Thanks to guest blogger, Lisa Alzo, for this great article.

October is National Family History Month* making it the perfect time to focus on your genealogy research. If you are looking for some fun things to do, below are five suggestions.

1. Plan Activities for Family Gatherings. Before you know it October will be over and the holiday season will be upon us. During Family History Month, you can start to plan activities for your family gatherings. This could be scheduling time to interview your relatives, or deciding on some genealogy games and activities—in particular, those that will get the younger generation involved. Find ideas to help start the conversations or encourage participation in the book Zap The Grandma Gap: Connect to your family by connecting them with their family history ($16.95) by Janet Hovorka. There is also an accompanying Zap The Grandma Gap: Power Up Workbook ($14.95). In addition, check out the Zap The Grandma Gap website for free book excerpts, charts, and other goodies.

2. Start a Family History Writing Project. There is no better time to begin documenting the lives of your ancestors than Family History Month. But remember, you don't have to write it all at once. Break your writing tasks into small, manageable pieces. Start with one ancestor, or one family story, then move on to the next one. Keep writing until you have a series of profiles or stories that you can then edit into a book or eBook to share with your relatives. For family history writing tips, you can view several Legacy webinars, including “Ready, Set, Write: Share Your Family’s Story,” and “Ten Ways to Jumpstart Your Family History Narrative,” or pick up a copy of the Legacy Family Tree QuickGuide on Writing Your Family History. In addition, consider using a writing and project management tool like Scrivener ($40 and $45 30-day non-continuous trial available) to help with the writing process. You can learn how to get started by watching this video, or getting a copy of my “Scrivener for Genealogists QuickSheet” ($8.95 + s/h). Click here to order a copy of the Mac version, or click here to order a copy of the Windows version.

3. Catch up on Genealogy TV. During October you can watch new episodes of the third season of Finding Your Roots (check PBS to find your local station or to watch previous episodes). You can also “binge watch” Season 1 of Genealogy Roadshow (also PBS), or back seasons of “Who Do You Think You Are?” (on TLC). Schedule a family night and watch the shows with your children or grandchildren or invite over other relatives.

4. Dig Deeper with Immersion Genealogy. Genealogy is so much more than collecting names, dates, and places. So why not use family history month to practice some “immersion genealogy”? Immersion Genealogy is a term I coined to define the process of discovering where and how our ancestors lived, worked, and worshipped, and experiencing first-hand those customs and traditions they passed down through the generations. You can visit a place your ancestor lived, take a tour of a military battlefield or Ellis Island, attend an ethnic festival, or cook a special food from a favorite family recipe.

5. Learn Something New. Why not use the month of October to expand your genealogy knowledge, or learn about a new record group or research technique? There are some great webinars coming up during October with Legacy Family Tree Webinars, including:

• October 1 - The Fair Court: Records of Chancery Courts (Judy Russell)
• October 3 - Overcoming Destroyed or Missing Records (Karen Clifford)
• October 8 - Welcome to FamilySearch Indexing! (Devin Ashby)
• October 15 - Researching Your War of 1812 Ancestor (Thomas MacEntee)
• October 22 - Tracking Migration Using the Draper Manuscripts (Mary Hill)

Remember, the live webinars are free. Click this link to register for multiple webinars at once:
And, with a FamilyTreeWebinars membership ($49.95 annually), you can access more than 275 Hours of previously recorded webinar content, and 760 pages Of instructor handouts.

These are just a few suggestions for easy activities you can do during National Family History Month. Do one, or all of them, or be creative and find your own ways to celebrate your family and pay tribute to your ancestors.

[*In 2003 the United States Senate officially recognized October as National Family History Month, a time “to encourage family history research, education, and the sharing of knowledge.” The bill, [S.RES.175] was sponsored by Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah. To read more, click here].

Lisa A. Alzo is a freelance writer, instructor, and lecturer, and has been tracking her ancestors for 23 years. She is a frequent presenter for the Legacy Family Tree Webinars series and can be contacted via http://www.lisaalzo.com.

Join us this Wednesday AND Friday for two exciting genealogy webinars presented by Judy Russell and Karen Clifford. On Wednesday, Judy will present "The Fair Court: Records of Chancery Courts " and on Friday Karen will present "Overcoming Destroyed or Missing Records."

Wednesday - The Fair Court: Records of Chancery Courts by Judy Russell

Only one court has ever had doing what’s fair as part of its official mission: the chancery court. With different names in different states (and countries), it was often the go-to court for cases of great genealogical value, including divorces, guardianships, real property partition and more.

Click here to download/print/save the handouts, 8 pages (available for annual or monthly webinar subscribers).

Click here to register (free).

Friday - Overcoming Destroyed or Missing Records by Karen Clifford

Were you told that all the records in the courthouse were burned so you cannot go any further on your ancestor's line? Or have you searched many times at the local repositories only to discover that the records are missing for the years you need? This presentation will cover a handful of proven research techniques that may help you to overcome your destroyed or missing records.

Handouts to come later in the week (available for annual or monthly webinar subscribers).

Click here to register.

