Purchasing the 2026 RLP webinar series gives you lifetime access to the twelve lectures presented in 2026. The researcher’s report will be provided with each lecture.
How it Works
After you register, you will have access to the Research Like a Pro Webinar Series 2026 private course page on FamilyLocket.com. Using the username and password you created during checkout, you can log in, view the schedule, and get information about how to watch the presentations live via Zoom. The webinars will be recorded and placed on the webinar series private webpage along with the research report that goes along with it. We will send you an email each month to remind you about the upcoming webinar.
Schedule
Lectures will be presented via Zoom on the following schedule for 2026. The days alternate between Tuesdays and Saturdays. All times are 11am Mountain Time (Utah):
January 17: Reconstructing the Family of Dorothea Radloff in Pomerania
Emma Lowe
After tracing Dorothea Radloff from the Midwestern United States to her birthplace in a small village in Pomerania, meticulously kept German church records, carefully analyzed, enabled the discovery of many new Radloff relatives. This case study follows the Research Like a Pro process to systematically identify and search relevant German record collections, following the clues that enabled the discovery of many new Radloff relatives in Dorothea’s homeland of Pomerania.
Topics: Germany, FAN club research, Evangelical-Lutheran church records, locality survey, German research resources, Archion
February 17: From Georgia to Florida: Reconstructing the Family of Seth Howard Through DNA and Historical Evidence
Sunshine Mohammadbhoy
Seth Howard was born about 1804 in Georgia and migrated to the Territory of Florida in 1816. He is a registered “Florida Pioneer” with the Florida Genealogical Society. He is well-researched by professional genealogists and his numerous descendants, yet the identity of his parents has never been discovered. Thorough analysis of the documentary evidence gathered from his adult life seemed to yield no clues to his parentage. This case study uses atDNA cluster analysis along with pedigree triangulation as a lead toward possibly identifying his parents. Additional correlation of documentary evidence, geographical and historical context, and onomastic clues provides a compelling circumstantial case to support the report’s conclusion.
Topics: Georgia, Florida, DNA Gedcom, Clustering, BanyanDNA, Pedigree Collapse, Pedigree Triangulation, Georgia Land Lotteries, the Patriot War, Frontier Migration, Tax Records, Court Records, 19th-Century Research, Onomastic Clues, FAN Club, Correlation of Documentary Evidence, Segment Triangulation, Y-DNA, Deeds, Probate Documents
March 21: Adopted Grandfather’s Biological Parents Were Also Adopted: Using atDNA and Y-DNA to Answer Family Mysteries
Heidi Mathis
The clients’ grandfather was abandoned on his adoptive parents’ front porch in 1939 at age six. Which family stories were true? Was he Polish and abandoned by immigrants? Was he related to his putative biological parents Roberta Overstreet and Robert A. Bach? The client and her uncle’s DNA tests provided the clues needed to point the documentary research in the right direction to answer these family mysteries.
Topics: atDNA, Y-DNA, Indiana, Oklahoma City, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky
April 21: Finding a Father for Elizabeth Adcock
Scott Dickson
Elizabeth Adcock was born about 1786 in Granville County, North Carolina. In 1805, she married Henry Vincent and the couple migrated to Rutherford County, Tennessee along with a number of relatives and associates. So far, no direct evidence has been located to definitively identify Elizabeth’s father and family of origin. But ample documentary indirect evidence within the broader family and family network can help to identify her likely father. This case study makes strong use of locality, indirect evidence, and negative evidence to support its conclusion.
Topics: Granville County, North Carolina; Rutherford County, Tennessee, Wills & Estates, Tax Records, Census, Land Deeds, Indirect Evidence, Negative Evidence
May 16: Where Was Fannie Cliett Born? Examining a Family Story
Amy Pittman
Family tradition maintains that Fannie Cliett was born “on the line” between Alabama and Georgia in 1838. Using land, census, and military records, this project reconstructs the movements of Fannie’s parents from Floyd County, Georgia, into Cherokee County, Alabama, just before her birth. Although Cherokee County suffered severe record loss, federal land patents and the FAN club hint that the family story was based on truth.
