About the Company
George G. Morgan
Library Seminars
Genealogy Seminars
Schedule
The Genealogy Guys
Our Books
Publications
Contact Us

 

Genealogy Seminars

Welcome to our catalog of genealogy seminars. All of the topics below are available for presentation at your genealogical society meeting or conference. Click on any topic link and you'll be taken to the abstract description of that presentation. Click on the link labeled Return to Top and you'll be returned to the top of this page.

Please contact George G. Morgan by email at aha@ahaseminars.com or by phone at (813) 205-3032 to discuss availability and fees.

 
General Genealogy Topics

Census Records

Land and Property Records
 
Immigration and Naturalization Records

Electronic Research and Resources
 
English and Irish Research

Regional Research

Genealogical Society Management


General Genealogy Topics
  

We all have to get started with our family history research by learning the basics. Genealogy can be an intense and illuminating experience leading to a lifelong passion to learn more and more. This half-day seminar addresses the essentials of getting started with your research. These include: 
  • What is genealogy?
  • Motivations of genealogists
  • Where and how do I start?
  • Discover home sources
  • Interview absolutely everyone
  • Types of evidence
  • Primary vs. Secondary sources
  • Original vs. Derivative evidence
  • Types of records
  • Places to conduct research
  • Citing your sources
  • Weighing the evidence
  • Develop the big picture of your ancestors’ families and their lives
  • Get to really know your ancestors
The information you learn in this seminar will provide you with the important information you require to become a really effective researcher.
 
 

Based on the second edition of the best-selling book, How to Do Everything: Genealogy by award-winning author George G. Morgan, this full-day seminar covers genealogical research for beginning, intermediate, and advanced researchers. Unlike other classes, this seminar addresses research in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia and deals with a multitude of record types and research strategies. Topics include, for all countries studied:
  • Vital records/civil records (birth, christening/baptism, marriage, divorce, and death records)
  • Coroner's and sheriff's reports
  • Obituaries
  • Mortuary and funeral home records, as well as transit and burial permits
  • Working with maps to find the right place
  • Census records and related documents
  • Church, parish, and ecclesiastical records
  • Wills and probate records
  • Cemetery records, cemetery stones, cemetery iconography, and related resources
  • Military records
  • Land and property records
  • Immigration and naturalization records
  • Alternative record types
  • Effective research trips
  • Hardware, software, and genealogical database programs
 
The book contains more than 150 images of documents, Web sites, and historical photographs to supplement the material presented. The instructor has been hailed as one of the most knowledgeable genealogists in the English-speaking world. Come learn from the best!
 
 
 

Maps are an essential part of our everyday life. We consult them to plot travel routes as we move from place to place, check them to determine correct postal codes, verify boundaries, and use them in a many other ways. Throughout history, maps have changed again and again. Country and county boundaries moved, towns came under different jurisdictions, and place names changed.
 
As we use maps in our genealogical research, it is essential to understand the geographical history of an area and how boundaries and jurisdictions have changed. These changes are important for determining who created what documents and where these materials can now be found. Many genealogists hit "dead ends" and waste inordinate amounts of time because they either fail to understand the importance of properly using maps in their research or they don't possess the skills.

This seminar presents and discusses a simple yet efficient methodology and some resources to help you use maps to quickly and effectively locate the right place to conduct your research.
 

The earliest humans, from earliest times, have migrated from place to place seeking survival and sustenance. Our more recent ancestors also moved around for the same and other purposes. What made your ancestors leave their homes and move hundreds or thousands of miles? What drew them to a specific place to settle?
 
This session examines some of the reasons why it is important to become a student of history, geography, and sociology in order to understand and trace your ancestors’ movements.
  
 

You'd be surprised how very much information can be gleaned from even the simplest obituary. An obituary, even for a person of modest means, can provide pointers to a multitude of records for your research. It may also be your only link to a missing or elusive ancestor, or to another family member whose records provide an alternative path for locating records about your ancestor.
 
