Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How many Autosomal DNA Matches Descend from your Eight 2nd Great-Grandparents?

 From Randy (my cousin) over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  How many autosomal DNA matches do you have descended from your eight 2nd great-grandparents (they would be your 3rd cousins)? Do you know how they are related to you? Have you corresponded with them? Why are your numbers high or low?

2) Share the number of your autosomal DNA matches for each of your 2nd great-grandparents, and answer the questions above on your own blog, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook or other social media post.  Please leave a link to your post on this blog post so readers can respond.

Here's mine:

The number of autosomal DNA matches I have on AncestryDNA (using the numbers from ThruLines) with a known common 2nd great-grandparent is:

    * George Washington Tapley (1814-1880) & Elizabeth Hicks (1824-1880):  64

    *  Solomon Page (1800-1860) & Elizabeth Caroline Scoggins (1802-1880):  288

    *  James William Drake (1829-1908) & Mary Ann Brantley (1837-1891):  13

    *  William Robert Harrell (1838-1908) & Catherine M Odom (1841-1875):  15

    *  James Madison "Jim" Tapley (1847-1912) & Elizabeth Rebecca 'Becky' Page (1844-1924):  49

    *  George W Schwalls (1837-1908) & Lincelia E "Celia" Claxton (1839-1882):  13

    *  Comfort Ranney (1838-1920) & Mary Margaret Hesser (1842-1920):  1

    *  Charles Kelso Carter (1843-1916) & Sarah Schoonover (1840-1918):  0

TOTAL = 443 (380 paternal; 63 maternal)

I am sure that there are many duplicates in the Tapley line.  

A1:  I have traced the lines from my 4th cousins (and closer) back to our common ancestor and entered them into my family tree in Family Tree Maker.  However there are many matches that that I have not been able to trace back to a common ancestor.  There are a lot of matches without family trees or I can trace only so far down but some generations are a black hole.  

A2:  I have tried to correspond with many of my matches, but I haven't had much luck.  Most never respond.  I seem to have more luck with finding cousins through my blog. 

A3:  The numbers are high or low for many reasons... some families have larger families than others (Tapley vs. Page for instance); some families have had more members test their DNA; my great-grandmother Carter was adopted so there are no matches on that line; and like I mentioned, a lot of DNA matches do not have a family tree or a very small family tree.  

I did not include matches I have at MyHeritageDNA because I could not figure out how to find matches per generation in an easy way like ThruLines.  

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Five Funny, Strange, Interesting or Unique Surnames in Your Family Tree

 From Randy (my cousin) over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  We all have a plethora of surnames in our family trees, and some of them are funny, strange, interesting or unique.  Please share five of your funny, strange, interesting or unique surnames in our ancestry.  How are they related to you?

2) Tell us about the surnames in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook or other social media post.  Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.

Here's mine:

1)    Richard Schoonover (1800-1880) is my 3rd great-grandfather. He was born born in New Jersey and died in Wisconsin. He changed the name slightly from his father - it was Schoonhover.  His father also changed the name slightly from his father's ... it was Schoonhoven.  

2)  George W Schwalls, Sr (1837-1908) is my 2nd great-grandfather. He migrated from Germany and added an "s" to the end of the original version.  He died in Georgia.

3)  Nancy E McClammy (1777-1838) is my 3rd great-grandmother. She was married to Wright Scoggins (?-1837). She was born in Alabama and died in Georgia.

4) Richard Treat, Sr (1584-1670) is my 9th great-grandfather. He was born in England and died in Connecticut, USA.

5)  John Edgar Knipher (1903-1984) was the husband of my 1st cousin, 1x removed, Mozelle Elizabeth Lampp (1903-1993). He was born and died in Georgia. 

Please comment on this post by clicking the title of the post and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of the post.  Feel free to share it on social media.  Or you may contact me by email at liz.genresearch@gmail.com. Note that all comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.

Friday Faces from the Past

 Lincelia E "Celia" Claxton Schwalls

b. 10 Apr 1839 in Edgefield County, South Carolina, USA

d. 18 Jan 1882 in Johnson County, Georgia,  USA

    Celia married George W Schwalls Sr. in 1866 in Edgefield County, South Carolina.  He moved her to Kite, Johnson, Georgia, USA. They had seven children together before Celia's early passing at age 42.

