Genealogical Musing with Fran

“No one is beat till he quits. No one is through till he stops. No matter how hard failure hits, no matter how often he drops, a fellow’s not down till he lies in the dust and refuses to rise”––words from the work “Defeat” by Edgar Guest. Harsh and somber you say these words are, but do they apply to the feeling of frustration when that elusive, long sought-after relative remains unfound? Well, what to do but brush yourself off and start all over again with new thoughts and an open mind. Yes, back to a clean slate.

First, I go to the experts. I have found over these many years that there is always someone who has probed and studied most all of the genealogical subjects, and it is my duty to go for HELP!

When St. Louis Genealogical Society was founded fifty years ago, education was put at the top of the list of what the mission of StLGS should be. Have you taken advantage of these opportunities? Well, what are you waiting for?

It is not an afterthought or accident that StLGS offers regular classes free of charge to members, conducts an all-day Speaker Series once or twice a year, multi- day seminars, quarterly Irish and German Special Interest Group programs, a free monthly meeting, and an annual all-day conference. Those are a lot of opportunities to further your skills. We know that the best way to get over a hurdle or through a brick wall is to arm ourselves with knowledge.

The annual Family History Conference for 2017 is coming up Saturday, 8 April 2017 and will feature Cyndi Ingle, creator of Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites; along with Jan Alpert, fngs, expert on DNA and genealogy, and Bruce Buzbee, creator and owner of RootsMagic software. In addition, local speakers Bob Goode, Ilene Murray, and Carol Whitton, cg, are on the program. What a line-up of experts!

This program is designed to wow and thrill the genealogist in each of us. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by attending, so why not sign up NOW? Early registration ends on 23 March. For information on the conference and/or to register, go to www.stlgs.org and click on the "Family History Conference" button. And while you are on the home page, be sure to check out some of the other upcoming events too!

Will look forward to seeing you soon, 

Fran