This session offers an overview of obituaries and funeral home advertisements, examines components of several obituaries from different time periods, and discusses how a typical obituary can alert you to the different records and research paths that can be found by "reading between the lines." 
 

One of the most important sources of family genealogical information comes from your relatives. Family stories are often the only accounts of family events, traits and traditions that are available. Most family historians wait until it's too late before interviewing relatives. Often, too, they neglect interviewing distant relatives such as aunts, uncles and cousins for details that may be crucial in the family tapestry. As a result, facts and interesting stories are lost, and access to family Bibles and other important written records is overlooked.

This seminar discusses the importance of interviewing absolutely everyone, and presents techniques for interviewing and otherwise obtaining crucial family information. The seminar discusses:
  • Scheduling an Interview
  • Setting Expectations on Both Sides
  • Preparing for the Interview 
  • Taking Effective Notes
  • Determining Whether to Audio- or Videotape the Interview 
  • Following Up
  • Telephone Interviews 
  • Questionnaires
 
Don't delay! Learn how to interview and start the process until it's too late.

 

In the course of our genealogical research, we often become engrossed in the collection of information snippets, failing to put them into a logical perspective. We lose sight of the fact that the people we're tracing participated in the life of their historical times, led complex lives, and interacted with one another. 
 
Organizing the information we collect into a biographical profile can help you begin to recognize character traits and decision patterns. And the profile also provides an invaluable, portable research tool that avoids your taking voluminous amounts of notes with you on research trips. 

This seminar presents a methodology and a structured model for taking the details you collect about your ancestor and creating a biographical profile. We will discuss:
  • Establishing your ancestor's every location,
  • Learning about other people in your ancestor's life,
  • Studying local, state and national history to determine what events may have influenced or motivated your ancestor,
  • Studying personal events that may have influenced or motivated your ancestor, and
  • Effectively organizing materials into a profile that can be used for additional research and for writing.
 This approach will not only help you organize your research, it can become the basis for writing detailed biographical sketches or novels about the people whose lives you have been researching.
Modern genealogists are much like the crime scene investigators - CSIs - that we see on television. They must be skilled investigators. They must use all available tools to locate clues and evidence. And they must employ proven methodologies and their critical thinking skills to document and evaluate every type of resource they find. They must be able to communicate their findings.

This seminar analogizes genealogists with CSIs and describes the genealogical research and evaluation process. It provides a methodological framework for all types of research.
 

Regardless of whether you're going to the library or heading out on a genealogical vacation, advance preparation is essential. You have to know who you are researching, what information you hope to find, what resources are available, and where to find them. A well-organized genealogist is the most effective researcher.

This seminar discusses numerous resources you can use to prepare for the most effective genealogical research trips you'll ever make. We'll examine books, periodicals, maps, Web pages, Internet mailing lists, city governments, libraries and archives, genealogical and historical societies, family associations, church secretaries, sextons and other resources you should use to gather advance information to help develop your research schedule.

Learn to maximize your research time the way professionals do it, and return home with a genealogical treasure trove.
 
 

Cemeteries are fascinating places, and family history researchers can learn a great deal when visiting a cemetery. Part of the challenge in the first place is to locate the cemetery where your ancestor or relative is buried. And when you get to the cemetery, there may be more to be learned than just what's carved on the tombstones - the administrator or sexton may have files with lots of information too!
 
Advance preparation is definitely the key to a successful cemetery research trip. That means advance research, determining who and what you want and need to research on-site, making contact with the living people who can help you find the dead ones, as well as taking the right tools with you to record information you find.

This seminar presents a methodical approach to preparing for a successful cemetery research trip and detailed suggestions about what tools to take, how to record the information, and what to do with it when you get home.
 

