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Writing a Biography

Writing a Biography

In my previous article, "Bringing an Ancestor to Life," I explained the importance of putting your ancestor in the context of his time and place in history and not relegating him to a simple laundry list of vital statistics. Now that you have gathered all of this interesting background information what do you do next?

At the minimum you should have biographies for your direct line ancestor couples. You can then expand out from there. You are bound to run across a relation that is so interesting you can't help but want to write about him. The black sheep of the family are my favorites.

Admittedly, writing a narrative is much harder than simply recording facts but once you get into the habit of writing them it gets much easier. As you do the research you will get to “know” your ancestor better and you will want to tell others about him or her. Here are my favorite books on the subject. They will teach you how to write a biography that is interesting, informative, and historically accurate:

Carmack, Sharon DeBartolo. Tell it Short: A Guide to Writing Your Family History in Brief. Salt Lake City: Scattered Leaves Press, 2016.

Carmack, Sharon DeBartolo. You Can Write Your Family History. 2003. Reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2008.

Finley, Carmen J. Creating a Winning Family History. Revised edition. Arlington, Va.: National Genealogical Society, 2010.

If you ever get the chance to hear John Colletta lecture you won't want to miss that. John is a master storyteller and will give you many tips on how to find interesting background information. He is also quite funny. If you are a Legacy Webinar subscriber you can watch John's "The Germanic French - Researching Alsatian and Lorrainian Families" lecture.

When you are writing a narrative keep in mind that you are writing for others as much as you are writing for yourself. I will expand on that in just a bit. Here are a few tips.

Clear and concise writing is a must 
More words does not mean better content and punctuation and grammar are important. Now is the time to dust off your old English handbooks.  Here are my three favorite style guides:

Ross-Larson, Bruce. Edit Yourself: A Manual for Everyone Who Works With Words. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1996.

Strunk, William Jr. and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Fourth edition. New York: Longman, 2000.

Zinsser, William. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. Seventh edition. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006.

And here are my favorite grammar/punctuation handbooks:

Chapman, James A. Handbook of Grammar and Composition. Third edition. Pensacola, Fla.: ABeka Book, 1996.

Rod and Staff English Handbook. Crockett, Ky.: Rod and Staff Publishers, 1983.

And here is my favorite thesaurus:

Urdang, Laurence, editor. The Synonym Finder. Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale Press, 1978.

Break up your narrative with photos 
Photos not only give interest but they allow your reader to pause during a long narrative. You may not have any actual photos of your ancestor but you can pull in photos that represent the time and place your ancestor lived. There are many copyright free photos available. In the previous article I mentioned my 3rd great-grandfather Mathew Patton who was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh. He later died at Buckner Hospital in Gainesville, Alabama. There is a cemetery where Buckner Hospital once stood and Mathew was most assuredly buried there though his grave is unmarked. There are dozens of Confederate markers in this cemetery that just say "Unknown." I included one of these photos (with permission from the photographer) .

The Alabama State Archives has an original flag of Mathew's company in their possession and they had a photograph of it. I asked the Archives for permission to use the photograph which they gave. While Mathew was away, his wife and children were in poverty. Blount County, Alabama did a special inventory of families who were left behind to make sure they had enough provisions. Seeing what provisions his family had and didn't have was sobering. I included an image of that section of the court minute book page. Shortly after Mathew and his wife Charlotta married, they migrated from Madison County, Georgia to Cherokee County, Alabama. I had background documentation showing that the most likely reason was for better farming land. I included a map that I created using Google Earth Pro showing where the two places were relative to each other as well as the actual distance. These are just a few ideas. The possibilities are limitless.

You can also break up the narrative by using section headings 
There are many different ways you can go with this. You can break it up by time periods, seasons of a person's life, by places they lived if they migrated a lot, etc.

Write like you are talking to an audience
You want your writing to be engaging and have a good flow. Conversational style is good but avoid the first person. You don't want statements in your narrative such as, "I then went to the courthouse and found their marriage record." You want the narrative to be about your ancestors and not about you. 

