Jay Fonkert is a Minnesota-based researcher and genealogy educator. He has lectured at the NGS and FGS national conferences, and for regional conferences in Ohio, Southern California, and Washington, as well as for libraries and societies across the country. He has been an instructor in the Advanced Practicum course at the Salt Lake Institute for Genealogy (2013-2015 and 2024), and he coordinated the NGS GRIP Midwest course in 2024. His research and teaching articles have appeared in National Genealogical Society Quarterly, NGS Magazine, Family Chronicle, The Septs, Crossroads, On Board, and Minnesota Genealogist. He is a past-president of the Minnesota Genealogical Society and co-managing editor of Generations (formerly Minnesota Genealogist). He is former director of the Association of Professional Genealogists and a former trustee of the BCG Education Fund. He is fascinated by family migrations—his favorite research subjects are Virginia families that went west to Kentucky and beyond and Dutch, Scandinavian, and Germans who came to the Midwest.
 

Geographic Specialities
Virginia/Kentucky
Midwest
Netherlands

Publications/Media
Clara V. Moore and Carrie Peterson: Proving a Double Enumeration in the 1910 Census, " , 2008. "In Search of Early Dutch Settlers in Minnesota, " , 2008. "John Welhaven: the Case of a Borrowed Name, " , 2007. "Two A. P. Overland in Fergus Falls: Sorting Out Identities, " , 2008. "The GEO in Genealogy: Using Geographic Information and Maps in Family History, " , 2007. ": Review and Commentary, " , 2008. "The Three Cs in Genealogical Research, " , February 2009. "The Genealogist's Best Friend: the Census, " , 2008. "Filling the Gaps in Your Family History, " , 2008. "Tracking Ancestors to America: Records Marking Five Stages of Migration, " , 2008. "All Genealogists were once Beginners, " , 2008. "Set the Table for Success: A Simple Technique for Making Sense of your Evidence, " , 2009. "Beginning Genealogy: What to do When all the Pieces Don't Come in the Same Box, " , April 2009. "Beginning Genealogist: Treasures in the Attic, " , July 2009. "Official, but Wrong: The Faulkner Sisters' Passports, " The Septs, 32:1 (January 2011). "Seeing Double: Taking Advantage of Double Census Enumerations, " NGS Magazine, 36:4 (October-December, 2010).

Research Time Periods

• 19th Century
• 18th Century

Languages
a bit of Dutch

Honorifics/Credentials
CG®

Affiliations
Minnesota Genealogical Society, National Genealogical Society.