Last week’s entry was a long one so lets get right to it today. Have you found any of those French-Canadian men and women in your tree yet? I didn’t find any of Les Filles Du Roi but thank you, Lisa (our speaker) for connecting me to France and for giving me a bit of a kick start into researching these challenging branches. Any of you have relatives from Valence, Dauphin, France in late 1600s? I have a lot of research to do!

I also checked out her YouTube channel, @HaveRootsWillTravel where there are lots of videos to watch and fascinating information. Lisa really gives us the history of the locations that the men and women came from and moved to. She explains their personal stories as she has found them through her research. She also helps to explain the role that each of the groups and/or individuals played in the history of the area.  She is a great storyteller and historian as well as genealogist. Check out these videos. 

One of my take-aways is to listen to how she tells the stories. What can I learn from them that I could apply to my own family history stories? This is an important question I believe. One of the ways we can connect with younger family members or get other members interested is through the stories that we tell. Don’t underestimate the power of your own stories as they unfold through your research. Remember, this Blog started with the message from another speaker, DearMyrtle, who said that one of the keys to being an effective Genealogist / Family Historian was to share what you have learned!

With that said, April takes us to 2 new topics: Finding our Bluegrass Roots and Indirect Evidence. Whether you have Kentucky connections or not, learning from these speakers is always eye-opening as we pick up tips from how they research regardless of the location. Indirect evidence, I’ll bet we can all learn from that one. Any brick walls in your tree that you want to break through?

Go to hqrl.com and get signed up for classes or go into the library and see what you can find and then sign up for classes or call the library. Whatever method you choose, let’s see you at the next class.

Heidi Geise, education@hqrl.com