November Program
Speaker: Jane Bardal
Use of genealogical resources in Colorado’s Mrs. Captain Ellen Jack: Mining Queen of the Rockies
Location
Zoom only
Register for Zoom only below
SCHEDULE
9:30-10:00 AM – Sharing and socializing – open mic
10:00 AM-Welcome and brief announcements followed by the speaker
Program Description
Use of genealogical resources in Colorado’s Mrs. Captain Ellen Jack: Mining Queen of the Rockies
In going beyond the names and dates on Ancestry, you may be interested in constructing a biography of family members. Combining other resources gives us a richer description of their lives.
I will discuss how I used genealogical and historical resources in writing the book, Colorado’s Mrs. Captain Ellen Jack: Mining Queen of the Rockies. For example, in describing Ellen Jack’s divorce, I used her autobiography, newspaper accounts of the dramatic trial, and the court records of the case, which included testimony from witnesses and the judge’s instructions to the jury. I will describe other stories gleaned from the following resources:
– historic newspapers
– Court records: divorce cases, civil and criminal court cases
– Fold3: military records and widow’s pension records
– General Land Office (BLM) records of mining claims
– Grantor/Grantee indices
– Accessing academic literature for background information
Learning how to find resources led me to find documents about my own family. And after this talk, you may think of other stories to pursue in your own family history research.
Speaker Bio
Jane Bardal
Jane Bardal conducts research on people involved in mining in Colorado and New Mexico. She published Colorado’s Mrs. Captain Ellen Jack: Mining Queen of the Rockies in May 2023. Her previous publications include the book, Southwestern New Mexico Mining Towns, and the article, “Oral Histories from the Grants Uranium District” in the Mining History Journal.
Jane recently retired from teaching psychology at Central New Mexico Community College. She is a member of the Mining History Association, the Albuquerque Genealogical Society, and the Colorado Genealogical Society.