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Marriage records offer incredible insights, revealing details like names, birthplaces, residences, and even parents' names. This limited-time offer lets you dive into these records for free - no subscription required.
RootsTech, the largest genealogy conference, takes place March 6-8, and it is free to attend online. There are over 150 online sessions. If you haven't registered yet, use this link Register Here. Sessions are available after the conference ends in case you can't watch all the sessions you want to in one weekend.
The February 6th Roundtable topic of census records was a nice refresher as most of us have used census records often in our research. The question of where to find census records elicited the common responses of Family Search, Ancestry, My Heritage, the National Archives (NARA), and a couple of suggestions for international census records – Find My Past and the Danish Archives.
The Family Search Wiki is an outstanding source for census
information. A quick search there on the general term ‘census’ brought up pages of hits for
both the United States and international records and information. Census
records can also be searched at the Wiki by choosing a specific location first then
picking Census from the Record Types list.
Did you know there was a federal census taken in 1885? This
census was not mandatory, and the states of Florida, Nebraska, Colorado and the
Dakota and New Mexico territories were the only participants. More information
about this census can be found at The National Archives. The
1885 census included four schedules: population, agriculture, manufactures, and
mortality.
Other general notes from the Roundtable:
If the census copy located at one site is poor, be sure to
check other sites. The scan quality can vary between websites. Likewise, if
your ancestor isn’t found in the index at one provider, check with another as
their name might be mistranscribed at one site and not the other.
Do not make relationship assumptions, even for the censuses
that include relationship to head of household. The adult male and female may
or may not be the parents of all or even some of the listed children. Early
deaths often led to additional marriages and blended households. The children
could be a mix of full, half, or step siblings, cousins or other relatives, or
even neighbor children taken in after an unfortunate event.
The 1880 census for St. Louis, Missouri, was enumerated
twice, once in June and then again in November. City officials of that time
were unsatisfied with the June enumeration believing the population numbers
were too low and demanded it be redone. Researchers will find inconsistencies
between the two enumerations.
Mortality schedules were taken along with population
schedules during the 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1885 censuses. People who had
died June 1st through May 31st prior to the census year
were included. Deaths were not always reported in the past, so the mortality
schedules are helpful to researchers. If you are fortunate to have had an
ancestor listed on a mortality schedule, you will find a wealth of information
similar to what is found on current death certificates.
Some websites are more comprehensive than others. A good one
to check out is One
Step Webpages by Steve Morse.
A helpful tool mentioned during the Roundtable and listed on
the handout is the Narrowing Birth Dates Calendar offered for
free at Genohistory.
Always review the phrasing of questions asked for each
census. They vary by census and make a difference in how to interpret and
record the information found. The questions may be found at various websites.
The handout provided for this Roundtable also includes these questions and much
more information as well as links to helpful websites.
A key thing to remember is that census records provide
clues for further research but should not be accepted as actual facts without
further documentation.
The February Roundtable – Census Records video is now available,
along with the detailed handout provided by our President, Barbara Coakley.
Members of Genealogy Friends should check their email for the link. If you are
not currently a member and are interested in joining, please see the Genealogy
Friends website.
Are you participating in RootsTech this year, either in person or virtually? If so, you might enjoy this blog post by Roberta Estes - Relatives at RootsTech Reveals Cousins and Provides DNA Candidates. She shares how to find out if any of your relatives have also registered for RootsTech. There are several ways to sort through your list of participating relatives such as location, by ancestor, and family line. Roberta mentions to check back often because more people will be registering. The final day Relatives at RootsTech will be available is April 12th.
I found out that Roberta and I are 10th cousins. These connections do need to be verified. For example, I have documented 6-7 generations back on that line but need to confirm beyond that. It's interesting to see the connections that pop up to other attendees, but it's even more exciting to be given a list of clues to follow that will hopefully lead to more confirmed ancestors.
What is the best genealogy program to use? The one that you are comfortable using. I switched to RootsMagic a few years ago after trying out a few other programs. RootsMagic runs on window or mac and they have a free version that can be downloaded to try out the software.
RootsMagic communicates with both FamilySearch and Ancestry.
Resources
Help File - There is an extensive help file that walks through all the functions in the software.
Community - A place to ask questions.
Genealogy Forum of Oregon Roots Magic Special Interest Group - meets on the 1st Monday of each month at noon central time. The moderator has created a document to supplement the RootsMagic help file. He is very knowledgeable and you don't have to be a society member to attend the meetings.
YouTube Channel - Lots of videos to help with using the software.
https://germanologyunlocked.com/blog/
Have German ancestors? This blog has helpful articles on
research tips, German language, handwriting, church records, German names, and
many more interesting topics.
https://dp.la/guides/the-family-research-guide-to-dpla
This user friendly website provides links to all sorts of
information, records, photos, and ephemera to add context to the lives of our
ancestors.
⬥ The National Genealogical Society (NGS) is now shipping orders of its groundbreaking textbook, Forensic Genealogy: Theory & Practice. With 575 pages, it is the first comprehensive primer for professional genealogists who are interested in exploring the specialty areas and skills required to build a career in this emerging field. Meet the authors and purchase Forensic Genealogy: Theory & Practice at the NGS booth at RootsTech in Salt Lake City 6-8 March 2025. Or order your copy through the NGS Store.
