"

• The most obvious way to get to the other side of a brick wall is to go around it, so pursue parallel branches of your family tree. Research your ancestors' siblings for clues to their parents, or if you don't know of any siblings, follow cousins. See how this worked for helping me find my third-great-grandmother's maiden name here.

• Bend the rules of genealogy that say to "work backward one generation at a time." Skip a generation, identifying your ancestor's grandparents by using what you know about his cousins or aunts and uncles; then maybe you can work forward to the missing link of his parents.

• For immigration brick walls, search passenger lists for friends and neighbors the person might have traveled with, then examine the list for your ancestor's (possibly garbled) name. If you can't find a town of origin, use censuses to see if his neighbors are from the same country, then study those folks. Here's how an immigration brick wall came tumbling down for me.

• Once you've exhausted the census and other common sources, try less-obvious types of paperwork your ancestors might have left. Land records are one example. Is your brick-wall ancestor mentioned in school records, occupational records, meeting minutes or old manuscripts? Use your imagination, your library and online catalogs, such as FamilySearch's and the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections.

• Our contributing editor David A. Fryxell advises, "As Sherlock Holmes liked to lecture Dr. Watson, 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' So consider even unlikely possibilities when confronting your brick walls: Could there have been two men by the same name in the county at that time? Might your third-great-grandfather have married his cousin? Maybe your great-grandmother remarried between censuses, thus changing her name." 

Thursday, April 11, 2013 10:48:53 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

•  If you're traveling to a courthouse or another repository to research county-level records, download and fill out a Research Repository Checklist. It'll help you plan your visit, bring appropriate materials and leave extra stuff behind. Bring this checklist with you to the courthouse, along with a County Research Resources worksheet (available to course participants) listing which office has which types of records and what records you’re looking for.
  
  
• Arrive as early as possible in the workday. You never know how much time your research will take.
  
  
• Dress professionally but in comfortable, washable clothes. You may be on your feet a lot of the day in tight, hard-to-reach or dusty spaces. Yet, you'll get the respect you deserve as a researcher when you look presentable.
  
  
•  Carry a minimum of materials with you. There probably won't be a secure place to set up a laptop computer or table space where you can spread out your notes.
  
  
• Confirm copying policies ahead of time. You may be permitted to use a wand scanner or the digital camera on your phone, or you may have to buy a copy card. Some places permit only taking notes.
  
  
• When you need to ask the staff a question, think of the most direct way to ask. Don’t share your family history. Say, “Where would I look for an index to probates or intestate proceedings for 1912?”, not “My great-grandfather died in 1912 in Chester Township and I think my great-grandmother was the executor of the estate….”
  
  
• Be observant. In addition to the records you came for, keep an eye out for clues to other court records about your family.
  
  
• Be thorough. If you don’t find what you expect to, ask a clerk a specific question. “Where else other than deed books might I find someone disposing of land between 1843 and 1846?” You might be shown a separate book of sheriff’s sales if your ancestor fell behind on taxes.
  
  
•  If you can’t find what you’re looking for, ask politely whether someone in the county offices has a lot of experience with the historical records. If that person is available, he or she may be able to tell you whether an ancestor could have married by banns, or how likely it was that African-Americans would've had their deaths reported or estates filed during the Jim Crow years.
  
  
• Finally, not every court record requires a trip to the courthouse. You might discover that records you need are microfilmed or digitized at the state archives or FamilySearch.org. In some cases, a combination of online research, microfilm rental and requesting copies from the courthouse will suffice.

Thursday, April 04, 2013 9:25:57 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2]

• Almost 3.5 million Irishmen entered the United States between 1820 and 1880. Most stayed in large East Coast cities, partly because they couldn't afford to continue west and partly because they could create close-knit communities with others from their place of origin.

• In 1847, the first major year of famine emigration, 37,000 Irish Catholics arrived in Boston, according to the History Place, where they packed into slums. A sobering statistic from the site: "Sixty percent of Irish children born in Boston during this period didn't live to see their sixth birthday. Adult Irish lived on average just six years after stepping off the boat."

• The same year, about 52,000 Irish arrived in New York City. About 650,000 Irish arrived there during the entire Famine period.
  

• About 11.9 percent of the US population reported Irish ancestry as part of the Census Bureau's American Community Survey in 2008, making this the country's second-largest heritage group.

• Griffith's Valuation: Ask About Ireland has a free search of Griffith's Primary Valuation, a valuation of property in Ireland between 1847 and 1864. It's an important resource for 19th-century Irish research, especially given the destruction of census records from that era. The March/April 2013 Family Tree Magazine has a tutorial for this site.

• Census of Ireland, 1901 and 1911: The National Archives of Ireland offers these censuses for free, along with a trove of historical information. Our video class will show you how to mine the clues in these censuses, even if your ancestors left Ireland before 1901. 
  

• findmypast.ie: This new subscription site (with a pay-as-you-go option) has records of births, marriages and deaths (aka BMDs); courts and prisons; military; immigration; land and estates; as well as newspapers, directories and Griffith's Valuation.
  

• Information Wanted: Also free is this database of "missing friends" from the Boston Pilot newspaper, which published notices from those looking for lost friends from Ireland. The column ran from 1831 to 1921; this site has 1831 to 1893 plus 1901 and 1913.

• Irish Genealogy: This site from the Irish Minister of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is dedicated to Irish genealogy and genealogical tourism. You can search nearly 3 million pre-1900 church records free, and view the actual record if it's been digitized.
  

• Ancestry.com: Subscription site Ancestry.com has Irish records including Griffith's Valuation, tithe applotment books (a tax paid to the Church of Ireland from 1823 to 1837), Ordnance Survey maps, BMDs and more.
  
  
• FamilySearch: Free Irish record collections here include civil registration indexes, prison registers, tithe applotment books and more.
  

• NARA: Passenger Lists: The National Archives' Access to Archival Databases has passenger indexes including Records for Passengers Who Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine. It covers 1846 to 1851 and lists people of all nationalities, not just Irish.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013 8:21:54 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

• six pre-recorded video classes, with demos of recommended websites and strategies
• excerpts from our popular Organize Your Genealogy Family Tree University course
• daily message-board discussions with workshop participants and instructors
• A day when Denise May Levenick, organization expert and author of How To Archive Your Family Keepsakes, will be on hand to provide consultation and answer your questions

Thursday, March 07, 2013 10:33:46 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

• Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills
  
  
• The Family Tree Sourcebook by the editors of Family Tree Magazine
  
  
• The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy edited by Loretto Szucs and Sandra Luebking
  
  
• How to Archive Family Keepsakes by Denise May Levenick
  
  
• A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Female Ancestors by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
  
  
• Women and the Law of Property in Early America by Marylynn Salmon ("helps when looking at court records and understanding how women were treating in regards to their rights to own property," said the chatter, and it covers "1750 to 1830ish")
  
  
• Finding Your Father's War by Jonathan Gawne ("for researching WWII soldiers")
  
  
• Everyday Life in the 1800s by Marc McCutcheon
  
  
• The Family Tree Problem Solver by Marsha Hoffman Rising ("the perfect book for when you're stuck on a line and need inspiration"), which also comes in a digital version
  
  
• Reading Early American Handwriting by Kip Sperry ("the first part explains about the differences in writing styles, while the last three-quarters of the book has examples of documents with the transcriptions")
  
  
• Genealogists Handbook for New England Research edited by Michael J. LeClerc
  
  
• The Genealogist's Companion and Sourcebook and The Sleuthbook for Genealogists by Emily Anne Croom
  
  
• Finding Indiana Ancestors by M. Teresa Baer and Geneil Breeze
  
  
• Bringing Your Family History to Life Through Social History by Katherine Scott Sturdevant
  
  
• Black's Law Dictionary, 4th edition ("the 4th edition is the most recent one that still has the old terms, as I understand")
  
  
• No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting by Anne MacDonald, recommended by a chatter who is into knitting
  
  
• Your Digital Afterlife....When Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter Are Your Estate, What's Your Legacy? by Evan Carroll and John Romano
  
  
• Norwegians on the Prairie by Odd Lovoll
  
  
• Italian Genealogical Records: How to use Italian Civil, Ecclesiastical and Other Records in Family History Research by Trafford Cole
  
  
• Only a Few Bones by John Philip Colletta
  
  
• Finding Italian Roots by John Philip Colletta
  
  
• The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England ("written like a travel guide for people traveling from today back in time to the 14th century")
  
  
• Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret by Steve Luxenberg
  
  
• The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy by Val D. Greenwood

Thursday, February 28, 2013 9:29:32 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [5]

• tricks for reading German script and type
• resources for building your vocabulary of German terms and deciphering abbreviations
• a methodology for solving the quirks of the printed Gothic/Fraktur typeface
• strategies for transcribing and translating the handwritten German cursive script

Wednesday, February 27, 2013 10:23:54 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

Here’s Family Tree Magazine contributing editor David A. Fryxell with a scoop on his class Making the Most of Mocavo (Mocavo being a genealogy search engine that also offers records and lets you upload your tree and genealogy documents):

My presentation will walk you through getting the most out of Mocavo, which bills itself as “the world’s largest genealogy search engine.” Like Google for genealogy, it searches sites containing more than 6 billion indexed names; unlike Google, though, Mocavo focuses strictly on sites with genealogy information. Mocavo also offers its own specialized collections of digitized books, most notably 3.5 million yearbook pages, and family trees and documents uploaded by its users.

Beyond the ins and outs of search, though, we’ll also explore uploading trees and your own photos and documents to Mocavo. Once your tree is online, Mocavo will begin scouring for “Smart Tree” suggested matches and sending you alerts based on your tree and your saved searches.

But trees aren’t the only things you can upload to Mocavo, which does all the dirty work of making documents searchable—by you and other researchers. Uploading to Mocavo is also a handy way of storing your family-history finds “in the cloud.”

We’ll also look at Mocavo’s mobile app for iOS and Android, which lets you view your documents on the go. When you search using the mobile app, too, those searches get saved for the next time you login on the Mocavo website. You probably didn’t know Mocavo could do so much. After my presentation, you’ll be a Mocavo pro!

Register for the Winter 2013 Virtual Genealogy Conference here.

See these guest posts from other Winter 2013 Virtual Genealogy Conference instructors:

• Genealogical Cold Cases: A Step-by-Step Process with Lisa Louise Cooke
• Simple Tips for Solid Source Citations with Sunny Jane Morton  
• Things You Didn't Know Your Genealogy Software Could Do and Using Irish Censuses, both with Rick Crume
  

The Virtual Genealogy Conference is sponsored by

Tuesday, February 19, 2013 2:44:25 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

The most popular genealogy programs have tools to help you record your family history efficiently, plan your research and search online databases. But if you’re a typical genealogy software user, you don’t take advantage of all of those features.

