Hallway at the Philadelphia Convention Center. Every other attendee was pulling a container full of their genealogy gear. Genealogy is not a light hobby!Last fall my mom came out to Philly and she and I attended a 3-day genealogy conference at the Philadelphia Conference Center downtown. She stayed at our home and we took the train in every day. That was so fun! Neither one of us had ever gone to a real genealogy conference, so it was all new. It seemed that all the heavy-hitters in the genealogy world were there. Don't worry - I wasn't TOO star-struck. I didn't even try for any autographs!
We tried to go to as many sessions about German heritage as possible. I've never really thought of myself as part-German, but we really do have a branch of the family that is German - the Hildebrand name. My mom told me sometime last year that she wished I lived near where we had ancestors so she could come visit and do genealogy at the same time. I pulled up the place list for our genealogy and found out that we do have family history in New Jersey and even here around Philadelphia! That was pretty exciting.
This gentleman taught the first session we went to. It was pretty fascinating to hear the basics about German immigrants. Our ancestors came in the first wave of German immigrants to the US during the 1700's. Almost all Germans coming into the country at that time came through... *trumpet call* Philadelphia! And all of the men over a certain age had to register at City Hall. So from what we heard, these names should be ripe for the picking. We also had it confirmed that German names were translated sometimes to the way they were pronounced, and sometimes to the way they were in German. In other words, Hildebrand, Hildebrant, and Hildebrandt would likely all be from the same family, with only the spelling differing.
It was such a special experience to be with my mom at this conference. We were able to share ideas and thoughts and inspirations, as well as to keep each other company and split up to cover more sessions. This was our first time at a national conference, and we really enjoyed it. What a blessing that FGS came to Philly this year, making the expense actually doable.
The Philadelphia Conference Center is right across the street from Reading Terminal Market. We ate lunch there every day, trying something new each time. It was fun to see all the genealogists there with their ancestry.com-beribboned nametags. We shared tables with interesting people from all over the country. Spending these lunchtimes with just my mom and me in a fun spot was so special. I'm really lucky to have such a wonderful, inspired, mother - especially one that shares so many interests with me. Can't wait for the next time, Mom! Love you :)
