RootsTech 2024

 RootsTech 2024

You can choose how to attend - In Person or Online.  If you are not able to attend in-person in Salt Lake City, RootsTech is still being offered as a full virtual conference experience.  

I have been attending RootsTech since it's inception.  After 30+ years of working on my family history, I still learn something new and helpful every time I attend RootsTech.  There are over 200 classes taught by industry experts.  The list of presenters teaching classes includes top family history experts from around the world covering topics related to genealogy and DNA.  

The in-person experience is fun😃 and informative🧐.  I love the connections to other attendees and to industry experts.  The large Expo Hall is my favorite place to visit during RootsTech, with all of my favorite genealogy vendors: Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, FamilyTreeDNA, GEDmatch, AmericanAncestors, and many more.   

Keynote speakers are always inspiring.  This year is no exception with Kristin Chenoweth, Lynne M Jackson, Henry Cho, Nancy Borowick, Katie James, and more.

In Person registration is $109 and Online registration is FREE. 
Click Here to Register In-Person 
Click Here to Register Online

RootsTech 2024  

Relatives at RootsTech 2024

A few days ago, I received an email from FamilySearch.  According to the email, FamilySearch had found 66,245 cousins through Relatives at RootsTech 2024.  That's ten times more people than the population of the city I live in😲  I thought my 51 first cousins that I personally know were a lot, but 66,245 cousins might be a bit much.  I'd hate to plan the next reunion for that many cousins!!

Email from FamilySearch

When I clicked on the above "See Cousins" link in the email, I was taken to the FamilySearch webpage that stated 15,476 of my relatives had joined Relatives at RootsTech.  Although a much smaller amount, still way too many cousins to plan a reunion for.😞

After clicking on the "View Relatives" button above, I was taken to the RootsTech Relatives webpage. 

I can view my closest 300 (of 15,476 so far) relatives by Location, Ancestor, or Family Line.  By clicking on By Ancestor, a drop down list of all ancestors with matches can be found.  By clicking on the name of the ancestor, I can see the matches to that ancestor and their relationship to me.😊
  

The tab for searching By Family Line has a drop down menu listing parents and grandparents, and how many matches are related to each of those line.  My German paternal grandfather has has only 134 matches on his lines, whereas my paternal grandmother, with roots going back to Colonial America, has 10,120 matches on her lines.  Last year, I was able to open up a whole branch on my German lines with the help of Relatives at RootsTech.  

Relatives at RootsTech 2024 will only be available until March 31, 2024, then will be turned off until the next RootsTech.  Don't miss out on the cousin connections you could make.

Information about Relatives at RootsTech:

Relatives at RootTech 2024

RootsTech2024 

Valentine Cards

 Valentine Cards

According to Wikipedia, Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day,  is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a martyr named Valentine, and through later folk traditions it has also become a significant cultural, religious and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.

Valentine's Day customs—sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"), offering confectionery (mainly chocolates), and presenting flowers—developed in early modern England and spread throughout the English-speaking world in the 19th century, and have continued to the present day. 

Valentine cards can be made by hand or purchased commercially.  In recent years, e-cards have become  popular.  I much prefer the traditional Valentine cards and have tried to keep the cards given to me from though-out my life.  Chocolates don't last long because they get eaten, although I do have an ornate heart-shaped chocolate box 💝 from 1972.  And flowers wilt, but I do have roses I dried and saved from past years.  

Cards are my one of my favorite parts of Valentine's Day, mainly because they are easy to keep and so fun to look at years later.  Below is a collection of some cards given to me by my husband from our 50+ years of marriage.

Collection of cards given
to me by my husband

Instead of a traditional Valentine card, this year I received a pile of
puzzle pieces in a purple envelope?!?

After putting the pieces of the puzzle together, a message from my husband was found💕 

💟💟💟💟💟💟

Below are some favorite Valentines from past years.

Which is your favorite?

 Card from 1972

Cute Valentine from the 1950's

1934 fold-out Valentine
From family card collection

1910's vintage Valentine Cards
From family card collection

Love Stories

 Our Family Love Stories
💕💕💕💕💕💕

When I think of family love stories, the first ancestral couple that comes to mind are my maternal grandparents, Jess and Mabel Baldwin.  But, as I have researched my family lines, I feel that most of my direct line grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. had marriages based on love and friendship.

Jess Baldwin and Mabel Leffel

Jesse Baldwin and Mabel Leffel were married on Christmas Day 1917 in Mountain Park, Oklahoma. They stayed married until Jess passed away in 1972 - almost 55 years.  Grandpa Jess said it was love at first sight on his part.  He first saw grandma standing next to a field with her cousin Della.  The sun was shining on her hair and he thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.  

Jess and Mabel loved each other and loved their family.  They were the parents of fourteen (14) children and grandparents of 46 (50 including step-grandchildren) and great-grandparents of about 89. 

Jess, Mabel, and children 1967
50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration
Montrose, Colorado

Charles Wilson and Pearl Hatfield

Charles B. Wilson and Pearl Hatfield met at dance in Estell, Oklahoma in 1902.  Pearl was sixteen years old and Charles B. was twenty-six years old - ten years older.  On December 4, 1902, the local newspaper (Renfrew's Record of Alva, Oklahoma) reported that their marriage license had been issued.  They married on Dec 14th, 1902 at the home of Pearl's parents, Martin and Nancy Hatfield.

Marriage License Issued

Wedding Day 
B & Pearl sitting in buggy

Charles B. and Pearl Wilson were married for 49 years, until B's death on December 16, 1951.  They were the parents of eight children, six living to adulthood while the two youngest children died young.  During the first ten years of their married life, the Wilsons traveled in a covered wagon around Oklahoma, Arkansas, and New Mexico.  In 1915, they finally settled down near the Utah/Colorado border; first near Monticello, Utah, then near Dove Creek, Colorado.  Eventually they moved to Cortez, Colorado the last few years of Charles' life.

In 1936, Pearl traveled from Colorado to her sister's home in Wyoming to visit her mother who was gravely ill.  After Pearl had been gone from home for a several weeks, daughter Maymie who lived near her father Charles, wrote the following in a letter to her sister in Oklahoma.  

1936 Maymie's Letter Excerpt
 "Dad's Lonesome for Mother"

"Mother is still in Wyoming.  Guess she will stay another week.  Grandma is still awful bad.  Mother will come back on the train or bus. 

Dad sure gets lonesome for Mother.  We can't hardly keep him here.  Dad sold his old jersey cow and I & him made out an order for Mother a new dress, hose, slippers, purse, gloves, and hat - it is all Navy Blue but the shoes... 

My we sure miss mother.  But look for her next week."  

I was touched that Great-grandpa Charles loved and missed his wife so much that he sold his jersey cow in order to buy her a gift.  With the help of his daughter Maymie, Charles ordered a gift of new clothes so that Pearl's homecoming would be special.  Kind of reminds me of the story by O. Henry -- The Gift of the Magi.

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

More love stories from the family will be added in the future.

Baldwin Posts:

Mabel & Jess Baldwin Family

Baldwin Family Christmas

Married On Christmas Day 

Mable and Jesse Baldwin 

Wilson Posts:  

Cupid's Court 

Wilson Bible Record
Buggy Ride
Wilson's Grocery
Wilson Family Photos