Debbie Parker Wayne, CGSM, CGLSM, is a board-certified genealogist and genealogical lecturer experienced in using DNA analysis and traditional techniques for genealogical research. Debbie is the co-author with Blaine T. Bettinger of the award-winning DNA workbook, Genetic Genealogy in Practice, published by the National Genealogical Society (NGS). She is the author of the online, self-paced course, Continuing Genealogical Studies: Autosomal DNA, offered by NGS. She is the DNA Project Chair for the Texas State Genealogical Society and the Early Texans DNA Project. Her publications include a column on using DNA analysis for genealogical research in the NGS Magazine. She coordinates and presents workshops, seminars, and comprehensive, interactive genetic genealogy courses at genealogy institutes. See http://debbiewayne.com/ for more information and for archived versions of many of her articles.

We are very excited to announce that due to such high interest in attending this event, we have changed locations to offer more chair space. Be sure to register now so you can be assured of a seat at this informative event!  Debbie is a much sought-after DNA expert, and we are very lucky to have booked her for our Society’s Fall Seminar.

Date of Event:  28 Oct 2017
Time of Event: 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Location: Germantown Church of Christ, 8723 Poplar Pike, Germantown, TN 38138
Fees:  Member Registration – $35.00 and Non-Member Registration – $45.00

​On Saturday, May 20, 2017, Melissa Barker, the Houston County, TN Archivist, who is also a Professional Genealogist, will spend the day with members of the Tennessee Genealogical Society explaining how to navigate archives and how to best use them as part of the genealogical research process. Visitors are welcome.

In addition to her duties as County Archivist, Melissa also writes a blog, “A Genealogist in the Archives” . She is likewise a bi-weekly author for the vastly popular “Geneabloggers,” the virtual home and promoter for an enormous number of genealogy bloggers. Her column is known as “The Archive Lady.” 

​Melissa has been researching for over 26 years; imagine the huge amount of research knowledge she has to share with everyone!

Some of the topics she will cover include: “Vertical Files: What Are They and How to Use Them;” “Manuscript Collections: A Hidden Resource for Genealogists;” “Preserving Old Family Letters: Tips from an Archivist;” and “Scrapbooks: A Genealogist's Gold Mine.” Are there any of us who are family history researchers who haven’t needed more information on one or more of those subjects?

The all-day seminar, sponsored by the Tennessee Genealogical Society (TNGS), will be held at the Pickering Center, located at 7771 Poplar Pike, Germantown, TN 38138, right across the courtyard from the Tennessee Genealogical Society and the Germantown Regional History and Genealogy Center (GRHGC).

If you are a member of TNGS, the cost of the seminar is $30.00. Non-members will pay $40.00. This fee includes four separate sessions of motivating research information (including hand-outs) from a renowned county archivist, as well as a box lunch and snacks.

You can register for this workshop three different ways:

1. Come by the Genealogy Center at 7779 Poplar Pike and register in person. You can pay with cash, check, or a money order.
2. Download the registration form found on the Society’s website (www.tngs.org) and mail it in with a check or money order.
3. Register online using a credit card or PayPal by clicking here.

Registration that Saturday will begin at 8:30 a.m. Come early, get a good seat (and maybe some coffee!), and mingle with a few other like-minded researchers. The first session will begin at 9:00 a.m., and the day will wrap up by 3:00 p.m.

Be sure to be on time – you really don’t want to miss out on anything as we learn all the amazing things that can be found in county archives.

Carla Love Maitland
​ Tennessee Genealogical Society Board Advisor

​Who Do You Think You Are? Is a television show hosted by the TLC channel that traces the ancestry of those in the movies and television. I have had the privilege of working on the following segments: Vanessa Williams and Jennifer Goodwin, and most recently Smokey Robinson.

