Legacy News

How to locate an ancestor in Ontario - free webinar by Janice Nickerson now online for limited time

February 19, 2021

The recording of today's webinar by Janice Nickerson, "How to locate an ancestor in Ontario, Canada West or Upper Canada (when you don’t know where they lived)" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

This webinar will provide strategies and resources to help you discover where your ancestor lived in Ontario, Canada West or Upper Canada, when you don’t have a specific place of origin. These include the types of records you should search in your ancestors’ place of later settlement, as well as records that are specific to Ontario (which, depending on the time period, might be called Ontario, Canada West or Upper Canada) research. As the focus here is on locating your ancestor, we will focus on province-wide records and indexes. We will not cover the many records and indexes that are useful to the genealogist once the place of residence is known. Handout materials will include references for specific publications and 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 26 minute recording of "How to locate an ancestor in Ontario, Canada West or Upper Canada (when you don’t know where they lived)" 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 1,445 classes of genealogy education)
On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 5,523 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

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2021 webinar brochure here.

Posted by Geoff Rasmussen in Canada, Webinars | Permalink | Comments (0)

New TechZone Video - Why are Parent/Sibling DNA Comparisons so Confusing? by Michelle Leonard

February 19, 2021

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar members a new, short ten minute or less TechZone video just for them! This Friday enjoy "Why are Parent/Sibling DNA Comparisons so Confusing?" by Michelle Leonard.

Why are Parent/Sibling DNA Comparisons so Confusing?

If you share 50% of your DNA with both your parents and your siblings then why are the centiMorgans different on the various DNA testing sites? Michelle unravels the mystery in this video.

About the Presenter

Michelle Leonard is a Scottish professional genealogist, DNA detective, freelance researcher, speaker, author and historian. She runs her own genealogy and DNA consultancy business, Genes & Genealogy, and specialises in DNA Detective work particularly the solving of adoption, unknown parentage and all manner of unknown ancestor mysteries using a combination of DNA expertise and conventional research methods. She also undertakes traditional family history research, living relative tracing, historical and television research, media consultation, the creation of bespoke family history books, podcasts, article, blog and book writing, tutoring, lecturing, webinars and speaking engagements. She is a regular speaker at major genealogy events such as Rootstech, The Genealogy Show, Family Tree Live, Back To Our Past and Who Do You Think You Are? Live as well as a co-author of "Tracing Your Ancestors Using DNA: A Guide For Family Historians" which was published in June 2019.

Additionally Michelle is the official genetic genealogist of ancestryhour.co.uk and is one of the hosts of the hour itself: #AncestryHour takes place on Twitter each Tuesday evening from 7-8pm GMT and Michelle is usually on hand to answer any #DNA queries that arise. She also spent several years working on the ground-breaking Fromelles Genealogy Project tracking down appropriate DNA donors to identify WWI soldiers buried in a mass grave in France and served as the Genealogical Consultant on the official Fromelles documentary. She regularly works on new historic soldier cases when battlefield remains are found and DNA testing is conducted.

Michelle holds an M.A. in English and Modern History from the University of St Andrews and a PgCert in Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the Scottish Genealogy Network (SGN), the Society of Genealogists (SOG) and the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG). You can find out more about Michelle on her Genes & Genealogy Facebook page and you can follow her on Twitter.

See all the webinars and videos by Michelle Leonard in the Legacy library.

Not a member yet?

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, 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 1,444 classes in the library
5,523 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

It's just $49.95/year.

Posted by Geoff Rasmussen in DNA, TechZone | Permalink | Comments (0)

Register for Friday's 'O Canada series' webinar: How to locate an ancestor in Ontario, Canada West or Upper Canada (when you don’t know where they lived) by Janice Nickerson

February 18, 2021

This webinar will provide strategies and resources to help you discover where your ancestor lived in Ontario, Canada West or Upper Canada, when you don’t have a specific place of origin. These include the types of records you should search in your ancestors’ place of later settlement, as well as records that are specific to Ontario (which, depending on the time period, might be called Ontario, Canada West or Upper Canada) research. As the focus here is on locating your ancestor, we will focus on province-wide records and indexes. We will not cover the many records and indexes that are useful to the genealogist once the place of residence is known. Handout materials will include references for specific publications and records.

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

Janice Nickerson is a professional genealogist with over 35 years of genealogical research experience. She got an early start in the field when she became an avid family historian as a teenager. Her ancestral connections to Prince Edward County and the Hudson's Bay fur trade inspired the topics of her academic theses, Women and Property in a Nineteenth Century Ontario County and Ethnic Identity Among the Nineteenth Century Descendants of Hudson's Bay Company Fur Traders. Her expertise includes Upper Canadian history, criminal justice records, turning bare bones genealogies into full-fledged family histories, and finding fun ways to share family history finds. In addition to helping her private clients discover the richness of their ancestral heritage, Janice does heir searching for provincial Public Trustees, writes and lectures on a variety of genealogical topics. Janice also did much of the genealogical research “behind the scenes” for the CBC’s television series, Who Do You Think You Are?, which aired from October 2007 to February 2008 and APTN's television series, All Our Relations, airing Fall 2013. Another notable research project involved working with the City of Toronto Museum Services to create a Book of Remembrance to commemorate the York militia men (and their families) who died in the War of 1812. Her books, Crime and Punishment in Upper Canada: A Researcher’s Guide (2010), and York’s Sacrifice: Militia Casualties of the War of 1812 (2012) were published by the joint imprint of the Ontario Genealogical Society and Dundurn Press. Janice is a proud 8th-generation Canadian, with English, German, Irish, Welsh and Aboriginal ancestry.

