The Solano County Genealogical Society will host a virtual Speaker Series presentation
via Zoom on Saturday, June 1, 2024 starting at 11 a.m. Pacific Time
Jill Morelli will present “Finding Dirk: Insanity in the 19th Century”.
Do you have an “unmentionable” in your family tree—someone you know existed, but
can find little information about? Attend this presentation and you might come away with
some clues.
Dirk disappeared from his family’s records at age 20. However, the family purchased a
tombstone for him in an asylum cemetery in Illinois. Eventually, someone posted a
photo of the tombstone on FindaGrave, where it waited for someone to notice and put
the pieces of his story together. Jill will review the history of care of the insane, the
process for certifying someone insane, and identify the records and the location of
public, governmental and other documents that fill out the story of Dirk’s life in and
outside the asylum.
Biography: Jill Morelli, Certified Genealogist, is a writer, lecturer and co-founder of
Applied Genealogy Institute, which provides practicum-based educational opportunities
for high-intermediate and advanced genealogists. In 2017, she founded the Certification
Discussion Group to help demystify the certification process for others. Jill lectures
nationally on a variety of genealogical topics and has written articles for National
Genealogical Society Quarterly, Swedish American Genealogist, and many others. She
is past president of the Seattle Genealogical Society, and a member of many local
genealogical societies.
Guests are welcome to attend this free event. If interested, send an email to the society at scgs@scgsca.org no later than 4 p.m., May 31st to request a Zoom link invitation.