    Celia was one of the 10 children of Zachariah William Claxton (1806-1895) and Lincelia 'Lincely' Bush Claxton (1806-1872).  They are the reason I am related to Claxtons everywhere, it seems.  I have found several folks I went to high school with who, unbeknownst to me, are my cousins... through the Claxton line.  I do believe I am related to more Claxtons than Tapleys!

    Celia Claxton Schwalls was my 2nd great-grandmother:

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The Occupations of Your 2nd Great-Grandfathers

 From Randy (my cousin) over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  Our ancestors had to work to support themselves and their families. Do you know what occupations your 2nd great-grandfathers had?  Tell us about them. If one intrigues or mystifies you, ask a free Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool to tell you more about the occupation in that place and time.

2) Tell us about the occupations of your 2nd great-grandfathers (and any AI created description of those occupations) in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.

Here's mine:

I went about answering this question by hand-drawing a spreadsheet with census years down the left side, and the names of my 2nd great-grandfathers across the top.  Then I checked every census each one would have been enumerated in after becoming an adult to the end of their life.  I filled in the squares with what the census listed as their occupation for each year.  So the census years ranged from 1850 - 1910.   

My eight 2nd great-grandfathers and their occupations are as follows:

    *  George Washington Tapley (1814-abt 1880), Georgia, occupations included blacksmith, carpenter, and farmer.

    *  Solomon Page Jr (1800-1860) was a farmer in Georgia.

    * James William Drake (1829-1908) from Georgia was a farmer most of his life until 1900 when he is listed as a Preacher. (Of course, he could have been doing both the whole time.)

    * William Robert Harrell (1838-1908), Georgia, was a farm hand, farmer, and a merchant.

*  James Madison "Jim" Tapley (1847-1912), Georgia, was a farmer most of his life. In his later years, he was a laborer on a farm.

    

* George W. Schwalls, Sr. (1837-1908), also from Georgia, was a farmer and then a day laborer in his later years.  Of course, he is missing on two censuses!

   

 * Comfort Ranney (1838-1920) was a farm laborer before he became a lumberman and ran a mill with his brother-in-law in Ohio.  Then during the last 30 years of his life, he was a farmer, first in Ohio and then in Michigan.

    *  Charles Kelso Carter (1843-1916) was a farm laborer and machinist in Ohio. Then he moved to Iowa and became a jeweler.  

Perhaps you have the same question that I did:  "What is the difference between a farmer, farm hand, and farm laborer?"  They sounded about the same to me.  However, ChatGPT educated me and explained why they are all very different.

My query:  "In the 19th century in south and middle Georgia, what was the difference between a farm laborer, a farm hand, and a farmer?"

ChatGPT replied:

In 19th-century South and Middle Georgia, the terms "farm laborer," "farm hand," and "farmer" had distinct meanings, reflecting social and economic differences:

1. Farmer:

• A farmer was typically the owner or manager of a farm.

• They usually owned the land and resources and made decisions about planting, harvesting, and managing livestock.

• Farmers could range from small subsistence farmers to large plantation owners.

• They often had a higher social standing compared to laborers and hands, especially if they were successful landowners.

2. Farm Hand:

• A farm hand was an employee who worked on a farm.

• They were typically hired laborers who lived either on the farm or nearby.

• Farm hands were usually paid wages or received room and board in exchange for their work.

• Their tasks were diverse, from plowing and planting to feeding livestock and performing general maintenance.

• Unlike laborers, farm hands were often semi-permanent workers and might work on the same farm for many years.

3. Farm Laborer:

• A farm laborer was generally a temporary or seasonal worker.

• They often performed manual, unskilled labor, such as picking cotton, harvesting crops, or clearing fields.

• Farm laborers could be tenant farmers, sharecroppers, freedmen, or migratory workers (especially after the Civil War).

• Laborers were typically paid by the day or task, and their employment was more unstable compared to farm hands.

• Socially, farm laborers were considered at the bottom of the rural economic ladder.

Key Differences:

• Ownership and Control: Farmers owned or managed the farm; farm hands were hired workers; laborers were often temporary or hired by the day.

• Stability: Farm hands had more stable and possibly longer-term employment than laborers.

• Social Status: Farmers held the highest status, followed by farm hands, then farm laborers.

• Economic Relationship: Farmers profited from production; farm hands earned steady wages; laborers were often paid per job or task.

In summary, the distinctions reflected both employment stability and social hierarchy, shaped by economic realities of the region, especially in the context of agricultural practices and labor systems of the time."

