Are you related to a U.S. President or maybe a famous outlaw? Do you wonder if some of your family stories are true? Would you like to know the names of your great-grandparents and where and when they were born? Have you taken a DNA test and wondered what the next steps are to learning more about your family history? Our classmate, Martha Vestal Clarke, helped us get started on genealogical research on November 6.
Here are the reference materials from Martha's presentation. Interview tips, family tree-building software, literature, websites, and various types of records are included in these resources.
Click here to view the recording of this Virtually Verdant presentation.
Contact Martha if you need help getting started: marthaclarke3@gmail.com
Contact Laura for more information on genetic testing: laura.jensen@gmail.com
Martha Vestal Clarke is an avid amateur genealogist, who has been working on her family history since 1984. Martha lives in Washington, D.C., which has a treasure trove of genealogy repositories. Since retiring last year as an attorney and policy analyst with a federal banking agency, Martha has spent her time taking intensive courses in research methods through Boston University, genetic genealogy and Pennsylvania research through the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, and holdings of the National Archives and other federal records through the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records. Her research has focused primarily on family lines in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, England, and Sweden. Martha has been able to trace some of her lines back to the 16th and 17th centuries. Her research on her husband’s family led to the discovery of two additional grandchildren, as well as an elderly aunt!