You’ve probably mastered entering birth, marriage and death information in your genealogy software, but have you customized your program to fit your unique needs?

You're doing better than most genealogists if you document your sources, but are you taking advantage of timesaving techniques for this crucial, but mundane, task? And are you exploiting your program’s tools for searching within your family file and in online databases?

In my class 10 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do With Your Genealogy Software, I'll show you how to use these and other features in Family Tree Maker, Legacy Family Tree and RootsMagic.

I'm also teaching a class on Identifying Ancestors in Irish Census Records. Because so many Irish census records have been lost over the years, you might assume they're of no use in your genealogy research. In fact, it’s well worth checking Irish censuses, especially now that most of the existing ones are online and easy to search.

Most 19th-century Irish census records have been lost, but the ones you need just could have survived. (Mine did!) And fortunately, the 1901 and 1911 censuses of Ireland survive and are easily accessible online for free. I'll show you several tips for searching them and suggest how they can be useful to your research even if your ancestors left Ireland before 1901.

Family Tree University's Winter 2013 Virtual Genealogy Conference, Feb. 22-24, gives you an all-access pass to 15 half-hour video classes, live chats with genealogy experts, and exclusive message board to network with instructors and attendees, and a ShopFamilyTree.com swag bag of freebies. Click here for more details on the conference.

See these guest posts from other Winter 2013 Virtual Genealogy Conference instructors:

• Genealogical Cold Cases: A Step-by-Step Process with Lisa Louise Cooke
• Simple Tips for Solid Source Citations with Sunny Jane Morton 
  

The Virtual Genealogy Conference is sponsored by

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 2:10:03 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [3]

• In our February 2011 Family Tree Magazine Podcast, host Lisa Louise Cooke interviews African-American genealogy experts

• How to get started finding your freed ancestors in the 1870 census—the first step toward solving the mystery of their years in bondage

• How to use the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules to trace your slave ancestors

• How to research ancestors who served in the US Colored Troops during the Civil War

• Learn about the Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy website, which has information on 100,000 slaves brought to Louisiana in the 18th and 19th centuries

• Our African-American Genealogy Toolkit has more websites, books and organizations to help you research your family history

• our Family Tree University course Finding African-American Ancestors in Newspapers: Research Strategies for Success (it's discounted to $49.99 for the session starting Feb. 25!)

• our Jump-Start Your African-American Genealogy Value Pack
  

Monday, February 11, 2013 11:31:46 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

 When it comes to brick walls, sometimes you need to think outside the genealogy box. Cracking a cold case requires a proven process to guide you through the challenging waters. And in looking for a solid process that could drum up new leads, my thoughts continually returned to criminal investigators. They face many of the same challenges you do, even if your ancestor wasn't a "black sheep."

Genealogical Cold Cases: A Step-by-Step Process is a presentation I've been wanting to do for a long time, and I couldn't be more pleased to to present it at the Virtual Genealogy Conference. I'll draw on some of the best ideas from cold case investigators to create a process that can guide you through the lengthy process of breaking through genealogical brick walls.

In each step, I'll give you a cache of strategies you can put into play right away. Each is designed to keep you organized and focused while generating new leads.

So dig out that old cobwebbed case file you'd just about given up on, and join me in the Genealogical Cold Cases: A Step-by-Step Process class at the Winter 2013 Virtual Genealogy Conference.

The Virtual Genealogy Conference is sponsored by

Friday, February 08, 2013 11:35:12 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

I know great genealogists who never share their research because they’re scared of source citations. They dread going back through their files to identify exactly where they learned a birth date or the name of Granddad’s church. They worry they didn’t copy down every little piece of publication information, like a volume number or editor’s name. And formatting footnotes sounds exactly NOT like the way they want to celebrate finding their family.
 
My presentation “Simple Tips for Solid Source Citations” focuses on a process of managing sources all the way through the research process to prevent most of those fears. What I'll show you is a way of thinking that makes us better researchers: more aware of our sources from the get-go, more organized and more confident in our conclusions.
 
First, I’ll talk you through the process of evaluating sources the first time you use them. I’ll talk about what information to gather, both from the source and about the source.

One valuable tip I share is how to find full source information on websites like Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org and some less user-friendly data sites. You’ll see different ways of capturing source data, whether you’re a paper-based person or a paperless person (or a combination). I’ll show you how to store source data in a way that links it to the information you found in it, so you don’t scramble years later to put the two together.

Finally, I’ll talk about options when you’re ready to write—yes, we’ll talk a bit about footnotes and Why They Are Not So Scary.
 
By the end, you’ll know how to handle sources well and, better yet, you’ll want to! Don’t miss out on learning this core skill during the Virtual Genealogy Conference.

I love the idea of managing sources from the start—so you can evaluate how reliable the information is, easily create a source citation and keep that citation with the data you found. I'm looking forward to Sunny's video class!

The Virtual Genealogy Conference is sponsored by

Monday, February 04, 2013 9:19:33 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

Family Tree University’s Winter 2013 Virtual Genealogy Conference takes place Feb. 22-24.You get an all-access weekend pass 15 half-hour video classes, live chats with genealogy experts, an attendees-only message board and more. It’s a great option for people who want to get better at doing genealogy without having to take time off work or pay the travel expenses.

Click here to see the Virtual Genealogy Conference video class topics and chat schedule. 

Click here to register for the Virtual Genealogy Conference. 

Remember, you have until tomorrow, Jan. 25, at 11:59 p.m. ET to save $50 with promo code WINTERVCEARLY.

Thursday, January 24, 2013 2:11:22 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

• 9am EST Friday, Feb., 22 to 11:59pm EST Sunday, Feb. 24

• A three-day all-access pass to watch 15 pre-recorded video classes in three tracks:

• Genealogy Technology 
• Research Strategies
• Ethnic Research

• The opportunity to participate in LIVE chats with topic experts
• PLUS: Your Virtual Conference registration gives you the ability to download a copy of all sessions and watch them whenever and wherever you want.
• AND: Get a "swag bag" of freebies from ShopFamilyTree.com

• $199.99
• EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION: Reserve your spot on or before Friday, Jan. 25 and lock in the early bird rate of $149.99—a savings of 25 percent! (Just use special offer code WINTERVCEARLY to save.) Click here to register.

Thursday, January 17, 2013 11:20:48 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

• Basic Maryland history, from 1st Lord Baltimore's Province of Maryland to the Civil War
• How to find and use key Maryland records
• Tricks for tracing early Maryland ancestors
• Top websites for Maryland genealogy
• Specific tips for finding your Baltimore and Annapolis ancestors

PLUS: Receive two free downloads: a copy of our Maryland State Guide and our Baltimore Genealogy Guide

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 1:32:01 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

1. Keep it simple. Less is more when it comes to search. Start simple and then revise your search to follow the right path.
2. Use your imagination. Think like someone who would post a web page with the kind of information you're looking for. Think like a genealogist for charts and reports; think like a railroad historian for background information on the railroad your grandfather worked for; and think like a librarian when searching for books.
3. Use focused, descriptive words. Each word should pack a search punch!
4. Try a variety of search options. Remember: “Search strategies” is a plural phrase and implies that a number of searches be conducted to get the best results.

• Google search essentials
• Advanced searching strategies
• Navigating Gmail, Google+ and Google Reader
• How and why to use Google Books and the Google News Archive
• Translating websites, documents and plain text with Google Translate
• Creating and managing Google Alerts
• Sharing documents with Google Drive (formerly Google Docs)
• Preview of Google Earth

Tuesday, December 04, 2012 11:54:51 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2]

• secrets to glean more ancestral information from free sites and databases

• how to search the web more effectively

• the best free online genealogy tools—including those you’re not already using

Monday, November 05, 2012 9:57:54 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2]

Last chance for Online Military Records!

Almost every genealogist has an ancestor who spent some part of his life in service to our country. Today these individuals are immortalized in collection upon collection of digitized military records.

Jump into the fray with an hour-long webinar from expert presenter David A. Fryxell, who will discuss such conflicts as the Colonial Wars, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War and many more.

Some sample tips from this workshop include:

• Service records and rolls are available for browsing via Fold3 if you know your ancestor's unit.
• Resources vary depending on the conflict. For instance, Revolutionary War records are available via the Daughters of the American Revolution online library, whereas state websites are often an excellent resource for the Civil War.
• There were three different types of WWI draft cards. Along with basic info such as name, age, address, etc., the 12-question Draft Card included occupation and any claimed draft exemptions.
• Records that are not online can still be ordered using the eVets system available from Archives.gov.

Want to learn more, see demos of the sites mentioned here, and have your questions answered by our presenter? There's still time to register for the live webinar—Online Military Records takes place Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7 pm Eastern time (4 pm Pacific).

Can't make Thursday's presentation? No worries! Every registrant receives a copy of the recording to watch as many times as you wish, along with a PDF of the slides/handouts for reference.

See ShopFamilyTree.com for more details about this and other Family Tree University webinars.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012 2:15:03 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [2]

Most genealogists rely primarily on records to root out their relatives. However, the Internet has opened the doorway to other digitized documents. In particular, I'm referring to an oft-underutilized family research resource: Published Genealogies.

The new First Steps course from Family Tree University, Finding Family History Books About Your Ancestors, will show you where to find these manuscripts and what they might contain.

Genealogy is not a new pastime. During the colonial period, genealogy was seen as an attempt by early settlers to secure a measure of social standing within the British Empire. The truth is, people have been conducting family research for centuries, and many of these individuals might have published family trees--a resource that you now have the opportunity to plunder. From articles in genealogical society journals to entire books outlining specific lineages to searchable online databases of user-contributed family trees, this new course shows you how and where to look for the work others have already done, allowing you to save time and add branches to your family tree.

You'll learn to search for manuscripts on databases such as:

• FamilySearch
• Ancestry.com
• HeritageQuest Online
• World Vital Records
• Internet Archive
• WorldCat
• Interlibrary Loan

The first session of this 2-week long course starts on Monday, Oct. 15. Click here to learn more about our course First Steps: Finding Family History Books About Your Ancestors (and save %20 on your registration with coupon code FTU1012).


Family Tree University | Research Tips

Thursday, October 04, 2012 11:36:17 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1]

For our final Guest Blog in our ‘Meet the Presenter’ series, we have a piece by genealogy Jedi Thomas MacEntee. Here’s what he has to say:

Welcome to the Fall 2012 Virtual Genealogy Conference at Family Tree University. Once again, I’m pleased to be a part of this unique, on-line event that provides important educational content to the genealogy community.

What’s So Great about a Virtual Genealogy Conference?

A virtual genealogy conference is just like a conference you attend in-person but with more flexibility and just as many opportunities to network with other genealogy researchers. At the Fall Virtual Genealogy Conference you’ll find pre-recorded webinars (a total of 15!), scheduled chats where you can ask the experts various questions, a message board and even a virtual gift bag filled with genealogy goodies!

