A Great Holiday Gift

The holiday season is here. Christmas and Hanukkah are around the corner,  only two weeks away. Don't know what gift to get the genealogist in the family? How does this sound for a gift? Register your genealogist for an upcoming genealogy conference on 30 May 2020 at a discounted price. The Capital District Genealogical Society is hosting this event, Improving Your Skills: What Do You Need?, at the Desmond Hotel, Albany.

Register before 15 January and save:
CDGS members: $100
Conference & join CDGS: $115
Non-Members: $125

Register after 15 January:
CDGS members: $125
Conference & join CDGS: $140
Non-Members: $150

Lunch, morning, and afternoon breaks with refreshments are included.

The program consists of three nationally known genealogists. Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist, JD, CG, CGL, Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS, and Meryl Schumacker, CG

Each presenter will give two talks.
Judy Russell

• After the Courthouse Burns: Rekindling Family History through DNA
• Don't Forget the Ladies: A Genealogist's Guide to Women and the Law

Thomas W. Jones

• The Jones Jinx: Tracing Common Surnames
• Out-of-State Workarounds for In-State Record Shortages

Meryl Schumacker

• Make Trying New Things in Genealogy Less Scary
• Strategies for Urban Research

To register for this event click here.

For the conference schedule click here.

Hope to see you in May!

Underground Railroad Talk : 23 February 2020

The East Greenbush Community Library will host a talk on The Underground Railroad: Whose Story Do We Tell? on 23 February 2020 by Paul and Mary Liz Stewart, Scholars-in-Residence at Russell Sage College, Troy and co-founders of the Underground Railroad History Project, Albany.

The Stewart's will discuss documents that shed light on the story of the Underground Railroad from a different perspective as we were taught.

Please register for this event with the library.

East Greenbush Community Library
10 Community Way
East Greenbush, NY 12061
518.477.7476

Underground Railroad History Project
Myers Residence
194 Livingstone Avenue
Albany, NY 12210
518.432.4432

2020 Genealogy Conferences

2020 is just around the corner and so begins a new year of genealogy conferences. Below are snippets on the larger and local conferences that are coming up next year.

RootsTech 2020:
The Story of You

• 26 - 29 February 2020, Salt Lake City, UT
• Registration
• Schedule
• Click to view my free four day pass to the world's largest genealogy conference.

National Genealogical Society Family History Conference: 

Echoes of Our Ancestors

• 20 - 23 May 2020, Salt Lake City, UT
• Registration
• Schedule

Capital District Genealogical Society: 

Improving Yours Skills: What Do You Need?

• 30 May 2020, Albany, NY
• Registration
• Schedule

Palatines to America National Conference: 

Cross the Bridge to Yesterday

• 17 - 20 June 2020, Cincinnati, OH
• Registration
• Schedule

Federation of Genealogical Societies 2020 National Conference:

Blazing Trails in the Heart of America

• 02 - 05 September 2020, Kansas City, MO
• Registration TBA
• Schedule TBA

New York Genealogical & Biographical Society:

New York State Family History Conference 2020

• 10 - 12 September 2020, Albany, NY
• Registration TBA
• Schedule TBA

Eintracht Gesangverein & Stephen Behrhof

Late Friday afternoon a nice discovery was made while scanning old handwritten ledger books for the now defunct Eintracht Gesangverein. These books are the society board records and minutes for the singing society. The books are in the possession of the German-American Club of Albany. I am sure that at some point in the future the record books will be deposited at one of the local libraries for safe keeping and for use by historians. Scans of the books are presently being made as an additional back-up for these irreplaceable records.

While scanning the books I discovered a receipt that was taped to the inside pages of a ledger book. The receipt was for the grocery store of my great great granduncle Stephen Behrhof (1854-1917); younger brother of my great great grandmother Margaret G. Behrhof Koreman (1844-1908).

Over my many years of genealogical research I have found many items and tidbits pertaining to Stephen Behrhof. And this is my latest find. Below is a scan of the receipt for his grocery store located at 91 Herkimer Street.

91 Herkimer Street, Albany
photo courtesy Google Maps

Stephen Behrhof was a member and an officer in numerous Gesangvereine in Albany including Eintracht. Hence, his receipt being inside the ledger book. Is the handwriting on the reverse of the receipt Stephen's? Further research will need to be done to determine if he was ever a recording secretary for one of Albany's German Gesangvereine and then compare the handwriting and signatures in the old ledger books.

Genealogists and historians dig into many different types of archaic records and materials. Until one starts digging, you never know what you may find.