How did your ancestors receive their land? Did they win the land lottery? Could they have received a bounty land grant for military service? Perhaps they homesteaded and lived on the land long enough to obtain a land patent. If your ancestor was the first person in the chain of land transfer, he would have either received the land directly from the colony/state or from the federal government. After the initial land distribution, the subsequent transactions for that parcel of land were recorded in deeds at the county courthouse. It is possible to trace the land an ancestor owned back...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss how to best contact your DNA matches so that they respond, creating a family tree in your software that includes living cousins, and sharing research and memories with the cousins you find. We also talk about Diana's experience meeting in person with a 2nd cousin she found through DNA and what interesting family document she had which gave Diana helpful information to sort through a difficult discovery she had made years before. Links 3 Tips for Connecting with your DNA Cousins - Diana's blog post Understanding and Using Your DNA Results...
Are you challenged with visualizing how you connect to your DNA matches? DNA companies provide match lists, but sometimes we need to take control of our DNA data and organize it in a way that works for us. Creating a genetic family tree for your DNA matches might be easier than you think. Robin Wirthlin, FamilyLocket's new genetic genealogist shares three ways to view your DNA matches in the following article. I'm looking forward to trying each method to see what works best for me. Why don't you do the same! -Diana Organize After you have identified some of your...
In our podcast episode today, we are sharing Nicole's RootsTech lecture, Organize Your Research with Google Drive. Do you work from multiple devices? Laptop, desktop, work computer, home computer, smartphone, iPad? Learn how to utilize the free tools at Google Drive and Google Docs to help keep your genealogy research organized. You can create research logs with Google Sheets, transcribe records into Google Docs, add document links to records you have saved within your Google Drive files and share your work with other genealogists. The comment feature is a powerful collaborative tool that allows you to give and receive feedback...
If your ancestor deeded land to a church, that could be a huge clue to their religion! We will discuss that and more in our podcast episode today about how to discover your ancestor's religion and how to find church records. There are many clues to be gleaned from genealogical records, like inscriptions on headstones and family bibles. There are many places to find collections containing church records as well. Links Back to the Basics with Church Records Part 2 by Diana at FamilyLocket.com PERSI helpful search page at FindMyPast.com https://search.findmypast.com/search/periodical-source-index PERSI not helpful search page at FindMyPast.com https://search.findmypast.com/search-world-Records/periodical-source-index Social...
Are you ready to make new discoveries in land records for your ancestors? In Part 1 of our series on land records, I shared several reasons to research the land. A land record may reveal the following: a family relationship, clues to past or present residence, associates, evidence of migration, and more. I also explained the differences between "state land states" and "federal land states" in the United States system of land distribution. We looked at the metes and bounds system of land measurement as well as the grid system. Now it's time to dive into the various types of...
Did you know that Quaker marriage records could include over 10 witnesses? Talk about a great resource for building a FAN club. In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss church records, and their genealogical value. We talk about the history of church records in the United States, what kinds of records you might be able to find, and several examples of evidence gained from membership records in various churches. Links Back to the Basics with Church Records Part 1 by Diana at FamilyLocket.com Research Like a Pro eCourse Study Group - more information and email list Research Like...
Have you been wanting to learn how to use the FamilySearch Catalog to make new discoveries about your family? I taught this class twice at RootsTech and both classes were full, so you're not alone. I use the catalog every day in my client research and I was excited to teach over 2,000 people how to become better researchers. Today I'm sharing an overview of my presentation and including the slides and syllabus at the end so you can learn as well. Why Use the FamilySearch Catalog? I started with several reasons why you'd want to learn to use the...
The latest, greatest information about DNA and Genealogy was presented at Roots Tech. There were exciting new programs, tools, and technology announced and explained by DNA companies, and leading experts in the field. Nicole wrote eloquently about some of the classes she attended, and the fascinating concepts presented. It is an exciting time to be involved in genealogy, with new and improved ways of accessing and analyzing information at our fingertips! This article will highlight two of the new programs announced at RootsTech: ThruLines™ by AncestryDNA and The Theory of Family Relativity™ by MyHeritage. What it is ThruLines™ at AncestryDNA.com...
I was excited to present a class on research logs at RootsTech 2019. Research logs are the workhorse of my research process so I love helping others learn to use them to organize their research. Here is a synopsis of my lecture. I'm also including a PDF of my slides and my syllabus at the end of the article. What is a Research Log? Simply put, a research log is a record of what you are looking for, where you looked, and what you found. In the research process, notice that research logs come into play after creating your objective,...