The upcoming conference is a great alternative for busy genealogists as well as those that can’t travel long distances to attend genealogy conferences.

Why Technology Should Matter To Genealogists

I’m of an age where I remember the introduction of the personal computer and its impact on not just genealogy, but life in general. I don’t consider myself a “techie” especially since my academic background is more in the arts, language and literature. However, I’ve come to realize that if I don’t keep on top of technology that I risk being left behind. So even though it can be similar to “homework” in school, I make it a point to stay informed and to try out different apps, websites and other technologies. I may not incorporate them as part of my genealogy research, but knowing is better than not knowing.

That’s why I try to ensure that several of my presentations focus on how genealogists can use specific technologies to advance their own research. My goal is to present these new sites and apps in an easy-to-learn atmosphere where you’ll feel comfortable asking questions and making your own decisions as to what technology is best for your own situation.

My Presentations and Chats

During the conference I’ll be offering three new presentations covering tips for working with search engines, how to get what you want from the FamilySearch website, and easy ways to use a research log for your genealogy. In addition, there will be a live, on-line chat session covering cloud computing and genealogy where you’ll get to “pick my brain” on various programs and which program is best for you.

Stay In Touch

For me, the best part of any conference is making new genealogy friends and staying in touch with them. Sometimes we meet up again in person, or we stay in touch on-line. Either way, it always helps to network with other genealogists. Feel free to keep tabs on what I’m up to by following my websites GeneaBloggers and High-Definition Genealogy , or email me at hidefgen@gmail.com.

The conference starts TOMORROW! But there is still time to register--click here and use the code FRIENDSOFTHOMAS at checkout to save $40.

Thursday, September 13, 2012 12:53:07 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist, author and contributor to Family Tree Magazine. Her primary passions are history and food, which she'll blend together like cake batter at this weekend's Fall Virtual Conference. In this guest post, the author of From the Family Kitchen talks in detail about her VC sessions:

Social history and genealogy go hand in hand. As family history researchers we tend to focus solely on the dates and places of our ancestor’s life. That’s important, but it’s one thing to know the dates and places and another to fully understand what was going on during that historical time period. Social history is the story of people’s everyday lives. Social history places your ancestors in context. It will even help make your research more interesting to the non-genealogists in your family. The session itself is called "Top 10 Tools For Social History", in which we'll talk about resources you can use for any research project. These will include images, online catalogs and collections.

My second presentation, "Cook up Answers About Immigrant Ancestors", is a chance to see social history in action. What does food have to do with your ancestor? Everything! Food is so integral to everything we do in our families. It’s part of celebrations, holidays and even somber events. Food and food history resources can help us learn far more about our ancestors. I can’t wait to tell you about all the available resources, such as community cookbooks.

Please join me at the Virtual Conference. What a great way to spend a weekend. Talking genealogy from the comfort of your own home!

ACT QUICKLY:Only three days until the conference! Register now for the Fall Virtual Conference and save $40 with coupon code FRIENDSOFGENA.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012 9:28:10 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

Lisa Louise Cooke is both an author and podcaster extraordinaire. She produces the Genealogy Gems podcast, as well as the official podcast of Family Tree Magazine. In this guest post, she writes an open letter to those considering coming to her sessions for Family Tree University’s Fall Virtual Conference:

In the real estate world they say it’s all about Location, Location, Location! And the same holds true in the Genealogy world. Location is a key element in understanding the context of our ancestor’s lives and obtaining coveted genealogical documents. What better way to zero in on a location than with maps? My class Best Websites for Finding Historical Maps delivers the goods in a big way!

If you have ever listened to my show The Genealogy Gems Podcast at http://www.genealogygems.com then you know that maps, and working with them in programs like Google Earth, is one of my specialties. Historical maps offer an exciting way to do your own genealogical time travel. Please join me in a map-packed half hour that will provide you the best resources for obtaining FREE downloadable historical maps that will take you back to the time, and place, of your ancestors. See you in class!

NOTE:Act quickly—the conference starts this Friday, Sept. 14! Register now for the Fall Virtual Conference and save $40 with coupon code FRIENDSOFLISACOOKE.

Monday, September 10, 2012 4:16:24 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1]

Diana Crisman Smith has been researching genealogy since childhood and has served as a lay librarian at the local Family History Center for more than 20 years. She has written for numerous genealogical publications, including current regular columns in the National Genealogical Society’s NewsMagazine and the Association of Professional Genealogists’ APG Quarterly. In this guest post, she talks about the two sessions she is presenting at Family Tree University’s Fall Virtual Conference: “Smarter Online Census Searching” and “Finding Land Records Online”.

I’m Diana Crisman Smith, and I’ve been researching my family since I was eleven years old. I have been helping others with their research for more than twenty years through writing, speaking, teaching and volunteering at the Family History Center. I have roots throughout the US and Europe, but US research is the starting place for all my family branches. Two of the most useful tools I use in US genealogical research are land records and census records.

Now that so many of the US censuses are available in online images or indexed online, researchers have a wonderful opportunity to use these important records. We all know that they are not perfect, since we can’t always find what we want easily. Join me to learn some tips to make the best use of these records by searching smarter.

I also love “playing in the dirt” with land records. If your ancestors were farmers, they are critical for you; if they were city folk, they still may have land purchases (they bought houses just like we do, which means land records). For those who were in the “Western states” (essentially west of the original colonies, plus a few special states), the Bureau of Land Management website is one of the most useful, but little-known, resources of the Federal Government. Come learn to use some of the great information available through this source.

Act quickly—the conference starts next Friday, Sept. 14! Register now for the Fall Virtual Conference and save $20 with coupon code FRIENDSOFDIANA.

Friday, September 07, 2012 10:20:37 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

• Today, Wednesday, Sept. 5, at 4:30 p.m. ET, join our Tweet-up on Twitter with Gena Philibert-Ortega, who'll be talking about social history and tracing immigrants (we'll be using hashtag #FTUVC).

• Visit Family Tree Magazine's Facebook page Tuesday, Sept. 11, at 3 p.m. ET, to ask Diana Crisman Smith about using online censuses and land records.

• Stop by our Facebook page Thursday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. ET to get Rick Crume's advice on tracking down ancestors in UK civil registration records and Ireland's Griffith's Valuation.
  

• Lisa A. Alzo's tips for finding female ancestors' maiden names (Facebook)

• Lisa Louise Cooke's Google Earth and search tips (Facebook)

• Thomas MacEntee's favorite online tools and tricks (Facebook)

The Family Tree University Fall 2012 Virtual Genealogy Conference, taking place online Sept. 14-16, gives you access to 15 video classes, live chats, our exclusive conference message board, and our virtual exhibit hall (where you can win prizes by being part of our exhibitor scavenger hunt).

To learn more, visit FamilyTreeUniversity.com. (Pssst!: You can save $50 on conference registration with coupon code FTUVCFACEBOOK.)

Wednesday, September 05, 2012 12:34:13 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1]

Genealogy guru Rick Crume is a long-time contributing writer for Family Tree Magazine. At next week’s Fall Virtual Conference, he breaks free from his written word wheel house and brings you two interactive video presentations: "Using UK Civil Registrations" and "Tracing Irish Ancestors in Griffith's Valuation." No matter where over the pond your family hails from, the resources exist to dig out their stories. In this guest post, Rick gives a brief synopsis of his search-stimulating sessions:

If you have ancestors who emigrated from the British Isles in the nineteenth century, free online indexes are the perfect way to start tracing them. English and Welsh governments began recording births, marriages and deaths in 1837, but until recently, researchers had to physically visit Great Britain or spend hours scrolling through microfilm to thoroughly search the indexes. Now they’re available for free on several websites. By finding your ancestor's name in an index before requesting a copy of a birth, marriage or death certificate, you’ll get faster service, as well as ensure that the record you are requesting is for the right person.

Before beginning research on family history anywhere in Europe, it’s often important to first identify the specific place where your ancestors lived. While many Irish records have been lost over the years, a tax survey conducted across Ireland between 1848 and 1864 survives. This can now be used to help locate your ancestors’ exact parish of residence. Armed with that information, you can then pursue other Irish records for information on your family.

Join me next week for two courses: "Using UK Civil Registrations" and "Tracing Irish Ancestors in Griffith's Valuation." You'll learn where to find the best free online indexes to these resources, tips for searching them effectively and how to use them as springboards to assist with future record finding.

Wednesday, September 05, 2012 10:07:14 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

German heritage has been the #1 most claimed ancestry in the US, so we here at Family Tree University have done our best to accommodate our Deutsch friends. In this guest post, Presenter Jim Beidler breaks down his session on German place names at Fall 2012 Virtual Genealogy Conference:

Probably the No. 1 goal of most genealogists is tracking one or more immigrant ancestors all the way to an Old World hometown, and the many folks of German descent are no different. Unfortunately, problems of history, phonetics and duplicated names often get in the way of that quest.

“Mastering German Place Names” is designed to combat these problems. I am a seasoned researcher that has been sleuthing for the Heimats of his almost entirely German-speaking ancestry for more than a quarter century, and will present my top tips in this Virtual Conference course.

Learn more about the Fall Virtual Conference.

Friday, August 31, 2012 11:31:28 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

In this guest post, Presenter Lisa A. Alzo breaks down her sessions on Canadian immigration records and tracking down evasive female ancestors at the Family Tree University’s Fall 2012 Virtual Genealogy Conference:

When I started my genealogy research over 22 years ago, I began with a female ancestor: my maternal grandmother. This was before the Internet and without the luxury of FamilySearch, the Ellis Island Database or Ancestry.com. Nothing like starting out with a challenge! But I used the information available to me—family documents, interviews, church records, court documents and microfilm—as well as made trips to the library and visited the places she had lived. I was thus able to learn the details of her life, which I chronicled in my book Three Slovak Women. In my Virtual Conference session, “Secrets for Tracing Female Ancestors”, I will reveal my secrets for locating and using online and offline resources, and will share other tips and tricks you’ll need to find the elusive women in your family tree!

As a child, my family would visit my father’s cousin in Ontario, Canada. At the time I fleetingly wondered why he lived so far away, but never questioned it until I became a genealogist and began tracking down clues about my Alzo ancestors. Curiosity led me to investigate sources in Canada, with some very interesting and surprising results! If you have ancestors who immigrated to Canada (or even think it’s a possibility), then join me for the session Canadian Immigration Records, where I’ll walk you through the basics of searching in the Great White North. You’ll learn about websites, databases and printed resources to help you locate passenger lists, border crossings and other immigration records, as well as search secrets to draw your ancestors out of hiding!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012 3:45:13 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1]

Classes cover topics including naturalizations, land records, city directories, guardianships, pre-1850 censuses and more. Click here to see the full program.

