September/October 2023

Family Tree

The Leading Family History Magazine

Family Tree1 min read
Family Tree
Editor Andrew Koch Art Director Julie Barnett Digital Editor Melina Papadopoulos New Media Editor Rachel Christian eLearning Producer Amanda Epperson Contributing Editors Lisa A. Alzo, Rick Crume, David A. Fryxell, Nancy Hendrickson, Sunny Jane Morto
Family Tree1 min read
Out On A Limb
Where do you build your family tree? It’s a question almost as old as the “genealogy internet” itself. Researchers today have several options: online trees hosted at big genealogy websites, desktop genealogy software programs, and (of course) classic
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Join Our Community!
Genealogy how-to downloads and videos, plus PDF back-issues of Family Tree Magazine Detailed online courses and webinars full of expert advice about key research subjects Your ticket
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New Partnerships for NGS
AT ITS ANNUAL CONFERENCE in May, the National Genealogical Society announced several new key partnerships: • ConferenceKeeper , a site that maintains a calendar of upcoming educational genealogy events
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1931 Census Of Canada
The latest enumeration of Canada was released on June 1. Library and Archives Canada (LAC) , the organization responsible for the census’ storage and digitization, reported high demand for 1931 census images—so much, i
Family Tree1 min readPopular Culture & Media Studies
Loose Threads
In July, social networking giant Meta (the owner of Facebook and Instagram) launched Threads, a free microblogging app seen as a competitor to Twitter. Within 24 hours, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the app had a record-breaking 30 million signu
Family Tree1 min readInternet & Web
Reimagine: A New Photo App
MYHERITAGE , which has rolled out several photo-enhancement and-colorization features in the past few years, added a standalone mobile app to its library. Reimagine uses artificial intelligence to sc
Family Tree1 min read
Now Online: English And Welsh Vital Records
Genealogists who have ancestors from England and Wales can now more easily access decades of vital records. The General Register Office (GRO), an official record-keeping body of the United Kingdom, added a new digital-delivery service for images of E
Family Tree2 min read
Family Oktoberfest
German-language documents may seem daunting at first glance. However, with the right resource, you can reap their benefits. Tips and Tricks of Deciphering Germany Handwriting: A Translator’s Tricks of the Trade for Transcribing German Genealogy Docum
Family Tree2 min read
Dear Diary
One day at work, a coworker showed Joyce Chancellor an old diary she’d purchased at auction for her wife. Chancellor, a genealogist who volunteers at her local FamilySearch Center near Gilbert, Ariz., was fascinated. She asked permission from the cow
Family Tree9 min read
The Billion-Acre Wood
Do you have an online tree? Ancestry.com is a useful tool for researching and sharing your family history, making it a great place to take the leap. Or maybe you’ve been using Ancestry.com’s trees for years, but your tree is lookin
Family Tree1 min read
Importing a GEDCOM
GEDCOM stands for GENealogical Data COMmunication, and is a file format used to exchange genealogical information between software programs. If you’ve already created a digital family tree and want to save time, you can export your previous work as a
Family Tree1 min read
AT A GLANCE: An Ancestry.com Tree Profile
1 The summary at the top of the profile includes basic details, such as name, birth and death dates and places, and relationship to the person in the tree designated as “you.” 2 Click the pen icon to add MyTreeTags, which can make it easier for you a
Family Tree2 min read
Tips for Building Family Trees
Genealogy has some standard best practices for entering information into family trees. These help others better understand your work and prevent ambiguity. Here are some common recommendations, and why they matter when making trees on Ancestry.com: •
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3 Ancestry.com Tree Displays
Family View: A person and their various relatives, arranged vertically. Available from an icon on the main family tree page. Pedigree View: A person and their ancestors, displayed horizontally. Available from an icon on the main family tree page. Fam
Family Tree7 min readAmerican Government
Middle Management
Middle names are probably most useful when a child has done something wrong. My grandson knows when he hears the double salvo of “Lincoln Michael!” that he’d better pay attention. But middle names can also be useful in genealogy, and not just for sep
Family Tree1 min readAmerican Government
CASE STUDY: Presidential Middle Names
President Joseph Biden’s distinctive middle name, Robinette, is the maiden name of his paternal grandmother. Biden shares the Robinette middle name with his father (Joseph Sr.) and son Beau (Joseph III). Also: Biden’s son Robert Hunter Biden goes by
