March/April 2024

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
We family historians are kind of like arborists: We carefully nurture the “trees” in our care, planting them in good soil and making sure they have what they need to grow. Fortunately, tech companies have created intuitive tools that make it easier t
Family Tree1 min read
Tree Talk
MY HUSBAND IS A TV-WATCHER in the evenings, but I’m not. So I sit beside him doing research and writing stories on my laptop. Janet DeGras via Facebook The morning, after breakfast Lorie Pierce via Facebook The morning with my cup of Joe—my mind is f
Family Tree1 min read
Ancestry.com Pro Tools
AFTER MONTHS OF BETA-TESTING new features, Ancestry.com announced Pro Tools, a collection of enhancements to its Member Trees. New features include a tree-checking tool that analyzes your work for data errors, as well as additional
Family Tree1 min read
Extremegenes Ends Weekly Show
Long-running genealogy podcast and radio show ExtremeGenes ceased its weekly schedule in December. In his newsletter announcing the change, host Scott Fisher assured listeners that he’d continue recording episodes periodically. The show’s episode arc
Family Tree1 min read
Original UK Wills In Danger
The UK’s Ministry of Justice announced in 2023 its plans to digitize more than 100 million wills, dating back 150 years. The catch? The department’s current proposal would have original documents destroyed once they’ve been digitized, perhaps retaini
Family Tree2 min read
Re-Discovering Memories
When a University of Cambridge professor requested to view a stash of 18th-century letters at the UK National Archives, he found they had never been opened or read. The letters had been sent—but not delivered—to French sailors captured in 1758 during
Family Tree1 min readIntelligence (AI) & Semantics
New Features at MyHeritage
IN LATE 2023 MyHeritage was busy, releasing a trio of new tools: • AI Biographer: Have artificial intelligence write a Wikipedia-style entry about your ancestor, based on details in your MyHeritage family tree or from AI Record F
Family Tree3 min read
Sister, Sister
Jenn Bokoch grew up hearing stories from her mother’s family about the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pa. . The sisters ran St. Benedict Academy, an all-girls high school that served Erie for nearly 120 years (1869–1988). Boko
Family Tree8 min read
Forest For The Trees
Online family tree sites are terrific tools for organizing your family history, collaborating with other relatives and sharing your findings. Most let you build a tree from scratch or upload a GED-COM file generated from another program or website. A
Family Tree8 min read
The Next Steps
My mom’s voice was strained. “There’s something I need to tell you, and it’s going to rock your world.” I was 45 years old, still grieving my dad’s death the previous year. Mom explained that in the early 1970s, my dad learned he was incapable of fat
Family Tree4 min read
Kissing Cousins
The mere idea of marrying any of my first or second cousins—family members that I’ve known since earliest childhood and have grown up with in sibling-like relationships—is unthinkable to me. But for generations of our ancestors, a conjugal union betw
Family Tree6 min read
New York
“EXCELSIOR!,” DECLARES NEW YORK’S COAT OF arms. That motto, Latin for “ever upward,” could easily refer to many aspects of the state’s history: the pattern of gradual settlement from the Hudson River north, the state’s burgeoning population size, or
Family Tree6 min read
Wyoming
WYOMING IS THE LEAST-POPULATED STATE in the United States today—a place that many passed through, but not many stayed. Though both desolate and isolated, the state is also beautiful and full of history. Wyoming attracted settlers looking for opportun
Family Tree1 min read
Find Your U.S. Ancestors
Each state-by-state guide includes: Notes on how and when key documents were kept in the state, including vital records, state censuses and land records Narrative history with special emphasis on events that affected your ancestors, including year of
Family Tree11 min read
MAY the ROAD RISE to MEET YOU
My research in Ireland has led me lots of places. I’ve climbed over iron fences, rusted farm gates, and stone walls to explore abandoned cemeteries in sheep fields and surrounding medieval churches. I’ve searched for relations and historians in pubs,
Family Tree1 min read
Treetips
CREATE ONE ‘MASTER’ FAMILY TREE ON YOUR DESKTOP, then selectively publish it online at various websites. Having at least parts of your tree in multiple places can attract cousins and help your research outlive you. But having to make updates at so ma
Family Tree8 min read
Where In The World?
When you start exploring a new-to-you homeland, it’s easy to feel a bit lost. You don’t know what records are available, or how to find and access them. If the records are in another language, you may not know how to read them. And if the history or
Family Tree1 min read
Copy That
Maureen A. Taylor is the author of Family Photo Detective (Picture Perfect Press). Have a photo mystery you’d like Maureen to investigate? Email with your photo, any details you know about it (including links to online trees), and Photo Detective in
Family Tree2 min read
Saving Hair Keepsakes
1 Keep existing hair samples intact. Victorians were especially fond of preserving the hair of loved ones, both living and dead. Woven hair wreaths, jewelry and decorations were visual reminders of relationships. Some keepsakes were carefully placed
Family Tree7 min readCrime & Violence
Estate Records
When people die, families gather—for comfort, to say goodbye, and to tie up loose ends. Loved ones of our deceased ancestors would meet for the reading of the will and to divide up the departed person’s belongings. Today, genealogists can read all ab
Family Tree2 min read
Building a Family Tree at Geni
1 Once logged in, you can enter your tree from scratch, as I started to do. But then I changed my mind and instead decided to use the site’s option for importing a GEDCOM file for my mother’s side (Research > GEDCOM). It was created by someone else a
Family Tree3 min read
Treetips NOW WHAT?
Q My ancestor emigrated from Italy to Pennsylvania in 1893, but he “disappears” from US records (including death records). What could have happened to him? A While it’s possible his death was simply not recorded, it could be that he “disappeared” by
Family Tree1 min readInternet & Web
Help Resources at the Big Genealogy Websites
Expert-curated videos here are all free and cover topics ranging from Ancestry.com tips to researching Civil War veterans. The academy has a standalone mobile app, and you can find additional Ancestry.com help through
Family Tree1 min read
Online FamilyTreeTracker
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. ■
Family Tree2 min read
Ancestrydna
• Launched in 2012 • Retail price: $99 USD ($119 USD with Traits add-on) • 22 million DNA kits in database • Available in 128 countries AncestryDNA home Support Center Learning Hub
Family Tree2 min read
The Basics Of Genetic Genealogy
AncestryDNA tests autosomal DNA, which is passed from parent to child in each generation. As you’ll see below, a child receives roughly 50% of their DNA from each parent, 25% from each grandparent, and so on. Because of this inheritance pattern, you
Family Tree3 min read
Ethnicity Estimates (origins)
1 Percentages: AncestryDNA compares your DNA with that of others known to have lived in specific countries or regions for generations. It then assigns an estimate of how much of your DNA comes from that place, with an accompanying map. Click a place
Family Tree1 min read
Other DNA Tools
This tool use artificial intelligence, shared-DNA values, and Public Member Trees to generate suggested family trees that include you and your DNA matches. To use ThruLines, you’ll need to have a Public Member Tree and attach your DNA to it. Access T
Family Tree2 min read
Ancestrydna Tips
1 Bundle to save. When purchasing a new test, see if AncestryDNA is running any promotions on its record memberships as an upgrade. You may receive a discounted rate on a World Explorer or All Access Membership, which include access to premium DNA to

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