The recording of tonight's webinar, "Finding Evidence of Kinship in Military Records" by Rick Sayre, CG, CGL, FUGA and the Board for Certification of Genealogists is now available to view for a limited time for free at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/bcg. 

Webinar Description

With the ever expanding digital resources available today we can find evidence of kinship in military records often neglected. Records such as pensions, service records, medical records, and even pension payment records are increasingly available. However, our need to ensure that we conduct “reasonably exhaustive research” required by the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) will often times require research in original textual records. This webinar will focus on finding kinship information in both online and textual military records.

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 36 minute recording of "Finding Evidence of Kinship in Military Records" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. Or watch it at your convenience with an annual or monthly webinar membership.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 413 classes, 579 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 1,867 pages)
• On-demand access to the live webinars' chat logs
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar
• Access to register for bonus members-only webinars
• Ability to view which webinars you are registered for
• Use of the playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year
• Monthly membership: $9.95/month

Click here to subscribe.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

• How to Use FamilySearch.org for Beginners by Devin Ashby. September 21.
• Beginning Polish Genealogy by Lisa Alzo and Jonathan Shea. September 28.
• AHA! Analysis of Handwriting for Genealogical Research by Ron Arons. October 5.
• Enough is Enough. Or Is It? by Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL, FUGA. October 7. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists
• Bringing Life to Our Ancestors: Manuscript Collections by Jeanne Bloom, CG. October 7. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• FAN + GPS + DNA: The Problem-Solver's Great Trifecta by Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL. October 7. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• When Worlds Collide: Resolving Conflicts in Genealogical Records by Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL. October 7. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• Black Sheep Ancestors and Their Records by Ann Staley, CG, CGL. October 7. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• Time and Place - Using Genealogy's Cross-Hairs by Jim Beidler. October 12.
• Finding Your Ancestors' German Hometown by Ursula Krause. October 14.
• Educational Preparation for Certification: Many Paths to the Same Goal by Angela Packer McGhie, CG. October 18. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• Social History Websites That Bring Your Ancestor's Story to Life by Gena Philibert-Ortega. October 19.
• Flip for Flickr - Share, Store and Save Your Family Photos by Maureen Taylor. October 26.
• Analysis and Correlation - Two Keys to Sound Conclusions by Chris Staats. November 2.
• Publishing a Genealogy E-Book by Thomas MacEntee. November 9.
• Dating Family Photographs by Jane Neff Rollins. November 16.
• Nature & Nurture - Family History for Adoptees by Janet Hovorka and Amy Slade. November 18.
• Multi-Media Story Telling by Devin Ashby. November 30.
• Becoming a Genealogy Detective by Sharon Atkins. December 7.
• From the Heartland - Utilizing Online Resources in Midwest Research by Luana Darby. December 14.
• Tracing Your European Ancestors by Julie Goucher. December 16.
• An Introduction to BillionGraves by Garth Fitzner. December 21.

Click here to register.

Print the 2016 webinar brochure here.

See you online!

An introduction to FamilySearch.org (the tabs and how to use them) for first time users/beginners. We'll discuss Family Tree, Memories, Search, Indexing, and the “My Family” booklet.

Join us and FamilySearch's Devin Ashby for the live webinar Wednesday, September 21, 2016 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.

Or register for multiple webinars at once by clicking here.

Not sure if you already registered?

Login to view your registration status for this webinar (available for annual or monthly webinar subscribers).

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

Devin Ashby is a Project Manager for FamilySearch, the largest genealogical organization in the world. Devin has been involved in family history for years and in 2004 he received Bachelor degrees in History and Spanish and the following year earned a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University.

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 21, 2016 at:

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

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!

Top genealogists Pamela Boyer Sayre, Elizabeth Shown Mills, Ann Staley, Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, Michael Ramage, and Judy Russell will present six one-hour lectures held at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City Friday, 7 October 2016 between 9 AM and 5 PM mountain U.S. time. The lectures are free and open to the public (registration is not required), sponsored by the Board for Certification of Genealogists. All will be broadcast online (free registration is required, see below). The board is an independent certifying body and author of the updated 2014 Genealogy Standards.

