Huuuge news from MyHeritage regarding city directories (one of my 'fav records!). They have now published 25,000 public U.S. city directories which comprise 545 million aggregated records that have been consolidated from 1.3 billion records. City directories contain an alphabetical list of adult residents and heads of household (often with their spouse) with addresses and occupations, a business directory, information about local officials, clubs, churches, cemeteries, schools, and a street guide. What this means to you - new opportunities to break down that brick wall. My Marsden Brown case was shattered through the use of an 1871 Minneapolis city directory. Yep, I love these records!
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.
Hooray for everyone! One of my personal favorite genealogy conferences has announced the details of its 3rd annual conference. Here are all the details.
Following the success of MyHeritage LIVE 2018 and 2019, we’re delighted to announce that MyHeritage LIVE, our annual user conference, will take place in Tel Aviv on October 25–26, 2020. As one of the most celebrated genealogy events of the year, MyHeritage LIVE brings together family history enthusiasts, top international experts, and MyHeritage staff for two days of fascinating lectures covering the latest topics in genealogy and DNA. Each year, hundreds of MyHeritage users from around the world attend.
MyHeritage LIVE 2020 will take place on October 25–26, 2020 at the Hilton Tel Aviv. Set in landscaped Independence Park, this upscale hotel is located right on the Mediterranean beachfront and just 5 km from the Tel Aviv-Savidor Center train station.
If you haven’t visited Tel Aviv yet, now is your chance to experience a beautiful, vibrant city that’s known as a “city that never sleeps,” making it a perfect fit for night owl genealogists who toil late into the night to work on their research. Explore the past and experience new cultures in a truly unique country steeped in ancient history.
In addition to a plenary session from MyHeritage Founder and CEO Gilad Japhet, there will be multiple lectures, panels and workshops covering genealogy and DNA, as well as sessions from local speakers covering Israeli resources and Jewish genealogy.
We’ve lined up an excellent array of international speakers for the event including Roberta Estes, Thomas MacEntee, Dick Eastman, Diahan Southard, and Lisa Louise Cooke. Joining them from Israel will be Garri Regev and Rony Golan along with others to be announced soon. From the MyHeritage team, you will hear from Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO; Maya Lerner, VP Product; Schelly Talalay Dardashti, U.S. Genealogy Advisor; Michael Mansfield, Director of Content Operations; Daniel Horowitz, Genealogy Expert; and more.
Tickets
Conference tickets include access to lectures, workshops, coffee breaks, lunches, and the MyHeritage party, all of which you don’t want to miss!
Past events
Both MyHeritage LIVE 2018 in Oslo, Norway, and MyHeritage LIVE 2019 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands received tremendous praise from conference participants, who declared the events some of the best conferences they’ve ever attended. There were three different tracks: DNA, genealogy, and hands-on workshops. Riveting talks by guest speakers and MyHeritage staff captivated full audiences. MyHeritage Customer Support representatives were on hand throughout the conference to provide comprehensive, hands-on support.
Watch the highlights from MyHeritage LIVE 2019 in Amsterdam:
We can’t wait for MyHeritage LIVE 2020! We’re looking forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting many new ones. Get ready to learn about cutting-edge genealogy technology while partying with like-minded family historians from around the world.
TEL AVIV, Israel & LEHI, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MyHeritage, the leading global service for discovering your past and empowering your future, announced today the addition of 9 new health reports to its at-home genetic health test, the MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry test. The new reports include a comprehensive polygenic risk score for high blood pressure based on thousands of genetic variants, 3 genetic risk reports that estimate personal risk for developing a disease, and 5 carrier status reports that indicate if an individual is a carrier of a disease that may be passed from parent to child.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a sustained elevation in blood pressure that can significantly increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. Widely known as “the silent killer,” high blood pressure often has no obvious signs or symptoms. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.13 billion people worldwide have high blood pressure, and fewer than 1 in 5 have the condition under control. Consequently, high blood pressure is a major cause of premature death and disability. The new report for high blood pressure offers a comprehensive genetic risk estimate by examining thousands of variants across the genome, and is exclusive to MyHeritage. This report may inform individuals who have increased genetic risk years before the onset of high blood pressure, enabling early intervention measures and frequent checkups with their healthcare provider.