Topics: Alabama, Georgia, Deeds, Land Patents, Confederate CMSR, FAN Research, Family Lore
June 16: Geography, a Negative Search and Autosomal DNA – Reveal a Child Bride’s Father
Barb Groth, AG
Mildred was first located in Newton, Texas when she married Cornelius Kelley on 18 April 1900. No direct evidence ties her to either the date and place of her birth or the name of her father. Negative and indirect evidence combined with DNA autosomal matches prove that Mildred Katherine Kelley, born in October of 1882, was the daughter of William Wilton Beasley.
Topics: Texas, Georgia, Same-name individuals, Legal Context, Probate Records, Negative Census search, Voter Registration and Tax Rolls, AncestryDNA matches
July 18: The Roskell Case: Untangling Crossed Trees on FamilySearch
Jessica Morgan, AG
Robert Roskell, born 1803 in Lancashire, England, was listed on Family Search Tree with two sets of parents, three wives, and three sets of children. This presentation will go through the critical thinking used to untangle Robert from two other Robert Roskells and accurately document his family.
Topics: England, FamilySearch, Same-name individuals, Lancashire, parish registers, England Census, English vital records, Bishops Transcripts
August 18: Tracing Mathilda: Finding an Ancestor’s Swedish Birthplace through American Records
Torhild Shirley, AG
Identifying an immigrant ancestor’s birthplace is the key to crossing the ocean in genealogical research. This case study follows Mathilda A. Nelson through a variety of American sources to gather the details needed to locate her in Swedish records. The research demonstrates effective strategies for bridging the gap between U.S. and Scandinavian sources.
Topics: Sweden, Census, church, passenger lists, household examinations
September 19: Wanted: Bert Beckett – Solving Identity Through DNA and Records
Jill Nock, AG
Family stories can be our best leads, but how much truth do they have? This presentation follows the case of “Bert Fred Beckett” a supposed outlaw who rode with the Jesse James gang and later changed his name. Strategic DNA analysis combined with traditional records cracked a century-old identity mystery.
Topics: Missouri, Oklahoma, AncestryDNA, Census Records, Death Certificates, Marriage Records, Court Records, Leeds Method, AncestryDNA
October 20: When DNA Reveals Hidden Identities: Investigating Whether Minnie James Was Born Fannie Tattoon
Yvonne Fenster, AG, RN, PhD
Could Fannie Tattoon and Minnie James be the same person? This investigation examines a compelling hypothesis that emerged when DNA matches revealed shared ancestry through both Gilbert Tattoon (Fannie’s father) and James H. Clayton (Minnie’s husband)—connecting two seemingly unrelated Connecticut families. With Fannie vanishing from records after childhood and Minnie appearing as an adult without prior documentation, the analysis draws on genetic data, Connecticut records, and other documents to determine whether they are separate individuals or one woman who changed her identity after being orphaned.
Topics: Connecticut, Dana Leeds Method, Misattributed Parentage, Identity Research, Name Change Investigation, Orphaned Children, DNA Analysis, Disappearing Ancestors, Vital Records, Social Security Records, Church Records, BanyanDNA, Comparative Timeline Analysis, African American Research, City directories, maps, FAN club
November 21: A Family for Michael Miller: A Case Study Using Y-DNA and Indirect Evidence
Alice Childs, AG
Michael Miller was born about 1805 in Pennsylvania. A lifelong resident of Adams County, Michael spent the latter part of his adulthood in Cumberland Township. However, records documenting Michael’s birth and parentage had not been discovered. This case study illustrates the use of systematic candidate elimination along with Y-DNA testing to identify Michael’s father and ancestral family.
Topics: Pennsylvania, Pre-1850 Census Analysis, Tax Records, Wills & Estates, Court Records, Y-DNA
December 15: Proving Paternity Through DNA: Connecting Hickman Monroe Shults to Martin S. Shults (1800-1854)
Diana Elder, AG
This presentation demonstrates how autosomal DNA analysis combined with documentary evidence can confirm a hypothesized father-son relationship when no direct record exists. The research follows Martin S. Shults and Hickman Monroe Shults through multiple states from Alabama to Texas, using census records, land patents, court documents, and DNA matches from multiple descendants. This case study illustrates practical strategies for proving family relationships across generations when traditional genealogical documentation is absent.
Topics: Alabama Court Records, Texas Land Patents and Mapping, Mercer Colonists, Arkansas, Pre-1850 Census, Autosomal DNA Analysis
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.