Add it to your Google Calendar

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

Webinar time

The webinar will be live on Friday, February 19, 2021 at:

2pm Eastern (U.S.)
1pm Central
12pm Mountain
11am Pacific

Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com today. It's free!
You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
You will receive a reminder email both 1 day and 1 hour prior to the live webinar.
Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
Check your GoToWebinar connection here.
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.
Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Posted by Geoff Rasmussen in Webinars | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shoot Like a Pro: How to Record Quality Videos Using Your Mobile Device - free webinar by Elizabeth M. O'Neal now available for limited time

February 17, 2021

The recording of today's webinar by the Elizabeth M. O'Neal, "Shoot Like a Pro: How to Record Quality Videos Using Your Mobile Device" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

You don't need a fancy camera or expensive software to record amazing videos. In fact, professional photographers are shooting cinema-quality videos with just a smartphone… and you can do it, too! This class will feature the newest and most popular resources for recording professional-quality videos. Learn how to gain control of your mobile device's camera in ways you never thought possible and record beautiful videos that your family will want to watch.

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 and 7 minute recording of "Shoot Like a Pro: How to Record Quality Videos Using Your Mobile Device" is now available to view in our webinar library for free. 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 1,443 classes of genealogy education)
On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 5,517 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

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2021 webinar brochure here.

Posted by Geoff Rasmussen in Webinars | Permalink | Comments (0)

Register for Webinar Wednesday - Shoot Like a Pro: How to Record Quality Videos Using Your Mobile Device by Elizabeth M. O'Neal

February 17, 2021

You don't need a fancy camera or expensive software to record amazing videos. In fact, professional photographers are shooting cinema-quality videos with just a smartphone… and you can do it, too! This class will feature the newest and most popular resources for recording professional-quality videos. Learn how to gain control of your mobile device's camera in ways you never thought possible and record beautiful videos that your family will want to watch.

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

Elizabeth O’Neal is a professional genealogist who writes, lectures, and consults on a variety of topics. Her passion is using technology and social media to enrich the experience of genealogy research and family history storytelling. A genealogist for more than 33 years, Elizabeth is the owner of Swan Genealogy Services and author of the family history blog Heart of the Family™. She is a regular contributor to online genealogy publications. Professional memberships include the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the Genealogical Speakers Guild, and she is an active member of the public speaking club Toastmasters International. Additionally, Elizabeth serves as the 1st Vice President, Programs, of the Santa Barbara County Genealogical Society, Vice President of the GeneaBloggers Organization, and coordinator of the NGSQ Study Groups. She is a member of numerous lineage societies, including the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and the National Society United States Daughters of 1812.

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, February 17, 2021 at:

2pm Eastern (U.S.)
1pm Central
12pm Mountain
11am Pacific

Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com today. It's free!
You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
You will receive a reminder email both 1 day and 1 hour prior to the live webinar.
Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
Check your GoToWebinar connection here.
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.
Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Posted by Geoff Rasmussen in Webinars | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Family for Suzanne - free webinar by Ruth Randall, CG now online for limited time

February 16, 2021

The recording of tonight's webinar by the Board for Certification of Genealogists and Ruth Randall, CG, "A Family for Suzanne" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

This webinar is based on the subject of the 2007 winner of the National Genealogical Society’s Family History Writing Contest, "A Family for Suzanne". The speaker will use historical documents to identify significant events in the life of an enslaved woman who was purchased by a man in Cape Girardeau, Missouri when she was three and a half or four years old.

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 and 7 minute recording of "A Family for Suzanne" is now available to view in our webinar library for free. 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 1,442 classes of genealogy education)
On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 5,513 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

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2021 webinar brochure here.

Posted by Geoff Rasmussen in Webinars | Permalink | Comments (0)

Register for tonight's BCG webinar: A Family for Suzanne by Ruth Randall, CG

February 16, 2021

This webinar is based on the subject of the 2007 winner of the National Genealogical Society’s Family History Writing Contest, "A Family for Suzanne". The speaker will use historical documents to identify significant events in the life of an enslaved woman who was purchased by a man in Cape Girardeau, Missouri when she was three and a half or four years old.

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

Ruth Randall, CG, began her pursuit of family history research in 1996. She is the 2007 winner of the National Genealogical Society’s Family History Writing Contest and the American Society of Genealogists’s 2008 Scholar Award. Ruth is a member of the editorial board of the NGS Quarterly. She is in her third decade serving as a volunteer at the Albuquerque Family History Center. Ruth is the author of six articles published in the NGS Quarterly. She is a three time winner of The International Society of Family History Writers and Editors’s annual Excellence in Writing Contest.

