Updates at Ancestry

 Ancestry has updated their relationship predictions for close relationships. According to Diahan Southard, "They are now better at distinguishing your grandparent from your niece.... For the first time they aren't just using cMs and age to try to decide how people are related. They are taking into account the total number of segments, as well as how the matches relate to each other, so the shared matches of matches. This is really the first step in creating a genetic family tree." Here is a link to an Ancestry article about the change. 

There was also an update to the ThruLines tool. There are options for different views. 

August All-Day Virtual Seminar: Strategies for Genealogical Discoveries

 

Join Genealogy Friends on Saturday, August 15, 2026 from 9 to 3 CDT for Strategies for Genealogical Discoveries by J. Mark Lowe. 

Are you ready to tackle persistent challenges and uncover new family connections? Deepen your research skills and find new pathways to family stories in these four sessions:

• Making Those Early Census Records Talk to You
• Early Migration and Settlement Patterns
• Following a Civil Case Through Documents Filed in Court
• Using That Brick Wall as a Foundation

Register https://www.genealogyfriends.org/all-day-seminars.html 

If you are busy and can't attend in person, recordings will be available to watch later. 

Focus on Photographs of Family & Friends

 What challenges do you have with photographs that you use in your family history?

Photo Organization and Cataloging

Do you have an overflowing pile of physical photos/albums along with digital photos/videos on various devices?

Photo Preservation

Do you struggle with how to store and digitize fragile photos that may be 50-100 years old?

Photo Identification

Do you have some nagging photos that you're still trying to identify?

Photo Sharing 

Do you wonder how you can share your photos (and their related stories) via your family trees and social media?

Take a few minutes before our July monthly program to think about where you want to focus.

My goal is to do better at routine scanning of either one photo album or one archival box containing loose photos/slides - just one small step at a time. Yes, I'm also still researching the family photo shown above in this post.

Genealogy 101: Where to Start?

 

Historic Mesquite is offering a moderated panel discussion on how to get started with your family history. 

Thursday July 23, 2026 Doors Open at 6:30

$20 per person, proceeds go towards preserving Mesquite history. 

Need Help With Your Research? Join us at Haggard Library

 

When: Saturday, July 11, 2026 10:15 to 1 CT

Where: W.O. Haggard Library, 2501 Coit Rd, Plano, TX

Program: 10:15-11:15 "The Other Census - U.S. State and Territorial Censuses," by Thomas MacEntee.  Handout is available for members. 

Frequently genealogists focus strictly on U.S. Census records and forget that many of the U.S. states and territories conducted their own census at some point. Learn which states and territories have these amazing records, how to access them, and how to incorporate them into your genealogy research. Participants will learn how to determine if a specific state or territory conducted their own census and when. In addition, we'll cover how to access these records both online and in-person at various repositories. Finally, we'll review how to take state and territorial census data and incorporate it into your current genealogy research. 

Research Help 11:15 -1:00 Experienced Researchers will be on hand to help. Here's just a few ideas:

• Getting Started on Family History Research - bring what you know about your family. Create a free account on the National Genealogical Society website and download the free Pedigree Chart and Family Group Sheet. Fill in what you know and bring them to the library. https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/free-resources/charts/
• Brick Wall - bring your research question and research log/report. 
• Start a New Research Project - bring what you know about the research subject. We'll help you develop a research question, provide tips on researching the location, and starting your research. 
• Research in Restricted Records on FamilySearch.org. The Plano Libraries are Affiliate Libraries so you can access records you can't see from home. 
  
  

Beginning DNA Class Cancelled

The instructor, Kathy Bartera, has a family issue so there will be no Beginning DNA class on July 7th. Please keep Kathy and her family in your thoughts and prayers. 

Banyan Update

BayanDna is a software tool for building, visualizing, and analyzing complex genealogies. 

They released a new update:

• Import DNA match data into your project
• Export Calculation results to CSV files

Release Notes