RootsMagic 50% off until midnight MST March 4

Paula Stuart-Warren  Conferences, Uncategorized  ,  Leave a comment

Oops, I am behind on RootsTech special offers and presentations. I blame it on spending time with family and then extended time on the FamilySearch experimental labs searching deeds and wills.

If you have been thinking about using RootsMagic as your own genealogy family tree program, you can purchase it for 50% off the usual price. This offer is also for those who didn’t attend RootsTech in person.

Bruce Buzbee and the team at RootsMagic said “Those who can’t attend RootsTech this year can get the same conference special online by visiting www.NotAtRootsTech.com. Hurry, this offer is only available through Monday, March 4, at 11:59 pm MST.”

RootsMagic Offer: www.NotAtRootsTech.com

FamilySearch Labs: https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/

RootsTech: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/
Check under the RootsTech Event tab for the Expo Hall and offers by many vendors and then check Class Schedule for recorded presentations you can view from home.

Cyndi’s List: 28 Years Strong for Genealogy and History

Paula Stuart-Warren  Cyndi's List, Uncategorized    Leave a comment

Cyndi Ingle should be very proud of herself! Her Cyndi’s List is celebrating its 28th Anniversary today. 28 years of finding links, updating links, and providing us with those links to keep up on things genealogical and historical. Cyndi does this and keeps her site free. She loves us paying attention to the links on the right side of her site. We can submit new links and she appreciates it when we send link updates.

From a Facebook post today: “Still your online starting point for online research. Thank you for using Cyndi’s List and sharing it with your friends. The site is due for a long-needed update, so please consider a birthday donation to support the site. I appreciate all of you who have supported Cyndi’s List all these years. Thank you!! https://cyndislist.com/donate/”

New to Cyndi’s List? Start by browsing the categories: https://cyndislist.com/categories/. I advocate browsing the categories so that you get a feel for how she categories various things we need in our research.


FamilySearch Labs: AI enabled searching for all names in deeds and wills

Paula Stuart-Warren  FamilySearch, Uncategorized  , ,  2 Comments

A few hours late today resulted in some new deeds and ancestral names in deeds of other people. All the names are rarely indexed until now. Searching by name and place in digitized records was easy peasy. Thank you, FamilySearch! I have used this excellent, but not perfect, advancement a few times now and I can describe it in one word. WOW. Fantastic news from RootsTech today.

FamilySearch Labs are basically experimental/beta products that are more than previews, but yet not ready for FamilySearch to say “all finished, all good!” I was amazed at the excellent accuracy in the reading of the documents. Sure some issues arose, but comparatively few. I recognized the county name on some records, but some took a quick look to be sure what the heck the records clerk wrote back in the 19th century. I saw the county name of Winona in Minnesota constantly the victim of poor handwriting in the docs. The “Expand your search with Full Text” part of the Labs does not include deeds or wills that FamilySearch has not had previous access to. Doggone it. I need a few more counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin, plus more years in the ones that are available. My blame is on the record holders, not FamilySearch.

Try it out https://www.familysearch.org/labs/. If you are on social media, you likely saw many posts about this new tool today.

Read more about this really neat advancement courtesy of Artificial Intelligence and I am sure, many hours of behind the scenes work by FamilySearch personnel. The Labs have some additional sections but I have not yet previewed them .https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/familysearch-labs


p.s. My colleague Kimberly Powell has already written tips for using the full-text search: https://learngenealogy.com/familysearch-experimental-full-text-search/


New DNA Uploads to MyHeritage for free including access to advanced DNA features

Paula Stuart-Warren  DNA  , ,  Leave a comment

An early RootsTech news release is below. I will try to keep readers updated on a variety of the news that I receive over the next several days. RootsTech, a large genealogy event, is taking place February 29-March 2 in Salt Lake City. If you aren’t traveling there, you can view many of the presentations and other features online for free. https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/

Now on to the MyHeritage news from today. “For each NEW DNA file uploaded this week (i.e. one that hasn’t been uploaded to MyHeritage in the past), the uploader will receive free access to all advanced DNA features, saving them the usual $29 unlock fee per file. This rare offer is valid for the next few days only, until March 4, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.” 

“There are many great reasons to upload DNA data to MyHeritage. You’ll get new DNA matches from all over the world, ethnicity reports covering 2,114 geographic regions, and access to the most comprehensive set of tools for analyzing your relationships to your DNA matches. MyHeritage is the only DNA company that has committed never to sell or license users’ data to third parties, and we provide full privacy controls so only you can see your data.” Read more at https://blog.myheritage.com/2024/02/this-week-only-upload-your-dna-data-and-get-free-access-to-all-dna-features/



Fold3.com adds U.S. records about Black and Indigenous Soldiers in the American Revolution

Paula Stuart-Warren  Military, Uncategorized  , , ,  Leave a comment

A Fold3 press release covers the addtion of some records of Black and Indigenous Soldiers in the American Revolution, 1775-1783.

