Beating the Bushes: Using the GPS to Find Jacob Bush's Father

The audience is introduced to the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) and then presented with four research questions concerning a man who is currently a patriot on a closed DAR line. The closed line needs more proof before descendants may claim his service. After going through the evidence, the audience will…

The Genealogical Proof Standard states that analysis and correlation of data is necessary before we can say something is proven, but what techniques are best? Many people collect information but don't know how to manipulate it for evidence analysis. Spreadsheets, timelines, maps, charts and tables are a few of the…

Through examples the problems with not conducting an exhaustive search will be highlighted. Assumptions, misinterpretations, and not digging deep enough into original records will all be showcased as to how they can mislead research, sometimes for years. Encouraging the audience to follow the principles of a reasonably exhaustive search should…

Testing yourself against genealogical standards is one of the many reasons to seek credentials. This presentation will discuss who should go for credentials, what the testing procedure entails and how to prepare for it.

Research reports are not just for professionals, but are a great tool for anyone who wants to answer their research questions. Write a research report to yourself to organize your thoughts, analyze the evidence, document your findings, and solve your puzzles. Using an example from the Netherlands, this presentation demonstrates how you can organize a research report to spot more clues in records, discover and resolve discrepancies, and build reliable conclusions.

Is it logical that a woman born in 1752 gave birth to a son in 1848? Do I have enough evidence to conclude that Johan Kannon of Trondheim, Norway, was the same person as John Connell from Cut-and-Shoot, Texas? Why do I share 300 cM of DNA with three people I’ve never heard of? Genealogists make hundreds of decisions everyday based on thousands of pieces of information harvested from various sources. We automatically, and often unconsciously, use common sense, logic, and even intuition, to identify relevant evidence, problem-solve, and answer complex questions. Learning to harness the power of logic, syllogism, and our own “Spidey-senses,” can help scale brick-walls, solve DNA mysteries, and organize mountains of information. This talk focuses on how to incorporate logic, common sense, and critical thinking in a more deliberate way to create hypotheses, test theories, and support conclusions. Johnson will share exercises that can bulk up logic and critical thought muscles, as well as practical tips on how to apply common sense and sensibility to your family history research and writing.

Using several families that were enslaved on the same plantation as case studies, this presentation will demonstrate research that meets the Genealogical Proof Standard. Examples of reasonably exhaustive research, evidence analysis, correlation, and resolving conflicts will be presented. This class is presented live at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City as part of the Joy Reisinger Memorial Lecture Series and is being broadcasted by Legacy Family Tree Webinars.

In the summer of 2023 American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society announced the collaborative 10 Million Names project, an undertaking to recover the names of people of African descent who were enslaved in the area of the United States. This monumental task of centralizing datasets about African Americans is likely to take years to accomplish; in the interim, this webinar provides a useful survey of the many existing databases that serve a similar purpose though limited in scope.

Family tradition holds that John H. Hickey of Rockton, Winnebago County, Illinois, disappeared. This case study proves John "disappeared" and establishes the missing man's fate. A patchwork of records allowed a glimpse into the life of a person thought dead.