Rivers of Wonder Session Descriptions

Friday

Grandpa Worked for the Railroad...but we don't know what he did with Dave Sprau

Rail Historian David Sprau will provide a genealogists' perspective that may fill in some gaps, or provide explanation of the various railroad occupations, along with a short explanation of the duties of each.   In addition we will explain some effective methods of finding out "what grandpa did," utilizing, in some cases, very scant evidence in your family's old papers.   

Researching a Family Legend: The Intersection of Legal Research and Genealogy with Lee Van Duzer

In this program Van Duzer will explain the types of legal documents that can be related to researching family histories, and how some of those documents can be found. As an example, he will use the story of one patron’s family legend of an ancestor involved in litigation around the Grand Coulee Dam. He will also explain some of the gaps in legal information using a less successful example related to the formation Girard, California in the 1920s.

Saturday

Use the FamilySearch Family Tree with Confidence

with Laurel Smith

Learn how to add people, manage relationships, merge, edit events, and link sources to everyone in the family; monitor your family for changes, communicate with other users; add images and documents to a person, and more.  Also, learn when to switch to Ancestry for help, and discover how to craft the most successful searches on both sites.

Reading glasses if you use them, and something to write with. A magnifying glass and clipboard (for in person) may be helpful.

Online attendees:  Print the handouts prior to class. (The file will be emailed to you with Zoom access the week of the conference.)

Please note: Although a computer is not required, this class is for those who have at least basic computer knowledge/skills. (i.e. how to open and move around on webpages.)

Sunday

Getting Started with Genealogy Problems with Tricia Oberndorf

We will demonstrate and discuss various strategies for solving genealogy problems that are not the usual "find great-grandma's parents and their birth, marriage, and death dates." Everyone will be encouraged to participate and suggest things to try. The more the merrier!

Go to: Schedule, Speakers, and Registration