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Privacy Issues with Online Family Trees - free webinar by E. Randol Schoenberg now online for limited time

2018-10-31-image500blog

The recording of today's webinar, "Privacy Issues with Online Family Trees” by E. Randol Schoenberg is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

Privacy remains a huge issue for many genealogists and their family members. Personal genealogy websites, as well as Online Collaborative Trees available at Geni, MyHeritage, Ancestry, WikiTree, WeRelate, FamilySearch and OneGreatFamily, each offer different levels of privacy protections. The lecture will discuss the varied approaches to the question of privacy, focusing especially on legal and ethical considerations. For example, how should a genealogist respond if someone says she does not want to be on your online tree? Should minors be allowed to use online genealogy platforms? Can the right to privacy ever be reconciled with online collaborative genealogy? As genealogists increasingly utilize public, or semi-public online collaborative genealogy platforms, these questions are becoming more common. The lecture will use real-world examples to analyze the problems and proposed solutions.
 
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 17 minute recording of "Privacy Issues with Online Family Trees” 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 787 classes, 1,041 hours of genealogy education)
  • On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 3,487 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)

Using Voting and Election Records to Find Your Ancestor  11/07/2018  Melissa Barker
Introduction to the Bayou State: Louisiana for Beginners  11/14/2018  Rorey Cathcart
Legacy 9 Unlocked (part 7): Adding Email Correspondence  11/16/2018  Geoff Rasmussen
Every Day Life of Our Ancestors  11/20/2018  Ann Staley  CG  CGL
Railroad Records and Railroad History: Methods for Tracking  11/28/2018  Paula Stuart-Warren  CG  FMGS  FUGA
Legacy 9 Unlocked (part 8): The Smoking Gun  11/30/2018 Geoff Rasmussen
Ins and Outs of Indexes: Keys to Unlocking County and State Records  12/05/2018  Mary Kircher Roddy
Legacy 9 Unlocked (part 9): Adding an Entry from an Online Database  12/07/2018  Geoff Rasmussen
101 Ways to Design a Genealogy Chart  12/12/2018  Janet Hovorka
Citation for beginners  12/14/2018  Shellee Morehead  PhD  CG
Proving Identity and Kinship Using the GPS: Finding a Freedman's Family  12/18/2018  Nancy A. Peters  CG
That Splendid Little War: Researching Your Spanish American War Ancestors  12/19/2018  Michael L. Strauss  AG


Print the 2018 webinar brochure here
.

See you online!


How to Write a Family History Narrative in 30 Days

Is writing a family history one of the items on your to-do list? Perhaps you have self-doubts and fears about how to get started, what to write, and how to put it all together in a compelling way? The only way to overcome the obstacle of facing the blank page is to make a commitment and start writing! Here are seven tips to help you write a family history narrative in 30 days.

  How to Write a Family History Narrative in 30 Days

1.   Give yourself a deadline. Since 1999, National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRIMO) has served as an online writing forum where registered participants begin working on November 1 towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. See https://nanowrimo.org/press#nanofacts. I have participated in NANOWRIMO twice. If this sounds intimidating, you can create your own version of NANOWRIMO for your family history writing project. While you don’t have to write 50,000 words, you can commit to producing a draft of your narrative using the November 1-30 deadline as a guide. The pace you set is entirely up to you.

2. Find your focus. Many family historians mistakenly think they have to write one large manuscript in their first attempt. It is much easier to focus on a smaller project such as ancestor profiles, or on one event or time period of an ancestor’s life (immigration story, military service, work history, etc.). You will feel less overwhelmed working on a smaller project and more likely to finish what you've started.

3. Set SMART writing goals. One way to focus your project is to set SMART Goals. SMART is an acronym giving criteria to guide in the setting of objective. There are a number of interpretations of the acronym's meaning, the most common designations are: Specific, Measurable, Relevant (Realistic), Attainable (Actionable) and Time-Bound. Here is an example of a SMART writing goal for writing four ancestor profiles in 30 days.

  • Specific - I will write a profile for each of my grandparents (4 profiles). I will work on one profile per week.
  • Measurable – I will write a profile for each of my grandparents. I will write 1200-1500 words for each profile.
  • Attainable (Actionable) - I will write a 1200-1500-word profile for each of my grandparents. For each profile, I will write 250-300 words per day for 5 days.
  • Relevant (Realistic) – I will write a 1200-1500-word profile for each of my grandparents. I will work on one profile per week. I will do this by writing 250-300 words per day for five days.
  • Time-Bound – I will write a 1200-1500-word profile for each of my grandparents. I will work on one profile per week. I will do this by writing 250-300 words per day for five days. I will have all four profiles completed by 30 November 2018.

