Jamboree 2015 - Meet the Speaker: George L. Findlen, PhD, CG, CGL

George Findlen is a retired academic administrator who has served as a faculty member or administrator for over thirty years. In retirement, he has re-invented himself as a genealogist, becoming certified in 2005 and re-certified in 2009 and 2014.  In 2014, he became a certified genealogical lecturer. He researches Acadian and French-Canadian families in Eastern Québec, the Canadian Maritimes, and New England.

His articles have appeared in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and journals in New England, Louisiana, New Brunswick, and Québec. A recent effort describes the results of a DNA study which documents that the two Acadian Martin immigrants are not related. The article he is proudest of is "The 1917 Code of Canon Law: A Resource for Understanding Catholic Church Registers," published in the June 2005 issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. The article is the first ever in any language to explain how Roman Catholic canon law can explain unique parish register entries. He is currently writing a history of his Acadian lineage, a venture covering eight generations and 300 years of history.

He also likes to give talks to genealogists, and has addressed groups in four Upper Midwest states as well as at the New England Regional Genealogical Conference and Le Congrès Mondial Acadian (Acadian World Reunion).

SA024 Saturday June 6, 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Finding What Can't be Found: A Case Study in Whole Family Research 
Using the records for brothers, sisters, children, nephews, and nieces can locate the indirect evidence needed to identify the parents of a woman for whom no baptism or marriage record survives.

SA052 Saturday June 6, 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Ya Gotta Use All the Resources 
Family histories, parish histories, deeds, plat maps, canon law, and a close reading of parish registers all help identify which of two official documents is the original and thus in which parish church a baptism took place.