Historical Records

The Oregon Trail extended approximately 2,000 miles from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon from 1840 to 1869. More than 50,000 people traveled to Oregon and a great number died on the journey. This talk will cover resources for conducting research on the people and their lives along the trail.

The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution has been collecting research material since its beginning in 1889. Not many people know that their national headquarters and award winning genealogical research library is located in Downtown Louisville Kentucky. Join us on a tour of the research facility and take a deep dive into the rare and expansive collection that awaits national researchers of all skill levels and timeline needs.

Kentucky and Virginia have some of the most complete tax lists in the United States. Their value in research often goes unrecognized by even the experienced researcher. Tax lists can be a primary tool for solving difficult research problems and are invaluable when used with other records. Learn how to access original records, to best organize them for study, and to interpret their meaning. The lecture will use case studies to show their use in tracking individuals across time, estimating birth dates and death dates, separating individuals of the same name, determining the identity of other family members, and using them as substitutes for deeds, court records, and estate records in burned counties.

Military research is not complete without consulting the records of the R&PO, yet few do. They can be a goldmine of information, or not.

Take a closer look at the 1850 to 1950 U.S. Census records as vital genealogy resources, while looking into details you may have missed, along with benefits to and tips in using these records and a little extra help from MyHeritage!

Tax rolls have traditionally been used as a “census substitute”—a list of names to show that someone of a certain name was in a certain jurisdiction, in this year or that. But tax rolls can be developed into so much more. This session demonstrates how to use tax rolls to separate same-name people, determine ages of men and date their marriages, establish times of death, identify parents and the maiden identity of wives, track migration, document inheritances when probate records are destroyed, and so much more!

Land Plats of an ancestor’s land will likely include his surrounding neighbors. With a closer examination, we might gain an understanding of their lives and place them with their community and local events.

Finding an overseas ancestral hometown. Tracking a family from one place to another. Researching in a place with record loss. Identifying all the children of an ancestral couple. Finding (or verifying) a birth, marriage or death. Researching extended families. Searching for ancestors who were poor, non-English speaking, ethnic minorities or enslaved. Got any of these brick-wall situations? Learn how church records may be your saving grace.

Birth records are more than just dates — they hold the beginnings of your ancestors’ stories, revealing a wealth of information beyond the moment they entered the world. Are you mining these records for all they’re worth? Join Lisa Lisson for a deep dive into birth records, from discovering MyHeritage’s extensive collection to uncovering the rich details within. This session will equip you with practical techniques for unearthing accurate birth dates and enhancing your family history research. Plus, we’ll explore alternate sources that can shed even more light on your ancestors’ beginnings. Walk away with a newfound ability to breathe life into your ancestors’ stories.