These are the feeds from some of the best blogs about Family History / Genealogy

Family History old picture Venice

  • Profile of the Day: Grover Cleveland
    by Amanda on March 18, 2024 at 6:45 pm

    Today we remember Grover Cleveland, who was born on this day in 1837. Cleveland served as the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. Image: Grover Cleveland / Library of Congress He was born Stephen Grover Cleveland on March 18, 1837 in Caldwell, New Jersey and was the fifth of nine children born to Richard Falley Cleveland, a Presbyterian minister, and Anne Neal. He was a third cousin thrice removed of Moses Cleveland, who founded the… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Grover Cleveland first appeared on About Geni.

  • His Father Went Missing in WWII. 82 Years Later, He Got a Gift from Him Thanks to MyHeritage
    by Daniella on March 18, 2024 at 12:13 pm

    When Pierre Painblanc, a Belgian user from southwestern France, found a bilingual French/Dutch message in his MyHeritage inbox, his curiosity was immediately piqued. This is not the usual genealogical mail between two users investigating their relationships. The sender, Ellen de Visser, a Dutch journalist, explained to him that she was looking for the descendants of The post His Father Went Missing in WWII. 82 Years Later, He Got a Gift from Him Thanks to MyHeritage appeared first on MyHeritage Blog.

  • WATCH: Gilad Japhet’s Session at RootsTech 2024
    by Daniella on March 17, 2024 at 12:25 pm

    This year’s RootsTech conference was full of exciting announcements and enlightening sessions from MyHeritage staff — including a unique session with our Founder and CEO Gilad Japhet. Watch the full session below: In his talk, Gilad shared an incredible story about discovering a whole new branch of his family through DNA extracted from an artifact, The post WATCH: Gilad Japhet’s Session at RootsTech 2024 appeared first on MyHeritage Blog.

  • Profile of the Day: Julius Caesar
    by Amanda on March 15, 2024 at 4:50 pm

    Today marks the Ides of March. The famous date is remembered as the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. His assassination was the result of a conspiracy by many Roman senators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, who plotted to kill the Roman dictator in an effort to restore the Roman Republic. Image: The death of Julius Caesar / Wikimedia Commons Considered one of the greatest military commanders… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Julius Caesar first appeared on About Geni.

  • This week, help us index the US Navy Muster Rolls!
    by Sean Daly on March 14, 2024 at 5:35 pm

    From March 15-24, Geneanet is organizing a special week dedicated to the indexing of the US Navy’s Muster Rolls from the Civil War through the end of the century. Whether you are a frequent contributor to Geneanet’s indexing projects, or you haven’t used our indexing tools yet, discover this fascinating project with American but also British, Scottish, Irish, and Dutch sailors!

  • Profile of the Day: Albert Einstein
    by Amanda on March 14, 2024 at 4:15 pm

    Today we celebrate the birth of genius physicist Albert Einstein! Image: Albert Einstein / Library of Congress Einstein was born in Ulm, Württemberg, Germany on March 14, 1879. His father, Hermann Einstein, was a salesman and engineer. He founded Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie, a company that manufactured electrical equipment based on direct current. His mother, Pauline Koch, ran the family household. While on a visit to the United States in 1933, Einstein elected not… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Albert Einstein first appeared on About Geni.

  • Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with Free Access to 14 Million Irish Records on MyHeritage!
    by Esther on March 14, 2024 at 8:30 am

    In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we’re happy to announce that we’re making all 14 million Irish historical records available for free from March 14 to 18, 2024!  Search all Irish records for free Whether you’re decked out in green, savoring a traditional Irish dish, or just immersed in the vibrant culture and storied past The post Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with Free Access to 14 Million Irish Records on MyHeritage! appeared first on MyHeritage Blog.

  • These Genealogists Already Struck Gold on OldNews.com
    by Daniella on March 14, 2024 at 6:23 am

    Since the moment we announced the launch of OldNews.com, our new website for exploring historical newspapers, we’ve been receiving enthusiastic responses from people who have made incredible discoveries on the site. Below are just some of the stories we’ve received from very experienced genealogists who made breakthroughs and uncovered amazing nuggets of information about their The post These Genealogists Already Struck Gold on OldNews.com appeared first on MyHeritage Blog.

  • Profile of the Day: Percival Lowell
    by Amanda on March 13, 2024 at 4:45 pm

    Today we celebrate the birth of Percival Lowell, the astronomer who initiated the work that would lead to the discovery of Pluto. Image: Percival Lowell / Library of Congress Lowell was born on March 13, 1855 in Cambridge, Massachusetts to a prominent and wealthy family. His second great grandfather, John Lowell, was a judge and delegate to the Congress of the Confederation. His maternal grandfather, Abbott Lawrence, was a prominent businessman, philanthropist, and founder of… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Percival Lowell first appeared on About Geni.

  • Find and Identify Old Family Photos at DeadFred – Audio Podcast Episode 281
    by Lisa Cooke on March 13, 2024 at 3:30 pm

    AUDIO PODCAST SHOW NOTES: Discover more than 100,000 old family photos on Dead Fred. Founder Joe Bott explains how to find photos of your relatives on this free website, as well as how to post your unidentified photos. Who knows, someone else may spot your photo and have the answers.  This interview is also available in Source

  • Upload Your Pictures To Geneanet With Your GEDCOM File!
    by Jean-Yves on March 12, 2024 at 11:00 pm

    With Geneanet Upload, import your family pictures and archival records with your GEDCOM file, and easily update your family tree.

  • Profile of the Day: Liza Minnelli
    by Amanda on March 12, 2024 at 5:07 pm

    Happy 78th birthday to Liza Minnelli! Image: Liza Minnelli / Wikimedia Commons The legendary performer was born on March 12, 1946 in Hollywood, California to actress Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli. With famous parents, it was not a surprise that Minnelli would follow them into show business. At the age of 3, Minnelli made her first film performance in the musical In the Good Old Summertime, starring her mother. Minnelli won her first Tony award at the age… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Liza Minnelli first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Frederick IX
    by Amanda on March 11, 2024 at 6:00 pm

    On this day in 1899, Frederick IX, King of Denmark, was born in Sorgenfri Castle, near Copenhagen. Image: Frederick IX of Denmark / Nationaal Archief Frederick IX was the eldest son of King Christian X and Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the fourth Danish monarch of the House of Glücksburg. When he was baptized in April 1899, he had 21 godparents, including his great grandfather Christian IX of Denmark, Nicholas II of Russia, and the Prince of… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Frederick IX first appeared on About Geni.

  • Video #2 of our 25 Websites for Genealogy!
    by Lisa Cooke on March 11, 2024 at 12:31 am

    Video #2 of our 25 Websites for Genealogy Playlist. In this video, my guest presenter Gena Philibert-Ortega covers top genealogy finding aids and society websites that are must-have for family history research. Even though some sound specific to a certain area, don’t be fooled. They have resources available for all genealogists. Websites 5 through 12 Source

  • Profile of the Day: Ignacy Łukasiewicz
    by Amanda on March 8, 2024 at 5:18 pm

    Do you have any Polish ancestors? On this day in 1822, Polish pharmacist Ignacy Łukasiewicz was born in Zadusxniki, Poland. A notable inventor and philanthropist, Łukasiewicz is perhaps best remembered for the invention of the modern kerosene lamp. Image: Ignacy Łukasiewicz / Wikimedia Commons The youngest of five children, Łukasiewicz was born to an impoverished noble family. To help support his family, he began to work as a pharmacist’s assistant in a pharmacy. During this time, he… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Ignacy Łukasiewicz first appeared on About Geni.

  • RootsTech 2024 Recap
    by Amanda on March 7, 2024 at 11:40 pm

    We’re back from Salt Lake City, Utah, where we just spent a few fun-filled days at RootsTech, the largest genealogy conference in the world. We had a busy booth throughout the conference. Geni curator Benjamin Schoenbrun helped to staff the booth and he had great luck connecting attendees to the World Family Tree. The conference was bustling with people eager to learn the latest in genealogy. The Geni booth was often packed with people wanting… Read the full story The post RootsTech 2024 Recap first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Nicéphore Niépce
    by Amanda on March 7, 2024 at 5:35 pm

    Do you have French ancestry? On this day in 1765, French inventor Nicéphore Niépce was born. Credited as the inventor of photography, Niépce developed heliography, a technique used to create the world’s earliest known permanent photographic image. Image: Nicéphore Niépce He was born Joseph-Nicéphore Niépce on March 7, 1765 in Charlon, France to a wealthy family. After serving in the French military, Niépce shifted his focus to pursue his scientific interests. Working alongside his brother, Claude, Niépce developed the… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Nicéphore Niépce first appeared on About Geni.

  • ‘Illegally Attractive’: 1920s Flappers as Described in the Newspapers of Their Time
    by Daniella on March 7, 2024 at 12:43 pm

    Flappers were young women in the 1920s who challenged traditional norms and embraced a new, modern lifestyle. They were known for their short dresses or skirts, bobbed hair, and carefree attitude, embodying the spirit of the “Roaring Twenties”: a time of great social and cultural change in the United States post-WWI. The loose-fitting, knee-length dresses The post ‘Illegally Attractive’: 1920s Flappers as Described in the Newspapers of Their Time appeared first on MyHeritage Blog.

  • RootsTech 2024 Recap
    by Esther on March 6, 2024 at 6:27 pm

    After an exhilarating few days at RootsTech 2024, the MyHeritage team is back, buzzing with the excitement and energy from one of the most significant gatherings in the genealogy community. This year’s conference was about reconnecting, groundbreaking innovations, and heartfelt stories of discovery.  Here’s a recap of our standout moments from RootsTech 2024: MyHeritage Booth: The post RootsTech 2024 Recap appeared first on MyHeritage Blog.

  • Profile of the Day: Elizabeth Barrett Browning
    by Amanda on March 6, 2024 at 5:30 pm

    On this day in 1806, English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born. During her lifetime, Browning was considered to be one of the most popular Victorian poets of the era. Image: Elizabeth Barrett Browning / Library of Congress Browning was the eldest of twelve children born to Edward Barrett Moulton-Barrett and Mary Graham Clark. The family had acquired their wealth as sugar plantation owners in Jamaica, but her father chose to raise his family in England. Educated… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Elizabeth Barrett Browning first appeared on About Geni.

  • Marie Marvingt, the Bride of Danger
    by Sean Daly on March 6, 2024 at 2:00 pm

    March 8 is International Women’s Day and this week, we want to tell you about a trailblazing superwoman who is largely forgotten today: sportswoman, pilot and aerospace medicine advocate Marie Marvingt, the Bride of Danger!

  • Profile of the Day: Heitor Villa-Lobos
    by Amanda on March 5, 2024 at 7:20 pm

    Do you have any Brazilian roots in your family tree? Today we remember one of Brazil’s greatest composers in history, Heitor Villa-Lobos, who was born on March 5, 1887. Image: Heitor Villa-Lobos / Arquivo Nacional Collection, Public Domain Described as “the single most significant figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music,” Villa-Lobos has become one of the most well-known Latin American composers to date. He was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Raul Villa-Lobos and Noêmia dos… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Heitor Villa-Lobos first appeared on About Geni.

  • Genealogy Websites: #1 – 4 of our 25 Websites for Genealogy!
    by Lisa Cooke on March 5, 2024 at 4:38 pm

    In this video, my guest presenter Gena Philibert-Ortega covers 4 of the biggest genealogy websites that are must-have for family history research. This is a great chance for you to discover some new online tools as well as refresh your memory about terrific sites that may have fallen off your radar. This video is part Source

  • Bizarre Women’s Fitness Advice from Early 1900s Newspapers
    by Daniella on March 5, 2024 at 10:44 am

    If you thought getting in shape was hard now, imagine doing it in a corset, high-button boots, an ankle-length skirt, and multiple petticoats. Restrictive attire was just one of the many challenges faced by our female ancestors who wanted to get fit. Beauty standards in the Victorian era dictated that women should be pale in The post Bizarre Women’s Fitness Advice from Early 1900s Newspapers appeared first on MyHeritage Blog.

  • MyHeritage Adds 168 Million Historical Records in February 2024
    by Esther on March 4, 2024 at 12:27 pm

    In February 2024, we published 168 million historical records from 18 historical record collections from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Czechia, Germany, Peru, and Wales. The records include newspapers, passenger lists, marriage licenses, civil registration of births, electoral registers, and telephone directories. Some of the collections also include images. Search them to The post MyHeritage Adds 168 Million Historical Records in February 2024 appeared first on MyHeritage Blog.

  • RootsTech 2024!
    by Sean Daly on March 2, 2024 at 7:53 pm

    RootsTech 2024 is over and we were thrilled to meet our members as well as genealogists just discovering Geneanet!

  • French ancestry? Geneanet is the #1 genealogy database in France!
    by Sean Daly on March 2, 2024 at 7:50 am

    Do you have French ancestry? Geneanet’s rich collections include many not found elsewhere, contributed by members of our community. And our forums are a great place to get help tracking down your French ancestors!

  • Introducing OldNews.com, A New Website for Exploring Historical Newspapers
    by Erica on March 1, 2024 at 6:24 pm

    We’re delighted to announce the release of OldNews.com, an innovative website for historical newspapers, by MyHeritage. OldNews.com enables genealogists, researchers, and history enthusiasts to search, save, and share articles about people and events throughout history. At launch, OldNews.com includes a huge repository of hundreds of millions of historical newspaper pages from around the world, with The post Introducing OldNews.com, A New Website for Exploring Historical Newspapers appeared first on MyHeritage Blog.