Don't forget to cite your sources
Even though you are writing a narrative that doesn't mean you don't have to cite your sources. The last one I did had 165 footnotes. But it really depends on how much information you've acquired about your ancestor.

 Now that you have a beautifully written biography what do you do with it? You don't want your ancestors to be forgotten so you need to tell their stories to others. There are many ways you can "publish" your biographies. You can send them to relatives, start your own blog, or submit your writings to a local historical society journal. You might even think big and self-publish a book with the history of an entire family group. It is very easy to self-publish using on-demand printing. Two of the most popular companies are Lulu and Blurb.

I hope I have motivated you to dig a little deeper into the lives of your ancestors so that they aren't merely a list of names and dates in your genealogy file. 


Michele Simmons Lewis, CG
® is part of the Legacy Family Tree team at MyHeritage. She handles the enhancement suggestions that come in from our users as well as writing for Legacy News. You can usually find her hanging out on the Legacy User Group Facebook page answering questions and posting tips.

 


Palmetto Pride: South Carolina for Genealogists - free webinar by Rorey Cathcart now online for limited time

2017-12-20-image500blog

The recording of today's webinar "Palmetto Pride: South Carolina for Genealogists” by Rorey Cathcart is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

This survey of Genealogy in the State of South Carolina will look at the state's long history, the importance of understanding her judicial units, major repositories and strategies for dealing with the state's significant records loss.

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 29 minute recording of "Palmetto Pride: South Carolina for Genealogists” 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 636 classes, 854 hours of genealogy education)
  • On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 2,908 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 (currently 50% off until August 20, 2017)
  • Monthly membership: $9.95/month

Click here to subscribe.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

  • Problems and Pitfalls of a Reasonably Shallow Search by Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL. December 27.

Print the 2017 webinar brochure here.

See you online!


The Law and the Reasonably Exhaustive (Re)Search- free BCG webinar by Judy Russell, JD, CG, CGL now online for limited time

The Law and the Reasonably Exhaustive (Re)Search- free BCG webinar by Judy Russell, JD, CG, CGL now online for limited time

The recording of Tuesday's BCG webinar "The Law and the Reasonably Exhaustive (Re)Search” by Judy Russell, JD, CG, CGL is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/BCG for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

There's a difference between searching and researching, and understanding how the law impacts records and research is critical to the reasonably exhaustive research needed to meet the Genealogical Proof Standard. Learn how the law impacts records -- and how finding the right law for the right place and time is critical to genealogy.

This webinar is hosted and sponsored by the Board for Certification of 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 24 minute recording of "The Law and the Reasonably Exhaustive (Re)Search” 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 635 classes, 853 hours of genealogy education)
  • On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 2,903 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 (currently 50% off until August 20, 2017)
  • Monthly membership: $9.95/month

Click here to subscribe.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

  • Palmetto Pride - South Carolina for Genealogist by Rorey Cathcart. December 20.
  • Problems and Pitfalls of a Reasonably Shallow Search by Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL. December 27.

Print the 2017 webinar brochure here.

See you online!


Register for Webinar Wednesday - Palmetto Pride: South Carolina for Genealogists by Rorey Cathcart

Register

This survey of Genealogy in the State of South Carolina will look at the state's long history, the importance of understanding her judicial units, major repositories and strategies for dealing with the state's significant records loss.

Join us and the President of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, Rorey Cathcart, for the live webinar Wednesday, December 20, 2017 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. 

Registerbut 

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

RoreyCathcart-144x144Rorey Cathcart is a professional genealogist and owner of The Who Hunter LLC based in Charleston, South Carolina. She has spoken locally and nationally on topics of interest to genealogists and society leadership alike. In addition to serving individual and corporate clients, Rorey has researched for two seasons of the hit PBS series, Genealogy Roadshow and was a Senior Researcher for the show’s third season. Her research specialties include Southern States, Migratory Patterns, South Carolina and Irish heritage with a unique subspecialty emphasizing Irish Publicans of Philadelphia. She currently serves as President of the Federation of Genealogical Societies.
 
