NCGS 2023 Virtual Conference

J. Mark Lowe, FUGA

J. Mark Lowe describes himself as a lifelong genealogist. He is a professional genealogist, author, and lecturer who specializes in original records and manuscripts throughout the South. Mark enjoys opportunities to share what he has learned over the years through YouTube, Webinars, and Institutes. He serves as the Course Coordinator for “Research in the South” at IGHR (Georgia) and TIGR (Texas), does webinars for Legacy Family Tree Webinars, and has worked on several genealogical television series including Follow Your Past, African American Lives 2, Who Do You Think You Are? and UnXplained Events, and podcasts including Twice Removed and Blast From My Past. Mark enjoys opportunities to share what he has learned over the years through YouTube, Webinars, and Institutes.

He is a Past President of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), and Past President of the Southern Kentucky Genealogical Society. Mark is a Fellow of the Utah Genealogical Society and was awarded the Graham T. Smallwood award and Lifetime Membership award by the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Judy G. Russell, CG®, CGL^SM

The Legal Genealogist Judy G. Russell is a genealogist with a law degree. She writes, teaches, and lectures on a wide variety of genealogical topics, ranging from using court records in family history to understanding DNA testing. A Colorado native with roots deep in the American south on her mother’s side and entirely in Germany on her father’s side, she holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a political science minor from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and a law degree from Rutgers School of Law-Newark. She has worked as a newspaper reporter, trade association writer, legal investigator, defense attorney, federal prosecutor, law editor and, for more than 20 years before her retirement in 2014, was an adjunct member of the faculty at Rutgers Law School.

She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the National Genealogical Society and numerous state and regional genealogical societies. She has written for the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (from which she received the 2017 Award of Excellence), the National Genealogical Society Magazine, the FGS Forum, BCG’s OnBoard, and Family Tree Magazine, among other publications. On the faculty of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute, and the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records, she is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, from which she holds credentials as a Certified Genealogist® and Certified Genealogical Lecturer℠. Her award-winning blog appears at The Legal Genealogist website (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/).

Diane L. Richard, MEng, MBA

Diane L Richard, MEng & MBA, Mosaic Research and Project Management (MosaicRPM), www.mosaicrpm.com, has been doing genealogy research since 1987 and since 2004 professionally focused on the records of North Carolina and southern states. She regularly contributes to Internet Genealogy. She has authored over 500 articles on genealogy topics. In 2019 she published, Tracing Your Ancestors — African American Research: A Practical Guide, via Moorshead Publications.

Since 2016 she has been editor of the North Carolina Genealogical Society (NCGS) Journal. As a speaker she has delivered webinars and in-person talks about the availability and richness of records documenting southerners, pursuing formerly enslaved ancestors and their descendants, genealogical research tips, techniques, tools and strategies, under-utilized resource collections [online and on-the-ground], and much more. She has appeared on Who Do You Think You Are? (Bryan Cranston episode).

Diana Elder, AG®

Diana Elder AGⓇ is a professional genealogist accredited in the Gulf South region of the United States and serves as a Commissioner for The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). Diana authored Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist’s Guide and co-authored the companion volume, Research Like a Pro with DNA: A Genealogist’s Guide to Finding and Confirming Ancestors with DNA Evidence. She created the study group and eCourse that teach the Research Like a Pro process through videos and learning modules. Diana and her daughter, Nicole, share research tips on their website, Family Locket (https://familylocket.com/), and are the hosts of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy Podcast.

Diana regularly teaches at genealogy conferences such as RootsTech and the National Genealogy Society Conference. She also presents webinars and seminars to local genealogy societies across the United States.

David McCorkle

In 2014 David McCorkle created the free website nclandgrants.com providing searchable data for all NC land grants along with one million (and growing) digital images. This work required detailed research into not only land grant history but details on how documents were kept and cataloged and re-cataloged over the years. David has presented various topics at meetings of the National Genealogical Society and numerous state and county genealogical and historical organizations, and to the staff of the State Archives of NC. He is President of the Durham-Orange Genealogical Society, First Vice President of the North Carolina Genealogical Society, on the board of the Wake and Mecklenburg County Genealogical Societies, and a member of several other NC societies. He is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG).

