RootsTech 2018

This was my third year at RootsTech, the huge family history conference held in Salt Lake City each February.  2018 was the biggest and best--four days of non-stop lectures and presentations, with 17,210 registrants for the nondenominational portion of the conference and 26,000 attendees for LDS "Discovery Day."  Among the hundreds of choices of classes, I focused on three areas that particularly interest me--use of DNA in genealogy research; the records of Ireland and Scotland; and the genealogy search engines I use most often (Family Search, Ancestry, FindMyPast, and Newspapers.com).  My family history goals this year are to write the biography of my Grandfather Hyrum Calder, to trace my Hamilton ancestors from the English plantations in Ireland back to their Scottish roots, and to continue providing new family names for LDS temple work.

I love everything about RootsTech, including its styish logo and the late winter lift it gives me to attend.  I look forward to this event all year.

Each morning, RootsTech hosted a general session before the individual classes began.  I especially enjoyed the presentation of Henry Louis Gates, a Harvard professor of African-American studies and the host of a "trace your roots" TV show.

Dr. Gates told about searching for his own family history.  The earliest Gates in America was Aunt Jane Gates, who was born in slavery and whose 1888 obituary listed her as "an estimable colored woman" who owned land and was a nurse.  Dr. Gates' grandfather, Edward Gates, was described by family members as "light and bright and damned near white."  Although Dr. Gates is dark, his DNA shows that he is 50% European.  Through DNA testing, Dr. Gates is searching for the white ancestors who fathered Jane Gates' children.

Another guest was Natalia Lafourcade, a Mexican pop/rock singer who recorded "Remember Me" for the Disney film, "Coco."  There was a long-standing rumor in her family that they had French pirate ancestry.  RootsTech traced Natalia's ancestry back to a French sailor in Marseille who emigrated to South America, but RootsTech couldn't verify whether he was a pirate!

One of the delights of RootsTech is the display hall, where nearly 100 family history vendors sponsor displays.  I have had my DNA tested through Ancestry, but I bought tests to also have it tested through two aggressive start-ups--Living DNA and My Heritage.  They provide features that Ancestry does not.

And certainly not least, I enjoyed my schedule of classes, including this one by Brian Donovan, the founder of FindMyPast.  FindMyPast has the most extensive records, of all the search engines, for England, Scotland, and Ireland.  I will definitely be back to RootsTech next year!