The recording of one of our best webinars ever, "Colonial Immigrants: Who They Were and Where They Came From" by Mary Hill is now online to view for free for a limited time. Mary really inspired our viewers, as is evidenced by this viewer's comment:

Whew. Wow. Blew me away. Had reached a plateau in one of my lines. Became frustrated. This ignited my fire like nothing else has since I first saw my g-g-grandpa's grave and got the genealogy bug. Terrific. Wonderful. Fantastic. Enlightening. Very educational...and yes, even fun. Tks Geoff for inviting Mary. And thx to Mary for sharing so much of her wisdom.

View the Recording at FamilyTreeWebinars.com

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 18 minute recording of Colonial Immigrants: Who They Were and Where They Came From is now available to view in our webinar archives for free until September 5, 2013. It is also available to our monthly or annual Webinar Members for the duration of your membership. Visit www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com to watch.

Special Discount Coupon

The special discount coupon of mary that was announced during the webinar is valid for 10% off anything at both www.LegacyFamilyTreeStore.com and www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com through Monday, September 2, 2013.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 187 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 485 pages)
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout, and yes, you can also use the 10% off webinar coupon above for a total of 15% off)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year (that's about the cost of 5 webinar CDs)
• Monthly membership: $9.95/month

Click here to subscribe.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

• Getting the Most from Your Records: Putting Them Through the Wringer! by Linda Geiger. September 4.
• More Blogging for Beginners with DearMYRTLE. September 6.
• You Use WHAT for Genealogy? by Thomas MacEntee. September 11.
• Don't Be an Audio Hog: Free and Easy Ways to Share Your Audio Files by Marian Pierre-Louis. September 18.
• Using GPS Coordinates to Tag and Record Your Photos with Heritage Collector Software by Marlo Schuldt. October 18.
• Using Church Records to Identify Ancestors by Mary Hill. October 23.
• Using Court Records to tell the Story of our Ancestors' Lives by Judy Russell. October 30.
• Ancestry Trees Can Jump Start Your Research by DearMYRTLE. November 1.
• Researching with Marian! Creating a Research Plan with YOUR Research by Marian Pierre-Louis. November 6.
• Researching Your Ohio Ancestors by Lisa Alzo. November 13.
• Mind Mapping Your Research Plans and Results by Thomas MacEntee. November 20.
• How Computers & Gadgets are Changing Genealogy by Barbara Renick. December 4.
• Overcoming Lost Records Using Technology by Karen Clifford. December 18.

Click here to register.

See you online!

FamilySearch has recently added more than 2 million indexed records and images from Find A Grave, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Portugal, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 1,483,770 indexed records from the new Find A Grave Index, the 346,492 indexed records from the U.S., Washington, Seattle, Passenger Lists, 1890–1957, collection, and the 113,930 indexed records from the Germany, Mecklenburg-Schwerin Census 1867, collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Never miss a webinar by Mary Hill - this is going to be a good one!

Between 1607 and 1790, about 900,000 immigrants came to the colonies (in America). Learn about each of the nationalities that came before the Revolutionary War, where they came from, and sources available to identify them.

Join us for the live webinar this Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at 2pm Eastern U.S. Register today to reserve your virtual seat. Registration is free but space is limited to the first 1,000 people to join that day. Before joining, please visit www.java.com to ensure you have the latest version of Java which our webinar software requires. When you join, if you receive a message that the webinar is full, you know we've reached the 1,000 limit, so we invite you to view the recording which should be published to the webinar archives within an hour or two of the event's conclusion.

Download the syllabus

Mary's 4-page syllabus with all of the major points and website links is now available to download/save/print for webinar subscribers here.

Test Your Webinar Connection

To ensure that your webinar connection is ready to go, click here.

Can't make it to the live event?

No worries. Its recording will be available for free for the first 7 days after the live event. Webinar Subscribers have unlimited access for the duration of their membership.

About the presenter 

Mary E.V. Hill, MLS, AG ® (Southern States and Eastern States); worked as reference librarian at BYU from 1989-1992, as genealogy instructor at BYU from 1992-1995, as Family History Library US/Canada Reference consultant from 1995-2006. She served on the UGA Board of Directors from 2006-2008 and as an LDS missionary at the Family History Library from 2006-2008. She is the author of Saga of a Southern Loyalist: William Riddle of Virginia and North Carolina, and Angel Children. She is a lecturer with emphasis on U.S. research methods and genealogical organization. Mary is a mother and grandmother.