The new reports examine genetic variants for PALB2-associated breast cancer, susceptibility to HIV-1 infection, and susceptibility to malignant hyperthermia. The presence of a PALB2 variant notably increases an individual’s risk for developing breast cancer and has also been associated with increased risk for ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer. The report for PALB2-associated breast cancer joins the hereditary BRCA cancers report and the polygenic risk score for female breast cancer, positioning MyHeritage as a market leader in at-home testing for breast cancer risk. The susceptibility to HIV-1 infection report is also unique to MyHeritage and indicates the presence or absence of the CCR5 variant. CCR5 can reduce an individual’s susceptibility to becoming infected with HIV-1, or even render them highly resistant to HIV-1 infection. This variant is most common in people of Northern European descent.
Also included are carrier status reports for 5 hereditary disorders including glycogen storage disease type 1A (G6PC), Usher syndrome type 3, familial Mediterranean fever, ataxia-telangiectasia, and Canavan disease. Canavan disease is a neurological disorder that causes progressive damage to nerve cells in the brain and is most prevalent among individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
“When we launched the MyHeritage Health test earlier this year, we pledged to be at the forefront of scientific innovation and to continuously enhance the product for the benefit of our users,” said Dr. Yaniv Erlich, Chief Science Officer of MyHeritage. "The addition of these 9 new reports delivers on our promise, and we plan to add many more health reports in the coming months. We recently received a moving testimonial from one of our customers, who thanked us because, as he put it, MyHeritage saved his daughter’s life. This was achieved by detecting a rare BRCA variant that only MyHeritage tests for among the major at-home consumer DNA health tests. It is successes like these that make us even more determined to continue our mission to raise awareness of genetic health risks and provide insights on significant medical conditions to the public.”
Launched in May 2019, the MyHeritage Health test now provides 36 comprehensive reports that may empower future health and lifestyle choices. The current product offering consists of 4 advanced polygenic risk scores (including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and female breast cancer), 14 reports on personal genetic risk for developing health conditions, and 18 reports regarding genetic diseases that may be passed from a couple to their children if both partners are carriers for the same condition. MyHeritage users receive personalized reports for each condition and are encouraged to share and discuss their results with their healthcare provider. MyHeritage Health also includes the pillar features of the MyHeritage DNA product line: ethnicity estimates and matching to relatives through shared DNA.
The 9 new reports are available free of charge to existing MyHeritage Health customers who have purchased the Health subscription, which grants access to new reports as they are released. Customers who purchase the MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry kit or who upgrade to receive health reports following this latest release will enjoy full access to all 36 health reports; access to new reports slated for future release requires a Health subscription. Existing MyHeritage Health customers who currently do not have a Health subscription will soon be able to purchase it on the MyHeritage website for $99 per year.
The new reports are now available to MyHeritage Health customers worldwide. Customers who reside in the United States and previously purchased the MyHeritage Health subscription will receive these new reports in the near future.
MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry is a Laboratory Developed Test, processed in a CLIA certified and CAP accredited DNA lab in Texas. MyHeritage works with PWNHealth, an independent physician network and genetic counseling service, to provide end-to-end physician oversight of the MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry test for all U.S. customers, which includes genetic counseling, if appropriate. PWNHealth’s physician oversight and genetic counseling fee is included in the total price.
44.4 million new records were added in the first half of September: 9.7 million from three new collections, and 34.7 million added to 6 existing collections from the Netherlands.
The new collections include a New York City Birth Index, a New York City Death Index, and the Australian World War II Nominal Roll, 1939–1945. The updates to existing Netherlands collections include Civil Deaths, Marriages, and Birth collections as well as Church Baptisms, Church Burials, and Church Marriages collections.
Here is a full breakdown of the new and updated record collections:
Collection
Description
Number of Records
Link to Search
New York City Death Index, 1862–1948
An index to deaths recorded in New York City between 1862 and 1948.
An index of Australians who served in the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force or in the merchant navy during World War II.
The 5,317,387 records in the New York City Death Index contains information on deaths recorded in New York City. This collection helps individuals in locating New York City death records between 1862 and 1948. It contains information on county and date of death, age at death, and certificate number.
Death certificates represent one of the key primary sources for family information. They were typically issued within days of a death and include many details about a person’s life. Frequently, they contain age, birthplace, parents’ names and birthplaces, and the cause of death.
The 2,233,470 records in the New York City Birth Index contains information on births recorded in New York City. This collection helps individuals in locating New York City birth records between 1878 and 1909. This index contains the certificate number and information on county and date of birth.
Birth records represent one of the key primary sources for family information. They were typically issued within days of birth and contain the parents’ names at minimum. Many times they contain additional parental details, including places of birth, ages, number of children, and religious affiliation for baptism and christening records.