On August 10, 2015, I received an email asking if I was available to assist on a research project. Once the paperwork and confidentiality forms were filled out, I was ready to begin the research on an amazing man’s ancestry. The work the show had already compiled was sent via Dropbox. Once I familiarized myself with the family of Smokey Robinson, we set out to learn more about his family. Here are some of the resources I explored:

• Freedman Records from the Memphis Benjamin Hooks Library on microfilm
• Birth, Marriage, Divorce & Death records
• Differentiating between two Benjamin Smith’s, Smokey’s grandfather. Initially I found a white man that fit the profile, but then we found Benjamin J. Smith, Minister that was the correct ancestor. He was quite a mover and I had a time tracing him.
• Marriages and Divorces of Benjamin J. Smith
• I visited two churches:  Rock of Ages Baptist Church in Memphis where Benjamin preached and First Baptist Church in Bartlett where some of the family attended. I went and visited the churches; attended part of a service at Rock of Ages – great people and very helpful.  Reverend George Wilburn was a great resource for us.
• Researching the white Warr Family that brought slaves over to Rossville, Fayette County. Many African Americans kept the Warr surname and we had to figure who was blood related to Smokey.
• Arthur Webb special collection at the Memphis Library
• Probate for the Warr family members
• Maps and boundary changes for the county during 1850-1900s
• New Bethel Church & Cemetery
• Visits to the Tennessee Genealogical Society & Shelby County Archives
• NARA records
• City Directories
• Joy Rosser, historian for Fayette County, TN & the Fayette County Library
• Newspapers – Commercial Appeal and the Memphis Post
• FamilySearch, Ancestry, GenealogyBank, Newspapers.com, Archives, Courthouses, etc.

On one of my research visits submitted the following to the show:

1. Index to Freedmen's Bureau Marriages 1864-1865
2. Shelby County General Index Records (Deeds) 1821-1870
3. Index to Shelby County Wills (1820-1879) (1880-1900)
4. Index to Bounty & Pension Receipts for Veterans of the US Colored Troops, Memphis Freedmen's Bureau, 1867-1871
5. Index to Obits in "the Appeal" 1843-1894
6. Shelby Baptist Assn, TN 1903-1956
7. Shelby County Death Records (1848-1901) 
               Ellen Warr 5-10-1888 37 years
               Mary Warr 11-19-1886 51 years both women and black
8. Memphis Death Records 1848-1901 (same as above different book)
9. Warren County, TN Marriages 1852-1865
10. Warren County, TN Deed Book A 1808-1818
11. Warren County, TN Will Books 1-3 vol. 1
12. Warren County, TN Will Books 4-7, vol. 2
13. Warren County, TN Will Books 8011, vol. 3
14-18 Rock of Ages Church pictures – Rock of Ages also had an anniversary book that gave some history on the church and its pastors.
 
And
 
Roll 21 - Affidavits Provst Marshall of Freedmen's, 1865
Roll 23 - "   "  ", 1865-1866
Roll 33 - General Reports of the late Riots in Memphis, May 1866
Roll 37 - Affidavits to Memphis Riots, May 1866 
  
In September 2015, I was given the name of Smokey’s cousin, Lena Towner, who is also the family historian for the Warr Family. She was also in the midst of planning for the upcoming reunion. She had a wealth of knowledge on the family – pictures and stories. I could have stayed all day listening to her stories of Smokey and his family. One of the contacts we had was an elderly cousin named Bea from Detroit. She was in and out of the hospital, but I managed to talk to her a few times and it was amazing how sharp her memory was on the past. She said the family had Cherokee lines and most of the descendants came from “Old Man Warr”. (Note:  I could never really figure out if she was referring to Adam Warr the African American, or James Warr, the white slave owner). Some of the stories were too confidential to put on the show, but she helped me put a lot of the Warr family into the proper families, she and Lena knew the bloodline of Warrs to Smokey and those who had the same last name taken from when they were slaves on the Warr plantation. Most of the free slaves stayed in the Fayette and Shelby County areas to this day.
 
