DNA Webinars

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Legacy Family Tree, Uno Perego, webinar

I’ve watched several DNA webinars through Legacy Family Tree’s weekly webinars. Ugo Perego was my favorite presenter. He was quite knowledgeable, plus he explained things in layman’s terms.

There are four webinars by him in their library. Two are free to view:

• DNA Research for Genealogists: Beyond the Basics

• The Power of DNA in Unlocking Family Relationships

And two are in their member library but you can view about a 15 minute preview of an hour webinar:

• I Had My DNA Tested – Now What?

• The New Frontier in Genetic Genealogy: Autosomal DNA Testing

I did take notes during each webinar. When I get a chance, I’ll try and go back and review them to refresh my memory. And hopefully turn them into a blog post.

It might take me a while, but one way or another, I’m going to get my DNA test results figured out!

Webinar: The Scots-Irish in America

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Ireland, Legacy Family Tree

Tonight at 9:00 pm Eastern, Legacy Family Tree is hosting an intermediate webinar entitled: “The Scots-Irish in America” presented by Peggy Clemens Lauritzen AG. You may remember Peggy as one of the speakers from RootsTech 2016. Her session, “Homespun and Calico: Researching our Foremothers,” was featured during Saturday afternoon’s live stream.

There are three other webinars in Family Tree’s library by Peggy (as well as a future one coming up in June 2016). I had the pleasure of viewing all three when they were broadcast. Not only is Peggy is a very entertaining speaker, she is brimming and running over with a lifetime of genealogy research to share. She claims she was involved in genealogy even before she was born! And she has photos to prove it.

Even if you don’t think you have any Scots-Irish in your background, I highly recommend her webinar. You’ll be entertained, and no doubt learn a thing or two to add to your toolbox.

Family Tree live webinars are free, but you must register to attend. If you can’t make it at the scheduled time, you can view them for free for about 6 days after they are broadcast. After that, you need to be a member to view webinars in their library.

They currently have:

305 classes of Genealogy education

454 hours of Genealogy instruction

1339 pages of Instructors’ handouts

Pretty amazing!

New Resource Source…

Tags

Legacy Family Tree, research

…at least it was new to me. If you have any doctors in your heritage, it may be useful to you.

An email arrived in my box this week from Legacy Family Tree about their latest program update. One of the things mentioned was the “305 new and updated Research Guidance sources” added in this latest update.

It’s a very long list, but in scanning it, this caught my eye:

~United States Deceased Physician File (AMA), 1864-1968

Quickly doing a Google search for it, I discovered it’s a collection at FamilySearch.org: scanned AMA card files from the American Medical Association (AMA). It gives date of death, and could contain a bio, where they went to school, where they worked, and what they died from. Maybe even a photo!

I became quite excited, as I do have a couple physicians in my tree. However, once I clicked on it, a little of my enthusiasm was lost: they are not indexed yet. BUT, they are listed in alphbetical order, by group. So no real worries, just a little extra time needed.

Never did find the relative I was looking for, but browsing through the cards was fascinating! Here’s a sample:

John Francis Edwards, M.D.¹

And another:

Edward Homer Egbert, M.D.²

With a pic!

Edward Homer Egbert, MD pic and bio

A thrilling discovery if he were my relative.

Lesson I learned? Don’t forget to search under occupational directories or associations, something that had only briefly crossed my mind before. If nothing’s found at Family Search, other suggestions were OCLC WorldCat, or ArchiveGrid.

---

¹⁾ “United States Deceased Physician File (AMA), 1864-1968,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-31284-18203-61?cc=2061540 : accessed 3 November 2015), Eberhardt, Werner-Ehrman, ED > image 1897 of 2988; American Medical Association, Chicago.

²⁾ “United States Deceased Physician File (AMA), 1864-1968,” images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-31284-24526-60?cc=2061540 : accessed 3 November 2015), Eberhardt, Werner-Ehrman, ED > image 2467 of 2988; American Medical Association, Chicago.

Indirect Evidence

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Legacy Family Tree, webinar

noun
• circumstantial evidence ¹
• evidence that establishes immediately collateral facts from which the main fact may be inferred ²
• probative matter that does not proximately relate to an issue but that establishes a hypothesis by showing various consistent facts. ³

Or using collateral facts combined with circumstantial evidence to establish a hypothesis.

Do we use this in genealogy? If we don’t, perhaps we should be!

In my few short years of genealogical research, it seems to me there are two ends of this spectrum: those who are name collectors. You know, the ones who copy anyone’s tree they can find whether the birth date, place of birth, or even state of residence matches their relatives or not.

And those who simply won’t add a person to their tree until they’ve found a half-dozen sources that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, this is their relative.

What’s in between these two ways of researching? I say it’s indirect evidence and maybe more people should be in the middle!