Benefits of the workshop:

• Learn from experts how to research your ancestors in essential genealogy records.
  
  
• Watch eight 30-minute video classes on how to research genealogy records for half the cost of buying each class individually.
  
  
• View classes whenever you have time, even download them to watch later.
  
  
• Ask questions and exchange ideas in exclusive daily chats and message board discussions.
  
  
• Log in anytime that's convenient over the week, from wherever you can connect to the internet.

Thursday, June 28, 2012 9:31:46 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

In addition to hearing fascinating tales of participants' old family homes with kitchens constructed from peach crates, cheese packaging used for insulation and old newpapers as wallpaper, I got tips for researching the cigar store and other ancestral homes, such as my great-grandparents':

And I smuggled some tips from the chat to share with you all! (The conference participants can download chat transcripts to keep.) Here they are:

• If the house is relatively new, Marian suggests starting with deed research. "I've researched every house I've lived in, even one built in 1985," she typed.

• Start with the book and page number of the property deed in county or town records. Many areas have property assessor records online, where you can search by address. Then you'll trace the deeds to find out names of the previous owners.

• City directories are a great tool for house history research, especially for multifamily dwellings or those with with renters.

• Most Sears and other "kit" homes are near railways, because that's how they were delivered. Most were built in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Check your local library for books on kit houses, such as Houses by Mail: A Guide to Houses from Sears, Roebuck and Company by Katherine Cole Stevenson. 

• You can get a historical contractor to walk through your house and 'read' it. "That is your best shot for knowing when the various parts were built," Marian suggests.

• One participant asked whether it's possible to research a house that's been torn down. "Absolutely," Marian replied. "The deeds and tax records never disappear (well unless there's a fire in the courthouse or something)."

• A chat participant named Helen shared a link to the New York City Department of Records website, where you can order a photo of any home on the tax rolls in 1940.

•  Another chatter named Barry mentioned how he found online Sanborn fire insurance maps for the area where he lived in San Francisco. These maps have details about the businesses and types of structures. Sanborn maps exist for many areas; they're also online for Cincinnati.

• Marian provided links to the Library of Congress' bird's-eye view maps and to her blog post about the top 10 best places to find old photos of your house.

• She also suggested looking for old photos at local historical societies and in the Images of America books by Arcadia Publishing. (I was lucky enough to find my great-grandma's house in an Arcadia book.)

If you missed the Virtual Conference, the 15 video classes (see a few of them listed here) will be available soon at ShopFamilyTree.com.

And if you're particularly interested in house histories, we also have a digital download guide to researching houses in ShopFamilyTree.com.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 8:53:59 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2]

I'll be watching as part of our Virtual Conference viewing party (even though Bettis played for the Cincinnati Bengals rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers).

In this video, Bettis visits the land where his enslaved third-great-grandfather lived and worked.

Thursday, March 08, 2012 8:56:21 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

Wondering what this Virtual Conference thing is? I'll tell you: It's an opportunity to improve your genealogy skills and network with other researchers while hanging out at home in your pajamas (or at the coffee shop, let's hope in your regular clothes).

You'll log in anytime during the weekend to watch video classes, participate in live chats, visit our virtual exhibit hall and pick up your swag bag.

We've got 15 video classes to choose from. Some of them are:

• Using Steve Morse’s One-Step Site to Get Ready for the 1940 Census with Thomas MacEntee

• Using Your iPad for Genealogy with Nancy Hendrickson
  
  
• What’s in a Civil War Pension File? with Diana Crisman Smith
  
  
• Using Guardianship Records in Genealogical Research with Marian Pierre-Louis
  
  
• Reconstruction 101 for African-Americans with Tim Pinnick
  
  
• Strategies for Finding English Ancestral Origins with J. H. “Jay” Fonkert

And chat topics include (but aren't limited to):

• Tech Talk: Ask Your Technology-Related Questions with Thomas MacEntee
  
  
• Using Military Records with Diana Crisman Smith
  
  
• All About House Histories with Marian Pierre-Louis
  
  
• “Who Do You Think You Are?” Virtual Viewing Party with Kerry Scott

Tuesday, March 06, 2012 8:46:15 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2]

The Virtual Conference, sponsored by Flip-Pal mobile scanner, is next weekend, March 9-11.

You can log in anytime over the weekend to take classes, participate in live chats with genealogy experts, visit the exhibit hall and more. (And there's a swag bag—who doesn't love swag?)

Newspapers are invaluable for getting details about your ancestors' lives and for tracing brick-wall ancestors (case in point: last Friday's "Who Do you think You Are?" with Blair Underwood). But historical newspapers can be hard to find and use—so you'll want to hear about the tools Lisa uses.

Learn more about the Spring 2012 Virtual Conference at FamilyTreeUniversity.com.

Thursday, March 01, 2012 2:20:26 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

Our Ultimate Irish Genealogy Collection is packed with practical advice for otracing your Irish ancestors in America and in the old country. It includes: 

• Irish Research 101 Family Tree University Independent Study course download: successfully use US records to determine who your Irish immigrant ancestors were and their place of origin in Ireland.
  
  
• Irish Genealogy Online video class: Recommends the best websites for finding Irish ancestors and features a case study demonstrating how to trace an Irish famine emigrant on the web.
  
  
• Quick Guide to Irish Genealogy Websites: Our at-a-glance chart shows you what resources you'll find and other stats on several popular Irish genealogy sites.
  
  
• Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Irish Ancestors book download: Get help with genealogical records, maps, translations and more.
  
  
• A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland book: This graphical representation of Griffith's Valuation has maps for every county showing civil parishes, baronies and dioceses, as well as poor law unions and parishes.
  
  
• 101 Things You Didn't Know About Irish History book: Dispel the myths and learn the true stories of the Irish.

All this is a $185 value priced at $69.99 (that's 62 percent off) this month only—and only 100 are available!

A bonus with this Ultimate Collection: You get a coupon for 5 percent off the Irish Research 201 Family Tree University course, with four lessons focusing on records of your Irish ancestors in Ireland.

Click here to learn more about the Ultimate Irish Genealogy Collection at ShopFamilyTree.com.

Thursday, March 01, 2012 9:54:34 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2]

Want to join Barbara March 9-11 in a weekend of genealogy classes and networking—without leaving home? Find out more about the Virtual Conference on FamilyTreeUniversity.com.

Friday, February 24, 2012 9:43:31 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [5]

The Virtual Conference, sponsored by Flip-Pal (whose Flip-Pal mobile scanner is at the top of many genealogists' most-wanted lists), takes place March 9-11. You can log in anytime over the weekend it's convenient for you.

Enter your name in the Virtual Conference Sweepstakes at FamilyTreeUniversity.com before 11:59 p.m. tonight, Thursday, Feb. 23.

And find out more about the Virtual Conference at FamilyTreeUniversity.com.

Thursday, February 23, 2012 10:26:05 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2]

The Virtual Conference, taking place March 9-11, is a weekend of family history learning and networking through video classes, live chats, a forum, a virtual exhibit hall, a swag bag and chances to win prizes. No plane tickets, hotel stays or other travel expenses—just log in and you're there.

Go to FamilyTreeUniversity.com by February 23 to enter the Virtual Conference Sweepstakes. Good luck!

Thursday, February 16, 2012 9:00:33 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2]

You can make sure the answer to these questions is yes by taking the latest Family Tree University Power Course, Picture Your Family History.

In this one-week course, you'll learn how to:

• How to analyze photos for clues to discover your family history
• How to use those clues to learn when and where the photo was taken, and who might be in it
  
• How to scan photos to get the best possible digital image
• Tips to rescue worn, torn, scratched, faded or moldy images
  
• Free online photo editing tools you can use to digitally repair photos
  
• How to repair damage to facial features in your family photographs
• Where to get help when you can’t do it yourself

Power Courses give you two intensive hours of learning you can immediately use to solve your family history problems. In the time it takes to watch a movie, you can become a better genealogist. 

Click here to learn more about the Picture Your Family History Power Course. Don't forget to use promo code FTU2011 to save 20 percent on your registration.

The photo above shows my great-grandfather and my grandmother in about 1930.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 10:29:18 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2]

Thanks to a sponsorship from GenealogyBank, registration in the four-week session starting Feb. 20 is just $39.99 (down from the regular $99.99). So if you've been thinking about taking this course, now's the time.

You can learn more about the class and see the syllabus here. Past students have been surprised at the number of newspapers that have been published in the United States covering African-American communities.

Also check out Tim's Newspapers forum at Afrigeneas, one of our favorite genealogy websites for those tracing African-American roots.

Thursday, February 09, 2012 10:00:55 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [5]

The Virtual Conference, taking place March 9 – 11, is packed with video classes, live chats, message board discussions, a virtual exhibit hall and more.

See all the Virtual Conference details at FamilyTreeUniversity.com and use promo code FTUVCEARLY to get the early bird rate.

Wednesday, February 08, 2012 9:00:19 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

This weekend workshop is full of video classes, live chats and virtual exhibits where you’ll learn strategies and resources to boost your research. Because it’s web-based, you can participate from anywhere, at any time during the weekend.

Get details on the conference program here.

The conference takes place 9 a.m. Friday, March 9, to 11:59 p.m. Sunday, March 11, 2012. You get a three-day, all-access pass to watch 15 prerecorded video classes and participate in live chats. 

Expert instructors include Lisa Louise Cooke, Thomas MacEntee, Diana Crisman Smith, Nancy Hendrickson, Lisa A. Alzo and others.

Register now for the Spring 2012 Virtual Conference and get the early bird rate of $149.99 for entire conference—use promo code FTUVCEARLY when checking out.

Want a taste of what you'll experience?

• Here's a snippet from one of the Summer 2011 Virtual Conference classes, on city directories.

• And here are some of the brick wall research tips I picked up in the Summer 2011 Virtual Conference "Pick Thomas’ Brain: Ideas on Creative Approaches to Genealogy" live chat session.

Thursday, January 12, 2012 10:00:40 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2]

Besides obituaries, newspapers are sources for birth announcements, social column notes and other news stories mentioning your ancestors—even if they weren't prominent community members. 

I still get nostalgic over my first big genealogy find, a 1924 Dallas Morning News article about my grandfather who grew up in an orphanage and was putting himself through college (you can see the article here). I discovered it by chance on GenealogyBank soon after the site launched. 

Newspaper microfilm from the Arkansas state archives helped me fill in details (otherwise absent due to missing court records) about my grandfather's arrest and trial for bootlegging.

In the Newspaper Research 101 course, taught by James M. Beidler, you'll learn:

• what type of information to look for in newspapers
• how to find and access papers most likely to mention your kin
• how to effectively search digital and microfilmed papers

Learn more and take advantage of this once-in-a-blue-moon Newspaper Research 101 tuition on FamilyTreeUniversity.com.

