MyHeritage and FamilyTreeWebinars.com are pleased to announce that registration is now open for its 2020 Legacy Family Tree Webinars series, now in its 10th year. Choose from 100 classes from genealogy's leading educators on topics ranging from Australia to England to Spain, from Snagit to Virtual Private Networks, from the Mayflower to the 1939 Register, and from DNA Painter to endogamy.

Click here to register (free).

TechZone

In addition to the live webinars, the new TechZone–a library of forty brand new tech videos–all 10-minutes-or-less–is now available. New videos will be released every Friday on all sorts of topics: Google, Excel, browser tips, mobile apps, Windows shortcuts, using Evernote, Facebook, chromosome browsers, using and improving your family videos and photos, and so much more. The TechZone is a new membership benefit where webinar members have free, anytime, unlimited access. Watch this video to get a taste of what's available:

Click here to go to the TechZone.

Click here to become a webinar member.

BCG webinar series

We are proud to once again host the monthly webinar series for the Board for Certification of Genealogists where we will learn from the likes of Tom Jones, David Ouimette, Warren Bittner, Rebecca Koford, and eight other board-certified genealogists. See the press release here.

MyHeritage webinar series

And for the third year - we will be the host of the exclusive webinar series, MyHeritage Webinars, where we will learn about the upcoming Ethnicity Estimates, matching technology, chart creation, city directories and much more.

Down Under series

The Down Under series which we launched last year has been so popular that we've decided to do it again in 2020! This series of webinars is designed for genealogists in Australia and New Zealand - at 12pm (noon) on Wednesdays (Sydney time). They'll have their very own Webinar Wednesday with convenient timing. See www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/downunder.

International Languages

Once again, we will host live webinars in foreign languages: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Norwegian, and Spanish. 

Closed Captioning

Every webinar recording will be captioned for the hearing impaired (English language webinars only). We really are striving to serve the entire world!

How to register

Sign up (it's FREE!) for one or for all of them today and you will receive a reminder email both one day and two hours prior to the live event.

Webinar Brochure

Print the webinar brochure to share with your friends, genealogy society, or Family History Center.

FamilyTreeWebinars.com memberships

All live webinars are free and their recordings are free to watch for the first 7 days. With a webinar membership you get these additional benefits:

• Access to 1) all the existing 1,128 classes in the library (1,377 hours of quality genealogy education), 2) plus the 100 webinars that will be added during the 2020 season, 3) plus any additional bonus subscribers-only webinars (hundreds of these so far), 4) plus the TechZone–all available for the duration of your membership
• Access to all 4,657 pages of instructors' handouts plus the new handouts of the 2020 season
• 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
• Playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

It's just $49.95/year.

Nowhere else - on land, at sea, or online - will you find genealogy courses as comprehensive, diverse, or as numerous as you will find at FamilyTreeWebinars.com.

Add it to your Google Calendar

Click here to add the Legacy Family Tree Webinar Series to your Google Calendar.

2020 Speakers

Lots of brand new speakers join many of your favorites for 2020. One of them may be the one to help you break down your genealogical brick wall. Don't miss even one week! We welcome these new speakers to our webinar series:

• Jan M. Joyce, CG, CGL
• D. Joshua Taylor
• Jennifer Dondero
• Barbara Vines Little, CG, FNGS, FVGS
• Colleen Greene, MLIS
• Benjamin Hollister
• Roberta Estes
• Janice M. Sellers
• Daniel Smith-Ramos
• Mags Gaulden
• Rick Voight
• Trish Hackett Nicola, CG
• Kate Eakman

Click here to register.

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

What's This Icon? (Beginner)

Whenever a Legacy icon is colored in that means that there is data entered for that person in that section. In the below screenshot you can see that I have entered events for Benjamin and his wife Anne because both of their events icons are colored. But why does Anne's icon have a red circle above it and Benjamin's doesn't? 

(click image to enlarge)

The red circle means that Anne has had an event SHARED with her. Benjamin doesn't have this red circle because I have not shared any events with him. It is the RECIPIENT of the shared event that gets the red circle not the person from whom the event was shared. 

This is just another way Legacy gives you a visual clue to what you have entered.

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.

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar subscribers a new bonus webinar just for them! This Friday enjoy "Treasures and Hidden Secrets of the Illinois Regional Archives (IRAD)" by Luana Darby, AG. 

Treasures and Hidden Secrets of the Illinois Regional Archives (IRAD)

If you research in Illinois, you don’t want to miss the resources held in the seven regional archive repositories of IRAD. From vital records to city directories, probate to local histories, each site has its own unique set of records. Learn tips and tricks for getting the most out of your visit, whether long-distance or on site. Come see some of the gems already gleaned from the vast resources of this amazing Illinois asset.