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The Most Common U.S. Middle Names
Source: The now-defunct website MooseRoots, curated from Social Security Death Index and reported at . ■
Family Tree7 min read
Between the Lines
Hands down, the most-common problem I’ve heard from genealogists throughout the years is “I can’t find my ancestor in the census.” Though censuses might have simply missed a family, we can often find ancestors “hiding” in the census by using alternat
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Reading Directions
CENSUS ENUMERATORS were provided with written instructions about how to perform their job. Now available online, enumerator instructions contain comprehensive guidance for each census year, with nuggets that expand and enhance how we understand recor
Family Tree5 min read
Hawaii
WHEN THE EARLIEST SEAFARING PIONEERS arrived at the Hawaiian Islands, they brought traditions that would survive for a thousand years: their means of preserving the historical knowledge of their ancestors. Creation chants and the hula tell the story
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Timeline
Polynesians first arrive at and settle the Hawaiian Islands; some estimates pre-date this by centuries James Cook, the first European known to visit the Hawaiian Islands, lands at Kauai Kamehameha unites the islands under one kingdom The Great Māhele
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Toolkit
Cyndi’s List: Hawaii FamilySearch Research Wiki: Hawaii Hawaii USGenWeb Linkpendium: Hawaii
Family Tree6 min read
Massachusetts
MASSACHUSETTS, ONE OF THE ORIGINAL 13 colonies, has a rich and storied history that has greatly influenced the United States as a whole. An intellectual, cultural and educational hub, the state is home to some of the most prestigious institutions of
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Timeline
Pilgrims arrive in New England aboard the Mayflower and found Plymouth John Winthrop founds the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony Harvard College is founded in Cambridge King Philip’s War devastates the New England colonies The Province of Massachuset
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Toolkit
Cyndi’s List: Massachusetts Digital Commonwealth: Massachusetts Collections Online FamilySearch Research Wiki: Massachusetts
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Find Your U.S. Ancestors
• How-to tutorials for finding records Notes on how and when key documents were kept in the state, including vital records, state censuses and land records • Historical summaries and timelines Narrative history with special emphasis on events that af
Family Tree8 min readWorld
Reformation
If you’re among the one-in-eight Americans who have German ancestry, you might be intimidated by the prospect of writing to German churches and archives to request information about your ancestors. But, in fact, so many German church records are now
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Finding Your Ancestor’s Hometown
Knowing the specific place your ancestor lived is key to success. Look for clues to an ancestor’s hometown in obituaries, family Bibles, letters and biographical sketches in county and local histories. Also check indexed historical records and family
Family Tree1 min read
Church Record Search Strategies
After gathering clues to your German ancestors in home sources, search indexed record collections and family trees on Ancestry.com , FamilySearch and MyHeritage. . Once you find your ancest
Family Tree7 min readCrime & Violence
A Nation of Immigrants
The United States of America is oft-touted as a nation of immigrants. But arrival to (and citizenship of) the United States varied greatly depending on one’s place of origin, race, political leanings, and marriage. Today, the process generally requir
Family Tree1 min read
Waves Of The “Tempest-Tost”
Immigrants came from all over the world to the United States. You can think about surges in arrivals in four waves, each predominated by arrivals from specific countries or regions: • First Wave (1607–1830): England, Scotland, Scots-Irish from northe
Family Tree1 min readCrime & Violence
Timeline: Immigration Laws
The Steerage Act first requires customs lists, which include information about immigrants Congress creates the first federal immigration agency, with an office in New York City The Supreme Court rules that the federal government (not individual state
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Push and Pull Factors
Immigrants came to the United States for all sorts of reasons, such as fleeing religious persecution and strife in their home country or seeking a better life and work opportunities. Others were reuniting with family members already here. Family-reun
Family Tree1 min readCrime & Violence
Naturalization Laws
It’s hard to divorce the discussion of naturalization from the discussion of immigration, though US citizenship has never been a requirement for immigrants. Congress enacted the first naturalization law in 1790. Generally, naturalization was allowed