Thursday, December 15, 2011 9:43:07 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

Family Tree University's new Power Courses are designed for genealogists who do their family history research (and learning) in spurts. When you sign up for one, you’ll have access for one week (Monday through Sunday) to a number of learning tools: videos, lessons, downloadable guides and forms, even coupons good for 25 percent off future FTU courses.

You pick the topic you need and the week you want, and we’ll be ready to teach you what you need to know to immediately tackle the problems you’re facing in your research.

Two Power Courses are coming up in December. Click each course name for more details about it:

• Coming to America: Learn all about how to trace your immigrant ancestors, from their departure from the old country to their new life as US citizens.
  
  
• Tear Down That Wall! Bust through the brick walls that keep you from furthering your genealogical research. Got ancestors who seem to have beamed down from outer space? This course is for you.

We’ll be offering many more Power Courses in 2012. In fact, there’s quite a bit of new stuff coming at Family Tree University. Stay tuned!

Monday, December 05, 2011 10:08:44 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

Congratulations, Jennifer Alford! You're the winner of a Virtual Conference OnDemand Collection in today's Family History Month Daily Deal and Giveaway!

Didn't win? There's still time to buy the collection at half price (regularly $199.99): Today's Daily Deal lasts until midnight ET today, 10/30.

Sunday, October 30, 2011 3:13:40 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

Each day at 4 pm ET (3 CT, 2 MT, 1 PT), we’ll announce the winner of that day’s giveaway. Plus, each daily prize will be on sale for a fantastic price.

Today’s giveaway is any November or December Family Tree University course. Want to learn how to trace your German ancestors? Find a soldier in the Civil War? Figure out how to get your research organized?

Well, if you're Linda Donham, you can do any of the above, or take one of our other course offerings. Congratulations!

Here's today's deal: Register for any Family Tree University November or December class and get $40 off. Build A+ research skills from the comfort of home!

Check out the classes here and use offer code FHMDD to get the deal. The code is good today only, Oct. 27

The daily giveaway for tomorrow, Oct. 28, is our Digitize Your Family Photos Value Pack. This collection of digital downloads will help you build a digital archive of your family's cherished memories.

Click here to sign up now on our Daily Deal & Giveaway page! (Even if you signed up for a previous giveaway, sign up again to get in the running for this one.)

Then just come back here tomorrow at 4 pm ET to see if you’ve won (and check out the next deal). Good luck!

Thursday, October 27, 2011 4:06:45 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1]

German
People with German heritage make up the largest ancestry group in the United States, according to the 2000 US census. I'm part of this statistic, at one-half German.

• Tips for using the Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-Lexikon des Deutschen Reiches, which German genealogy expert James M. Beidler calls the “seminal handbook for tracking down German villages”
• Family Tree Magazine's German genealogy glossary
• German Genealogy Home Page
• Surviving passenger departure records from the port of Bremen
• German records on FamilySearch.org
• Beidler’s German Genealogy 201 Family Tree University course

Italian
Those with Italian heritage make up the seventh largest ancestry group in the United States, with 15.6 million Americans claiming Italian roots in the 2000 US census.

• Italian genealogy records at a glance
• Finding Italian military records
• Italian Genealogical Group
• Ancestry.com’s Italian records (includes recently released civil registrations and a free index to Palermo birth records)
• Italian records on FamilySearch.org
• Family Tree Magazine Italian Genealogy Guide digital download, available in ShopFamilyTree.com

Polish
If you have Polish ancestors, you share heritage with 9 million Americans and are part of the country's eighth largest ancestry group.

• Polish Genealogy Terms
• Tracing Polish town-name changes
• Federation of East European Family History Societies’ Poland Genealogy Resources
• Polish Genealogical Society of America
• PolishRoots.org
• Poland, Roman Catholic Church Books, 1600-1950 on FamilySearch
• Family Tree Magazine Polish Genealogy Guide digital download from ShopFamilyTree.com

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 2:40:33 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

Videos are about 30 minutes long and compatible with Macs and PCs. This snippet from Maureen A. Taylor’s class City Directories: Key to Your Family’s Past shows a demo of the free city directories on the Internet Archive website.

Other classes cover

• Irish research
• German newspapers in the United States
• using naturalization records
• platting your ancestors’ property
• pre-1850 censuses
• digitizing your family’s documents
• … and more

You can get the Virtual Conference videos individually or in tracks (Tech Track, Ethnic Track or Research Strategies Track), or get all 17 videos in one fell swoop.

Monday, August 29, 2011 11:43:49 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [5]

If you missed it, you can order the Virtual Conference video classes for on-demand viewing at ShopFamilyTree.com. 

One of my favorite parts of the conference was the live chats, which buzzed with research tips, questions and inspiration. For example, Thomas’ Saturday evening chat, Pick Thomas’ Brain: Ideas on Creative Approaches to Genealogy, was chock full of advice.

I’ve pulled some comments from the chat to share here (I made some edits and added topic headings so the Q&A is easier to follow).

On brick walls:

• Thomas: First, very often I think what we call a brick wall isn't really a brick wall . . .
  
  
• Joan: What do you mean by a brick wall not being a brick wall?

• Thomas: To me it is a matter of perhaps not having all the right tools at one's disposal. Or it could be a matter of going back and rechecking spelling, surname variations, etc.

• Allison FTU: A true brick wall is when you have exhausted every possible avenue for research and there is no more information

In many cases, what we refer to as a brick wall is really just an exhaustion of ideas

• Patricia: A Brick Wall to me is having a timeline just end with no leads. Just solved 2 of my brick walls by reviewing current finds in detail as if I was looking at the finds for the first time.

On ancestral adoptions:

• Terri: My brick wall is my grandmother, born and adopted in 1900. I thought her SS application might help, but she apparently fibbed on the application! Gave her adopted info as official
  
  
• Kerry: I've used church records to find babies who were baptized prior to their adoption. Not all were adopted at birth.
  
  
• Allison FTU: If you know what area she was born in, you might try guardianship records.
  
  
• Terri: Are guardianship records civil records, private institutions, what?
  
  
• Allison FTU: Guardianships are typically court records. So you do need to know which county to look in.

On going beyond well-known resources:

• Carol: I have a line that went to Nebraska. FamilySearch and Ancestry seem to have nothing and GenealogyBank only later years. Any links for Nebraska?

• Thomas: What time period? Were they Homesteaders?

• Carol P: Late 1800s to early 1900s

• Thomas: Last night I did a GeneaBloggers Radio episode mostly on Nebraska. 

• Allison-FTU: Also take a look at Nebraska State Historical Society, one of FTM's "best state websites"

On ordering ancestors’ vital records:

• Mary Ann: When I look for birth, marriage, and death certificates in the US, I am taken to sites where it is free for 7 days and then you pay. Is there a good site to find these certificates?

• Thomas: I personally don't recommend those sites. In most cases, if you know how to order them directly from the state or county, it is better and cheaper. What do others think?

• Mary Ann: Yet, the states’ [vital records office websites] are sending me to those sites.

• Kerry: I totally agree; I'd much rather order directly from the source.

• Terri: I have seen some states that use a private online payment service for their records, but there's generally an option to pay the vital records office directly.

• Thomas: I want to share an odd tool from the Centers for Disease Control of all places—Where to Write for Vital Records! 

• Allison FTU: It's also available to download as a PDF 

• Kerry: Some states (Minnesota, for instance) house records at the state historical society, and you can order (and in some cases, view) them online.

• Thomas: Did you know that some societies have a vital records service where they will, for a much cheaper fee, pull the records? Illinois State Genealogical Society does this for Illinois Death Certificates.

• Mary Kay: Or borrowing microfilm from your local FHC.

On hard-to-trace immigrants and F.A.N. clubs:

• Christine: Ancestor arrived in 1750 from Rotterdam, based on PA baptism records which are German Lutheran—don't have a clue where to start across the pond. Strategy much appreciated....

how to get from point of departure (Rotterdam) in 1750 to where he might have lived...

• Thomas: Have you tried the F.A.N. club approach? Friends, Associates, Neighbors?

Elizabeth Shown Mills uses that F.A.N. club term all the time.

Last night on my radio show, Gail Blankenau from Omaha who specializes in German Parish Records used the term "10 up and 10 down" meaning always go up 10 lines from what you've found and down 10 lines as well.

• Allison-FTU: Christine, have you heard of something called manumission records?

In Germany during the time period, emigrants had to pay a tax to be released from serfdom. The resulting records are manumissions

There's an often-referenced index to German manumissions by Werner Hacker ... let me see if i can find a link

• Christine: Would they have been microfilmed by the Family History Library?

• Allison-FTU: Yes! Check out this page on the FamilySearch wiki for more info 

• Thomas: I just found this for Germans to America  

On online research tools:

• Thomas: Want to let you know that my entire research toolbox is on my Destination: Austin Family blog

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 9:50:10 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [6]

Seven reasons to register:

• You can improve your genealogy skills by taking 15 video classes (see the conference program here)  

• Your all-access pass lets you download the videos to watch again later (or see them for the first time if you missed one), as well as download PDFs of the presentation slides

• Join live chats with your instructors (see the chat schedule here). And I hope to meet you in the chat with Family Tree Magazine editors Friday at noon.

• Tour the virtual exhibit hall (answer quiz questions to be entered into prize drawings).

• You’ll get a virtual swag bag of freebies from ShopFamilyTree.com

• Log in any time during the conference to watch classes or chat (9 am Friday, Aug. 19, to 11:59 pm Sunday, Aug. 21)

• Participate from anywhere you can access the internet

Thursday, August 18, 2011 9:53:39 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [4]

Missouri, a border state, supplied troops (nearly 110,000 to the North and 40,000 to the South) and equipment to both sides. Separate state governments represented each side during the war, and both the Union and Confederacy considered Missouri theirs.

Initially, Missouri tried to stay neutral by remaining in the Union but not contributing men or supplies. After Wilson’s Creek, Union Gen. John C. Fremont imposed martial law, but the remnants of the elected government voted to secede.

The state suffered from its own internal war, in addition to the larger one. “Conflict in Missouri was characterized by savage guerilla warfare that led to the destruction of entire towns,” writes Michael O. Varhola in Life in Civil War America. 

Learn more about Missouri in the Civil War in Varhola's book and at the state’s sesquicentennial website.

Also, the free Missouri Digital Heritage (one of our 101 Best Websites for genealogy) has a Civil War section with several collections of digitized records, newspapers and research guides that’ll help you trace ancestors of the era and walk in their shoes.

See Missouri research resources at ShopFamilyTree.com here. 

Get research guidance for Civil War service members from Missouri and elsewhere in our Family Tree University course Civil War Research: Find Your Ancestors in the War Between the States, with instructor Diana Crisman Smith. The next session starts Aug. 29. (You can use code FTU0811 to get 20 percent off tuition.)