About the Presenter

If you have ancestors in Hesse, Germany, then you'll enjoy these two new collections at MyHeritage.

Hesse Birth Index (1874–1911)

Hesse Marriage Index (1849–1931)

These collections, totaling 8.5 million historical records, are now indexed and searchable on MyHeritage.

In a shift from traditional church recordkeeping, in the mid-19th century, the German Empire began requiring the civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths for the entire population. These new collections are rich in detail, often providing biographical information that is far superior to that covered by church records. This makes them an excellent resource for German genealogical research.

You can read more in the MyHeritage blog and search now the Hesse Birth Index and Hesse Marriage Index.

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

Customize the Family View (Beginner)

When someone sees one of my screenshots and they notice that my labels on the Family View are different than what they have they want to know how they can change them.  Easy peasy. 

You can see that my labels are Born, Died, Age [at death], Cause of Death and Cemetery. 

(click image to enlarge)

All you have to do is mouse click on one of the labels and then click Customize. The Customize box pops up.  This is where you can tell Legacy what information you want displayed.  Notice that you can display up to five fields.  Also notice the Load and Save buttons which we will get to in just a bit.

(click image to enlarge)

To change one of the fields click the little square to the right that has the … in it. and you will get this:

(click image to enlarge)

You have 99 options to choose from.  You actually have a lot more than that.  Event is only on the list once but if you choose that you will be able to pick any event that you have.  Here is where it gets really cool.  You can save up to 10 different sets of labels!  Depending on what you are researching at the time, you might want other things to display on the Family View.

There are two other fields here that you can edit, the Names to Display and the Short Name. These are the actual field labels you will see on your screen. I could change DthCau to COD if I wanted to. The Short Name is what you will see if you have your screen at half size or you are working in Split Screen where there isn't enough room to display the full label title.

Here I am saving my new set of labels.  I am going to Save it to number 1.  If I want to use one of my custom sets of labels I would only need to click Load (above the save button). I have named this set FSID (FamilySearch ID). 

(click image to enlarge)

Now when I click on the labels I have a quick pick list I can use but I can still go to the customize screen if I prefer and can click Load there. 

(click image to enlarge)

(click image to enlarge)

You can see the labels that I have now are Birth, Death, Age, Cemetery, and FSID.

(click image to enlarge)

Here is my "German" set of labels.

(click image to enlarge)

This is just one of many ways you can customize screens to get them they way you want.

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.

Come learn genealogy from Lisa Louise Cooke and myself in St. George, Utah in January. We had a blast together at our recent event in Sandy, so we're doing it again for you in St. George. Below is all the details.

International keynote speaker Lisa Louise Cooke, (host of the popular Genealogy Gems Podcast and columnist for Family Tree Magazine) is the Executive Producer of Genealogy Roots, a dynamic genealogy education event being held at the SeniorExpo in St. George, Utah on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 14-15, 2020.

Lisa’s special guest speaker is Geoff Rasmussen, founder of Legacy Family Tree Webinars, and author of the popular book Kindred Voices: Listening for Our Ancestors.

"The fresh approach of Genealogy Roots was so well received last year in Sandy, Utah that we immediately went to work preparing for 2020," says Cooke. "What makes this genealogy education event so unique is that unlike most genealogy conferences, there’s no changing classrooms. Geoff and I will present on one stage individually and together, pooling our perspectives and training in a fun and interactive way. The single location provides an environment where we can all come together as genealogists and make new friends over the two days."

"We’ve built in time for Q&As and discussion because that’s usually where the most brilliant aha moments happen. Our state-of-the-art multimedia presentations are interactive and entertaining, so our guests can retain what they’ve learned and be ready to take the next steps in their own research. And several lucky people will walk away with wonderful prizes which is always fun!"

Genealogy Roots is great for beginners and experienced genealogists alike. The event is part of SeniorExpo because preserving your family’s legacy is an important part of caring for the intergenerational family. SeniorExpo offers free health screenings, activities, information stations, and giveaways. But you don’t have to be a senior (or care for one) to attend Genealogy Roots!

Learn more and register for this event at seniorexpo.org/genealogyroots.

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar subscribers a new bonus webinar just for them! This Friday enjoy "Virginia Road Orders: An Overlooked Genealogical Resource" by Craig Scott, CG, FUGA. 

