What’s the Buzz About Billion Graves?

Presented by Debra Dudek

Billion Graves is contending to be the top cemetery search on the web. Toting a hot new app and an easy interface. Billion Graves is making cemetery transcription projects and research information more accessible to tech-friendly users. Get a look at this site as a researcher, transcriber, and in-the-field data gather.

Debra M. Dudek is Head of Adult and Teen Services at the Fountaindale Public Library District in Bolingbrook, IL. Ms. Dudek specializes in British genealogy and technology topics. She is currently pursuing a second master’s degree in Genealogical, Paleographic & Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, and is the author of the World War I Research Guide: Tracing American Military and Non-Combatant Ancestors – Includes a Guide to Canadian Military Research which is available in paperback and as an ebook on Amazon.com.

DNA – No Tree! No Response! Now What?
GEDmatches – DNA Shared Matches One Step Further

Presented by Suzan Bates

Q: I know how to use the Shared Matches also called In Common Matches tools. I have contacted some of my matches but with few responses. What else can I do with my DNA results?

R: Autosomal DNA test results from Ancestry DNA and Family Tree DNA can be uploaded to GEDmatch to glean more connections in your family tree. Let’s start with the basics of one-to-many and one-to-one tools to give you a new way of connecting through DNA. Learn about the settings and tools to help your family history tree grow. 

Suz Bates has brought her expertise in genealogy to the public, spreading her enthusiasm for family history research to everyone during her workshops and presentations as well as with her private clients and small group consultations. She has been a family history researcher for over 40 years and a private consultant for 20 years. Suz earned a B.A. in Modern Foreign Language with a minor in History and an M.S. in education.   Suz has been a member of various genealogy and history associations including the National Genealogical Society, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the NSDAR with local membership in the Du Page County Genealogical Society, the Fox Valley Genealogical Society, and CAGGNI She is listed in the Genealogical Speakers Guild and the Genealogy and Local History Librarians.

Tennessee Family History Research

Presented by Maureen Brady

Tennessee was one of the first states established after the American Revolution, and it provides a rich body of historical records.  This presentation will offer a brief overview of Tennessee history and how that affects the availability of the records, online resources for Tennessee research and an overview of repositories and archives.

Maureen Brady, a former school librarian and computer educator, has more than thirty years’ experience with family history research.  She has traced her own Scottish roots back to the end of the 17th century and beyond, and has also pursued Chicago area, the trans-Allegheny U.S., Quebec, Irish and Swedish research.  She is the co-director and trainer for the Crystal Lake (IL) Family History Center.

Chicago land prehistory, emphasizing Lake County’s prehistoric Native American past

Presented by Dan Melone

Do you want to know what Chicago and Lake County were like before its current settlement?  Dan Melone will discuss the people of the pre-Chicago period, and what was left behind. In addition, Dan will present his prehistoric and historic findings throughout the Lake County region.

Dan Melone is a Great Lakes Archaeologist, a Scientific Affiliate at Field Museum in Chicago and an Archaeologist and Education Coordinator at Raupp Memorial Museum in Buffalo Grove.  He is currently conducting archaeological research  of prehistoric and historic sites throughout the Chicagoland area.  He is also conducting ethnographic research on identity and economic, political, religious, and social aspects between Native Americans and settlers of early Chicago.

From Piles to Files: Let’s Get Organized

Presented by Teresa Steinkamp McMillin

Years of research can generate many documents. To keep track of all your valuable information, a workable organization plan is a must. Can you find the documents you have? When you receive a new document, do you know exactly where you’re going to put it so that you will find it easily? The lecture will discuss organization methods for paper and digital files.

Teresa is a Certified Genealogist who specializes in German-American and Midwest research, as well as reading German script. She has been interested in genealogy since she was a child and has actively researched her German ancestry, as well as her husband’s Chicago Irish roots. She presents quality genealogy lectures for local and national organizations. She has attended the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and has taken college-level German courses.

Teresa was the 2007 recipient of the National Genealogical Society’s Home Study Course, which she has completed. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the National Genealogical Society, as well as many local genealogical societies. She is the co-president for the Northwest Suburban Council of Genealogists.

Naturalization: Beginning of Your U.S. Family Heritage

Presented by Steve Szabados

Find your roots. Find the naturalization papers of your ancestors and see the beginning of your America History. This program starts with the history of the naturalization process and a review of the requirements and then discusses where your ancestors were naturalized, which is the key to finding their documents. Traditional and online sources are reviewed. This is a great program to find clues to your heritage.