Webinar Reminder: Join us for the live webinars Wednesday, October 1, 2014 and Friday, October 3, 2014, both at 2:00pm 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.

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 webinars will be live on Wednesday, October 1, 2014 and Friday, October 3, 2014 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!

A quick shout-out to Miles Abernathy of 399Retouch.com. I sent him a photograph of my John Williams and wondered if he could do anything with it to spruce it up a bit. He did a great job, was inexpensive, and returned it to me quickly. The image on the left was the original. The image on the right is what he returned to me. (Click on the image to enlarge.) If you have a digital image that needs a little work beyond the basic retouching tools like Clone and Autofix, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this service.

My next quest is to learn what happened to John Williams' parents. Imagine this - John was born between 1845-1854 in New York City, the son of John Williams Sr., orphaned at the age of 10, and shifted around until he was 16, AND he enlisted in the Civil War under the name of Edward Riley. It's been a fun case and I'm making some real progress. I'll first tell our 2014 Legacy Genealogy cruisers about it (we leave in about 3 weeks...).

Anyways, more digital imaging techniques and organizing tips are found in the book, Digital Imaging Essentials: Techniques and Tips for Genealogists and Family Historians. Click here for more information or to purchase.

To learn about how to add a picture to Legacy Family Tree, jump to 25:31 in this video in our Learning Center.

The recording of today's webinar, "A Library at Your Fingertips: the Internet Archive," by Maureen Taylor is now online for free for a limited time at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com. A few comments from our viewers:

• EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT. Top notch webinar & post webinar. Know I will be reviewing this one over & over again. Thank you.
• I do use archive.org, but this was a great overview to guide further explorations into it and other online archives. I sense a lot of fun ahead finding the kind of things that make th lives I'm researching richer and more interesting. (Thanks for the tutorial on adding citations, Geoff! That helped too!)
• Great webinar! I've used Internet Archive before, but not in a very organized or knowledgeable way. I now understand much better how to use it. Maureen is great! Thanks to her and to Jeff for this webinar.

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 44 minute recording of "A Library at Your Fingertips: the Internet Archive" is now available to view in our webinar archives for free for a limited time. It is also available to our monthly or annual Webinar Members for the duration of your membership. Visit www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com to watch. The supplemental syllabus materials are also available for annual/monthly webinar subscribers to download/print/save. Login or subscribe.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 275 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 747 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)

• The Fair Court: Records of Chancery Courts by Judy Russell. October 1.
• Overcoming Destroyed or Missing Records by Karen Clifford. October 3.
• Welcome to FamilySearch Indexing! by Devin Ashby. October 8.
• Researching Your War of 1812 Ancestor by Thomas MacEntee. October 15.
• Tracking Migration Using the Draper Manuscripts by Mary Hill. October 22.
• Legacy Family Tree - Virtual User's Group Meeting by Legacy Family Tree Panel. November 14.
• Using Evernote for Genealogy by Lisa Louise Cooke. November 19.
• Family History for Kids by Devin Ashby. December 3.
• Look Ma, No Hands! Using Dragon Naturally Speaking for Your Genealogy by Ivan Baugh. December 5.
• Researching Your North Carolina Ancestors by J. Mark Lowe. December 10.
• Bagging a Live One - Connecting with Cousins You Never Knew You Had by Mary Kircher Roddy. December 17.

Click here to register. Or click here register for multiple webinars at the same time.

Print the 2014 webinar brochure here.

See you online!

Genealogies, local histories, historic publications and more are available through the Internet Archive for FREE. This in-depth look at how to use this site covers publications, video and the WayBack machine. This is a live presentation by Maureen Taylor with input from the audience.

Join us for the live webinar Wednesday, September 24, 2014 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

In preparation for the webinar, download the supplemental syllabus materials here. The syllabus is available for annual or monthly webinar subscribers. Log in here or subscribe here.

Or register for multiple webinars at once by clicking 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 a limited time. Webinar Subscribers have unlimited access to all webinar recordings for the duration of their membership.

About the presenter

Maureen Taylor is an internationally recognized expert on the intersection of history, genealogy, and photography. She has been featured in top media outlets, including The View, Better Homes & Gardens, the Boston Globe, Martha Stewart Living, MSNBC, DIY: Scrapbooking, PBS Ancestors, Creative Memories' Lasting Moments, Dear Myrtle, and Satisfaction Magazine. Maureen is the author of a number of books and magazine articles, as well as a contributing editor at Family Tree Magazine. The Wall Street Journal calls Maureen “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective.” Before she was the Photo Detective, Maureen was known for her expertise researching families in her home state of Rhode Island.

Sign up for Maureen’s free e-newsletter at www.MaureenTaylor.com

Maureen’s bookstore: http://www.maureentaylor.com/publications/

Maureen's webinars in the archives:

• Preserving Family Photographs: 1839 to the Present
• Google Images and Beyond
• Children and Genealogy in the Classroom
• Researching your Roots in Rhode Island
• Direct Your Research with City Directories
• Photo Apps for Android, iPhones or iPads

Click here to view.

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, September 24, 2014 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!

