From Bull-Riding to Blogging, NERGC Day 1

John McNiff, as William Blackstone
Photo by Marian Pierre-Louis

Well, the first day at NERGC started off with unusual flair. Conference attendees were treated to a first-person account of the life of William Blackston (Blaxton), the first settler of Boston and later Rhode Island. Historical re-enactor, John McNiff did a wonderful job transporting the listener back to the 17th century and the first settlements in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It helps that William was quite a colorful character. He reportedly trained a bull to saddle and rode him as one would a horse. Except, of course, that bringing a horse to the colonies would be silly since cows give milk and cream to make butter and cheese and bulls mean there will be more cows, which means more...well you get the picture. After hearing him speak, I definitely want to do some research of my own on his interesting life. 

The day was packed with meeting new friends and catching up with Facebook acquaintances from the genealogy community, attending wonderful presentations by Judy Russell and Lisa Louise Cooke, and ending with a great special-interest group session on blogging. It was a busy day and I learned so much. I'm having a blast at NERGC.