Family Tree1 min read
Treetips
TAP INTO HANDWRITING RESOURCES when you’re having trouble understanding text in old records—especially church records (page 60) and unindexed images (like those held by FamilySearch, page 64). Old handwriting styles—and poor penmanship!—can make reco
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Subject: UnidenTINfied
1 This tintype lacks a written caption. But oral tradition identifies the subject as Nancy Rowland (1806–1881), a woman of Native American descent adopted by Caucasian parents. Tradition and the image itself can’t prove if that’s true; DNA testing he
Family Tree7 min read
Church Records
Since Colonial times, Americans have belonged to religious congregations across the country. Some churchgoers also attended Sunday schools, church socials, service auxiliaries and revivals; and sent their children to church-sponsored schools. Such vi
Family Tree1 min read
At a Glance: Catholic Baptismal Register
1 The columns shown are for last name, date of event, particulars of baptism, and additional comments. 2 These records are in Latin; even Latin forms of names may be used. “Guilel” is an abbreviation of Gulielmus, Latin for William. 3 The translated
Family Tree2 min readInternet & Web
Browsing Records in FamilySearch Historical Images
1 Start by clicking Search > Images or going directly to . Enter the name of a place where your family lived, and FamilySearch will suggest a matching place. You can start with a specific locale (like a villa
Family Tree2 min read
Saving Watches and Timepieces
1 Have your watch serviced. If you inherited a watch made before the 1920s, it most likely operates by mechanical movements and needs daily winding to keep time. These timepieces evolved from traditional clocks and have similar interior mechanics: a
Family Tree3 min read
Now What?
Q I enjoy reading your research tips. However, many of them are ideal for researching in cities. Can you provide hints for finding rural ancestors? A The best place to start researching rural ancestors, of course, is the US federal census, which didn
Family Tree2 min read
Cloud Backup Services
Choose automatic or scheduled backups of your entire Mac or PC—and any attached external drives—for one low-budget, fuss-free plan. (Free trial available.) Restore lost data online or, for a fee, have files delivered on a hard dri
Family Tree2 min readChemistry
Shared Segments
Q What is a DNA segment, and why is it important? A When we’re talking genetic genealogy, a DNA segment is simply a shared piece of DNA. But of course, our DNA testing companies make that definition a bit more complicated. Each has their own way of d
Family Tree1 min read
Germanic Alphabet Chart
Source: Wikimedia Commons. Excerpted from the German Genealogy Cheat Sheet. In each issue, Your Turn offers a form that’ll help you preserve your family’s unique stories and organize your research. Tear out and use the form or make a photocopy. ■
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Findmypast
Home US UK Ireland Australia Search Blog FAQ Family trees
Family Tree1 min read
Building Family Trees
1 Click a person’s name to pull up their profile overview, which displays basic information about their life. You can quickly edit the facts listed here by clicking the pencil icon. 2 A person’s full profile includes tabs for Overview, Facts & Events
Family Tree2 min read
Searching Findmypast Records
1 Toggle between countries or types of records. Options for place include the United Kingdom, each of its constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales, “Other Britain & Ireland,” and Overseas), Ireland, United States & Canada, Australia & New Zeal
Family Tree1 min read
Key Record Collections
• 1851–1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census (six separate collections)• 1911–1921 Census for England & Wales (two separate collections)• 1939 Register (England and Wales)• England & Wales, Electoral Registers 1910–1932• UK Electoral Registers & Comp
Family Tree1 min read
Crash Course: The U.K. and Great Britain
If you have UK ancestors but don’t remember what the various country terms mean, check out this quick reminder: • Great Britain (1707–1800; red, yellow and blue): A former political entity founded on the union between the countries of England (red),
Family Tree3 min readInternet & Web
Tips For Using Findmypast
1 Watch for unique records. As of this writing, Findmypast is the exclusive home of the 1921 Census of England and Wales, as well as Catholic records from several big US cities (including New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia). The site also has st
Family Tree2 min readInternet & Web
What To Do For Free At Findmypast
From its US portal, Findmypast has several records collections that are free to search. You can find them in one place at . Highlights include: • US censuses, 1940 to 1950 (the latter is browse-only)• Ca

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