree Girl

https://familytreegirl.com/

Thank you so much for watching!

Don't miss an episode. Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Helping you climb your family tree,

This Week On My Family History Calendar-Remembering Two Deaths On My Paternal Line.

 

February 17~
   Louvinia Blanche (Thames) Hudson (1886-1918), my paternal great-grandmother, would be celebrating her 139th birthday on this day. Blanche was born in Clarendon County, South Carolina, to Benjamin Thomas Thames (1854-1930) and Margaret Francis (Gibson) Thames (1854-1929).

February 20~
My Paternal 3rd great-grandmother, Mary Alice (Dargan) Bradford (1825-1875), died 150 years ago in Sumter County, SC.

Who are you remembering this week?

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping you climb your family tree,

Celebration Sunday-Genealogy Happy Dance: An Unexpected Find!

 You know the dance. You know you've done it. The one every researcher does after finding something new. The one where you want to jump up and down and shout to everyone that you found the document, contacted a cousin with the family Bible, made a DNA connection, or found a new branch to your tree. The one that is met with glazed stares and eye rolls.

                                                          Celebration Sunday is a place to share your discoveries. 

This weekly series enables everyone to tell about their Genealogy Happy Dance moment. 

Share by scrolling 

down and add your story to the comments section, or you may also put a link to a blog post telling about what had you dancing this week.

My Happy Dance Moment for the week:

My father was stationed in the US Air Force in Bermuda when I was a child.

We lived there for three years. I have so many wonderful memories.

After my father died in 2019, my mom and I booked a cruise to Bermuda. We planned to return to all the places we lived and see the sites again. Our trip was scheduled for the spring of 2020. 

We all know what happened. COVID hit, and our cruise was canceled. We rebooked, and it was canceled again.

Fast forward to March 2024.  My mom passed away peacefully in my home. 

I decided that my husband and I would take the cruise in my parents' honor. 

I have spent the last year going through photos, making plans to recreate some of them, and visiting the places that meant so much to us.

The only problem was that we lived in two different houses while there and did not have addresses.

Our mail came to a PO box on the base, and the homes were named but not given numbers when we lived there. Mom couldn't remember what they were called, and I couldn't find any information letting me know.

I did find a clue on a map, where one of the locations was circled, but there was nothing specific, just a general area.

There has always been a strong memory of driving to the other home. We would go past a cemetery with white graves above ground. As a child, it was not a sight I liked to see! On a Google map, I was able to locate the cemetery and the road I felt we lived on.

I have photos of the homes and am pretty sure I found one, but the other? The one near the cemetery? The road it was on doesn't have a house that looks like the one from the photo. It's been decades, so I know things change.

Then, yesterday, as I was going through more of Mom's things, I discovered two Bermuda driver's licenses! One for my dad and one for my mom. Each listed different residences.  

They have the names of the roads and the name of the cottage that I can't find! 

I can't believe it!!!

Hopefully, this additional information will help me locate and visit both homes when we are in Bermuda!

I will be doing this happy dance for some time!

Share your Happy Dance Moment for the week, and let's celebrate together!

 Thanks so much for stopping by!

Helping you climb your family tree,

This Week On My Family History Calendar-A Birth and a Death

February 9 ~

 Catherine Ann (Singleton) Dargan (1729-1808), my paternal 6th great-grandmother, was born in Virginia 296 years ago. Her parents were Robert Singleton and Ann. Catherine may have been called by her middle name, Ann. She was the wife of  Capt. John Dargan (1726-1766) and lived in Sumter County, South Carolina.

Headstone of Benjamin Allen Hudson
Sumter City Cemetery
©CheriHudsonPassey

Feb. 14~
 My paternal grandfather, Benjamin Allen Hudson (1918-1976), died 49 years ago in Lake City, Florence, South Carolina. He was 57 years old when he suffered a heart attack. 

We miss you, "Pop."

Who are you remembering this week?

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping you climb your family tree,

Celebration Sunday-Genealogy Happy Dance! Adding to My Grandmother's Story Using Full -Text Search

 

You know the dance. You know you've done it. The one every researcher does after finding something new. The one where you want to jump up and down and shout to everyone that you found the document, contacted a cousin with the family Bible, made a DNA connection, or found a new branch to your tree. The one that is met with glazed stares and eye rolls.

                                                          Celebration Sunday is a place to share your discoveries. 

This weekly series enables everyone to tell about their Genealogy Happy Dance moment. 

Share by scrolling 

down and add your story to the comments section, or you may also put a link to a blog post telling about what had you dancing this week.

My Happy Dance Moment for the week:

Have you tried Full-Text Search from FamilySearch? Since its release, it has been a source of happy dance moments for me and others. 

This week, I discovered a document naming my grandmother and her sisters as plaintiffs in a court case. Their mother, Loretta McManus Daughrity, took out a loan before her death and had not paid it. 

Source: "Sumter, South Carolina, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9P1-RSZN-2?view=fullText : Feb 9,2025), image 452 of 485.

This court document deals with the foreclosure of the Daughrity home in Sumter, South Carolina, and a plaintiff claiming their mother borrowed money from her before her death and wanted her money paid back out of the sale of the home.

Stories get lost if not told, and finding documents can help us discover them but also have us asking so many more questions. I talked to my grandmother many times about her parents, their home, and the death of her parents.

She never told me that the house went into foreclosure. 

It sat empty for several years and then was lost to a fire.

Finding about more had me doing that dance this week?

What was your happy dance moment?

Share your Happy Dance Moment for the week, and let's celebrate together!

 Thanks so much for stopping by!

Helping you climb your family tree,

GenFriends Genealogy Chat Show: Learning from Finding Your Roots Season 11: Episodes 1-4

The panel Melissa Barker, Jenny Hawran, Laura Hedgecock, and I get together to discuss the records found, stories discovered, and tips researchers can learn from watching Finding Your Roots. On this GenFriends, we discuss the reveals for the celebrities on episodes 1-4 of Season 11. 

Have you watched and learned anything that can help you with your research?

We'd love to know!

Links in this episode:

Finding Your Roots

https://www.pbs.org/show/finding-your-roots/

FamilySearch Wiki

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Main_Page

 Contact the panelists:

Melissa Barker -A Genealogist in the Archives

http://agenealogistinthearchives.blogspot.com/

Bernice Bennett-Geniebroots

http://www.geniebroots.com/

Jenny Hawran-Like Herding Cats Genealogy

https://like-herding-cats.com/

Laura Hedgecock-Treasure Chest of Memories

https://treasurechestofmemories.com/

Mary Kircher Roddy-MKR Genealogy

https://www.mkrgenealogy.com/

https://appliedgen.institute/

Shelley Murphey-Family Tree Girl

https://familytreegirl.com/

Thank you so much for watching!

Don't miss an episode. Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Helping you climb your family tree,

And the Winner's Are........

 

RootsTech 2025 will be held in person and online in Salt Lake City, Utah, from March 6-8, 2025.

The world's largest family history conference is a unique opportunity to build family history skills and join the global community in celebrating, finding, and connecting with family. 

To learn more about RootsTech, visit the website here. 

As a member of the RootsTech 2025 Media, I am thrilled to be able to give away two tickets to attend the conference live in person! The tickets will cover the entrance fee but not travel, hotel, food, or any other costs involved in attending in Salt Lake City.  

The winners were chosen randomly by an online name picker called "WheelofNames.com.

Thanks to everyone who entered! I wish I could give a free ticket to you all, but I only have two, and the winners are:

Congratulations to Charlene and Chris!

See you in Salt Lake!