  • Profile of the Day: Ron Howard
    by Amanda on March 1, 2024 at 11:00 am

    On this day in 1954, actor, director, and producer Ron Howard was born in Duncan, Oklahoma. Image: David Shankbone / Wikimedia Commons, (CC BY 3.0) Howard was the eldest son born to Rance Howard, a writer, director, and actor, and Jean Speegle Howard, an actress. His father was born with the surname “Beckenholdt,” but changed it to “Howard” when he became an actor. With both parents working in show business, Howard made his first on… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Ron Howard first appeared on About Geni.

  • Geneastar: New Famous Family Trees Added in February 2024
    by Jean-Yves on March 1, 2024 at 9:04 am

    Have you ever heard of Geneastar? Geneastar is a Geneanet website that focuses on the genealogy of famous people. Some new famous family trees have been added to Geneastar in February 2024: Travis KELCE, American football tight end Susan OLSEN, American actress and former radio host Maureen MCCORMICK, American actress Barry WILLIAMS, American actor Mike

  • Introducing All-New Profile Pages With Hints
    by Erica on February 29, 2024 at 2:48 pm

    The profile page is among the most visited pages on MyHeritage, and is one of the most valuable ones for genealogists. Many users requested that we add additional capabilities to the page. You asked, and we listened! Today we are proud to release the result: the all-new profile pages. This is a whole new experience The post Introducing All-New Profile Pages With Hints appeared first on MyHeritage Blog.

  • Profile of the Day: Gioachino Rossini
    by Amanda on February 29, 2024 at 11:00 am

    On this day in 1792, Italian composer Gioachino Rossini was born. Rossini gained fame for his 39 operas and is remembered as one of the most significant Italian composers of the first half of the nineteenth century. Image: Gioachino Rossini / Wikimedia Commons Rossini was born on February 29, 1792 to Giuseppe Rossini, a trumpeter, and Anna Guidarini, a singer. He began to compose by the age of 12 and studied at Bologna’s Philharmonic School…. Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Gioachino Rossini first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Linus Pauling
    by Amanda on February 28, 2024 at 12:00 pm

    On February 28, 1901, chemist Linus Pauling was born. Considered one of the most influential chemists in history, Pauling is often recognized as one of the founders of quantum chemistry and molecular biology. Image: Linus Pauling / Library of Congress Pauling was born in Portland, Oregon to Herman Henry William Pauling and Lucy Isabelle “Belle” Darling. He was named “Linus Car” after his maternal grandfather, Linus, and his paternal grandfather, Carl. Over the course of… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Linus Pauling first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Elizabeth Taylor
    by Amanda on February 27, 2024 at 5:25 pm

    Today we remember star Elizabeth Taylor, who was born February 27, 1932. Image: Elizabeth Taylor / Wikimedia Commons Taylor was born in Hempstead, London to American parents, Francis and Sara Taylor. From her early years as a child star, she became one of the greatest actresses of Hollywood’s Gold Age. Remembered for her stunning beauty and sometimes scandalous love life, Elizabeth spent much of her life devoted to charitable organizations and became an outspoken advocate… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Elizabeth Taylor first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Buffalo Bill Cody
    by Amanda on February 26, 2024 at 6:30 pm

    Do you have cowboys or lawmen in your family tree? On this day in 1846, Buffalo Bill Cody was born in the Iowa Territory. Image: Buffalo Bill Cody / Library of Congress Though born in the U.S., Cody spent much of his childhood growing up in his father’s hometown in Canada before the family moved to the Kansas territory. Buffalo Bill’s life was filled with fascinating adventures, making him a legendary figure of the American Wild… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Buffalo Bill Cody first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: W.E.B. Du Bois
    by Amanda on February 23, 2024 at 1:00 pm

    Today we remember sociologist and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois, who was born on February 23, 1868. Image: W.E.B. Du Bois / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, CC0 William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts to Mary Silvinia Burghardt and Alfred Du Bois. His mother’s family was a part of a small free black community in Great Barrington and they had long owned land in the area. His maternal second great… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: W.E.B. Du Bois first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: George Washington
    by Amanda on February 22, 2024 at 5:50 pm

    Today we celebrate what would have been George Washington’s 292nd birthday! Image: George Washington / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution Washington was born on February 22, 1732 on his family’s plantation in Westmoreland County in the British colony of Virginia. He was the first of six children born to Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball. As a teen, Washington began a career as a surveyor and completed many surveying expeditions throughout the Virginia… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: George Washington first appeared on About Geni.

  • Join Geni at RootsTech 2024
    by Amanda on February 21, 2024 at 11:45 pm

    In just one week Geni will be heading to RootsTech, the largest genealogy conference in the world. Each year, RootsTech offers a wide variety of classes perfect for the beginning family history enthusiast to more advanced genealogists. The conference will be held February 29 – March 2 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Once again RootsTech will be both in-person and virtual, so if you cannot make it to Salt… Read the full story The post Join Geni at RootsTech 2024 first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Alan Rickman
    by Amanda on February 21, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    Today we remember actor Alan Rickman on what would have been his 78th birthday. Image: Marie-Lan Nguyen, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) Rickman was born on February 21, 1946 to Margaret Doreen Rose Bartlett and Bernard William Rickman, a factory worker. At the age of 8, Rickman’s father died of lung cancer, leaving his mother to raise Rickman and his three siblings alone. Although he had participated in school plays during high school, Rickman chose to… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Alan Rickman first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Ansel Adams
    by Amanda on February 20, 2024 at 7:55 pm

    American photographer Ansel Adams was born on this day in 1902. Adams is perhaps best remembered for his stunning black and white images of the American West. He used his work to help promote the conservation of the American wilderness. Image: Ansel Adams / Wikimedia Commons Adams was born on February 20, 1902 in San Francisco, California to distinctly upper-class parents. Although his grandfather founded a prosperous lumber business, Adams would come to condemn the… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Ansel Adams first appeared on About Geni.

  • Visit us at RootsTech 2024!
    by Sean Daly on February 20, 2024 at 3:31 pm

    RootsTech will take place February 29-March 2 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Come meet with us at booth #507!

  • Are You Related To Dakota Fanning?
    by Jean-Yves on February 20, 2024 at 3:04 pm

    Hannah Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994) is an American actress. She rose to prominence at the age of seven for her performance as Lucy Dawson in the drama film I Am Sam (2001), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination at the age of eight, making her the youngest nominee in SAG history. Fanning played major roles as a child actress in the films Uptown Girls (2003), The Cat in the Hat (2003), Man on Fire (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Dreamer (2005), Hide and Seek (2005), Charlotte’s Web (2006), Push (2009), and the title character in Coraline (2009).

  • Profile of the Day: Sonny Bono
    by Amanda on February 16, 2024 at 5:20 pm

    Remember listening to the music of Sonny & Cher? Today we remember Sonny Bono on what would have been his 89th birthday. Image: Sonny Bono / Nationaal Archief, CC0 Salvatore Phillip Bono was born on February 16, 1935 in Detroit, Michigan. The son of Sicilian immigrants, Bono and his family moved to California when he was seven. After dropping out of school, Bono worked a series of odd jobs to support himself. He began his… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Sonny Bono first appeared on About Geni.

  • Geneanet: List of Possible Duplicates
    by Jean-Yves on February 15, 2024 at 11:00 pm

    On Geneanet, you can view the list of possible duplicates in your family tree and easily merge them if needed.

  • Profile of the Day: Ernest Shackleton
    by Amanda on February 15, 2024 at 5:50 pm

    Do you have adventurers in your family tree? On this day in 1874, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton was born. Considered one of the principal figures of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, Shackleton’s expeditions to Antarctica pioneered routes into the continent’s interior. Image: Ernest Shackleton / Library of Congress Shackleton was born on February 15, 1874 in Kilkea, County Kildare, Ireland to Henry Shackleton and Henrietta Letitia Sophia Gavan. At 16, he joined the mercantile marine service and later became… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Ernest Shackleton first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Frederick Douglass
    by Amanda on February 14, 2024 at 6:25 pm

    Have you found your connection to abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass? Today we remember the inspirational social reformer, who chose to celebrate his birthday on February 14. Image: Frederick Douglass / Library of Congress Douglass had never known the exact date of his birth. He was born into slavery around February 1818 in Talbot County, Maryland. He was separated from his mother as an infant and spent the early years of his childhood living with his grandmother on a plantation in… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Frederick Douglass first appeared on About Geni.

  • 16 Ways to Find Your Ancestors’ Village Audio Podcast Episode 280
    by Lisa Cooke on February 14, 2024 at 6:00 pm

    AUDIO PODCAST SHOW NOTES: Whether you want to visit the village where your ancestor was born on your next vacation, or you just want to find their records, you’ll need to know the exact place name and location. Professional genealogist Rich Venezia of Rich Roots Genealogy joins me in this video to help us pin down those ancestral Source

  • Profile of the Day: Catherine Howard
    by Amanda on February 13, 2024 at 6:40 pm

    On this day in 1542, Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII, was executed on the grounds of treason for committing adultery. She was queen for only 16 months before her death at the Tower of London. Image: Catherine Howard / Rijksmuseum, Wikimedia Commons Howard was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper. She was also the first cousin of Anne Boleyn, who was King Henry VIII’s second wife and mother of… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Catherine Howard first appeared on About Geni.

  • Send a Valentine’s Day card from our vintage collection!
    by Sean Daly on February 13, 2024 at 4:13 pm

    Geneanet has a fabulous collection of over 800,000 postcards to illustrate your tree: villages, churches, landscapes, monuments, street scenes… This month, we combed through our collection and created a brand new Valentine’s Day category for you — choose from 800 vintage cards to send to your Beloved!

  • Profile of the Day: Abraham Lincoln
    by Amanda on February 12, 2024 at 8:00 pm

    On this day 215 years ago, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was born. Image: Abraham Lincoln / Library of Congress Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in a one-room log cabin at Sinking Spring Farm in Hardin County, Kentucky. He was the second child born to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. His paternal grandfather, Captain Abraham Lincoln, served in the American Revolutionary War and was a pioneer settler of Kentucky…. Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Abraham Lincoln first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: William Henry Harrison
    by Amanda on February 9, 2024 at 5:15 pm

    On this day in 1773, William Henry Harrison, the 9th President of the United States, was born on the Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County, Virginia. Image: William Henry Harrison / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, CCO The last U.S. president to be born a British subject, Harrison was the youngest son of Benjamin Harrison V and Elizabeth Bassett. A member of the Continental Congress, Harrison’s father was a signer of the Declaration of Independence… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: William Henry Harrison first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: James Dean
    by Amanda on February 8, 2024 at 5:02 pm

    On this day in 1931, actor James Dean was born in Marion, Indiana. The Rebel Without a Cause star’s life was cut short when he died at the age of 24 in a car accident. Image: James Dean / Wikimedia Commons Dean was the only child born to Winton Dean and Mildred Marie Wilson. After his mother died of uterine cancer when he was nine years old, Dean was sent to live with an aunt and uncle on… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: James Dean first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Laura Ingalls Wilder
    by Amanda on February 7, 2024 at 5:45 pm

    Remember reading Little House on the Prairie? On this day in 1867, author Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in a log cabin outside of Pepin, Wisconsin. Image: Laura Ingalls Wilder / Missouri State Archives, Flickr Wilder was a descendant of the Delano family, the same ancestral family of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In fact, Wilder and President Roosevelt were fifth cousins once removed. Her life growing up with her pioneer family in the “Big Woods” became… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Laura Ingalls Wilder first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Ronald Reagan
    by Amanda on February 6, 2024 at 5:50 pm

    Today marks what would have been Ronald Reagan’s 113th birthday! Image: Ronald Reagan / U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan was the son of Nelle Clyde Wilson and John Edward Reagan. Reagan began his entertainment career in radio before landing roles on the silver screen during the 1930s. Over the course of his Hollywood career, Reagan appeared in over 50 films and served as President of the… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Ronald Reagan first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: John Witherspoon
    by Amanda on February 5, 2024 at 6:10 pm

    Are you related to a Founder Father of the United States? On this day in 1723, John Witherspoon was born in Gifford, Scotland. A strong advocate for colonial independence, Witherspoon was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Image: John Witherspoon / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, CC0 The eldest child of the Reverend James Alexander Witherspoon and Anne Walker, Witherspoon was a minister in the Church of Scotland before immigrating to the colonies…. Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: John Witherspoon first appeared on About Geni.

  • Women in science are in the spotlight at Geneanet!
    by Jean-Yves on February 4, 2024 at 11:00 pm

    To celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, discover the genealogy of some famous female scientists from around the world. You may even be related to some of them!      

  • Profile of the Day: James Joyce
    by Amanda on February 2, 2024 at 5:50 pm

    Have you read Ulysses? On this day in 1882, author James Joyce was born in Dublin, Ireland. Image: James Joyce / Wikimedia Commons James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born on February 2, 1882 to John Stanislaus Joyce and Mary Jane Murray. Joyce was the eldest of 10 surviving children. His father’s heavy drinking lead to great instability in the household and eventually, the family’s financial decline. A bright child, Joyce taught himself Norwegian so he could… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: James Joyce first appeared on About Geni.

