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.

Join us and Jill Morelli, CG, for the live webinar Friday, December 15, 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. 

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

Jill Morelli, CG is a "Roots" genealogist, becoming interested in family history in the 1970's with the Alex Haley show. At that time, she just collected "stuff." After a hiatus during which she had a family and volunteered in her community, Jill came back to genealogy with a vengeance in February 2002 and a total commitment to "doing it right." She attended conferences, institutes and read articles that would improve her skills as a genealogist. Jill started lecturing on genealogy topics in 2013; however, her background includes extensive lecturing associated with her vocation of architecture to large (300+) and small groups for 40+ years. Jill is a lecturer, writer and professional genealogist and has a blog at http://genealogycertification.wordpress.com about her experiences of being "on the clock," house histories and other topics of interest.

 

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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, December 15, 2017 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!

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.

Join us and James Baker, PhD, CG, for the live webinar Wednesday, December 13, 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. 

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

Mr. Baker, an active genealogist for the past fifteen years, completed the requirements to become a BCG associate in 2011. He specializes in German, Midwest U.S., and early American research. He was an officer of the Sacramento German Genealogy Society (SGGS) and has contributed numerous articles to its quarterly, Der Blumenbaum. He also has written articles for the National Genealogical Society (NGS) Magazine and the NGS Quarterly. He is a member of NGS and SGGS. For the past ten years, he has volunteered at the Sacramento FamilySearch Library. He has given more than 100 genealogy presentations during the past three years at local, regional, and national events.

 

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, December 6, 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!

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

Renumbering RINs and MRINs (Intermediate)

As you merge and delete people in your file there will be gaps in the RIN and MRIN numbers. This bloats your file a bit. You can compact your file by having Legacy renumber the RINs and MRINs. WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! If you use the RIN or MRIN numbers as part of your paper or electronic filing system DO NOT DO THIS. If you use TNG to manage your website DO NOT DO THIS. However, for the rest of you this is a good way to make your file a bit more efficient.

Go to Tools > Renumber RINs or MRINs. You are going to make two passes. For the first pass you are going to select "Fill all missing RINs from highest RINs (Compacts the Individual Records)" and then click Apply. For the second pass you are going to select "Fill all Missing MRINs from Highest MRINs (Compacts the Marriage Records)" and then click Apply again.

(click image to enlarge)

You can also have Legacy renumber your RINs on the fly (RINs only, not MRINs. You will need to use the above tool when you want to renumber your MRINs)

Go to Options> Customize > Data Defaults > Option 4.4

(click image to enlarge)

Notice that there is an (ff) which means this is a family file specific setting. In other words, if you have more than one family file you will have to do step 1 and step 2 for each one. Again, DO NOT DO THIS if you are using RINs as part of your paper or electronic filing system or if you are using TNG to manage your website.

If you import a file into Legacy you will see an option to Renumber the RINs and MRINs ("Fill all existing abandoned  RINs/MRINs" will become active if you chose the first option, Try to keep original ID numbers (RINs). 

(click image to enlarge)

This is a simple way to compact your file to help it run a little more efficiently. This is also for those people (like me) who simply can't stand to see gaps in the numbers on the Name and Marriage Lists.

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.

When you start researching in a jurisdiction or a time period that is new to you, you will want to keep track of the little bits of helpful information that you find so that you don't have to look up that information again. You can do this is by maintaining Locality Files (now known as Locality Guides). The Family History Library detailed this strategy in their Research Guide on how to organize your paper files. You can see it HERE. These Research Guides are what we used before the FamilySearch Wiki. I think I had every Research Guide they ever published. 

Let's say I have an ancestor who lived in Perry County, Mississippi and I have never done research in Perry County before. I need to learn a lot of things about Perry County before I can even get started. These are the things I will add to my Locality Guide for Perry County. I need to know a basic history of the county such as when it was formed and what the parent counties were as well as a basic timeline of events for that county. I love to find old county history books that are in the public domain. Google Books, Internet Archive, Hathi Trust, and FamilySearch Books are my favorite websites to find these books. I also want to have contact info for the courthouse as well as anything special I need to know about accessing their records. What records do they have onsite? Did they have any record losses due to fire or flood? I would include contact info for the local genealogical and/or historical society, the local libraries, and any other possible repositories. I like to have a current map of the area (though I do use Google Maps a lot now) as well as any old maps I can find.

