Becoming a citizen was not always easy and finding naturalization records can be a challenging task. Join us as we discover ways to meet the naturalization records challenge head on.

 

 

 

One of the biggest challenges for researchers and indexers alike is reading handwriting in old documents. If you have ever struggled with the content of a letter, a will, a land transaction or a court record, learning about the history of penmanship, and the Spencerian Writing style will help you transcribe the documents you need to show your family's history.  Platt Rogers Spencer developed the Spencerian script in the 1840s to help foster better business communications. He died in 1864 but his sons published his text, Spencerian Key to Practical Penmanship which helped to make Spencerian script a standard across schools in the United States and abroad for the next 75 years. Spencer's script is full of flourishes, but with a little practice you will be able to decipher the easy-to-mistake letter forms which will make doing research on 19th and early 20th century documents much easier.

 

 

 

"Start wih what you know and work back." Often it is necessary to know what town, city, county or village your ancestors are from. There are many records on this side of the puddle that may reveal that information. This is a discussion of what those records would be and where to find them. After hearing this talk the participant will have a better idea of the plethora of information on this side of the pond before expanding their research to another country.

 

 

 

Six years ago, John was the insurance consultant to the Waldo Canyon Wildfire recovery team. He witnessed first-hand the loss of many people's photos, heirlooms and research materials which were not insured nor backed up. Among the many lessons of this catastrophe, John advocates more rigorous steps to preserve the family treasures to help you minimize the loss of these materials. John will discuss both the importance and steps to better protect yourself form this potential loss as well as helping you transfer these items to the next generation.