Planning a Family History Trip

The weather is cooling down, the Fall decorations are going up, and the Pumpkin Spice fairies have returned turning lattes everywhere a shade of orange. It's also the perfect time for a short road trip, a chance to stretch our travel legs after a long year and a half cooped up since COVID took center stage. So what's a genealogist to do, but plan a family history trip!?

I've been meaning to visit Halifax County, Virginia, for years now. It's the place a quarter of my family lived for generations, and yet it remains something of an enigma to me. So I went ahead and made a plan, and I'm heading to Halifax this weekend for a short but much needed trip. 

How can you plan a family history trip? Come along with me as I share what I've done to prepare to visit the land of my ancestors!

Get your bearings

Before we can plan any trip, we have to get our bearings - to discover the place we're going to see. There are several ways we can do that, but I start with Google Maps. 

When you search for a county on Google Maps, the county outline will appear on the map. This is great because it helps us see the boundaries of the county. In the case of Halifax County, there's a lot to see and explore! So to make it more manageable, I've saved important spots as I've discovered them.

Here, you can see where I've selected an important location in my family's story, Ingram Christian Church. To save a location to your map, you just select "save" next to directions. I've made a list called "Halifax" for myself, which you can see above.

You'll want to figure out how far your destination is from home - Halifax is a 3 hour drive - so I'll have to leave early in the morning. I found a convenient (and super affordable) place on airbnb, which I would definitely recommend. Next, it's planning where to go!

Taking time for research

For Virginia research, I'm spoiled with the Library of Virginia whose resources are seemingly endless. But there are special sources that are only available on the ground in local courthouses, community archives, libraries, and museums. So before any genealogy trip, we need to discover where these locations are, their hours and accessibility, and what can only be discovered on site. We need to check out what we already have on our ancestors and where there are holes in our research. 

Along with getting our bearings for our trip, we should discover the history and resources available for the place we're going. Wikipedia is a great first stop for history and context of a new place. For example, I can learn that Halifax County had just barely 36,000 people in 2010. It's still a very rural place! 

Next, we should always look at the FamilySearch wiki. For Halifax County, we can see what records are available for research there as well as history that's relevant for our search. It's always important to check out the parent county from which our focus location was formed. Halifax was formed in 1752 from Lunenburg County, which had been formed in 1745 from Brunswick County. You can track the genealogy of Virginia counties (or any state's counties for that matter) over at the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries Project from the Newberry Library. Aside from being an amazing resource, it's tons of fun to use their interactive maps.

My plan includes stopping at these important locations:

• Halifax County Circuit Court
• Genealogy and Research Center at the South Boston – Halifax County Museum of Fine Arts and History
• Chaffin House at the Halifax County Historical Society

There's only so much I can do in one day, and I also want to see all that Halifax has to offer. So I have to make a plan to see the places my ancestors would have known!

Seeing the sights

A family history trip is much more than a research trip. We can do research in so many places these days, but its a rare treat to walk where our ancestors walked. I have a few places I know I have to visit while I'm in Halifax.

I love cemeteries, y'all! I've written before how we can seek ancestors in cemeteries, so no family history trip would be complete without a cemetery trip (or two or three!) With ancestors from two sides of my family from Halifax, I have a lot of cemeteries to seek out. We can find cemeteries on Find a Grave but we can also discover these important places in our ancestors' records. Death certificates are the easiest place to find cemetery names and locations for our family members since the 20th century.

If your family lived in cities, you can find their addresses in city directories and on the U.S. census. This is a fun way to visit our ancestral homes and to see the places that cultivated our family in the past. My mom's grandfather was from South Boston in Halifax, a quaint town of about 8,000 people. My grandmother remembers her great-aunts and great-uncle who lived together unmarried into old age in South Boston. I found the home on Google Maps, saved it to my list, and I'm looking forward to sending a photo to my grandmother. 

I'll also visit the location where my ancestor Meades Anderson formed Meadville in 1787. The town diminished over the years, but the name still can be found on street, church, and school names in the area. 

And don't worry, y'all! I'll try to have some fun too. The Halifax Chamber of Commerce has a list of things to do, and Halifax County tourism has a list too! If only I had a few weeks to see and do it all...

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Planning a family history trip should be fun. It's a chance to discover what we know and what we don't yet know about our ancestral homelands. In this case, my homeland is a three-hour drive from home. It's a place filled with the sights and sounds my great-grandfathers knew well and which I have yet to discover for myself. Well, that all changes this Friday! Stay tuned for the story of Sam in Halifax!

Have you planned a family history trip before? Will you be planning one for this Fall or Winter?

Your ancestors deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's encounter your ancestors through family history and remember the past made present today!

TIGR 2021 is coming soon!!

Can you believe it's already mid-May!? If you're anything like me, time might feel like it's flying these days. I wanted to make sure you've gotten the chance to register for TIGR 2021 before it's too late!

This June 13–18, 2021, you have a great opportunity to further your family history at the Texas Institute of Genealogical Research (TIGR) hosted by the Texas State Genealogical Society!