  • Geneastar: New Famous Family Trees Added in January 2024
    by Jean-Yves on February 2, 2024 at 2:46 pm

    Have you ever heard of Geneastar? Geneastar is a Geneanet website that focuses on the genealogy of famous people. Some new famous family trees have been added to Geneastar in January 2024: Adam ANT, English singer, musician, and actor Isaac Charles PARKER, American politician and jurist Michael SCHUR, American television producer, writer, director, and actor

  • Profile of the Day: Langston Hughes
    by Amanda on February 1, 2024 at 5:15 pm

    Today we remember American poet and activist Langston Hughes, who was born on this day in 1902. Image: Langston Hughes / Library of Congress James Mercer Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri to James Nathaniel Hughes and Caroline Mercer Langston. Like many African Americans, Hughes was a descendant of slaves. His maternal grandfather, Charles Henry Langston, was an abolitionist and political activist. Born free in Louisa County, Virginia, Charles Langston was the son of Ralph… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Langston Hughes first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Jackie Robinson
    by Amanda on January 31, 2024 at 6:20 pm

    On this day in 1919, baseball legend Jackie Robinson was born. Image: Jackie Robinson / Library of Congress Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia to a family of share croppers. He was given the middle name “Roosevelt” in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt, who had died 25 days before he was born. The youngest of five children, Robinson was not the only gifted athlete in his family. His brother, Matthew “Mack” Robinson, was… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Jackie Robinson first appeared on About Geni.

  • Swedish research at Geneanet: the genealogy of Ivar Johansson
    by Sean Daly on January 31, 2024 at 10:04 am

    How do you start genealogical research on Geneanet? What search criteria should you use when tracing your Swedish ancestors, and what results can you expect? Using a concrete case, the reconstruction of the genealogy of Olympic wrestler Ivar Johansson (1933-1971), discover how to optimize your searches on Geneanet and easily trace your family history!

  • Profile of the Day: Gene Hackman
    by Amanda on January 30, 2024 at 6:05 pm

    Happy birthday to Gene Hackman! Today the star turns 94. Image: Gene Hackman / Christopher Michael Little, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) Eugene Allen Hackman was born on January 30, 1930 in San Bernardino, California to Eugene Hackman and Anna Lyda Elizabeth Gray. At the age of 16, he left home to join the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a field radio operator. In 1956, he began to pursue an acting career and joined the… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Gene Hackman first appeared on About Geni.

  • New Source Assistant Email Notifications
    by Amanda on January 29, 2024 at 11:43 pm

    Since first introducing the Source Assistant, Geni users have been able to use this powerful tool to quickly and easily extract information from confirmed MyHeritage Record Matches and Smart Matches™ to the family tree on Geni. Today we are happy to announce that Geni will now notify you by email about pending Source Assistant items to review. These notifications serve as a reminder that you may have exciting new information waiting to be added to… Read the full story The post New Source Assistant Email Notifications first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: William McKinley
    by Amanda on January 29, 2024 at 7:11 pm

    On this day in 1843, William McKinley was born in Niles, Ohio. Image: William McKinley / Library of Congress McKinley was the last president to have served in the American Civil War. He first joined the Union Army as a private and ended as a brevet major. In 1897, he was sworn in as the 25th President of the United States. During his presidency, McKinley led the nation to victory in the Spanish-American War. As part of… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: William McKinley first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Bessie Coleman
    by Amanda on January 26, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    On this day in 1892, pioneering aviator Bessie Coleman was born. Coleman was the first African-American woman and the first Native American to hold a pilot license. Image: Bessie Coleman / San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive, Flickr Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was born on January 26, 1892 in Atlanta, Texas to George Coleman and Susan Richardson. Born into a family of sharecroppers, Coleman worked the fields at a young age. She briefly attended the… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Bessie Coleman first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Robert Burns
    by Amanda on January 25, 2024 at 5:45 pm

    Do you have Scottish ancestry? On this day in 1759, Scottish poet Robert Burns was born in Alloway, Scotland. Image: Robert Burns / Library of Congress The eldest son of William Burns and Agnes Brown, Burns spent his early years working on farms and received little formal education while growing up. However, his parents encouraged him to read and he found writing to be an escape from the hard labor of farming. In 1786, a collection… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Robert Burns first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Neil Diamond
    by Amanda on January 24, 2024 at 6:10 pm

    Are you a fan of Neil Diamond? On January 24, 1941, the famous singer-songwriter was born in Brooklyn, New York. Image: Neil Diamond / Irisgerh, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) Diamond received his first guitar at the age of 16 and soon began writing his own music. An accomplished swordsman, he attended New York University on a fencing scholarship and was a member of the 1960 NCAA men’s championship team. He later dropped out of… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Neil Diamond first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: John Hancock
    by Amanda on January 23, 2024 at 6:05 pm

    On this day in 1737, John Hancock was born in Braintree, Massachusetts. A prominent Patriot during the American Revolutionary War, Hancock is often remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence. Image: John Hancock / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution CC0 After his father’s death in 1744, Hancock was sent to live with his uncle and aunt, Thomas Hancock and Lydia Henchman. His uncle was a highly successful merchant… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: John Hancock first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Lord Byron
    by Amanda on January 22, 2024 at 6:25 pm

    Do you have any poets in your family tree? On this day in 1788, English poet Lord Byron was born in London, England. Image: Lord Byron / Library of Congress Regarded as one of the greatest British poets in history, Lord Byron is perhaps just as well known for his amorous escapades as his works of literature. He was born George Gordon Byron on January 22, 1788. He was the son of Captain John “Mad… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Lord Byron first appeared on About Geni.

  • Geneanet in 2023: a look back at a rich year
    by Jean-Yves on January 21, 2024 at 11:00 pm

    2023 is over! Now is the time to take stock of this year and recall our key new developments… some of which you may have missed.

  • Profile of the Day: Dolly Parton
    by Amanda on January 19, 2024 at 5:40 pm

    Happy birthday to Dolly Parton! Today the country superstar turns 78. Image: Dolly Parton / Library of Congress She was born on January 19, 1946 in Locust Ridge, Tennessee. The fourth of twelve children, Parton grew up in poverty and often sang of her family’s struggles in her music. She began performing as a child and made television appearances by the age of ten. Since scoring her first No. 1 hit, Parton has enjoyed a… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Dolly Parton first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: A.A. Milne
    by Amanda on January 18, 2024 at 6:35 pm

    It’s Winnie the Pooh Day! The day commemorates the birthday of Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne, who was born on January 18, 1882 in London, England. In 1926, Milne first published his beloved children’s book Winnie-the-Pooh, a collection of stories following the adventures of the honey-loving teddy bear and his friends. Image: A.A. Milne / Library of Congress Although he studied mathematics in school, Milne found his passion as a writer. He was writing magazine articles… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: A.A. Milne first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Muhammad Ali
    by Amanda on January 17, 2024 at 7:30 pm

    On January 17, 1942, boxing champion Muhammad Ali was born. Image: Muhammad Ali / Library of Congress Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky. At the age of 18, he won a gold medal in boxing in the 1960 Summer Olympics. He went on to become the first and only three-time lineal World Heavyweight Champion. In his retirement, Ali devoted much of his time to philanthropy and despite his diagnosis with Parkinson’s,… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Muhammad Ali first appeared on About Geni.

  • Are You Related To Dolly Parton?
    by Jean-Yves on January 17, 2024 at 8:00 am

    Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She is known for her decades-long career in country music.

  • Profile of the Day: Katy Jurado
    by Amanda on January 16, 2024 at 7:41 pm

    Today we remember trailblazing Mexican film actress Katy Jurado, who was born on this day in 1924. Considered one of the leading actresses during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, Jurado was one of the first Mexican actresses to successfully crossover to Hollywood. Image: Katy Jurado / Wikimedia Commons She was born María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico to a wealthy family. Despite the disapproval of her family, Jurado decided to pursue… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Katy Jurado first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Martin Luther King, Jr.
    by Amanda on January 15, 2024 at 12:00 pm

    Today we remember civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. on what would have been his 95th birthday. Image: Martin Luther King, Jr. / Library of Congress King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia to Martin Luther King, Sr., a Baptist pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolteacher. A gifted student, King enrolled in Morehouse College at the age of 15. An inspiring leader, King sought to bring an end to… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Martin Luther King, Jr. first appeared on About Geni.

  • A simpler and more intuitive interface to customize, configure, and manage your family tree
    by Jean-Yves on January 15, 2024 at 11:00 am

    The customization, configuration, and management options of your family tree have been changed considerably to be simpler and more intuitive.

  • Profile of the Day: Jack London
    by Amanda on January 12, 2024 at 5:30 pm

    Do you remember reading White Fang? American author Jack London was born on this day in 1876 in San Francisco, California. Image: Jack London / Library of Congress London was born John Griffith Chaney to Flora Wellman and William Chaney. His biological father was never a part of his life and his mother would later marry John London, a veteran of the Civil War. At the age of 21, London left for the Klondike to join… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Jack London first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Alexander Hamilton
    by Amanda on January 11, 2024 at 6:50 pm

    Today we remember Founding Father of the United States Alexander Hamilton, who was born on January 11, 1755 or 1757. The exact year Hamilton was born in unknown since historical records have shown his year of birth as both 1755 and 1757. Image: Alexander Hamilton / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution Hamilton was born in Charlestown on the island of Nevis, then a part of the British West Indies. Both he and his brother, James Jr.,… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Alexander Hamilton first appeared on About Geni.

  • Profile of the Day: Rod Stewart
    by Amanda on January 10, 2024 at 6:47 pm

    Do you have a favorite Rod Stewart song? Today the legendary artist celebrates his 79th birthday. Image: Rod Stewart / Helge Øverås, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) He was born Roderick David Stewart in London, England on January 10, 1945. The youngest of five children, Stewart excelled at soccer and had dreams of becoming a professional soccer player before choosing to follow his passion for music instead. After dropping out of school at the age of 15, Stewart… Read the full story The post Profile of the Day: Rod Stewart first appeared on About Geni.

  • Do You Have Some Errors in Your Family Tree? Discover our Consistency Checker!
    by Jean-Yves on January 8, 2024 at 11:00 pm

    Our consistency checker has been recently updated for greater flexibility and efficiency.

  • Save our Graves: Cemeteries added to Geneanet in December 2023
    by Jean-Yves on January 4, 2024 at 12:45 pm

    Because cemeteries are one of the most important resources for genealogists, Geneanet has launched the project “Save our Graves” to capture graves before they are lost. More than 6 million graves are already available! Here are the cemeteries added in December 2023: Australia Blue Mountain Cemetery Reserve, Trentham, Victoria, 20 graves (sjdeez) Vaughan Cemetery, Vaughan,

  • Geneastar: New Famous Family Trees Added in December 2023
    by Jean-Yves on January 4, 2024 at 11:36 am

    Have you ever heard of Geneastar? Geneastar is a Geneanet website that focuses on the genealogy of famous people. Some new famous family trees have been added to Geneastar in December 2023: Lewis STRAUSS, American government official, businessman, philanthropist, and naval officer Thomas J. HUDNER JR., United States Navy officer and naval aviator Frederic FORREST,

  • Geneanet’s mission: to make genealogy accessible to all!
    by Jean-Yves on January 2, 2024 at 10:33 am

    As the new year begins, we’d like to remind you of Geneanet’s founding principles and tell you about our New Year’s resolutions for 2024.

  • Thanks to Geneanet, a military passbook from World War I given to his descendant
    by Sean Daly on December 24, 2023 at 11:00 pm

    We have a heartwarming story to tell about Lauren and Jean-Marc in this holiday season. Thanks to Geneanet’s international community, the Soldbuch — military service passbook — of a World War I German soldier has traveled through time and space and has been given to his great-granddaughter halfway around the world.

  • The Christmas Truce of the Great War
    by Sean Daly on December 21, 2023 at 10:36 am

    The first Christmas of the Great War — later called World War I — was marked by a number of spontaneous, unplanned yet nearly identical events in the northern reaches of the Western Front: unarmed soldiers from both sides left their trenches and exchanged gifts and pleasantries with their sworn enemies. A Christmas story.

  • Send your Christmas cards with Geneanet!
    by Jean-Yves on December 13, 2023 at 8:51 am

    More than 800,000 vintage postcards are available free online at Geneanet, including more than 6000 Christmas and New Year cards. This year, find an unusual card to send with just a few clicks!

  • Share the results of your genealogy research through your family book!
    by Jean-Yves on December 7, 2023 at 3:29 pm

    With Geneanet, you can generate your family book automatically from your family tree. It’s easy to do and you can download the result for free! Here’s how.

  • What is a haplogroup?
    by Jean-Yves on December 5, 2023 at 8:28 am

    A haplogroup is a series of mutations found in a chromosome. It is therefore detectable in the DNA of an individual and may be different from one population to another, or even from one individual to another.

  • Save our Graves: Cemeteries added to Geneanet in November 2023
    by Jean-Yves on December 1, 2023 at 8:51 am

    Because cemeteries are one of the most important resources for genealogists, Geneanet has launched the project “Save our Graves” to capture graves before they are lost. More than 6 million graves are already available! Here are the cemeteries added in November 2023: Australia Cobbitty Anglican Church Cemetery, Cobbitty, New South Wales, 201 graves (just3thoughts) Mystic

  • Geneastar: New Famous Family Trees Added in November 2023
    by Jean-Yves on December 1, 2023 at 8:44 am

    Have you ever heard of Geneastar? Geneastar is a Geneanet website that focuses on the genealogy of famous people. Some new famous family trees have been added to Geneastar in November 2023: Rosie HUNTINGTON-WHITELEY, English model Jason STATHAM, English actor Penn JILLETTE, American magician, actor, musician, inventor, television presenter, and author Theron T. POND, American

  • The tree comparison tool has been updated!
    by Jean-Yves on November 29, 2023 at 3:44 pm

    A few days ago, we announced the launch of Hints to allow you to easily find missing information in your online tree. This new feature was accompanied by another major development: the complete overhaul of the “Match Your Family Tree” section. Discover a brand new service… which is really two!

