Skip to main content
HomeEvent CalendarThe Legal Lives of Our Ancestors, Session 1

Event Calendar - Event View

This is the "Event Detail" view, showing all available information for this event. If the event has passed, click the "Event Report" icon to read a report and view photos that were uploaded.
The Legal Lives of Our Ancestors, Session 1

Date and Time

Saturday, January 18, 2025, 10:00 AM until 12:00 PM

Location

Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire Rescue Hall
2148 Gallows Rd, Dunn Loring
Dunn Loring, VA 22027  22027
USA

Event Contact(s)

Nathan Shepherd
vpprograms@fxgs.org

Category

Member Meeting

Registration Info

Registration is not Required

About this event


Description: The Legal Lives of Our Ancestors will explore the laws, customs, and legal processes that impacted the ordinary person in American history and left behind invaluable records for genealogical research.  Understanding the legal processes and customs that surrounded births, marriages, divorce, the status of women, ownership of land, disputes between private parties, and death is essential in fully understanding the documents that were created, and extracting every scintilla of information that is contained in those documents.


Session 1:  Explore records of births, the laws and customs surrounding marriage & divorce, and death and probate practices, from the colonial era to the 20th century.


Session 2: Explore orphans’ court records, bastardy bonds, legal disputes, land and property transactions, and the laws and records of inheritance, from the colonial era to the 20th century.




Janet Hall Werner, J.D., is a professional genealogist, family historian, attorney and writer. She is a graduate of several courses at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) and the Salt Lake Institute for Genealogy (SLIG), and has over 20 years of experience in genealogical research. She serves on the Board of the Fairfax Genealogical Society (FxGS) and the Virginia Genealogical Society, and is the coordinator of the FxGS Genetic Genealogy & Artificial Intelligence Special Interest Group (SIG), where she makes presentations routinely.


Janet is an expert in DNA analysis, and has developed cutting-edge ways to solve research problems using DNA, and she is now incorporating artificial intelligence into her work. She is also an expert in traditional genealogy, where she specializes in breaking through brick walls with both DNA and traditional genealogical research, in finding the stories that are hidden in the records, and in putting a family’s history into the larger historical context. 


Prior to becoming a professional genealogist in 2016, Janet had a 25-year career in government relations on Capitol Hill. She holds a law degree from the University of Virginia, and a B.A., Poli. Sci., cum laude, from SUNY Fredonia.  She is “on the clock” for certification from the Board for Certification of Genealogists.




Fairfax Genealogical Society

P.O. Box 2290

Merrifield, Virginia 22116-2290