By breaking your writing tasks into smaller daily or weekly goals the process becomes less overwhelming and you are more likely to stick to your writing routine.

4. Craft a storyboard. A storyboard is a way to visually outline or map out your writing project. It helps to plot out your family history writing project using index cards or a project management tool like Scrivener.  (To learn more about Scrivener, watch my five-part Legacy Family Tree webinar series). The objective of the storyboard is to jot down the main events of the story you are telling, then arrange them in chronological order (first to last). If you need to, you can then move them around to create another structure that makes sense for the story, such as a flashback. Virtual index cards created with a program such as Scrivener make this task much easier. The index cards should be used to describe your scenes or write down key points you want to include, but should not contain long sections of text.  Try to stick to one scene, event, or major point per card. For storyboarding tips, watch the Legacy Family Tree Webinar “Storyboard Your Family History.”

5. Write daily. The premise of NANOWRIMO is to write every day. It is important that you schedule time to write. Block out writing time on your calendar and make every effort to adhere to that appointment just as you would any other commitment. To succeed at finishing your family history narrative you must be willing to put in the time and effort. If you need to block out distractions (social media, e-mail, etc.) choose a quiet place to write where you can shut the door and turn off all electronic devices, or if you need to leave the house, consider going to a library or coffee shop to write. If you are really serious about distraction-free writing, edit lock tools such as The Most Dangerous Writing App or WriteorDie force you to set parameters and stick to them otherwise your words will disappear!

6. Rest and revise. Once you have a draft, it is a good idea to let your writing rest. Put your draft aside, and have someone you trust read your prose and provide feedback. Then, go through your narrative and fix the punctuation, grammar, and any other problem areas. When you finish, you can decide whether to create a book (print or electronic) using a print-on-demand service such as Lulu, or share your stories on a blog. 

7. Remember: You Can’t Edit a Blank Page! You don’t have to write the perfect narrative the first time you sit down at your keyboard. Avoid the paralysis of perfectionism. Just write something. Once you start you will build up a momentum to finish the story.

While November is a great time to start that family history narrative (just in time for holiday gift-giving), you can follow these seven steps during any 30-day time period.

No more excuses! Stop procrastinating and start writing!

 

For over two decades, author and instructor Lisa A. Alzo has been educating and inspiring genealogists around the world to research and write about their ancestors. She has presented 44 webinars for Legacy Family Tree Webinars, include nine on Writing and Publishing. Lisa coaches aspiring family history writers through her online courses at Research, Write, Connect https://www.researchwriteconnect.com 

 


Tuesday's Tip - Using the To-Do List with DNA (Intermediate)

TT - Using the To-Do List With DNA

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

Using the To-Do List with DNA (Intermediate)

 Previously: 

To-Do List Part I - How to access the To-Do List and general information
To Do List Part II - Entering a task
To Do List Part III - Filtering, Sorting, and Printing

This article on how to enter DNA tasks was a bit of an afterthought so I didn't make it part of the series. DNA is a specialized area and not all researchers use DNA evidence (though they should, if possible).

I am going to give you some examples of different DNA tasks that I use. One of the biggest things I use it for is correspondence. I contact so many people that it is hard for me to remember everything and keep it all straight. In a previous article, Recording DNA Matches, I showed you how I keep track of DNA correspondence as an event. I record this in both places, events and the To-Do List. Do I need to do it in both? I think so. I can run specialized DNA reports using a filtered To-Do List. On the Event List I can see just that person's DNA research which is also important to me. I can also run different sorts of reports using Search Lists of the events so recording it in both gives me a lot of flexibility.

HOWEVER, once I get a positive response I will delete that part of the correspondence from the event. For example, let's say I have sent an email to someone asking them to upload to GEDmatch. I will have that request recorded in both locations, as a To-Do Task and in an event. If they tested with MyHeritage it will be in the notes for their MyHeritage DNA event. If they write back and they tell me that they have uploaded to GEDmatch (THANK YOU!) I will close out the To-Do Task and I will erase that part of the notes in their MyHeritage DNA event. I have it permanently recorded in the To-Do List so at this point I don't need it in both places. I will also create a new GEDmatch event with their GEDmatch number. 