Watch Mary's previous webinars here:

• Land Records Solve Research Problems
• The Big 4 U.S. Record Sources
• Use Your Digital Camera to Copy Records
• FamilyRoots Organizer System

Register for Mary's upcoming webinars here:

• Colonial Immigrants: Who They Were and Where They Came From
• Using Church Records to Identify Ancestors

Add it to your Google Calendar

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

Webinar time

The webinar will be live on Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at:

• 2pm Eastern (U.S.)
• 1pm Central
• 12pm Mountain
• 11am Pacific
• 6pm GMT

Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

1. Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com today. It's free!
2. You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
3. You will receive a reminder email both 1 day and 1 hour prior to the live webinar.
4. Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
5. Make sure you have the latest version of Java installed on your computer. Check at www.java.com.
6. Check your GoToWebinar connection here.
7. Click on the webinar link (found in confirmation and reminder emails) prior to the start of the webinar. Arrive early as the room size is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals that day.
8. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Legacy Family Tree's color coding tools are one of the reasons genealogists love Legacy. And in the upcoming Legacy 8, it gets even better!

Legacy's color-coding, developed by Accredited Genealogist and popular webinar speaker, Mary E. V. Hill, was implemented to help researchers organize both 1) what they see on the screen AND 2) their paper files more efficiently. In the pedigree view bleow, notice that my tree is divided into four colors: 

• Grandfather's lineage on father's side: BLUE
• Grandmother's lineage on father's side: GREEN
• Grandfather's lineage on mother's side: RED
• Grandmother's lineage on mother's side: YELLOW

While navigating my pedigree, if I am viewing someone who has been color-coded as yellow, I immediately recognize that they are part of my maternal grandmother's line.

These colors are also available for your printed pedigree charts:

and family group records:

and even wall charts:

These colors go hand-in-hand with Mary's filing system, where your paper files correspond to the colors in Legacy. Here's a image from Mary's webinar:

One of the frequent requests concerning this color coding system is to be able to color code both your pedigree AND your spouse's pedigree.

New in 8! Multiple starting points

You've asked. We've listened and responded. And we even have Mary's blessing. When I previewed this to her, she responded by saying "Wow! I really like it! It is awesome to see that you did the 4 colors for your ancestors and four for your wife's lines!!!"

Here's what it looks like in Legacy 7 with only my pedigree colored. Notice my wife's side is not colorful:

Legacy 8 lets you have two starting points.

By default, the second group's colors are a darker version of the same colors, but you can adjust the colors to anything you want. Choose them on this screen:

Oh yes, and the new v8 pedigree view displays the ancestors' pictures too. Cool!

New! Color-code 8 great-grandparents' lines

Also new in Legacy 8, if you have the need to divide your tree into more groups than just the four grandparents' lines, you can track the eight great-grandparents lines with eight different colors.

Just select this option:

When ancestors intermarry

The further back in time you go, the more likely your ancestors will intermarry and the colors will "blend." Legacy 8 makes it easier to see these relationships. From the colors below, I can see that my paternal grandfather's pedigree (blue) marries into my maternal grandmother's pedigree (light yellow) and then mixes with my wife's maternal grandmother's pedigree (dark yellow). At last I have a reason for why my kids are the way they are! (Just kidding, I love my kids...)

Set Ancestor Colors option

Enable color coding from the Tools tabs:

So what do you think? Do you already use color coding? How will these new options help?

Legacy Family Tree - Unlocked!

See Legacy 8 in action with the new Legacy Family Tree - Unlocked! book by Geoff Rasmussen (that's me)! Get the PDF edition free when you purchase the 236 page paperback. Click here for more information or to purchase.

What are the other new features of Legacy 8?

Here are links to the articles I've previously written:

Legacy Family Tree 8 Revealed

Legacy Family Tree 8 Revealed - Q/A, new Tagging options, and other surprises

Legacy Family Tree 8 Revealed - Migration Mapping

Legacy Family Tree 8 Revealed - Instant Duplicate Checking

Legacy Family Tree 8 Revealed - Shared Events and Automated Sorting

Legacy Family Tree 8 Revealed - Potential Problem Alerts and "Gaps of Unusual Size"

Legacy Family Tree 8 Revealed - Sources

Legacy Family Tree 8 Revealed - Origins and Migration Reports

Legacy Family Tree 8 Revealed - New Wall Charts and options

When will Legacy 8 be released?