Placing your ancestors into historical context is essential for understanding their lives. Learn how the most popular photographic media from the 1870s into the 1930s influenced our ancestors, and how collecting and studying these images yields important contextual insights and clues for our family history research. Topics that are discussed include:
 
  • Brief History of Photography
  • Introduction of the Stereograph and Its Sweeping Popularity
  • Photography Becomes Accessible to Everyone
  • Postcards of Our Ancestors and the Places They Lived
  • Methods for Using Stereographs and Postcards to Expand Your Knowledge of the Family
   
 
 
A case study presents the research path and records used to learn about untimely deaths of Gennie and Gloria Milton in April 1940. Learn how scholarly genealogical research methods and common sense were used to reconstruct the family story from 1940 to present. See how the story brought the family’s story back to life. This session incorporates lecture and video to tell.

This case study was the basis for an episode of “Down Under: Florida” at RootsTelevision.com, and the basis for an article in Family Chronicle magazine titled “The Milton Family Tragedy.”
 
Census Records
  
 
The U.S. Constitution called for a regular enumeration of the population of this new country, beginning in 1790 and continuing every ten years through the most recent census of 2000. For genealogists and family history researchers, census records are an essential and invaluable source for geographically locating their family over time, as well as for pointing to other original, primary records for other information.
 
Unfortunately, though, a very significant number of researchers lack an understanding of the records themselves. They don't know that most of the population schedules they examine are probably transcripts of the original or even second transcriptions. Likewise, few researchers ever look beyond the population schedules to the other schedule documents: Veteran's and Widows Schedules, Slave Schedules (which are useful to both African and non-African ancestored researchers alike), Agricultural Schedules, Manufacturing Schedules, Social Statistics Schedules, and the Schedules of the Defective, Dependent and Delinquent Classes. Federal Enumeration District Maps, too, can provide insights for more quickly locating the schedules on which ancestors are listed. Even the important Soundex and Miracode finding aids are little understood and/or used.
 
This seminar is essential for those who wish to improve their understanding of the Federal census records of all types and to hone their skills in working effectively with these important resources.
U.S. Agricultural Census Schedules: Placing Your Farming Ancestor in Context
The 1840 through 1910 U.S federal censuses included an Agricultural Schedule. It details your ancestor’s farm including crops and livestock, timber production, mining, and the production of commodities such as honey, butter, and eggs.

Learn how to find and use these insightful documents. Detailed examples are given to illustrate the vast amount of information about land usage and output production of the farm. Sample documents are shown and discussed. The availability and location of microfilm and digitized images will be presented.

 

 
Land and Property Records
Land and property records are among the richest and least utilized genealogical resources available. The two methods of organizing and measuring land records in the United States are introduced in this seminar, described, and samples records are presented. Topic areas to be discussed include:
 
  • Historical Background of Land Records in the United States
  • Definitions of State-Land States and Federal-Land States and Lists of States
  • Structure, Measurement Methods, and Organization of the Records
  • Graphical Examples of Many Types of These Records
  • Places to Locate Land and Property Records
  • Resources for Learning More
 
 
Immigration and Naturalization Records
 
 
Making the leap across the ocean doesn’t have to be an impossible dream. Learn the history of ships’ passenger lists and immigration records from the 1600s to 1954 when Ellis Island shut its doors. You will see examples of many types of these documents and learn about the available resources. Topics that are discussed include:
 
  • Ships’ Arrivals prior to 1820
  • Customs Passenger Lists (1820 to 1891) and the Processes
  • Creation of the Immigration Bureau and New Processing Begins in 1891
  • Contents of the Forms
  • Indexes and Finding Aids – Printed, Microfilmed, and Online
  • Methodologies for Locating Your Ancestors
  
 
     Becoming a UnitedStates citizen was an important step in the enculturation of immigrants. While the documents and the basic process have changed little over the centuries, a number of variations in the rules make tracing naturalizations challenging. Learn methods for narrowing your search for your ancestors’ citizenship papers. Topics that are discussed include:
 