⬥ Celebrate Black History Month with some free webinars from Legacy Family Tree. They are offering these 5 webinars for free during the month of February 2025.
⬥ The topic of the next Mondays with Myrt will be AI and photo analysis. Mark Thompson, from the Family History AI Show podcast, will be the special guest. Join this free LIVE streaming virtual meeting where attendees may participate in the LIVE chat on February 3rd starting at 11am at YouTube.
⬥ Registration will open February 4th for the GRIP Genealogy Institute. Nine virtual courses will be offered from 22-27 June 2025, and eight in-person courses offered from 13-18 July 2025. More information here.
⬥ Fold3 announces a new collection of Virginia military records. The Virginia Department of Military Affairs Records Collection contains information on Virginia military personnel who served between 1876 and 1947, including veterans from the Spanish-American War, WWI, and WWII. Learn more in this recent Fold3 blogpost or go straight to the collection Search. Reminder that Fold3 is available through many libraries. Also Fold3 related – Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries will present Using Fold3 to Your Advantage, featuring Craig R. Scott, at the next Saturday Seminar, February 15, 2025.
⬥ Genealogy Bank recently added new content from 169 titles including 134 newspapers added for the first time. View the newspaper title, location, and date range in this list to see if the newly added content is relevant to your research.
⬥ Storied has acquired the AI company “Memory Lane,” which will leverage AI to “make building family trees more easily, storytelling more seamless, and help you to make new discoveries.” Their new pricing structure, with plans as low as $20 per year, provides access to over 1 billion historical records in addition to platforms for building a family tree and creating Storied Books.
The Genealogy Friends DNA Interest Group meets via Zoom and in person at W.O. Haggard Library on the second Tuesday of each month from 7-8:30 pm central time. Links that are discussed at the meetings are added to the website.
At the January meeting, we discussed 23andMe. In the fall of 2023, they had a data breach caused by users who used the same passwords on 23andMe that they used on other websites. Features were disabled and not all of them have returned. In September 2024 the independent directors all resigned. They did not agree with the direction of the company. Their stock has fallen dramatically.
This is a good reminder that we should download our test result data and periodically download matches, messages, etc. from all testing company websites.
There are links on the website with instructions to download data from 23andMe and Ancestry.
Hope to see you at an upcoming meeting.
https://www.oldmapsonline.org/en/history/regions#position=3/33.1/-96.88&year=1862
Use the slider to journey through time, from 4000 BC to today. See something fascinating? Click on it, and a side panel opens with the relevant Wikipedia article for instant research.
https://aigenealogyinsights.com/2025/01/01/the-2025-ai-genealogy-do-over/
AI Genealogy Do-Over with a kicker of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.
The Snapshot Interviews are a series of free, engaging, 30-minute conversations with leading voices in genealogy. With a strong focus on audience participation, each session incorporates questions submitted by attendees, making every interview interactive and uniquely tailored. Whether you’re a seasoned genealogist or just starting your journey, these interviews provide fresh ideas, practical tips, and inspiration—all in just half an hour!
The debut of The Snapshot Interviews features two well-known names in forensic genealogy, Catherine Becker Wiest Desmarais and Michael S. Ramage. Together, they bring unparalleled expertise to the field and are the co-authors of the highly anticipated book, Forensic Genealogy: Theory & Practice. The first interview, with Catherine and Michael, launches on February 12th at 6:30 PM Central US.
Join the conversation and sign up today to be part of The
Snapshot Interviews. Explore the rest of the 2025 schedule and register now.
Roundtable Recap – Untangling the
Lives of Individuals Who Share the Same Name
January 2, 2025
The topic for the January
Roundtable was how to determine which individual is your ancestor when multiple
people with the same name are found. The main take away from information shared
by GenFriends members who have experience with this dilemma is to DOCUMENT
EVERYTHING. Some people prefer a word document, but most like the greater
versatility that a spreadsheet has to offer. The key is to use what works best
for you to organize the found information in such a way that it can be sorted
and analyzed.
A basic format for such a
table could include a top row with each person’s name followed by a second row
with column labels repeated under each person in row 1. The columns would
include things like event, place, age, and comments. Additional columns such as
street address, occupation, or religion can be added if research indicates they
would be useful. It is helpful to include one column to the far left of
everything that is labeled Year. A simple example, based on the multiple Thomas
Bartons in my lineage, is shown below.
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Thomas Barton |
Thomas Barton |
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Year |
Event |
Place |
Age |
Comments |
Event |
Place |
Age |
Comments |
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You can see how easy it would be to add an additional Thomas Barton. Inserting other labeled columns would also be fairly simple. It’s advisable to keep the years in chronological order to more easily track relocation to another area and to help assess which records might be missing. Additional year rows could easily be inserted. Using a fill color helps to quickly distinguish between different individuals. It’s okay to not have all the information to complete a row. For example, a headstone would provide a birth year but not the birth place. The headstone information should still be recorded, but further research would be needed to support the birth year and provide a location. The headstone would also need to provide additional information, such as the unique wife’s name, to know which individual it should be applied to. If a record cannot be conclusively assigned to a specific individual, it should be saved, but not entered on the spreadsheet, until more information is found.