  • “Napoléon” on the silver screen… and at Geneanet!
    by Sean Daly on November 24, 2023 at 2:51 pm

    Ridley Scott’s film about the emperor Napoléon Bonaparte — and his empress Joséphine de Beauharnais — starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby, is the cinematic event of the season. Want to learn more about Napoléon’s era? Geneanet is the right place, as we are France’s #1 genealogy site, with many Premier Empire resources you might not know about!

  • Geneanet DNA: how to backup your data
    by Jean-Yves on November 20, 2023 at 8:00 am

    On December 20, 2023, the entire Geneanet DNA section of our site will be permanently deleted. In order to backup the analysis of your DNA matches, we invite you to download before this date your list of DNA cousins (including your notes) and the data concerning the matching chromosome segments of your DNA cousins. Here’s how to do it.

  • Geneanet DNA features will be discontinued
    by Jean-Yves on November 20, 2023 at 8:00 am

    Three and a half years since the launch of Geneanet DNA, it’s time to take stock. We have made the difficult decision to end this feature set which unfortunately hasn’t had the success we had hoped for.

  • A new feature at Geneanet: hints!
    by Jean-Yves on November 13, 2023 at 2:11 pm

    Perhaps you know about Automatic matches, those small red check marks visible on your tree which signal new information is available about your ancestors. We have completely revamped this service to help you save even more time: make way for hints!

  • Eugene Bullard, the first African-American Combat Pilot
    by Sean Daly on November 10, 2023 at 5:35 pm

    For Veterans Day — also called Remembrance Day or Armistice Day — we tell the story of Eugene J. Bullard, the first African-American combat pilot, who flew for France in World War I — but was refused a transfer into the US Army Air Corps due to prejudice. Learn about his adventurous life: jockey, stowaway, vaudeville performer, boxer, infantryman, pilot, jazz drummer, nightclub impresario, and spy — then soldier again, then Free French and civil rights activist!

  • Save our Graves: Cemeteries added to Geneanet in October 2023
    by Jean-Yves on October 31, 2023 at 9:37 am

    Because cemeteries are one of the most important resources for genealogists, Geneanet has launched the project “Save our Graves” to capture graves before they are lost. More than 6 million graves are already available! Here are the cemeteries added in October 2023: Australia Big Hill Uniting Church Cemetery, Big Hill, New South Wales, 41 graves

  • Geneastar: New Famous Family Trees Added in October 2023
    by Jean-Yves on October 31, 2023 at 9:27 am

    Have you ever heard of Geneastar? Geneastar is a Geneanet website that focuses on the genealogy of famous people. Some new famous family trees have been added to Geneastar in October 2023: Denver PYLE, American film and television actor and director Mike JOHNSON, American politician, 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Richard

  • Resources for Austrian Genealogy
    by Sean Daly on October 25, 2023 at 4:50 pm

    October 26 is Austrian National Day! To celebrate, here are some resources for Austrian genealogy, many of which may help you as you research your ancestors. Check our curated list, you may find resources you haven’t used before!

  • Results of our “Save our Graves” weekend
    by Jean-Yves on October 17, 2023 at 6:01 am

    Many of you participated in our “Save or Graves” weekend, many thanks to all of you! Spotlight on this project and its participants around the world.

  • Are You Related To Katy Perry?
    by Jean-Yves on October 16, 2023 at 11:44 pm

    Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter and television personality. She is known for her influence on modern pop music and her camp style, being dubbed the “Queen of Camp” by Vogue and Rolling Stone.

  • Resources for Polish Genealogy
    by Sean Daly on October 13, 2023 at 3:28 pm

    Do you have Polish ancestry? The many border changes of Poland in the past centuries — including several partitions when the country was divided up by its neighbors — make Polish genealogy a true challenge. These resources will help you find your elusive forbears.

  • Save our Graves: Cemeteries added to Geneanet in September 2023
    by Jean-Yves on October 3, 2023 at 10:07 am

    Because cemeteries are one of the most important resources for genealogists, Geneanet has launched the project “Save our Graves” to capture graves before they are lost. More than 5 million graves are already available! Here are the cemeteries added in September 2023: Australia Kangaroo Valley Cemetery, Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales, 185 graves (just3thoughts) Canada

  • Geneastar: New Famous Family Trees Added in September 2023
    by Jean-Yves on October 3, 2023 at 9:52 am

    Have you ever heard of Geneastar? Geneastar is a Geneanet website that focuses on the genealogy of famous people. Some new famous family trees have been added to Geneastar in September 2023: Paul WILLIAMS, American composer, singer, songwriter, and actor Amber TAMBLYN, American actress and author Josh DUHAMEL, American actor Hugh GROSVENOR, British aristocrat and

  • Geneanet ‘Save our Graves’ Weekend, October 13-15, 2023
    by Jean-Yves on September 28, 2023 at 5:00 am

    On October 13-15, 2023, take pictures of graves in a nearby cemetery.

  • Download, Print and Share Your Geneanet Family Tree as a List
    by Jean-Yves on September 18, 2023 at 11:00 pm

    On Geneanet, you can download, print and share your family tree in a number of charts and lists.

  • Matches and comparisons: what is changing
    by Jean-Yves on September 14, 2023 at 11:00 pm

    Matches and comparisons have a new name! Don’t worry, none of the features you use are disappearing, and work as before: these are just technical and look & feel improvements. Here’s a quick overview of the changes.

  • Celebrate the King of Sweden’s Jubilee With the House of Bernadotte Family Tree
    by Sean Daly on September 11, 2023 at 2:36 pm

    On September 15, King Carl XVI Gustaf will celebrate 50 years on the throne of Sweden. To mark this event, genealogists and community members at Geneanet searched archives throughout France for a special surprise present: unseen documents about the King’s French ancestor, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte! Visit our tree to see these fascinating documents.

  • Offer a Beautiful Ancestry Chart To Your Family and Friends!
    by Jean-Yves on September 4, 2023 at 11:00 pm

    On Geneanet, you can download (in PDF) and print ancestry and descendancy charts for free!

  • Geneastar: New Famous Family Trees Added in August 2023
    by Jean-Yves on September 1, 2023 at 2:05 pm

    Have you ever heard of Geneastar? Geneastar is a Geneanet website that focuses on the genealogy of famous people. Some new famous family trees have been added to Geneastar in August 2023: Reed HASTINGS, American billionaire businessman, co-founder, and executive chairman of Netflix, Inc. Steven ADLER, American musician, drummer and co-songwriter of the hard rock

  • Save our Graves: Cemeteries added to Geneanet in August 2023
    by Jean-Yves on September 1, 2023 at 1:35 pm

    Because cemeteries are one of the most important resources for genealogists, Geneanet has launched the project “Save our Graves” to capture graves before they are lost. More than 5 million graves are already available! Here are the cemeteries added in August 2023: Australia Bong Bong Cemetery, Bong Bong, New South Wales, 334 graves (just3thoughts) Mortis

  • Resources for Swedish Genealogy
    by Sean Daly on August 24, 2023 at 7:25 am

    Were your ancestors from Sweden? There is a long tradition of careful recordkeeping in Sweden, which Swedes continued after emigrating to North America. Here is a rich list of resources which can help you understand the specifics of Swedish genealogy and go further researching your family history!

  • Finding Your Ancestors From Alsace-Lorraine
    by Sean Daly on August 5, 2023 at 4:55 pm

    Alsace and Lorraine are two distinct regions in eastern France, each with a long and storied history, and coveted by empires and states. “Alsace-Lorraine” refers specifically to the lands where Germanic dialects are spoken: upper and lower Alsace and the Moselle valley in Lorraine. Explanations.

  • Geneastar: New Famous Family Trees Added in July 2023
    by Jean-Yves on August 1, 2023 at 7:10 am

    Have you ever heard of Geneastar? Geneastar is a Geneanet website that focuses on the genealogy of famous people. Some new famous family trees have been added to Geneastar in July 2023: John TRUMBULL, American poet William WOODBRIDGE, American politician, 2nd Governor of Michigan Laurel LEE, American lawyer and politician Carolyn GOODMAN, American politician Rick

  • Save our Graves: Cemeteries added to Geneanet in July 2023
    by Jean-Yves on August 1, 2023 at 6:38 am

    Because cemeteries are one of the most important resources for genealogists, Geneanet has launched the project “Save our Graves” to capture graves before they are lost. More than 5 million graves are already available! Here are the cemeteries added in July 2023: Australia St Laurence O’Toole Catholic Cemetery, Currawang, New South Wales, 62 graves (just3thoughts)

  • New York City opens new naturalizations database
    by Sean Daly on July 12, 2023 at 12:02 am

    Naturalization documents are rich in information for genealogists. Did your European immigrants settle in New York City? The boroughs (counties) of Queens and the Bronx have just opened a new online database with 400,000 fresh color scans never before online, with more boroughs to come!

  • Adding sources to your Geneanet tree
    by Sean Daly on July 7, 2023 at 4:25 pm

    At Geneanet, we believe genealogy is about sharing — cousins and fellow genealogists benefiting from your research and vice versa. A key aspect of that is documenting your tree: providing others with information proving the accuracy of your tree, in the interest of all. Copying bad data is bad!

  • Geneastar: New Famous Family Trees Added in June 2023
    by Jean-Yves on July 4, 2023 at 8:32 am

    Have you ever heard of Geneastar? Geneastar is a Geneanet website that focuses on the genealogy of famous people. Some new famous family trees have been added to Geneastar in June 2023: Kinsley S. BINGHAM, American politician and lawyer William BRADFORD, American lawyer and judge Thomas LAW, Reformer of British policy in India, where he

  • Save our Graves: Cemeteries added to Geneanet in June 2023
    by Jean-Yves on July 4, 2023 at 8:05 am

    Because cemeteries are one of the most important resources for genealogists, Geneanet has launched the project “Save our Graves” to capture graves before they are lost. More than 5 million graves are already available! Here are the cemeteries added in June 2023: Australia Saint Brelade’s Parish Church, Les Creux, Channel Islands, 15 graves (sclamaron15) St

  • 23 million certificates added from the Baltic states!
    by Aliénor on June 26, 2023 at 1:00 pm

    In the past few months, a number of index and archival document collections have been published online at Geneanet.

  • Canada’s 1931 census has been released!
    by Sean Daly on June 23, 2023 at 4:21 pm

    Canada released its 1931 census on June 1. Looking for your people? Here’s a summary of where to find it and how to search it!

  • General Slocum genealogies: a thousand source documents added
    by Sean Daly on June 14, 2023 at 3:23 pm

    On June 15, 1904, the awful General Slocum steamboat disaster in New York City decimated the German-American community of Kleindeutschland: over a thousand women and children perished. At Geneanet, we honor the victims and survivors of the tragedy by documenting the lives of every known passenger. It’s a free and collaborative project, open to all.

  • Meet Christophe Becker, Geneanet’s New President
    by Jean-Yves on June 6, 2023 at 1:30 pm

    Hello Christophe, after the departure of Jacques Le Marois, you have been appointed President of Geneanet. Can you introduce yourself?

  • Save our Graves: Cemeteries added to Geneanet in May 2023
    by Jean-Yves on June 1, 2023 at 9:01 am

    Because cemeteries are one of the most important resources for genealogists, Geneanet has launched the project “Save our Graves” to capture graves before they are lost. More than 5 million graves are already available! Here are the cemeteries added in May 2023: Australia Tirrannaville Anglican Church Cemetery, Tirrannaville, New South Wales, 62 graves (just3thoughts) St

  • Geneastar: New Famous Family Trees Added in May 2023
    by Jean-Yves on June 1, 2023 at 8:31 am

    Have you ever heard of Geneastar? Geneastar is a Geneanet website that focuses on the genealogy of famous people. Some new famous family trees have been added to Geneastar in May 2023: Bathsheba Spooner, First woman in American history to be executed following the Declaration of Independence John Mathews, Founding Father of the United States

  • Are You Related To Angelina Jolie?
    by Jean-Yves on May 30, 2023 at 8:15 am

    Angelina Jolie (born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards, she has been named Hollywood’s highest-paid actress multiple times.

  • Refer a Friend or Family Member, and Get a Geneanet Premium Extra Month Free
    by Jean-Yves on May 29, 2023 at 12:39 pm

    On Geneanet, you can refer a friend or family member, and get a Geneanet Premium extra month free!

  • The Slocum Families: Walter Bernard Miller, the Survivor Who Flew For France In The Great War
    by Sean Daly on May 26, 2023 at 4:47 pm

    The General Slocum Families Trees collaborative project is documenting the 700+ families impacted by the 1904 excursion steamer disaster in New York, when over a thousand German-American women and children died. In this multipart series, we are telling the stories of some of these passengers.

  • 74 million certificates added from Central Europe!
    by Aliénor on May 16, 2023 at 9:27 am

    In the past few months, a number of index and archival document collections have been published online at Geneanet.

  • Results of our “Save our Graves” weekend
    by Jean-Yves on May 15, 2023 at 7:25 am

    Many of you participated in our “Save or Graves” weekend, many thanks to all of you! Spotlight on this project and its participants around the world.

