Lectures, Presentations & Workshops
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Gerald Smith has presented lectures and seminars to a variety of groups in various settings. His presentations include lectures and workshops for national, regional, and state venues, presentations for local genealogy societies, and senior education programs such as the Academy of Lifelong Learning at the University of Delaware. Presentation topics range from essential techniques for beginners to advanced methodology. In addition he has served as an instructor for hands-on computer workshops and discussed genealogical research before a television audience.
Recent speaking engagements include: faculty for 2011 IGHR faculty (Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Samford University, Land Records), the 2011 New England Regional Genealogical Conference, and the 2010 annual meeting of the Genealogical Society of New Jersey.
His presentations include:
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Bastards, Bridges & Bawdy Houses: Using Quarter Session Records in Genealogy
Court of Quarter Session Records are an under-used genealogical resource. These courts existed in much of the early Unites States and had broad juristiction over oaths of office, licenses, illegitimate children, crimes & punishment, roads, rangers, and administrative matters. The presentation discusses how to read, interpret, and seek out genealogical information in these records. Case studies show how these records can knock down a brick wall or unscramble a difficult family tree.
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The Metes & Bounds of Land Plats
Surveys and plats solve genealogical problems. Learn how to draw metes & bounds plats, connect them into tract maps, and place them on a modern USGS map. Also covers GNIS, survey accuracy over time, and selected on-line resources. Includes case studies.
A land plat workshop is also available. Participants draw plats and a small connected tract map from surveys, deeds, and patents. The workshop shows how to deal with meanders, unreadable calls, survey errors, and other problems. Includes a demonstration of plat software.
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Finding Land-Less Ancestors
Some ancestors died poor and without land, depriving genealogists of two commonly used record sets: deeds and probate. Learn techniques & resources for researching your land-less ancestor in both rural and urban environments. Includes case studies.
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Obituaries: From Humor to Horror
An introduction to obituary and death notice research. Topics include finding obituaries in papers, on microfilm, and on-line; compiling a list of early newspapers for a locality; locating newspapers; and gotchas. Humorous and horrid sample obits interspersed.
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Introduction to the U.S. Census Population Schedules
The population schedule of the US Census has been taken every ten years from 1790. Learn to use this essential resource through discussion of census content, changes over time, assessing census evidence, common mistakes, indexing problems, and search tactics. Actual search examples and records illustrate the techniques.
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City Directories
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First Owners -- Land Warrants, Patents, and Grants
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Probate Records
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Colonial Church Records
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Deciphering Early American Printing & Handwriting
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Early Pennsylvania Research
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American Law: An Overview for Genealogists
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Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors
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Citing Sources
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Researching Civil War Ancestors
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Learning and Using Ancestry.com
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