CLEVELAND — Learning of early Rowan County immigrants and tips for success in researching one’s ancestors were part of the second annual genealogy conference.

The conference, entitled, “Overcoming Obstacles: Insights to Genealogical Success,” was held in the auditorium at the Rowan Public Library West Branch in Cleveland with more than 20 people in attendance. Dr. Gary Freeze and Rhonda Roederer served as the presenters for the Nov. 16 event.

RPL History Room Supervisor Gretchen Witt said that in addition to the library, the genealogical society was co-hosting this second annual conference and it is anticipated they will have another next year.

She and Paul Birkhead, reference librarian, were there providing assistance and answering questions to those in attendance.

As noted on the program, Freeze is a retired history professor from Catawba College. A widely recognized historian of the North Carolina Piedmont and early North Carolina history, he is the author of a North Carolina history textbook, Freeze is currently part of a project to write a new history of Rowan County.

He spoke during the first session, which began at 9:30 a.m., covering the topic of the early immigrants and who first came to the county and why, analyzing backgrounds, motives and actions of these early settlers.

He said that there were two principal groups that came to the area and these included the Scotch-Irish and the Germans. He also shared three reasons as to why those who came did so, and these reasons were soil, weak government and religion.

Maps of the county were shared with the participants showing the areas where the various groups settled as he pointed out that the groups came wanting their own communities.

Roederer’s biography, as noted on the program, tells of her passion for family history and how she turned that passion into a profession. She is the founder of Heritage With Heart and has presented seminars and workshops for numerous historical societies, conferences, libraries and at the world’s largest genealogical conference, RootsTech. To learn more, go to www.heritagewithheart.com. 

She shared with the group some keys to successful research with the first being curiosity, telling that the curiosity quotient must be high.

“You never know how important family history is until there is no one around to ask,” Roederer said.

Secondly, she said, you must be creative to make that ancestor come to life, and third is persistence, which will pay off.

“Not just persistence,” Roederer said, “but persistence to success.”

Having a goal, she told them to not get distracted but to keep on track.

Her first session concluded with tips to keep that momentum, which included listing goals and formulating questions, breaking the project down into manageable pieces, categorizing projects, setting deadlines and rewarding yourself.

Roederer presented additional sessions throughout the afternoon involving discovering unconventional research tools to uncover those hidden stories, one session was entitled “Dare to Air Your Ancestor’s Dirty Laundry: 5 Positive Outcomes,” and she concluded with the power of DNA testing.

Sue Bivens, one of the conference attendees, said she wasn’t originally from Rowan County but her husband is, but that she has been interested in ancestry.

Bivens said she had “never spent much time researching my personal family tree, but I want to get started and then I thought this could be a great way to get me going.”