  • The Slocum Families: Emily Ziegler and the Unrequited Love of John Flammang Schrank
    by Sean Daly on May 12, 2023 at 4:30 pm

    The General Slocum Families Trees collaborative project is documenting the 700+ families impacted by the 1904 excursion steamer disaster in New York, when over a thousand German-American women and children died. In this multipart series, we are telling the stories of some of these passengers.

  • Save our Graves: Cemeteries added to Geneanet in April 2023
    by Jean-Yves on May 2, 2023 at 7:45 am

    Because cemeteries are one of the most important resources for genealogists, Geneanet has launched the project “Save our Graves” to capture graves before they are lost. More than 5 million graves are already available! Here are the cemeteries added in April 2023: Australia St Patrick Marulan Catholic Cemetery, Marulan South, New South Wales, 37 graves

  • Geneastar: New Famous Family Trees Added in April 2023
    by Jean-Yves on May 2, 2023 at 7:02 am

    Have you ever heard of Geneastar? Geneastar is a Geneanet website that focuses on the genealogy of famous people. Some new famous family trees have been added to Geneastar in April 2023: Marc Hamilton, Canadian singer Michael Emerson, American actor Carrie Preston, American actress Nicholas Gilman, American Founding Father Paul Martin, Canadian lawyer and politician,

  • Geneanet ‘Save our Graves’ Weekend, May 12-14, 2023
    by Jean-Yves on April 30, 2023 at 11:00 pm

    On May 12-14, 2023, take pictures of graves in a nearby cemetery.

  • Resources for Dutch Genealogy
    by Sean Daly on April 26, 2023 at 8:58 pm

    Do you have roots in the Netherlands? Or perhaps New Netherland (USA) or the Dutch Cape Colony (South Africa)? Learn about Dutch resources which can help you make discoveries and build your genealogy!

  • 150 million certificates added from Northern Europe!
    by Aliénor on April 18, 2023 at 9:57 am

    In the past few months, a number of index and archival document collections have been published online at Geneanet.

  • Are You Related To Shirley MacLaine?
    by Jean-Yves on April 18, 2023 at 8:00 am

    Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty, April 24, 1934) is an American actress, author and former dancer. Known for her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed and eccentric women, she has received numerous accolades over her seven-decade career, including an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Volpi Cups and two Silver Bears. She has been honored with a Gala Tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 1995, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1998, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2012, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2013. MacLaine is one of the last remaining stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

  • Resources for English and Welsh Genealogy
    by Sean Daly on April 14, 2023 at 5:21 pm

    Do you have ancestors in England or Wales? The former Roman province of Britannia much later became the former British Empire, with its colonizers around the globe. And while every region in England has kept specific cultural traditions, the Welsh have maintained their identity and indeed their language to this day. Learn about resources to help you find your forbears!

  • How to Use Marginal Annotations in French Deeds
    by Wesley Eames on March 20, 2018 at 10:00 am

    By Sophie Boudarel   Original text written in French Marginal annotations are, as we saw in my last post, a precious element of French deeds. Although they are useful in descending genealogy, they may contain traps that must be skipped. All our ancestors did not die at age 50, and we may find exceptionally marginal… The post How to Use Marginal Annotations in French Deeds appeared first on Trace.com.

  • III. Explaining Genealogic Germany – Some notes on civil records
    by Wesley Eames on March 19, 2018 at 10:11 am

    By Kathrin Kweseleit Most requests that reach me are dealing with the search for ancestors in the pre-civil record era but some are dealing with finding relatives during the time period the German Empire was existing or for finding relatives today. In this case civil records are great. But even if your ancestors left during… The post III. Explaining Genealogic Germany – Some notes on civil records appeared first on Trace.com.

  • 5 More Tips for Embarking on African-American Genealogy
    by Wesley Eames on March 16, 2018 at 10:00 am

    By Julia Joy Dumas This is the 2nd installment of Tips for Embarking on African-American Genealogy. Click here to read the 1st installment of Tips for Embarking on African-American Genealogy.   Patience + Perseverance = Pride   Genealogy research is not for the faint of heart. It is important to remember to be patient. It… The post 5 More Tips for Embarking on African-American Genealogy appeared first on Trace.com.

  • 5 Tips for Embarking on African-American Genealogy
    by Wesley Eames on March 15, 2018 at 10:00 am

    By Julia Joy Dumas Relax, you got this! The biggest misconception regarding African-American genealogy is the fear that Black people are invisible in America’s written historical records. Some people I speak with believe finding one’s African-American family history is impossible. I must admit, there are more challenges, but it is not impossible. Begin your research… The post 5 Tips for Embarking on African-American Genealogy appeared first on Trace.com.

  • Marginal Annotations in French Deeds
    by Wesley Eames on March 14, 2018 at 10:00 am

    By Sophie Boudarel Original text written in French Marginal annotations are a measure of publicity intended to establish a relationship between two acts of civil status or between an act and the transcription of another act or judgment.They are, for the genealogist, a valuable element of his research. Varied and numerous, they make it possible… The post Marginal Annotations in French Deeds appeared first on Trace.com.

  • Using Historical Documents to Capture Student Engagement
    by Wesley Eames on March 13, 2018 at 10:00 am

    By Nikki Paine As well as my genealogical work, I also work part time teaching mathematics to adults in the community for a local further education college. This week I was planning a session on revision for mean, mode, median, range, tally charts and graphs. Not the most inspiring of subjects for learners who find… The post Using Historical Documents to Capture Student Engagement appeared first on Trace.com.

  • Mothering Sunday
    by Wesley Eames on March 12, 2018 at 10:00 am

    By Anne Sherman Today Mother’s Day and Mothering Sunday are seen as the same day, and are celebrated at the same time, however they started as very separate celebrations. Mother’s Day In America Mother’s Day officially dates from about 1914 and was the result of a campaign by Anna Jarvis, whose mother had died on… The post Mothering Sunday appeared first on Trace.com.

  • Finding Records From the War to End All Wars: Thinking “Outside-The-Box”
    by Wesley Eames on March 9, 2018 at 10:00 am

    By Sharon Hall There certainly are obvious ways for genealogists to obtain World War I records, and you’ll find those at sites like Ancestry.com, Fold3 and more (see Part I).  For instance, you may begin by typing “World War I” in the keyword field (with quotes) in Ancestry’s Card Catalog and you’ll see a long… The post Finding Records From the War to End All Wars: Thinking “Outside-The-Box” appeared first on Trace.com.

  • Civil War Pension Records: A Wealth of Knowledge
    by Wesley Eames on March 8, 2018 at 10:00 am

    By Erika Grizzard Did you know that there is a wealth of information hidden in Civil War pension records? I certainly didn’t until recently, when these records helped me to begin knocking down a long-standing brick wall in my own family’s genealogy. I thought that the information gained wouldn’t extend beyond an acknowledgement of service and a… The post Civil War Pension Records: A Wealth of Knowledge appeared first on Trace.com.

  • Going to College…back in the Day…even girls!
    by Wesley Eames on March 7, 2018 at 10:00 am

    By Bonnie Samuel In 1870 America, there were only 500 public high schools with enrollment of about 50,000 students (U.S. population was almost 40 million in 1870 as per census data). At that time, enrollment had opened to accept females, mostly to be trained as teachers. Reading, writing and arithmetic curriculums were also expanding to… The post Going to College…back in the Day…even girls! appeared first on Trace.com.

  • A Fond Farewell
    by The Ancestry Insider on May 19, 2017 at 12:00 pm

    Dear friends, I’m afraid the time has come for the Ancestry Insider to say goodbye. Over ten years ago I put virtual pen to virtual paper. Now it is time to put it down. I wonder if a couple of times a year you might still see something from me, but this may be it. This newsletter has brought me lots of enjoyment. I’ve enjoyed trying to bring you news you didn’t get anywhere else. I’ve enjoyed teaching how to better utilize Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. Through my reports about national conferences, I’ve enjoyed promoting education. Through my series on serendipity, I’ve enjoyed sharing my belief about the miraculous nature of life and family history. Through my Monday mailbox series, I’ve enjoyed answering your questions. Through my series, “Records Say the Darnedest Things,” I’ve enjoyed teaching about records and methodology. I have enjoyed the opportunities to acknowledge FamilySearch’s sponsor—and my current employer—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This newsletter began at a time when Ancestry’s communication policy was to say nothing. FamilySearch didn’t do much better when I started reporting on the rollout of New FamilySearch. Today, both organizations have healthy, vibrant communication programs. This newsletter has also consumed about six hours of my personal life each week and I think it is time for a change. But I put down this pen with a great measure of sadness. This newsletter has given me the opportunity to rub shoulders with many wonderful people. Thank you. For that I am most grateful. Of myself, I am pretty insignificant and I am forever humbled that you would consider this newsletter worth a little of your time. Before I say goodbye, I’d like to personally thank each and every single one of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you… Wow! This is going to take some time… Please feel free to go about your lives while I finish up. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …;  (inside joke), …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, …, … Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • The Science Behind AncestryDNA — #NGS2017GEN
    by The Ancestry Insider on May 18, 2017 at 12:00 pm

    Julie Granka, of AncestryDNA, spoke about “Understanding the Science Behind Your DNA Results” at the 2017 National Genealogical Society Conference last week. I’m hardly qualified to report about this session, but I’ll give it a try. Julie started by defining several terms, utilizing lots of diagrams. I was hoping to link to some pages on Ancestry.com that contain explanations as clear and simple as Julie’s. No luck. If I am going to provide links to basic information about DNA and genealogy, I will have to send you to someplace other than Ancestry. That is too bad. They should publish Julie’s presentation on their website. Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist, has provided a nice list of links to introductory information. See “DNA Basics for a Sound Foundation.” Suffice it to say, there are basic building blocks of DNA that are represented by the letters A, C, G, and T. Our chromosomes are composed of long strings of these—3 billion, in fact. Almost all the letters are the same in every single person on the planet. Julie said that only about 10 million are different among different individuals and populations. A DNA test looks at about 700,000 of them. A location in the string of letters where the letters differ between individuals is called a SNP (pronounced “snip”). A group of inherited letters is called a haplotype. Julie studies SNPs and haplotypes in the context of human populations. “Patterns of SNPs and haplotypes among human populations are driven by history,” she said. “As humans migrate, they bring their DNA with them.” She explained the founder effect: Not everyone in a population has the same SNPs and haplotypes. If a small number of people migrate somewhere, their most common SNPs and haplotypes are likely to be different than the parent population. They have founded a population with a different profile than the parent population. A related phenomena is isolation. If I understand correctly, newborns in an isolated population are statistically more likely to have the most common SNPs and haplotypes of their population. These effects make different populations look different genetically. AncestryDNA uses the SNPs and haplotypes to determine three things.  Tiny amounts of the haplotypes and SNPs associated with a population from the distant past (hundreds of thousands of years) survive in our DNA. AncestryDNA uses this information to provide your ethnicity estimates. To determine what SNPs and haplotypes are associated with distant populations, AncestryDNA uses reference panels. These are individuals whose haplotypes and SNPs are thought to be representative of the distant populations. AncestryDNA has 26 reference panels. Founder effect and isolation make ethnicity estimates easy. Migration makes ethnicity estimates difficult. Large amounts of shared haplotypes between two persons indicate recent common ancestors. The more closely related, the more DNA is shared. AncestryDNA uses this information to provide your DNA matches. There are several challenges in determining DNA matches. Just sharing DNA doesn’t mean you are closely related. DNA you share for other reasons is called identical by state (IBS). DNA shared because of recent common ancestry is called identical by descent (IBD). AncestryDNA has to determine the difference. Another challenge arises from the way DNA is processed in the laboratory. For any given SNP, the data coming from the lab does not differentiate between the value contributed by your father and the value coming from your mother. AncestryDNA uses tools to estimate which came from which. She didn’t say this, but I would guess that if they ever get it wrong, you could be shown relatives who aren’t really your relatives. In between the two extremes, AncestryDNA searches for groups of people who share large numbers of matches to others within a group. They use this information to provide your Genetic Communities. It is possible to share no DNA at all with cousins. The closer the cousin, the higher the probability of shared DNA. Julie showed these numbers: Cousin Probability of shared DNA 1st 100 2nd 100 3rd 98 4th 71 5th 32 6th 11 7th 3.2 She showed a chart that looked like the one below. I think it indicated the average amount of shared DNA between two close relatives. It went by so fast, I am not certain. However, Blaine T. Bettinger provides similar data, which I’ve charted below. Source: Blaine T. Bettinger, “The Shared CM Project – Version 2.0 (June 25, 2016),” The Genetic Genealogist (http://www.thegeneticgenealogist.com : updated 31 July 2016). AncestryDNA uses these numbers to estimate your relationship to your DNA matches. She covered more, but that’s about all I have time and space for here. I’m sorry that I’m not as clear as she was, but hopefully you learned something.     Chromosome inheritance diagram credit: Catherine A. Ball, et. al., “DNA Circles White Paper,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com/cs/dna-help/circles/whitepaper : updated 18 November 2014), figure 2.1. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • FamilySearch: A Global Experience at #NGS2017GEN
    by The Ancestry Insider on May 16, 2017 at 12:00 pm