So I definitely learned some things about the social hierarchy of farming and my 2nd great-grandfathers doing this exercise!

Friday's Face(s) from the Past - A Tapley Family Reunion

 

from left to right:

Charles Morgan Tapley (1907-1973), 

Ethel Irene Ranney Tapley (1913-1973)

James Tillman "Fella" Tapley (1904-1974)

Charles and Fella were brothers; the oldest children of 

Lusion Keman Tapley (1870-1935) and

Mattie Schwalls (1877-1912)

Charles and Ethel were my maternal grandparents.

I was very young when Uncle James passed but I do recall visiting him in Macon. He was the oldest son. He was the one everyone counted on. He was there when any of his siblings needed anything from food to a place to stay.

This picture was taken at a family reunion circa 1962 in Macon, Georgia. 

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Find a Grave Entries?

 From Randy (a cousin discovery!!) over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1)  How many entries are there on Find a Grave for your exact current surname and the birth surnames of your grandparents?  What about your spouse's grandparents' birth surnames?

(2)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, in a post on Facebook, or on Twitter.  

Here's mine:

I used the Memorial search feature on Find a Grave.  There I entered only the surname I was looking for in the search parameters and clicked "Search."

Here is what I discovered:

Tapley:  3,491

Drake:  65,255

Ranney:  3,597

Page:  99,539

Harrell:  32,932

Schwalls: 54

Carter:  284,185

Since I do not have a spouse, I went back to my great-grandparents' original surnames.  

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - What is Your Favorite Record Type?

 From Randy (a cousin discovery!!) over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1)  What is your favorite record type or resource? Not a website, but a type of record - e.g., census, cemetery, land, etc.  Why?

(2)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, in a post on Facebook, or on Twitter.  

Here's mine:

My favorite record type is obituaries.  While I realize obituaries are not primary sources, they are still valuable to me as part of my genealogy "toolbox."  I have found the names of parents, siblings, children, and sometimes grandparents.  I have found the deceased's date and/or place of birth or the date they got married, along with the name of their spouse(s).  I have found occupations and what their hobbies were.  Every once in awhile, I can find a cause of death.   It's a goldmine of information, especially for someone from a branch of  my family that I am not as familiar with.  

I know that the information provided in an obituary comes from a family member or friend of the deceased.  I am sure that many times, the obituary is a group effort made up of several family members and perhaps even funeral home staff.  So there is bound to be some mistakes along the way.  Just today, I found a mistake in my sister's obituary.  I was listed as Sue Tapley of North Carolina.  So I know it happens.  However, I have found that there are mistakes in all types of records.  If it is information I did not have before, the facts I find in an obituary, even if not entirely correct, puts me on the path to finding the correct information!  

My favorite type of obituary is a long obituary, full of information about the person's career, organizations they belonged to, and hobbies and interests they pursued.  The perfect obituary includes the person's maiden name, their mother's maiden name, the full names of their children's spouses, and to which child each grandchild belongs to.  

I find a lot of obituaries on Find-a-Grave that have been transcribed or copied by members and added to a person's memorial page.  If the person passed in the last few years, I do a Google search with "the person's name, year (if known), location, and [the word] obituary" in the search box.  I can find some older obituaries by doing a search on Newspapers.com (for which I have a paid membership).  I have also found obituaries on Ancestry.com where someone has uploaded them to a person's page.  I have subscribed to obituary announcements from funeral homes in my hometown.  Many years ago, I found an entire display of index cards with obituaries on them in my hometown's library.  What a find!  

Obituaries have been invaluable to me in piecing together relationships, for example, for my Schwalls line.  Finding the names of parents or siblings in an obituary was so helpful in putting together that part of my family tree, since the members of that family are so dang elusive!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The Star of my own Who Do You Think You Are? Show

 From Randy (a cousin discovery!!) over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1)  Pretend that you are one of the subjects/guests on the Who Do You Think You Are? TV show on the NBC network.

(2)  Which of your ancestors (maximum of two) would be featured on your hour-long episode? What stores would be told, and what places would you visit?

(3)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, in a post on Facebook, or on Twitter.  

Here's mine:

(1)  Pretend that you are one of the subjects/guests on the Who Do You Think You Are? TV show on the NBC network.

"Liz Tapley is a blogger and genealogist who has been researching her family history since she was a child! Despite having over 19,000 relatives in her Family Tree Maker database, she is still chasing that one elusive ancestor..."

(2)  Which of your ancestors (maximum of two) would be featured on your hour-long episode? What stores would be told, and what places would you visit?