Friday, August 12, 2011 11:09:38 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [3]

Aliquot parts is an important element in the public land survey system (PLSS), also called the rectangular survey system, which was used to survey and divvy up land starting shortly after the Revolutionary War.

States with land surveyed under the PLSS, called Public Land States, are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

That's everything except the original 13 states, Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas and Hawaii. (Parts of Ohio were surveyed with the old metes-and-bounds system, too.)  

The PLSS established principal meridians—imaginary north-south lines—to serve as the starting point for surveying each 24x24-mile tract. A tract is divided into 16 townships; townships (23,040 acres) contain 36 sections, each 1 square mile (640 acres), like this: 

A section could be split into halves, quarters or other parts. A description of your ancestor’s subdivision on a land record might look like N½ SW¼, which you’d read as “the north half of the southwest quarter.”

Here’s an example of how land might be divided and described in aliquot parts:

This free FamilyTreeMagazine.com article has more information about the PLSS and the Bureau of Land Management’s free federal land patent site.

One of the video sessions in Family Tree University’s Summer 2011 Virtual Conference, Aug. 19-21, is Diana Crisman Smith’s demo on platting your ancestors’ properties using PLSS. Learn more about the conference and register here. 

Thursday, July 28, 2011 9:19:52 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [9]

These classes start Aug. 1:

• Build a Family History Website: Make a Site for Your Family in Four Weeks with instructor Nancy Hendrickson 

• Civil War Research: Find Your Ancestors in the War Between the States with Diana Crisman Smith 

• Death Records 101: Find What Your Ancestors Left Behind with Diana Crisman Smith 

• Digital Photography Essentials: Techniques to Capture and Preserve Your Family History with Nancy Hendrickson 

• Finding African-American Ancestors in Newspapers: Research Strategies for Success with Timothy Pinnick 

• Finding Ancestors in the US Census: Online and Offline Research Strategies with Diana Crisman Smith  

• Google Master Class: Improve Your Online Search Skills in 8 Weeks with Lisa Louise Cook 

• Newspaper Research 101: Find Your Ancestors in American News Sources with James M. Beidler 

• Organize Your Photos: Preserve Your Family’s Pictorial Legacy with Nancy Hendrickson 

• Time Management for Genealogists: Make Time for Your Tree, Yourself and Your Sanity with Nancy Hendrickson 

A refresher course on how FTU works: You download a lesson each week and work through it at your own pace, then practice your skills in an assignment you turn in to your instructor. You also can communicate with class members and the instructor via a private message board, or on-on-one with your instructor via e-mail. 

Take this opportunity to save a few bucks, bust through some brick walls, improve your research skills and rejuvenate your family search!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 11:32:40 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [5]

The Battle of Cold Harbor, May 31-June 12, 1864, was part of Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign, during which Confederate troops defended Richmond with six miles of trenches.

I picked up a brochure and map at the small visitor center, then we drove the short park loop and walked a trail tracing over and around the remains of trenches soldiers dug 150 years ago. (My husband gets props for pushing Leo’s stroller up and down the gravel path in Virginia humidity).

The ground looked like corduroy. Markers explained how for days soldiers would crouch in misery in the trenches. They dug “zig zags” between lines of trenches so they could retrieve supplies without getting their heads blown off. They would top the trench with a header log and shoot through a narrow gap below it.

This depression is a rifle pit occupied by a Union soldier. It was the closest position to enemy lines, just 50 yards from Confederate rifle pits.

Most fighting at Cold Harbor took place June 1-3, when Union forces launched assaults. They were unsuccessful. "I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made,” Grant wrote in his memoirs. “No advantage whatever was gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained." 

On June 3 alone, nearly 6,000 Union soldiers were killed or wounded, most in just an hour’s time. Both sides’ casualties over the two weeks totaled 16,000. A nearby creek was named Bloody Run. According to the brochure, Cold Harbor was the beginning of modern trench warfare, showing how trenches, supported by artillery, were practically impenetrable.

I have to admit that my eyes tend to glaze over when faced with a battlefield map full of lines and arrows. But standing in the places where soldiers took cover in trenches, hid in rifle pits and charged across fields opened a small window into the past and helped me understand what happened 150 years ago. 

You can listen to a podcast tour of the Battle of Cold Harbor, with vivid battle descriptions, on the Civil War Traveler website. 

See our slideshow of Civil War images on FamilyTreeMagazine.com here and get resources for researching Civil War ancestors here. 

You also can sign up for our Family Tree University course Civil War Research: Find Your Ancestors in the War Between the States with instructor Diana Crisman Smith. The next session starts Aug. 1, and you can use code FTU0811 to get 20 percent off your tuition.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011 4:30:47 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [6]

More about those live chats -- Virtual Conference registrants get exclusive access to live chats with our genealogy experts. No fancy software is needed—just log on to the conference and join a live session. All chats are text-based and 30 minutes long. If you can’t join a live session, no worries—all chat transcripts will be saved in the conference area for you to read at your leisure. We just posted the live chat schedule, so check it out!

PS: Diane is out on vacation this week, so I apologize for the brief radio silence. We could never be as prolific as the original Genealogy Insider!
Family Tree University | Genealogy Events

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 5:35:42 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [5]

Most researchers agree it’s important to cite sources, but the hows, whens and wheres have caused a bit of a stir. Genealogy blog readers may notice what my mom and dad used to call a “discussion” over the importance of adhering to the finer points of source citation style (which might be intimidating to newbie or casual researchers) versus just getting the source information down.

Another component to the issue (and something else that can make source citation look complicated) is evaluating a source's reliability:

Is the information likely to be correct because the source—say, a birth certificate—was created when the birth, marriage or other event happened? Or is the source less reliable because it’s a transcription of a digitized book written years later by someone who read a newspaper article about the grandson of the person whose neighbor was actually there? Do several less-reliable sources that provide consistent information equal a reliable source? Can you ever really prove when certain events happened in your ancestor’s life? What does it all mean??

These folks weigh in with their opinions and encouragement:

• In his Citation blog category, the Ancestry Insider writes in depth about source citation principles and the quality of source information given on genealogy records sites such as Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.

• Source Citations in Genealogy: Church or Cult on the Clue Wagon blog encapsulates the above-mentioned discussion. The comments here include 10 commandments of source citation from Evidence Explained author Elizabeth Shown Mills.

• The Genea-Musings Source Citation posts describe sourcing in genealogy software and online family trees, review presentations on citing sources, link to others’ posts on the topic and more.

• On his Planting the Seeds blog, Michael Hait explains why the way you format source citations is important. 

• James Tanner on Genealogy’s Star writes here about genealogical evidence as opposed to proof. Dear Myrtle links to several of his related posts here. 

• On Luxegen Genealogy and Family History, Joan Miller writes about how to educate new researchers regarding citations, and her Good/Better/Best citation philosophy.
  

• Posts in the GeneaBloggers Source Citation category link to the site's quick reference citation guide and a discussion of blogs' reliability as sources. 

Source citation doesn’t have to be scary. The key is to note every bit of information available about the record, website, book, newspaper, person or other source you used, and make sure it doesn't get separated from the information the source provided. Whenever possible, get the original record rather than stopping when you find an index or a transcription.

Use your knowledge as a researcher to decide whether the information in the source makes sense, and how far you can trust that source. If you have any doubts, don’t add the information to your tree, but use it to form a hypothesis you can keep researching.  

Related resources:

• Family Tree Magazine free, downloadable Source Citation Cheat Sheet
  
  
• Source Documentation 101: How to Cite Genealogy Sources Accurately and Effectively Family Tree University course
  
  
• Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills, available in ShopFamilyTree.com 

Thursday, July 14, 2011 9:08:57 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [8]

We're planning our Family Tree University Summer 2011 Virtual Conference to give you an intensive dose of genealogy education without leaving home (or the library, or your sister’s house, or the table at the coffee shop where you’ve parked your laptop). 

The Virtual Conference is an online workshop from Friday, Aug. 19, to Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011. Attendees get an all-access pass to view 15 pre-recorded video classes and participate in live chats. You can join in every day or as your weekend schedule allows.

Classes are organized into three tracks:

• genealogy technology
• research strategies
  
• ethnic research

A detailed list of classes and instructors is coming soon.

You’ll be able to download classes to watch again later or access ones you’ve missed, and you'll get a swag bag of ShopFamilyTree.com goodies.

Stop by Family Tree University for more Virtual Conference details and our early bird discount code on tuition (good until July 15). 

Thursday, June 16, 2011 11:08:00 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [7]

Courses run for four weeks with one lesson per week. That's except for Lisa Louise Cooke’s Google Master Class, which combines three courses over eight weeks; and Discover Your Family Tree, a two-week course especially for beginners.

Click each link for more about the class, including a syllabus, student feedback, and even preview videos for some. You can save 20 percent on registration by using offer code FTU0511.

• NEW: Computer Boot Camp for Genealogists, taught by Nancy Hendrickson
  

• Cemetery Research 101, taught by Midge Frazel 

• Creating a Family History Book, taught by Nancy Hendrickson  

• Discover Your Family Tree, taught by Grace Dobush 

• Discovering Your Czech and Slovak Roots, taught by Lisa A. Alzo 

• Finding Ancestors in the US Census, taught by Diana Smith 

• German Genealogy 201, taught by James M. Beidler 

• Google Master Class, taught by Lisa Louise Cooke 

• Land Records 101, taught by Diana Crisman Smith 

• Organize Your Genealogy, taught by Nancy Hendrickson 

• Source Documentation 101, taught by Charlotte Bocage 

• Trace Your Polish Roots, taught by Ceil Wendt Jensen 

• US Military Records, taught by Diana Crisman Smith 

Wednesday, May 18, 2011 8:58:14 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

• Creating a Family History Book, taught by Nancy Hendrickson
• Discover Your Family Tree, taught by Grace Dobush
• Discovering Your Czech and Slovak Roots, taught by Lisa A. Alzo
• Exploring City Directories, taught by Diana Smith
• Finding African-American Ancestors in Newspapers, taught by Tim Pinnick
• German Genealogy 201, taught by James M. Beidler
• Google Earth for Genealogists, taught by Lisa Louise Cooke
• Land Records 101, taught by Diana Crisman Smith
• Organize Your Genealogy, taught by Nancy Hendrickson
• Source Documentation 101, taught by Charlotte Bocage
• Trace Your Polish Roots, taught by Ceil Wendt Jense

Wednesday, March 23, 2011 2:47:41 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

• Build a Family Website, taught by Nancy Hendrickson
• Digital Photography Essentials, taught by Nancy Hendrickson
• Death Records 101, taught by Diana Crisman Smith
• Google Master Class, taught by Lisa Louise Cooke
• Newspaper Research 101, taught by James M. Beidler
• Organize Your Photos, taught by Nancy Hendrickson
• US Vital Records, taught by George G. Morgan
• Write Your Family History, taught by Sunny McClellan Morton

Friday, March 11, 2011 2:37:45 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

• Creating a Family History Book, taught by Nancy Hendrickson
• Death Records 101, taught by Diana Crisman Smith
• Discover Your Family Tree, taught by Grace Dobush
• Discovering Your Czech and Slovak Roots, taught by Lisa A. Alzo
• German Genealogy 201, taught by James M. Beidler
• Land Records 101, taught by Diana Crisman Smith
• Organize Your Genealogy, taught by Nancy Hendrickson
• Source Documentation 101, taught by Charlotte Bocage
• Trace Your Polish Roots, taught by Ceil Wendt Jensen
• US Vital Records, taught by George G. Morgan

Family Tree University

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 10:58:13 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

One of the newest course offerings over at Family Tree University is an eight-week master class designed to help you make progress, step by step, on writing a family history book or personal memoir.