    The 2017 National Genealogical Society conference wrapped up last Saturday, and after a couple of articles, so will I. Diane Loosely of FamilySearch spoke at the FamilySearch luncheon. Her title was “FamilySearch: A Global Experience.” She described three definitions of global for which FamilySearch is global. One definitions of global refers to world-wide global reach. Diane showed us a FamilySearch booklet, My Family: Stories that Bring Us Together. It is available in 66 languages. FamilySearch has 5,000 family history centers located in 33 countries. They offer support to patrons in 13 languages. FamilySearch operates cameras in countries across the globe. They have 5.6 billion names published online from many countries. They publish an additional 2 million names a day. Diane showed a video, “Preserving and Accessing the Records of the World,” documenting record destruction in the Philippines resulting from super-Typhoon Yolanda. One town’s records, indeed all the town offices, were completely destroyed. All that was left was the cement floor of the building. Because FamilySearch had photographed their records, FamilySearch was able to restore all the records to them. Diane said that FamilySearch is gathering the genealogies of villages in Africa that, today, are preserved only by “Rememberers.” Aging village elders have memorized the genealogies of the village. Many are old and their knowledge is perishing with them. In the case of 95-year old Opanin Kwame Nketia, FamilySearch interviewed him and documented 12 generations and 1,000 people. A couple of days later when they returned to thank him, they discovered he had passed way. Diane said that 50 years ago FamilySearch canvassed Mexico, filming their records. It is thought that today 15 to 20% of those records have perished. Another sense of the word global is the idea of operating on a whole set of things. To find and search all of FamilySearch’s records, you have to know a few ways of accessing the records. Diane showed a Kentucky probate collection containing 12,000 names and nearly a million images. Obviously, FamilySearch had not completely indexed the collection. To access all the records, you have to be prepared to browse through the images like you would microfilm. She also pointed out that some records are accessed only through the catalog. Another sense of the word global is embracing the whole of something. “We feel a responsibility to help everyone discover their family history,” she said. She shared the quote from the Emory university study stating that the more children know about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives and the higher their self-esteem. FamilySearch recently remodeled the first floor of the Salt Lake Family History Library to appeal to a younger generation. Diane shared the well-known quote of Alex Haley: In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know our heritage—to know who we are and where we have come from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness. She then challenged us to choose a person we would like to introduce to family history. Prepare beforehand. Then go and give them a meaningful experience with family history.     Note: I was interested in where one might find Alex Haley’s original quote, as very few people cite the source. Barbara Renick in her book Genealogy 101: How to Trace Your Family’s History and Heritage (Thomas Nelson Inc., 2003) is the only source I could find who cited a source: “What Roots Means to Me,” Reader’s Digest (May 1977), 73-74. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Darned Page Order
    by The Ancestry Insider on May 12, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Tracy Reinhart is a long-time researcher who remembers way back when accessing the census meant scrolling through microfilm. Long ago she discovered her Braford ancestors’ family in Cannon, Kent, Michigan was one of those split across pages in a census. Online publishers like Ancestry and FamilySearch have to identify these split families and join them back together. That’s a fairly straightforward process unless you run into the situation Tracy ran into recently. “Part of the 1870 census for Cannon, Kent Co. Mich.  was not filmed in page order,” she told me.  “As a result,  when a family list carries over from one page to the next,  you will find wrong family associations.” She found that for Cannon, Kent, Michigan: Image 28 on Ancestry.com is page 28 and ends with the Henry Wolaver family. Image 29 on Ancestry.com is page 30. Notice page 29 was skipped. It starts with Emma Braford. Since Emma has no family or dwelling numbers, we know that she belongs to the family on the previous page. Because the pages were filmed in the wrong order, Ancestry erroneously places her in the Henry Wolaver family. This page ends with the Harry (or Harvy) Haines family. Image 30 on Ancestry.com is page 31, which correctly continues with Mary Haines. Image 31 on Ancestry.com is page 29, the skipped page. It ends with the A. B. Brayford family. I was interested to see how FamilySearch handled this situation. Researchers with access to both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org universally advise using Ancestry.com for census research and the 1870 census on FamilySearch.org is a good illustration of why. If you search for Cannon, Kent, Michigan, you get everyone living in the entire state of Michigan! If you don’t know where your person lived, but you somehow find them, FamilySearch doesn’t indicate where the person was! The only advantage I see for searching FamilySearch’s 1870 census is that in a search you can specify another family member (in the “Other Person” field). That’s not possible on Ancestry. But I digress… As I compared FamilySearch.org with Ancestry.com, I noticed several interesting things. The image order on FamilySearch.org matches Ancestry.com. FamilySearch didn’t erroneously combine the Wolaver and Braford families. But they also didn’t correctly join the the two parts of the Brayford/Braford family. While Ancestry has 31 images for Cannon, Kent, Michigan, FamilySearch has 32. Ancestry has left out one of the pages from the microfilm! I’ve seen FamilySearch do the same thing. Neither company discloses the censure. The companies deem the image to have no genealogical value so they delete it. This is a very bad practice! There is no guarantee the decision maker understands advanced methodologies that may require a knowledge of the existence of that page, its contents, or the lack thereof. (A little looking showed this particular page is facing page 31 on folio 139. It has no names on it.) The digital folder number (004271429) and image number (00268) for Emma Bradford on FamilySearch.org match the image URL on Ancestry.com: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7163/4271429_00268. That’s kind of techie, but the takeaway is that Ancestry seems to be using FamilySearch images. FamilySearch misindexed the name Braford on page 30 as Bradford. Ancestry did not. Ancestry doesn’t seem to be using FamilySearch’s index. I see several lessons we should draw from this: If you don’t find your ancestor on one website, check others. Search several images forward and backward from your ancestor. Your ancestor’s name can be spelled differently by the same person in the same record. Look at and try to understand all the information on a page. When the day comes that we no longer have access to microfilm, there will be errors that we can no longer detect or overcome. Everybody makes mistakes. Ancestry. FamilySearch. Microfilm. Everybody. ”Just a heads up for something that I never expected to find on Ancestry,” Tracy said. “Grrrrrrr” Thank you, Tracy. Image credit: Ancestry.com. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • NGS Announces Tom Jones Documentation Book at #NGS2017GEN
    by The Ancestry Insider on May 10, 2017 at 12:00 pm

    Today marks the opening of the 2017 National Genealogical Society Conference. At the conference NGS is announcing Mastering Genealogical Documentation by Thomas W. Jones. Tom is considered one of the top educators in the genealogical community. He is a PhD, Certified Genealogist, Certified Genealogical Lecturer, Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, Fellow of the National Genealogical Society, and Fellow of the Utah Genealogical Association. He is the author of Mastering Genealogical Proof, another in the NGS Special Topics Series. According to NGS, “Mastering Genealogical Documentation teaches genealogists how to describe and cite their sources—including sources for which no model citation exists. … In this new step-by-step guidebook, Dr. Thomas W. Jones provides a foundation in the principles, logic, and decisions that underpin genealogical documentation. Exercises are provided at the end of each chapter (with answers at the back of the book) to reinforce concepts and provide opportunities for practice.” You can order the book in the store on the NGS website. It’s true that I’m prejudiced (I volunteer for the NGS), but I’m genuinely excited to get this book. I’ve attended Tom’s lectures on documentation at national institutes and they have been most helpful. Speaking of the NGS Conference, it’s not too late to attend. You can register onsite. For more information, visit the National Genealogical Society Conference website. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Free Exhibit Hall at #NGS2017GEN
    by The Ancestry Insider on May 10, 2017 at 11:00 am

    The 2017 National Genealogical Society conference started today (10 May 2017) in Raleigh, North Carolina. The exhibit hall is free, so even if you don’t register for classes, come see mini-classes, product demos, product announcements, sell prices, and give-away prizes. If you are in the area, you should come down and check it out at the Raleigh Convention Center. The exhibit hall opens at 9:00am each morning with the exception of 9:30 on Wednesday. It closes at 5:30pm each day, with the exception of 3:00pm Saturday.The Ancestry booth presentation schedule for Wednesday, 10 May is: Ancestry, Thursday, 11 May: Ancestry, Friday, 12 May: Ancestry, Saturday, 13 May: Other vendors do product demos, either on a schedule or by request. Lisa Louise Cooke included the Genealogy Gems schedule in the conference bag: Stop by the National Genealogical Society’s booth to enter daily drawings, buy their latest books, and get books signed by the authors. Judging from the advertising inserts in the conference bag, I imagine at the MyHeritage booth they would give you a coupon code for 30% off MyHeritage subscriptions. Likewise for a 15% coupon code from jigsaw genealogy. Genealogical Studies might give you a promo code for a free course and let you enter a drawing for additional free courses. Excelsior College has a drawing for an AncestryDNA kit. It’s not too late to register for one or more days of the conference. Come on down and check it out. Oh, and FamilySearch is offering free accounts in their booth. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Review: Unofficial Ancestry.com Workbook
    by The Ancestry Insider on May 9, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Somehow I missed the release of the Unofficial Guide to Ancestry.com by Nancy Hendrickson. When I reviewed Unofficial Guide to FamilySearch.org, I became a big fan of Family Tree Book’s unofficial series, so I was very happy when I received a review copy of the new Ancestry book, Unofficial Ancestry.com Workbook: A How-to Manual for Tracing Your Family Tree on the #1 Genealogy Website. Chapters are organized around record types. The chapters of the book are: Search and the Card Catalog Census Records Birth, Marriage, and Death Records Military Records Immigration Records Historical Maps, Images, Newspapers, and Publications Social History [directories, tax records, land records, histories, etc.] AncestryDNA Each chapter contains overviews of the databases of the chapter’s record type and helpful instructions on using that type. For example, from the vital records chapter: Death records can open up new lines of research, primarily because they can contain the name of the person’s parents (including the mother’s maiden name) as well as where the parents and the decedent were born. Each chapter has a number of exercises. Don’t think workbook quizzes; think step-by-step walkthroughs.  Each chapter also contains some helpful “search strategies” for the chapter’s record type. Here is an example search strategy from the census chapter: Don’t assume your ancestor was skipped during an enumeration. Look for alternate surname spellings, first name shown as initials, or location in a neighboring county. Each chapter contains workbook forms and worksheets for things like searching the census and abstracting birth records. Appendices have additional checklists, worksheets, and census abstract forms. While a book obviously isn’t going to contain enough copies of each form or worksheet, additional copies can be downloaded from the Family Tree Magazine website.   Unofficial Ancestry.com Workbook: A How-to Manual for Tracing Your Family Tree on the #1 Genealogy WebsiteNancy Hendrickson8.2 x 0.6 x 10.9 inches, 192 pp., paperback. 2017.ISBN 1440349061Family Tree Books1-855-278-0408, shopfamilytree.com$10.99 Kindle$13.19 Google eBook$14.57 Amazon$21.99 Paperback/eBook list price, plus shipping. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Darned Record: No Father — Just Growed
    by The Ancestry Insider on May 5, 2017 at 1:00 pm

    We depend upon records to reveal the “truth” about the past. Yet sometimes records have anomalies. Some are amusing or humorous. Some are interesting or weird. Some are peculiar or suspicious. Some are infuriating, or downright laughable. Records say the darnedest things! Reader Steve Squier shared this: Hello, I thought you might like to use the attached image for one of your “Records Say the Darnedest Things” posts. The first entry in this register of births is for an unnamed daughter of a Miss Knox, of whose father the clerk wrote: “hain’t got none just growed.” Source: Taylor County, Iowa, Register of Births, vol. 1 (1880–1897): 160, entry no. 110 for [unnamed female]; County Courthouse, Bedford; digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org/search/catalog/679412 : accessed 16 April 2017); imaged from FHL film no. 1,035,143, item no. 1. Unfortunately, I can’t show you the image. To see it, visit your local family history center and click here: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DYWS-4V5. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Dear #NGS2017GEN Attendees
    by The Ancestry Insider on May 4, 2017 at 1:00 pm

    For those headed off to the 2017 National Genealogical Society Conference, in Raleigh, North Carolina, from 10‒13 May 2017, I have two items: syllabus and conference app. I attended a genealogy conference recently and heard that some attendees—first time conference attendees—were confused when presenters kept referring to handouts and syllabi. They were surprised that other attendees seemed to have copies of these handouts when they, themselves did not. Don’t be caught in the same situation at NGS. If you paid for a printed syllabus or syllabus on a flash drive, then you will receive said syllabus when you check-in at the conference. If not (or even if you did), you should download the syllabus PDF file beforehand and print any pages that you wish to hold in your physical paws during the conference. All conference attendees should have received by now an email with instructions on how to download the syllabus. (I received my email on Friday, 28 April 2017.) The file is 70 megabytes, so it will take forever to download if you wait and try to do it using the conference center wi-fi. Wi-fi connections at conference centers are seldom robust. I also wanted to point out that the conference app is available now for download. To download it, visit http://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/mobile-app. The app offers another way to access class syllabi. To access the syllabus through the app requires a password. You received that password in the same email that gave instructions on downloading the PDF. Reading the syllabus on a phone is difficult, but it isn’t bad on a tablet. If you have attended an NGS conference before and never deleted the conference app, then when you install this time, there is an additional step you must take to see this year’s conference. The new conference app uses a blue color scheme (below, left). If you see the green color scheme from last year (below, right), you need to tap the icon on the bottom row that is titled “Exit to Conference List.” Then select the 2017 conference. The third of the two things I wanted to mention was the class schedule. Look through it beforehand to decide which classes you wish to attend, and which classes to attend if your first choices are full. If you are inclined to purchase recordings of some sessions, consider attending other sessions at corresponding times. Sessions marked “(R)” will be audio recorded and those marked “(LS)” will be lived streamed and video recorded. Hope to see you next week, at the 2017 National Genealogical Society Family History Conference! Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • NGS Live Streaming – #NGS2017GEN
    by The Ancestry Insider on May 3, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    If you can’t make it to the 2017 National Genealogical Society Conference, all is not lost. NGS is offering select sessions via live streaming or for three-month’s later viewing. You can purchase five sessions for Thursday, 11 May 2017 and five sessions for Friday, 12 May 2017. Thursday: Viewers will be able to stream five lectures on DNA from 8:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. These lectures will demonstrate how DNA has revolutionized genealogy problem solving, clarified contradictions in records, and found female ancestors without a known maiden name. They will also offer advice on the best practices for analyzing autosomal DNA. $95 member, $115 non-member.      Friday: View five “BCG Skillbuilding” lectures by the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) from 8:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. This set of lectures will teach how to probe documents beyond the obvious, find rich evidence in deeds, use an ancestors’ neighbors, prepare a Genealogical Proof Summary, and build a solid conclusion from disparate evidence. $95 member, $115 non-member. x     All ten sessions can be purchased for $150 member, $185 non-member, if purchased before midnight, 10 May 2017. After 14 May 2017, the price jumps to $175 member, $215 non-member. Sessions can be viewed for three months following the conference. All packages include a full, electronic conference syllabus. For more information, or to purchase sessions, visit http://www.playbackngs.com/7770. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • AncestryDNA Whips Past 4 Million Samples
    by The Ancestry Insider on May 2, 2017 at 1:00 pm

