I speak for genealogy conferences, family reunions, senior communities and other events where perspectives on legacy and heritage are welcome. Now booking online and in-person events through 2025. Contact me at sunny@sunnymorton.com about scheduling and speaking fees.
U.S. Church Records
Intro to U.S. Church Records: Why We Care Where Grandma Went to Church. U.S. church records of many denominations can reveal ancestors’ vital events, family relationships, overseas birthplaces and other residences and religious lives. From the co-author of How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records, learn what these records may look like, how to identify an ancestral church, locate extant records and access them.
Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians—Oh My! These 3 faiths dominated the 1800s religious scene in the United States. Learn a little of their intertwined history; explore a variety of sample records; and learn strategies for finding church records for Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians.
Find Your Family in Catholic Church Records. Roman Catholic sacramental records often contain vital events, relationships, and overseas hometowns. They’re also confidential, so they can be tricky to access. Learn about Catholicism in the U.S., what’s in sacramental records and what they look like, how to identify an ancestral parish, and tips for accessing Catholic records. A recent addition to this presentation is an introduction to the archives of religious orders.
On the Record Trail of My LDS Immigrant Ancestor. Explore unique and fascinating historical records about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons or LDS) in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Using research on my own ancestor, I’ll share examples of–and tips for finding–congregational membership records; group immigration resources; missionary diaries; ward minutes, and local histories of areas settled by LDS pioneers.
All About U.S. Records and Stories
A Wild Ride: Ohio River Travel in Stories, Songs and Scenes. This unique, scripted, documentary-style presentation explores what it was like to travel the Ohio River during the flatboat era. You’ll hear songs about river travel, see footage of the river, read advice from contemporary travel guides, and enjoy the stories of early travelers in their own words. You’ll come away with a better (and more fun) appreciation for the migrants who braved one of the first inland “roads” to the frontier lands of the Old Northwest and points west. This is especially fun as a fun banquet or keynote talk.
Born to be Filed: A Story of Civil Birth Registration in the United States. Ever wonder why you can’t find infant birth records for relatives even when they should exist? Or what delayed birth records are and whether they are worth finding? Learn the fascinating story of how infant and adult civil birth records came about in the United States. We’ll look at the who, what and whys through the lenses of local newspapers and the larger social conversation. We’ll focus especially on little-known adult delayed birth records: what they look like, how to find them, and what they might reveal.
Directory Assistance: Finding Your Family History in City Directories. Looking for records in-between U.S. censuses that may reveal your family’s relationships, movements, occupations and other stories? Directories may help you build year-by-year narratives about their lives. You’ll learn what’s in city directories, how to explore them in major online collections and elsewhere, and how to use them in conjunction with other resources to reconstruct more detailed, nuanced narratives about your family’s history.
What’s So Special about Special Censuses? Learn to find and use fantastic “extras” from US censuses (1840-1910), many of which are now online: the Veterans, Mortality, Slave, Agriculture, Manufacturer and Social Statistics Schedules. These often reveal details about ancestors’ vital events, work, health, military service and communities, in the process pointing to additional records. This lively lecture shares the stories behind each of the special censuses–why the government gathered this information at this time–and offers clues that help you know when to look for an ancestor on a special census.
Turning US Census Entries into Stories. Boost your use of U.S. census records to reconstruct families and their stories! See from fascinating and inspiring examples what unexpected genealogical clues may appear in census population schedules, how original instructions for census-takers can clarify your understanding and how to use what you learn to take the next research steps.
How Social Security Can Help Your Family History Research. The U.S. Social Security system produced lesser-known record types key to tracing families during the late 1800s/early 1900s (during a period of intense immigration, before widespread birth records and during the 1890 census gap). See genealogical discoveries made using original Social Security applications, not one but TWO important Social Security indexes, and delayed birth records, which were often created for Social Security purposes.