  • Naturalization before 1790
  • The History of Naturalization Since Ratification of the Constitution
  • The Declaration of Intent and Petition for Naturalization Documents
  • Clues in Other Records to Help You Isolate the Arrival Period
  • Special Circumstances for Veterans, Minors, and Others
  • Derivative Citizenship for Aliens Who Married Citizens
  • Resources and Strategies for Locating Naturalization Records
 
 
[Canadian Immigration]
 
Immigration from the British Isles can be challenging to trace. Immigration schemes, military service, and trade brought free and indentured individuals to settle and work in Canada. Ships’ passenger records prior to 1865 are scattered in the provinces and later ones reside at the Library and Archives Canada. Learn how to trace your British ancestors’ immigration.
 
  • British emigration policies and recruitment schemes
  • Early documents used to allow emigrants to relocate
  • What early ships’ lists exist and where are they located?
  • Immigration policies since 1865 and how they affected our immigrant ancestors
  • Immigration documents at the Library and Archives Canada
  • And what about our immigrant ancestors who emigrated to the U.S.?
 
Electronic Research and Resources
 
 
 The Internet is expanding at an exponential rate, and online genealogical resources are growing larger and better every day.  The effective genealogist or family history researcher is using the Internet to help locate helpful leads. 
 
This half-day seminar focuses on the three different types of Internet-based materials that can be of the most help to genealogical researchers: Web pages, message boards, and mailing lists.  Different categories of Web pages are discussed in detail, and Web sites providing research in each category of the three types of Internet resources are discussed.  A handout with all the resources is provided. 

NOTE: This workshop is normally presented as the first half of a full-day session, partnered with Advanced Genealogical Research Methodologies for the Internet.
 
 
The Internet is providing a wealth of online genealogical resources and the number of Web sites is continually increasing.  The genealogist or family history researcher needs to work all of the Internet Web resources in tandem, and with traditional research and documentation, in order to maximize his or her effectiveness. 
 
This half-day seminar focuses on how to combine the use of all types of the Internet genealogical resources to locate information and leads.  Attendees will learn how to integrate online resources into their genealogical research.  A sample case is presented illustrating how records and pointers can be located online in a variety of places.
 
NOTE: This workshop is normally presented as the second half of a full-day session, partnered with Genealogical Research on the Internet.

The HeritageQuest® Online databases by ProQuest undoubtedly contain some of the richest American genealogical materials. Libraries subscribe to the databases, and most provide remote access to library cardholders from outside the library. The HeritageQuest Online databases include:
 
  • U.S. Federal Census Images for 1790 through 1930, which may be searched by name or which may be browsed by location.
  • A collection of more than 25,000 digitized family genealogies and local histories that have been indexed and are fully searchable by people, places, and publications.
  • The Periodical Source Index, better known as PERSI, is a product of the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. It contains information and citations about people and places from an index of more than 1.6 million genealogy and local history articles. Copies of articles may be ordered directly from the ACPL or another repository holding the periodical, or they may be ordered through your library via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
  • The Freedman’s Bank was established to help African-American and other persons dispossessed by the U.S. Civil War to save money and establish self-sufficiency. It operated from 1865 to 1874, when it collapsed. The images and indexes provide amazing personal details and are a genealogical treasure.
  • A collection of indexed and searchable Revolutionary War Era document images, including those from the Revolutionary War, Indian Wars, and War of 1812. Pension files and bounty land warrant files have been digitized in their entirety.
  • The United States Congressional Serial Set, commonly referred to as the Serial Set, began publication with the 15th Congress, 1st Session (1817). HeritageQuest Online’s collection includes Private Relief Actions, Memorials, and Petitions from the Serial Set. The collection also includes content from the American State Papers, the predecessor to the Serial Set. The documents in the collection are from the years 1789-1969.

This seminar will help you unlock the power and content of each of these databases. You will learn how to move through the collection of documents, read and understand the source citations, zoom in and out of each document, and to reverse polarity of digitized images for maximum clarity and printability. You will also learn how to use the Notebook facility to mark documents and images of interest throughout your online research session, and then return to view the citations or actual materials, print them, download them, or e-mail them to yourself for later access. 
 