The below screenshots are made up tasks because most of my DNA tasks involve living people. I have a mixture of General and Individual To-Dos. The General To-Do's are things like running updates (for example, the "Snavely Tool") and reminders to watch certain DNA webinars. I also add resources that I need to check out but haven't yet (articles, blog posts, new websites, etc). I have a General To-Do that reminds me to check for new matches on GEDMatch every two weeks (I just keep changing the reminder date). The testing companies will send you an email alerting you of new matches but GEDmatch doesn't have this capability. Bonus info — On GEDmatch your new matches will be in green. They are green for 30 days but the green starts to fade over time so you can tell the newest ones from the ones that were uploaded a couple of weeks ago. These are very easy to spot when you scan your One To Many List.

The Individual tasks are where most of the work is done. I have several DNA categories that I use so that I can filter better and you will need to come up with categories that make sense to you (that is true for the To-Do List in general). I am still tweaking the way I enter tasks for DNA so my mindset might change. I do not enter a Location or a Repository for these tasks. I haven't found it to be necessary.

Example 1
(click image to enlarge)

 

Example 2
(click image to enlarge)

 

Example 3
(click image to enlarge)

 

Example 4
(click image to enlarge)

 

Did you notice that the first two examples are tagged but the last two are not? I explained why in To Do List Part II - Entering a task. Nutshell version - The first two tasks I have started working on but the second two I have not.

Here is a recap of the benefits of the To-Do List:

  • You will be creating a comprehensive Research Plan and Research/Correspondence Log which means you are more likely to accomplish your goals
  • You will have all of your results recorded, both positive and negative, which will help you re-evaluate your plan and further your research
  • You won't duplicate your efforts because you have forgotten what you have already done
  • You will be able to pick up right where you left off if you take a break from researching a particular ancestor
  • You can print out filtered lists of tasks that you can take with you to any repository that you visit
  • You can print out filtered lists for other researchers also working on the same ancestors so that they know exactly what you are working on and they won't duplicate your efforts

 I hope this series on the To-Do List has convinced you that entering these tasks is well worth the time and effort. 

 

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.


Register for Webinar Wednesday: Privacy Issues with Online Family Trees by E. Randol Schoenberg

Register

Privacy remains a huge issue for many genealogists and their family members. Personal genealogy websites, as well as Online Collaborative Trees available at Geni, MyHeritage, Ancestry, WikiTree, WeRelate, FamilySearch and OneGreatFamily, each offer different levels of privacy protections. The lecture will discuss the varied approaches to the question of privacy, focusing especially on legal and ethical considerations. For example, how should a genealogist respond if someone says she does not want to be on your online tree? Should minors be allowed to use online genealogy platforms? Can the right to privacy ever be reconciled with online collaborative genealogy? As genealogists increasingly utilize public, or semi-public online collaborative genealogy platforms, these questions are becoming more common. The lecture will use real-world examples to analyze the problems and proposed solutions.

Join us and E. Randol Schoenberg for the live webinar Wednesday, October 31, 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. 

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Or register for multiple webinars at once by clicking here.

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

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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

RandolSchoenberg-144x144Attorney E. Randol Schoenberg has handled numerous cases involving looted art and the recovery of property stolen by the Nazis, including the successful return of five paintings by Gustav Klimt, as featured in the 2015 film Woman in Gold. Schoenberg graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and a certificate in European Cultural Studies and received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California. Mr. Schoenberg served as President of Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust from 2005 through 2015, during which time the museum constructed its award-winning new building in Pan Pacific Park.

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Webinar time

The webinar will be live on Wednesday, October 31, 2018 at:

  • 2pm Eastern (U.S.)
  • 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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  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!


Researching your French and Indian War Ancestor - free webinar by Craig Scott, MA, CG, FUGA now online for limited time

2018-10-26-image500blog

The recording of today's webinar, "Researching your French and Indian War Ancestor” by Craig Scott, MA, CG, FUGA is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

Colonial Wars are an interesting part of our history. Many of the soldiers in the French and Indian War would go on to serve in the Continental Line in the American Revolution. It was the first global war. We called it the French and Indian War, but the British and French called it the Seven Year's War. Battles not only occurred on the American frontier but in places like India and the Philippines. George Washington was so embarrassed by his actions which precipitated the war that he began to learn how to be a better military officer. It prepared him for the fight two decades later. Learn how to properly research a participant in this war in colonial 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 15 minute recording of "Researching your French and Indian War Ancestor” 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 786 classes, 1,040 hours of genealogy education)
  • On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 3,485 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)