There's still more than one truthful answer to this:

• I'm not really sure, but probably before the end of the year, and hopefully way before then
• When it has been thoroughly tested by our development team and beta testers

But if you are considering downloading either the free or deluxe editions of Legacy, don't wait! Any purchases of Legacy 7.5 from May 8, 2013 forward will receive the new Legacy 8 at no charge. And as always, anyone who has purchased Legacy Deluxe previously will qualify for special discounted upgrade pricing. Get started today - you won't have to relearn everything when Legacy 8 is ready, but you'll get some really nice new features when it is.

Has it been a while since you've done any FamilySearch Indexing? Watch this brief, animated video from FamilySearch and get inspired again. Haven't started yet? Sign up here.

The recording of today's webinar, "Do More with your Photos with Templates from Heritage Collector software" by Marlo Schuldt and Kathleen Bitter is now online to view for free.

View the Recording at FamilyTreeWebinars.com

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 50 minute recording of Do More with your Photos with Templates from Heritage Collector software is now available to view in our webinar archives for free. It is also available to our monthly or annual Webinar Members for the duration of your membership. Visit www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com to watch.

Special Discount Coupon

The special discount coupon of heritage3 that was announced during the webinar is valid for 10% off anything at both www.LegacyFamilyTreeStore.com and www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com through Monday, August 26, 2013.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 186 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 480 pages)
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout, and yes, you can also use the 10% off webinar coupon above for a total of 15% off)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year (that's about the cost of 5 webinar CDs)
• Monthly membership: $9.95/month

Click here to subscribe.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

• Colonial Immigrants: Who They Were and Where They Came From by Mary Hill. August 28.
• Getting the Most from Your Records: Putting Them Through the Wringer! by Linda Geiger. September 4.
• More Blogging for Beginners with DearMYRTLE. September 6.
• You Use WHAT for Genealogy? by Thomas MacEntee. September 11.
• Don't Be an Audio Hog: Free and Easy Ways to Share Your Audio Files by Marian Pierre-Louis. September 18.
• Using GPS Coordinates to Tag and Record Your Photos with Heritage Collector Software by Marlo Schuldt. October 18.
• Using Church Records to Identify Ancestors by Mary Hill. October 23.
• Using Court Records to tell the Story of our Ancestors' Lives by Judy Russell. October 30.
• Ancestry Trees Can Jump Start Your Research by DearMYRTLE. November 1.
• Researching with Marian! Creating a Research Plan with YOUR Research by Marian Pierre-Louis. November 6.
• Researching Your Ohio Ancestors by Lisa Alzo. November 13.
• Mind Mapping Your Research Plans and Results by Thomas MacEntee. November 20.
• How Computers & Gadgets are Changing Genealogy by Barbara Renick. December 4.
• Overcoming Lost Records Using Technology by Karen Clifford. December 18.

Click here to register.

See you online!

We have another great new Legacy Family Tree update (free) for you to download. This update adds the long-anticipated ability to synchronize and interact with FamilySearch's Family Tree. It also adds a new SourceWriter template for the recently-released 1921 Canada census.

See the download instructions below for step-by-step instructions on installing this update.

What's New

FamilySearch Family Tree Interaction. FamilySearch's Family Tree is a collaborative online tree where researcher's interact with a large, unified database of connected genealogical information. It is one of the must-visit sites to compare what you know about an ancestor with what others have shared. Legacy's FamilySearch tools provide the ability to:

• Check and compare the FamilySearch Family Tree for possible matches with your ancestor.
• Link your Legacy person to the Family Tree person so Legacy can monitor for any changes/updates made by other researchers. Legacy can also "Auto Match" your Legacy file.
• Add your Legacy person to the Family Tree for others to view. Maybe you will find a new cousin or two!
• Share information you might have about an ancestor already in the Family Tree. You can help fill in the gaps or missing information for someone else.
• Download information that others have published. A complete citation is added to any information you download so you know exactly where it came from.
• Know how "complete" your genealogy is. The percentage tracker can help you manage your genealogy projects so you are not so overwhelmed.
• LDS members:
  • Reserve and print Family Ordinance Requests (FORs)
  • Organize and share ordinance cards with friends and family

To get started, turn on the FamilySearch option in Legacy by going to Options > Customize > General tab > and turn on the option to "Integrate with FamilySearch". Of course, this tool is completely optional.