Ancestry.com is indisputably the largest genealogical database in the world. It holds more than 30,000 databases and the number increases annually. There are Ancestry.com collections for the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and China.

Learn the organization of the U.S. site, what’s free and what’s not, how to use the community, and tricks and techniques for optimizing your searches.

The instructor, George G. Morgan, is the author of the first and second editions of The Official Guide to Ancestry.com and shares his many years of experience working with the databases.
 

Most libraries’ genealogical collections are limited and you must reach out to gain access to other printed resources. Interlibrary loan allows you to request photocopies of the contents of non-circulating materials worldwide. Thousands of local and family histories have been digitized, indexed, and made searchable on the Internet. Learn how to locate these printed resources using WorldCat and other online catalog tools to extend your research reach using these outstanding resources.
 
  • Library and archive collection development constraints
  • Locate printed materials you need to extend your research
  • Interlibrary Loan (ILL) explained
  • Digital local and family history collections in subscription databases and online archives
  • Locate rare and out-of-print books
 
 

The Internet has forever changed the way family historians perform genealogical research. In the past, we posted queries in magazines, journals, newsletters and other periodicals. Today there are thousands of E-mail mailing lists, also known as listservs, which allow us to subscribe and rapidly exchange information with other genealogists researching the same things we are. There are mailing lists for surnames, geographic areas, ethnic groups, ships passenger lists and a host of others.
 
This seminar defines what a mailing list is, where to find out what lists are available, how to subscribe and unsubscribe, what to do with welcome messages, how to construct an effective query, where to post it, and what is and is not acceptable mailing list "netiquette."
  
If you're not using mailing lists in your genealogical research today, you are missing out on a valuable resource!
 


The compiling of genealogical pedigrees has been done for thousands of years. The publication of family histories in printed form dates from the late 1400s or early 1500s, and most of these were produced for royalty and nobility. Today, family histories in narrative form are available in printed form and on the Internet. In this class, you will learn how to maximize your searches to locate both print and electronic materials. Learn about WorldCat, Ancestry.com, HeritageQuest® Online, Google Books, and Brigham Young University and their digitization projects.

This class is also offered as a distance education class at Family Tree University.


Skype is an Internet-based telecommunications facility that allows you to communicate with other users of Skype for free all over the world. It also allows you to call land lines and cell phones internationally for a fraction of long distance costs. In addition, you can communicate with colleagues for projects, with other genealogists to collaborate in research, and in ways you may never have considered before.

The class requires that the educational facility provide Wi-Fi connectivity and that participants bring their own portable computers. Attendees will have downloaded and installed the Skype software (which is free for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux users) in advance. Everyone will establish a free Skype account and will learn to use Skype to communicate with one another during the class. Advanced topics such as conference calling, adding video, and international calling, as well as fee-based options, will be discussed.

 English and Irish Research
 

The history of the British Isles is rich and fascinating and, if you have British ancestors, the wealth of records extending from William the Conqueror to the present day located in London’s libraries and archives offer you a potential treasure trove. Original documents, indexes, and printed materials are accessible in many repositories. The facilities and their contents that are discussed include:
 
  • The National Archives in Kew, Richmond, Surrey
  • The Society of Genealogists Library
  • The Guildhall
  • The London Metropolitan Archives
  • The British Library – main library and newspaper collection locations
  • The British Telecom Archives
  • Principal Registry of the Family Division

The speaker has led genealogical research tours to London, helping the researchers set their research goals in advance of their trip, and directing them to and through the repositories that house the most promising primary and alternative records for their genealogical inquiries.
 
  

This seminar presents an infallible methodology for locating English and Welsh birth, marriage, and death entries in the BMD registers from 1837 to 1983, and then how to order copies from the General Register Office (GRO).

