The TxSGS 2016 Family History Conference Offers 5 Classes Focusing on Hispanic Genealogy

If you have Hispanic ancestors, I highly encourage you to attend the upcoming TxSGS 2016 Family history Conference. In addition to classes focusing on general methodology, record types, repositories, and useful tools, there are five sessions in particular that focus on Hispanic genealogy. Very few conferences offer more than just one or two sessions on Hispanic genealogy, despite Hispanics making up 17.3% of the total United States population.¹

The Conference

The Texas State Genealogical Society’s 2016 Family History Conference takes place October 28-30 in Dallas, Texas. I share the stage (figuratively, not literally, they get big general session stage) with Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist, and Cyndi Ingle, the founder and publisher of Cyndi’s List!

TxSGS 2016 is jam-packed with 72 sessions and 5 workshops taught by 35 speakers.

Online registration is available on their website.

The Classes

An Introduction to Researching Your Mexican Ancestors

This introductory lecture will cover key U.S. records and strategies for identifying when and where your Mexican ancestors immigrated, and for identifying their hometown in Mexico. It will also provide an overview of the main Mexican record types available online for tracing those family lines further back in Mexico. Learn how even a non-Spanish speaker can be successful at this research.

• Colleen Greene (yours truly)
• Friday, October 28 (12:30pm-1:30pm).

Digging Deeper into Mexican Church & Civil Registration Records

The long history of formalized record keeping in New Spain and Mexico provides a wealth of information for researching Mexican ancestors. Church records date back to the early Spanish Colonial Era, and civil registrations went into effect shortly after Mexican Independence. Learn how to find and analyze Mexico civil and church registration collections to build out your Mexican family history, and how even a non-Spanish speaker can be successful at this research.

• Colleen Greene (yours truly)
• Friday, October 28 (3:30pm – 4:30pm).

My Mexican American Ancestors: A Case History

The objective of this presentation is for participants to learn the basic techniques and resources needed to begin researching Hispanic ancestors in South Texas, Northeastern Mexico and beyond. It will cover the geography and history of the area, giving the context of time and place. The use of various resources will be illustrated such as genealogical websites, including FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com; interviews with family members; census, church; civil and other record types.

• Mary Ozuna Torres (President, Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Genealogical Society)
• Saturday, October 29 (12:30pm – 1:30pm)

Southwestern US, Spanish Colonial Military, Is Your Soldier Eligible for the Sons or Daughters of the American Revolution?

In the last decade many records have become available that signify your Spanish Colonial Soldier may have donated funds, cattle or other aid to George Washington’s Cause. A case study of one Spanish Colonial Soldier, his records, his service and how his family played a role in his life.

• Henrietta Martinez Christmas (President, New Mexico Genealogical Society)
• Sunday, October 30 (12:30pm – 1:30pm)

The Other Side of Jewish Genealogy: Sephardic Research

This session focuses on records of many types found in Spanish and Portuguese archives, including Inquisition, notarial and other records, and the family information that can be gleaned from these detailed records. Additional resources, websites and books will be discussed. These records provide a glimpse into the medieval Jewish communities of Spain, including the 1391 riots, the Inquisition, the 1492 Exile and the Sephardic Diaspora.

• Schelly Talalay Dardashti (MyHeritage.com‘s US Genealogy Advisor)
• Sunday, October 30 (3:30pm – 4:30pm)

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I look forward to seeing you in Dallas next month!

Sources Cited