David grew up in Charlotte, and after graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1979 with a B.S. in Zoology he remained in the Research Triangle area working in the software industry. He currently owns and operates a software company in Cary, North Carolina, and manages to squeeze in genealogy and local history in his spare time. All ancestral lines on his father’s side were present in what is now Union County, North Carolina, by the early 1800s, some as early as the 1750s.

Becket Soule, O. P.

Becket Soule has taught classical languages, law, and history at the Catholic University of America, the Dominican House of Studies (Washington, DC), the Pontifical College Josephinum (Columbus, OH), and Oxford University, and retired as Professor of Canon Law at St Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario. He has been visiting lecturer and fellow at other institutions of higher studies in the United States, Great Britain, and the Ukraine, and has served as an official of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches in Rome; Becket has also served Anglican and Catholic parishes in Texas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and England. He is now pastor of St Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church in Maggie Valley, NC.

Becket is descended from a dozen Mayflower passengers and is a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants (currently Deputy Governor and Elder of the Canadian Society, and Secretary and Historian of the NC Society), and editor for the George Soule “silver book.” He is also a member of the Society of Colonial Wars and the United Empire Loyalist Association and is on the Board of Directors of Soule Kindred in America and Delano Kindred, where he serves as research committee chairman. Becket is NCGS Secretary and the Book Review Editor of the NCGS Journal. His current quest (or obsession) is to track down his ancestors in Proprietary North Carolina.

Craig R. Scott, MA, CG®, FUGA

Craig Roberts Scott, MA, CG, FUGA is the author of The ‘Lost Pensions’: Settled Accounts of the Act of 6 April 1838 (Revised) and Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury, Inventory 14 (Revised). His most recent work is Understanding Revolutionary War and Invalid Pension Ledgers, 1818 – 1872, and the Payment Vouchers They Represent. He has authored seventeen books and several articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, the Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, and other genealogical publications. He is the President and CEO of Heritage Books, Inc., a genealogical publishing firm with over 9,500 titles in print. A professional genealogical and historical researcher for more than thirty-five years, he specializes in military records, problem-solving, Quakers, and publishing.

He is a member of the Company of Military Historians and on the editorial board of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. He is a former Treasurer and Director of the Association of Professional Genealogists. He has been a faculty member or coordinator of research tracks in the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Samford University and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, and the Genealogical Institute of Pittsburgh. He is currently the Coordinator of the SLIG Guided Research and Consultation Track, helping students solve their brick wall problems. He has coordinated many Heritage Books, Genealogical Conference and Cruises. He is the host of the YouTube Just Genealogy channel.

He is a recipient of the Grahame T. Smallwood, Jr. Award and UGA Silver Tray Award. He became a Fellow, Utah Genealogical Association in 2014.

Renate Yarborough Sanders

Renate Yarborough Sanders is the descendant of formerly enslaved ancestors, enslavers, and free people of color. She authors two blogs: “Into the LIGHT” and “Genea-Related;” and produces a “(Mostly) African-American Funeral Programs” online database. She cohosts “Let’s Talk North Carolina Genealogy,” an online platform and YouTube show, presenting genealogy programing and virtual events for North Carolina researchers; and she has served as panelist and guest on numerous web shows and podcasts. Renate has provided genealogy education for George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Norfolk State University, The College of William and Mary and for NASA. Her research has been featured on PBS Radio and in a National Geographic cover story and podcast.

Renate is a member of the National Genealogical Society, the North Carolina Genealogical Society (Publicity Director), the Afro-American Genealogical and Historical Society (member of National Editorial Board and Vice-President and Newsletter Editor for the Hampton Roads Chapter), the Utah Genealogical Society, and the Tyrrell County Genealogical and Historical Society. She is also a member of the lineage society, “Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage.”

Renate lectures on a variety of genealogy topics but specializes in teaching beginning to intermediate research methodology and sharing specific techniques for researching ancestors of color – both pre- and post-Emancipation.