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Georgia Family History Expo Day 1 Recap

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Old Morris Cemetery
Half of the 2-day Georgia Family History Expo has come and gone. For those of you who couldn't make it this time around, here's a recap of my day 1. Even though the opening session was not set to begin until early afternoon, I was out and about before 9 am. Every year thus far, I have stayed in a different city in order to be closer to different cemeteries. This time around, Alpharetta was the chosen locale. I had already planned to visit Resthaven off of Main Street in downtown, but I received a pleasant surprise which added an addition to my schedule. Turns out, my hotel is right across the street from a small family cemetery.

View of my Hampton Inn & Suites from entrance to Old Morris Cemetery.

So I was able to visit two cemeteries before the expo even officially began. More than 160 photos later, it was time to head to Duluth for the opening session given by Robert S. Davis. If you've read my blogs before today, you might know of my affinity for this man. He did not disappoint today. Even with lighting and microphone difficulties, he educated and entertained. Did you know no other state suffered more in the American Revolution than Georgia? Did you know Georgia has more than 100 records repositories? Did you know Georgia allowed divorces dating back to the late 1700s? ...See what I mean? If you have Georgia ancestors, do yourself a favor and get Mr. Davis' latest edition of Georgia Research. It's available through the Georgia Genealogical Society.

After the opening session, I stopped by and met fellow bloggers Valerie Craft, Linda McCauley, and Tonia Kendrick. It was so nice to finally see and speak with these nice ladies in "real life!"

Then it was on to more classes. I learned about the holdings of the National Archives at Atlanta -- they have over 180,000 cubic feet of records! -- from Cathy Miller. I learned about mobile devices and genealogy from Monica Hopkins. I learned about "non-genealogy" genealogy tools from Tonia Kendrick (she promised a blog post about spreadsheets so stay tuned), and I learned more about federal sources for birth information before 1850 from (the man) Robert S. Davis.

What a great day. And there's more tomorrow! Stay tuned for more Georgia history with Mr. Davis (we're going back to the colonial days) and my most anticipated class with Dr. D. L. Henderson -- A Tale of Two Cemeteries.
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