What got me thinking about all this was a Family Tree webinar this week entitled: “Where Does It Say That? Learning to Love Indirect Evidence” presented  by Chris Staats from Saats Genealogical Services [StaatsOfOhio].

In his webinar Chris explained how sources provide information, and information provides evidence. Then he went into the types of Sources: (1) Original (2) Derivative (3) Authored work; types of Information: (1) Primary (2) Secondary (3) Uncertain; and kind of Evidence: (1) Direct (2) Indirect (3) Negative. ⁴

If your head is spinning after reading the above paragraph, mine was too at this point in his webinar. I haven’t studied these standards. And I am not a certified genealogist. Original, Primary and Direct all sound like the same thing to me!

But then he went on to demonstrate it all in a case study, giving examples and showing how you can come to a conclusion based on indirect evidence. That I could get into. It made sense as I watched him make his way through records, and compare names, places of birth, neighbors, relationships, even including an executor of a will that later proved to be a relative.

I recommend watching this Family Tree webinar because it could provide you with tools and new ideas to break through your brick walls. It’s in their archive, and free until April 1st.

¹Merriam-Webster Dictionary
²Dictionary.com
³The Free Dictionary
⁴Where Does It Say That: Learning to Love Indirect Evidence

Webinar: Genealogy on the Go with iPads and Tablets

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genealogy webinar, Legacy Family Tree

Run, do not walk, right over to Legacy Family Tree’s website and register for this FREE webinar coming up this Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015.

If you have one of these devices and you do genealogy research, I guarantee you’ll learn something new from Lisa Louise Cook during her presentation.

And while you’re there, take a look at all the topics they’re covering in 2015. It’s mind boggling all the information and education they provide, all for free.

Upcoming Webinars

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genealogy webinar, Legacy Family Tree

In the past, I’ve attended a lot of Family Legacy Tree’s Wednesday webinars. But this week I decided to branch out a little.

Tuesday, June 10

“Plotting, Scheming and Mapping Online” presented by Cyndi Ingle

Webinar Description: The Internet is a source for a variety of maps and geographical tools that will help you in your research. From new maps and atlases with online driving directions to old gazetteers with county lines and ancient place names, the Internet has them all. We’ll explore those resources, ideas for using them, and integrating them into your research routine.

Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3486718851035076865. This webinar is presented by the Illinois State Genealogical Society and is sponsored by FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org).

Wednesday, June 11

“German Internet Research: A Launching Place for Your Research” presented by James Beidler

Webinar Description: Internet research for German ancestors is not as fully developed as it is for North American or British ancestors, but don’t let that stop you! There is a significant subscription site, along with some important indexes, original and compiled, records online. Fortunately, the number of actual records online is growing at a significant rate. Other German genealogy sites provide important information about places or sources. Indeed, your research will suffer if you don’t use the Internet for your German research.

Registration: http://www.familytreewebinars.com. This webinar is presented by Legacy Family Tree.

Thursday, June 12 from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm (GMT-06:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)

“US Research Series: United States Vital Records” presented by Yvonne Sorenson.

Webinar Description: Learn how to use U.S. vital records to document the lives of your ancestors. Learn where to find vital records, how to use them and what information can be found in these valuable historical records.

To join the meeting, visit: http://ldschurch1.adobeconnect.com/fhluscanada/. This webinar is presented by Family Search.

There are plenty of other webinars available to expand your genealogy knowledge and expertise.

 

Wednesday Webinar

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genealogy webinar, Legacy Family Tree

Today’s Legacy Family Tree webinar is a little unusual, at least it’s not somewhere I’d have thought to look for ancestors. It’s entitled, “Using Tax Lists to Solve Genealogical Problems“.

Truly, is this something you’d use to help in your genealogy? I must admit, it wasn’t at the top of my list of places to look….or at the bottom either!

But one thing I have learned from watching Legacy Family Tree Webinars is the speakers generally have a lot more knowledge and information about ferreting out ancestors and facts about their lives than I do.

The description of today’s webinar says, “Benjamin Franklin is said to have stated, ‘The only things certain in life are death and taxes.’ Taxation can take (and has taken) many forms. The mission of this presentation is to discuss some of the ways in which our ancestors were taxed, the records that were created, and where we might find those records. Additionally you’ll learn how those tax records may help you solve some of your genealogical questions.” The presenter is Linda Woodward Geiger.

Curious about it? Why not register to attend the webinar this afternoon?

Wednesday, May 28, 2014
2:00 pm Eastern
1:00 pm Central
12:00 pm Mountain
11:00 am Pacific
6:00 pm GMT

If that isn’t possible with your schedule, the webinar will be free to view for the next week before it is placed in the archives. Just check Family Tree Webinars to find it. Geoff usually has it up online less than 60 minutes after it finishes.

Next webinar is on June 11 entitled: “German Internet Research: A Launching Place for Your Research,” by James M. Beidler.