Recently Bob Velke, producer of The Master Genealogist software, announced that his software would be discontinued. TMG, as it is known, was one of the first genealogy software programs I personally used before switching to Legacy Family Tree. We wish Bob and family the very best.

We have been working really hard and are getting close to releasing an update to Legacy that will directly import TMG files (no GEDCOM necessary). We are working hard to make the import to Legacy as seamless as possible to limit the amount of post-import cleanup that may be necessary. If you are a TMG user looking for new software, give our free edition a try at www.LegacyFamilyTree.com. Import your GEDCOM and see what you think of Legacy. We think you will enjoy both the simplicity and the power of Legacy. Then watch for our upcoming announcement of the free update to Legacy we will issue which will provide the direct import.

UPDATE (July 2016): Wow, has this been a bigger project than we thought. We've worked hard to do it right, think we've got it done now, and will release the TMG import tool with our next major release (version 9). We don't have an exact date for its release, but likely sometime in 2016.

The recording of today's webinar, "Success with Manuscript Sources," by Barbara Renick is now online for free for a limited time at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com. A few comments from our viewers:

• Oh, my. Had no idea so much info was available. This should knock down some of those 'brick walls'.
• This is an awesome webinar.  So many unique sources to search. I cannot express enough my appreciation for these webinars.
• Does it get any better?? Barbara Renick is one of my top genealogy resources - and this webinar was, as expected, fantastic! Once more, I learned more than I thought I would, and have great ideas on what to do next in my research. Your webinars are over the top wonderful! Thank you so much.

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 15 minute recording of "Success with Manuscript Sources" is now available to view in our webinar archives for free for a limited time. It is also available to our monthly or annual Webinar Members for the duration of your membership. Visit www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com to watch. The supplemental syllabus materials are also available for annual/monthly webinar subscribers to download/print/save. Login or subscribe.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 273 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 745 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)

• A Library at Your Fingertips - the Internet Archive by Maureen Taylor. September 24.
• The Fair Court: Records of Chancery Courts by Judy Russell. October 1.
• Overcoming Destroyed or Missing Records by Karen Clifford. October 3.
• Welcome to FamilySearch Indexing! by Devin Ashby. October 8.
• Researching Your War of 1812 Ancestor by Thomas MacEntee. October 15.
• Tracking Migration Using the Draper Manuscripts by Mary Hill. October 22.
• Legacy Family Tree - Virtual User's Group Meeting by Legacy Family Tree Panel. November 14.
• Using Evernote for Genealogy by Lisa Louise Cooke. November 19.
• Family History for Kids by Devin Ashby. December 3.
• Look Ma, No Hands! Using Dragon Naturally Speaking for Your Genealogy by Ivan Baugh. December 5.
• Researching Your North Carolina Ancestors by J. Mark Lowe. December 10.
• Bagging a Live One - Connecting with Cousins You Never Knew You Had by Mary Kircher Roddy. December 17.

Click here to register. Or click here register for multiple webinars at the same time.

Print the 2014 webinar brochure here.

See you online!

The 2015 Legacy Genealogy Cruise – an annual event in its 12^th year – is pleased to announce that Lisa Louise Cooke, producer and host of the popular Genealogy Gems Podcast (and popular webinar speaker at FamilyTreeWebinars.com) will be joining the event as its featured speaker. The genealogy cruise takes place beginning June 20, 2015 and visits the Western Caribbean on the luxurious Royal Caribbean’sOasis of the Sea ship.

During the seven-day period, Lisa’s presentations will be focused on getting quality genealogical results, quickly. In her sessions you'll receive loads of strategies and tips you can start using right away, from high tech solutions to busting brick walls. What an opportunity you will have to learn in person from such an expert! She will join Legacy Family Tree’s Geoff Rasmussen and others who will offer classes on Legacy and other genealogy technology.

The cruise starts and ends in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and visits Labadee, Haiti; Falmouth, Jamaica; and Cozumel, Mexico.

For more information, or to register, visit http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/CruiseInfo_2015.asp. Or call our travel coordinator, Christy, at 1-800-557-8601 or send an email to [email protected]. Not only will you have the vacation of a lifetime, but you will do so in good company with other genealogists.

Hope to see you all there,

Dave, Ken, and Geoff

It's that time of year again - John Reid's annual Genealogy Rock Star voting, in its third year, is now open. You'll notice many of our Family Tree Webinars speakers, including its host :) in the lineup. 

Click here to vote for your genealogy rock star!

If you are in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area, please join Legacy Family Tree's Geoff Rasmussen as he presents a full day workshop on using the Legacy Family Tree software. Sponsored by the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, the workshop will be held at the North York Central Library on Saturday, September 20, 2014 from 9am-5pm. Registration is required and available here.

Workshop description:

If you are now using Legacy Family Tree software but are not sure you are using it fully to help you with your family history, this one-day workshop could be for you. The workshop is intended for beginner and intermediate users of the software.

The workshop leader Geoff Rasmussen will review the basic techniques for using Legacy Family Tree (versions 7 or 8), highlight what’s new in version 8, and explain how Legacy Family Tree now makes it easy for you to make the best use of LDS Family Search.

We hope to see you all there! Click here for more information or to register.