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The 2024 Gann Gathering was our 36th Annual Meeting of the Gann Historical Society & Library. Our theme was year is “The Joy of Family.” It was an enjoyable event which drew new Gann membership from the North Carolina area. Welcome! Planning for the 2025 Gann Gathering is now underway! Stay tuned for updates.
More about the 2024 Gann Gathering Speakers:
Jessica Conklin is an Apex, North Carolina-based genealogist. Her interest in genealogy began with a fourth-grade family tree assignment, and she now has over twenty years of experience researching family history in earnest. In 2020 she founded her business, Cherry Tree Genealogy, to provide professional genealogical research, lecturing, and coaching services. Jessica holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning, as well as a certificate in Genealogical Research from the Boston University Center for Professional Education and pulls from her experience as a former teacher to plan engaging presentations for audiences across the United States.
She spoke on “Searching for the Smiths,” a case study using autosomal DNA and traditional paper research to solve a long-standing brick wall. After a short break, she will be back at 2:30 PM with her presentation on “Are you Calling My Granddad a Liar? Family Lore and What to Do With It,” combining genealogy and pop psychology to address some common family history myths and provide strategies for teasing out the truth in your family tree.
David M. McCorkle, of Wake County, N.C., is President and founder of NC Historical Records Online (NCHRO), a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with a mission to provide public online access to images of original records and other relevant information useful to research North Carolina history and genealogy. Their main project is the free website, NC Land Grant Images and Data, which David created in 2014. This website contains searchable records of all NC land grants along with 750,000 associated images.
David is a native of North Carolina with deep roots on many lines dating back to the 1700s, primarily in the Mecklenburg County area. He is President of the Durham-Orange Genealogical Society (D-OGS) and is on the board of the NC Genealogical Society, the Mecklenburg Genealogical Society, and the Historic Mapping Congress. He has given lectures and webinars to national, state, and local audiences on topics such as land grants, court records, digitization, maps and mapping tools, land records, DNA, and land platting. He has published several articles on NC land records, along with various blog posts on that subject.
Additional Speakers
In addition to our guest speakers, we enjoyed several dedicated GHS&L members who spoke on their research findings and related topics. In particular, Joy Gann Brown made a special appearance; William R. “Bill” Gann and Gary Toms discussed “A Study in Name Patterns” on Friday morning, and presented an overview of their latest collaboration on Adam C. Gann, one of the sons of Adam Gann, Sr. and Jane Abel, on Saturday morning.
Our Vice-President, David M. Gann, followed up on his very interesting and entertaining presentation last year by taking a closer look at Frederick County, Virginia, home of Samuel and Elizabeth Gann, our earliest known ancestors. He has lots of new maps and shared many details he found during his extensive research.
AND,
We were able to present a special pre-recorded message from a very ambitious, determined, and amazing lady, Carol Fuller. She has worked with North Carolina historical and genealogical organizations for over 40 years, and in 2017, she created the Piedmont Trails website. Since then, she has introduced several projects, to include: The Great Wagon Road Project; the Colonial Indentured Servants Project; and the Yadkin Valley Railroad Project. She also maintains The Attic Files – a treasure trove of research materials! If you are not familiar with her website, I encourage you to give it a look – and if you find the Early Tennessee Settlers of the Watauga Settlement of Washington County, 1778 Census, you should recognize a few names (Hint: Adam Gann, Adam Wilhite, and others). [NOTE: You might want to re-read Joy Gann Brown’s recent article on the Great Wagon Road in the Fall Gazette!]