Comparing the U.S. Newspaper Giants. Over a billion digitized newspaper pages are now searchable at online historical newspaper archives such as Chronicling America, Fulton History, GenealogyBank, NewspaperArchive and Newspapers.com. But which should you use? Is it worth subscribing to one of the premium sites? Learn how they stack up for total amount of digitized content; geographic coverage; unique features and tools; subscription options; and more. My tips, encouragement, and comparative analyses will help you more confidently choose and use newspaper websites. From the creator of the popular series, “Comparing the Giant Genealogy Websites” and a longtime Contributing Editor of Family Tree Magazine (US), which sponsored the research for this presentation.
Meet PERSI, and Discover Treasures in Genealogy Periodicals. (For intermediate to advanced researchers.) You may be missing out on 30% of genealogy discoveries if you’re not digging into history and genealogy newsletters, journals and magazines. Biographical profiles, stories about ancestral churches or schools, how-to tips for researching a locale, indexes and transcripts of local records are all among those treasures. Learn to find and access this content using PERSI, the Periodical Source Index. See how to navigate PERSI on the FREE Allen County Public Library website portal, and success stories that can inspire your own foray into periodical research.
Family History Storytelling and Writing
Relating the Stories of Relatively Recent Relatives. Recording the stories and facts of recent generations is foundational to accurate, meaningful genealogy. But how do you document research discoveries intertwined with (and colored by) personal memories, with due respect for other living loved ones? We’ll talk about creating a storytelling arc out of a life’s events. You’ll see rich 20th century records that reveal recent generations. And we’ll tackle the obstacle of objectivity for recent generations, because who is really objective about their own parents and grandparents? Nobody. This was created as a keynote presentation and is perfect if you want an image-driven, thoughtful, big-picture look at genealogy.
From Documents to Sentences to Stories: Rebuilding Family Stories. Turning your genealogy research discoveries into meaningful stories can be challenging. Follow the re-creation of one family’s story using hands-on, step-by-step, try-this-now story-building strategies. Turn a single record discovery into a simple paragraph, then a paragraph into a story by looking for the “plot” and other interesting elements that make up the most interesting stories. Teaser: in the story you’ll follow, one of the heroes is a dog, my son’s favorite “ancestor.” This talk is aimed at audiences who may be intimidated by the writing process.
Fable or Fact? Verifying Old Family Stories. Don’t you wish you knew just HOW true certain family stories are? Though you may never be able to fully prove (or disprove) some stories, this lecture demonstrates how to “de-mythify” handed-down tales into truer ones that may be even more compelling. Follow my research into legends on my family tree. See what I discovered, and then consider how the new evidence reshapes the story and how you would tell it. Inspiring and entertaining even for general audiences, this can be delivered in a regular lecture format, a 90-minute discussion-driven format, or as a banquet talk.
How to Discover Your Ancestors’ Amazing Stories. A heroic rescue, a love story and a 30-foot wall of water. That’s just part of my ancestors’ experience in the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889. Come learn how to reconstruct fascinating experiences from your own family history by combining clues from your family’s knowledge, documents from genealogy websites, good historical research and Googling to fill in the gaps. All while learning the riveting story of one of the worst disasters in U.S. history. This presentation is entertaining and inspiring even for beginner genealogists and general audiences.
Plan Your Next Family History Writing Project: Hands-on Workshop. Deciding what to write and how to write it can be a big barrier for many people wanting to write up their family history discoveries. That’s why this presentation comes with a hands-on worksheet you can begin to complete DURING the presentation, which will walk you through all the big, interrelated questions: prioritizing your writing projects; choosing your audience; addressing privacy concerns and family secrets; and selecting the best writing and citation styles for your audience and topic. This class is available in both one-hour and two-hour formats.
Adding Your Own Stories to Your Family History. Family history begins with YOUR history. Learn from the author of Story of My Life: A Workbook for Preserving Your Legacy what stories you have that are worth telling–and several inspiring reasons to write them. Review different kinds of memories, why some memories are more vivid than others, and how to flesh them out. Learn tips for researching gaps in your memories, how to turn a memory into a good story, what to leave out and several ways to share your stories. See how to integrate your personal stories, family memories and research discoveries. The handout includes a life story writing exercise worksheet to help you get started. Perfect for genealogists and general audiences alike.
Please contact me with any questions!
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