But as you might imagine – with an event coming up in less than a month – there aren't many spaces left. So this is the heads up that there are SOME spaces left in the following courses:

• From Spanish Rule to Republic: Research in the Lone Star State
• African Americans in the South
• DNA Fundamentals for Genealogy

Click on the links in each of the course titles above to learn more about the amazing course content, the instructors, and the schedule for each. 

You can learn more about all of the faculty at TIGR by clicking here.

Registration 

Each course is limited to 40 participants; registration is $475 and is open until May 31, 2021. 

To register, click here.

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Have you attended a genealogy institute before? I hope you'll consider registering for one of this year's TIGR courses! But don't forget – time is running out! So register today!

If you have any questions about TIGR this year, don't hesitate to ask me; I'll do my best to help you find answers to your questions.

Your ancestors deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's encounter your ancestors through family history and remember the past made present today!

Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash.

Texas Roots before 1845

Do you have ancestors or relatives who live(d) in Texas? Have you wondered how to research Texans before Texas became a state in the union?

I've written about TIGR before, giving an overview of the institute, and I also detailed the TIGR course on "African Americans in the South". This post will highlight another of the excellent course offerings this year.

Dive into Texan genealogy with "From Spanish Rule to Republic: Research in the Lone Star State," the week-long course at the virtual Texas Institute of Genealogical Research (TIGR) this June 13–18, 2021!

Texas became a state when the Republic of Texas was annexed by the United States on 29 December 1845. Power was formally transferred to the new state from the Republic on 19 February 1846.

Once a part of the United States, Texans would appear in U.S. Federal records like any other state. But where does one go to find those very same Texans before this important date of 1845? How does a researcher find a Texan during the Republic of Texas or in the time of Spanish Rule?

From Spanish Rule to Republic: Research in the Lone Star State

"This course will provide a foundation for researching ancestors in pre-statehood Texas. Students will learn how to find and analyze key record collections from the Spanish, Mexican, and Republic eras, and gain an understanding of what life was like for their ancestors in those time periods."

Highlights of the course

• Hispanic Research Fundamentals
• Spanish Colonial Texas 1703-1836: Jurisdictions and Migration
• Catholic Records
• Language techniques
• Land records
• Colonial censuses
• Civil registrations
• Tax and military records

To read the full schedule of this institute course, including all of the sessions during the week, click here.

Faculty

There are excellent faculty at TIGR, bringing a breadth of research experience, professionalism, and teaching skills. This course is coordinated by Kelvin L. Meyers and Colleen Robledo Greene who are joined by six other instructors from various disciplines. 

Kevin L. Meyers - Co-Coordinator - Kevin is a fifth generation Texan, a professional forensic genealogist, and is the director of TIGR. He specializes in southern brick wall problems, and has taught at IGHR and SLIG.

Colleen Robledo Greene - Co-Coordinator - Colleen is a librarian, genealogist, and educator especially focused on methodology and Hispanic research. Her personal research is focused on Mexico, California, and Texas. 

Henrietta Martinez Christmas - Henrietta is a native New Mexican - with deep roots documented to 1598 with soldiers coming with Oñate. She is a researcher, author, and historian whose work has appeared in books, exhibits and other historical points of interest in New Mexico.

Frank de la Teja, PhD - Frank is a professor emeritus, the past Chief Executive Officer of the Texas State Historical Association, and is a published author and editor. He has served and worked in numerous organizations in Texas from the archives to the State Board of Education to genealogical societies.

Kevin Klaus - Kevin is a researcher in the Texas General Land Office Archives and Records Program Area. He focuses on the German settlers in Texas and has a background in anthropology, archaeology and public history.

John A. Sellers - John is a native Texan, a researcher since 1985, and a nationally recognized speaker. He has conducted extensive research in Texas and Louisiana. John is also Mayor of Sulphur Springs.

Brian A. Stauffer, PhD - Brian is from Wyoming and has a PhD in Latin American History. His focus is on religious and agrarian history of Mexico and Mexican Texas. He is a published author, and is the Translator and Curator of the Spanish Collection at the Texas General Land Office.

Ari Wilkins - Ari is an experienced genealogist and speaker specializing in African American research and migration. She is the owner of Black Genesis, a genealogical consulting company, and is a Library Associate at Dallas Public Library. 

Registration

The course is limited to 40 participants, so register today! Registration is open now, and if you sign up before April 30, 2021, the cost is $425 for non-members of Texas State Genealogical Society. 

Registration after May 1,2021 is $475 and is open until May 31, 2021. 

To register, click here.

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Texas history reaches back much further than statehood. Researching Texans before 1845 requires different skills, knowledge, and tools for success. "From Spanish Rule to Republic: Research in the Lone Star State" is a great way to dig deeper into Texan genealogy!

Have you been to an institute before? Are you ready to take the dive deeper into one of these great topics? Register today!

If you have any questions about TIGR this year, don't hesitate to ask me; I'll do my best to help you find answers to your questions. 

Your ancestors deserve the best researcher, the most passionate story-teller, and the dignity of being remembered. So let's encounter your ancestors through family history and remember the past made present today!