Developing those good, er, successful research habits takes planning, time, experience, and patience to be effective. Learn steps and tools for becoming a better researcher both at home and in repositories, and for developing successful habits that make the most of your genealogy time budget.

Join us and Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FMGS, FUGA for the live webinar Tuesday, May 15, 2018 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. 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

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, May 15, 2018 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!

The recording of today's webinar, "A Checklist of African American Resources” by Angela Walton-Raji is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

Beyond the usual databases for census and vital records, this session will outline critical collections to find African American families. Using resources from the Schomburg research center to the Smithsonian, this session will explore the unknown and lesser known resources for documenting African American families.

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 30 minute recording of "A Checklist of African American Resources” 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 703 classes, 939 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 3,125 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)

Print the 2018 webinar brochure here.

See you online!

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar subscribers a new bonus webinar just for them!   This Friday enjoy "Creating a Community Indexing Project" by Thomas MacEntee. If you're not a member, remember the webinar previews are always free.

Creating a Community Indexing Project

Many genealogy and historical societies and even individuals own important data records that they want to index and share with the genealogy community but don’t know where to start. Learn about the current options available to create your own community-based indexing project and how to enlist others to help with indexing.

About the Presenter

Beyond the usual databases for census and vital records, this session will outline critical collections to find African American families. Using resources from the Schomburg research center to the Smithsonian, this session will explore the unknown and lesser known resources for documenting African American families.

Join us and Angela Walton-Raji for the live webinar Friday, May 11, 2018 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. 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

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, May 11, 2018 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!

The recording of today's webinar, "The Hidden Web: Digging Deeper” by Cyndi Ingle is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

When Google and traditional search engines don't return useful information, don't stop there. We will explore resources that are invisible to Google and hidden deep within web sites and proprietary databases. The "hidden web" lies buried within the collections for commercial web sites, libraries, archives, and museums. We will also talk about the importance of indexes that deep-link into web  sites online, thus uncovering hidden gems of information that may not be found easily through a search engine query.

The Hidden Web: Digging Deeper

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 30 minute recording of "The Hidden Web: Digging Deeper” 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 701 classes, 936 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 3,117 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)

Print the 2018 webinar brochure here.

See you online!

As we research our ancestors in historical records, we start to get to know them. As researchers, we learn about their wealth (or lack thereof), the type of land they owned, and their military service. We can learn about their religion and possibly even the contents of their household.

But do you ever wonder what your ancestors looked like?

How tall was your great grandfather? Which side of the family did you get your blues eyes from? What color hair did your ancestor have? Did you ancestors have any physical deformities?

Even if you have no photographs of your ancestors, you can find descriptions of their physical characteristics.

Let’s take look at 5 sources for finding a description of an ancestor’s physical characteristics and potentially a photograph. 

1. Draft Cards - A man’s physical characteristics were listed on WWI and WWII draft cards. Height, weight (slight, medium or stout), hair color, and eye color were recorded. Race was also included. If your ancestor had a physical deformity, that was listed as well.  

WWI Draft Card for Connie M. Howard of Lee County, NC (Source: Ancestry.com)

This example shows that Connie M. Howard of Lee County, NC was of medium height and medium build with brown eyes and black hair. No physical deformities are noted.

2. Civilian Conservation Corps Records - Part of the New Deal by President Roosevelt, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public relief corps dating from 1933-1942. The CCC program was specifically for unmarried and unemployed men. Roads, parks and improvement to other federal lands and natural resources were built by the CCC.  

A young man’s height, weight, eye color, hair color, complexion, and physical deformities were included on their admission and discharge papers.

3. Jail Records- Was your ancestor on the wrong side of the law? Admission records into a jail or prison likely will include a description of the inmate which can be very descriptive. In addition to the usual height, weight, eye and hair color, and complexion, descriptions of scars and tattoos are frequently included.

Take a look at the detailed physical description of 1866 Sing Sing Prison inmate Charles Miller.  Beyond the basics, we have a clear description of his scars and even how his mouth inclines to the left.

1866 Sing Sing Prison Admission Record (Source: Ancestry.com)

4. Passport Applications - Your ancestor’s passport application is another potential source to learn about your ancestor’s physical characteristics. Similar to the records above, passport applications asked for height, weight, eye and hair color, complexion and more.

As a bonus, you may find a photograph of your ancestor attached to the application.

1921 Passport Application of Abraham Jacobs (Source: Ancestry.com)

5. Yearbooks - High school and college yearbooks are another source for finding what your ancestor looked like by actually finding their photograph.  More and more yearbooks are being digitized and made available online. Researchers may be surprised to find how early yearbooks date back. In addition to searching for yearbooks on the large genealogy databases, check state archives and university digital collections.

Digital NC is one example where researchers of NC ancestors can find digitized yearbooks online dating back to 1890. The new MyHeritage Yearbook Collection is another.

Finding an actual photograph of an ancestor is not always possible, but researchers can search for descriptions of an individual’s physical characteristics.  Just as an individual’s household contents can be determined from wills and estate sales, an individual’s physical characteristics can be determined by searching the records he/she left behind.

