Jen Baldwin

Genealogist Jen Baldwin is the owner of Ancestral Journeys, specializing in the Rocky Mountain Corridor. She writes for a variety of publications, speaks regionally on genealogy related topics, is the creator and co-host of #genchat on Twitter, and owns Conference Keeper; a website designed to compile all genealogy related events around the world. She also is co-creator and Co-Chair of the NextGen Genealogy Network and is the Director of Operations for The In-Depth Genealogist.

Locally, Jen is active in the historical and preservation community in Summit County, Colorado; acting as the lead researcher, social media manager and tour guide for the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance.

In addition to following her passion for genealogy and history, Jen and her family are avid outdoor enthusiasts, spending their winter’s snowboarding and their summer’s hiking and camping in the beautiful mountains of Colorado.

Articles by this author

• The Weather and Your Ancestors
• Creative Thinking for Genealogy
• Your Homesteader Ancestors: Getting Past the Legends
• Exploring Your Ancestors' World with Geography

"In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future." – Alex Haley

Colorado history, mining claims and the associated records, cemetery preservation and fraternal societies.

I started when our family found a series of letters from the battlefields of the Civil War in my Grandmother’s home after she passed. I was hooked within an hour of holding them in my hand.

The entire family was surprised to learn that Great-Grandpa had a first wife in Nebraska. Additionally, I discovered a hand written cemetery book in the local Town Clerk's storage closet, ca 1913, documenting several headstones that are now missing or unreadable in the Valley Brook Cemetery, Breckenridge, Colorado.

So many! The first priority would be to identify my 3rd great grandfather; I currently have four theories on who this man could be. I would also like to find the records – if they still exist – of local genealogist Charlotte Porter. She is the only other genealogist in Breckenridge history that I know of, and died in the early 1950s.