Civil Registration was implemented in England and Wales shortly after Victoria ascended the English throne in 1837. Law required the registration of all births, Marriages, Deaths, and later Divorces, with fines assessed for failure to comply.
 
You will learn about the organization of Birth, Marriage, and Death Registration indexes and where to locate them online or on-site at The National Archives (TNA) in Kew. Effective methodologies for searching the BMD indexes will be illustrated to help you always make sure you have the right individual (or couple).
 
Once you have identified the record you want, you can then go online to the General Register Office (GRO) and order copies online.
Learn the effective techniques for searching BMD records from an English research expert who has led tours to all the major London repositories.
  

The year 1858 was a bellwether year for wills in England and Wales. Probate responsibility moved from the church to civil authorities, and language used and processes changed. Learn the changes that influence the very different ways you research your English and Welsh ancestors. The main areas of this seminar include:
 
 
  • Last wills and testaments: an historical separation begins in Wales
  • Ecclesiastical courts and processes
    • Latin language skills are needed
  • Prerogative Courts of Canterbury and York, and their responsibilities based on Anglican dioceses
  • The Probate Court Act of 1857 and the transfer of responsibility of wills and probate actions to civil courts in 1859
  • Where to locate wills and probates prior to and after 1859
 
  

This seminar presents an overview of Anglican Church history, parish registers, what’s in them, and how to locate them. Beginning with King Henry VIII and the formation of the Anglican Church, the lecture explores the royal edict of the keeping of parish registers for births and marriages. Death records were irregularly maintained until legally required.
 
You will learn what information is typically included in parish registers and how it is entered. You’ll also learn about the copies of the registers that were sent to the bishop of the diocese. 
 
Many of the parish registers are no longer in the churches where they originated. They may have been moved. However, you will hear strategies for locating originals or copies in universities, archives, County Register Offices (CROs), and/or at the Society of Genealogists in London.

Return to Top

This all day seminar provides an in-depth view into the the historical background and record types of England, Wales, and Scotland. You will learn the background of the primary genealogical materials for each area and how to locate and work with them. Included are the following:
  • A Brief Overview of the History of the Area
  • British Documents of Genealogical Value
  • Scottish Documents of Genealogical Value
  • Welsh Documents of Genealogical Value
  • Locating Anglican Parish Records in England
  • Before and After 1858: English and Welsh Wills and Probate Records
  • Locating and Ordering English and Welsh Civil Registration Records

A list of important websites to facilitate your research and a bibliography are provided and discussed at the end of the day.

Return to Top
 

There is a wealth of online genealogical and historical resources for North Carolina online. Subscription databases, governmental websites, digitized newspapers, libraries and archives, and individuals’ webpages can provide tremendous clues to flesh our your ancestors’ lives. Learn about resources and research strategies for expanding your investigations in “the Old North State.”
This lecture examines the myriad of online resources for North Carolina genealogical research. Available record types and clues in subscription databases, governmental websites, digitized newspapers, libraries and archives, and individuals’ webpages will be discussed.

Genealogical Society Management


Membership benefits draw and retain members. Benefits must be tangible and useful, but they also must be affordable for the society to offer. Topics include:
  • The value of benefits to current and prospective members
  • Contemporary societies’ benefits offerings
  • Sample societies’ benefits lists and websites
  • How to expand your benefits offerings
  • Develop attractive and economical benefits packages
  • Market your society more effectively
 
Successful societies’ benefits packages will be shown and discussed. Learn to develop appealing benefits for your society.
 
The Shape of the 21st Century Genealogical Society
 
Genealogical societies must adopt new strategies and modern technologies and adapt to today's trends, to attract new members, and to grow. This session will describe and illustrate how modern societies have evolved and implemented new ideas to grow and succeed. Topics include:
  • The status quo society
  • New technologies that can be employed to expand societies’ effectiveness
  • New programs and new methods attract new members
  • Examples of successful societies’ best practices
  • Methods for effecting change
  • Planning for the future