Privacy Issues with Online Family Trees  10/31/2018  E. Randol Schoenberg
Legacy 9 Unlocked (part 8): The Smoking Gun  11/02/2018  Geoff Rasmussen
City Directories: Much More than Ye Olde Phonebooks  11/06/2018  MyHeritage Webinars
Using Voting and Election Records to Find Your Ancestor  11/07/2018  Melissa Barker
Introduction to the Bayou State: Louisiana for Beginners  11/14/2018  Rorey Cathcart
Every Day Life of Our Ancestors  11/20/2018  Ann Staley  CG  CGL
Railroad Records and Railroad History: Methods for Tracking  11/28/2018  Paula Stuart-Warren  CG  FMGS  FUGA
Ins and Outs of Indexes: Keys to Unlocking County and State Records  12/05/2018  Mary Kircher Roddy
Legacy 9 Unlocked (part 9): Adding an Entry from an Online Database  12/07/2018  Geoff Rasmussen
101 Ways to Design a Genealogy Chart  12/12/2018  Janet Hovorka
Citation for beginners  12/14/2018  Shellee Morehead  PhD  CG
Proving Identity and Kinship Using the GPS: Finding a Freedman's Family  12/18/2018  Nancy A. Peters  CG
That Splendid Little War: Researching Your Spanish American War Ancestors  12/19/2018  Michael L. Strauss  AG


Print the 2018 webinar brochure here
.

See you online!


3 Underused Resources for Finding Eastern European Ancestors

3 Underused Resources for Finding Eastern European Ancestors

While church registers are the most popular and useful sources for tracing most Eastern European ancestors, and civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths provide even more details, there are other record groups to be searched that may prove useful. If you are coming up empty in the search for vital records in a particular locality, here are three of the most underused resources to put on your research list.

1. Census Records

As you probably learned from exploring U.S. or Canadian census records for your ancestors, the prime value of census records is for grouping families together. In Eastern Europe, censuses were usually taken for tax and military conscription purposes. Searching census records can be hit or miss depending on the country, the region, and whether or not registers have been preserved. Because of shifting borders and the destruction of records during wartime hostilities, only relatively small portions of certain record groups survived in many instances. Therefore, you should check registers of births, marriages, and deaths (not census records) first, opposite of what genealogists typically do when looking at North American records for their ancestors. Also look for census substitutes such as city or parish directories or confession lists.

As you search for census records, keep in mind the two keys to successful research in Eastern Europe:

1. You must learn the immigrant’s original name
2. You need to obtain the specific name of town or village of origin

These steps are typically accomplished by a reasonably exhaustive search in records where your immigrant ancestor settled (for example, US and Canadian records).

As shown in the example below, I was able to locate the Figlyar family in the Slovakia Census, 1869 Szepes Oszturnya (Osturňa). These returns are digitized and available through the FamilySearch website. Because the database is “browse only” it is essential to know the village name with its Hungarian spelling (Oszturnya) since at the time Slovakia was administratively under control of the Hungarian half of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as the historical Hungarian country name (Szepes).

Ed-OsturnaHouse20Figlyarrecord-image_3QSQ-G99V-FKK
Slovakia Census, 1869," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G99V-FKK?cc=1986782&wc=QZ77-BDV%3A323642001%2C323933701 : 3 November 2015), Szepes > Oszturnya (Osturňa) > image 49 of 610; Bytča, Banská Bystrica, and Nitra Regional Archives.

A good first step to determining what might be available for the locality you are researching is to use the FamilySearch Wiki and click on the country (e.g. Slovakia). Then, click on the link for “Census” (where available) to get more information. You should also search the Family History Library Catalog by Place and then look for the Census category keeping in mind that not all records of the Family History Library have been digitized and some records are still only available on microfilm.

Websites by individuals and organizations may also contain indexes or images of census and other types of data sets. An online search query for the country name and the word “census” can often link you to these resources, or use the Online Records button on the FamilySearch Wiki page for the specific country and click the Blue Button that says Online Records to get to a chart with links to country wide collections. For example, Russia Online Records shows under the Census category a link to a FamilySearch collection Russia, Tatarstan Confession Lists, 1775-1932, which serves as a census substitute.