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 Tuesday, February 16, 2021 at:

8pm Eastern (U.S.)
7pm Central
6pm Mountain
5pm Pacific

Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com today. It's free!
You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
You will receive a reminder email both 1 day and 1 hour prior to the live webinar.
Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
Check your GoToWebinar connection here.
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.
Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Posted by Geoff Rasmussen in Webinars | Permalink | Comments (0)

5 Things You Can Learn from a Genealogy Database

February 12, 2021

How do you research an ancestor using a genealogy website? The most popular way is to enter a name, birth year, and place, and then click the Search button, right? Well, that’s one way to search for your ancestors but it’s not the only or best way.

Becoming familiar with a database where you expect to find an ancestor is crucial. Genealogy websites provide valuable information about individual databases in their collections that can help you better understand what is available, where it is from, and how to search it.

Let’s use a database from MyHeritage to illustrate this. Instead of conducting a search, I went to Research and then in the drop-down menu chose the collection Birth, Marriage & Death.

As you can see, I can search from this collection page. A search here will find results in any number of databases from their Birth, Marriage & Death collection. But if I know I’m looking for an English record, why not search a specific database for England so I can learn more about that particular database and better understand what I can expect and not expect to find?

To find an English ancestor, I decided to take a look at one database within this collection. The database England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1837-2005 is free so you do not need a subscription to search it. The database’s homepage tells us quite a bit about these records. Before I even start searching I’m going to take a look and learn more about these records.

Let’s look at the five things you can learn from this page.

This site map line shows you exactly where you are on the website. This can be helpful if you need to find your way to this database again or want to go to the collection page. Please note that if you scroll down at the bottom right there is a Categories collection that provides links to marriage & Divorce; United Kingdom; England; and Wales collections.
Here’s the description for this collection. Notice it has the title, how many records are included, and information about the database. There is also a little free green button that lets you know that the database is available to anyone, even those without a subscription. At the bottom is a small arrow and when we click on that we will see the rest of this description. We’ll discuss this more later.
This is the search engine. Notice that collection and database search engines may differ according to what information is searchable. In this case, the fields include name, date, marriage place, and keywords. Notice at the bottom you can check the box for an Exact Search which limited the search to exactly what you type. The other box allows for translations. At the top right is Advanced Search link which allows for search functions that include the spouse’s name and more options in name searching.
Sample Record. In this case there is an image of a sample record so you can familiarize yourself with the database.
Related collections. These are suggested collections that also might help your search.

Now let’s go back up to the description and see what that page says once we click on the arrow.

Notice that the information we are given includes a description of the records and search tips. This can be extremely important to our search and can mean the difference between finding and not finding an ancestor because it may list what the database contains versus what is missing, the source citation for the records how to best search, and any information needed to better understand these records. I often find that people become frustrated with searches or proclaim that there is nothing for their ancestor on a website because they haven’t taken the time to see what is in a particular database and what is simply not included.

Take some time with that search

Sure, you can enter a name, date, and place and see what results you receive but what about doing something different? Next time you go to that genealogy website, skip the search and instead choose a database and learn more about it. Knowing more about those individual databases can help you avoid frustration and might even provide you a new record set to search.

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.

Posted by Gena Philibert-Ortega in Tips from the Experts | Permalink | Comments (2)

New TechZone Video - Bring PowerPoint to Life with Animations by Diane Boumenot

February 12, 2021

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar members a new, short ten minute or less TechZone video just for them! This Friday enjoy "Bring PowerPoint to Life with Animations" by Diane Boumenot.

Bring PowerPoint to Life with Animations

Learn how to add some pizzaz to your PowerPoint presentations with the animation feature.

About the Presenter

Diane MacLean Boumenot specializes in southern New England genealogy research, including work on her own ancestors, who were among the original settlers of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She publishes her genealogy adventures on her website, One Rhode Island Family. In 2018 she co-authored, with Maureen Taylor, the National Genealogical Society's NGS Research in the States volume, Research in Rhode Island. Additionally, Diane has a long career in association management and believes strongly in the powerful combination of organizations and members pursuing their passion. She holds a B.A. in American History and English from Wesleyan University. Diane is also a graduate of ProGen 28.

See all the webinars and videos by Diane Boumenot in the Legacy library.

Not a member yet?

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, 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 1,441 classes in the library
5,504 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

It's just $49.95/year.

Posted by Geoff Rasmussen | Permalink | Comments (0)

Researching Your Maine Ancestors - free webinar by B.J. Jamieson now online for limited time

February 11, 2021

The recording of Wednesday's webinar by B.J. Jamieson, "Researching Your Maine Ancestors" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

Even though Maine is a small, sparsely populated state in an out-of-the-way location, many genealogists find that they have ancestors who lived in Maine. There are resources available for tracing Maine ancestors, despite a late start to vital records registration. This presentation will cover the most commonly used resources for research in the Pine Tree State.

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 and 20 minute recording of "Researching Your Maine Ancestors" is now available to view in our webinar library for free. 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 1,440 classes of genealogy education)
On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 5,504 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: