Patti Gillespie, B.A., M.S.
Genealogist & Personal Historian
Owner, Family Lines & Stories
Specialty Wise County, Texas and U.S. Research
Over 30 years experience
My research experience involves:
- Ferreting out the documents in Wise County, Texas
- Charming recalcitrant keepers of the records
- Practicing public patience with patrons and public servants
- Expressing gratitude in the moment and later
- Communicating briefly and effectively when asking for help
- Donating the compilation my original, document-oriented research to various local repositories
- Research trips to Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, West Virginia, California and Texas
- Birth, death & marriage records, court records, cemetery records, burial & funeral home records, newspapers, military and naturalization records
- Researching, preparing, and documenting an African American genealogical record back to 1860
- Researching, preparing, and documenting a genealogical record that included a strong maternal Southern line from Texas back to Georgia and a paternal line from Illinois to Prussia
- Researching, preparing, and documenting a genealogical record that took him back to Germany
- Researching, preparing, and documenting back to Scotland in the early 1700s
- Providing dates, places, and documentation to those I run across in family trees who lack what I have been blessed to find.
- RAOGK searches for local marriage certificates, taking trips to cemeteries for photos, and searching local sources for others
- Wise County Historical Society searches for those who wrote in with research questions
Organizations/Leadership:
- National Genealogical Society Conference 2020, Appointed Chairman of Activities
- Assistant to Kelvin Meyers, Texas Institute of Genealogical Research (TIGR)
- President, APG Lonestar Chapter
- Secretary, Texas State Genealogy Society
- Wise County Genealogical Society (WCGS), Founding Member, President, 2013-2020
- Chairman of Association of Professional Genealogists (APG)
- Virtual Professional Management Conference (VPMC), 2015
- Wise County Historical Society, Secretary, 2013-2016
- Board Member of the Wise County Historical Commission, 2013-2020
- Instructor: Genealogical Research 101 (a six-week lecture and hands-on course designed to instruct beginners in research and documentation.
- Selected Participant in the National Archives at Fort Worth Citizen Archivist Program
Education:
University of North Texas
Master’s Degree, Secondary Education and Instruction
1992 – 1994
University of North Texas
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), English Language and Literature/Letters
Publications:
Gillespie, Patti, Just Watch Me: Memories of Shirley Alice Harthen Hienton Zedeker, self-Published, 2016.
Gillespie, Patti and Nina Clorene Rowland, John Jasper Pinkney Davis, 1842-1925: Today’s Descendants, Self-published, 2019.
Gillespie, Robert, “A Lost Journal Found – A Miner’s Life in Scotland and the United States,” Fife Family History Society Journal, a series of articles based on the journal of Robert Gillespie, 2009-2010.
Rowland, Nina Clorene, Baptist Davis to Me: 50 Years of Research, edited and compiled by Patti Gillespie, self-published, 2017.
Accommodations:
Accolades:
- Selected to work on the NGS Conference 2020
- Selected to assist Kelvin Meyers with Texas Institute of Genealogy Research, 2017-Present
- Selected, served on SLIG committee, 2017-2018
- Chosen as a Citizen Archivist for the Fort Worth National Archives and Research Administration (NARA). May 2016.
- Winner of Jimmy Parker Scholarship to attend Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy 2015.
Speaking Events for 2018-2019:
- RootsTech, Salt Lake City, UT
- BYU Family History & Genealogy Conference, Provo, UT
- Kerrville Genealogical Society Seminar, Kerrville, TX
- North Texas Genealogical Association Seminar, Wichita Falls, TX
- Texas State Genealogical Society Family History Conference, 2018, San Antonio, TX
- GenealogyKC Conference, Kansas City, MO
- Dallas Genealogical Society, Dallas, TX
- Arlington Library, Arlington, TX
- Tyler Genealogical Society, Tyler, TX (2)
- Robson Ranch, Denton, TX (3)
- Emily Fowler Library, Denton, TX (2)
- Denton Genealogical Society, Denton, TX (3)
- Rockwall Genealogical Society, Rockwall, TX
- Wise County Nurses Association, Decatur, TX
- Wise County Genealogical Society, Decatur, TX (2)
- TX Lock-In Webinar
- Panelist for North Texas Society Summit
- Family History Conference, Denton, TX
- Gainesville Genealogical Society, Gainesville, TX
- Grapevine Library, Grapevine, TX
- Granbury Friends, Granbury, TX
- Lake Kiowa Genealogy Group, Lake Kiowa, TX
- Denison Genealogical Society, Denison, TX
- Grand Prairie Genealogical Society, Grand Prairie, TX
- Waxahachie Gen Society, Waxahachie, TX