Then click on the FamilySearch button in the main toolbar:

After logging in, Legacy searches FamilySearch Family Tree for any possible matches and displays them for you to compare:

If they appear to be the same person, click on the "This person is the same as mine" button. Then you optionally can share information back and forth:

Looks like FamilySearch has some burial information about my Carrie May Gekeler that I didn't know about previously. I could click on the green arrow to add this to my Legacy family file, or I could just use it as a clue for me to verify. Morris Hill Cemetery is not too far from where I live, so maybe I'll go check this out this afternoon.

FamilySearch Family Tree is available to everyone - give it a try today by downloading today's Legacy update.

SourceWriter. Congratulations to Canadian researchers! The 1921 Canada census is now available to browse at Ancestry. When you find an ancestor, you will now be able to properly cite its source with the updated SourceWriter template.

Census List tool. Because the new census has not yet been indexed, knowing 1) who was alive in 1921 and 2) where in Canada they were living is important. Our updated Census List tool now includes the ability to quickly find everyone that meet these conditions. After clicking on the Search button, click on the Census List tab:

Happy searching!

How to Update

Go to http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadUpdate.asp and follow the instructions.

FamilySearch has recently added close to 1.5 million indexed records and images from Chile, Honduras, Jamaica, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 953,730 indexed records from the Jamaica, Civil Registration, 1880–1999, collection, the 242,722 indexed records and images from the U.S., Louisiana, New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820–1945, collection, and the 239,119 indexed records from the Chile, Civil Registration, 1885–1903, collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Learn more about the Heritage Collector software to create storybook pages to preserve and share experiences that are perfect for children and young families. Learn to add voice recordings and video clips to save and share precious experiences. Learn the difference between a Quick Page and a Template. Learn how to use storybook templates.

Join us for the live webinar this Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 2pm Eastern U.S. Register today to reserve your virtual seat. Registration is free but space is limited to the first 1,000 people to join that day. Before joining, please visit www.java.com to ensure you have the latest version of Java which our webinar software requires. When you join, if you receive a message that the webinar is full, you know we've reached the 1,000 limit, so we invite you to view the recording which should be published to the webinar archives within an hour or two of the event's conclusion.

Test Your Webinar Connection

To ensure that your webinar connection is ready to go, click here.

Can't make it to the live event?

No worries. Its recording will be available for free for the first 7 days after the live event. Webinar Subscribers have unlimited access for the duration of their membership.

About the presenter 

Kathleen is a mother of 4, including a set of twins. She has a deep passion for preserving the history of her family – both current and past. She is the director of the Storybook and Calendar modules of the Heritage Collector Suite software.

Watch Kathleen's previous webinars here:

• Celebrate the Holidays and Share Family History with Heritage Collector software
• Getting Started with Heritage Collector Software (a Legacy add-on tool for your photos)
• Getting Started with Heritage Collector Software Part 3 (a Legacy add-on tool for your photos)

Add it to your Google Calendar

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

Webinar time

The webinar will be live on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at:

• 2pm Eastern (U.S.)
• 1pm Central
• 12pm Mountain
• 11am Pacific
• 6pm GMT

Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

1. Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com today. It's free!
2. You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
3. You will receive a reminder email both 1 day and 1 hour prior to the live webinar.
4. Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
5. Make sure you have the latest version of Java installed on your computer. Check at www.java.com.
6. Check your GoToWebinar connection here.
7. Click on the webinar link (found in confirmation and reminder emails) prior to the start of the webinar. Arrive early as the room size is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals that day.
8. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

FamilySearch has recently added more than 3.1 million indexed records and images from England, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 2,669,755 indexed records from the New Zealand, Immigration Passenger Lists, 1855–1973, collection, the 272,611 indexed records from the U.S., Arkansas, First Draft Registration Cards, 1940–1945, collection, and the 115,441 indexed records and images from the new England, Sussex, Parish Registers, 1538–1910, collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.