This collection of 2,235,950 records consists of the World War II Nominal Roll of Australia. The roll was created as a commemoration project for Australians who served in the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force, or in the merchant navy during World War II. The records contain the following searchable information on the service person: surname, given name(s), date of birth, place of birth, date of enlistment, locality on enlistment, place of enlistment, and date of discharge. The surname and given name(s) for the person’s next of kin are also given.
This collection — which now totals 41,415,249 records — is an index to civil death records from throughout the Netherlands from the years 1811–1965. Records typically list the name of the deceased, age, death date, and death place. Sometimes the names of the deceased’s parents and/or spouse are also listed. Source information is provided to help locate the original record.
Civil registration — the recording of births, marriages, and deaths by civil authorities — was officially instituted in the Netherlands on March 1, 1811. However, in some areas of the Netherlands, civil records were kept as early as 1795.
This collection — which now totals 28,131,957 records — is an index to civil marriage records from throughout the Netherlands from 1811–1965. Records typically list the names of the bride and groom, their birthdates and birthplaces, occupations, parents’ names, and their marriage date and place. The names of former spouses, and the names of the witnesses are also often provided.
This collection — which now totals 23,631,397 records — is an index to baptismal records from various churches and localities throughout the Netherlands. Records typically list each child’s name, baptism date, birth date, and parents’ names.
Church records are extremely important because they are the primary source of vital information prior to the institution of civil registration. In the Netherlands, most people attended either the Dutch Reformed or Catholic churches, but other denominations existed as well. Please see the archive list below for locality coverage. The majority of the records date between 1580 and 1811, though the extent of year coverage can vary by locality.
This collection — which now totals 31,860,820 records — is an index to civil birth records from throughout the Netherlands from 1811–1915. Records typically list each child’s name, birth date and place, and parents’ names. In some cases, other information such as the names of witnesses may also be provided.
Birth record Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher
The birth record of the famous Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher is in the collection. His work often explored mathematical ideas.
Convex and Concave (1955) by Maurits Cornelis Escher, [Credit: Museu de Arte Popular, Lisbon, Portugal]
He was born on June 17, 1898 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, to George Arnold Escher, a civil engineer, and Sara Adriana Gleichman.
This collection — which now totals 5,327,033 records — is an index to burial records from various churches and localities throughout the Netherlands from 1601–1811. Records typically list the name of the deceased, burial date, and burial place. In some cases, the deceased’s age, birthplace, and names of possible relatives may also be listed.
This collection — which now totals 4,119,666 records — is an index to marriage records (marriage banns and marriage ceremonies) from various churches and localities throughout the Netherlands from 1580–1811. Records typically list the names of the bride and groom, their marriage date, residences, and religion.
Church marriage record Dutch landscape painter Jan van Goyen
Jan Josephszoon van Goyen was a well known 17th century Dutch landscape painter whose work greatly influenced the work of other landscape artists of his time. On August 5, 1618, Van Goyen married Annetje Willems van Raelst in Leiden, Netherlands. Their marriage record can be found in the Netherlands, Church Marriages, 1580–1811 collection.
View of Emmerich, a landscape painting by Jan van Goyen, 1645, [Credit: Cleveland Museum of Art]
All these newly updated collections are now available through MyHeritage SuperSearch™. Searching these records is free, but a Data or Complete subscription is required to view the records, save them to your family tree, and access Record Matches. Our Record Matching technology will get to work and notify you automatically if any of these records mention a member of your family tree. You’ll then have the ability to review the record and decide if you’d like to add the new information to your family tree.
Do you want to learn more about SuperSearch™ and Record Matching? Please visit our recently launched MyHeritage Education website where you’ll find practical tips and tricks, articles, how-to videos and more!
MyHeritage will continue to add new records to help you learn more about your ancestors’ lives and uncover your family’s past.
We hope you enjoy searching these newly updated collections. If you make any interesting new family history discoveries, let us know in the comments below!
The Missing Piece, the MyHeritage original documentary that had its world premiere this past weekend at MyHeritage LIVE in Amsterdam, is now publicly available. Watch the emotional and heartwarming documentary in its entirety here:
The Missing Piece is a powerful and inspiring film about hope and discovery. It tells the incredible story of two sisters, both abandoned as children, overcoming insurmountable odds to discover who they are and where they come from. It’s also a moving testament to the meaningful discoveries being made every day through MyHeritage.