Times, topics, and speakers:

9:00 AM - "Enough is Enough. Or Is It?" Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL

10:15 AM - "FAN + GPS + DNA: The Problem-Solver's Great Trifecta." Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL

11:30 AM - "Black Sheep Ancestors and Their Records." Ann Staley, CG, CGL

1:30 PM - "Bringing Life to Our Ancestors: Manuscript Collections." Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, CG

2:45 PM - "Adoption for the Forensic Genealogist." Michael S. Ramage, J.D., CG

4:00 PM - "When Worlds Collide: Resolving Conflicting Evidence." Judy G. Russell, CG, CGL

“Whether you stop in for the lectures or join online, you will learn more about how to apply good methodology to your family research,” said President Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, CG. “The Board for Certification of Genealogists strives to foster public confidence in genealogy by promoting an attainable, uniform standard of competence and ethics. Educating all family historians of every level is part of this mission.”

For questions or more information contact [email protected]

Register for the Online Broadcasts

All six classes will be broadcast online by BCG's webinar partner, Legacy Family Tree Webinars. Visit www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/BCG to sign up individually (free), or click here to sign up for multiple classes at once.

Certified Genealogist is a trademark and CG is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board-certified associates after periodic competency evaluations. The Board name is registered USP&TO.

With the ever expanding digital resources available today we can find evidence of kinship in military records often neglected. Records such as pensions, service records, medical records, and even pension payment records are increasingly available. However, our need to ensure that we conduct “reasonably exhaustive research” required by the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) will often times require research in original textual records. This webinar, presented by Rick Sayre, CG, CGL, FUGA and hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists will focus on finding kinship information in both online and textual military records.

Learn about BCG's previous webinars at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/bcg.

Join us and Rick Sayre for the live webinar Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 8pm 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.

Or register for multiple webinars at once by clicking here.

Not sure if you already registered?

Login to view your registration status for this webinar (available for annual or monthly webinar subscribers).

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

Rick Sayre, CG, CGL, FUGA, is a long-time researcher and instructor in genealogical topics. Rick is also a retired colonel having served 31 years in the U.S. Army. He coordinates the Using Maps in Genealogy course at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, and instructs in the Advanced Methodology, Techniques and Technology, and Advanced Military courses. Rick and his wife Pam coordinate the advanced land course and Researching in Washington, DC, without Leaving Home offered by the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) and the advanced land course at Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP). Rick co-coordinates with Judy Russell, JD, CG, CGL, the Law School for Genealogists at GRIP and the FHL Law Library course at SLIG. He also lectures at national conferences and presents nationwide seminars. His areas of expertise encompass records of the National Archives, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Daughters of the American Revolution, including military records, land records, using maps in genealogy, urban research, and government documents. Rick is experienced in the localities of western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Rick is also a trustee of the Board for Certification of Genealogists.

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 Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at:

• 8pm Eastern (U.S.)
• 7pm Central
• 6pm Mountain
• 5pm Pacific

Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

1. Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/bcg 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!

Scrivener is a powerful word processing and project management tool that allows you flexibility when working on your family history writing projects. If you're frustrated by the strictly linear approach that most word processing programs take then you will enjoy the drag and drop approach of Scrivener. With this program you can re-arrange or move whole sections of your writing with a simple drag and drop. You can also view your project on a corkboard and as an outline. Veteran writer and genealogist Lisa Alzo takes us on a 5-class series to show us how to use Scrivener. Included in this course are 47 pages of accompanying handouts.

The 5-class series - Scrivener Software

• Scrivener Software 1: Getting Started with Scrivener
• Scrivener Software 2: Storyboarding and Editing with Scrivener
• Scrivener Software 3: Footnotes, Endnotes and Formatting in Scrivener
• Scrivener Software 4: Compiling and Publishing with Scrivener
• Scrivener Software 5: Scrivener Ninja Tips and Tricks

We're working hard to give our webinar subscribers the educational classes they need to maximize their genealogical research!

All five of these new classes are bonus classes in the webinar library.  The webinar previews are always free for non-members to watch.

New to webinars and online education? Learn more about the online genealogy education classes at Legacy Family Tree Webinars.

The individual classes

Scrivener Software 1 of 5: Getting Started with Scrivener

Learn the basics of how to use Scrivener, the powerful word processing and project management tool by Literature and Latte to use for all your family history writing projects. In this beginning webinar, learn how to download Scrivener, set up a project, use the Scrivener templates, and get acquainted with the Scrivener interface (writing modes, commands, inspector, and toolbars).

Plus 10 pages of supplemental syllabus materials.

