Wisdom Wednesday - The Brain Trust at NGS 2012

Welcome to NGS 2012! What an amazing day it's been. My roommate, Becky Wiseman of Kinexxions fame, and I decided we'd forgo the opening session and start with the later morning session. 


My first session was The Family Tapestry: Intergrating Proof Arguments Into the Genealogical Narrative by Jeanne Larzalere Bloom. Ms. Bloom reviewed the process of a reasonably exhaustive search, location of evidence and the construction of the proof statement. While the material itself is pretty dry, I thoroughly enjoyed the way she presented this information. She went step by step as she worked through proving a case. What I felt was truly a learning opportunity was she showed us that though she proved her case, she hadn't done a 'reasonably exhaustive' search, because she'd neglected to search obituaries and land records. Great information.


I then caught up with Tina Lyons, Susan Clark, Linda McCauley and Becky and we walked over to Paula's for lunch. The food was great; Paula's Fave salad was a big hit! The conversation was free flowing and the time just flew by. 


Second session was Hatched, Matched and Dispatched: Vital Records Research by C. Ann Staley. This session was a wonderful overview of the three main groups of records for genealogy: birth, marriage and death. 


The last session of the day was Military Bounty Records: A Rich Resource by Rick Sayre. This is a record group I'm sorely lacking in knowledge, so I welcomed the variety of information Mr. Sayre presented. Revolutionary War Bounty Land records are part of the pension records, however not all subsequent land records are found in pension records. The amount of derivative information in the land records can be quite exhaustive, so this will be a record group that I start looking at more closely.


Right now, I'm taking a break. Can you tell I'm tired? I am, but it's a great kind of tired. We'll be meeting up tonight with other Geneabloggers ...and then we do it all again tomorrow!! I can't wait...