I keep all of my information electronically which means I can create hyperlinks to things on the internet such as online books, the available databases at the major online repositories, and the FamilySearch card catalog. I can link right to the Perry County page. I love newspapers and I use the Library of Congress' Chronicling America website to find what was in publication and when.  I only have to do the search once and then I can link to it. For example, HERE is the list for Perry County. It saves me a lot of time not having to go back to the website and do repeated searches. Don't forget that if you have never done research in the state of Mississippi you will also need to collect some general resources at the state level and not just at the county level. Besides my Locality Guides I also gather reference material on the major records groups (military, land, probate, etc.).

It may seem like a lot of work but this information is essential to be able to thoroughly research your ancestors. It will also save you time in the long run. The next time I have a person of interest in this same county I already have the needed resources. I can always update it if I find any new information. Today most genealogists keep these notes electronically in applications such as Evernote or OneNote instead of using paper files. You can also use a word processing program or a spreadsheet program. These are great because not only can you hyperlink to the resources you find on the internet, you can also scan anything you have that is on paper (pages out of the above referenced books for example) and have those pages readily available instead of having to lug out the books each time. You can even design a template so that all of your guides follow the same format.

I have included an example as a downloadable PDF. This example comes from my friend Eva Goodwin. We were in ProGen together and creating a Locality Guide was one of our assignments. I liked Eva's better than mine so I asked her if I could use hers an an example and she very graciously sent it to me. 

Download Halifax Locality Guide (Goodwin)

My real Locality Guides are not as fancy as what we did for our ProGen assignment but I wanted to give you an idea of the types of things you should include.  I will say that I am working on designing a template so that my guides are more uniform. 

The best way to get started is to create a locality guide for a jurisdiction that you are very familiar with. I'll bet that by the time you are done you will have found some resources that you didn't know about.

 An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
— Benjamin Franklin

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.

The recording of today's webinar "Adding a Passenger Record to Legacy” by Legacy's Geoff Rasmussen is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars..com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

In this webinar, Legacy’s Geoff Rasmussen will demonstrate what to do with a passenger record as he adds the information to his real, personal Legacy family file. This class will be presented live and unscripted, giving attendees a first-hand look at how a professional genealogist analyzes and records information from a passenger record found at MyHeritage.com. You will learn the seven steps of  adding any kind of an online document to your Legacy software while also seeing an insider’s perspective of using the Source Clipboard, custom events, AKAs, the To Do List, timelines, and much more.

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 23 minute recording of "Adding a Passenger Record to Legacy” 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 630 classes, 847 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 2,879 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)

• I Thought He Was My Ancestor: Avoiding the Six Biggest Genealogy Mistakes by James M. Baker, PhD, CG. December 13.
• 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!

American Memory is the digital collection portal for the Library of Congress. The mission of the website is to provide “free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning.” For the genealogist, American Memory is an opportunity to read, hear, and view life in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  

There’s so much I love about American Memory but let me share four of my favorite collections as an introduction to what can be found.

Panoramic Maps                                                                                           

American Memory features all kinds of maps including transportation, military, and Sanborn maps but my favorites are the panoramic views. These maps, also known as Bird’s Eye View maps, provide a unique look at familiar cities. From an elevated perspective, these maps provide a detailed look at a section of a city, include specific landmarks, services, businesses, and homes. This collection of over 1500 panoramic maps lack the scale accuracy of more familiar maps but they provide a great way to learn more about the lay of the land and what that city looked like in an earlier time.

California, As I Saw It                                                                                       

One of the strengths of American Memory is their collection of first-hand accounts via books and correspondence that tell the story of pioneer lives.

“California as I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900 is the Library of Congress's first digital collection building on the exceptional holdings in the Library's General Collections and Rare Book and Special Collections Division in the area of state and local history.” This collection of first person narratives date from the Gold Rush (1849) to the turn of the 20^th century. While it lacks the perspective of the diverse population found in early California, the collection is a starting place for learning more about California’s rich history.

Other regional collections available from American Memory include: Nebraska, the Ohio River Valley, and the Upper Midwest.