Scrivener Software 2 of 5: Storyboarding and Editing with Scrivener

Learn how to use Scrivener’s corkboard to visually outline your writing project and how to quickly and easily edit your existing work.

Plus 8 pages of supplemental syllabus materials.

Scrivener Software 3 of 5: Footnotes, Endnotes and Formatting in Scrivener

Learn how to incorporate footnotes, endnotes, comments, and other key formatting features in Scrivener.

Plus 6 pages of supplemental syllabus materials.

Scrivener Software 4 of 5: Compiling and Publishing with Scrivener

Learn how to compile and export your writing projects for popular formats for print or electronic publishing. View a sample eBook produced with Scrivener.

Plus 4 pages of supplemental syllabus materials.

Scrivener Software 5 of 5: Scrivener Ninja Tips and Tricks

Learn how to use Scrivener’s cool tools and features such as, Snapshots, Collections, ScratchPad, Customized icons, Import Webpages working with Templates, and more to power up your family history writing projects. Plus, as a bonus you will get a sneak peek at Scrivener for iOS (the app for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch).

Plus 19 pages of supplemental syllabus materials.

Lisa Alzo

Lisa A.  Alzo. M.F.A. is a freelance writer, instructor, and internationally recognized lecturer, specializing in Slovak/Eastern European genealogical research, writing your family history, and using the Internet to trace female and immigrant ancestors. She is the author of nine books, including the award-winning Three Slovak Women, and hundreds of magazine articles, and writes the blog "The Accidental Genealogist."

Not a member yet?

Legacy Family Tree Webinars provides genealogy education where-you-are through live and recorded online webinars and videos. Learn from the best instructors in genealogy including Thomas MacEntee, Judy Russell, J. Mark Lowe, Lisa Louise Cooke, Megan Smolenyak, Tom Jones, and many more. Learn at your convenience. On-demand classes are available 24 hours a day! All you need is a computer or mobile device with an Internet connection.

Subscribe today and get access to this BONUS members-only webinar AND all of this:

• All 412 classes in the library (577 hours of quality genealogy education)
• 1816 pages of instructors' handouts
• Chat logs from the live webinars
• Additional 5% off anything at FamilyTreeWebinars.com
• Chance for a bonus subscribers-only door prize during each live webinar
• Additional members-only webinars

It's just $49.95/year or $9.95/month.

The recording of today's webinar, "Clooz: A Document-Based Software Companion" by Richard D. Thomas is now available to view for a limited time for free at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com. 

Webinar Description

This presentation focuses on using the Clooz software to capture document information of interest, and then after performing the proper analysis of the data, transferring events extracted from that information into Legacy Family Tree. Census and vital document examples will be demonstrated. This approach would provide an alternate way of entering data into Legacy by essentially transcribing document information, and following a workflow in line with the Genealogical Proof Standard.

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 36 minute recording of "Clooz: A Document-Based Software Companion" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. Or watch it at your convenience with an annual or monthly webinar membership.

Clooz 3 Software

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 412 classes, 577 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 1,816 pages)
• On-demand access to the live webinars' chat logs
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar
• Access to register for bonus members-only webinars
• Ability to view which webinars you are registered for
• Use of the playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year
• Monthly membership: $9.95/month

Click here to subscribe.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

• Finding Evidence of Kinship in Military Records by Rick Sayre, CG, CGL, FUGA. September 20. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• How to Use FamilySearch.org for Beginners by Devin Ashby. September 21.
• Beginning Polish Genealogy by Lisa Alzo and Jonathan Shea. September 28.
• AHA! Analysis of Handwriting for Genealogical Research by Ron Arons. October 5.
• Enough is Enough. Or Is It? by Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL, FUGA. October 7. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists
• Bringing Life to Our Ancestors: Manuscript Collections by Jeanne Bloom, CG. October 7. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• FAN + GPS + DNA: The Problem-Solver's Great Trifecta by Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL. October 7. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• When Worlds Collide: Resolving Conflicts in Genealogical Records by Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL. October 7. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• Time and Place - Using Genealogy's Cross-Hairs by Jim Beidler. October 12.
• Finding Your Ancestors' German Hometown by Ursula Krause. October 14.
• Educational Preparation for Certification: Many Paths to the Same Goal by Angela Packer McGhie, CG. October 18. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• Social History Websites That Bring Your Ancestor's Story to Life by Gena Philibert-Ortega. October 19.
• Flip for Flickr - Share, Store and Save Your Family Photos by Maureen Taylor. October 26.
• Analysis and Correlation - Two Keys to Sound Conclusions by Chris Staats. November 2.
• Publishing a Genealogy E-Book by Thomas MacEntee. November 9.
• Dating Family Photographs by Jane Neff Rollins. November 16.
• Nature & Nurture - Family History for Adoptees by Janet Hovorka and Amy Slade. November 18.
• Multi-Media Story Telling by Devin Ashby. November 30.
• Becoming a Genealogy Detective by Sharon Atkins. December 7.
• From the Heartland - Utilizing Online Resources in Midwest Research by Luana Darby. December 14.
• Tracing Your European Ancestors by Julie Goucher. December 16.
• An Introduction to BillionGraves by Garth Fitzner. December 21.