Szabados is a lecturer and author who has given numerous programs to genealogy groups and libraries. He is the author of over ten genealogy books and is also a contributing editor for the Polish American Journal. He is a member of Polish Genealogical Society of America, Northwest Suburban Genealogy Society, Illinois Genealogy Society and a genealogy volunteer at his local library. He has a passion to share his love of family history and his courses cover the methods that he has found successful.

200 Objects That Made History in Lake & McHenry Counties

Presented by Debra Fanfrei

Every artifact tells a story.  Learn about the history of Lake County through the artifacts featured in the new book 200 Objects that Made History in Lake and McHenry Counties.  Debbie Fandrei, curator of the Raupp Museum in Buffalo Grove and project manager for the book, will show pictures and share stories of 30 of the different artifacts, ranging from a mammoth bone to a 1940’s football. She will also talk about the collaboration between 23 different museums which produced the book.

Debbie Fandrei was born and raised in Grayslake, and attended college in Minnesota and Virginia.  After an internship at the Milwaukee Public Museum, she decided she wanted to work in history museums because of all the great stories that museums share with visitors.  After twenty years at the Raupp Museum in Buffalo Grove, she still thinks she made the right choice…

Effective Use of E-mail and Message Boards

Presented by Dan Niemiec

There are days that I wish there were a Facebook page just for genealogists! I would love to be able to post a question about a particular family, or a specific town, or both, and have everybody see it who has even a moderate interest. Everybody would try to answer the question. They would either tell me what I need to know, or teach me how to find it for myself, or both.

Dan’s sense of humor in his presentations make it enjoyable for everyone even if they have little to do with the topic being presented.  But everybody always learns something new, whether beginners or experts. Dan has been the genealogy columnist for Fra Noi since 2004. For the past 25 years, he has researched his genealogy back 17 generations, plus tracing descendants of his ancestors, yielding 74,000 relatives. His major focus is on civil and church records in Italy, Chicago vital records, Chicago Catholic records and most major genealogy web sites. He has given dozens of presentations to many local and some national genealogy societies on topics such as cemetery research, Catholic records, Italian records, Ellis Island and newspaper research, among others.

Researching Colonial American Ancestors

Presented by Jane Haldeman

Did your ancestor live in one of the Original Thirteen Colonies? Were they here before the Revolutionary War? If so you possibly have Colonial American Ancestors. Each colonist came to the “new world” for different reasons and each colony was different. They come for both religious and economic opportunities. Find out what records are available and where they are, so you can learn about your Colonial American Ancestors.

The Most Helpful Genealogy Tools You’ve Never Used

by Marsha Peterson-Maas

Marsha offers a wealth of helpful tools plus instruction for practical uses on the topics of:

• Forensic Genealogy Tools (Photo Analysis, Spreadsheet and Map Tools)
• Research Tools (Military Research Tools)
• Organizational Tools (Time Crunch Strategy, Evernote/One Note for genealogy and Cheat Sheets & Templates)
• Presentation Tools (FamilySearch Memories, Thomas MacEntee’s “Go-Over” and “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

These topics are chosen directly from the textbook, Fundamentals of Genealogy®: The Most Helpful Tools You’ve Never Used . . . textbooks are distributed before the lecture so participants can peruse them during the lecture and can optionally purchase to take home for $20/each (this price is a 20% discount).

Marsha got her start in genealogy in high school when she entered a family history project in the State of Illinois History competition and tied for State Champion. Her first formal training in genealogy was at The Newberry Library-Chicago in the beginner’s class that she now teaches. Along with being a national-level speaker, teacher and lecturer on many genealogy topics since 2002, Marsha is author of the Fundamentals of Genealogy® textbook series where she is publishing four textbooks, (1) Basics for Everyone, (2) The Most Helpful Tools You’ve Never Used, (3) Medical Family Tree Workbook and (4) Beyond Shaky Leaf Hints. Marsha is particularly proud of her current role as a Director of Valor Research for Purple Hearts Reunited, a charitable foundation that receives donations of lost Purple Heart medals, then performs genealogical research to reunite them with the veteran or their family . . . for which she and her team from the Chicago Genealogical Society and Illinois St. Andrew Society won the Illinois State Genealogical Society’s “2017 Community Service Award”. . . and she was nominated for AARP’s Purpose Prize.