In the first half of Write Your Family History, you'll craft an outline for your book and start putting your family's legacy down on paper. The second half of the course is a workshop, in which you'll share your writing with instructor and professional writer Sunny McClellan Morton, and receive feedback on how to move forward. 

The Write Your Family History master class starts Jan. 17, and you can use coupon code FTU114 for 20 percent off your registration and a free 2011 desk calendar.

Here’s an excerpt on gathering and organizing your thoughts:

One of the most important habits you can cultivate as a personal or family historian is keeping a journal. Chances are you already keep one or have in the past; many writers do so almost instinctively. If you aren't in the habit of recording your personal thoughts, now's the time to make journaling a part of your routine.

Use whatever style suits you for writing your journal—you're the only one who will see what you write. Any scrap of memory or personal impression may become important later, so just get everything down now and worry about sorting it all out when the time comes. 

When you start thinking about writing a memoir or family history, it's natural to feel overwhelmed—so many colorful characters, inspiring stories, and dates and places to keep straight. You'll need to make some choices, perhaps difficult ones, about what will and won't fit into your book. Before you begin writing, it's important to devise a plan to organize your ideas and the information you'll be gathering as you complete your research.

We suggest you start by filling in the beginning and ending dates of your book, so you have the boundaries of your complete dateline. Then associate an event with each date. Use only a few key words or a phrase to denote each event—just enough to jog your memory when you refer to the dateline later.

After you've filled in as many dates and events as you can at this point, go back and determine the historical theme relevant to each event. The historical theme is crucial to your story; it will help place your "characters" into historical perspective.

Here are two examples of personal events with their historical themes:

Date: 3 June 1907
Event: Eleanor arrives alone at Ellis Island.
Historical theme: What was it like for a woman to go through processing at Ellis Island on her own?

Date: 25 Apr 1920
Event: Uncle Harry moves to Florida and buys land.
Historical theme: What drew people to Florida in the 1920s?

Register for Write Your Family History at Family Tree University.com (remember to use coupon code FTU114).

Tuesday, January 11, 2011 4:42:29 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

4. We've got three top Massachusetts experts lined up: David Dearborn, Midge Frazel and David Lambert.

3. You get to ask them your most pressing questions about Massachusetts research!

2. You get a copy of the Massachusetts State Research Guide and a PDF of the presentation slides.

1. The early bird discount -- $10 off -- ends Friday at midnight, so if you want to save some cash, sign up soon so you don't miss out.

Family Tree University | Webinars

Thursday, January 06, 2011 5:29:26 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

You can give the gift of genealogy learning, even if it’s too late for shipping by Christmas. FTU Independent Study downloads include the lessons, recommended reading, resource lists and other materials from Family Tree University classes.

Nearly 20 courses are available, including Tracing Immigrants, which helps you find important clues for tracking ancestors in their homelands. In the first lesson of this course, you’ll learn what key facts that will help you start tracing ancestors overseas:

• The immigrant’s name (before and after immigration—many immigrants Americanized their names once they got here)
• Date of immigration
• Port of entry
• Port of departure
• Town or village immigrant came from
• Place immigrant settled in the United States
• Names of siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins
• Religion (may give clues to parish back home)
• Native language 

Click here to explore the available FTU Independent Study course topics. 

Wednesday, December 22, 2010 5:11:31 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

Family Tree University Independent Study courses have all the materials from FTU online classes, with the advantage that you can truly proceed at your own pace. The CDs cover about 20 course topics, including Finding Your Ancestral Village (shown above), Google Tools for Genealogists, Newspaper Research 101 and more. 

From the Land Records 101 course, for example, you’ll learn essential terms such as

Widow’s Examination: Required in many jurisdictions until the early 1900s. A wife was entitled to “widow’s rights” or “dower rights” (typically one-third) of her husband’s property—although she often could not directly control or sell it in her own right. Before he could sell the property, she was required to sign an independent statement that she was aware he was selling the property and she was therefore losing her dower rights. If she did not sign, the property could not be sold. 

You’ll also learn how to find and read deeds, land patents, bounty land warrants and more.

FTU Independent Study CDs are available for about 20 course topics. You also can choose a downloadable Independent Study course

Wednesday, December 15, 2010 1:44:31 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [1]

By nature, genealogists are hoarders. The thought of getting rid of any old photos could very well send shivers down your spine. But the truth is, most of us have photos that aren’t worth keeping. Your first task is to do a rough pass through all the photos. You’re not organizing them yet. This time, you’re just making piles of images you want to…

• keep and organize
• scan and organize
• discard
• give away
• or use in a scrapbook

As you sort into piles, you may find yourself torn between keeping something and throwing it away. For example, one image I have is very poor quality, and couldn’t be improved upon even with expert photo editing.

Did I keep it? Yes. Why? Because it’s the only photo I have of my grandfather with all of his children and their spouses. This is why considering the content of a photo is important when it comes to a culling your collection. Even if a picture is of poor quality, it may be the only one you have of a certain person or place.

NOTE: I want to stop here and point out that keeping or discarding an image is a matter of personal preference. Your choice may be to never discard an image, regardless of quality or subject matter. When it comes to editing photographs, you have to decide what’s right for you.

Friday, December 03, 2010 10:10:37 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

It’s easy to get tunnel vision when researching an ancestor. But your research is best served by considering your focus ancestor as part of a community. (Emily Anne Croom, author of the best selling genealogy guide Unpuzzling Your Past, call this "cluster genealogy.")

Not only is your great-grandfather a member of his nuclear family, but also of an extended family. When you do reverse genealogy, you go a step beyond him and then research forward, broadening your search to his relatives and even friends. Any of the folks in your ancestor’s “cluster” could have provided him with housing, worked for him, asked him to witness a document or attended his funeral.

Here’s how this can work in a real-life research situation:

Several years ago, I was trying to locate my great-grandfather in the 1880 US census on microfilm without success. I found his parents and his siblings who were still living at home. Since Great-grandpa was 17 at the time, I expected to find him there, too. I searched for his future wife thinking perhaps they married younger than I thought. But she was living with her parents. Great-grandpa was nowhere to be found.

In an attempt to find him, I traced great-grandfather’s father back to the 1860 census, where he was listed in the household with his parents. I noted everyone in the household. Then I systematically researched forward, locating each sibling in the 1870 and 1880 censuses.

Sure enough, in 1880, I found my then-17-year-old great-grandfather living with his uncle (his father’s brother) in a neighboring town. Because of a variation in his name spelling, I probably never would’ve found him in online censuses.

Take a look at this picture of an ancestor’s potential family “cluster.” Every one of these relatives has the potential to help you make progress on researching that ancestor.

Click here to search or browse all the Family Tree University December course offerings. 

Tuesday, November 30, 2010 3:54:27 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [3]

You can get an in-depth education in how to find and use military records from Family Tree University’s US Military Records Course.

The course lessons cover:

• Terminology and concepts important to understanding the records

• An overview of US wars and types of records are available for each

• How to find records including rosters, muster rolls, compiled military service records, pension records, bounty land warrants, draft registrations—using both online and offline sources Examples of the records discussed 

• Supplementary military research articles from Family Tree Magazine are included with the course lessons.

You can take this course in two ways:

• Register for the online course through Family Tree University, and take advantage of the opportunity to interact with instructor Diana Crisman Smith and your fellow students. The November session started Monday (you can register through the end of this week) and lasts five weeks (instead of four) to give you extra time during your holiday preparations.

• Get the Independent Study digital download from ShopFamilyTree.com, so you can get started right away and go at your own pace. The independent study course is on sale this week in ShopFamilyTree.com! 

Thursday, November 11, 2010 11:55:27 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

Family Tree University | Genealogy fun

Friday, November 05, 2010 3:48:11 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

That's why I'm pumped about our upcoming Family Tree University class, Source Documentation: How to Cite Genealogy Sources Accurately and Effectively. 

Source citation can sound complicated, but you'll learn that it's just a way of making sure you—or anyone else—can go back to the original source of the genealogical information you've recorded.

Different kinds of genealogy sources—books, census records, online databases, oral histories—require different citation styles. For books, for example, record the title, author, publisher and location, year of publication, where you found the book, library call number (if applicable), and the pertinent page numbers, like so: “Carmack, Sharon DeBartolo and Erin Nevius, eds., The Family Tree Resource Book for Genealogists (Cincinnati: Family Tree Books, 2004), 219-220.”

Our downloadable Source Citation Cheat Sheet has examples of citations for censuses, vital records and other sources. ProGenealogists also has a guide to citing online sources, including databases such as those on Ancestry.com.

Where you cite sources is important, too. Some genealogists include a full citation on the front of every photocopied record so the citation doesn't get separated from the data. Most genealogy software lets you type in citations or link to a digitized record when you add information to your tree. See our article for advice on adding source citations in your genealogy software. 

The classic tome on source citation is Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills (Genealogical Publishing Co.), also downloadable in digital format from Footnote.com.

The Family Tree University course Source Documentation: How to Cite Genealogy Sources Accurately and Effectively, taught by Charlotte Bocage and available for the November session (starting Nov. 8), goes into depth about why to cite sources, how to cite them, including them in genealogy software, and using them in the course of your genealogy research.

(To register, click the “view upcoming course schedule” link or the Register link, then scroll down a little to find the Source Documentation course link.)

Monday, November 01, 2010 3:02:38 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]

• filling out forms
• calculating cousin relationships
• myths to avoid
• choosing genealogy software
• using popular websites
• researching at the library, courthouse and cemetery
• using genetic genealogy

• a seven-day free membership to Family Tree Magazine Plus
• a seven-day free trial to genealogy records site Archives.com
• $25 off a Family Tree University course
• 15 percent off a purchase at ShopFamilyTree.com

Thursday, October 14, 2010 9:30:39 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

• Death Records 101: Find What Your Ancestors Left Behind: Learn what your ancestors’ deaths can tell you about their lives. This course teaches you how to use death certificates, wills, obituaries funeral home records and other related sources to further your research.
  