    (a)  Genealogists from the United States and Germany would explore the mystery that is the early life of Liz's 2nd great-grandfather, George W. Schwalls Sr (1838-1908).  

        * Seemingly just appearing in the United States in the 1850s... how did he get to this country?  Who did he travel with?  How did he end up in rural south Georgia?

        * Is the George Michael Schwall living in the next county over his cousin?

        * What village/town/city was he from in Germany?  Who were his parents? Grandparents?

        * After only being in the U.S. for no more than five years, he fought in the Civil War on the Confederate side.  What was his motivation?  What was that time like for him?  

During the course of the show, I would visit Johnson County, Georgia to see where George lived and raised his children... then I would go to Germany and visit the any and all locations the professional genealogists have found that bring me closer to knowing George and his family's history.  As an aside, I would definitely want to be driven everywhere I visit, especially in Germany where I am not familiar with the ways of the road.  

Now I believe the search for George's family would take the entire hour of the show.  But if not...

    (b)  Information about the adoption of my great-grandmother, Bessie Carter Ranney (1883-1960).

        *  Perhaps through DNA, professional genealogists can find out the identity of her birth parents.

        * Did her adoptive parents, Charles Kelso Carter (1843-1916) and Sarah Schoonover Carter (1840-1918) know their daughter's' birth parents?

I would visit Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Bessie was born and Eagle Grove, Iowa where she grew up.  Since my mother and I have discovered through DNA testing that we have Scandinavian roots, which could only have come from Bessie, perhaps the show will take me to Norway or Denmark!

Family Surname: Schwall or Schwalls

The surname Schwall is German in origin.  Germans began to use surnames in the 1400s.  Occupational names were the most common, but nicknames and location names were also used.

Every village had similar trades (or occupations) from which people took their surnames, so people from different German villages who had the same trade and therefore the same surname are not necessarily related.

Today, German surnames have undergone many spelling changes, especially as Germans have immigrated to the United States.  In my own family's instance, my ancestor added an "S" to Schwall in order to differentiate himself from his cousin living in the next county over. 

The word "schwall" means "flood" in German.  Does this give me a hint as to where the name came from?  Maybe.  In the course of my research, I came across the origin of the name.  It was based on location, perhaps a swamp or swamp-like land.  Unfortunately, I did not copy the information I found, nor did I record the source, and now have no way of knowing exactly what it said.  A lesson learned. 

In my online research, I find this origin and meaning multiple times:

"South German:  habitational name from places so named in Nassau and the Rhineland."

So what the heck does THAT mean?  Well, it does provide clues...

Habitation is a place of residence or a colony or settlement.  So the adjective habitational would describe the surname as a name from a place of residence or colony or settlement.  

Nassau is a town located in the German State of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz in German). It is about 60 miles southwest of Bonn.

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. 

The Rhineland lies in West Germany along both banks of the middle Rhine River.  It borders on the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. 

So this gives me a possible area that my Schwalls ancestor was from.  However, that is a lot of ground to cover which would be oh so much easier if I had any idea what village or town or city where George Schwalls was born.  I do believe it might be in the correct vicinity considering this:  The state of Rhineland-Palantinate was established in 1946.  It was formed from the northern part of the French Occupation Zone, which included parts of Bavaria... (italics added).  This is significant because on one single document I have managed to locate during my research, George indicated he was from Bavaria.  So even though this German state was formed almost 100 years after he left the country, it still gives me a clue as to the general location he may hail from.  

Another clue is that Rhineland-Palantinate has supplied immigrants to many parts of the world.  The Pennsylvania Dutch spoken by the Amish in the United States is derived from the German dialect spoken in the Rhineland-Palatinate, which many Palatine refugees brought to the colony in the early decades of the 18th century.  Family lore insists that our Schwalls were "Dutch." 

I have information about only 4 generations of my maternal Schwalls line:

- George W. Schwalls Sr.

