The Dallas Summer Seminar will host Legal Genealogist Jury Russell.  She will be speaking on Their Day In Court: Tracing Your Ancestors Through Courthouse Records.  See the attached flyer for more details

Roger Cobb will hold a “how-to” workshop on connecting your DNA with genealogy. He starts with very short general rules for finding matches, and then works with each individual or small groups.

To attend this workshop, you must have had your DNA tested, a laptop computer and be signed up for the class. Seating is limited. If you haven't signed up, send me an email at progmgr@gpgstx.org to put your name on the list.

If you don't have a laptop to bring, you can borrow one from the GP library with Ancestry on it. If you are borrowing a computer, please bring at least one flash drive with your raw DNA copied on it. Bring your lunch.

If you need a free genealogy program, one is available to download, either on your laptop, or on a flash drive. It is called MPAFUG. If you are borrowing one the laptops and you are not an Ancestry user, this free genealogy program could be of use to you.  But, be sure to have your family tree available.

Roger Cobb's instructions and information on this program are below:

The name of the program is “Personal Ancestral File”

• MPAFUG stands for “Milwaukee Personal Ancestral File User Group”

• My wife and I are members of the group.

• To obtain the software program Google- MPAFUG .

• Do not sign in or give your name.

• On the left side at the bottom it will state “Download PAF”.

• I would download it to a Thumb Drive or your Desktop. You now have your own Genealogy Software Program.

• If you have problems with the program, I can show you at the Seminar how to use it. The best part of this is that its free, and does not have to be updated.

The Fort Worth Genealogical Society is excited to announce our August seminar speaker will be Dr. Debbie Duay, the newly elected Florida State NSDAR Vice Regent. Debbie is also president of the Florida State Genealogical Society. She has helped more than 500 people join the Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution, but her research experience goes far beyond that. Whatever your research goals and experience, this is the seminar for you.

     Details:  Check-In begins at 8:15 a.m. Program: 9:00 a.m. to 3:45 (4 presentations) Cost: FWGS Members - $50; non-members $60 Late registration: From August 1 st through 9 th , please add $10. Absolutely no registrations accepted after August 9 th . Lunch: Included. For more information: Contact: FWGS-Seminar@mail.com or 817-847-5579 (Please leave a message.)

Visit the conference page to reserve your spot for:

• Guided pre-conference research at NARA, Library of Congress, and DAR Library
• Librarians' Day at Library of Congress
• Sessions on topics like Mid-Atlantic Region, Women’s Studies, Colonial History & Settlement as well as three separate DNA tracks 
• Sponsored luncheons
• FGS Focus on Societies dinner
• "Swing Back to the 30s with Your Ancestor" event

You’ve organized your ancestors in group and pedigree charts, written their stories, cited sources, stacked photographs into piles, collected pertinent maps, scanned copies of original documents—now what are you going to do? It is time for the next step: Arranging all of this work into a publishable family history.

While this task can seem dauting, it doesn’t have to be. Learn the do’s and don’ts of page layout and design to create a professional looking book as well as one that invites the reader to keep on reading. Your ancestors—past, present and future—will thank you.

PAT GORDON was on the staff of the defunct annual Angelina College Genealogy Conference and still does occasional society seminars. She is past president of the Fort Worth Genealogical Society. She holds a B.A. in Journalism from University of Texas at Arlington and a M.S. in Media Studies from Texas Christian University.