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Webinar time

The webinar will be live on Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at:

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  • 1pm Central
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Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

  1. Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com today. It's free!
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  5. Make sure you have the latest version of Java installed on your computer. Check at www.java.com.
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  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!


Tuesday's Tip - Dead or Alive? (Beginner)

Dead or Alive?

Tuesday's Tips provide brief how-to's to help you learn to use the Legacy Family Tree software with new tricks and techniques.


Dead or Alive? (Beginner)

 We had a great question from Keith on our Legacy User Group Facebook page:

 "How do I mark someone deceased but I don't know her date of passing?"

When you enter a new person into Legacy, Legacy assumes that they are alive unless you manually mark them as deceased or you enter death information. Legacy will also automatically mark people as deceased if you have entered birth information and they are over a certain age (Options > Customize > Data Entry > Option 2.3). 

You can manually mark a person as deceased using the radio buttons on the Individual's Information screen (where you actually enter data on a person).

Living or Deceased Radio Buttons
(click image to enlarge)

 

My personal preference is to add an estimated date of death such as Before 1972, After 1985, Between 1970 and 1996, or About 1968. This will trigger Legacy to mark the person as deceased. I only do this if I have some sort of source that leads me to this conclusion. For example, I might be looking at an obituary that says, "Preceded in death by..." This will give me a death date of "Before."  If I have two obituaries, one where the person is listed as a survivor and one that is listed as predeceasing, I can then narrow the date of death to "Between." If I don't have any source that someone is dead then they remain alive in Legacy until I do.

Why is this so important? Genealogists should be protecting the privacy of those persons that are still living so it is important to be accurate when you mark someone as deceased.



Find tech tips every day in the Facebook Legacy User Group. The group is free and is available to anyone with a Facebook account.

For video tech tips check out the Legacy Quick Tips page.  These short videos will make it easy for you to learn all sort of fun and interesting ways to look at your genealogy research.

Michele Simmons Lewis, CG® is part of the Legacy Family Tree team at MyHeritage. She handles the enhancement suggestions that come in from our users as well as writing for Legacy News. You can usually find her hanging out on the Legacy User Group Facebook page answering questions and posting tips.

 


Bringing an Ancestor to Life

Bringing an Ancestor to Life

One of my pet peeves is when a researcher reduces a person to a laundry list of vital statistics. I realize that only people from the deep south will understand this analogy but “grits without salt is WORSE than bland.”  That is how I view family trees that don’t include biographical information. Our ancestors were real people who led interesting lives. It is the genealogist's job to tell their stories.

Researching the time period and the location is ESSENTIAL
You must take the time to research what was going on when your ancestor lived. It will help you understand why he did the things that he did. Local history books are a great resource, especially those that were written close to the time period you are working with. You will find these on Google BooksInternet ArchiveHathiTrust Digital Library, Project Gutenberg, and Family History Books (FamilySearch). Many are out of copyright and can be read in their entirety. The newspaper is one of your best resources even if you never find your ancestor's name in print. Not only can you learn about your ancestor's specific community but also what was going on in the country at that time that might have been a concern to him.

Research their personal experiences
If your ancestor was a Union or Confederate soldier, read about the Civil War from their point of view. If you ancestor was a planter or a farmer, read books about what farming was like during that time period. If your family migrated across country read books about what it was like on the trail. Did the family attend church? Religion was an important part of many people’s lives and you want to include that if you can. Read up on their particular denomination and its history. I needed background information about childbearing in the 19th century for a biography I was writing. I read Brought to Bed: Childbearing in America, 1750-1950 by Judith Walzer Leavitt and Lyin-In: A History of Childbirth in America by Richard W. Wertz. I couldn't put these two books down and I have a newfound appreciation for what my female ancestors went through.