One of the highlights of this research project was a road trip I took with Lena Towner to Rossville, TN. I picked her up in Mississippi and we drove over to historic Rossville. We did some grave searching and with the help of two awesome men we met at a local church, we found the cemetery where the white Warr family was buried. It was in the middle of an overgrown forested area. There was no way I could have found it alone. The headstones were covered in foliage and were not in the best of condition. Pieces of the remaining old Warr house could be seen. There was an old barbed wire fence that family stories say was where the African American Warrs were buried. There was no way to prove this, so I feel this is why the show did not showcase it. It was an overgrowned area back behind where the house stood. The house was said to belong to Dr. A.V.Warr. Lena and I met the current homeowner of the home Dr. Warr lived in during the Civil War. The home has been renovated, but a lot of the features and charm were kept. The homeowners were very nice and gave us a tour of the home. Across from the home was a plaque, “The Skirmish at LaFayette Station. There were two old building there that were the fire station and old jail during the civil war.
 
In November 2015, I took a road trip to Somerville, TN to visit the library and the court house. I went through some very old books looking at marriages and land deeds. I had dinner at the Main Street Eatery, which at the time was closing and it was their last day. Upon looking today, it appears they must have reopened, which is great as their food was amazing. Joe Burns, past TN Genealogical Society President had recommended this place to me.

In June 2016, some of the producers of the show came to the Memphis area to scout out the areas they might consider airing. I met them at the Tennessee Genealogical Society and we went over the research. As I researched the Warr family, I kept thinking something was familiar. A couple years before this project I had a client who had the white Warr family that I researched. I was also currently doing a project for them, but due to the privacy clause, I could not tell them I was researching their family and its ties to the Smokey Robinson case. We found out that they owned the land where the Warr land use to be. At that point, we could discuss the project and it was ironic that I had a client that had ties to the research I was doing for the show.

It is hard to believe that research over a two-year period could be fit into an hour show. A lot of stories were not told due to the time restraints, but I learned that Smokey Robinson has a great family, especially those from the Warr side. Their ancestors struggle brought forth descendants of a strong close knit family, that gather together for reunions and have a deep sense of family unity. I am honored to have been a small part of it with other researchers.
For a full biography on Smokey Robinson, visit his website - http://www.smokeyrobinson.com/bio/

By Tina Sansone, Professional Genealogist
Social Media for TN Genealogical Society
http://www.pastpresentpathways.com

 

​On Saturday, April 29, 2017 from 10-12 noon, the Tennessee Genealogical Society will have its quarterly  business meeting. At these meetings the Board informs the membership of any news, financial matters and upcoming events. At this meeting the year's 2017 goals will be discussed and input can be given. 

After the initial meeting, a special presentation will be given by George C. Browder. He will present a program on his latest book,  "Reversal of Fortune: Germantown, Tennessee in the Civil War Era".  Dr. Browder is a long-time Memphian, who graduated from Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) in 1961. While there, he received a commission in the Air Force.  After serving in the Air Force from 1961-64, he attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and received an MS and a PhD in Modern European History.  He was a Professor at State University of New York in Fredonia from 1968-2000.  He is the author of two books and numerous articles, essays and encyclopedia entries dealing mostly with police and security agencies of Weimar and Nazi Germany. He has also authored educational materials for Western Civilization and European history courses.

The meeting is open to the public and membership is encouraged to attend. The Tennessee Genealogical Society is located at 7779 Poplar Pike in Germantown, TN. Refreshments will be served. Hope to see you there!

October is the month celebrated nationally as Family History Month. If you are not already completely immersed in researching your own family history, this would be a good month to begin. If you’re already underway with your research, no matter how far along or at what level, there are numerous ways to learn even more about your ancestry as you “celebrate” during the month.

First, and foremost, you can take advantage of the three exciting workshops planned during October at the Tennessee Genealogical Society (TNGS) Center, located at 7779 Poplar Pike, Germantown, TN 38138.