2. Occupational Records

While many of my ancestors were peasant farmers, I also discovered ancestors who worked in specific trades (My great-grandfather, Mihaly Fencsak was a bootmaker and my other great-grandfather, Andrej Straka worked as a tailor). You may be able to find guild records or occupational directories. Since guilds were associations of professionals with similar economic interests based on a certain craft or trade (such as tannery, metalworking, tailoring, and shoemaking, among others), some of these records are still in the possession of the guilds, others have been collected into local, city, regional, or state archives. Sometimes paperwork is found in home and family sources. For example, below is a scanned image of pages 2 and 3 of my grandfather’s 15-page worker pass book from Hungary. In order to learn the details, I hired someone to translate the pages from Hungarian into English. In addition, to listing his date of birth, and that he was Greek Catholic, the worker pass contained a physical description of my grandfather (low figure, a round face, gray eyes, regular nose, healthy teeth and brown/maroon hair) and he had an apprenticeship certificate and his occupation was listed as a cartwright assistant/helper.

Worker-Pass

Online sources such as the Czech Occupation Dictionary and the Industry and Trade Directory of Hungary in 1891 with an alphabetical list of occupations and industries can help you learn more about occupations. [NOTE: these are just two examples—you will likely find more].

3. Town or Village Genealogies or Histories

Town genealogies are known by various names, including “town lineage book,” “local heritage book,” “one-place-studies,” “Ortssippenbuch (OSB),” and “Ortsfamilienbuch (OFB). You can find a list of these on Genealogy.net. The Odessa Digital Library has a Village History Project and links to Village Records and Compilations.

One of my favorite research discoveries is a page from a local history book Dejiny Osturne that contains a copy of an 1855 summons for Jan Figler (one of my ancestors) to appear at the Mayor’s office. While the notice does not give any additional details, it does provide historical context for this particular family.

If you are a Legacy Family Tree Webinar subscriber, you can view a copy of this record in the syllabus for “10 Eastern European Genealogy Resources You Might Be Missing.”

Town or local history books may reside in the local mayor’s office, the town hall, library or museum, or if you are lucky they could be available online. A simple search of your ancestral town or village can lead you to its website where you may find historical images and information, and often contact information for the mayor. For example, the website for my grandmother’s village of Milpoš contains a section on its history. While the Milpoš site is in Slovak, I opted to have Google Chrome translate the page into English. Also, don't forget to search Facebook for town and village pages. 

Continuing Your Search

FamilySearch and other online resources such as Google Books, Internet Archive and personal, archival, or organizational websites are excellent places to start looking for miscellaneous records. However, keep in mind that many of these hard to get resources may only be available in printed format in books kept by the town or village offices, or documents housed in state, regional, or local archives. Remember, there is no easy button when it comes to tracking down overlooked records for your ancestors, but if you are lucky enough to do so they may provide additional clues for further research.

Learn more Eastern European research tips from Lisa's classes on Legacy Family Tree Webinars. 

 

For over two decades, author and instructor Lisa A. Alzo has been educating and inspiring genealogists around the world to research and write about their ancestors. She has presented 44 webinars for Legacy Family Tree Webinars, including nine on Eastern European research. Visit her website www.lisaalzo.com


New "Member Friday" Webinars - French-Canadian Series by Michael J. Leclerc, CG

New "Member Friday" Webinar - French-Canadian Series by Michael J. Leclerc, CG

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar subscribers a new bonus webinar just for them!   This Friday enjoy  a special release of five webinars in a French-Canadian series by Michael J. Leclerc, CG. If you're not a member, remember the webinar previews are always free.

Introduction to French-Canadian Research

Learn the basics of searching for your ancestors in the province of Quebec. What are the building-block records and resources that we use to find our family in La Belle Province.

Introduction to French-Canadian Research
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Quebec Civil and Parish Registers

French-Canadians are lucky to have duplicate copies of records dating back to the earliest settlements. This is why there is little major record loss. Learn how to find records of birth/baptism, marriage, and death/burials.

Quebec Civil and Parish Registers
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Quebec Census Records

Quebec has censuses and census substitutes dating back to the 17th century. Find out what information these records contain and how to access them in this webinar. These records are valuable to all those researching ancestors in Quebec, whether French-Canadian or not.

Quebec Census Records
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Introduction to Notarial Records

The notarial system was brought to New France in the colonial era. This system for civil law is still used in Quebec today. Discover who the notaries were, how they worked, and the rich resources available in their records. No matter what ethnic background your ancestors were, if they resided at Quebec, they used notaries.

