Pennsylvania has an enticing array of archives. The shelves of these institutions are brimming with information for family historians. The 2023 Ancestry Fair of the Bucks County Genealogical Society will take a close look at a number of these remarkable collections.

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Our program starts off with Think Like an Archivist: Finding Genealogy Records in Library & Archives presented by nationally known researcher and genealogy presenter Nancy Loe who blogs under the pseudonym of Sassy Jane. Nancy will share important research techniques that apply to archival research and will make your use of an archive more productive.

With a general understanding of archival research, we will take a look at three important archival resources that Pennsylvania researchers will want to be familiar with.

Aaron McWilliams, Research Archivist with the Pennsylvania State Archives will present What’s New in the Pennsylvania State Archives. Aaron will re-introduce us to the state archival collection which is now housed in a brand-new building, and will provide tips on how to best make use of the collections when visiting—both in person and virtually.

We will also take a collective look at a bevy of small collections in and around the Philadelphia area that comprise the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL). These collections, individually too small to afford sophisticated indexing and digitization, came together as the Consortium as far back as 1983. Today there are 35 member institutions with fascinating collections that have greater public availability as a result of the support and effort provided by the Consortium. With her presentation, Overview of the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL), Beth Lander, Managing Director of PACSCL, will help researchers locate collections; discuss the variety of member institutions in PACSCL and how those collections may, or may not, help in genealogical research; and end with a warning regarding the difficulties involved in discovering collections on the web. 

Wrapping up Ancestry Fair 2023, BucksGen member Tom Myers will present Archival Resources in Bucks County. Tom is a highly experienced genealogist with 35 years of dedicated effort in his rear-view mirror. Tom is an expert in Bucks County research and assists BucksGen as our Research and Query Coordinator. Tom will highlight the resources that Bucks County offers to genealogists.

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The registration fee is $25 per person, payable through Paypal.  All four sessions will be recorded, and will be available for viewing through Tuesday, November 7, by anyone who registered and paid in advance of the October 7 Fair.

BCG to Host Joy Reisinger Lecture Series: Five Free Lectures

The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) will host five live webinars, free and available to the public, as this year’s Reisinger Memorial Lecture Series on 20 October 2023. The hour-long webinars begin at 9:30 a.m. MDT (11:30 a.m. EDT and 4:30 p.m. GMT) and continue throughout the day. Five leading genealogists will speak on topics such as meeting the Genealogical Proof Standard, verifying genealogical stories, and using DNA evidence. The webinars are part of the Joy Reisinger Memorial Lecture Series and are presented in conjunction with Legacy Family Tree Webinars. 

The lecture series is presented annually in memory of BCG’s former trustee and vice president, Joy Reisinger, who began this lecture series for Family History Library staff during BCG’s fall board meetings. Joy was an advocate for open records access, a lecturer on research methods, and an expert on Canadian resources, especially those of Quebec.

The lecture series will be in-person and live streamed. To attend in person, lectures will be held in Classrooms B and C on the main floor of the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Friday, 20 October 2023. For address, contact information, and directions to the library, visit their website at https://www.familysearch.org/en/library/.

To view the live stream webinar presented in conjunction with Legacy Family Tree Webinars, registration is available athttps://familytreewebinars.com/Reisinger.

The schedule for Friday, 20 October 2023, is as follows:

11:30 a.m. EDT. "Deconstructing Family Stories: Are They Fact, Fiction, or a Little of Both," Barbara Vines Little, CG

We all have them—family stories—from Indian princesses and three brothers who came to America to “We’re related to Benjamin Franklin.” Some are blatantly false; others wishful thinking. But others may be true or partly true. Discarding even the most outrageous without research is a mistake. Finding the clues in family stories requires careful and thorough research, but that kernel of truth can be worth it.

12:45 a.m. EDT. "Lineage of Land: Tracing Property Without Recorded Deeds,” Shannon Green, CG

This case study traces a piece of property for two hundred years, from the Native Americans to the Dutch, to the English, and through fourteen members of the Hicks family over five generations. Transfer of title occurs through various instruments, including patents, unrecorded deeds, inheritance, escheatment, private laws, entails, deeds of lease and release, life estates, and coverture. Tracing the lineage of the property elucidates family relationships that were otherwise forgotten.

3:30 p.m. EDT. "The Many Wives of Howard William Lowe: Working with Social History to Glean Genealogical Insights," Gary Ball-Kilbourne, CG

Genealogists are expected to conduct research not just reasonably exhaustively but also broadly. Understanding the social milieu of the specific time and place within which an individual lived is an essential element of broad research. A case study focusing on an early twentieth-century blue-collar worker in western Minnesota and his several wives illustrates how social history provides insights illuminating their lives.

4:45 p.m. EDT. "Assumptions: Problem–Solving Friend or Foe?" Jennifer Zinck, CG

Do you have an unsolved research problem? Have you critically examined assumptions made during the research process? Some assumptions are valid, or even fundamental, but incorrect or misguided assumptions can act as mortar for genealogical brick walls. Learn to recognize, categorize, and address various types of assumptions to form sound genealogical conclusions.

6:00 p.m. EDT. "DNA Analysis Methodology: Defeat the Genealogy Gremlin with Pedigree Evaluation, Mitigation, and Reasoning," Karen Stanbary, CG

Learn the tried-and-true methodology to defeat the Genealogy Gremlin and achieve accurate results using DNA for genealogy. This lecture discusses the evaluation of match pedigrees to identify potential snafus and demonstrates mitigation strategies to address the problem. Don’t let researcher confirmation bias pollute your family trees!