Episode 205 - Family Vacation Triggers Slave Research Journey / Tips On Using Compilations

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. David is on the road in Pittsburgh for the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference. The guys start out talking about a fascinating “genie” David ran into at the conference. David then talks about a pic of a unique grave he uploaded to FindAGrave of a 19th century baseball Hall of Famer. David next reports on the status of the Clayton Library, a key genealogical library in Houston. The earliest photo of a president will soon be up for auction. Who was in it? The guys will tell you. Then, it’s a warning… don’t pose your kids in 800 year old stone coffins! Hear what happened when someone recently did. Then David spotlights blogger Carol Petranek from spartanroots.wordpress.com and her recent blog on Greek genealogy.

Next, Fisher visits with Christopher Child, Senior Genealogist of NEHGS. Chris and his family took a family vacation several years ago that took him to the Smithsonian. A display of a house there led him to begin a fascinating research project to discover anything about the life of a Massachusetts colonial era slave. All the Smithsonian knew of the slave was that he existed, “belonged” to a family named Dodge, and was named “Chance.” Christopher shares his research journey, connecting the dots from simply the name to a whole lot more.

Then, Fisher visits with Lorraine Bourn from LegacyTree.com. Lorraine shares some great tips on the benefits and pitfalls of using “compilations” in family research. It’s a great 101 course for newbies, and refresher course for the more experienced.

Next, Tom Perry, the Preservation Authority reports from Pittsburgh as he continues his Preservation Tour 2017, holding free photo scanning parties for people across the country. Tom shares advice to pass on to flood victims in Houston on how to begin restoring damaged photos and videos.  Houston has (fortuitously) been on Tom’s Tour schedule for some time. He will be there October 20-22 and for several days after and is looking forward to helping people restore and preserve their memories after the horror of Hurricane Harvey.

That’s all this week on Extreme Genes, America’s Family History Show.