Alas, the end...

Hello friends!

Today was a sad day. The genealogy conference ended this evening at 5 pm. A lot of people have already left, so there are few lingering around the hotel like me. I really learned a lot at this conflab and I know I'll be busy the next months going over everything I have and trying to get more.

I woke up this morning and it was overcast and raining. The rain finally quit about 10 am, but the temp never did go up. At 12:15 it was only 57 degrees. If it made it past 60 today, we're lucky. Supposed to be in the mid-40's tonight. Talked with Mom and she said Nashville was in the mid-90's! What a difference 500 miles makes.

This morning started with Irish Emigrants to North America Before, During and After the Famine. I got a lot of notes on that one, but the biggest piece of info I got was that most Irish left Europe from Liverpool. They took a ferry across to England and left out of Liverpool.

Next was Deep Linking and Deeper Linking: How to Get the Most Out of Existing Search Applications. Stephen Morse, the guy who spear-headed the Ellis Island passenger list search, did the session. It was all technical and somewhat slight of hand! He has made some websites mad at him. What he does is take the search query on the URL Address line and change the parameters. He includes some fields which are in the data, but not searched on by the website, and searches on them. He does Middle Man searches and reformatting info through other peoples servers. Not something I want to do!

Third session was another great one! Finding Your English Ancestors: The Big Four, with the big four being Census, Church Records, Probate Records and Civil Registration. Paul Milner taught this as well as the Irish Emigrant class. He is from Cumberland County in England, but lives here now. He has had a lot of experience with English records and the people who hold them. He talked about the Canterbury Court Wills. Up until the mid 1800's, wills and probate were in church courts, not civil. Canterbury, being the chief Archdiocese of the Church of England, controlled. If a will was presented that had property in more than one diocese or foreign country, it was probated through Canterbury. AND THE INDEX IS ON-LINE!! So when I got back to the room, I pulled up the website and keyed in Maule. I found a good number, including one who I think is a direct ancestor back in 1713! The search is free but it is
£3.50 for the actual will copy. I'll have to see who else is on there!

Lunch was another one of the Hyatt's great sandwiches and fruit tray! This one had more grapes and watermelon. I did some more shopping in the Exhibit Hall and talked with a few vendors about software and trips. Yes, getting the travel bug. I think I may go back out to Salt Lake if I find enough 'wants' as a result of this conference. Also talked to a guy about a new software package that is web-based and can be shared with other users. It's called PedigreeSoft. It has all the bells and whistles, but resides on the web and you can designate who else can work on it or add to it. Sounds interesting!

The first afternoon session was the British and Ireland Forum Roundtable. We got to hear two speakers about the Irish Ordnance Survey maps and a Trinity College project. Then questions...questions...questions!

I finished out the conference with Coal Dust in Your Veins. A majority of my ancestors were coal miners. This was a great class detailing sources and references to check for information. I never knew all that was out there!

White Sox won again this afternoon. So, I see the trend developing more...win win lose win win lose...with the lose being tomorrow again when I am at the game! I hope not!

I had an ultimate feast this evening. I wanted ethnic food! After all this genealogy talk about Germany, Central Europe, Ireland, England...I wanted something ethnic! So I asked where a close German restaurant was. Did get a German response but was told Old Warsaw Inn is at the corner of Lawrence and Harlem, about 15 minutes from here. So off I went! Man was it good! I've been to others on the SouthSide, but this was just as great! It is a Polish buffet. Being Lithuanian, the foods are somewhat similar. I sampled from about half the buffet. Here is what I had:

Marinated onions
Cole slaw
Slaw with beets
Pickled herring
Cucumber slices
Košelina (Lithuanian jellied pork with vinegar)
Liver pate
Meat with egg (a cold meat loaf with hard boiled egg in the middle)
Potato dumplings
Potato pancakes
Potato pierogis
Kasha (buckwheat)
Gołumki (cabbage rolls)
Roast pork
Polish sausage
Roast beef
Baked fish
Cheese blintzes
Layered jello
Paczki (cherry filled doughnut)
Rum balls
Chocolate cake roll
Coffee.

I am stuffed like a pig! And I even passed up the chicken, turkey, ribs, ham, potato salads, many types of pastries and cakes, sauerkraut, and too many others to mention. I know I am set for the night!!

So here I sit--fat, happy, full of knowledge and Polish food! I think I'm going down to the bar to rub some elbows with whoever is left and try some local beverages. I did see a bottle of Blueberry Stoli the other night. Maybe have some of that to finish the Polish feasting.

Tomorrow, off to Oak Brook. Auf wiedersehn to the Hyatt. Getting back to the South side of town.

I'll post tomorrow after I get home from the game. It's a 7:05 pm game, so it might be on TV as ESPN usually has a Sunday Night Game.

Signing off from the Northern 'burbs! Have a great evening!

Mark