Virginia Road Orders: An Overlooked Genealogical Resource

The establishment and maintenance of public roads in Virginia was one of the most important functions of the early colonial courts. Public convenience and welfare required as soon as the settlements left the riverbanks. Tidewater transportation was the mainstay of colonial transportation until about 1700. By this time settlement began away from the riverbanks and road needed to be created to connect the new settlements with the riverbanks. These records for Virginia are readily accessible yet overlooked by many Virginia researchers.

About the Presenter

I asked and you answered! I hope my original blog post on What Uncommon Sources Have You Used got you thinking and gave you some places to start looking for new-to-you genealogy sources. I was excited to see the comments on that blog post and what sources you are using. I wanted to highlight a few so that we all could benefit.

Let’s  look at a few of your unusual genealogy sources:

Judy Holder mentioned that she has used church bulletins. She commented, “A church bulletin gave me a clue about a book that contained a biography of my grandfather.” This is a great uncommon source probably because they can be difficult to find. Church bulletins may be archived by the church itself or they could be found in another type of  archive. A look through DPLA and ArchiveGrid reveal some results for the keywords “church bulletin.” Once, as I researched one of my signature quilts from the 1930s, I found a church bulletin posted by a Catholic church that provided me a clue to a death date and a cemetery. I found that church bulletin just by Googling the person’s name.

Phil Wood mentioned commemorative benches in his comment. These are some of my favorite sources and whenever I travel I take photos of anything that has people’s names, such as benches, plaques, and other memorials. These mentions might seem at first glance to only name the wealthy or famous but  don’t forget they can also mention veterans, soldiers killed in action, pioneers of the area, victims of a tragedy, or names of loved ones that a donation has been made in. These plaques can be found in all kinds of public places such as parks and historical buildings, to even the sidewalks of tourist destinations like Disneyland.

What makes finding this type of source difficult is that it might require a trip to that place your ancestor lived but don’t also forget to check websites for that place as well, just in case. Some examples of websites that include names on markers include the Salem (Massachusetts) House History & Plaque Program and  Heather Rojo’s Honor Roll Project,  a collaborative effort documenting military plaques.

Memorial to Charles F. Holder, Catalina Island, California

Diana Haselmyer's comment shared a discovery she made requesting records verifying  her mother's early years in an orphanage. When she received the orphanage records for her mother they included school records. Her discovery reminded me how too often in our search to find birth, marriage, and death records we tend to forget about our ancestor’s younger years. School records can be a great way to fill in an ancestor’s timeline. Some school records are obvious like a school newspaper or yearbook but there are others that are equally genealogically relevant as well, including school censuses, report cards, or actual school records. Start your search in FamilySearch with a catalog search of Place and Keyword. Most subscription websites have a School category. On MyHeritage you’ll find yearbooks, alumni lists, and other records in their Schools & Universities collection. Don’t forget to also check nearby archives as well as contacting the school itself. In the case of a university, it might be worthwhile to check their library, archive, and digital collections.

Keep Those Uncommon Sources Coming!

Right now, I’m on the hunt for even more uncommon sources. And while they are not uncommon to me, I’ve been studying some local 19^th century divorce records to see what information they reveal. I’ve been surprised by what I’ve found through studying each record one-by-one. One of my favorite finds was in one record  where the wife asked that her maiden name be restored providing additional details I wouldn’t have expected for that era.

Keep looking for those uncommon or new-to-you sources. They can help your research as you think outside of the genealogical box for answers. Comments to my original post include some great resources to try so I recommend reading those. One last comment from the post that I wholeheartedly agree with comes from Shirley who wrote that “Facebook groups and message boards are a great resource for sources” and she’s right. Join a new Facebook group to get ideas for your research. You can find  genealogically relevant Facebook groups from Katherine R. Willson’s Genealogy on Facebook List, Gail Dever’s Facebook for Canadian Genealogy, and Alona Tester’s Facebook for Australian History & Genealogy list.

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.

The recording of today's webinar by Kirsty Gray, "How to trace your UK ancestry” is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 21 minute recording of "How to trace your UK ancestry" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. If you have a webinar membership, it is available anytime.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 1,084 classes, 1,370 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 4,6479pages)
• 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

Click here to subscribe.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2019 webinar brochure here.

See you online!

The recording of tonight's webinar by the Board for Certification of Genealogists, "Marriages Here, There, and Nowhere: Finding Gretna Greens and Borders” taught by J. Mark Lowe, CG, FUGA, is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 29 minute recording of "Marriages Here, There, and Nowhere: Finding Gretna Greens and Borders" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. If you have a webinar membership, it is available anytime.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 1,083 classes, 1,369 hours of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 4,647 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

Click here to subscribe.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2019 webinar brochure here.

See you online!