One of the best things I ever found was Memories: A Record of Personal Experience and Adventure During Four Years of War by Fannie A. Beers. Fannie was a nurse at Buckner Hospital in Gainesville, Alabama during the Civil War at the very same time my 3rd great-grandfather Mathew Patton was a patient there! She might have even taken care of him. She detailed the horrible conditions there and stated,

"Alas! alas! were these the brave men who had made forever glorious the name of Shiloh?"

My Mathew was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh and later died of his injuries. This quote from the book gives me goosebumps.

Topography and the community setting can enlighten you even further
Did your ancestor live in a city? A small town? Out in the middle of nowhere? In a valley surrounded by mountains? Was there a river or lake nearby? Knowing more about the area can give you insight on the type of house they may have lived in. You can look for some copyright free photographs of the area and sample houses from that time that you can add to your biography which will add interest.

Go the extra mile
If you see that your ancestor was a farmer on the federal census, try finding him on the agricultural schedule. Here is where you will find information about acreage, types of crops grown, kinds of animals raised etc. That will tell you a lot about his daily life. Construct maps showing where everyone lived in relation to everyone else based on land descriptions. Put together a timeline of your ancestor to make his life easy to follow (but you still need to have a narrative). Look through records that you really don’t think would apply to your family. I was in the Columbia County, Georgia courthouse awhile back and noticed they had arrest records, logs of police encounters, and lunacy books. Just thumbing through I saw people’s names that I knew. I was searching coroner’s reports for a specific person and found another person I wasn’t expecting. These unusual record sets will definitely spice up your narrative.

Read between the lines
Did your person of interest have extended family living with him in the census records?  Elderly parents or newlywed children?  That gives you some insight on the family dynamics. How much property did he own? This can give you a sense of wealth. Always pay attention to who went to school and who didn’t and who is listed as illiterate. This can mean many things. Were there no schools in the area?  (check the other families living nearby). Was the family poor and needed the children to stay home to work?  Did your person of interest have some sort of disability?  Some families simply didn’t see the need for any formal education. When you have multiple possibilities you can discuss them in your narrative. One thing to look out for are children who didn’t go to school in earlier censuses but are listed as being able to read and write in the later ones. This can indicate children who were taught to read and write at home by their parents which was very common.

African-American specific research
If you are doing African-American research one of the best resources for background information are the Slave Narratives. The Federal Works Project (WPA) interviewed over 2300 former slaves in the 1930s. You will read firsthand knowledge which is eye-opening.


In the next article I will help you compile all of this great info into a narrative and then give you some ideas of where to go from there. Stay tuned!


Michele Simmons Lewis, CG
® is part of the Legacy Family Tree team at MyHeritage. She handles the enhancement suggestions that come in from our users as well as writing for Legacy News. You can usually find her hanging out on the Legacy User Group Facebook page answering questions and posting tips.


Register for Tuesday's BCG webinar: The Law and the Reasonably Exhaustive (Re)Search by Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL

Register-bcg

There's a difference between searching and researching, and understanding how the law impacts records and research is critical to the reasonably exhaustive research needed to meet the Genealogical Proof Standard. Learn how the law impacts records -- and how finding the right law for the right place and time is critical to genealogy.

Join us, the Board for Certification of Genealogists, and Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL, for the live webinar Tuesday, December 19, 2017 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. 

Registerbut 

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

JudyRussell-144x144A genealogist with a law degree, Judy G. Russell is a lecturer, educator and writer who enjoys helping others understand a wide variety of genealogical issues, including the interplay between genealogy and the law. She has a bachelor's degree in political science and journalism from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and a law degree from Rutgers School of Law-Newark, and holds Certified Genealogist and Certified Genealogical Lecturer credentials from the Board for Certification of Genealogists where she serves as a member of the Board of Trustees. She has worked as a newspaper reporter, trade association writer, legal investigator, defense attorney, federal prosecutor, law editor and, until recently Judy was an adjunct member of the faculty at Rutgers Law School. Judy is a Colorado native with roots deep in the American south on her mother's side and entirely in Germany on her father's side. Visit her website at www.legalgenealogist.com.
 
