Hodges - Hodge Society 2010 Genealogy Conference Speaker Biographies

Paul F. Smart - Saturday Keynote Speaker

Paul F. Smart is employed by the Family and Church History Department in Salt Lake City as the Outreach Manager. As part of this assignment he has instructed at Brigham Young University for several years. He previously supervised the British area in the Family History Library for twenty-three years, managed the Family Record Extraction program for two years, and oversaw the Accreditation program for five years. He has participated in numerous seminars around the world and has led several family history research tours to Great Britain. He is a member of several family history organizations, having completed a term as President of the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History. He has a Masters Degree in History from Brigham Young University and has been recognized interationally as a Fellow of the Society of Genealogists (London, England). He is an Accredited Genealogist through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists.

Jan Alpert – Sunday Keynote Speaker

Janet A. (Jan) Alpert joined the National Genealogical Society (NGS) board as secretary in 2004, serving a two-year term. In 2006, she was elected president of NGS. Prior to becoming active in NGS, she had a thirty-five-year career in the title insurance industry, retiring in 2004. She served as president of the Genealogical Research Institute of Virginia (GRIVA) for five years in the 1980s. She has done personal family history research for more than twenty-five years, mostly in New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the Midwest. In 1997, she published a family genealogy, Hatevil Nutter of Cover, New Hampshire, and His Descendants with Fred Boyle, CG. In addition to NGS, Jan is a member of many genealogy associations including New England Historic Genealogical Society, New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the New York History Association, as well as local genealogical organizations such a GRIVA, Tazewell County (Illinois) Genealogical Society, Hunterdon County Historical Society (New Jersey), New Hampshire Society of Genealogists, and Descendants of Ancient Windsor (Connecticut). A native of Illinois, Alpert received her BA degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and earned an MBA degree from the University of Connecticut. She resides seasonally in Holland, Michigan, and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Leland Meitzler - GenealogyBlog.com

Leland loves genealogy, as well as history in general. He also likes to blog and www.genealogyblog.com is the product of that passion. He started blogging in 2003. Since Leland has spent most of the last 30 years working as a magazine editor and publisher, he calls it his "free daily online genealogy nautamagazine."

Leland has been around the genealogy industry since 1982, when he and his brother Steve started publishing Washington State local history publications. In 1985, they founded Heritage Quest, and began publication of Heritage Quest Magazine in September of that year. Leland later sold Heritage Quest Magazine and the retail operations to AGLL of Bountiful, Utah.

Leland was later hired by Everton Publishers to edit their publication, The Genealogical Helper, which he did until mid-February of 2009. While the "Genealogy Blog" website is now a full-time job, Leland and his wife Patty also have a small publishing company called Family Roots Publishing, which specializes in the publication and marketing of genealogy guidebooks.

Nelson Hodges – President of the Hodges-Hodge Society

Nelson has been involved in studying history for 40 years, and began his own family's genealogical research 10 years ago. In 2006, based upon the connections made through the Hodges-Hodge Family DNA Project from Terry Barton, Nelson organized the first Hodges - Hodge Families Researchers for a Conference in Houston, Texas. The result of that first Conference was the formation of the Hodges - Hodge Society. Nelson has been in contact with Hodges families and closely related families around the world for many years, based upon research and results from the DNA project.

Nelson is an Architect who formed his own architectural firm in 1985, and has Offices in Dallas/Fort Worth and New York. He has had offices in Boston, Houston, Caracas, Lagos, and Albuquerque in the past. He has produced award winning designs on 5 Continents in more than 35 countries. He is an architectural historian, and is the current Chairman of the Landmark Preservation Commission of the City of Arlington, Texas

Ron Hodges - Hodges-Hodge DNA Project Coordinator

Ron became interested in genealogy after purchasing genealogy software originally solely for the purpose of making a family tree chart for his grandmother's 100th birthday celebration in 1999. Deciding to enter some names into the program, he was bitten by the "bug" and has been able to trace his Hodges ancestry to Welcome William Hodges of 18th century Virginia. In the summer of 2004, he learned about DNA testing, ordered tests from FTDNA, and set up a Hodges-Hodge project there. Almost simultaneously, Terry Barton was moving his Hodges project results to FTDNA and they agreed to combine their efforts.

Ron grew up in Kansas City, studied chemistry at Southern Nazarene University (B.S.) and the California Institute of Technology (Ph.D.), and recently retired as Senior Staff Chemist at Lockheed Martin's Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California. Besides science and genealogy, Ron enjoys music and sings with the Peninsula Cantare chorus in Redwood City, California.

James Hodges – Vice President of the Hodges-Hodge Society

Taking a serious interest in genealogy during my high-school years, I interviewed my grandparents and obtained priceless information. I inherited a fairly large photo collection from my parents, grandparents and relatives. I have a fully equipped darkroom in my house and I copied and processed old photos for my family and friends. About 10 years ago, I started working on photographs using computer applications and now I recover and repair photos regularly for friends and family using Photoshop. I volunteer at the Santa Clara City Library in the Heritage room weekly and I recover and archive their photos using Photoshop as well as help patrons with their genealogy mysteries.

Four years ago, I discovered what was to become the Hodges-Hodge Society when I had my DNA sampled. This was particularly important since my Hodges paper-genealogy went back only to my great-great grandfather. After that there was a serious disconnect. Although I haven’t overcome my paper genealogy problem, my DNA genealogy is guiding me toward accomplishments that are more fruitful.

James was born in Pueblo, Colorado in 1935, attended Centennial High School, Pueblo Junior College and Stanford University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Geology with enough extra credits for a bachelor’s degree in Engineering.

Terry Barton - Hodges-Hodge DNA Project Coordinator

Terry is an 8th generation Texan, who has lived in Georgia since 1973. He is an ardent family historian, an amateur genealogist, and a pioneer in the still emerging field of genetic genealogy. He treasures all of the friends he's made through genealogy, especially the "cousins" he has found.

Terry is co-founder of WorldFamilies.net, President of the Barton Historical Society (BHS) and Co-Leader of the 200+ member Barton DNA Project. He is the Line Leader for the Thomas (1,2,3) Barton family of Stafford Co VA and for the David Barton married Ruth Oldham family. He has made a number of presentations about using DNA in Genealogy, the Barton DNA project and his great-grandparent's "Barton House" and has written many articles for the BHS Newsletters and website.

Terry has been featured in several articles and interviews about his work using DNA in genealogy:

• The Genetic Genealogist, June 2, 2008 - "Interview Series III - Terry Barton" by Blaine Bettinger
• Atlanta Journal Constitution, June 2, 2005 - "DNA Testing takes genealogy to next level" by Mary Ellen Hopkins
• Marietta Daily Journal, March 16, 2005 - "Terry Barton Digs Deep to Find His Ancestors" by Lana Drucker