Lisa Lisson is a genealogist, blogger and Etsy-prenuer who writes about her never-ending pursuit of ancestors, the “how” of genealogy research and the importance of sharing genealogy research with our families. Specializing in North Carolina and southern Virginia research, she also provides genealogical research services to clients. In researching her own family history, Lisa discovered a passion for oral history and its role in genealogy research. You can find Lisa online at Lisa Lisson.com.

The recording of today's webinar, "Discover Your Family in School Yearbooks” by Mike Mansfield is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

School yearbook books are a treasure trove of photographic and local history. This webinar will present strategies for finding and using digitized school yearbooks to enhance your family trees with photographs of family members and discover new biographical information in these incredible resources.

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 14 minute recording of "Discover Your Family in School Yearbooks” 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 700 classes, 936 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 3,109 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)

Print the 2018 webinar brochure here.

See you online!

When Google and traditional search engines don't return useful information, don't stop there. We will explore resources that are invisible to Google and hidden deep within web sites and proprietary databases. The "hidden web" lies buried within the collections for commercial web sites, libraries, archives, and museums. We will also talk about the importance of indexes that deep-link into web  sites online, thus uncovering hidden gems of information that may not be found easily through a search engine query.

Join us and Cyndi Ingle for the live webinar Wednesday, May 9, 2018 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. 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

Cyndi is the creator, owner and "webmaster" of the award-winning web site Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet, www.CyndisList.com, a categorized index to more than 335,000 online resources. In its first three years, Cyndi's List was three times voted the best genealogy site on the World Wide Web. It helps millions of visitors worldwide each month and has been featured in the media and diverse publications, including ABC News, NBC News, USA Today, Time, Newsweek, Parade Magazine, Wired, Family Tree Magazine, Family Chronicle, and Internet Genealogy magazines. Cyndi has been interviewed for many television and radio broadcasts including ABC News, NBC News, the BBC, and National Public Radio. She has also participated in the Ancestors II television series on PBS. Cyndi, a genealogist for more than 35 years, is a past-member of the board of directors for the National Genealogical Society. Cyndi is an internationally known guest lecturer for various genealogical society meetings and seminars (http://www.CyndisList.com/speaking-calendar/). She has lectured for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, GENTECH, Brigham Young University, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the National Genealogical Society, the Washington Library Association, the Florida Library Association, the American Library Association and numerous local genealogical societies in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Cyndi has authored numerous articles and three books. Before her life on the Internet, Cyndi worked as an international banker specializing in foreign exchange and computer networks. Cyndi, her son, Evan, and three Boston Terriers live in Edgewood, Washington.

 

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, May 9, 2018 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. 

Merging Files (Advanced)

Before you get started you need to: 

• Check for broken media links in both files (or in all files if you are merging together more than 2). It is better to deal with this now rather than later
• Do a check/repair on both (all) files
• Backup both (all) files

Now create a new, empty Legacy file (File > New). Make sure you give this file a distinct name so you know exactly what is in it, something like, Jim and Michele's Combined File.

Now import the files you want to merge one at a time into this new file (File > Import > Legacy Family File). Each time you will get a message asking if you want to create a new file or import into the existing file. You want to import into the existing file. 

After each import Legacy will probably take you directly to the Merge screen. For now just exit out of that until you have all of the files imported.  When you have finished importing the files you will want to check for broken media links, check/repair the file, and then backup this file.

Now you will want to go through the Merge process. Make sure that you have read everything there is to read about merging in the Help File and in the Legacy User Guide. When it comes to merging, it is always a good idea to turn on the auto backup features in the Options Menu (Option 12.5). Here are a couple of tips: 

• Start by using the Legacy defaults for the merge. You can adjust this later based on how the merge is going
• Always run the AutoMerge as the first step. I like to run it three times in a row just to make sure. This will save you a lot of time if you have any exact duplicates (Tools > Merge Duplicates > Find Duplicates > Special Duplicate Searches > Use Intellishare to AutoMerge...)
• Make sure to take advantage of Options > Mark this pair as not duplicates as you are going through the merge process so that you don't see those pairs again
• On the same Options menu you have the ability to tag either or both of the possible duplicates flagging them as needing further investigation without delaying your current merge process
• Don't forget to look at all of the tabs that have asterisks to compare info
• Don't forget that the person on the LEFT is retained and the person on the right is deleted
• It is NORMAL for your duplicate count to go up as you are merging. Legacy is constantly reevaluating the data
• If you exit during a merge you will be asked if you want to Save Your Current Position. This answer to this is Yes. It is always a good idea to complete a merge pass through before starting a new merge

Splitting and merging files can be a bit scary but as long as you remember to backup everything before you get started you can always go back to square one if you need to.

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.

School yearbook books are a treasure trove of photographic and local history. This webinar will present strategies for finding and using digitized school yearbooks to enhance your family trees with photographs of family members and discover new biographical information in these incredible resources.

Join us and Mike Mansfield for the live webinar Tuesday, May 8, 2018 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. 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

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, May 8, 2018 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!