    Four million. It’s staggering, really. AncestryDNA has exceeded four million samples in its DNA database! It took AncestryDNA three years to get the first million samples. (See “AncestryDNA Exceeds Million Mark” on my blog on 22 July 2015.) It took them 11 months to reach two million. (See “AncestryDNA Database Reaches Two Million” on 28 June 2016.) It took just seven months to get to the three million mark. (See “AncestryDNA Zips Past 3 Million Samples” on 19 January 2017.) Less than 4 months later, AncestryDNA has reached four million persons in the DNA database. (See “AncestryDNA Reaches 4 Million Customers in DNA Database” on the Ancestry blog, 27 April 2017.) AncestryDNA must be selling over 8,000 kits a day to grow that fast. Ancestry says as many people took their DNA test during that period as got married in the United States. They said “that’s about as fast as babies are born in the United States.” That’s astonishing. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Monday Mailbox: FamilySearch Change or User Change?
    by The Ancestry Insider on May 1, 2017 at 12:14 pm

    Dear Ancestry Insider, Hello, I enjoy reading your emails, and wonder if I missed something important, such as:         Did Familysearch.org change how personal family trees are managed?    Last week I looked up my Wilmot tree there, and found someone had changed a last name of an ancestor to Wilmont, when the father and grandson were right there as Wilmot. Duh??? A friend said the family trees are now wide open and anyone can add or change information.         Normally, all information is good, but in this case I am dealing with an idiot.   Then someone else gave my Hessian ancestor, John Stegman, a wife who was his mother-in-law, Does this mean that my tree can be changed by anyone going online to FamilySearch.org? If that is the case, I will not use the program anymore.  It would be a waste of time – I am not a church member – have served/helped many years in a local Family History library.Too many people are well meaning but uneducated on proof of sources.     Ellen Thorne Morris, Monmouth Co., New Jersey Dear Ellen, May Day! May Day! (Yes, today is the first of May. But I digress…) There has been no change. FamilySearch has Genealogies (personal trees) and it has Family Tree (a shared tree). What you are using is Family Tree, and yes, anyone can change anything. FamilySearch’s Genealogies feature is a GEDCOM preservation service. It is not an online tree management program like Family Tree or Ancestry Member Trees. It is merely a repository to preserve and share your life’s work. Export a GEDCOM file from your genealogy program. Go to FamilySearch.org. Select Free Account in the upper-right corner and create an account. Or if you already have an account, sign in. Select Search > Genealogies. Scroll to the bottom. Underneath “Contribute Your Research to the FamilySearch Community,” select Submit Tree. Follow the instructions to add your tree. You will be given the opportunity to synch your tree with Family Tree. That step is unnecessary, especially since it sounds like you already have. I don’t know how long it takes to appear, but when others go to Search > Genealogies and search for a person, they will see results from your tree along with the other contributed GEDCOMs. Ellen, let me close with a heartfelt thank you for your service in a family history center. Several times last month I had patrons express frustration at the limited hours of their local center. It is only through volunteers like yourself that FamilySearch family history centers are open at all. Thank you, thank you! Signed,—The Ancestry Insider Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Darned Carcinogenic Names
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 28, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    We depend upon records to reveal the “truth” about the past. Yet sometimes records have anomalies. Some are amusing or humorous. Some are interesting or weird. Some are peculiar or suspicious. Some are infuriating, or downright laughable. Records say the darnedest things! What parent names their child after some kind of cancer?! Brain Cancer Lung Cancer Prostate Cancer Skin Cancer Cancer de la Laringe (larynx) Cancer de la Matriz (uterus) Cancer Primitivo del Higado (Primitive Cancer of the Liver) Cancer del Riñon (kidney) Yes, records say the darnedest things! Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • NGS 2017 Conference Pre-Registration Ends Today – #NGS2017GEN
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 27, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Still need convincing? Pre-registration for the 2017 National Genealogical Society Conference ends today (27 April 2017), so you need to get on the stick. NGS has put together a heck of a program. NGS has loosely organized sessions into 10 tracks each day: Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday BCG Skillbuilding BCG Skillbuilding BCG Skillbuilding BCG Skillbuilding DNA DNA DNA DNA Research Planning Solving Problems Records & Repositories Research in the States North Carolina Historical Context Methodology North Carolina Historical Context Religion Military Records & Repositories Working with Records North Carolina African American Family Stories Tips & Techniques Records & Repositories Historical Context Methodology Military Technology Technology Records & Repositories Records & Repositories Organizing Research Native American Religion Methodology Beyond the Borders Methodology Solving Problems Pretty much every speaker is a nationally known expert or an expert in subjects in and around North Carolina. You may know these names (in no particular order): D. Joshua Taylor Thomas W. Jones Elizabeth Shown Mills J. Mark Lowe Judy G. Russell Mary M. Tedesco John Philip Colletta From Ancestry: Anne Gillespie Mitchell Anna Swayne Peter Drinkwater (Find A Grave, Newspapers.com) Juliana Szucs From FamilySearch: James Ison Diane C. Loosle David E. Rencher David S. Ouimette Robert Raymond To see the program online, go to http://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/program. To see the PDF registration brochure, click here. The National Genealogical Society 2017 Family History Conference is being held 10-13 May 2017 at the Raleigh, North Carolina convention center. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Pre-Registration for NGS Conference Ends Tomorrow #NGS2017GEN
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 26, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Pre-registration for the 2017 National Genealogical Society Conference ends tomorrow, 27 April 2017. The conference will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, 10-13 May 2017 at the Raleigh Convention Center. While you can register onsite starting noon on 9 May 2017, you must register by tomorrow for meals, events, and workshops. As I write this, some luncheon choices and workshops are already sold out. According to NGS, The conference program, Family History Lives Here, features more than 175 lectures from basic to advanced genealogical research, including eighteen presentations on DNA science and methodology. Finding records and effectively using them is the focus of fifty-seven lectures. Among the types of records discussed are a wide range of religious records, military and associated records, North Carolina and regional U.S. records, and African American and Native American records. Organizations sponsor luncheons during the conference and provide entertaining speakers ($32). The North Carolina Genealogical Society is hosting an evening event, “Pig Pickin” ($45). Pig Pickin’ features North Carolina BBQ, a five-member blue grass band, and local artisans. NGS is hosting its annual banquet with speaker Stuart Watson, an award-winning investigative reporter ($45).  The conference costs $240 for society members and $275 for non-members. One day registrations are available for $110 (member) and $120 (non-member). For more information or to register for the conference, visit http://conference.ngsgenealogy.org. I’m happy to serve again this year as an official social media reporter for the conference. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • AncestryDNA 20% Sale
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 25, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Happy DNA Day! Today (25 April) is the anniversary of the publication of articles theorizing the helical structure of DNA. Ancestry is celebrating with a 20% sale on its DNA kit. (Thomas MacEntee has put together a list.) Normally priced $99, Ancestry is offering the kit for $79 (plus taxes and shipping) through 26 April 2017 at 11:59pm Eastern Time. While I sometimes see a $89 sale price, I don’t recall seeing the $79 price since DNA Day last year. After Thanksgiving the past couple years they have offered the kit for $69. It seems likely they will do the same this year. At RootsTech this year they were trying to overshadow the announcement of kits from other vendors by selling AncestryDNA for $49 (with no shipping since you purchased in-person). I don’t know that you will ever see that happen again. Bottom line, if you aren’t willing to wait until after Thanksgiving, today’s the day to order AncestryDNA for $79. To see what scientists, teachers, and students are doing to commemorate DNA Day, visit the National Genome Research Institute website. Click here to order AncestryDNA for $79. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Serendipity in a Box
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 21, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Over 40 years ago Glen and Joyce Alt lived in Platteville, Wisconsin where they became friends with Glenda Clyde and her husband. After several years, the two couples moved their separate ways, the Alts to Massachusetts, the Clydes to Washington state, and the couples had no further contact. Years passed by. One day Glen’s parents were participating in a household auction in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. When they bought a box of stuff for a few dollars, the auctioneer threw in another for free. The Alts found the second box contained a bunch of old photographs and a piece of paper with names, dates, and places. For some reason, Glen’s mother threw them into a drawer instead of throwing them away. Eventually, she passed them on to Glen. Glen felt there must be someone out there who would place great value on the photographs, so he began investing great efforts in finding them. He had a clue. The paper identified the family as the Urens of Blanchardville, Wisconsin. Glen started looking, but without success. When he went to Wisconsin on vacation three years later, he availed himself of the opportunity to ask around. He asked some old friends in Platteville if they knew any Urens. One remembered that they had a mutual friend whose maiden name was U’Ren: Glenda Clyde. Twenty-eight years after they had last communicated, Glen found Glenda on social media. She thought the photographs and information might be of her family, so Glen sent the photographs and the paper to her. Glenda discovered that the pictures and paper were of her great-grandfather’s brother’s family. The information gave her seven new families and 31 new names. “These precious pictures/paper were bought in the Midwest, given to Glen on the East Coast and then sent to me, a family member, on the West Coast,” Glenda wrote. “Considering the incredible preservation and journey of this valuable information, to us, it truly is a miracle.”   Retold with the permission of Glenda Clyde. You can also read her story in R. Scott Lloyd, “Family History Moments: Package Deal,” Deseret News (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865675767/Package-deal.html : 16 March 2017). Photograph contributed by Glenda Clyde. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Ancestry Offering Irish Heritage Tour
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 20, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Ancestry ProGenealogists, in conjunction with Go Ahead Tours, is offering an 11 day tour to the Emerald Isle. “Discover the country’s highlights and enduring heritage with special insight from the expert AncestryProGenealogists team.” This guided tour visits Dublin, County Cork, County Kerry , Galway, and back to Dublin. For an extra cost, “continue your experience by adding an ancestral home visit to the places where your family members once lived, worked, worshipped, and went to school.” The tour runs 22 October through 1 November 2017. For more information, visit https://ancestry.grouptoursite.com/. Photograph by Gary Deane, used under license. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Erroneous AncestryDNA Genetic Community
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 19, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Reader Clytee Gold wrote me about an apparently erroneous AncestryDNA Genetic Community assignment. One of her two communities is “Mormon Pioneers in the West.” (First, I am jealous that she has two community assignments.) She is rather positive that none of her ancestors were ever Mormons. She has done extensive research and has never found any connection to the Church. As there are still pockets of prejudice against members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this assignment could be highly offensive to some people. Coincidentally—or not—it is not offensive to Clytee. Forty years ago she joined the Church and moved to Utah. She is, literally, the “Mormon Pioneer in the West” of her family. I’m not qualified to explain how this misassignment occurred, but fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Perhaps experts among my readers can correct me. Clytee gave one possible explanation: The only thing I can figure out is that is based on OTHERS testing (guess that makes a community – who else took the test to compare to), and that somewhere, 5-6 generations back a sibling of a great-great something of mine joined the church in Denmark in the late 1800’s and came to Utah as a “Mormon Pioneer in the west” and populated the west and there are lots of descendants who took the DNA test. Ancestry has explained that they use an algorithm called community detection to detect groups of individuals with a large number of interconnections. I think of it like large DNA Circles that don’t require common ancestors. The Mormon Pioneers community contains 89,000 testers. Just like a DNA Circle, Ancestry states a confidence level for your membership in the genetic community. My connection to the Mormon Pioneers community is “Very Likely.” Ancestry says they then examine the Ancestry Member Trees of the genetic community “to learn about the historical forces that may have brought their ancestors together.” Of course, some testers don’t have trees, some don’t include all their ancestors, some have ancestors without complete location information, and some have complete garbage in their trees. I assume Ancestry looks for common locations in 25-year increments. If they find a large number of ancestors who lived in the same place at the same time, they look into the history of that time period and why there was a large number of individuals there. Then they give that community a name. For example, the sweet spot for one genetic community is centered on Massachusetts in 1725-1750 (shown on the map, below left). Ancestry chose to name that community, “Settlers of Colonial New England.” Another centered on Utah at a much later time period, 1875-1900 (below, right). Ancestry called this one “Mormon Pioneers in the Mountain West.”   I assume Ancestry can follow the group forward and backward in time, up and down the member trees. This provides additional touchpoints to compare against historical sources and decide if they have correctly identified and named the genetic communities. Moving forward in time gives an interesting view on migration that may not be available from other demographic sources. This may truly be groundbreaking demographic tools. For example, look at the 1900-1925 map (below) of the descendants of early residents of Chihuahua and Durango. If I am interpreting the map right, by that time they were as likely to be living in El Paso as Chihuahua. (The large circle over central Texas represents ancestors whose member trees didn’t specify where in Texas they lived.) Moving backwards in time gives an interesting view on where the Mormons who settled in Utah came from. In the period 1825-1850, most were living in England, with a fair number in Denmark. (See map, below.) The surnames associated with the Mormon pioneer genetic community further point to Denmark: Jensen, Christensen, Larsen, Hansen, Allred, Nielsen, Olsen, Sorensen, Nielson, Rasmussen, Christiansen, Madsen, Peterson, Anderson, Barney, Leavitt, Child, Andersen, Petersen, and Jorgensen Once they are sure they have identified the genetic community, Ancestry can take information from history books about that group and display it next to the migration map. However, the information may not apply to your ancestors who didn’t participate in the chain migration. That is how Clytee may have been put in a migratory group that her ancestors didn’t participate in. She told me her ancestry: My father was half Swiss (4 generations from the immigrant to Missouri) and half German (5 generations from the immigrant to Missouri).  Mother half Norwegian (2nd generation from the immigrant to Iowa) and half Danish (2nd generation from the immigrant to Iowa). I think the conjunction on Denmark is more than coincidence. Clytee’s Danish ancestors didn’t have to join the Mormon church for her ancestors to share DNA with those that did. I don’t think it had to have been a sibling in genealogic-time, either. I think Ancestry is looking at shared DNA in a closed community with hundreds of years of intermarriages. There is a possibility that the genetic community Ancestry has identified is actually more specific than “all Mormon pioneers.” Ancestry may have identified DNA of Mormon pioneers of Danish origin. Look back at the dominant surnames for this genetic community. Does it look more English or Danish? There are other possibilities. Remember the mention of confidence level? Clytee may not belong to the genetic community at all. Her DNA may just be a statistical anomaly. Remember the mention of garbage trees? Ancestry may be running calculations overwhelmed by erroneous information. GIGO. Garbage in—garbage out. Thank you, Clytee, for your message. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Monday Mailbox: Browsing Ancestry Database Images
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 17, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Dear Ancestry Insider, The database “Pennsylvania Wills and Probate Records 1683-1993,” offers the subscriber a “Browse this collection” window which works perfectly for all Pennsylvania counties except for Philadelphia County. The list of available images for Philadelphia County never shows up anymore—it did when the database was first launched. Perhaps because it is such a huge amount of data, it cannot load properly. Because the list of digitized probate files for Philadelphia County can only be accessed by clicking on a link from this “Browse” function (administrations, etc), it is now not possible to access those files since there is no dropdown menu. If you know someone at Ancestry who could correct this, I know many researchers would be grateful. With thanks, Sandi Hewlett Dear Sandi, I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, there is a workaround. There are two ways to access the browse capability of an Ancestry collection. One is the browse you have identified on the collection page. The other is accessed via the breadcrumb path at the top of the page, underneath the title when viewing an image. If you can find a way to see any image, then you can browse to any other image. You can get to an image via browsing one of the other counties that works, or by searching for a common name. Or do this: 1. Start at https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/8802/005871739_00002. 2. Underneath the collection title at the top of the page, click on “Administration Files, 1764.” 3. Select from the available options. Signed, —The Ancestry Insider Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Darned Undertaking
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 14, 2017 at 9:34 pm