MyHeritage LIVE 2019 in Amsterdam has concluded. To say that the future is bright at MyHeritage and its family history conferences would be an understatement. The second annual conference exceeded everyone's expectations, including mine. 450 people from 30 countries attended the live event, and tens of thousands tuned in via its live stream.
The conference was held at the Hotel Amsterdam. Here's the view from my hotel window. So beautiful!
MyHeritage treated conference attendees with a pre-conference a canal tour through Amsterdam.
We were then treated to a private screening of the world premiere of The Missing Piece - a powerful and inspiring documentary about hope and discovery that shares the story of two sisters, both abandoned as children, overcoming incredible odds to answer the questions of a lifetime. The sisters were actually at the event, and answered our questions after the movie concluded. Watch it here, but have tissues ready.
I was honored to open the conference...
...and introduce the keynote - MyHeritage's founder and CEO, Gilad Japhet. Gilad announced the acquisition of DNA products SNPedia and Promethease - a huge moment in consumer genetics.
He also unveiled the new Education Center, gave a sneak peak of the upcoming new ethnicity estimates, and announced several new record collections. Watch the recording here.
Here's me and about 450 of my new friends.
Saturday night's after party was groovy. We were entertained by both a Dutch folk dance group and the band, Beatlemania, from the UK.
Saturday I enjoyed teaching "Top Tech Tips for MyHeritage Users PLUS an Introduction to Family Tree Webinars"...
...and I was honored to moderate the panel with Prof. Yaniv Erlich, Diahan Southard, and Roberta Estes on the topic of DNA Testing for Health.
If you missed the classes, or want to view them again, watch them on MyHeritage's Facebook page here or watch them on our FamilyTreeWebinars.com site soon.
One of the most exciting announcements came in the closing session, where VP Aaron Godfrey unveiled where MyHeritage 2020 would be held: Israel! Although they didn't announce the dates yet, if you've always wanted to visit Israel, this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Would I recommend MyHeritage LIVE? Yes, without reservation, to everyone. Well done to the entire MyHeritage team, of which I am proud to be a member. I look forward to seeing you all in Israel in 2020!
Great news! All 25 classes from this weekend's 2-day MyHeritage LIVE conference in Amsterdam will be live-streamed. You'll miss out on the canal tours, live entertainment, yummy meals and mingling with other genealogists, but you'll get to learn from the likes of Leah Larkin, Blaine Bettinger, Gilad Japhet, Roberta Estes, Cyndi Ingle, Yvette Hoitink, Lisa Alzo, James Tanner, Geoff Rasmussen and others from the comfort of your home.
We're delighted to let you know that MyHeritage has released a fantastic French record collection — France, Nord Civil Marriages, 1792-1937 which includes 5.4 million civil records of marriages (1792-1937) for the French department of Nord that were collected by government authorities after the French Republic was proclaimed in 1792. The collection contains a detailed searchable index that details you won’t find on other websites.
In this collection, you’ll find rich details about the bride, groom, and their families, including the names of the bride and groom, their birth dates, birthplaces, marriage date and location, and the names of the bride’s and groom’s parents — including their mothers’ maiden surnames. Additional information about the death of one or more of the parents, along with witness names and details — often with recorded relationships to the bride and groom — can also be found.
The index that we created for this collection is unique in that it lists information that isn’t available on any other website, such as the estimated birth years of the bride and groom, and the names of their parents.
The collection on MyHeritage also includes beautiful scanned images of every record in a higher resolution than can be seen on some other sources.
The collection is available for searching on SuperSearch™, and users will receive Record Matches from this collection, revealing new information about their ancestors who appear in the records.
The collections provide robust coverage of during a span of 145 years making them a treasure trove of valuable family history information. They are sure to provide insight for anyone with roots in that region.
To learn more about finding your French ancestors, view our webinars at FamilyTreeWebinars.com.
We are excited to announce that we have recently added 27,612,119 new records from four new collections to SuperSearch™: Australia Electoral Rolls, 1893-1949; Québec Marriage Licenses, 1926-1997; Honolulu, Hawaii Passenger Lists, 1900-1953; and Baltimore, Maryland Passenger Lists, 1891-1943.
Here is a breakdown of the newly added record collections:
Collection
Description
Number of Records
Link to Search
Australia Electoral Rolls, 1893-1949
An index of electors in Australia registered to vote on Commonwealth electoral rolls between 1893 and 1949 in each of the six states of Australia.
