PLANO, Texas — About 550 north Texans opened new horizons in researching their family history at the fourth annual Great Family Search Genealogy Conference. The event, held Sept. 22, was a multi-stake project sponsored by the Carrollton, Denton, Plano and Richardson Texas Family History Centers. Participants came from throughout north Texas and Oklahoma.
"I never knew how exciting genealogy could be," said Vivian Page, a retired school teacher and Louisiana native. "I thought I knew a lot about family history research on the Internet, but I found out about so many more places to go to find what I am looking for."
Presenters included experts from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City as well as local genealogists who covered topics ranging from immigration and censuses to genes and DNA. Experts gave classes on research in Germany, Sweden and Latin American countries, as well as the British Isles.
"This is the third year I have attended the conference and I always come away with something new," said Plano resident Laurie Willardson. "This year learning about U.S. land records has inspired me to go in a new direction with my research on my Revolutionary War-period ancestors."
"It was a day well spent," said Plano resident Marilyn Foess, who has been searching for her ancestors in Ireland for several years. "David Rencher's seminar on Irish Internet research today really helped me. It gave me some ideas about where to start and in which direction to go."
"We are now able to do things we only wished we could do 10 years ago," said David E. Rencher, director of the Records and Information Division at FamilySearch and a respected researcher of Irish roots, who gave the keynote address and four classes at the conference.
"I can't believe how much easier it's getting," remarked Jeanette Hurst, a Dallas resident and long-time English researcher who said she got several tips on finding her Scottish roots from Dean Hunter, an expert on the British Isles. "I just didn't know where to start with my Scottish research and felt like my Scottish roots were inaccessible but Mr. Hunter showed me that many of the documents and tools I need are on the Internet. Now I'm ready to get started."