    We depend upon records to reveal the “truth” about the past. Yet sometimes records have anomalies. Some are amusing or humorous. Some are interesting or weird. Some are peculiar or suspicious. Some are infuriating, or downright laughable. Records say the darnedest things! Kenneth H. Rich was the undertaker. He was also the decedent. Weird. After 30 years as an undertaker, Kenneth retired just 7 weeks before his doctor started treating him for interstitial nephritis. Less than 6 weeks later, Kenneth was gone. His son, Robert, took over the family business. Six years after his father’s passing, Robert had his first born son. He named him Kenneth. Reader Naomi Martineau shared this record with me. Thanks, Naomi! Image credit: Ancestry.com. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Funny AncestryDNA Commercial Parody
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 12, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    A coworker alerted me to this video from the CBC show, This Hour Has 22 Minutes. It is titled, “”Have you ever questioned your family’s ancestry?” Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Monday Mailbox: AncestryDNA Genetic Community List of Surnames
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 10, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Dear Ancestry Insider, I was playing with this new feature but I did not see the list of Associated Last Names. Would you tell me where to find it please? It is fun to play with but I don’t see that it gave me any new information; anything that I have not already researched. Signed,Colleen G. Brown Pasquale Dear Colleen, Do you see on the third line down in the screen shot, below, where it says “STORY | CONNECTION”? Click on CONNECTION. Scroll to the bottom of the page; it’s on the right hand side. Signed,—tai Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Ancestry Launches New Genetic Communities
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 5, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Ancestry launched Genetic Communities last week. “Think of the AncestryDNA ethnicity estimates on steroids, and you’ll have a sense of what this is,” Tim Sullivan told RootsTech attendees last February. While ethnicity estimates show your genetic origins from hundreds to thousands of years ago, the Genetic Communities feature shows groups of people you are related to in the last few hundred years. Ancestry defines a Genetic Community as “a group of people who are connected to each other through DNA, most likely because they share a common history or lived in the same places.” Kendall Hulet said, “Applying rigorous statistics and scientific development, we’ve created a unique experience that can connect you through your DNA to places your ancestors called home and the migration paths they followed to get there.” This doesn’t necessarily pin your particular ancestors to a particular place, since your ancestor may have been an outlier. Chances are good, however, that Ancestry will nail part of your ancestry to a particular region and timeframe. AncestryDNA has identified over 300 communities with plans to release more in the future. Brad Argent of AncestryUK says that most people are members of at least one Genetic Community, some people are members of two, and, rarely, some are members of three. In my case, I am a member of one. My ethnicity map now shows my ethnicity estimates on a dark azure map. (Can I just say, I don’t like this new color scheme?) Notice that Ancestry has narrowed (not!) my Native American ancestry to the entire Western hemisphere. Not very helpful in determining my tribal origin (Massachuset). But notice the small Orange spot on Utah? That’s my genetic community, “Mormon Pioneers in the Mountain West.” While my genetic community is of no surprise to me (I’m 5th generation Mormon on every single line—my ancestors all being good genealogists—I was born into a completely full, 7-generation pedigree), a Genetic Community could be very interesting to someone vaguely aware of—say—Germanic roots. Your Genetic Communities are listed beneath your ethnicity pie chart on the left side of the page. The way statistics work, AncestryDNA can’t say with 100% confidence that you are a member of a community. When you click on your community, you are given an overview of the community. Scrolling past the overview reveals migration time periods with commentary. Selecting a time period shows a migration map, different for each time period. Orange dots show birthplaces from community members’ Ancestry Trees during that time period. Pins show birthplaces from your own tree. Animated lines show the direction of migration. Did you notice, I’m aboot one-fourth Canadian, eh? Beneath the community name, two buttons select between the default Story view, which I’ve shown above, and Connection view. Connection view states that they are 95% confident that I am a member of the Mormon Pioneers Genetic Community, and that it has 89,000 members. Connection view provides a link to see all 737 of the ones that I am related to. It also lists common surnames in the community: Hmmm. Anything jump out at you? To see Genetic Communities, you don’t need to have a tree or a paid Ancestry subscription. It is available for free to everyone who has had an AncestryDNA test. Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

  • Monday Mailbox: Find A Grave
    by The Ancestry Insider on April 3, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Dear Readers, Many of you had strong feelings about Ancestry’s new design of Find A Grave. You can see it at www.gravestage.com. Here are some representative samples: This new format sucks!!! … So disappointed! … I absolutely HATE IT. … Another website ruined by people who don’t use it. … Do.. Not.. Like.. It … New and improved??? It’s absolutely horrible, isn’t it??? … From Irene Sheridan: The new site would not take my email and password. Is it a separate registration to try the test site? I don’t want to mess with my “real” login info. 🙂 Dear Irene, If I understand correctly, the account systems are currently separate. Your email address and real password won’t work on the staging site and vice versa. You have to register again to try some of the functionality of the staging site. Angela and others found that the information is messed up: I just looked at my great grandfather’s memorial on the new site. It doesn’t have his wife, children and parents attached to him like it does on the old site. It says there are no family members currently associated with this memorial. So that is not right and did not flow over to the new site like it should have. I also now manage his memorial as the lady who originally made his memorial transferred him over to me. It does not list me as being the person managing his memorial. The new site also says that there is no bio information on him but I added his obituary to the old site so it is not on the new site. I also left a flower on his memorial for the old site but he does not have any flowers on the new site. I don’t like the new site at all. I forgot to warn you that the data isn’t always real. Don’t worry about that. It is just test data. A corollary is that any changes you make on this staging site is thrown away! Don’t do any real work on it. Diane Gould Hall commented that the layout is a step backward: Everything should still be nicely located on one page, as it is now. Now made so you have to click, click, click to find things. The photos are put into that little box, just like on the new and horrible Ancestry site. I understand updating code. I don’t understand a complete new format that makes this beloved website more difficult to navigate and ugly to look at. Toot echoed that theme: Just from what I see here, the grey with white text is difficult to read, hard on the eyes. The pleasant colors on the “old” site with black text was very easy on the eyes, and pleasant to look at (why the ugly colors of death needed?). Understand the need for new code, but don’t understand the need to change to ugly colors, hard to read text, and reformat of the page. Hopefully, the attached spouse, children, Bio, etc., will flow over in the “new.” And hopefully, the name and date will continue to be on the photo’s contributed, as well as Flowers contributed. Photo size needs to be large enough to see the text on the Headstones (as it is now,) not some little Thumbnail you can barely see. Name of person (with link) who manages the Memorial is important, unless FaG is going to “manage” all Memorials, which I don’t forsee. The current page format is easy to use, easy on the eyes, and does NOT need to be changed. As someone else stated in their comment, it is obvious that the persons coding, and changing the platform/format, are NOT users of FaG! As did Anna: The new site is not a pleasant one to use, at least in this beta version. Too much wasted space, too much scrolling, the photos look funny, and too much clicking around to see what used to be one tidy page with everything instantly visible. It has caused me great wonder that design experts mess up websites when they get involved. Designers think that poorly utilizing screen space and decreasing contract is somehow a good thing. (Do a Google search for [graphic design white space] and [design “never use black”] . After the designers have been paid and move on, websites FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com relent to user demand and switch back to black text on white. Unfortunately, they never seem to fix the “whitespace is good” problem that results in so many extra clicks scrolling or switching tabs. Michael Dorsey Iams stole my thunder and preached my usual sermon: I work in the software industry although not for any of the genealogy companies. I thought it would be useful to talk about how users can most effectively provide actionable feedback to software developers. First of all, I applaud the Find A Grave team for publishing a public beta site. Developers are reluctant to show work they know is not complete, but it is in everyone’s best interest to get direct user feedback early and often during the development process. Second, we all need to acknowledge that user interfaces need to change over time although the benefits of those changes are not often immediately apparent. And finally, recognize their job is to make money. On a free site, that means they need to increase traffic. Concepts such as internationalization and mobile support are significant to them. 1) Generally, don’t focus on colors and fonts. Everyone has difficulty accepting the unfamiliar, and everyone adjusts with time. Although Google is an extreme example (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/05/why-google-engineers-designers), major companies employ experts and detailed processes for deciding these things. 2) One exception to this I believe is handicapped people. Although there are tools and guidelines for accessibility, real-world feedback is still encouraged in this area. 3) Mobile support is about providing a good user experience a variety of resolutions. Try this experiment. Pick up a corner of your browser displaying the Gravestage site. Adjust it bigger and smaller. The elements change to accommodate. A good design finds ways to continue to show the most important information as the screen size drops. This is called responsive design and it takes a lot of effort to do it well. Pick a resolution that matches your mobile screen resolution and provide feedback in this context. 4) Developers aren’t genealogists so it is all too easy for them to make false assumptions. Help them understand with specific, actionable insights into what you want to accomplish and how you go about it. If there are enough people like you, they will surely try to accommodate. 5) It is generally accepted that reducing number of clicks is important, and I think this is a very fair criticism. 6) Provide your feedback with context describing what type of user you are and how you use the site. Even a specialized site such as Find A Grave has dozens of different types of users that use the site in different ways. They need to be able to all these constituencies. 7) It is safe to assume they are familiar with similar sites in the industry, but the internet is a very big place and I find it helpful when someone says “I like to do X with the site, and I find that Y site does this particular function very well”. As they finish the site, they will fix all the bugs like photo cropping and stuff. But, they need help with understanding the many diverse use cases that ultimately affect the broad structure and design of the site. Mander asked: Is there a link we can use to send our feedback and suggestions to Find a Grave? Lisa replied: Yes, when you are on the page, there is a feedback link in the bottom right corner of the page. So, good readers, go use it! Notice: The opinions expressed herein are those of the Ancestry Insider, not necessarily those of Ancestry.com or FamilySearch. All content is copyrighted by the Ancestry Insider unless designated otherwise. See http://ancestryinsider.org for other important legal notices.

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