Early Virginia Religious Petitions                                         

Not all American Memory collections are housed on the American Memory website. In the case of the Early Virginia Religious Petitions, a link redirects you to the Library of Virginia, Virginia Memory Legislative Petitions Digital Collection web page. Documents spanning 1776 to 1865 include wills, naturalizations, deeds, and manumissions of slaves.  A valuable Tip Sheet on the homepage provides information about finding African American names. 

The Life of a City: Early Films of New York, 1898 to 1906                                

American Memory provides researchers the opportunity to view historic images, read 19^th century texts, listen to interviews and watch very early films. Those films help us better visualize life generations ago. The Life of a City: Early Films of New York documents immigrants arrival at Ellis Island, families shopping for fish at an outdoor market, and everyday life along 23^rd street in New York City (watch until the end  for an incident  reminiscent of a much later Marilyn Monroe movie). Make sure to click on the Articles and Essays link at the top of the collection to read more about New York and early film making. Other films found on American Memory include America at Work, America at Leisure: Motion Pictures from 1894 to 1915 and Inside an American Factory: Films of the Westinghouse Works, 1904.

American Memory

Genealogy is about telling the stories of our ancestor’s lives and what better way to do that than experiencing materials created during their lifetime? Use American Memory to read and view materials from generations past to better understand your family’s history. To learn more about American Memory make sure to watch Shannon Combs Bennett’s webinar The American Memory Collection at the Library of Congress.

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar subscribers a new bonus webinar just for them!   This Friday enjoy "Finding Dirk: Insanity in the 19th Century" by Jill Morelli, CG. If you're not a member,  remember the webinar previews are always free.

In this webinar, Legacy’s Geoff Rasmussen will demonstrate what to do with a passenger record as he adds the information to his real, personal Legacy family file. This class will be presented live and unscripted, giving attendees a first-hand look at how a professional genealogist analyzes and records information from a passenger record found at MyHeritage.com. You will learn the seven steps of  adding any kind of an online document to your Legacy software while also seeing an insider’s perspective of using the Source Clipboard, custom events, AKAs, the To Do List, timelines, and much more.

Join Geoff Rasmussen for the live webinar Friday, December 8, 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. 

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

Geoffrey D. Rasmussen is the father of four budding genealogists. He graduated with a degree in Genealogy and Family History from Brigham Young University and has served as director and vice-president of the Utah Genealogical Association. He is a dynamic genealogy speaker on all forms of genealogy technology, and as host of the Legacy Family Tree webinar series, has spoken virtually to nearly 100 different countries. He has authored books, videos, articles, and websites, and develops the Legacy Family Tree software program. On a personal note, Geoff enjoys playing the piano, organ, cello, basketball and bowling. His favorite places are cemeteries, the ocean, and hanging out with other genealogists. He met and proposed to his wife in a Family History Center.

He is the author of the recently-released, Kindred Voices: Listening for our Ancestors, and the popular books Legacy Family Tree, Unlocked!and Digital Imaging Essentials.

 

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, December 8, 2017 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!

We have another great Legacy QuickTip Video for you today! Learn:

• How to record a cremation event
• How to disable the potential problem alert for custom events

This QuickTip was presented live during the after-webinar party of the recent Finding Your Roots in Catholic Records webinar by Lisa Toth Salinas.

Click here for the video.

Click here for more Legacy QuickTip videos.

The recording of today's webinar "Finding Your Roots in Catholic Records” by Lisa Toth Salinas is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars..com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

Catholic genealogical research has a depth unequaled by any other record group. The documents of the Catholic Church chronicle important events in the lives of members and can provide the key to uncovering otherwise impenetrable family mysteries. Author of the Catholic Genealogy Legacy QuickGuide™ and contributor to The Catholic Gene blog, Lisa Toth Salinas will guide you into exploration of the lives of your ancestors through sacramental records, additional Church records, and other Catholic sources. Join Lisa for an introduction into Catholic genealogy, an overview of traditional and often-overlooked documents, and research strategies that will help you dig into your Catholic roots.

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 45 minute recording of "Finding Your Roots in Catholic Records” PLUS the after-webinar party 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 628 classes, 844 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 2,873 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)

• I Thought He Was My Ancestor: Avoiding the Six Biggest Genealogy Mistakes by James M. Baker, PhD, CG. December 13.
• 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!