Webinar Wednesday

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Legacy Family Tree, Thomas MacEntee, webinar

Thomas MacEntee

“7 Habits of the Frugal Genealogist” was Legacy Family Tree’s webinar today presented by Thomas MacEntee. You can view the recording for free until April 9, 2014. Then you must be a Legacy Family Tree Webinar member to watch it in the archives.

Thomas MacEntee is one of my favorite webinar speakers. If you care about saving money, this webinar is well worth watching. In the first half hour, he covered the seven habits you as a genealogist should use to save money. Then in the next half hour, he went on to give eight more habits!

Some of these you might not have thought about. Here are a couple examples:

1. Get free stuff over Holidays. You may have already noticed this on Ancestry or another subscription site. Ancestry just had their Irish records free for a period near St. Patrick’s Day. Memorial Day can mean free access to military records. Get on a mailing list, RSS feed, Twitter, or other notification to keep up with subscription service news.
2. When subscribing online, use a virtual credit card #. Designed to be used once, this is especially handy if you forget when your subscription renews: no surprise withdrawal. Check with your bank to see if they offer virtual credit card numbers.

For the other 13 tips he covered in the webinar, check out the video on Legacy Family Tree Webinars.

By the way, there’s another free webinar coming up this Saturday (April 5, 2014) entitled “Googling Around with Google and other Technology”.

Google and the genealogist were meant for each other. In this webinar you will learn how to unlock some of Google’s secrets:

• How to help our ancestors find us with Google Alerts.
• How to better craft Google Searches with Douglas Barry’s customized Google Search form.
• How and why to search with a digital image instead of a phrase.
• How to set up a Google Calendar and how to optionally embed other kinds of calendars.
• How to view historical state and county boundaries (similar to AniMap, but for free) with Google Earth.
• Other fun technology as time permits

This class is being presented to a live audience as part of the Sacramento Genealogical Society’s annual spring seminar. The seminar committee invites you – the live worldwide webinar audience – to join with them for this special class.

Go sign up!

It’s Webinar Wednesday!

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canada, canadian research, Family Tree Webinars, genealogy webinar, Kathryn Lake Hogan, Legacy Family Tree, webinar

Don’t forget today is Webinar Wednesday over at Family Tree Webinars. Today’s topic presented by Kathryn Lake Hogan is:

Ten Reasons Your Ancestor Was in Canada

When you hit a brick wall in your research it’s time to consider Canada. Even if you think your American or immigrant ancestors were never in Canada, discover ten reasons why they actually may have been there. Learn how and where to find the Canadian or provincial records that will help you fill in the missing pieces of your ancestors’ lives.

You still have enough time to register. It starts at 1:00 Eastern. No worries if you miss it tho. It will be free in the Archives for a week after it’s broadcast. Geoff usually gets them edited and up within an hour after they end.

And because I’ve run out of time with the post I was going to put up today and am short on time, I’m reblogging a neighbor’s post from today. Don’t miss it – it’s a great read.

Journey through Genealogy Software

Tags

Ancestry, family tree, Family Tree Genius, Family Tree Maker, Legacy Family Tree, organization, software

When I volunteered to enter someone else’s tree into a software program to make it easier for her to edit and print, we choose Family Tree Genius. Fairly easy to add & edit entries. A few years went by. She printed her tree, handed it out at reunions, and that was that….or so I thought.

A decade later, one of my g-grandfathers jumped out of his grave, grabbed me by the throat and asked what I was doing about tracing my ancestry. Within days I was collecting information from historical societies, museums, libraries, courthouses, and other places. Eventually my milk crate was overflowing with paperwork. And no organization!

I bought a binder. Divided it up by date. That didn’t work. So I divided it up by family. Some better, but still couldn’t lay hands on things I wanted. Then I remembered Family Tree Genius. Plugged in some of my info. Not impressed, a little too bare bones for me.

Then someone suggested Ancestry. So I subscribed. And made the typical newbie mistakes. Figured everyone there knew what they were doing, and had perfect trees. So I started copying. BIG mistake. Because I didn’t know there was a “make tree private” button, let alone how to use it, my tree got copied. All of a sudden I find out one of the offspring in my tree did not belong with those parents. Yikes! How to remove the bad info in the other five trees he was copied to? They didn’t respond to my requests to move him to the correct parents. I determined to figure out a way to do research online properly and save my discoveries offline.

Family Tree Maker was given to me for Christmas a few years ago and my tree now syncs with my computer. Use Ancestry for research, and source from my computer. Brilliant idea, I thought. Not so great when trying it. Plus it still lacked reports and info I desired to pull from my tree. Love their app though. Nothing better than having your whole tree in your phone or tablet.

After stumbling around for a while, somehow or another I discovered Legacy Family Tree. Well, actually I discovered their Wednesday webinars first. Was impressed with their coverage of topics, and their speakers, so purchased the software. So far, so good. I am very pleased with what I can pull from my tree, even moreso with version 8. Time will tell!