The first FGS 2012 Birmingham registrant is . . .

It's Kay Haden from St. Johns, Florida. I asked her to tell us something about herself. This lady has energy and obviously believes in continuing genealogical education.

I found out FGS registration was open from Thomas MacEntee at GeneaBloggers on BlogTalk Radio and went straight to the FGS website when the program was over.  He joked about someone being first!  Who knew that would be me?  But, hey, I already had my hotel room....

This will be my second FGS Conference. I attended the Conference in Knoxville, in 2010, as my very first national Conference.  I had been on a RootsMagic Cruise and the Genealogy Guys, George Morgan & Drew Smith, had recommended the Conference to me so I could work on a brick wall ancestor who was probably born in Tennessee.  Sadly, I didn't break through the wall, but had a great time at the Conference!  Last year I chose the NGS Conference because of location - Charleston was within driving distance and between me and Williamsburg and at the time I was going to attend a grandson's graduation from William and Mary, so could schedule both.  I'm a relatively new conference attendee.  I will be at RootsTech - I'm going a few days early to get in some library time.  I won the Registration fee by answering a quiz on Amy Coffin's "We Tree" blog!

I lived in Wetumpka, just outside Montgomery, Alabama, two different times - the last time from 1990 to 2004.  I have attended IGHR at Samford University in Birmingham seven times.  I attribute my researching success to all that I learned there.  Yes!  I am a survivor of Elizabeth Shown Mills class in advanced methodology!  I am not a certified genealogist, but a very conscientious researcher, and always ready to learn something new.  Since moving to Florida, just south of Jacksonville, I've only been able to go back to IGHR one time.  So I feel like I'm going home to attend the FGS Conference in Birmingham!  I have scheduled extra time for the libraries - both Birmingham Public and the library at Samford.  Will be wonderful to see Liz Wells again, she is always so much help to the IGHR attendees.

For the past twenty years, I have researched my genealogy and family history - there are adoptions in my line so simple genealogy isn't enough, I have the compulsion to find the adoptive family stories as well.  I research my families and my husband's families.  He is deceased but was a silent supporter to the time and money I've spent and he has a great family tree, although he did suffer from the glazed-eye syndrome when I told him what I was finding.  I identified all 16 of both our great, great grandparents prior to hitting some of those stout brick walls.  Before I really began to research, I was the family keeper of the stuff.

The catalyst for sending me down this addictive path, was cleaning out my in-laws home after they had died.  They had lived in the house over 40 years - everything came in, nothing went out.  They had cleaned out my father-in-law's parents' home and just brought much of that in as well.  I found a massive old cedar chest full of letters, pictures, baby dresses.  I already had a book [no sources of course] on my mother's family, done by a cousin - but I had always wondered if the book was really correct - how did she know these facts?  Suddenly I had a mission.

I don't do Ellis Island research.  All the families I've identified so far were already here on this side of the pond before 1750.  Both my husband's families and some of my mine began on the coast of Virginia, his in 1612 - we were in fact 8th cousins.  We both have the expected British Isles connections and both have German heritage. Our families lived in the same counties in Virginia-Kentucky-Missouri before his went to Texas and mine to Arkansas.  There was an earlier marriage between our collateral families in Missouri about 1870 or so.  We met in grade school and married when I was 19, he was 20 - and, yes, there's a marriage permission from his parents for a future genealogist to find!

I also have a lot of New England heritage, mostly out of Providence as early as the 1650's.  I do have a list of those declared freemen in one Connecticut town and four of my "grandfathers" are on that one list.  I have had the privilege of researching in the library at NEHGS - what a marvelous experience.

My life is not all about genealogy.  I have three married children, eight grandchildren between the ages of 11 and 24 - they are my special joy.   I even have other interests - I've sung in church choirs since I was 14 and in a Sweet Adelines chorus for the past 22 years.  I read everything including bread wrappers and lotion bottle labels.  I love to travel, which works out well as a Conference attendee!

I have a website of much of my research [notes and sources included] that I've maintained for about 15 years now, and a blog that I post to now and then.  I belong to NSDAR where I've added several supplements to my original patriot and am working on others, just searching for that proof between generations.  I have belonged to U.S. Daughters of the War of 1812, but my membership has lapsed - I could never get to the meetings.  I am currently preparing an application to the Daughters of Founders and Patriots - just recently found out I was eligible through my mother.   I have a "gateway ancestor" that takes me across the pond, if I ever decide to pursue that research avenue.  I belong to now, or have belonged to, several county societies where my ancestors were clumped, and to NEHGS and NGS.

Editor's Note: Thomas MacEntee, George Morgan, and Drew Smith are all members of the FGS Board of Directors.

Follow Kay and her genealogy quests at:
Website: Leaves of the Tree http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~katy/
Blog: http://moreleaves.blogspot.com/