7-8 AUGUST 2026

UMGI students are encouraged, but not required, to bring laptops or other devices to explore online resources. Students can access FamilySearch, Ancestry, and other online resources through the Minnesota Genealogy Center’s internet service.

Strategies for 19 th -Century Research -- Fonkert

With modern vital records, immigration and naturalization records, draft records, and more, researchers usually have no trouble working back the early 1900s. Moving back another century is more challenging. Genealogists must learn to find and access land records, wills and probate records, military pension records, bounty land records, archival records and more. Because sources providing direct evidence harder to find, researchers are more dependent on creative correlation of indirect evidence.

Where They Once Stood: Finding Place of Origin -- Gomoll

Researchers often know little more than the country from which their ancestor emigrated. American records that can answer the question, “But, exactly where were they from?” Finding an ancestor's specific place of origin in the old country can open doors to foreign records that can add generations to your family tree and bring family heritage to light. You may even be able to stand where they once stood.

Exercise: Immigrant Name Change -- Gomoll

An immigrant might change his or her name for several reasons – to be more American, to make a name easier to pronounce or spell, or because there are too many of the same name. Students will be given an example of an immigrant name change with the challenge to find why and when that change occurred.

Property: Marriage, Land, and Estates – Fonkert

Not everyone owned property, but if they did, land and tax records and wills and probate records give clues to family relationships and migrations, as well as insights into a family’s financial standing. Learn how to find, access, and use these records to bring your family to life.

Uncovering Urban Lives: Records, Data Correlations, and Family Networks to Track Ancestors in the City – Fontana

Bring together varied genealogical sources to track people living in cities. Census records, city directories, vital records, church records, deeds, newspapers, maps, and other resources illuminate our ancestors’ lives. Our ancestors’ FAN Club—family, associates, and neighbors—coupled with data correlation helps differentiate same-name people and reconstruct families.

Exercise: Mapping the Meyers Family in Chicago in the 1860s and 1870s -- Fontana

Brothers, Phillip L. Meyers and Charles L. Meyers came to Chicago, Illinois in the late 1860s. Students will use resources learned about in the Uncovering Urban Lives lecture to discover when they arrived in Chicago, map their locations, and determine if the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 affected the family. The exercise might produce clues about where the Meyers brothers came from.

Meyer’s Brothers Mystery: Using FAN Network to Rediscover Family -- Fontana

FAN Club research explores a research subject’s family, associates, and neighbors to solve research problems. Who were Phillip and Charles Meyers’s parents. Where did the family come from before arriving in Chicago? Their FAN Club serves up clues that find the family’s origins in New York City and Germany.

West by Wheel and Water – How 19 th -Century Immigrants Transversed the U.S. -- Gomoll

We often know more about when they came and where they came from and less about how they traveled. An immigrant’s journey can be thought of as a series of “froms.” From their place of origin to their port of departure, from there to their port of arrival, and from their port of arrival to their destination/s in North America. Why did they leave their original home when they did? What modes of travel did they use for each phase of their journey?

Exercise: Sleuthing Out a Midwest Migration Story – Fonkert

Who? Asahel Tidball? From where? Instructor and students will brainstorm a strategy for discovering the migration story of Asahel Tidball of Le Sueur County, Minnesota. migration story. There will be a little time for students to see what they can find.

Who Hid the Body? Finding Place of Burial – Gomoll

Why is it important to find a person’s place of burial? Because it’s the end – the final event in a life and an essential part of that person’s story. The burial place may offer insight to a person’s life or unexpected information, but it’s not always easy to find. Learn how to track down an ancestor who seems to have vanished after death.

Logic Matters: Solving Problems without Direct Evidence – Fonkert

Sometimes no record gives direct evidence to merge identities or establish a relationship. Logic to the rescue! Deductive logic is powerful, but inductive logic can be convincing. Meet the White Queen from Alice in Wonderland.

Capstone Discussion: What have we learned? How can we apply it? – Faculty and students

A chance for students and instructors to talk about what they’ve learned and what they’re still curious about before hitting the road.