My 2nd great-grandfather.  He was born 01 Jan 1837 somewhere in Germany and died 21 Jan 1908 in Johnson County, Georgia.  He married (1) in 1866 in Edgefield County, South Carolina, Lincelia E. Claxton, born 10 Apr 1839 in Edgefield County.  She died 18 Jan 1882.  They had seven children: 

 Susan M. Schwalls
Linnie Schwalls
Charlie Milton Schwalls
William Louis Schwalls
Mattie Schwalls
M. M. Schwalls
George W. Schwalls Jr

George married (2) 16 Jul 1883 in Johnson County, Georgia, Mary J. Williams, born 15 Mar 1851 Georgia.  She died 14 Mar 1922.  They had six children:

Hattie Barbara Schwalls
Dillie Schwalls
Samuel Thomas Schwalls
Rosa Schwalls
Rufus E. Lester Schwalls 
Lizzie Lee Schwalls  

- Mattie Schwalls

 
My great-grandmother.  She was born 25 May 1877, presumably in Johnson County, Georgia.  She married 18 Nov 1903 in Johnson County, Lusion Keman Tapley, born 31 Mar 1870 in Johnson County and died 3 Jul 1935 in Wadley, Jefferson County, Georgia.  They had the following children: 

James Tillman Tapley  
Charles Morgan Tapley
Champ Lusion Tapley
Woodrow Tapley (died shortly after birth)

Mattie passed away 26 Apr 1912 after giving birth to Woodrow.

- Charles Morgan Tapley

 

 My grandfather was born 27 Jun 1907 in Johnson County, Georgia and died 12 Nov 1973 in Swainsboro, Emanuel County, Georgia.  He married (1) 27 Jun 1928 in California, Gladys Ruth Van Cleave, born 31 Jul 1909 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and died 01 Dec 1987 in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California.  They had two children.  Charles married (2) 03 Dec 1939 in Redlands, San Bernardino County, California, Ethel Irene Ranney, born 06 Jul 1913 in Elsie, Clinton County, Michigan and died 12 Nov 1973 in Dublin, Laurens County, Georgia.  They had the following child:

- Linda Irene Tapley

My mother was born in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California.  She and my father had the following children:

  Michael Edward Tapley
 
- And ME. 

Sources:

Ancestor Search, Free Dictionary of Surname Origins & Last Name Meanings, German Surname Origins & Genealogy Resources, http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/germansurnames.html

British Surnames and Surname Profiles, Schwall, Classification and Origin of Schwall,  http://www.britishsurnames.co.uk/surnames/SCHWALL/origin

Family Education, NameLab, Schwall, http://genealogy.familyeducation.com/surname-origin/schwall

Dictionary.com, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/habitational

Rhineland-Palatinate. (2013, May 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 9, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rhineland-Palatinate&oldid=554882307

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rhineland.jpg

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2021 (Week 8): Power

 Amy Johnson Crow from Generations Cafe is again hosting the blog writing prompt this year called 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2021.  I'm going to try to participate more fully this year.  I like that she gives us "permission" to interpret the prompt however we wish and share it however we wish.  It doesn't have to be a blog post; it could be a family video, a letter to a child or grandchild, an e-mail, etc.  

The Theme for Week 8 (Feb 22-28) is Power.

When I heard this theme, my first thought was quite literal:  Power, as in electrical power.  The reason for this is I remembered finding the easements for right-of-way filed in the Johnson County, Georgia Deed records for my grandparents, Lusion K Tapley (1870-1935) and Nealie V Drake Tapley (1895-1970).  They signed these easements over to Georgia Power Company for them to run electrical lines and put up electrical poles on my grandparents' land for the Dellwood-Wrightsville lines.  

Evidently, my grandparents owned two pieces of land.  One was in Lusion's name, located in the 55th GM District,  and the other in Nealie's, located in the 1326th GM District.  His parcel must have been quite small because Georgia Power only paid him $10.00 for the right-of-way "upon a strip of land one hundred (100) feet in width."  Whereas Georgia Power paid Nealie $65 for the same sized strip across her land.  

These deeds were recorded on June 11 and June 16, 1927, respectively.  So that is when electric lights came to Johnson County.  All of my grandparents' neighbors granted the same basic easement right-of-way, being paid varying amounts depending on the size of their land.   

One of Lusion's neighbors, whose land his bordered, was C.M. Schwalls, the brother of Lusion's second wife, Mattie Schwalls.  One of Nealie's neighbors was W.S. Pool, though already passed by this time, who was the father of Lusion's sister-in-law, Reida Mae Poole.  Reida Mae was married to his oldest brother, James "Fella." (The W.S. could have also referred to Reida Mae's brother.  The land may have passed to him.)  Such is small towns (and counties!).