• Saturday, October 8, 2016. TNGS will have its Quarterly Business Meeting at 10:00 a.m.  After the brief meeting, author and librarian, Linda Reaves, will present and discuss her book Threads to Which I Belong.
• Saturday, October 16, 2016. TNGS Vice President, John Ware, will give an in-depth presentation on using Census Records.
• Saturday, October 22, 2016. TNGS Technical Advisors, Debbie Atchley and PZ Horton, will lead the popular, monthly Let’s Discuss It workshop that concentrates on the use of technology and various websites in genealogical research.

In addition to attending at least one or all of these events, you can also make use of the TNGS website for your research by visiting and studying each of the links located on the left-hand side of the main TNGS website (http://www.tngs.org ). Following those links will lead you to all of the technology websites given at every Let’s Discuss It meeting since they began in 2009. You can also discover the various social media sites where TNGS is represented and even uncover the special offerings in the Members Only link –if you are a member. There are so many opportunities for you as you search the TNGS website, attend the workshops, and make full use of your membership.

You may notice as you search the website that TNGS and the Germantown Regional History and Genealogy Center (GRHGC) are both run and maintained completely by volunteers. This is another thing that you might consider – volunteering whenever you can! Volunteers are constantly needed as helpers in the library. And you can always help out at workshops and seminars, and “manning” the booths that TNGS regularly has at various festivals and fairs. You can even assist with binding the books that the Society sells, as well as packaging them and getting them in the mail. Naturally, there is often help needed with research that is regularly requested. If you have a bit of spare time, even if it’s only once a month or so, contact the Society and let them know how you’d like to help. Just send an email to tngs@tngs.org.

There are so many other ways to “celebrate” Family History Month. Here are just a few ideas that you can begin or try to finish this month:
​

• Start planning a family reunion. If your family is an extended one that includes members who live far away, plan it for next October!
• Involve your children (even the grown-up ones) in research projects so that they can also “catch the research bug.” (You may have to get very creative in some cases!)
• Take a trip to a cemetery where your ancestors are buried and take photos of their tombstones or grave markers. Post those on sites like Find-A-Grave (www.findagrave.com), which is just one of many sites that are available to share those photos.
• Make sure that your family history software program is up-to-date and always remember to back up your work on the first of every month. If you don’t have a software program, this would be a good time to compare programs and purchase the one that best fits your needs.
• Plan a visit to a local or state archive. Be sure to have a good idea of what you want to research before you go. It’s also best to contact the archive ahead of time to ensure yourself of the times they are open and also to find out what rules they have as to what you can take into the archives itself.
• Organize your research, whether it’s the digital work or the paperwork. Take a little time during the month to make sure that you have everything in order. (Those piles of paper on the floor or on various tables need to go!)
• Sort out your photos and either digitize them or make sure that they are secure in acid-free protective sleeves or boxes.
• Consider joining a society (in addition to TNGS) from one or more of the states where your ancestors lived. Many state societies have numerous special research links that you might not have access to if you’re not a member. Some also offer special webinars.
• View a genealogy webinar or find some of the many “how to” videos that appear on YouTube or on some of the ancestry sites, like FamilySearch.org. If you’re a member of Ancestry, be sure to check out their video library.
• Consider joining a lineage society, or if you’re already a member of one (or more) begin plans for a supplemental line.
• Think about sharing your research by starting a blog, beginning a family history book, or creating an online family tree. Scrapbooking is another way of sharing.
• Sign up for various genealogical newsletters. You may already receive a few, but there are so many specialized ones out there. Do a Google search to find the ones that might interest you.
• Use social media to find groups that focus on your surname or a state that you’re researching. Facebook is a treasure trove for researchers!
• Plan a research visit to the GRHGC. Remember that besides having a multitude of genealogy and family history books, the library also offers free access to Ancestry, Heritage Quest, the New England Historic Genealogical Society (where you can access files that are generally only available to members), and other special online sites.
• Order a DNA kit and find out who you really are!

As you can see, the list of ways to “celebrate” this month is long. Let us know some other ideas you might have, and also update us if and when you and your family accomplish any of these ideas designed to make this month special.

Most important of all – have fun!

Carla Love Maitland
​