In 1824 a young ministerial student, Charles Loring Brace, arrived in New York after studying theology at Yale. He quickly became appalled at the number of homeless youth roaming the streets, many securing their daily needs by criminal activity. He soon called a gathering that involved many rich and renowned citizens of the city. He proposed the creation of an organization to care for and educate these homeless young people.  However, the numbers were mind staggering; estimated by social workers in 1824 to be between 10,000 and 12,000. His new organization, Children’s Aid Society, did much good but it became apparent very early that CAS could not make the significant impact needed. A questionable solution was developed; send them out to the godly people of the Midwest who would provide decent homes away from the evil influences of the city. Thus, the movement which came to be known as “Orphan Trains” was born. A huge unanticipated result was the overwhelming genealogical conundrum created for hundreds of future family researchers.

 

Mel Arnold is a native of Alabama who graduated from Samford University (Birmingham) and then earned a theology degree at Southern Seminary in Louisville. He obtained graduate degrees from Indiana University and served on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin followed by an Associate Professor position at the University of Minnesota. Mel returned to Louisville in 1983 to be director of education for Humana, supervising four educational teams, each independently focused on hospital training, immediate-care center operation (MedFirst), hospital computer systems and a start-up insurance business. After Humana changed its business plan to focus solely on the insurance industry, Mel became the Director of Education and Training for Louisville Gas and Electric which grew from a county-focused utility company to number 364 on the Forbes Top 500 Business List before being purchased by an European firm. In retirement mode, he has focused on researching his family’s history and has developed a dedicated interest in writing on topics dealing with genealogy and Kentucky history.

 

Names, dates, and places are what most genealogists retrieve from a tombstone; but wait, there may be more information there. Have you ever looked at an icon or symbol that appears on a tombstone?  If so, do you know what it means?  Can it tell you something personal about the deceased?  In this workshop we will talk about some of the more common icons and symbols that you may encounter and their significance to your research. 

 

 

 Susan Olson Snyder was introduced to genealogy when she joined a family research class after moving to a new home in Virginia.  She has been researching for over 40 years.  A native of Louisville, KY, she is a member of The National Society of Colonial Dames XVII Century and an active member of LGS, having served as Quarterly Editor, Vice-President and President.

 

Bill Snyder has been focusing on genealogy for almost 40 years.  His concentrations have been mainly in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.  He also has carried out research in German and Norwegian records.  He has served as President, Treasurer and Newsletter Editor with LGS.

 

Presented by Steve Morse

 

 

Stephen Morse is the creator of the One-Step Website for which he has received both the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Outstanding Contribution Award from the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, Award of Merit from the National Genealogical Society, first-ever Excellence Award from the Association of Professional Genealogists, and two awards that he cannot pronounce from Polish genealogical societies.

 

In his other life Morse is a computer professional with a doctorate degree in electrical engineering.  He has held various research, development, and teaching positions, authored numerous technical papers, written four textbooks, and holds four patents. He is best known as the architect of the Intel 8086 (the granddaddy of today's Pentium processor), which sparked the PC revolution 40 years ago.