Click here to register.

Print the 2016 webinar brochure here.

See you online!

The recording of Wednesday's webinar, "The Treasure Trove in Legislative Petitions" by Judy Russell, JD, CG, CGL is now available to view for a limited time for free at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com. 

Webinar Description

As colonists and as citizens of the new United States, Americans were fiercely protective of their right to petition their government. Whether the issue was forming new counties, building bridges and highways, or some matter of public concern, our ancestors made their voices heard in legislative petitions that are a treasure trove for genealogists.

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 31 minute recording of "The Treasure Trove in Legislative Petitions" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. Or watch it at your convenience with an annual or monthly webinar membership.

Black's Law Dictionary on CD - 29.95

A Dictionary of Law Containing Definitions of the Terms and Phrases of American and English Jurisprudence, Ancient and Modern (First Edition, 1891)

 

CD: 2,485 pages

 

Bonus: Also includes a free copy of the Second Edition (1910) on the same CD.

 

Every genealogist, regardless of their time and place of interest, must have a copy of Black's Law Dictionary in their library. Legal terminology differs from place to place and time to time, and successful genealogical research depends on the clear understanding of this changing terminology.

 

The publishers of Black's Law Dictionary are now producing their eighth edition, and the newer editions have added information on the developments in the law in recent decades. But for genealogists the earlier editions retain their value, since they have a higher proportion of information on older law, especially the English feudal law, which is essential for the interpretation of documents from the American colonial period and from the England that the colonists left.

 

While these volumes contain just the sort of legal verbiage that one would expect, there are many other reasons for consulting these volumes. Terms from legal Latin and legal French are included, as well as words and phrases from Scottish and Welsh law. There are dozens of Latin and French terms of kinship, which appear in older wills and lawsuits. There are definitions from the lexicon of agriculture, such as "treet," meaning fine wheat, and "tremesium," meaning the season or time of sowing summer corn. And much more.

 

In the second edition, also included here, Black included more citations to law reports and case law, in support of his definitions, and also added many more terms of medical jurisprudence.

 

Summary by Robert Charles Anderson, FASG, for Archive CD Books USA:

 

This CD is fully searchable and can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 4 or later recommended) on any Windows, Macintosh, or Unix computer. The data on this CD is completely self-contained, and requires no installation.

4 pages | Published 2012 | PDF Edition

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 411 classes, 576 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 1,816 pages)
• On-demand access to the live webinars' chat logs
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar
• Access to register for bonus members-only webinars
• Ability to view which webinars you are registered for
• Use of the playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year
• Monthly membership: $9.95/month

Click here to subscribe.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

• Clooz - A Document-Based Software Companion by Richard Thomas. September 16.
• Finding Evidence of Kinship in Military Records by Rick Sayre, CG, CGL, FUGA. September 20. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• How to Use FamilySearch.org for Beginners by Devin Ashby. September 21.
• Beginning Polish Genealogy by Lisa Alzo and Jonathan Shea. September 28.
• AHA! Analysis of Handwriting for Genealogical Research by Ron Arons. October 5.
• Time and Place - Using Genealogy's Cross-Hairs by Jim Beidler. October 12.
• Finding Your Ancestors' German Hometown by Ursula Krause. October 14.
• Educational Preparation for Certification: Many Paths to the Same Goal by Angela Packer McGhie, CG. October 18. Hosted by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
• Social History Websites That Bring Your Ancestor's Story to Life by Gena Philibert-Ortega. October 19.
• Flip for Flickr - Share, Store and Save Your Family Photos by Maureen Taylor. October 26.
• Analysis and Correlation - Two Keys to Sound Conclusions by Chris Staats. November 2.
• Publishing a Genealogy E-Book by Thomas MacEntee. November 9.
• Dating Family Photographs by Jane Neff Rollins. November 16.
• Nature & Nurture - Family History for Adoptees by Janet Hovorka and Amy Slade. November 18.
• Multi-Media Story Telling by Devin Ashby. November 30.
• Becoming a Genealogy Detective by Sharon Atkins. December 7.
• From the Heartland - Utilizing Online Resources in Midwest Research by Luana Darby. December 14.
• Tracing Your European Ancestors by Julie Goucher. December 16.
• An Introduction to BillionGraves by Garth Fitzner. December 21.

