New Strategies for Getting the Most out of Family Search
Event Contact(s)
Nathan Shepherd
Registration Info
Registration is not Required
About this event
Saturday, September 19, 2026
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM: Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Future of Genealogy and FxGS
Speaker: Ed Potter
Description: Genealogy has always connected past and present. From new technologies to changing ways of learning and connecting, discover what’s ahead for genealogy—and what it could mean for FxGS and its members' future.
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM: New Strategies for Getting the Most out of FamilySearch
Speaker: Linda Jonas
Description: Using the FamilySearch Family Tree, cleaning up the tree to help prevent others from changing the information, finding previously unavailable resources using Full Text search.
Bio: Linda Jonas has been conducting full-time genealogical research for more than 40 years. She has extensive experience in international genealogy, reading genealogical records in multiple languages. She is co-author with Paul Milner of A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your English Ancestors (Betterway Books, 2000) and A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Scottish Ancestors (Betterway Books, 2002).
Linda specializes in using DNA to identify familial relationships. In 2005, she established the first ever DNA haplogroup project--the U5 mitochodrial DNA project. Linda has also been co-administrator of the British Isles DNA Project and of several Y-DNA surname projects. At the request of GeneTree and the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, she became a staff trainer and consumer consultant. Using Y-DNA, mtDNA, and autosomal DNA, Linda is uniquely qualified to use DNA with traditional genealogy to find verify current relationships and extend pedigrees.
Linda Jonas is the former president of the British Isles Family History Society - U.S.A. and has been the Director of the McLean [Virginia] Family History Center and past President of the Mount Vernon Genealogical Society.
Bio: Ed Potter began his term as President of the Fairfax Genealogical Society (FxGS) in July 2026 and also serves as leader of the Society’s Irish Special Interest Group. A longtime family historian, Ed is passionate about going beyond names and dates to uncover the people, places, communities, and historical events that shaped our ancestors’ lives. He is the author of Emerald Isle Origins, a family history that combines genealogical research with social and local history to reconstruct the lives of his rural Irish immigrant ancestors.
Over the years, Ed’s family history research has taken him across the United States and to Ireland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Czechia, Mexico, and Croatia. Fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, he has worked with multilingual records and a wide range of archival and historical sources to follow families across borders and generations. Through his research, writing, presentations, and service to FxGS, Ed especially enjoys sharing what he has learned and helping others discover the stories behind their own family histories.
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