Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Explore Folklore of the Family at Mid-Continent Public Library Spring Seminar on March 25

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If you live in the Midwest, like I do, you might be excited to learn about the Spring Seminar (theme: Folklore of the Family) being sponsored by the Mid-Continent Public Library (home of the Midwest Genealogy Center) in Independence, Missouri on March 25, 2023. Early-bird pricing of $35 ends tomorrow, February 15. After that, the price goes to $40. That’s such a bargain–and registration includes lunch! Please note that advanced registration is required and registration closes on March 23.

The featured speaker is Gena Philibert-Ortega and the topics she’ll cover include proving (or disproving) family stories, genealogy and the history of food, genealogy-rich ephemera and researching female ancestors. Gena is a respected speaker and writer and a very nice person. I was thrilled to have Gena participate in my How They Do It series back in December 2021, but I haven’t heard her speak in person. I’d really like to go, if I can swing it.

As a special bonus, there’s a musical performance by mother-daughter folk singers Kristin and Lucy Gray Hamilton!

Go the MCPL website learn more about the program and register. If you decide to go, please let me know in the comments if you’d like to meet up!

 

Meeting cousins, visiting cemeteries

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Ancestry Day badgeOne of the huge benefits of starting this blog is becoming acquainted with my mother’s first cousins, the children of my grandfather’s siblings. They’ve shared genealogy info and family photographs and have been welcoming and interesting people.

I’m very excited because I recently learned about the Midwest Genealogy Center’s Ancestry Day, a family-history conference that will be held in conjunction with Ancestry.com on March 16 in Blue Springs, Mo. That’s a 3+ hour drive for me from St. Louis, but I like a road trip, so I eagerly signed up.

What makes it more enticing is that my grandparents Crawford Brown and Susie Jeffries Brown, grew up in western Missouri and I’ve arranged to spend the afternoon with my cousin, Penny, and visit the cemeteries where my great grandparents (her grandparents), Arthur John Brown and Rhoda Wheeler Brown, are buried, in Milo, Missouri. I hope to visit her mother, my grandfather’s sister, who just celebrated her 99th birthday. In addition, I think we’ll go to Appleton City, where my grandfather grew up. Penny says that his picture (or perhaps it’s his brother’s picture) still hangs in Appleton City High School.

I have family on my grandmother’s side who are buried in Appleton City. I need to do a little digging to see if I can find exactly where, but according to my records (I’ve been really successful in finding death certificates for this little branch of the family), my great grandfather, Earl Jeffries and both his parents (John D. Jeffries and Susan Price Jeffries) AND his grandfather, Richard Anderson Jeffries (my great great great grandfather!) are buried in Appleton City . I’m very excited at the prospect of seeing all these gravestones. Perhaps I’ll find other family members graves there as well!

I’m very excited for a triple whammy that weekend: meeting cousins, visiting cemeteries, and going to a family-history conference. Life is good.

If you’re planning to attend Ancestry Day at the Midwest Genealogy Center, please post a note in the comments. I’d love to meet you!