Directory of Members

Margo Fariss Brewer is an active genealogical instructor, consultant, and lecturer who resides in North Carolina. She was the co-leader of Ann-Mar Genealogy Trips to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City which she found strengthened her research and teaching skills. Margo started teaching in 2004 at Duke University's OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute. Her 6 genealogy courses include Beginning through Advanced and Telling the Rest of Your Family's Story. In the past, she also taught a Genealogy Computer Lab and DNA for Genealogy.

Her specialties are methodology, military, and land records, and courthouse research. Her focus is on records within the continental United States.

Margo, a dynamic speaker, is available for meetings, seminars, luncheons, and workshops. Her lectures include PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and a question-and-answer period. She encourages interaction with the audience with her enthusiasm, humor, and organized approach to the topic.

She is a past President of the Genealogical Speakers Guild and a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the National Genealogical Society, the Virginia Genealogical Society, and several more state and local genealogical societies.

Methodology & Techniques
Military Records: Local & Federal
Land Records: Local, State & Federal
Courthouse Records Research
Assisted Genealogy Research Trips to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT

• Newspapers and Timelines: Mastering This Combination Can Expose Unanticipated Records
• Creating a Research Plan: You Must Stop Researching First
• Who Is Up Your Family Tree? (luncheon lecture)
• Just Scratching the Surface: Using Land Records
• Did You Ask Before You Became Obsessed? (luncheon lecture)
• My Grandchildren Aren’t Interested in Their Ancestors: Ideas for Competing With Videos & Super Heros
• Writing a Family Narrative Your Family Will Want to Read
• A Quick Peek Into Military Records: The Colonial Wars to WWII
• Why Can’t You Find Women In County, State, and Federal Records?: What You Really Need To Know
• Setting Yourself Up for Productive Genealogy Research
• Interpreting the Handwriting - Alphabets, Abbreviations & Symbols
• 1850-1940 Census Research: What Was The Enumerator Really Asking?
• Using FamilySearch: How to Help Your Ancestors Rise to the Top
• Research in Washington DC: Where Do I Go & What can I Find There?
• Hiring a Professional Genealogist: Why and How
• How to Find Church Records: A Strategy
• Researching in Washington, D.C.: The Where and The How of It
• Using The Non-Population Census: How Can They Help Find Your Ancestors
• Land Records: What and Where are the Files Behind the Online Databases

New Lectures developed upon request
Will furnish masters for handouts
Will provide computer and LCD projector
Microphone (lavaliere type, if possible) required, dependent on room size
Will travel for engagements at locations within the US and internationally
Video taping and/or photographing is not permitted without prior written permission
Professional audio taping permitted with royalty
Home housing not accepted
Please visit my website for fee and travel expenses information

• NGS Conference, 2017, 2016
• 2023
  • Amelia Island Gen Soc
  • Avon Lake Pub Lib
  • Victoria Pub Lib
  • Old York Road Gen Soc
  • Pinellas FL Gen Soc Workshop (2 Lectures)
• Instructor several 10-week courses through Duke University's OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute, 2004+