I am so ready for the National Genealogical Society’s (NGS) annual conference (#NGS2015GEN).  It is held this year in St. Charles, Missouri and starts in 3 1/2 weeks.  I wish I could attend this conference every year, but that is just not financially feasible for our family.  So, I decided that unless this conference was close to me (within 1 state away, i.e. Las Vegas, NV 2013), then I won’t go unless its in a state where either my husband or I have ancestors in.  This conference, I will be concentrating on my husband’s family who are from Missouri.

I plan on getting there three days before the conference starts.  Well I will have Sunday the 10th for the flight.  This is a non-stop flight but I won’t get in until after 4pm so my Sunday will be spent just getting use to the hotel and nearby food places as I scope out my dinner options.  Monday, however, will be an exciting adventure.  I am renting a car for Monday and Tuesday (Wednesday is the start of the conference) and on Monday I will visit two cemeteries.  These two cemeteries are at the furthest 3 1/2 hours away so it will be mostly an all day adventure.

To get ready for my NGS conference trip, I went through my database and searched for anyone who was born, lived in, or died/buried in Missouri.  Then I whittled the list down to those that I have or could find documents that would show the addresses that they were living at the time.  I first started with the death certificates that I had and found after some research.  The death certificates listed the place of residence at the time of the death and most of them also listed the place of burial.  I made a list of these addresses on this form.

On the left is the list of cemeteries where some of my husband’s ancestors were buried.  There are three cemeteries, Rose Hill Cemetery in Brookfield, MO, Pollock Cemetery in Pollock, MO, and Valhalla Cemetary in St. Louis, MO.  Pollock Cemetery is the farthest at 3 1/2 hours away.  It will be the first one I go to but it has no physical address.  The only location information I could find is the GPS coordinates and that it is .5 miles south of Pollock, MO.  This is in a rural area and the cemetery doesn’t have an office.  I am thinking as I drive into town, stop at a gas station and get directions.  Hopefully I will meet someone with some interesting information about the family or cemetery.  After Pollock Cemetary, I plan on visiting Rose Hill Cemetery in Brookfield, MO which is only about 1 hour away from St. Charles, MO.  This cemetery will be much easier to find and navigate.  It’s in town and has an office at the City Hall building.  Depending on how I am feeling after visiting these two cemeteries, I might save the last cemetery for Tuesday morning.  Either way, the last cemetery I will visit will be Valhalla Cemetery.  This is also in a major town, St. Louis, so it would be very easy to find and navigate.  I am planning after my visit to Valhalla Cemetery, to visit some of the touristy places in St. Louis, MO.  I am really excited to be able to visit the Arch!

Do you have any ideas for spots to eat or things to see on the way?  If so, please comment and let me know.  Now if you want to read part 2, you can read it here.