Click here to register.

Print the 2016 webinar brochure here.

See you online!

This presentation focuses on using the Clooz software to capture document information of interest, and then after performing the proper analysis of the data, transferring events extracted from that information into Legacy Family Tree. Census and vital document examples will be demonstrated. This approach would provide an alternate way of entering data into Legacy by essentially transcribing document information, and following a workflow in line with the Genealogical Proof Standard.

Join us and Rich Thomas for the live webinar Friday, September 16, 2016 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.

Or register for multiple webinars at once by clicking here.

Not sure if you already registered?

Login to view your registration status for this webinar (available for annual or monthly webinar subscribers).

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

Richard received his Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from Penn State University in 1973, and Masters degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1978. He had a career of 36 years with the National Weather Service, with the last 10 or more years leading a software branch. In 2011 he retired from the weather service to pursue his personal passions, software development and genealogy. Early on, he crossed paths with Joe Bissett who had just acquired a program called Clooz developed by Elizabeth Kelly Kerstens. They both were users of the software, and were attracted by its document orientation. In 2012, they formed Ancestral Systems, LLC, and issued a much needed update to the Clooz software. Richard is the Chief Operations Officer for Ancestral Systems, and is the lead software developer.

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 Friday, September 16, 2016 at:

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

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!

If only I would have known days earlier...

Yesterday I wrote about my latest serendipitous genealogy experience involving an unseen foot at the airport, blood, an ambulance, and my discovery of Marsden Brown's son-in-law, Loring Lowell who lived in both Alaska and Seattle from where I had just returned from our cruise. Shortly after I posted the article, Charles Hansen informed me that many of Washington State's death certificates were recently published at FamilySearch, and thanks to his guidance, I quickly found Loring's 1945 death certificate.

On a normal day, this would have been my day's highlight. Yesterday was no normal day, thanks to webinar speaker, Mary Kircher Roddy. Less than two hours after my initial post, she had discovered and sent me four newspaper articles about Loring, all from the Seattle Times:

• his wife's 1914 obituary
• his wife's 1914 funeral notice
• Loring's 1945 91st birthday announcement
• Loring's 1945 obituary

In addition to this photograph of Loring...

I also learned this:

• he was the last direct descendant of the pioneer New England family which founded the town of Lowell, Massachusetts
• he and his wife, Mary (Asa Clark Brown's granddaughter), took up a homestead in Alaska, where the town of Seward now stands. Their rights were purchased by Ballaine Bros., who financed the first section of what is now the Alaska Northern Railroad
• he opened the first restaurant in Skagway, Alaska in 1887 and did the cooking there
• he prospected for gold during the gold rush

Seward

Seward, where Loring and Mary homesteaded, is where we got off the train and boarded our ship.

Alaskan Northern Railroad

The Alaskan Northern Railroad, for whom Loring worked for a time, was the train we took from Anchorage to Seward.

Skagway

And Skagway, where Loring opened its first restaurant, was where I faced my greatest fear.

Had I known...

During my entire week in Alaska I had pondered this section of Marsden Brown's divorce papers which identified the name of his daughter Mary's husband.

Ask anyone that attended the classes on the ship and they'll tell you that more than once I mentioned that "I can't wait to get home to discover who this person is." It turns out that I probably literally walked in Loring Lowell's footsteps - in Seward, in Skagway, and even in Seattle. Had I known I had an Alaskan pioneer who friends knew as "Colonel Loring Lowell" I would have seen Alaska through a different lens. Yet this experience is more evidence that, like Megan Smolenyak said, "our ancestors want to be found as much as we want to find them." It's just too bad it took an emergency trip to the hospital for my buddy Chris to give me the kick I needed to discover Loring Lowell's identity.