It states that types of records in the collection may include:
  • Muster rolls
  • Pay vouchers
  • Enlistment records

“Records in this collection are unique and the available information will vary by record. The following information may be available:”

  • Name
  • Birth date and place
  • Date and place of enlistment
  • Unit, regiment, and rank
  • Names of other unit members
  • Occupation
  • History of enslavement
  • Military history
  • Physical description

Read more details https://www.fold3.com/publication/1431/us-black-and-indigenous-soldiers-in-the-american-revolution-1775-1783/description


The beginnings of MyHeritage in a short documentary

Paula Stuart-Warren  MyHeritage    Leave a comment

From a Daniel Horowitz press release:

“We recently celebrated 20 years since MyHeritage’s founding! In honor of the occasion, I’m delighted to share with you an amazing documentary produced by our team that tells the story of MyHeritage: from Gilad’s passion for family history at a young age, to an international company with millions of users! It’s a story of daring, perseverance, a strong sense of mission and purpose, and a liberal dose of chutzpah, and I couldn’t be more proud to have been a part of it all.”

The documentary is divided into 6 parts, each around 5–10 minutes long. I have already watched part of it and it is interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWXZLL180z8&list=PLZt_Mk4_rOvOnzTrsrY70-XbRxmjSlPjd

10 Million Names Family History Project of enslaved people and descendants from Africa

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  , , ,  Leave a comment

FamilySearch International and American Ancestors are collaborating on a project, 10 Million Names. The project seeks to recover the names and restore information to families of an estimated 10 million men, women, and children of African descent who were enslaved in pre- and post-colonial America, including what would become the United States.

10 Million Names was launched by American Ancestors on August 2, 2023 and the project will result in a free, searchable database of information about enslaved ancestors that extends over centuries during the Transatlantic Slave Trade period—from the 1500s and 1800s.

Read the full press release with more details https://www.familysearch.org/en/newsroom/familysearch-collaborating-with-american-ancestors-on-10-million-names-project


North Carolina Genealogical Society 2024 Virtual Conference March 15 & 16

Paula Stuart-Warren  Conferences, Uncategorized  ,  Leave a comment

Have you heard about this two-day conference you can attend from the comfort of your own home? No matter where you reside!

It takes place on March 15 & 16 during the daytime. 9:55 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. EDT. $69 NCGS members / $79 non-members Entitles you to 8 live lectures, the syllabus, and 60-day access to the recording of all these presentations. https://www.ncgenealogy.org/event/ncgs-2024-virtual-conference/

I am delighted to be one of the presenters. My topic is on manuscripts and special collections that hold research gems too often overlooked. I will share details about free online finding aids to help you find these treasures no matter what repository holds things for the families and places you seek. Of course, some parts will be about North Carolina connections in North Carolina and some big surprises found outside of the state. I drool at what these collections hold in libraries, archives, and historical societies large and small. See you online on Friday, the 15th at 10:00 a.m. EDT. Then you can partake of these other helpful topics:

  How to find manuscripts and special collections using free finding aids to learn more about your ancestors.

  Five essential strategies for finding a U.S. ancestor’s church affiliation as a first step to finding related records.

  About resources for North Carolina in the Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, IN.

  How recording all the work associated with a single problem in a single document can help you, and others.

  About underutilized resources for birth dates and locations, as well as naturalizations.

  About researching collateral lines to find clues to help answer questions about your ancestors.

  Research material that may help identify ancestors who may have owned slaves, and the economic impact.

  How mitochondrial DNA can help break brick walls and solve family mysteries, how to maximize results, and upcoming new tools.


Presidents Day. Not for shopping, sales, or truly for not working!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Holidays  ,  1 Comment

In case you didn’t know, the real reason Presidents Day was established was to celebrate George Washington’s February 22d birthday. It has become a tradition to also honor Abraham Lincoln and his February 12th birthday on this third Monday of February.

From the U.S. National Archives website:

“Washington’s Birthday was the first federal holiday to honor an individual’s birth date. In 1885, Congress designated February 22 as a holiday for all federal workers. Nearly a century later, in 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Law changed the date to the third Monday in February. The position of the holiday between the birthdays of Washington and Abraham Lincoln gave rise to the popular name of Presidents Day.” https://www.archives.gov/news/topics/washingtons-birthday

I did a Google search for Minnesota Presidents Day and all the top results were about sales and what things were open or closed on this day. Not exactly a way to honor these men.

Tuesday, 20 May is GRIP Genealogy Institute Registration

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  , ,  Leave a comment

I’m excited. Only 2 more days until the first day of registration opens. It’s an online registration process. A few more reasons to register for the Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills course for which I am the Coordinator and one of the instructors. It will be taking place online from 23-28 June in the 2024 GRIP Genealogy Institute. These are evaluation comments from students who were part of Digging Deeper in the last several years.

  • “Great chance to pick the brains of the experts!”
  • “Excellent presentations. I learned about things I was not previously aware”
  • “I’ve learned so much from my fellow classmates, including things like genealogy podcasts, computer software, and apps”
  • “Group project was lots of fun. I loved the class homework and being able to interact with other classmates”
  • “They are all terrific and I was fortunate to have such top notch instructors”
  • “Can’t think of how the Zoom experience could be improved . . . I thought it was a great experience. The tech information beforehand was helpful, and the techs kept the class experience humming along”
  • “The schedule was good, and the ease of use of zoom for groups and for asking questions was impressive”

I will also be teaching some sessions in the Not Just Farmers: Records, Relationships, and the Reality of Their Lives course led by Cari A. Taplin, CG, and the Midwest Family History Research: Migrations and Sources led by Jay Fonkert CG, during that virtual week. More on those courses and others are at https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org/#1#schedule

Be sure to check out the Registration section of the FAQs to be ready with a sign in link on Tuesday https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org/faq/