I recall the day I found these while searching the Johnson County Courthouse for deed records.  I was in awe.  I've had electricity my entire life.  I had never given any thought about when electrical lines were first run across the land.  My father was born a year after these easements were recorded, and evidently he found it interesting also.  I remember him poring over them.  I can't say that during his childhood, my father always had electricity, because the family was poor, and electricity wasn't free.  But electricity was available in the area his whole life.  [I am sure this had an effect on him and is why he was so diligent in paying the power (or "light") bill on time or early throughout his life.]

We tend to take power for granted.  Folks moan and groan when it goes out for a few hours or even a few minutes.  But once upon a time, less than 100 years ago, my family did not even have electricity run to their house.  I am grateful every time I flip a switch.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Favorite RootsTech Connect 2021 Moment, Experience, Session and/or Feature

 From Randy (a cousin discovery!!) over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1)  Did you attend the free and virtual RootsTech Connect 2021 conference this week?  What was your favorite moment, experience, session, and/or feature?

(2)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a post on Facebook.  

Here's mine:

As you all know, yes, I did attend RootsTech Connect 2021 virtually the last few days.  I'm going to combine this Saturday Night Fun Post with my Day 3 post about the conference.

Real Life started seeping back in today, so I didn't get to view as many sessions as I would have liked.  However, the ones I did see were fantastic!  Here's what I watched:

- Sensitive Subjects: Writing About the Hard Stuff with Ronda Lauritzen.  I loved this session.  First of all, she had the perfect voice to cover this material, all soft and whispery.  Second of all, she made excellent points and really handled a tough subject well.  The biggest thought I took away from her session is to examine your motive when delivering news you've discovered in your researching.

- Useful Tools for Finding German Ancestors with Dana Palmer.  When I am ever get 'brave' enough to try to research where my brick wall ancestor, George W. Schwalls, Sr., came from in Germany, this session will be what I refer back to to help me read those German records.  She provided excellent samples of the different types of print you'll find there.  

- Capture Physical Photos with Google Photo Scan with Chad Dike.  I will tell you right now that this very short session changed my life.  I love Google.  I use so many of their programs.  However, I did not know they have a photo scanning software!  I have already scanned so many pictures just sitting here this afternoon.  It is so much faster than my printer/scanner!  Google Photo Scan uses four points to scan your pictures into four parts that it stitches together and gets rid of any glare!  You don't even see it stitching, and I swear in many instances, the scanned photo looks better than the original!  Then you can go to photos.google.com (which is where I back up my phone photos) and these scans will be there.  You can download them to your desktop.  You can put in a description for every photo.  You can change the date so that they are put in order.  Plus you can add where the picture was taken, if you know.  It is amazing.  So this session wins "Most Useful" from this conference!

- Finding Your German Ancestor, Parts 1 and 2, with Richard Lynn Walker.  This presentation was very in depth and full of sources you can use to research your German ancestor.  He tells you exactly what you will need to find where in Germany your ancestor came from (information I'm still working on for George).  He explains where records are kept in Germany, and he gives many, many ideas and sites for finding the information you want and need.  I will be referring to his handouts constantly when I start that research adventure.  

I guess my favorite moment from RootsTech Connect 2021 was just getting in there and seeing what all was offered.  I was able to bounce from my Playlist to the Expo Hall to the Relative Connect to back to my Playlist without missing anything.  It was well done.  My only suggestion would have been that when you're picking your sessions, you had to click on it to read the description.  Then when you tried to go back to where you were, it took you all the way back to the top of the list.  This was frustrating and time consuming.  I was trying to cram in as much as possible!

Unfortunately I didn't get to have any experiences.  I didn't know about the Desktop Diner get together.  The Relative Connect was neat, but I only heard from one person.  And I was too busy watching sessions to contact anyone myself.  

My favorite session... oh gosh, that is hard.  I loved so many of them.  The best presenter was Savannah Larson of the Creating YOUR Organizational System sessions (3 parts).  One of my favorite sessions was Revealing Your Mother's Ancestors and Where They Came From by Roberta Estes.  She did a wonderful, easy-to-follow presentation on mitochondrial DNA, and it put me on fire to find my adopted great-grandmother's biological mother.  Along with that, What Do I do with Cousin Matches? with Beth Taylor was equally informative.  She made me want to make a spreadsheet.  

My favorite feature of RootsTech Connect was The Playlist page.  I loved being able to see my chosen sessions in one place and not run the risk of missing any of them.

I hope they will keep a virtual part of the conference in the years to come.  For those, like me, who cannot make it to Salt Lake City, it is a lifeline to help us take part.