Patti Gillespie

After 40 years, Patti formed Family Lines & Stories, her own research company, 9 years ago. She stays busy researching for clients and speaking to groups, small and large, in and out of Texas. In 2024 she was invited to present at RootsTech in SLC, Utah Genealogical Association Virtual conference, virtually in Ohio, and over 20 times in Texas. She watches genealogy webinars and South Korean and Chinese television shows when not attending to her husband, children, grandchildren, landscaping, and rescue dog. 

• Forgotten Treasures in the Courthouse:  Discovering the Miscellaneous Records: Friday 11:30am
• Birth to Death and In-Between: Finding, Using, and Integrating Religious Records in the United States: Friday 2pm
• The Hidden Gems Inside Privately Published Family Histories: Saturday 12:45pm
• Find A Grave: Friend, Foe, or Both?: Saturday 3:15pm

Forgotten Treasures in the Courthouse:  Discovering the Miscellaneous Records - Patti Gillespie Maybe repeat Are you looking for context and documentation?  Do you have an ancestor that seems to have slipped between the cracks? Then these gems hidden away in our county courthouses may hold an answer for you. This presentation features 2 touching stories, and also abundant examples of useful assorted documents found within Miscellaneous records. 

Birth to Death and In-Between: Finding, Using, and Integrating Religious Records in the United States - Patti Gillespie So much information and so little time! Religious records are another document group that sometimes seems complicated to search out and access. This presentation includes an overview with specific examples of why we want to look for religious records, what sorts of records might be found, who might be included in them, and where to look on-line and off-line for these documents. This presentation hopes to simplify the religious records search experience.  

 The Hidden Gems Inside Privately Published Family Histories - Patti Gillespie Unpublished and privately published family histories--like county histories--are unfortunately often ignored by genealogists. However, the clues contained in undocumented family histories may provide a great jumping off platform for finding documented proof. This presentation emphasizes and demonstrates how valuable hidden gems are often discovered buried inside these types of family histories. 

Find A Grave: Friend, Foe, or Both? - Patti Gillespie Cemetery research will never be the same because of the wealth of information on Find A Grave. The benefits and rewards of this information, however, may not outweigh the drawbacks and pitfalls found there. This presentation will evaluate the information for accuracy found on Find A Grave  while telling stories concerning the spotlighted individuals.