We are excited to have Dr. Thomas W. Jones returning to the NGS Family History Conference for three sessions in 2026. Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGG, FASG, FNGS, FUGA, is an award-winning genealogical researcher and educator who has taught at Boston University, the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), the GRIP Genealogy Institute, and the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR). He is the author of the NGS publications Mastering Genealogical Documentation and Mastering Genealogical Proof, and editor of Forensic Genealogy: Theory & Practice. From 2002 to 2018 he co-edited the National Genealogical Society Quarterly.
FR03 Lessons from Documenting Misattributed Parentage by “Proving a Negative”
Friday, 29 May 2026, 8:00-9:00 a.m.
A case study explains the origin and widespread acceptance of an egregious genealogical error that arose in 1887—showing how one researcher’s theory of a Revolutionary War soldier and his spouse became “fact,” fooled lineage societies for over a century, and spread like wildfire online.
SA22 Y-DNA Helps Reveal Forgotten and Unrecorded Mixed-Race Parentage from the Reconstruction Era
Saturday, 30 May 2026, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Autosomal DNA, Y-DNA, ethnicity results, and much hypothesis testing leads to a grandfather’s unknown parents and ancestors of African and European descent. Learn how genealogical reasoning, conflicting evidence resolution, and testing multiple theories identified which of four sisters was the mother and which of twenty-four men with the same Y-DNA was the father.
BCG LUNCHEON: The Evolution of Standards for Genealogists
Thursday, 28 May 2026, 12:15-2:00 p.m.
Published standards for genealogists first appeared in 2000, but their roots extend to the early 1900s. How and why did genealogical standards arise? And how did they evolve into the standards that guide serious genealogists today? Join the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) for lunch and learn about the history of genealogy standards.
Early bird registration ends 28 February 2026. Register here.