Directory of Members

Fred Voss is a professional genealogist, researcher, and educator. He has been doing personal genealogy for over 20 years and is a Trustee and Education Chair for the Genealogical Society of Bergen County. His areas of interest are Germany, Switzerland, and New Hampshire, with special interest in DNA, Immigration, and Naturalization.

Mr. Voss is a certificate holder of the Boston University Genealogical Research Certification program (OL13). He is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the International Society of Genetic Genealogists as well as various regional societies.

He volunteers as a tour guide at Ellis Island, leading both historical and photographic tours of the abandoned hospitals on the south side of the island (SaveEllisIsland.org).

He graduated from Boston College with a BA in Mathematics. He has spent his career working for and with software startup companies such as Netscape Communications, Sun Microsystems, and Oracle. Since 1990, he has specialized in Internet Identity and Security.

Introduction to Genealogy

Many people are interested in their family's past. As more historical records are made available on the Internet, interest in genealogy keeps growing.

But how do you get started? Mr. Voss is the Education Chair for the Genealogical Society of Bergen County and will talk about the many reasons people want to learn more about their family, as well as how to begin researching and documenting that information. Both online and offline search methods will be covered.

This lecture is delivered as a 45-55 minute presentation with Q&A afterwards.

Stories From Ellis Island

Did you have relatives who came through Ellis Island? Did the inspectors detain them? Were they treated at the island's hospitals? Did your family names get changed by the inspectors?! Fred Voss is a professional genealogist and a volunteer tour guide at Ellis Island National Park. He will give an illustrated talk about the past, present, and future of this iconic landmark as well as sharing some of his favorite immigration stories.

Mr. Voss will provide an overview of the workings of the Island—how immigrants arrived, how they were processed through the different parts of the Island, and what might mean a long stay on the Island or a return-ticket home. He will also dive into those squiggles on the manifest and how to decipher them.

This lecture can be delivered as either a 45-55 minute or 75 minute presentation with Q&A afterwards.

More Stories From Ellis Island: Those Who Were Held

From 1892 to 1954, more than 12.5 million immigrants were processed through Ellis Island. Coming from all corners of the world, these souls—whom nearly 40% of Americans can call "family"—left behind possessions and family to reinvent themselves in America. Most were processed through Ellis Island without incident. But some immigrants found themselves detained due to mental or physical illness, because their paperwork was not in order, or because those who were due to receive them did not show. What kind of stories could they tell?

Mr. Voss is a professional genealogist and a volunteer tour guide at Ellis Island National Park. His talk will explore the personal, sometimes heartbreaking, stories of those who came through the facility, those whose visit to the US ended there, and those whose stay on the island was unexpectedly lengthy.

This lecture is delivered as a 45-55 minute presentation with Q&A afterwards.

How to Find Your Immigrant Ancestor

How do you find those ancestors who immigrated from the Old Country? Shipping manifests can contain valuable information about that ancestor and where they came from. And if we are unsure when they came to America, the naturalization papers and petitions can often fill that gap. Find out more about finding and interpreting these interesting records.

Mr. Voss' talk will explore where shipping manifest records and deportation hearing documents, as well as naturalization records can be found and what information is stored on these pages.

This lecture is delivered as a 45-55 minute presentation with Q&A afterwards.

Can You Count on The Census?

Every ten years since 1790, the United States has done a national census. These records provide some of the best and most interesting information about ancestors. Find out what information is available as well as tricks for finding "missing" relatives.

Mr. Voss' talk will explore where these records can be found, what information is stored on these pages, and strategies on how to get the most out of these records.

This lecture is delivered as a 45-55 minute presentation with Q&A afterwards.

Organizing Your Genealogy Files

Successful genealogy takes skill, hard work, and luck. And it is so much easier if you are organized. We will talk about various approaches to organizing your files, photos, and papers, so that you can find them when you really need them. Remember, the best method of organizing for YOU is the one that you are most comfortable using.

The lecture is delivered as a 45-55 minute presentation with Q&A afterwards.

Autosomal DNA: Putting Some Genes in Your Genealogy

DNA testing for genealogy research is exploding in popularity. It is another resource (like death certificates and census records) that more and more genealogists are using to extend their family lines.

Mr. Voss will explain autosomal DNA testing, focusing on what you can and can not expect it to do for your family research. What can you do while waiting for your results? What do those results mean? And what should you be doing next to try and trace that as-yet undiscovered relative?

The lecture is delivered as a 45-55 minute presentation with Q&A afterwards.

Organizing Your DNA Matches: Using the Leeds Method

So you log on to your DNA test site and it says you have 1139 matches. OK, what are you going to do next? Mr. Voss will talk about organizing your DNA along family lines by color clustering using the popular Leeds Method. Simple examples take you step by step through this organizing approach.

The lecture is delivered as a 45-55 minute presentation with Q&A afterwards.

Using Gedmatch.com (Two Parts)

Gedmatch.com provides tools for finding more genetic matches and deeper analysis of your DNA. This lecture assumes you have reviewed your DNA results and have used the tools on your original DNA testing website. Part 1 gets you started by creating your own account, uploading your raw DNA and confirming that the upload was successful. Mr. Voss then points out some of his favorite tools and how to get the most out of them. Managing multiple DNA kits on the Gedmatch website will also be discussed.

In Part 2, Mr. Voss will go into depth on using Gedmatch's chromosome browsers and triangulation tools.

There are two lectures, each delivered as a 45-55 minute presentation with Q&A afterwards.

Mr. Voss is a popular and sought after speaker. His in-person lectures have been featured at the New York Public Library, the Genealogical Society of Bergen County, the Monmouth Genealogical Society, the Passaic County Genealogical Club, the German Genealogical Society, and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Long Island.

Mr Voss has been teaching and lecturing using Zoom (and other online services) for over 10 years.  He also teaches Introductory Genealogy and DNA and Genealogy at Bergen County Community College in Paramus, New Jersey.