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, December 19, 2017 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 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!


Finding Your Nordic Parish of Birth - free webinar by Jill Morelli, CG now online for limited time

2017-12-15-image500blog

The recording of today's webinar "Finding Your Nordic Parish of Birth” by Jill Morelli, CG is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars..com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

Is that parish of birth of your Nordic ancestor proving to be elusive? Without it, we cannot make the trip “across the pond.” Often that parish is identified in the records located in the United States and research will reveal the name or at least narrow it down. We will explore numerous US record sets where the parish could be recorded and then we will identify the international databases that can also assist in our identification of the parish of birth.

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 32 minute recording of "Finding Your Nordic Parish of Birth” 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 633 classes, 851 hours of genealogy education)
  • On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 2,889 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)

  • The Law and the Reasonably Exhaustive (Re)Search by Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL. December 19.
  • Palmetto Pride - South Carolina for Genealogist by Rorey Cathcart. December 20.
  • Problems and Pitfalls of a Reasonably Shallow Search by Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL. December 27.

Print the 2017 webinar brochure here.

See you online!


New "Member Friday" Webinar - Filling Out Your Family Tree Without Breaking the Bank by Katherine R. Willson

New "Member Friday" Webinar - Filling Out Your Family Tree Without Breaking the Bank by Katherine R. Willson

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar subscribers a new bonus webinar just for them!   This Friday enjoy "Genealogy on a Budget: Filling Out Your Family Tree Without Breaking the Bank" by Katherine R. Willson. If you're not a member,  remember the webinar previews are always free.

Genealogy on a Budget: Filling Out Your Family Tree Without Breaking the Bank

There are so many paid subscription sites for genealogy on the internet, but there are twice as many sites providing the same information at little or no cost!  Learn how to trace your family tree without “breaking the bank” by using free online sites, local resources, inter-library loans and more.

  Filling Out Your Family Tree Without Breaking the Bank

_WatchVideo

_WatchPreview 

About the Presenter

KatherineWillson_144x144Katherine R. Willson of Ann Arbor, MI is a 6th generation Michigander who began researching her own family as an 8-year-old Junior Girl Scout. She is a full-time professional genealogist and educator; an engaging and dynamic speaker at national, regional and state conferences; and serves on the boards of several national, state and local genealogical organizations. Katherine is the creator of the Genealogy on Facebook list which categorizes 12,000+ genealogy/history links on Facebook, and is available for free download at SocialMediaGenealogy.com.

 
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 632 classes in the library 850 hours of quality genealogy education)
  • 2,889 pages of instructors' handouts
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  • 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.

Subscribe

Look at our lineup of speakers for 2017! All live webinars are free to watch.

Print the 2017 webinar brochure here.


Avoiding the Six Biggest Genealogy Mistakes - free webinar by James Baker, PhD, CG now online for limited time

Avoiding the Six Biggest Genealogy Mistakes - free webinar by James Baker, PhD, CG now online for limited time
The recording of today's webinar "I Thought He Was My Ancestor: Avoiding the Six Biggest Genealogy Mistakes” by James Baker, PhD, CG is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars..com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

Case studies are presented to show how to avoid the biggest mistakes, including trusting family myths; believing that the posted family trees are accurate; connecting the wrong "same name" people; and believing that all original family records are accurate.

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 32 minute recording of "I Thought He Was My Ancestor: Avoiding the Six Biggest Genealogy Mistakes” 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 631 classes, 849 hours of genealogy education)
  • On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 2,886 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

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Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

  • Finding Your Nordic Parish of Birth by Jill Morelli. December 15.
  • The Law and the Reasonably Exhaustive (Re)Search by Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL. December 19.
  • Palmetto Pride - South Carolina for Genealogist by Rorey Cathcart. December 20.
  • Problems and Pitfalls of a Reasonably Shallow Search by Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL. December 27.

Print the 2017 webinar brochure here.

See you online!