Introduction to Notarial Records
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Understanding the Seigneurial System of Land

France introduced the feudal system of land tenure in the colonial era. This system remained in place for more than 200 years, not ending until the mid-nineteenth century. It was used by everyone in the province, not just the French. Learn how the system worked and where to find land records for your Quebec ancestors.

Understanding the Seigneurial System of Land
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_WatchPreview 

About the Presenter

Michael J. Leclerc Michael J. Leclerc, CG is an internationally renowned genealogist. He has authored numerous articles for genealogy magazines and scholarly journals, and is a popular presenter at conferences and seminars around the world. Michael worked in a variety of capacities at the New England Historic Genealogical Society for 17 years prior to joining Mocavo as Chief Genealogist in 2012. He left there in 2015 to start Genealogy Professor (www.genprof.net), where he helps to provide genealogy education opportunities to family historians. He has edited several books, including Genealogical Writing in the 21st Century: A Guide to Register Style and More, Second Edition, with Henry Hoff, and the fifth edition of the seminal guidebook Genealogist's Handbook for New England Research. He was a contributing editor for American Ancestors magazine, and a consulting editor for The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Michael has served on the boards of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the Federation of Genealogical Societies. You can reach him at www.mjleclerc.com and Facebook.com/michaeljleclerc.

See all the webinars by Michael Leclerc in the Legacy library.
 
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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 785 classes in the library (1039 hours of quality genealogy education)
  • 3485 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

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Look at our lineup of speakers for 2018! All live webinars are free to watch.

Print the 2018 webinar brochure here.


MyHeritage LIVE live stream announced

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It's almost here. I get to personally rub shoulders with some of our industry's finest educators and mingle with many of the top minds at our new parent company, MyHeritage. I'll pack my winter coat, as the weather forecast looks a bit cold in Oslo, and if you're coming too, be sure you do the same.

If you won't be in there in person, you'll still get to be a part of MyHeritage LIVE 2018. I've just learned that both the genealogy and DNA tracks will be live streamed on the MyHeritage LIVE conference website, so please tune in from 9:00 a.m. Oslo time on November 3 (time zone calculator here). Here's the complete agenda: https://live2018.myheritage.com/#agenda


DNA Quest Reunion Featured on Good Morning America

Mitch Yurkovich, 37, from Bad Axe, Michigan, was adopted as a baby. Married with four children, he was always curious about his biological family and had searched for information over many years. It changed his life when he found his biological parents, who were still together, and who had married and had more children! It was made possible thanks to DNA Quest, MyHeritage’s pro bono initiative to help adoptees search for biological family members.

THANK YOU MyHeritage for starting the DNA Quest project.

I know my story is just one of MANY happy results from the program.

My life is changed (for the BETTER) because of this test. I cannot thank your team enough!

Mitch just met his family in person for the first time. His story was just featured on “Good Morning America”:

Click here for the rest of the story.

 

 

 

 

Mitch


Register for Webinar Friday: Researching your French and Indian War Ancestor by Craig R. Scott, MA, CG, FUGA

Register

Learn how to properly research a French and Indian War ancestor.

Join us and Craig R. Scott, MA, CG, FUGA for the live webinar Wednesday, October 26, 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. 

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Or register for multiple webinars at once by clicking here.

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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

CraigScott-144x144Craig Roberts Scott, MA, CG, FUGA is the author of The ‘Lost Pensions’: Settled Accounts of the Act of 6 April 1838 (Revised) and Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury, Inventory 14 (Revised). His most recent work is Understanding Revolutionary War and Invalid Pension Ledgers, 1818 – 1872, and the Payment Vouchers They Represent. He has authored seventeen books and several articles in the National Genealogical Society QuarterlyFamily Chronicle and other genealogical publications. He is the President and CEO of Heritage Books, Inc., a genealogical publishing firm with over 5,300 titles in print. A professional genealogical and historical researcher for more than thirty years, he specializes in the records of the National Archives. He is a member of the Company of Military Historians on the editorial board of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, and is a former Director of the Association of Professional Genealogists. A faculty member for several years of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Samford University and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, and recently the Genealogical Institute of Pittsburgh. He is the coordinator for the 3rd Annual Heritage Books Genealogical Conference and Cruise. He was awarded the Grahame T. Smallwood, Jr. Award in 2008 and UGA Silver Tray Award in 2009. He became a Fellow, Utah Genealogical Association in 2014.

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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, October 26, 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!