• Cemetery Research 101: Dig Up Your Family History:We'll get you excited about exploring your ancestors' final resting places and give you tips on how to read tombstones, decipher plot maps and keep your research organized.
• Discover Your Family Tree: Genealogy for the Absolute Beginner: This FREE two-week sampler course will start you on the fun and rewarding journey of discovering your roots.
  

• Organize Your Genealogy
• Advanced Google Search
• Reverse Genealogy

• Find Your German Roots
• Finding African-American Ancestors in Newspapers
• Trace Your Polish Roots
• Tracing Immigrants
• Finding Your Ancestral Village

• Newspaper Research 101: Find Your Ancestors in American News Sources
• US Military Records
• Exploring City Directories
• Land Records 101

• Writing Your Family Memoir
• Build a Family Website
• Digital Photography Essentials

Wednesday, October 06, 2010 3:33:26 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

• Find Your German Roots by James M. Beidler (CD or PDF download)
  
  
• Google Tools for Genealogists by Lisa Louise Cooke (CD or PDF download)
  
  
• Land Records 101 by Diana Crisman Smith (CD or PDF download)
  
  
• Creating a Family History Book by Nancy Hendrickson (CD or PDF download)
  
  
• Digital Photography Essentials by Nancy Hendrickson (CD or PDF download)

Thursday, September 23, 2010 10:29:57 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1]

• Space-saving ideas for your genealogy stuff, from Family Tree Magazine contributing editor Rick Crume

• My update on the new FamilySearch Beta website

• Lisa’s overview of the Digital Library of Georgia website

• Digital photography tips from contributing editor Nancy Hendrickson’s Family Tree University class Digital Photography Essentials 

• Grace Dobush talks about new scanners that are small enough to take along on your next research trip

Thursday, September 16, 2010 9:16:11 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

The first step to finding your Polish ancestors starts here in the United States. The core records to look for are the US census and naturalization papers. The census will pinpoint the date of arrival in the US for the family members and state if the males had alien status or were naturalized. It will also offer the key to finding the region the family hailed from: German Poland, Russian Poland or Austrian Poland. Poland was not on the map for 123 years, so ethnic Poles carried papers stating they were subjects of the governing countries.

Thursday, September 09, 2010 5:43:05 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

• Mastering Google Search
• Reverse Genealogy

• Find Your German Roots
• Finding African-American Ancestors in Newspapers
• Tracing Immigrants
• Research in Foreign Records

• US Military Records
• US Vital Records
• Exploring City Directories
• Land Records 101
• Finding Ancestors in the US Census

• Creating a Family History Book
• Writing Your Family Memoir
• Build a Family Website
• Digital Photography Essentials

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 1:22:27 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

An 1846 Cincinnati city directory reveals that photographer Charles Fontayne operated a business in Cincinnati in 1845. In fact, in the 1840s and early 1850s he did not live in Cincinnati, but instead one mile across the river in Newport, Ky. However, he did not appear in any US census schedules until 1860. 

William S. Porter's family knew he moved to Cincinnati by 1850, but knew little about him before then, including his reason for migrating to Cincinnati. The 1849 directory reveals Porter's arrival about a year after Fontayne's, and shows Porter becoming Fontayne's business partner in a photography studio.

The photographic method of the time, the daguerreotype, was extraordinarily expensive and could only be supported by a large and prosperous city. Cincinnati was the sixth largest city in the United States, just behind Baltimore, and very cosmopolitan as revealed through the wide range of products, including luxury goods, advertised in the directories. Photographers were an elite group with only eight listed in the 1850 Cincinnati directory.

Applying the cluster strategy to the business associates led to looking for connections between Fontayne and Porter before their partnership in Cincinnati. Baltimore city directories from the early 1840s show Fontayne and Porter as business partners there. We can conclude that Porter followed Fontayne to continue the business, a successful endeavor as demonstrated by their ornate advertisement.

The Fontayne and Porter case study illustrates several of key concepts of delving deeper into city directories:

• Use the cluster strategy with co-workers. Business associates may have worked together elsewhere prior to their arrival in their current city.

• Chain migration—one individual traveling ahead to be joined later by another—can apply to occupational groups.
  
  
• Business location is important and strategically chosen.
  
  
• Business owners may have lived in a different city or state.
  
  
• Read between the years and compare information about the industry and your ancestor.
  
  
• Look to advertisements for further information about the ancestor or company, including its target audience and prosperity.
  
  
• Identification in a city directory points to new leads for genealogical sources.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010 9:53:40 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

Mainstream newspapers carried a wide range of stories covering the African-American. A considerable number of white newspapers in both the North and South carried columns or special sections of news specifically for black readership. Stories ranged from items about local residents to those on a state or national scale. The Joliet Evening Herald News in April of 1926, for example, ran an article on the awarding of a charter to the first black Boy Scout troop in the city.

Obituaries or stories reporting the deaths of black community members can be found with regularity. Researchers report great success in finding items such as these on their ancestors. In most cases these ancestors have not lived a life of great acclaim, but have merely established themselves as amicable neighbors.

In general, it's not unusual to find obituaries in mainstream newspapers to be more extensive than those in African-American newspapers. I would guess that this is particularly true in cases when the white paper is published in town, while the black newspaper is national in scope and published elsewhere.

A case in point would be the death of African-American Nancy Greenly of Kankakee, Ill., in 1920. Her death notice in the Chicago Defender on January 17 consisted of one paragraph on page 7, compared to front-page coverage of the event in eight rich paragraphs in the Kankakee Daily Republican.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 11:07:37 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

In personal/family memoir or narrative family history, you, your family, and ancestors are now characters in a story. Obviously, you're not creating characters out of your imagination—you have real-life people to portray. But you can—and should—borrow the characterization techniques fiction writers use.

One of the first things a fiction writer learns is to reveal characters to the reader bit by bit, not all at once as can be seen in so many family histories:

"Felice Vallarelli was born on 28 March 1880 in Terlizzi, Bari, Italy."

When we meet someone in real life, no one stands there and reads us life statistics (or if he did, we would consider him a terrible bore). Why should we meet you or your family that way? Reveal your characters slowly—through their actions, how they dressed, their beliefs, and so on.

Thursday, August 05, 2010 10:51:58 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

• Build a Family Website with Nancy Hendrickson, Family Tree Magazine contributing editor and author of Finding Your Roots Online (Betterway Books)

• Finding African-American Ancestors in Newspapers with Tim Pinnick, author of Finding and Using African American Newspapers

• Exploring City Directories with genealogy librarian Patricia van Skaik

• Writing Your Family Memoir with frequent Family Tree Magazine contributor Sunny McClellan Morton

• Google Tools for Genealogists with Lisa Louise Cooke
• Reverse Genealogy with Lisa Louise Cooke
• US Vital Records with George G. Morgan
• Finding Your Ancestral Village with Lisa A. Alzo
• Digital Photography Essentials with Nancy Hendrickson
• US Military Records with Diana Smith
• Published Genealogies with George G. Morgan
• Find Your German Roots with James M. Beidler
• Tracing Immigrant Ancestors with Lisa A. Alzo

Monday, August 02, 2010 3:21:51 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1]

• At ShopFamilyTree.com, you can save 40 percent on Family Tree Magazine products by entering offer code SFT111 when you check out (some exclusions apply). This offer expires July 5.
  

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Thursday, July 01, 2010 9:27:05 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

Because land doesn't move, it's one of the few elements of our ancestors' lives that we can always count on. Consider an old photograph: Buildings may have changed but the surrounding landmarks such as hills, valleys and rock formations still stand today and can aid in identification.

Let's start using Google Earth by searching for an address that you probably have to get a feel for what I mean by this: the house where one of your sets of grandparents lived.

1. In the Search panel type the address in the Fly To box and click the magnifying glass icon.
2. The globe in the 3D viewer will start to turn and very quickly will zoom in to that location.
3. Place a placemark on that location so you keep track of the exact spot by clicking the Placemark button in the Viewer Toolbar.
4. When the New Placemark box opens, label the placemark with the exact street address and your grandparents' names.
5. Click OK.

You have now located your first ancestral home on Google Earth. Great job! 

Friday, June 25, 2010 12:49:02 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

Anecdotes are the heart and soul of interviews—they are those wonderful little stories we all love reading. But how do you get those anecdotes? Author John Brady writes, "If he says, 'I owe my 40 years of marriage to absolute understanding and compatibility,' ask him, 'What do you mean by understanding and compatibility? Can you give me some examples?'"
 
Asking follow-up questions is important because it lets the subject know you're genuinely curious and interested in what they’re saying. Although you have a prepared list of questions, don't be afraid to follow one of your subject's comments off into unexpected territory. 
 
If this is your first interview, you may feel nervous and awkward. Take heart. You'll improve with practice. When you think the interview is over, ask one last question: "Is there anything else I should have asked you?" You'll be surprised at the great information this question elicits.

Friday, June 18, 2010 10:07:17 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

A new feature in Google Earth is Historical Imagery. Click the clock icon on the Tool Bar and a slider bar will appear at the top of the map indicating how far back map images are available for your location. In the case of San Francisco we can turn the hands of time back to 1946 image. To return to modern day just unclick the clock icon or move the slider back up to the current year.

Go to Image Search and look for a portrait of a historical figure such as George Washington. In the results pages you'll see many faces of George Washington. However, as you move on through the search results, soon you'll come across other things, like a photograph of George Washington’s false teeth. Not exactly what you were looking for.

To eliminate the unwanted images and narrow in on the desired images, go back to the search box and click the Advance Image Search link. You'll see a blue box near the top and then a white box below. Within that box the first option is Content Types: return images that contain. Click on Faces and click the Search button again.  

Now every search result is a facial image. It might be a portrait on a stamp or on a coin, but it will be a face. We have succeeded in narrowing the original search results down from 6.7 million images to 548,000 images. Think how well this might work with an ancestor who is not quite is famous as George Washington!

Tuesday, June 08, 2010 4:55:14 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

• Finding Ancestors in the US Census: Online and Offline Research Strategies, taught by Jana Sloan Broglin
  
  
• Land Records 101: Using Deeds, Plats, Patents and More, taught by Diana Smith
  
  
• Tracing Immigrants: How to Research Your Family’s American Arrivals, taught by Lisa A. Alzo
  
  
• US Vital Records: Researching Births, Marriages, Deaths and Divorces, taught by George G. Morgan
  
  
• Reverse Genealogy: Working Forward to Break Down Brick Walls, taught by Lisa Louise Cooke
  
  
• Digital Photography Essentials: Techniques to Capture and Preserve Your Family History, taught by Nancy Hendrickson
  

Wednesday, May 05, 2010 10:27:47 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]

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Monday, November 09, 2009 5:54:44 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0]