The information added to the
spreadsheet should be from actual documents, headstones, etc. Things like old
family stories, unsourced data in someone else’s tree, and biographical
sketches can provide leads to actual records, but they are not themselves concrete
documentation.
Several GenFriends members
recommend maintaining and adding to your same-name spreadsheet even after
determining which individual is your ancestor. The spreadsheet data can help when
assessing newly found records. There is also the possibility that you will discover in the future that the non-ancestor is part of a different branch of your tree,
and it will be nice to have their data already sorted out.
Some
other tips from GenFriends members:
Do not assume that the same-name
Sr. and Jr. that you find are father and son. They could be uncle and nephew,
cousins, or there might not be any biological link between them. It was fairly
common when there were two men with the same name living in the same community
for the older man to be called Sr. and the younger man referred to as Jr.
When looking at BLM records,
always check records before and after those of your person. People often
travelled in pairs or groups and their records would have been recorded at the
same time. There might be a relative or a member of your ancestor’s FAN club in
the records before and after his, and this could be useful in evaluating
exactly who the BLM record belongs to.
Share your findings to help other
researchers maintain accuracy. GenFriends members report they have notified managers
and/or added text to Find a Grave memorials. They have also added Alert Notes
to individuals on trees at Family Search. In Ancestry, GenFriends members have
sent messages to other users providing the correct documentation, and they have
also made sure their own tree is accurate and provides good sources. It can be
helpful to save a note in a text file on your computer. That way it can be
copied and shared as needed without having to retype everything. There was also
a reminder to share your findings directly with other family members who are
researching the tree.
References:
“Untangling
the Lives of Individuals Who Share the Same Name” by Hannah Kubacak, STIRPES,
June 2023, pages 38-42
“The
Family Tree Problem Solver” by Marsha Hoffman Rising
Genealogy News
Celebrate 18 years of Fold3 with a 40% discount! Buy now. Offer ends 27 January 2025.
The Names & Stories project at MyHeritage has been completed, adding 11.6 billion new records! These records were extracted from historical newspapers spanning all 50 U.S. states, as well as Canada, Australia, and the U.K. Read more about this historic achievement at the MyHeritage Blog.
The Genealogy Do-Over Workbook, by Thomas MacEntee, is available for free with Kindle Unlimited. Amazon link here.
Registration for Applied Genealogy Institute's Spring 2025 Session will open from January 15th - January 22nd, 2025! There will be five exciting classes held this session. You can review the dates, cost, and class outlines on the website: https://appliedgen.institute/spring-2025-classes/
American Ancestors is hosting a Virtual Open House Webinar on Wednesday, January 29th, from 3:00-4:00pm. During the open house you will learn how the databases, genealogists, and millions of unique collections at American Ancestors can help! This discussion will highlight the many benefits and services available to members. This will be a great way to find out if American Ancestors would be useful to your research. Learn More and Register.
Registration is open for the Mastering Genealogical Proof Study Group with Cyndi Ingle. Saturdays, 4pm, Feb 15-March 29, 2025. $95. These Zoom sessions will be a beginner/low-intermediate level class to study the book “Mastering Genealogical Proof” by Thomas W. Jones. Click here for more information.
The Roundtable Recap - Land Records blog post in November shares information and links we discussed during the November Roundtable meeting. If you are interested in an additional live presentation concerning land records, The Mesquite Historical and Genealogical Society is hosting a seminar on the subject January 9, 2025. Genealogist Sara Cochran will be speaking about the value of State and Federal land records and the many ways they can be helpful in research. Click here to register for this Zoom meeting.
Find the Generation of Connection with Your Mystery DNA Matches is a free webinar being presented by YourDNAGuide on January 16, 2025. Register here to learn these helpful steps.
The National Genealogical Society is offering its Foundations in Family History course. Details can be found here. Also, if you purchase a new NGS gift membership through January 31, 2025, you will be entered into a drawing to win one of five valuable prizes to be given away on February 3, 2025. More information is available in the Upfront with NGS blog.
Registration is now open for more than 170 upcoming live webinars in 2025 at Legacy Family Tree Webinars. Many of these are free to view live and for the following 7 days.
FamilySearch celebrated its 130th anniversary as an organization in 2024 along with the 25th anniversary of their popular website, FamilySearch.org. Highlights of their year can be found in the FamilySearch Year in Review 2024 blog post.
MyHeritage celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2024. The blog post, Wrapping Up 2024: MyHeritage Year in Review, has a month by month recap of their year and also includes interesting statistics such as 13 billion historical records added.
RootsTech will be held March 6th – 8th. Information about speakers, registration, in-person and online classes, and more can be found here.
Just in case you missed the holiday sale at Ancestry, they are currently offering 50% off 6-month memberships. The sales ends January 16th.
