My last NGS post left off when the opening session was over and the cell signal problems started so here’s a look at the rest of the day.
Immediately following the opening session, the Exhibit Hall opened.
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| Family Search was busy right from the start. |
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| Archives.com was also very busy - giving away those free membership cards for remainder of the year. |
The sessions I attended were:
“Finding Fathers: Bridging the Generation Gap presented by Elizabeth Shown Mills. This session dealt with how to track males who either disappeared or just showed up when conventional research hasn’t resulted in answers. Some of the key points were: (1) the earliest proven place of residence usually holds the best clues to someone’s origin and birth family; (2) to move a line forward or backward we often have to go sideways; and (3) track down all descendants of the ancestor and the descendants of his siblings.
“When Sources Don’t Agree, Then What?” presented by Thomas W. Jones. Dr. Jones advised that you should never ignore a conflict. In trying to resolve conflicting information, it’s helpful to group the information by item and show the source for each piece of date. Explain conflicts and how conclusions were reached. If a conflict can’t be resolved, say so. Best advice - Genealogical proof isn't a vote, the most censuses in agreement don't win!
Both of these sessions were in Ballroom A which was the biggest classroom. The photos below show what it looked like before Mills' presentation started and the crowd was pretty much the same for Jones' session.
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| In front of me |
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| Behind me |
Stay tuned for Day 2.
